Wat Rong Khun

Wat Rong Khun is a contemporary unconventional Buddhist and Hindu temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat. Construction began in 1997,finished in 2008.

Style and construction   Wat Rong Khun is different from any other temple in Thailand, as its ubosot is designed in white color with some use of white glass.

The white color stands for Lord Buddha’s purity; the white glass stands for Lord Buddha’s wisdom that “shines brightly all over the Earth and the Universe.”

The bridge leading to the temple represents the crossing over from the cycle of rebirth to the Abode of Buddha.

The small semicircle before the bridge stands for the human world. The big circle with fangs is the mouth of Rahu, meaning impurities in the mind, a representation of hell or suffering.

All the paintings inside the ubosot (assembly hall) have golden tones. The four walls, ceiling and floor contain paintings showing an escape from the defilements of temptation to reach a supramundane state.

On the roof, there are four kinds of animals representing earth, water, wind and fire. The elephant stands for the earth; the naga stands for water; the swan’s wings represent wind; and the lion’s mane represents fire.

Visitors will find it rather bizarre to find modern images throughout this temple. Images of the Predator from the Hollywood film, Spiderman, Batman, Keanu Reeves character in the Matrix, rocket ships, etc.

The sea of hands rising up towards the bridge to the temple, some holding skulls are very striking.   In 1997, Chalermchai Kositpipat volunteered his service to carry out the construction of the ubosot at his own expense as an offering to Lord Buddha, but he later altered the plan as he saw fit in such a way that Wat Rong Khun developed into a prominent site attracting both Thai and foreign visitors.

Nowadays, Wat Rong Khun is still being constructed. When completed, the construction project of Wat Rong Khun will consist of nine buildings: the ubosot, the hall containing Lord Buddha’s relics, the hall containing Buddha images, the preaching hall, the contemplation hall, the monk’s cell, the door façade of the Buddhavasa, the art gallery, and the toilets.

Bangles

Bangles are traditional ornaments worn mostly by South Asian women in India and Bangladesh, especially Hindus. It is tradition that the bride will try to wear as many small glass bangles as possible at her wedding and the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks.

Toddler to older woman could wear bangles based on the type of bangles. Bangles made of gold or silver are preferred for toddlers.   Some men wear a single bangle on the arm or wrist called as kada or kara. In Sikhism, The father of a Sikh bride will give the groom a gold ring, a kara (steel or iron bangle), and a mohra.

Chooda is a kind of bangle that is worn by Punjabi women on her wedding day. It is a set of white and red bangles with stone work. According to tradition, a woman is not supposed to buy the bangles she will wear.

Moradabad, India is the world’s largest producer of bangles.   A standard bangle is used as an adornment. A new special type of bangle doubles as a clip for hanging items such as a handbag.

History

Bangles—made from sea shell, copper, bronze, gold, agate, chalcedony etc.—have been excavated from multiple archaeological sites throughout India.

A figurine of a dancing girl—wearing bangles on her left arm— has been excavated from Mohenjo-daro (2600 BC).   Other early examples of bangles in India include copper samples from the excavations at Mahurjhari—soon followed by the decorated bangles belonging to the Mauryan empire (322–185 BCE), and the gold bangle samples from the historic site of Taxila (6th century BCE).

Decorated shell bangles have also been excavated from multiple Mauryan sites. Other features included copper rivets and gold-leaf inlay in some cases.

Types of bangles

There are two basic types of bangles: a solid cylinder type; and a split, cylindrical spring opening/closing type. Primary distinguishing factor for these is the material that is used to make the bangles. This may vary anything from glass to jade to metal to lac and even rubber or plastic.

One factor that adds to the price of the bangles is the artifacts or the work done further on the metal. This includes embroidery or small glass pieces or paintings or even small hangings that are attached to the bangles.

The rareness of a color and its unique value also increase the value. Bangles made from lac are one of the oldest ones and among the brittle category too. Lac is clay like material which is molded in hot kilns-like places to make these bangles.

Among the recent entrants are the rubber bangles that are worn more like a wrist band by youngsters while the plastic ones are there to add the trendy look.

 Normally, a bangle worn by people around the world is simply an inflexible piece of jewelry worn around the wrist. However, in many cultures, especially in the South Asia and in Arabian Peninsula, bangles have evolved into various types in which different ones are used at different occasions.

Beauty Parlour

A beauty salon or beauty parlor (International spelling: beauty parlour) (or sometimes beauty shop) is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for men and women. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons and spas.

There is a distinction between a beauty salon and a hair salon and although many small businesses do offer both sets of treatments; beauty salons provide more generalized services related to skin health, facial aesthetic, foot care, aromatherapy, — even meditation, oxygen therapy, mud baths, and innumerable other services.

Beauty treatments

Massage for the body is a popular beauty treatment, with various techniques offering benefits to the skin (including the application of beauty products) and for increasing mental well-being and relaxation.

Facials refers to a treatment for the face.

Manicure refers to a treatment for the hands, incorporating the fingernails and cuticles and often involving the application of nail polish.

