Your Inspirational World Die/s Every Minute You Dont Read This Article: history
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Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts

Saturday, March 14, 2020

TOP KEYWORDS - Keyword research is a practice search engine optimization professionals - PART IV

Saturday, March 14, 2020 0
TOP KEYWORDS - Keyword research is a practice search engine optimization professionals - PART IV

Keywords are ideas and topics that define what your content is about. In terms of SEO, they're the words and phrases that searchers enter into search engines, also called "search queries." If you boil everything on your page — all the images, video, copy, etc.

Keywords are ideas and topics that define what your content is about. In terms of SEO, they're the words and phrases that searchers enter into search engines, also called "search queries." If you boil everything on your page — all the images, video, copy, etc.

 76-100

 76    -    google scholar

Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.

77    -    f

78    -    globo

Rede Globo, or simply Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Grupo Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings.

Só na globo.com você encontra tudo sobre o conteúdo e marcas do Grupo Globo. O melhor acervo de vídeos online sobre entretenimento, esportes e ...

79    -    home depot

The Home Depot, Inc. is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States, supplying tools, construction products, and services. The company is headquartered at the Atlanta Store Support Center at 2455 Paces Ferry Road NW; Atlanta, GA, 30339 in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia.

Shop online for all your home improvement needs: appliances, bathroom decorating ideas, kitchen remodeling, patio furniture, power tools, bbq grills, carpeting, ...

80    -    skyscanner

Skyscanner is an online travel company based in Edinburgh, Scotland and owned by Trip.com Group, the largest online travel agency in China. The site is available in over 30 languages and is used by 100 million people per month.

Book cheap flight tickets Map tool/search everywhere for the cheapest flight offers. Compare air tickets from 1200 travel sites. 100M users, 90M app ...

81    -    google map

Navigate your world faster and easier with Google Maps. Over 220 countries and territories mapped, with hundreds of millions of businesses and places on the ...

82    -    cnn

Find the latest breaking news and information on the top stories, weather, business, entertainment, politics, and more. For in-depth coverage, CNN provides ...

83    -    çeviri

Google'ın ücretsiz hizmetiyle kelimeleri, kelime öbeklerini ve web sayfalarını İngilizce ile 100'den fazla dil arasında anında çevirin.

84    -    discord

Discord is a proprietary freeware VoIP application and digital distribution platform designed for video gaming communities, that specializes in text, image, video and audio communication between users in a chat channel. Discord runs on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and in web browsers.

85    -    youtube mp3

86    -    steam

Steam is a video game digital distribution service by Valve. It was launched as a standalone software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to include games from third-party publishers.

87    -    ebay kleinanzeigen

Kostenlose Anzeigen aufgeben mit eBay Kleinanzeigen. Gebraucht oder Neu, Privat oder Gewerbe - Jetzt gratis inserieren auf Deutschlands meistbesuchtem ...

88    -    irctc

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the latter, with around 5,50,000 to 6,00,000 bookings everyday. It is the world's busiest and highest of 15 to 16 Lakhs tickets every day.

89    -    ryanair

Ryanair DAC is an Irish budget airline founded in 1984, headquartered in Swords, Dublin, with its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family of airlines, and has Ryanair UK, Ryanair Sun, Malta Air and Lauda as sister airlines.

Book Cheap Flights direct at the official Ryanair website for Europe's lowest fares. Fully allocated seating and much more now available online.

90    -    cricbuzz

CricBuzz is an Indian cricket news website owned by Times Internet. It features news, articles and live coverage of cricket matches including videos, scorecards, text commentary, player stats and team rankings. Their website also offers a mobile app.

Get Live Cricket Score, Scorecard, Schedules of International and Domestic cricket matches along with Latest News, Videos and ICC Cricket Rankings of ...

91    -    libero mail

Inserisci la tua user e password ed entra in Libero Mail. Sei invece un nuovo utente? Crea un nuovo account o richiedi l'aiuto di Libero.

92    -    onet

The Occupational Information Network is a free online database that contains hundreds of occupational definitions to help students, job seekers, businesses and workforce development professionals to understand today's world of work in the United States.

Onet: codzienne źródło informacji milionów Polaków - wiadomości z kraju i ze świata 24/7, pogoda, sport, biznes, moto, rozrywka. Bądź na bieżąco z Onet!

93    -    wp

WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system, referred to within WordPress as Themes.

Nowoczesne medium, porządkuje świat i dostarcza angażujące informacje, rozrywkę i usługi w czasie rzeczywistym. Przewodnik Polaków w wirtualnym świecie.

94    -    google classroom

Google Classroom is a free web service, developed by Google for schools, that aims to simplify creating, distributing, and grading assignments in a paperless way. The primary purpose of Google Classroom is to streamline the process of sharing files between teachers and students.

Classroom is a free service for schools, non-profit organsations and anyone with a personal Google account. Classroom makes it easy for learners and ...

95    -    meteo

METEO FRANCE - Retrouvez les prévisions météo officielles et gratuites de Météo-France à 15 jours pour toutes les villes de France, pour l'outremer, le monde, ...

96    -    fox news

Breaking News, Latest News and Current News from FOXNews.com. Breaking news and video. Latest Current News: U.S., World, Entertainment, Health, ...

97    -    translator

Translation history will soon only be available when you are signed in and ... so make sure to save translations you want to remember for ease of access later.

98    -    groupon

99    -    trump

Donald John Trump is the 45th and current president of the United States. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television personality. Trump was born and raised in Queens, a borough of New York City, and received a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School.

100    -    badoo

Badoo is a dating-focused social network founded by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Andreev in 2006. It is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus, with offices in Malta, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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Monday, November 25, 2019

Best of Best : God's Quotes

Monday, November 25, 2019 0
Best of Best : God's Quotes

God has been conceived as either personal or impersonal. In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, but not the sustainer, of the universe. In pantheism, God is the universe itself.


Brahma is the first god in the Hindu triumvirate, or trimurti. The triumvirate consists of three gods who are responsible for the creation, upkeep and destruction of the world.

“God made you a masterpiece – be blessed, secure, disciplined and equipped.” – Joel Osteen

Hinduism dies if untouchability lives, and untouchability has to die if Hinduism is to live.     - Mahatma Gandhi

“When the solution is simple, God is answering.” – Albert Einstein

The greatest contentment comes from devotion alone and not from it's rewards, therefore one who has this devotion seeks nothing else.      - Lord Krishna

“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” – Saint Augustine

“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.” – C.S. Lewis

“God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.” – Billy Graham

The three essentials of Hinduism are belief in God, in the Vedas as revelation, in the doctrine of Karma and transmigration.      - Swami Vivekananda

The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results.  - Lord Krishna

You are what you believe in. You become that which you believe you can become. - Bhagavad Gita

 “God will never give you anything you can’t handle, so don’t stress.” – Kelly Clarkson

 “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God’s gift, that’s why we call it the present.” – Joan Rivers

The essence of Hinduism is the same essence of all true religions: Bhakti or pure love for God and genuine compassion for all beings.  - Radhanath Swami

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you?” – William Arthur Ward

Affirm divine calmness and peace, and send out only thoughts of love and goodwill if you want to live in peace and harmony. Never get angry, for anger poisons your system. -  Paramahansa Yogananda

