Monday, March 23, 2015

Dwarkadhish Temple ,Gujarat

The Dwarkadhish temple, also known as the Jagat Mandir and occasionally spelled "Dwarakadheesh" , is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Krishna, who is worshipped here by the name Dwarkadhish, or 'King of Dwarka'. The main shrine of the 5-storied building, supported by 72 pillars, is known as Jagat Mandir or Nija Mandir, archaeological findings suggest it to be 2,200 - 2,000 years old. Temple was enlarged in the 15th- 16th century. The Dwarkadhish Temple is a Pushtimarg temple, hence it follows the guidelines and rituals created by Shree Vallabhacharya and Shree Vitheleshnathji.

map-small

According to tradition, the original temple was believed to have been built by Krishna's grandson, Vajranabha, over the hari-griha (Lord Krishna's residential place). The temple became part of the Char Dham pilgrimage considered sacred by Hindus in India, after Adi Shankaracharya, the 8th century Hindu theologian and philosopher, visited the shrine. The other three being comprising Rameswaram, Badrinath and Puri. Even today a memorial within the temple is dedicated to his visit. Dwarakadheesh is the 108th Divya Desam of Lord Vishnu on the subcontinent, glorified in the Divya Prabandha sacred texts.

History


The town of Dwarka in Gujarat has a history that dates back centuries, and mentioned in the Mahabharat epic as the Dwaraka Kingdom. Situated on the banks of river Gomti, the town is known of being the capital of Lord Krishna. Archaeological excavations have uncovered underwater stone structures which have been described as showing settlement during proto-historic times. Evidence such as a stone block with script, the way the stones were dressed showing that dowels had been used, and an examination of anchors found on the site suggest that the harbour site dates only to historical times, with some of the underwater structure being late Medieval. Coastal erosion was probably the cause of the destruction of what was an ancient port.

dwarkadhish-temple (1)

The main temple at Dwarka, situated on Gomti creek, is known as jagat mandir (universal shrine) or trilok sundar (the most beautiful in all the three worlds). Originally believed to be built by Vajranabh, the great grandson of Lord Krishna, more than 2500 years ago, it is a glorious structure seeming to rise from the waters of the Arabian Sea. Its exquisitely carved shikhar, reaching 43 m high and the huge flag made from 52 yards of cloth, can be seen from as far away as 10 km. The grandeur of the temple is enhanced by the flight of 56 steps leading to the rear side of the edifice on the side of the river Gomti. The temple is built of soft limestone and consists of a sanctum, vestibule and a rectangular hall with porches on three sides. There are two gateways: swarga dwar (gate to the heavens), where pilgrims enter, and moksha dwar (gate to liberation), where pilgrims exit.

Dwarkadhish-Temple

The lower part of the Dwarkadhish temple is from the 16th century and the soaring steeple with its numerous clusters of small towers is from the 19th century. The main part of the temple has five storeys, reaching to a height of over 100 feet. The exquisite carvings on its exterior display daring eroticism, a multi-layered mythic intensity and extraordinary continuity of design. In contrast, the interior of the temple is striking in its simplicity, with the only exception being the elaborate ornamentation around the shrine to the idol of Dwarkadhish.

Inside, the sanctuary is a hive of voices, colors, incense and movement. With faith, for many it can also transform into a space of inner silence and unity with the divine.

Features of the temple

1.Stairs leading up to the Main Entrance, of Dwarakadheesh temple, Dwarka
2.The flag atop the temple shows the sun and moon.
3.The flag is changed from 5 times a day, but the symbol remains the same.
4.The temple is a five-story structure built on seventy-two pillars.
5.The temple spire is 78.3m high.
6.The temple is constructed of limestone which is still in pristine condition.
7.The temple shows intricate sculptural detailing done by successions of dynasties that ruled the region. The structure was not expanded much by these works.

Lord Krishna's grandson, Vajranabha, is said to have built the original temple of Dwarkadhish over the hari-griha (Lord Krishna's residential place).
There are two entrances to the temple. The main entrance (north entrance) is called "Moksha Dwara" (Door to Salvation). This entrance takes one to the main market. The south entrance is called "Swarga Dwara" (Gate to Heaven).
Outside this doorway are 56 steps that leads to the Gomati River.

SHREE DWARKADHISH TEMPLE MORNING TIMINGS

Morning 7.00 Mangla Arti

7.00 to 8.00 Mangla Darshan

8.00 to 9.00 Abhishek Pooja (Snan vidhi) : Darshan closed

9.00 to 9.30 Shringar Darshan

9.30 to 9.45 Snanbhog : Darshan closed

9.45 to 10.15 Shringar Darshan

10.15 to 10.30 Shringarbhog : Darshan closed

10.30 to 10.45 Shringar Arti

11.05 to 11.20 Gwal Bhog Darshan closed

11.20 to 12.00 Darshan

12.00 to 12.20 Rajbhog : Darshan closed

12.20 to 12.30 Darshan

12.30 Anosar : Darshan closed

SHREE DWARKADHISH TEMPLE EVENING TIMINGS

5.00 Uthappan First Darshan

5.30 to 5.45 Uthappan Bhog Darshan closed

5.45 to 7.15 Darshan

7.15 to 7.30 Sandhya Bhog Darshan closed

7.30 to 7.45 Sandhya Arti

8.00 to 8.10 Shayanbhog Darshan closed

8.10 to 8.30 Darshan

8.30 to 8.35 Shayan Arti

8.35 to 9.00 Darshan

9.00 to 9.20 Bantabhog and Shayan : Darshan closed

9.20 to 9.30 Darshan

How to get there

By road: Dwarka is on the state highway from Jamnagar to Dwarka. Direct buses available from Jamnagar and Ahmedabad.