Pedicure refers to a treatment for the feet, incorporating the toenails and the softening or removal of calluses.   Manicures and pedicures take place at nail salons.

Beauty salons offer treatments such as waxing and threading for hair removal.

Human Brain

There are no pain receptors in the brain, so the brain can feel no pain.

The human brain is the fattest organ in the body and may consists of at least 60% fat.

Neurons develop at the rate of 250,000 neurons per minute during early pregnancy.

Humans continue to make new neurons throughout life in response to mental activity.

Alcohol interferes with brain processes by weakening connections between neurons.

Reading aloud and talking often to a young child promotes brain development.

Information travels at different speeds within different types of neurons. Not all neurons are the same.

There are a few different types within the body and transmission along these different kinds can be as slow as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec.

The capacity for such emotions as joy, happiness, fear, and shyness are already developed at birth.

The specific type of nurturing a child receives shapes how these emotions are developed.

The left side of your brain (left hemisphere) controls the right side of your body; and, the right side of your brain (right hemisphere) controls the left side of your body.

Children who learn two languages before the age of five alters the brain structure and adults have a much denser gray matter.

Information can be processed as slowly as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec (about 268 miles/hr).

While awake, your brain generates between 10 and 23 watts of power–or enough energy to power a light bulb.

The old adage of humans only using 10% of their brain is not true. Every part of the brain has a known function.

A study of one million students in New York showed that students who ate lunches that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes did 14% better on IQ tests than students who ate lunches with these additives.

For years, scientists believed that tinnitus was due to a function within the mechanics of the ear, but newer evidence shows that it is actually a function of the brain.

Every time you recall a memory or have a new thought, you are creating a new connection in your brain.

Memories triggered by scent have a stronger emotional connection, therefore appear more intense than other memory triggers.

Each time we blink, our brain kicks in and keeps things illuminated so the whole world doesn’t go dark each time we blink (about 20,000 times a day).

Laughing at a joke is no simple task as it requires activity in five different areas of the brain.

The average number of thoughts that humans are believed to experience each day is 70,000.

Fish

Fish have been on the earth for more than 450 million years.

Fish were well established long before dinosaurs roamed the earth.

There are over 25,000 identified species of fish on the earth.

It is estimated that there may still be over 15,000 fish species that have not yet been identified.

There are more species of fish than all the species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals combined.

40% of all fish species inhabit fresh water, yet less than .01% of the earth’s water is fresh water.

The spotted climbing perch is able to absorb oxygen from the air and will crawl overland using its strong pectoral fins.

Some fish like sharks don’t posses an air bladder to help keep them afloat and must either swim continually or rest on the bottom.

Some fish make sounds by grating their teeth and others like some catfish make sounds from their air filled swim bladder.

Some species of fish can fly (glide) others can skip along the surface and others can even climb rock.

Fish have a specialized sense organ called the lateral line which works much like radar and helps them navigate in dark or murky water.

The largest fish is the great whale shark which can reach fifty feet in length.

The smallest fish is the Philippine goby that is less than 1/3 of an inch when fully grown.

Some species of fish have skeletons made only of cartilage.

Fish have excellent senses of sight, touch, taste and many possess a good sense of smell and ‘hearing’.

Fish feel pain and suffer stress just like mammals and birds.

Basketball

In the very beginning the color of the basketball was brown, but later it was changed into a brighter color; that is orange.

The first basketball game took place in 1982, where the court was half the size of today’s courts, and only one point was scored during the match.

The NBA (National Basketball Association) was founded in 1949, after the combination of the NBL (National Basketball League) and the BAA (Basketball Associate of America).

Basketball was first played by a soccer ball untill it was changed in 1929.

Michael Jordan is considered one of the best basketball players around the world. The record score of 5,987 made him a legend in the world of basketball.

The reason why a backboard was added is because the audience in the balcony used to interfere in the game by handling the ball.

In 1967, slam dunks were considered illegal; nine years later it was legalized again.

The first hoop was like a peach with a bottom and every time a team scores, the referee would climb a ladder to get the ball.

Women’s basketball began in 1892, and some rules were modified to fit women.

The game was made an official Olympic game in berlin Germany, 1936.

Atheism

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.

Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.

The term atheism originated from the Greek ἄθεος (atheos), meaning “without god“, used as a pejorative term applied to those thought to reject the gods worshipped by the larger society.

With the spread of freethought, skeptical inquiry, and subsequent increase in criticism of religion, application of the term narrowed in scope.

The first individuals to identify themselves using the word “atheist” lived in the 18th century.   Atheists tend to be skeptical of supernatural claims, citing a lack of empirical evidence for deities. Rationales for not believing in any deity include the problem of evil, the argument from inconsistent revelations, and the argument from nonbelief.

Other arguments for atheism range from the philosophical to the social to the historical. Although some atheists have adopted secular philosophies, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere.

Many atheists hold that atheism is a more parsimonious worldview than theism, and therefore the burden of proof lies not on the atheist to disprove the existence of God, but on the theist to provide a rationale for theism.

Atheism is accepted within some religious and spiritual belief systems, including Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Neopagan movements such as Wicca, and nontheistic religions.