The ultimate goal of human life is to transcend culture and personality to the unconditioned pure being. But the means to do this is through our culture and way of life.  - David Frawley

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” – Reinhold Niebuhr

“Every man’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers.” – Hans Christian Andersen

“Being human means you will make mistakes. And you will make mistakes, because failure is God’s way of moving you in another direction.” – Oprah Winfrey

 “Krishna taught in the Bhadavad Gita: ‘karmanyeva-adhikaraste ma phalesu kadachana’, which means, ‘Be active, never be inactive, and don’t react to the outcome of the work.”  ― Anonymous, Buddhist Scriptures

“Every day is a gift from God. There’s no guarantee of tomorrow, so that tells me to see the good in this day to make the most of it.” – Joel Osteen

India is the meeting place of the religions and among these Hinduism alone is by itself a vast and complex thing, not so much a religion as a great diversified and yet subtly unified mass of spiritual thought, realization and aspiration.   - Sri Aurobindo

Hinduism at its best has spoken the only relevant truth about the way to self-realization in the full sense of the word.      - Count Hermann Keyserling

“Faith is about trusting God when you have unanswered questions.” – Joel Osteen

 “You are a spiritual being with a human experience.”   ― His Divine Holiness Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

“I believe that whatever comes at a particular time is a blessing from God.” – A. R. Rahman

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” – Corrie Ten Boom

“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.” – Martin Luther

Hinduism the perennial philosophy that is at the core of all religions.      - Aldous Huxley

Here an attempt is made to explain suffering: the outcaste of traditional Hinduism is held to deserve his fetched fate; it is a punishment for the wrongs he did in a previous life.      - Walter Kaufmann

He alone sees truly who sees the Lord the same in every creature seeing the same Lord everywhere, he does not harm himself or others.      - Lord Krishna

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” – Soren Kierkegaard

“Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.” – Socrates

 “Anyone who is steady in his determination for the advanced stage of spiritual realization and can equally tolerate the onslaughts of distress and happiness is certainly a person eligible for liberation.”   ― A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, The Bhagavad-gita

“Through hard work, perseverance and a faith in God, you can live your dreams.” – Ben Carson

“I will thank God for the day and the moment I have.” – Jim Valvano

“Look for God, suggests my Guru. Look for God like a man with his head on fire looks for water.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

“Let us never forget to pray. God lives. He is near. He is real. He is not only aware of us but cares for us. He is our Father. He is accessible to all who will seek Him.” – Gordon B. Hinckley

“God sleeps in the minerals, awakens in plants, walks in animals, and thinks in man.” – Arthur Young

“God gives us relatives; thank God, we can choose our friends.” – Addison Mizner

Thursday, November 07, 2019

Champakadhama Temple - Lord Champakadhama incarnation of Lord Vishnu

Thursday, November 07, 2019 0
Champakadhama Temple - Lord Champakadhama incarnation of Lord Vishnu

 Champakadhama Temple - Lord Champakadhama incarnation of Lord Vishnu

The Champakadhama Temple is located in a distance of 20 km from Bangalore in Bannerghatta. This historical Champakadhama temple at Bannerghatta is dedicated to Lord Champakadhama incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The temple attracts huge number of devotees from Bangalore city and surroundings.

 The Temple is maintained by Government of Karnataka. It houses unique stone scriptures. Champakadhama is another name of Lord Rama or Vishnu.


The history of the temple dates back to 12th century. As per the inscriptions found here, it is believed that the Champakadhama Temple was built in 1257 during Hoysala period under the ruler Tamilarasa. You can also see the writing which belongs to the 12th century as soon as you enter the temple premises.


The shrine houses idol of Lord Champakadhama along with Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Bhoodevi. You can also visit temples dedicated to Lord Narasimha and Lord Sampangi on a hillock located behind the Champakadhama temple.


The three day annual fair is held here in the month of March or April every year. Temple is open for pooja from morning 6.00 AM to 12:00 PM and again later in the evening after 05:00 pm to 07:00 PM. Bannerghatta National Park is nearby attraction.

Champakadhama Temple

Near To Bannerghata National Park,

Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore - 560076

Sunday, July 26, 2015

The History of the Konark Sun Temple, Orissa (Odisha), India

Sunday, July 26, 2015 0
The History of the Konark Sun Temple, Orissa (Odisha), India

History of the Konark Sun Temple, Orissa (Odisha), India

 Odisha (formerly Orissa), an eastern Indian state on the Bay of Bengal, is known for its tribal cultures and its many ancient Hindu temples. The capital, Bhubaneswar, is home to hundreds of temples, notably the intricately-carved Mukteshvara. The Lingaraj Temple complex, dating to the 11th century, is set around sacred Bindusagar Lake. The Odisha State Museum is focused on the area’s history and environment.

Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century CE Sun temple at Konark about 36 kilometres northeast from Puri on the coastline of Odisha, India. The temple is attributed to king Narasinga Deva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty about 1250 CE.

Address: Konark, Odisha 752111
Opened: 1250
Hours: Opens 6AM Closes : 8PM ⋅
Architectural style: Kalinga architecture
Area: 10.62 ha (26.2 acres)

The History of the Konark Sun Temple, Orissa (Odisha), India

What is special about Sun Temple?

The Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century Hindu temple dedicated to the Sun God. Shaped like a giant chariot, the temple is known for the exquisite stone carvings that cover the entire structure. It is the best-known tourist destination in Orissa and has been a World Heritage Site since 1984.

Who built the Sun Temple?

Based on Brahmin beliefs, this temple was built in the 13th century by King Narasimhadeva I (1238-1250 CE) of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty and dedicated to Sun God Surya. As per legend, the son of Lord Krishna, Samba, got the Konark Sun Temple constructed to honor Surya the Sun God, as the God had cured his leprosy.

Why Sun Temple is called Sun Temple?

Konark Sun Temple, located in the eastern State of Odisha near the sacred city of Puri, is dedicated to the sun God or Surya. ... Sailors once called this Sun Temple of Konarak, the Black Pagoda because it was supposed to draw ships into the shore and cause shipwrecks.

Why Konark temple is not Worshipped?

The Konark temple is believed to have been destroyed in the 16th century, either by Muslim invaders (Kala Pahad) of Bengal or due to architectural faults which caused auto dismantling of massive stone structures causing the main temple to collapse.

Why is Konark called Black Pagoda?

Why is Sun Temple, Konark called the 'Black Pagoda'? ... So, the temple was used as a navigational point by European sailors. They referred to it as the 'Black Pagoda' due to its dark colour and its magnetic power that drew ships into the shore and caused shipwrecks.   

The Sun Temple of Konark stands at the end of a deserted stretch of coast in Odisha, at the Bay of Bengal. Sailors of yore used this temple as a navigational aid for centuries. It was known as the “Black Pagoda,” which distinguished it from the “White Pagoda” – the Jagannath Temple 32 kilometers further up the coast at Puri. Though the Sun Temple stands nearly three kilometers from the ocean today, when it was built 800 years ago, it stood at the very edge of the sea. There is something raw about the entire ambience of the place. Storms and sea winds batter its stone walls and salt and sand cut away and erode it as the temple appears to be gradually melting away into the sand.

