Le Palais Idéal

Le Palais Idéal - Hauterives, France

 

Ferdinand Cheval (1836 - 1924) was a French postman who spent 33 years of his life building Le Palais Idéal in Hauterives which is regarded as an extraordinary example of naïve art architecture.

Cheval began the building in April 1879. He claimed that he had tripped on a stone and was inspired by its shape. He returned to the same spot the next day and started collecting stones.
For the next 33 years, during his daily mail route, Cheval carried stones from his delivery rounds and at home used them to build his Palais idéal, the Ideal Palace. First he carried the stones in his pockets, then a basket and eventually a wheelbarrow. He often worked at night, by the light of an oil lamp.

 

Cheval spent the first two decades building the outer walls. The Palace is a mix of different styles with inspirations from the Bible to Hindu mythology. Cheval bound the stones together with lime, mortar and cement.

Cheval also wanted to be buried in his palace. However, since that is illegal in France, he proceeded to spend eight more years building a mausoleum for himself in the cemetery of Hauterives. Cheval died on August 19, 1924, around a year after he had finished building it, and is buried there.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Cheval

http://www.bing.com/travel/content/search?q=Unusual%20Monuments:%20Le%20Palais%20Ideal,%20France

http://animulavagula.hautetfort.com/album/mon_cheval/page1/

http://www.claudetravels.altervista.org/VdR/PalaisIdeal/gal.html

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Mustang Gompas

Gompas - Lo Monthang, Mustang, Nepal

Jampa is the red building to the left. Thubchen is the red building to the right.

Mustang is an ethnically and culturally Tibetan district in northwestern Nepal, on the edge of the Tibetan plateau.

http://dl.lib.brown.edu/BuddhistTempleArt/index.html

According to local legend, the gombas were established in the late 14th or early 15th century by the king of Lo Monthang, together with his prime minister and a Sakyapa abbot named Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo. Although there were also Nyingmapa monks in other villages, the Sakyapa were the predominant order in 13th century Mustang, and in Tibet as well. In fact, it was Sakyapa leaders who converted Kublai Khan and the Mongols to Buddhism. In return, they were given temporal authority over Tibet for a period back then. In the 14th century, the abbot founded the great Sakyapa monastery called Ngor, which, until its destruction during the Cultural Revolution, was considered one of Tibet's artistic treasures; he subsequently was involved in establishing the two great gombas of Lo Monthang. It is quite likely that he brought some of the same artists to decorate the temples in Lo Monthang who had also worked on Ngor monastery in Tibet.

Lo Monthang was an important, independent kingdom, because it is on one of the major trade routes between Tibet and the south. There are a number of passes that make travel across the Himalayas possible, but this route offers somewhat easier access. There was a lot of trade, with salt and wool coming down from Tibet and rice and other goods being sent up from India and what is now Nepal. The kings of Lo Monthang grew rich because they straddled this trade route and were able to tax trade, and they decided to spend a great deal of their treasure building these two gombas.

http://www.inch.com/~shebar/mustang/temple1.htm

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Om mani padme hum

om manipadme hūṃ known as the "six-syllable mantra."
written in Tibetan script on a rock outside the Potala Palace in Tibet.

Om mani padme hum, mani meaning the jewel and padma - the lotus. The six syllabled mantra of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara (Tibetan Chenrezig, Chinese Guanyin). The mantra is particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara.

The Dalai Lama is said to be an incarnation of Chenrezig or Avalokiteshvara, so the mantra is especially revered by his devotees and it is commonly carved onto rocks and written on paper which is inserted into prayer wheels, said to increase the mantra's effects.

H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama's definition:

"It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast... The first, Om symbolizes the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha."

"The path is indicated by the next four syllables. Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: the altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love."

"The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom."

"Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility."

"Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha."

-- H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, "Om Mani Padme Hum"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_mani_padme_hum

http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/meaning-of-om-mani-padme-hung.htm

http://www.khandro.net/practice_mantra.htm

http://babelstone.blogspot.com/2006/11/mani-stones-in-many-scripts.html

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Divje Babe flute

The Divje Babe flute is a cave bear femur pierced by spaced holes that was found at the Divje Babe archeological park located near Cerkno in northwestern Slovenia. It has been suggested that it is the world's oldest known musical instrument, but this is in dispute. The continuing dispute notwithstanding, the artifact remains on prominent public display as a flute in the National Museum of Slovenia (Narodni Muzej Slovenije) in Ljubljana. The museum's visitor leaflet maintains that manufacture by Neanderthals "is reliably proven".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divje_Babe_flute

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Las Pozas

Sir Edward James' surrealist garden, Las Pozas, Xilitla, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Amid the mountainous jungle of Mexico’s Huesteca region, Edward James, the British artist and wealthy patron of surrealism’s avant-garde, designed a series of canals, pools, and architectural follies, fashioning his own version of the Garden of Eden. Collaborating with Plutarco Gasbélum Esquer and local artisans, James began the works when he first bought the rugged ranch land in 1944, and continued steadfastly until his death 40 years later.