Jainism and some forms of Buddhism do not advocate belief in gods, whereas Hinduism holds atheism to be valid, but difficult to follow spiritually.

Since conceptions of atheism vary, determining how many atheists exist in the world today is difficult. According to one estimate, about 2.3% of the world’s population are atheists, while a further 11.9% are nonreligious.

According to another, rates of self-reported atheism are among the highest in Western nations, again to varying degrees: United States (4%), Italy (7%), Spain (11%), Great Britain (17%), Germany (20%), and France (32%).

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep is an English nursery rhyme, sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman. The original form of the tune is used for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and the “Alphabet song”.

The words have changed little in two and a half centuries. It has been suggested that the rhyme is a complaint against medieval English taxes on wool and in the twentieth century it was a subject of controversies in debates about “political correctness”. The Roud Folk Song Index, classifies this tune and its variations as number 4439.

Modern version

Recent versions tend to take the following form:

Baa, baa, black sheep,

Have you any wool?

Yes, sir, yes, sir,

Three bags full;

One for the master,

And one for the dame,

And one for the little boy

Who lives down the lane.

Original version

This rhyme was first printed in Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book, the oldest surviving collection of English language nursery rhymes, published c. 1744 with the lyrics very similar to those still used today:

 Bah, Bah a black Sheep,

Have you any Wool?

Yes merry have I,

Three Bags full,

One for my master,

One for my Dame,

One for the little Boy

That lives down the lane.

In the next surviving printing, in Mother Goose’s Melody (c. 1765), the rhyme remained the same, except the last lines, which were given as, “But none for the little boy who cries in the lane”.

The Roud Folk Song Index, which catalogues folk songs and their variations by number, classifies the song as 4439 and variations have been collected across Great Britain and North America.

Melody

The rhyme is usually sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman, which is also used for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and the “Alphabet song”.

The words and melody were first published together by A. H. Rosewig in (Illustrated National) Nursery Songs and Games, published in Philadelphia in 1879.

Lychee

The lychee (Litchi chinensis, and also known as the leechi, litchi, laichi, lichu, lizhi) is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae.

It is a tropical and subtropical fruit tree native to southern China and Southeast Asia, and now cultivated in many parts of the world.

The fresh fruit has a “delicate, whitish pulp” with a “perfume” flavor. Since this perfumy flavor is lost in canning, the fruit is usually eaten fresh.   An evergreen tree reaching 10–28 meters tall, the lychee bears fleshy fruits that are up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long and 4 cm (1.6 in) wide.

The outside of the fruit is covered by a pink-red, roughly textured rind that is inedible but easily removed to expose a layer of sweet, translucent white flesh.

Lychees are eaten in many different dessert dishes, and are especially popular in China, throughout Southeast Asia, along with South Asia and India.

The lychee is cultivated in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh and northern India (in particular Muzaffarpur Bihar, which accounts for 75% of total Indian production).

South Africa and the United States (Hawaii and Florida) also have commercial lychee production.

The lychee has a history of cultivation going back as far as 2000 BC according to records in China. Cultivation began in the area of southern China, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Wild trees still grow in parts of southern China and on Hainan Island. There are many stories of the fruit’s use as a delicacy in the Chinese Imperial Court. It was first described and introduced to the west in 1782.

Munnar

The name Munnar is believed to mean “three rivers”, referring to the town’s strategic location at the confluence of the Madhurapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundaly rivers.

The town has shared a strong cultural link with Tamil Nadu and over 70% of the population of the town being Tamils.   The Munnar town is in Kannan Devan Hills ( KDH ) Village in Devikulam taluk and is the largest panchayat in the Idukki district having an area measuring nearly 557 km².

The nearest major railway stations are at Ernakulam and Aluva (approximately 120 km by road). The nearest airport is Cochin International Airport, which is 140 km away.

Geography and climate  

The region in and around Munnar varies in height from 1,450 meters (4,760 ft) to 2,695 meters (8,842 ft) above mean sea level. Munnar enjoys a salubrious climate.

The temperature ranges between 5 °C (41 °F) and 25 °C (77 °F) in winter and 15 °C (59 °F) and 25 °C (77 °F) in summer.

Temperatures as low as −4 °C (25 °F) have been recorded in the Sevenmallay region of Munnar.The mean maximum daily temperature is at its lowest during the monsoon months with the highest temperature being 19 C.

Flora and fauna  

Most of the native flora and fauna of Munnar have disappeared due to severe habitat fragmentation resultant from the creation of the plantations.

However, some species continue to survive and thrive in several protected areas nearby, including the new Kurinjimala Sanctuary to the east, the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Manjampatti Valley and the Amaravati reserve forest of Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary to the north east, the Eravikulam National Park and Anamudi Shola National Park to the north, the Pampadum Shola National Park to the south and the proposed Palani Hills National Park to the east.

These protected areas are especially known for several threatened and endemic species including Nilgiri Thar, the Grizzled Giant Squirrel, the Nilgiri Wood-pigeon, Elephant, the Gaur, the Nilgiri langur, the Sambar, and the Neelakurinji.