Sun worship is very significant to Indians. The standard daily prayer of brahmins is the Gayatri mantra, addressed to the sun. The practice of Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation is also an important part of yogic practice.

The Legend


Historians have been unable to unearth any clear reason as to why a temple was erected here, but many legends have come up to fill this gap. The most popular one tells the tale of Krishna’s son, Samba, who was too proud of his beauty. So proud in fact, that he once made fun of sage Narada, a person who was not all that good looking. Narada plotted his revenge and lured Samba into a pool where his stepmothers were bathing in joyful abandon. When it came to Krishna’s notice that his son was misbehaving with his wives, he cursed him with leprosy. Realizing later that the innocent boy had been tricked by Narada’s cunning, Krishna was mortified. But he could not revoke his curse. All he could do was advise his son to worship the sun god Surya, healer of all diseases, and hope for a cure. After twelve years of penance and worship, Samba was at last instructed by Surya to go and bathe in the sea at Konark. He did so and was cured of his awful affliction. Samba was so delighted that he decided there and then to erect a Surya temple on the spot. It was called Konarka, “Place of the Sun,” from which the modern name comes.

The History

Historical fact has always been interwoven with myth in India, and there may be an interesting connection here. We know that the temple was actually built by a king of the medieval Ganga dynasty, Narasingha Deva (1238-1264). The king was popularly known as langulia, “the one with a tail.” One explanation is that Narasingha built the temple to commemorate his victories over the Muslims, who were pushing into Odisha from the west. We know that during his reign he won at least three resounding victories over the invaders.

By the end of the sixteenth century, Konark was famous far beyond the borders of Odisha and had become a great center of pilgrimage and attracted the praise of even such a discriminating critic as Abul Fazl, the court biographer of Akbar. He tells us: “Near Jagannath (Puri) is a temple dedicated to the sun. Its cost was defrayed by twelve years’ revenue of the province. Even those whose judgment is critical, stand astonished at the sight. 28 temples stand in its vicinity; six before the entrance and 22 within the enclosure, each of which has its separate legend.”

Those days are gone. All that now remains is half the main temple, and even that is damaged. Nevertheless, this mere fragment of Konark’s former glory constitutes what is often considered to be the most impressive temple in northern India.

The story is told that Narasingha Deva was delighted with the achievement of his craftsmen. One day, the king decided to see how the building of the Sun Temple was progressing. He disguised himself and wandered about the site, incognito, looking here and there to see that the work was to his satisfaction. In one corner of the vast camp he came across a famous craftsman, absorbed in carving out a block of stone. This artist had an attendant, a young apprentice whose sole job was to squat behind the master and supply him with refreshment whenever he needed it. This refreshment was in the form of pan-betel leaf wrapped around a bitter and heady mixture of chopped areca nut, chewing tobacco, and lime.

The king motioned to the attendant to move, and silently took his place. So absorbed was the master, that he did not notice anything had happened behind him. After a while, he stretched back his hand for more pan. The king, who had been gazing entranced at the beautiful work being done, quickly got out his own pan box of finest silver, took out a bundled leaf, and put it in the outstretched hand. The craftsman popped the pan in his mouth and went on working. For a few moments nothing happened, but then he suddenly realized that the pan he was chewing was of a far higher quality than normal. Turning around to find out what was going on, he recognized the face of his king. Spluttering profuse apologies, the sculptor prostrated himself before the squatting monarch. But Narasingha Deva would have none of it. Rising to his feet, he lifted up the artisan and then bowed down low before him, saying: “Maharaj! You are so talented, you are indeed worthy to have the king as your attendant!”

It is said that gigantic magnets within the temple ensured that the metallic deity of Surya remained suspended in midair. However, when Muslim armies threatened the kingdom a few centuries after it was built, the local maharaja removed the cult image of Surya from the sanctuary and it was taken to Puri for safety. Once the Muslim armies invaded, the place fell into total neglect.

The decay was gradual. Even in 1848, a corner of the tower still stood to a considerable height. In 1820 this was about 35 meters according to the Scots traveler A. Stirling who saw it then. The English architect Markham Kittoe, writing in 1838, estimated it had diminished to “80 or 100 feet, and has at a distance the appearance of a crooked column.” But this brave remnant was not to last long. Ten years later, in 1848, it was blown down in a ferocious gale. When the Indian writer Rajendralala Mitra visited the site after another twenty years, even the sanctuary over which the proud shikhara had towered was reduced to “an enormous mass of stones, studded with a few pipal trees here and there.” The porch – that part of the temple still standing – suffered more from the hands of man than from the elements. The chief villain of the piece was a Raja of Kurda, who took a particular liking to the chlorite slabs that decorated the facade of the building. Again, on-the-spot evidence comes from Kittoe.

“The Kurda Raja has demolished all three entrances and is removing the stones to Puri; the masons pick out the figures and throw them down to take their chances of being broken which most of them are. These they leave on the spot; those that escape uninjured are taken away. Nor were the local people averse to helping themselves to the iron clamps, for the sake of the metal.”

Fortunately, this vandalism was stopped by order of the government in 1838. The story of the conservation and repair of the temple has become an inextricable part of its myth. Sadly, the early part of the story is a classic tale of bureaucratic bungling. The first suggestion to repair the ruin came from the unlikely direction of the Marine Board. In 1806 they submitted a proposal to have the temple repaired so that it could once more be a useful navigational landmark for the ships in the Bay of Bengal! But the government considered the expense involved to be too great.

This was again the reason given by the deputy governor of Bengal in 1838, when he refused to do anything to preserve the temple. In 1882-83, some jungle clearance was undertaken and a few statues mounted on platforms around the site, but in the wrong place. In 1892, Lieutenant Governor Sir Charles Elliot refused to grant any money for restoration, though some individual pieces of sculpture were shifted to the Calcutta Museum a couple of years later. Elliot did suggest that some debris be cleared from the rear of the porch, but this was not done, because the superintendent engineer thought that such action would weaken what remained of the building. Thus a hundred years were wasted before any constructive action was taken to improve the site. In 1900 Sir John Woodburn, the new lieutenant governor, visited Konark and immediately issued an order that repair and restoration should begin without further delay.

Periodic renovations took place well into the twentieth century. The latest survey was by an international team from UNESCO who, in 1980 produced the extraordinary suggestion that the entire temple should be covered in a coat of fiberglass to protect it from the march of time.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

How December 25th Became Christmas

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 0
How December 25th Became Christmas

How December 25th Became Christmas


How December 25th Became Christmas

On December 25th of every year the entire Christian world comes together, putting aside petty quarrels and minor differences, to commemorate the birth of Jesus. (Well, most of us come together anyway).

The Orthodox Churches have it on different days because of some sort of disagreement over Gregorian calendars. And there are a few Christian groups around who don't celebrate it at all (too material, I guess).

In any case; on December 25th most of the Christians that I know celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ -- very likely the holiest event ever to take place anywhere on the Earth, and an entirely worthy occasion to celebrate. But don't you ever wonder if we've got anything about it right? Is it even on the right date?