James’s surrealist landscape features a “stairway to nowhere,” a cinema with no seats, a library without books, and a building called La Casa de Tres Pisos (“The Three-Story House”), which in fact has five, as well as more than 30 other follies that he left unfinished. Since his death, the jungle has become increasingly interwoven with the structures, and the landscape has become more compelling than ever. Nevertheless, if allowed to grow unchecked, the tropical trees and plants threaten to overwhelm the equally exotic architecture. Stewardship of this site requires great sensitivity to both environmental and cultural heritage conservation. An ambitious campaign has been launched to preserve the natural and man-made elements of this unique landscape.







http://www.wmf.org/project/las-pozas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_James

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Bönpa Monastery

Bönpa monastery of Narshi Gonpa at Ngawa, Sichuan Province, China

Bön is the oldest spiritual tradition of Tibet. Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, has recently recognized the Bön tradition as the fifth principal spiritual school of Tibet, along with the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug schools of Buddhism, despite the long historical competition of influences between the Bön tradition and Buddhism in Tibet.

The syllable -po or -pa is appended to a noun in Tibetan to designate a person who is from that place or performs that action; "Bönpo" thus means a follower of the Bön tradition, "Nyingmapa" a follower of the Nyingma tradition, and so on. (The feminine parallels are -mo and -ma, but these are not generally appended to the names of the Tibetan religious traditions.)

Often described as the shamanistic and animistic tradition of the Himalayas prior to Buddhism's rise to prominence in the 7th century, more recent research and disclosures have demonstrated that both the religion and the Bönpo are significantly more rich and textured culturally than was initially thought by pioneering Western scholars. Some scholars do not accept the tradition that separates Bön from Buddhism; Christopher Beckwith calls it "one of the two types of Tibetan Buddhism" and writes that "despite continuing popular belief in the existence of a non-Buddhist religion known as Bön during the Tibetan Empire period, there is not a shred of evidence to support the idea... Although different in some respects from the other sects, it was already very definitely a form of Buddhism."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bön

http://www.trekkingtourinnepal.com/relegions-of-nepal.html

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Pura Ulun Danau Bratan

Ancient Hindu temple - Ulu Danau, Lake Bartan, Bali, Indonesia

Pura Ulun Danau Bratan is located 2 hours north of Kuta on the western shores of Lake Bratan. The temple is one of Bali’s kayangan jagat or directional temples and protects Bali from evil spirits.

Pura Ulun Danau Bratan was built in 1633 by the raja of Mengwi. Dewi Danu, who is the Goddess of water and fertility, is the honoured deity. The temple itself sits in well manicured gardens. The two obvious parts of the temple are the structures set on land and the ones set on a point, extending into the lake.



The temples grounds have an assortment of structures including the multi-tiered meru. These pagoda-shaped shrines which are found in almost every Balinese temple are named after Mt. Meru, a sacred Hindu peak, considered the home of the Gods. The importance of the God being worshiped is indicated by the number of roofs, which is always an odd number, with a maximum of 13.



The part of the temple that gets photographed the most is the 11 roof meru, followed by a 3 roofed meru, situated on a point of land jutting out into the lake. The larger meru is dedicated to Wisnu and Dewi Danu. The smaller meru contains a lingum or phallus. This temple is dedicated to Siwa, the Destroyer. Visitors are allowed to photograph the shrines from the shore. Unfortunately you are not allowed to visit them directly.



The temple on the shore, Pura Teratai Bang has its own 7-tier meru dedicated to Brahma, the Creator. You will often see Balinese worshipers inside this temple, taking blessings and praying. Being such a sacred place, you are asked to stay outside the inner courtyard, but it is possible to look over the wall and get good photos.



There is also a traditional market place in the carpark selling the norm but, there is a plethora of fresh fruit on sale as well that is the best to buy whenever you visit this place.

http://www.baliblog.com/travel-tips/bali-daily/the-temple-on-the-lake-pura-ulun-danau-bratan.html

http://tourtobali.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

http://www.barongbaliholidays.com/places.asp?ID=123XCV

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