~ Complex Answers to Simple Questions ~

Don't bet the farm.

First off, they didn't exactly keep birth records of the common folk in 0 or 1 or 2 AD (not to say that Jesus was common, but… well, you know the story.) Secondly, even if they did, there's the problem of leap year. Every four years the powers that be add an extra day to compensate for a less than perfect rotation of the earth. The Romans even didn't know about that, convoluting time and calendars even more.


Plus some people back then used a lunar calendar and some used the solar version that we use today. Finally, the authors of the Gospels (Mathew and Luke particularly) either didn't know or didn't think it was important enough to mention the date of Jesus' birth. Who even knows if they recognized birthdays in ancient Judea?


The bottom line is that nobody knows the exact date of Jesus' birth, but the smart money is betting that it was sometime in early spring. There's some historical data, but the best hint is that famous story about shepherds tending their flocks by night. Shepherds tend to only stay up with the sheep during lambing season, and lambing season is in spring. But since no one knows, you might as well go along with the spirit of the season and enjoy all the cheer and good will towards men.


~ Hat Tricks ~

There is, however, some interesting history to the day we choose to remember the birth of the Christ child. It's not just some random date that somebody pulled out of a hat you know.


There have been festivals of every sort around the winter solstice going back to the Babylonians. But it was the Roman Emperor Aurelian who fixed the actual date. He called December 25th "The Birthday of the Unconquered Sun", and put it right in the middle of the feast of Saturnalia. (The Romans really knew how to have a feast: Saturnalia lasted a week.)


This was a always a time a great merry making there were big dinners, halls bedecked with laurels and green trees, people carrying lighted candles through the streets, and the giving of gifts was a common practice. In fact, you might say that the Christmas spirit is really the spirit of Saturnalia passed on over time.


~ Enter the Christians ~


The Christians, in the meantime, were having the "Mass of Christ" at various times and places. This wasn't a commemoration of the birth of Jesus so much as it was a time to reflect on His life and acts. So, when Constantine made Christianity the religion of Rome, the Catholics needed a way to convert the pagans running around the streets of Rome with their candles and presents to Christian practices.


One imagines it went a little something like this: "You have an unconquered sun, we have an unconquered Son. You give gifts -- we have wise men bringing gifts. You have bonfires and lamps and candles -- we have a new star. It's not really all that hard put the two together." Or something like that.

So the date of Christmas became the 25th, the pagans became Christians, and everybody got a day to celebrate selflessness, joy, and light.






Thursday, May 29, 2008

The New 7 Wonders of the World -Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, the Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, Petra, and the Great Wall of China

Thursday, May 29, 2008 0
The New 7 Wonders of the World -Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, the Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, Petra, and the Great Wall of China

The Seven Wonders of the World are the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, the Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, Petra, and the Great Wall of China.
 The Seven Wonders of the World are the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, the Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, Petra, and the Great Wall of China

 New7Wonders of the World was a campaign started in 2000 to choose Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments. The popularity poll was led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber and organized by the New7Wonders Foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland, with winners announced on 7 July 2007 in Lisbon.

Following 7 candidates have been elected by more than 100 million votes to represent global heritage throughout history. The listing is in random order, as announced at the Declaration Ceremony on 07.07.07. All the New 7 Wonders are equal and are presented as a group without any ranking.

The Taj Mahal (1630 A.D.) Agra, India

The Taj Mahal (1630 A.D.) Agra, IndiaINDIA

This immense mausoleum was built on the orders of Shah Jahan, the fifth Muslim Mogul emperor, to honor the memory of his beloved late wife. Built out of white marble and standing in formally laid-out walled gardens, the Taj Mahal is regarded as the most perfect jewel of Muslim art in India. The emperor was consequently jailed and, it is said, could then only see the Taj Mahal out of his small cell window.

Petra (9 B.C. - 40 A.D.), Jordan

Petra (9 B.C. - 40 A.D.), JordanJORDAN

On the edge of the Arabian Desert, Petra was the glittering capital of the Nabataean empire of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to 40 A.D.). Masters of water technology, the Nabataeans provided their city with great tunnel constructions and water chambers. A theater, modelled on Greek-Roman prototypes, had space for an audience of 4,000. Today, the Palace Tombs of Petra, with the 42-meter-high Hellenistic temple facade on the El-Deir Monastery, are impressive examples of Middle Eastern culture.

Machu Picchu (1460-1470), Peru

Machu Picchu (1460-1470), PeruPERU

In the 15th century, the Incan Emperor Pachacútec built a city in the clouds on the mountain known as Machu Picchu ("old mountain"). This extraordinary settlement lies halfway up the Andes Plateau, deep in the Amazon jungle and above the Urubamba River. It was probably abandoned by the Incas because of a smallpox outbreak and, after the Spanish defeated the Incan Empire, the city remained 'lost' for over three centuries. It was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911.

The Great Wall of China (220 B.C and 1368 - 1644 A.D.) China

The Great Wall of China (220 B.C and 1368 - 1644 A.D.) ChinaCHINA

The Great Wall of China was built to link existing fortifications into a united defense system and better keep invading Mongol tribes out of China. It is the largest man-made monument ever to have been built and it is disputed that it is the only one visible from space. Many thousands of people must have given their lives to build this colossal construction.

The Roman Colosseum (70 - 82 A.D.) Rome, Italy

The Roman Colosseum (70 - 82 A.D.) Rome, ItalyITALY

This great amphitheater in the centre of Rome was built to give favors to successful legionnaires and to celebrate the glory of the Roman Empire. Its design concept still stands to this very day, and virtually every modern sports stadium some 2,000 years later still bears the irresistible imprint of the Colosseum's original design. Today, through films and history books, we are even more aware of the cruel fights and games that took place in this arena, all for the joy of the spectators.

Christ Redeemer (1931) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Christ Redeemer (1931) Rio de Janeiro, BrazilBRAZIL

This statue of Jesus stands some 38 meters tall, atop the Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Designed by Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski, it is one of the world’s best-known monuments. The statue took five years to construct and was inaugurated on October 12, 1931. It has become a symbol of the city and of the warmth of the Brazilian people, who receive visitors with open arms.

The Pyramid at Chichén Itzá (before 800 A.D.) Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

The Pyramid at Chichén Itzá (before 800 A.D.) Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

MEXICO

Chichén Itzá, the most famous Mayan temple city, served as the political and economic center of the Mayan civilization. Its various structures - the pyramid of Kukulkan, the Temple of Chac Mool, the Hall of the Thousand Pillars, and the Playing Field of the Prisoners – can still be seen today and are demonstrative of an extraordinary commitment to architectural space and composition. The pyramid itself was the last, and arguably the greatest, of all Mayan temples.

Voting analysis


Bernard Weber - Founder & President of New7Wonders, on the voting results

After 7 years of campaigning and 100 million votes received, the results of the world’s first-ever global vote were announced on July 7, 2007 (07.07.07), the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year of our third millennium, in Lisbon, Portugal and are now in the process of being validated and confirmed. The canon of New 7 Wonders of the World was announced during a spectacular gala show in the “Estadio da Luz,” the stadium of light, in the presence of 50,000 spectators and millions of television viewers throughout the world.

A little more then 2,200 years after the Ancient 7 Wonders (which represented buildings built over a period of 2,000 years) were declared in 200 B.C. by a single man, Philon of Byzantium in Athens, more than 100 million votes from people from every corner and country in the world, elected the New 7 Wonders of the World.

This truly new set of 7 Wonders covers, once again, the time span of 2,000 years—from the Arab city of Petra and the Roman Colosseum, both of which date from the 1st Century A.D., to the wide-armed statue of Christ Redeemer on Rio de Janeiro’s Corcovado mountain, built in 1931.

Following are some of my thoughts on the results of this first global vote in humankind’s history:

Allow me to start by taking something right off the top of your mind: No, not the Chinese, nor the Indian people have played the most weighty role in choosing the New7Wonders! They did not represent the largest group of voters. The children and young people of our world did.

For the first time ever, children could participate in a global election. They were the most numerous group of voters, since the Chinese have children, the Indians do too, Americans, Europeans, Africans—all of us, we all have children. Children up to a certain age do not have a strong national sense of pride, so they were our most objective voters, they voted for what they genuinely liked best.

In addition, it was not the case—as many had feared and wrongly predicted—that only the rich Western world and developed countries would dominate the list-making. Indeed, it was the rich, saturated and (as we saw time and again) more lethargic developed world that joined the proud, much more enthusiastic developing world to choose the New 7 Wonders of the World. Interestingly, at the very beginning of the campaign, in the year 2000, so seven years ago, the first wave of votes came from Turkey.

It seemed to me that people in developing societies use the Internet differently from us in the western, northern world of plenty. For them, it is the gateway to connect with the rest of the world. In our so-called privileged, developed world, the Internet is often used to surf, chat and/or consume content.

Reflecting the diversity of our world, there are three of the New 7 Wonders in Latin America, two in Asia, one in the Middle-East and one in Europe. They represent some of the most important civilizations of the past two millennia — Arab, Chinese, Inca, Indian, Mayan and Roman.

With the 7 (no more and no fewer) votes that people had to cast via our website, plus the opportunity to cast votes via text messaging or telephone, our voting system proved to be well balanced. Internet voting was the equalizing factor, while SMS and phone votes expressed the passion and strong feelings that people had for their favorite monument. As a result, some candidates received many Internet votes from all over the world without even engaging seriously in campaigning. This was the case with the Colosseum in Rome, the only wonder standing in old Europe, representing Roman civilization. Unexpectedly, the Alhambra in Spain did not enjoy public support when it came down to voting, despite a rigorous campaign supported by the King and the Prime Minister of Spain and great local activities, such as the creation of a human chain of 3,000 people embracing the ancient fortress.

The biggest surprise, however, came from Africa in the final phase of the election—a tremendous sprint in the last weeks before voting closed. Huge number of votes poured in supporting the African candidate in Mali: Timbuktu. Mali itself sent more votes in one single week than had the entire country of Germany up to then! This propelled Timbuktu from the bottom of the list to literally scratching the top 7! Had the organizers started campaigning just a month earlier, Timbuktu would have had a serious chance to be elected as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

More people from Korea and Japan voted for the Eiffel Tower than did people from France. Many children worldwide loved Neuschwanstein Castle, but the Germans didn’t. The United States, whose inhabit- ants voted very passionately and in truly huge numbers, did not vote for their Statue of Liberty.

Hundreds of thousands people send us comments and words of encouragement and often thus explained their choices. Some of these moving comments are listed after this report.

On a personal note, I am especially pleased to see that the two countries, Switzerland, where I was born, and Canada, whose citizenship I adopted as my second nationality, were amongst the most active participants without having their own candidates in the running together with some exotic countries like Yemen, Albania and Afghanistan.

This new list of 7 Wonders reflects quite accurately what economists predict as the upcoming economic and industrial regions in the world in the not-too-distant future: China, India and South America.

I have asked myself: Could there be a connection between, on the one hand, the motivation and the pride, enthusiasm and the compassion that people have for their culture and monuments that symbolically represent them, and, on the other, their motivation to make a brighter future for themselves?

My response is: Yes, this is definitely the case and ultimately also the reason that cultural identity is so important to every single human being and to all societies on our planet!

My personal experience traveling, spending time and sharing life in different parts of the world taught me that people who are deeply rooted in their culture are more secure and, as such, fear the stranger, the unknown much less. Their own strong identity allows them to open up and appreciate differences, valuing the enriching experience with a stranger. It is the respect and appreciation of that which is different that forges the strongest friendship.

The New7Wonders Foundation will honor the 14 New7Wonders Finalist Candidates, together with the New 7 Wonders of the World, forever. They all deserve the acknowledgement of being outstanding finalists, since they are all icons in their own way, representing the best that people and civilizations have left behind for future generations to respect, honor and enjoy!

The people have spoken, history was made.


Our Heritage is our Future!


Bernard Weber, Founder & President of the New7Wonders Campaign, on the voting results.


Source: http://www.new7wonders.com/

Monday, May 12, 2008

Pizza : History & Legend

Monday, May 12, 2008 0
Pizza : History & Legend

Pizza : History & Legend

Pizza, like so many other foods, did not originate in the country for which it is now famous. Unless you have researched the subject, you, like so many people, probably always thought Pizza was strictly an Italian creation.


Pizza is a baked pie of Italian origin consisting of a shallow bread-like crust covered with seasoned tomato sauce, cheePizza se, and often other toppings such as sausage or olive. The word pizza is believed to be from an Old Italian word meaning "a point," which in turn became the Italian word "pizzicare," which means "to pinch" or "pluck."



The pizza could have been invented by the Phoenicians, the Greeks, Romans, or anyone who learned the secret of mixing flour with water and heating it on a hot stone.


In one of its many forms, pizza has been a basic part of the Italian diet since the Stone Age. This earliest form of pizza was a crude bread that was baked beneath the stones of the fire. After cooking, it was seasoned with a variety of different toppings and used instead of plates and utensils to sop up broth or gravies. It is said that the idea of using bread as a plate came from the Greeks who ate flat round bread (plankuntos) baked with an assortment of toppings. It was eaten by the working man and his family because it was a thrifty and convenient food.


6th Century B.C.


At the height of the Persian Empire, it is said that the soldiers of Darius the Great (521-486 B.C.), accustomed to lengthy marches, baked a kind of bread flat upon their shields and then covered it with cheese and dates.


3rd Century B.C.


Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 B.C.), also know as Cato the Elder, wrote the first history of Rome. He wrote about "flat round of dough dressed with olive oil, herbs, and honey baked on stones."


1st Century B.C.


In "The Aeneid" written by Virgil (70-19 B.C.), it describes the legendary origin of the Roman nation, describing cakes or circles of bread:


"Beneath a shady tree, the hero sprad his table on the turf, with cakes of bread; And, with his chiefs, on forest fruits he fed. They sate; and (not without the god's command). Their homely far dispatch'd, the hungry band invade their trenchers next, and soon devour to mend the scenty meal, their cakes of flour...See, we devour the plates on which we fed."


1st Century A.D.


Our knowledge of Roman cookery derives mainly from the excavations at Pompeii and from the great cookery book of Marcus Gavius Apicius called "De Re Coquinaria." Apicius was a culinary expert and from his writings, he provided us with information on ancient Roman cuisine. It is recorded that so great was Apicius' love of food that he poisoned himself for fear of dying of hunger when his finances fell into disarray. Apicius' book also contains recipes which involve putting a variety of ingredients on a base of bread (a hollowed-out loaf). The recipe uses chicken meat, pine kernels, cheese, garlic, mint, pepper, and oil (all ingredients of the contemporary pizza). The recipe concludes the instruction "insuper nive, et inferes" which means "cool in snow and serve!"


79 A.D. - In the ashes after Mount Versuvius erupted and smothered Pompeii on August 24, 79 A.D., evidence was found of a flat flour cake that was baked and widely eaten at that time in Pompeii and nearby Neopolis, The Greek colony that became Naples. Evidence was also found in Pompeii of shops, complete with marble slabs and other tools of the trade, which resemble the conventional pizzeria. The Museo Nazionale at Naples exhibits a statue from Pompeii which because of its stance is called I pizzaiolo.


16th Century


1522 - Tomatoes were brought back to Europe from the New World (Peru). Originally they were thought to be poisonous, but later the poorer people of Naples added the new tomatoes to their yeast dough and created the first simple pizza, as we know it. They usually had only flour, olive oil, lard, cheese, and herbs with which to feed their families. All of Italy proclaimed the Neapolitan pies to be the best. At that time, the Tavern of the Cerrigloi was a hangout for the Spanish soldiers of the Viceroy. It is said that they flocked there to feast on the specialty of the house - pizza.


17th Century


By the 17th Century, pizza had achieved a local popularity among visitors to Naples who would venture into the poorer sections to taste this peasant dish made by men called "pizzaioli."


18th Century


Queen Maria Carolina d'Asburgo Lorena (1752-1814), wife of the King of Naples, Ferdinando IV (1751-1821), had a special oven built in their summer palace of Capodimonte so that their chef could serve pizzas to herself and to her guests.


19th Century


1889 - Umberto I (1844-1900), King of Italy, and his wife, Queen Margherita di Savoia (1851-1926), in Naples on holiday, called to their palace the most popular of the pizzaioli (pizza chef), Raffaele Esposito, to taste his specialties. He prepared three kinds of pizzas: one with pork fat, cheese, and basil; one with garlic, oil, and tomatoes; and another with mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes (in the colors of the Italian flag). The Queen liked the last kind of pizza so much that she sent to the pizzzaiolo a letter to thank him saying, "I assure you that the three kinds of pizza you have prepared were very delicious." Raffaele Esposito dedicated his specialty to the Queen and called it "Pizza Margherita." This pizza set the standard by which today's pizza evolved as well as firmly established Naples as the pizza capitol of the world.


In the late 19th century, pizza was sold in the streets in Naples at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was cut from a large tray that had been cooked in the baker's oven and had a simple topping of mushrooms and anchovies. As pizza became more popular, stalls were set up where the dough was shaped as customers ordered. Various toppings were invented. The stalls soon developed into the pizzeria, an open-air place for people to congregate, eat, drink, and talk.


Pizza migrated to America with the Italians in the latter half of the 19th century. Pizza was introduced to Chicago by a peddler who walked up and down Taylor Street with a metal washtub of pizzas on his head, crying his wares at two cents a chew. This was the traditional way pizza used to be sold in Naples, in copper cylindrical drums with false bottoms that were packed with charcoal from the oven to keep the pizzas hot. The name of the pizzeria was embossed on the drum.


20th Century


NOTE: For many people, especially among the Italian-American population, the first American pizzas were known as Tomato Pie. Even in the present 21st century, present-day tomato pie is most commonly found in the Northeastern United States, especially in Italian bakeries in central New York. Tomato pies are built the opposite of pizza pies - first the cheese, then the toppings, and then the sauce.


1905 - Gennaro Lombardi claims to have opened the first United States Pizzeria in New York City at 53 1/2 Spring Street. Lombardo is now known as America's "Patriaca della Pizza." It wasn't until the early 1930s that he added tables and chairs and sold spaghetti as well.


1943 - Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (a pizza with a flaky crust that rises an inch or more above the plate and surrounds deep piles of toppings) was created by Ike Sewell at his bar and grill called Pizzeria Uno.


1945 - With the stationing of American soldiers in Italy during World War II (1941-1945) came a growing appreciation of pizza. When the soldiers returned from war, they brought with them a taste for pizza.


1948 - The first commercial pizza-pie mix, "Roman Pizza Mix," was produced in Worcester, Massachusetts by Frank A. Fiorello.


1950s - It wasn't until the 1950s that Americans really started noticing pizza. Celebrities of Italian origin, such as Jerry Colonna, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante, and baseball star Joe DiMaggio all devoured pizzas. It is also said that the line from the song by famous singer, Dean Martin; "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that amore" set America singing and eating pizzas.


1957 - Frozen pizzas were introduced and found in local grocery stores. The first was marketed by the Celentano Brothers. Pizza soon became the most popular of all frozen food.


The foundations for Pizza were originally laid by the early Greeks who first baked large, round and flat breads which they "annointed with oil, herbs, spices and Dates."


Tomatoes were not discovered at that time or, very likely, they would have used them as we do today.


Eventually the idea of flat bread found its way to Italy where, in the 18th century, the flat breads called "Pizzas", were sold on the streets and in the markets. They were not topped with anything but were enjoyed au naturel. Since they were relatively cheap to make, were tasty and filling, they were sold to the poor all over Naples by street vendors.The acceptance of the tomato by the Neapolitans and the visit of a queen contributed to the Pizza as we know and enjoy it today.


In about 1889, Queen Margherita, accompanied by her husband, Umberto I, took an inspection tour of her Italian Kingdom. During her travels around Italy she saw many people, especially the peasants, eating this large, flat bread. Curious, the queen ordered her guards to bring her one of these Pizza breads. The Queen loved the bread and would eat it every time she was out amongst the people, which caused some consternation in Court circles. It was not seemly for a Queen to dine on peasant's food.


Never the less, the queen loved the bread and decided to take matters into her own hands. Summoning Chef Rafaelle Esposito from his pizzeria to the royal palace, the queen ordered him to bake a selection of pizzas for her pleasure.


To honor the queen who was so beloved by her subjects, Rafaelle decided to make a very special pizza just for her. He baked a Pizza topped with tomatoes, Mozarella Cheese, and fresh Basil (to represent the colors of the Italian flag: Red, white, and green).


This became Queen Margherita's favorite pizza and when word got out that this was one of the queen's favorite foods, she became even more popular with the Italian people. She also started a culinary tradition, the Pizza Margherita, which lasts to this very day in Naples and has now spread throughout the world.


History has not made it clear whether Rafaelle began to sell this creation from his own pizzeria but it is known that the Pizza, in much the same form as we now know it, was thereafter enjoyed by all the Italian people. Variations began to be made in different parts of the country. In Bologna, for example, meat began to be added into the topping mix. Neapolitan Pizza became quite popular and it brought garlic and crumbly Neapolitan cheeses into the mixture as well as herbs, fresh vegetables, and other spices and flavorings.


About this time the idea of baking in special brick ovens came into existence and the bread, as it is today, was a rather simple combination of flour, oil, salt and yeast.


Pizza spread to America, France, England and Spain, where it was little known until after World War II. While occupying Italian territories, many American and European soldiers tasted Pizza for the first time. It was love at first taste! Italian immigrants had been selling Pizzas in their American stores for some time, but it was the returning soldiers with a lust for the saucy delight that drew the Pizzas out of the quiet Italian neighborhoods into the main stream of city life all over the continent. In fact, the square "Sicilian Pizza" which is so popular and was the forerunner of the now well-promoted "Party Pizza" is an American invention. Real Sicilian Pizza has no cheese or anchovies.


Today we celebrate Pizza. February 9 is International Pizza Day and the Guinness Book of Records states that the largest Pizza ever made and eaten was created in Havana, Florida and was 100 feet and 1 inch across!


American and Canadian citizens will eat an average 23 pounds of Pizza, per person, per year. Pepperoni and Cheese is the favorite combination, especially with the younger set, and is second only to the hamburger as this continent's favorite food.


Pizzas can be made either healthy or fatty, depending upon what you use for the toppings. They come in many forms such as Calzones (half the dough is topped then the other half folded over to form a large half-moon shaped Pizza Pocket, which is then baked). It also comes in various forms such as breads, rolls, pan pizza, stuffed crust pizza, thin crust Pizza and thick crust pizza, wholewheat crust, and bagel crust.


The concept has also taken many forms such as Mexican Pizza (a pizza dough topped with chili or taco filling, shredded Cheddar, chopped onions, tomatoes and Jalapeno peppers), Ice Cream Pizza, Candy Pizza and even Pizza cake as well as Pizza flavored items such as Potato Chips and Tortilla Snacks!


So, next time you eat a Pizza, stop and think of Queen Margherita and Chef Rafaelle and be grateful that a Queen would dare stoop to eat peasant bread.


About the name: The word "pie" does not refer to the crust, nor even to the shape or position of the crust. The Oxford English, the Webster's unabridged,and lexicographer Charles Earl Funk, all agree that the elemental word "pie" relates to the Magpie, a bird with feathers splotched in two colors, a bird called "Pica" by the Romans, whence the English "Pie" and the alteration of "Pica" to "Pizza". The name relates to the bird's double color and its habit of gathering odds and ends as does a Pizza, or Pie, gather, and consist of, varied ingredients.

------------------------


SOURCES:

Culinaria - The United States, A Culinary Discovery, by Randi Danforth, Peter Feierabend, and Gary Chassman, published by Konemann Publishing, 1998.

Goldberg's Pizza Book, by Larry Goldberg, published by Random House, 1971.

Let Eat - The History of Pizza, by Mani Niall, http://wwwpastrywiz.com/letseat/pizzza.htm, an internet web site.

Virgil's Aeneid, translated by John Dryden, published by Penguin Classics, 1997.

The Complete Book of Pizza, by Louise Love, published by Sassafras Press, 1980.

The History of Pizza, http://www.ghgcorp.com/coyej/, an internet web site.

The History of the Pizza Margherita, http://www.caboto.com/pizza.htm, an internet web site.

The Food Chronology, by James Trager, published by Henry Holt and Company, 1995.

The Pizza Express Cookbook, by peter Boizot, published by Elm Tree Books, 1976.

The Roman Cookery Book, a critical translation of The Art of Cooking by Apicius, translated by Barbara Flower and Elizabeth rosenbaum, published by Harrap, 1958.

The Wonderful World of Pizzas, Quiches, and Savory Pies, by Anna Ceresa Callen, published by Crown Publishers, Inc., 1981.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Emeralds Stones are fascinating gemstones

Sunday, May 11, 2008 1
Emeralds Stones  are fascinating gemstones

Emeralds Stones  are fascinating gemstones

Emeralds Stones  are fascinating gemstones

Emeralds are fascinating gemstones. They have the most beautiful, most intense and most radiant green that can possibly be imagined: emerald green. Inclusions are tolerated. In top quality, fine emeralds are even more valuable than diamonds.


The name emerald comes from the Greek smaragdos via the Old French esmeralde, and really just means 'green gemstone'. Innumerable fantastic stories have grown up around this magnificent gem. The Incas and Aztecs of South America, where the best emeralds are still found today, regarded the emerald as a holy gemstone. However, probably the oldest known finds were once made near the Red Sea in Egypt. Having said that, these gemstone mines, already exploited by Egyptian pharaohs between 3000 and 1500 B.C. and later referred to as 'Cleopatra's Mines', had already been exhausted by the time they were rediscovered in the early 19th century.


Written many centuries ago, the Vedas, the holy scriptures of the Indians, say of the precious green gems and their healing properties: 'Emeralds promise good luck ...'; and 'The emerald enhances the well-being ...'. So it was no wonder that the treasure chests of Indian maharajas and maharanis contained wonderful emeralds. One of the world's largest is the so-called 'Mogul Emerald'. It dates from 1695, weighs 217.80 carats, and is some 10cm tall. One side of it is inscribed with prayer texts, and engraved on the other there are magnificent floral ornaments. This legendary emerald was auctioned by Christie's of London to an unidentified buyer for 2.2m US Dollars on September 28th 2001.


Emeralds have been held in high esteem since ancient times. For that reason, some of the most famous emeralds are to be seen in museums and collections. The New York Museum of Natural History, for example, has an exhibit in which a cup made of pure emerald which belonged to the Emperor Jehangir is shown next to the 'Patricia', one of the largest Colombian emerald crystals, which weighs 632 carats. The collection of the Bank of Bogota includes five valuable emerald crystals with weights of between 220 and 1796 carats, and splendid emeralds also form part of the Iranian National Treasury, adorning, for example, the diadem of the former Empress Farah. The Turkish sultans also loved emeralds. In Istanbul's Topkapi Palace there are exhibits with items of jewellery, writing-implements and daggers, each lavishly adorned with emeralds and other gems.

The green of life and of love


“Emerastone of successful loveld is known as the “stone of successful love”. It is said to provide for domestic bliss and to instil both sensitivity and loyalty. It can be used to open, activate and stimulate the heart chakra. It is a stone to bring harmony to all areas of ones life.”

“Emerald can be used to enhance the memory and stimulate the use of greater mental capacity. The emerald helps combine intelligence with discernment, allowing for the choice of right action”.


The green of the emerald is the colour of life and of the springtime, which comes round again and again. But it has also, for centuries, been the colour of beauty and of constant love. In ancient Rome, green was the colour of Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. And today, this colour still occupies a special position in many cultures and religions. Green, for example, is the holy colour of Islam. Many of the states of the Arab League have green in their flags as a symbol of the unity of their faith. Yet this colour has a high status in the Catholic Church too, where green is regarded as the most natural and the most elemental of the liturgical colours.

The magnificent green of the emerald is a colour which conveys harmony, love of Nature and elemental joie de vivre. The human eye can never see enough of this unique colour. Pliny commented that green gladdened the eye without tiring it. Green is perceived as fresh and vivid, never as monotonous. And in view of the fact that this colour always changes somewhat between the bright light of day and the artificial light of a lamp, emerald green retains its lively vigour in all its nuances.

Fingerprints of nature

The lively luminosity of its colour makes the emerald a unique gemstone. However, really good qualityemerald a unique gemstone is fairly rare, with inclusions often marring the evenness of the colour – signs of the turbulent genesis which has characterised this gemstone. Fine inclusions, however, do not by any means diminish the high regard in which it is held. On the contrary: even with inclusions, an emerald in a deep, lively green still has a much higher value than an almost flawless emerald whose colour is paler. Affectionately, and rather poetically, the specialists call the numerous crystal inclusions, cracks or fissures which are typical of this gemstone 'jardin'. They regard the tender little green plants in the emerald garden as features of the identity of a gem which has grown naturally.


So where do they come from and how is it that they exist at all? In order to answer these questions, we need to look far, far back into the time of the emerald's origin. Emeralds from Zimbabwe are among the oldest gemstones anywhere in the world. They were already growing 2600 million years ago, whilst some specimens from Pakistan, for example, are a mere 9 million years young. From a chemical-mineralogical point of view, emeralds are beryllium-aluminium-silicates with a good hardness of 7_ to 8, and belong, like the light blue aquamarine, the tender pink morganite, the golden heliodor and the pale green beryl, to the large gemstone family of the beryls. Pure beryl is colourless. The colours do not occur until traces of some other element are added. In the case of the emerald, it is mainly traces of chromium and vanadium which are responsible for the fascinating colour. Normally, these elements are concentrated in quite different parts of the Earth's crust to beryllium, so the emerald should, strictly speaking, perhaps not exist at all. But during intensive tectonic processes such as orogenesis, metamorphism, emergences and erosion of the land, these contrasting elements found each other and crystallised out to make one of our most beautiful gemstones. The tension involved in the geological conditions conducive to the above processes produced some minor flaws, and some major ones. A glance through the magnifying-glass or microscope into the interior of an emerald tells us something about the eventful genesis of this unique gem: here we see small or large fissures; here the sparkle of a mini-crystal or a small bubble; here shapes of all kinds. While the crystals were still growing, some of these manifestations had the chance to 'heal', and thus the jagged three-phase inclusions typical of Colombian emeralds were formed: cavities filled with fluid, which often also contain a small bubble of gas and some tiny crystals.

Logically enough, a genesis as turbulent as that of the emerald impedes the undisturbed formation of large, flawless crystals. For this reason, it is only seldom that a large emerald with good colour and good transparency is found. That is why fine emeralds are so valuable. But for the very reason that the emerald has such a stormy past, it is surely entitled to show it - that is, as long as only a fine jardin is to be seen, and not a rank garden which spoils both colour and transparency.

The world of fine emeralds

Colombia continues to be at the top of the list in terms of the countries in which fine emeralds are found. It has about 150 known deposits, though not all of these are currently being exploited. The best known names are Muzo and Chivor, where emeralds were mined by the Incas in pre-Columbian times. In economic terms, the most important mine is at Coscuez, where some 60 faces are being worked. According to estimates, approximately three quarters of Colombia's emerald production now comes from the Coscuez Mine. Colombian emeralds differ from emeralds from other deposits in that they have an especially fine, shining emerald green unimpaired by any kind of bluish tint. The colour may vary slightly from find to find. This fascinatingly beautiful colour is so highly esteemed in the international emerald trade that even obvious inclusions are regarded as acceptable. But Colombia has yet more to offer: now and then the Colombian emerald mines throw up rarities such as Trapiche emeralds with their six rays emanating from the centre which resemble the spokes of a millwheel.

Even if many of the best emeralds are undisputedly of Colombian origin, the 'birthplace' of a stone is never an absolute guarantee of its immaculate quality. Fine emeralds are also found in other countries, such as Zambia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Russia. Zambia, Zimbabwe and Brazil in particular have a good reputation for fine emeralds in the international trade. Excellent emerald crystals in a beautiful, deep emerald green and with good transparency come from Zambia. Their colour is mostly darker than that of Colombian emeralds and often has a fine, slightly bluish undertone. Emeralds which are mostly smaller, but very fine, in a vivacious, intense green come from Zimbabwe's famous Sandawana Mine, and they often have a delicate yellowish-green nuance. And the famous emerald mines of Colombia currently face competition from right next door: Brazil's gemstone mine Nova Era also produces emeralds in beautiful green tones, and if they are less attractive than those of their famous neighbour it is only by a small margin. Brazil also supplies rare emerald cat's eyes and extremely rare emeralds with a six-spoked star. Thanks to the finds in Africa and Brazil, there are more emeralds on the market now than there used to be - to the delight of emerald enthusiasts - .

A sophisticated gemstone

Whilst its good hardness protects the emerald to a large extent from scratches, its brittleness and its many fissures can make cutting, setting and cleaning rather difficult. Even for a skilled gem cutter, cutting emeralds presents a special challenge, firstly because of the high value of the raw crystals, and secondly because of the frequent inclusions. However, this does not detract from the cutters' love of this unique gem. Indeed, they have developed a special cut just for this gem: the emerald cut. The clear design of this rectangular or square cut with its bevelled corners brings out the beauty of this valuable gemstone to the full, at the same time protecting it from mechanical strain.

Emeralds are also cut in many other, mainly classical shapes, but if the raw material contains a large number of inclusions, it may often be cut into a gently rounded cabochon, or into one of the emerald beads which are so popular in India.

Today, many emeralds are enhanced with colourless oils or resins. This is a general trade practice, but it does have the consequence that these green treasures react very sensitively to inappropriate treatment. For example, they cannot be cleaned in an ultrasonic bath. The substances that may have been used by the cutter during his work, or applied subsequently, seal the fine pores in the surface of the gem. Removing them will end up giving the stone a matt appearance. For this reason, emerald rings should always be taken off before the wearer puts his or her hands in water containing cleansing agent.

A matter of trust

Unfortunately, because the emerald is not only one of the most beautiful gemstones, but also one of the most valuable, there are innumerable synthetics and imitations. So hoemerald is not only one of the most beautiful gemstonesw can you protect yourself from these 'fakes'? Well, the best way is to buy from a specialist in whom you have confidence. Large emeralds in particular should only be purchased with a report from a reputable gemmological institute. Such an institute will be able, thanks to the most modern examination techniques, to differentiate reliably between natural and synthetic emeralds, and will inform you as to whether the stone has undergone any treatment of the kind a purchaser has the right to know about.

And one more piece of advice on the purchase of an emerald: whilst diamonds generously scintillate their fire in sizes below 1 carat, you should go for larger dimensions when acquiring a coloured gemstone. True, there are some lovely pieces of jewellery with small coloured gems to set decorative accents, but emeralds, like other coloured gemstones, do not really begin to show that beautiful glow below a certain size. How large 'your' emerald ends up will depend on your personal taste, and on your budget. Really large specimens of top quality are rare. This means that the price of a top-quality emerald may be higher than that of a diamond of the same weight. The fascination exuded by a fine emerald is simply unique.

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