By rail: Dwarka is a station on the Ahmedabad-Okha broad gauge railway line, with trains connecting it to Jamnagar (137 km), Rajkot (217 km) and Ahmedabad (471 km), and some trains that continue all the way down the coast through Vadodara, Surat, Mumbai, Goa, Karnataka, to the southern tip of India in Kerala.

By air: Nearest airport is Jamnagar (137 km).

Solar Impulse:Solar power driven Aeroplane

Solar Impulse is the name of a Swiss long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft project, and also the name of the project's two operational aircraft. The privately-financed project is led by Swiss businessman André Borschberg and Swiss psychiatrist and aeronaut Bertrand Piccard, who co-piloted the first balloon to circle the world non-stop. The Solar Impulse project intends to achieve the first circumnavigation of the Earth by a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power.

508601262

The prototype aircraft, bearing the Swiss aircraft registration code HB-SIA and often referred to as Solar Impulse 1, is a single-seat monoplane powered by photovoltaic cells and capable of taking off under its own power. It is designed to remain airborne up to 36 hours. The aircraft conducted its first test flight in December 2009. In July 2010, it flew an entire diurnal solar cycle, including nearly nine hours of night flying, in a 26-hour flight.Piccard and Borschberg completed successful solar-powered flights from Switzerland to Spain and then Morocco in 2012, and conducted a multi-stage flight across the United States in 2013.

si2-vs-jumbo-jet-width-wingspan

Improving on the prototype, a slightly larger design was created in 2014, designated HB-SIB and named Solar Impulse 2. In March 2015, Piccard and Borschberg began a circumnavigation of the globe with Solar Impulse 2, departing from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The aircraft is scheduled to return to Abu Dhabi in August 2015.

infography-solar-impulse-2

Timeline
2003: Feasibility study at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
2004–2005: Development of the concept
2006: Simulation of long-haul flights
2006–09: Construction of first prototype (HB-SIA; Solar Impulse 1)
2009: First flight of Solar Impulse 1
2009–11: Manned test flights
2011–12: Further test flights through Europe and North Africa
2011–13: Construction of second prototype (HB-SIB; Solar Impulse 2)
2013: Continental flight across the US by Solar Impulse 1 (Mission Across America)
2014: First flight of Solar Impulse 2
2015: Circumnavigation by Solar Impulse 2, conducted in twelve stages over five months

03-09-15-Solar-Impulse-2-2

The Solar Impulse project in numbers:

12 years of feasibility study, concept, design and construction
50 engineers and technicians
80 technological partners
more than 100 advisers and suppliers
1 prototype (Solar Impulse 1, registered as HB-SIA)
1 final airplane
(Solar Impulse 2, registered as HB-SIB)

The wingspan of HB-SIB is 71.9 m (236 ft), slightly less than that of an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner, but unlike the 500-ton A380, the carbon-fibre Solar Impulse weighs only 2.3 tonnes (5,100 lb), little more than an average automobile. It features a larger, non-pressurized cockpit and advanced avionics, including an autopilot to allow for multi-day transcontinental and trans-oceanic flights. Supplemental oxygen and various other environmental support systems allow the pilot to cruise at an altitude of 12,000 metres (39,000 ft).

Monday, March 16, 2015

Momofuku Ando , Creator of Instant noodles

I was in my office busy developing my application and I was hungry literally starving ,I couldn't get off my seat because the application development was very critical.Finally I decided to get a quick munch on something I can find & there I found instant noodles to fill in my stomach.Like me many people all around the world are getting their stomach filled in midst of busy schedule.And all credits goes to “Momofuku Ando”.

0307OB10

Momofuku Ando was born on March 5, 1910, in Chiayi, Taiwan. He founded Nissin Food Products Co. and the invented instant noodles; he introduced chicken ramen in 1958, debuted Cup Noodle in 1971, and in 2005 created a vacuum-packed portion of instant noodles for the Japanese astronaut aboard the Discovery space shuttle. In 2006 his company earned $131 million in profits.

How did the Noodles Idea start it.. all?

Ando was born Go Pek-Hok in 1910 into a wealthy Taiwanese family in Kagi Chō Japanese-era Taiwan, and raised by his grandparents within the city walls of Tainan Chō ( (modern-day Tainan) following the deaths of his parents His grandparents owned a small textiles store, which inspired him, at the age of 22, to start his own textiles company, using 190,000 yen, in Eirakuchō , Daitōtei, Taihoku City (modern-day Taipei).In 1933, Ando traveled to Osaka where he established a clothing company while studying economics at Ritsumeikan University.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

After World War II, Ando became a Japanese citizen and moved to Japan, where he entered Ritsumeikan University and at the same time founded a small merchandising firm in Osaka with the inheritance from his family. "Momofuku" is the Japanese reading of his Chinese given name , while Andō  is a common Japanese surname.

Nissin Cup Noodles


With Japan still suffering from a shortage of food in the post-war era, the Ministry of Health tried to encourage people to eat bread made from wheat flour that was supplied by the United States. Ando wondered why bread was recommended instead of noodles, which were more familiar to the Japanese. The Ministry's response was that noodle companies were too small and unstable to satisfy supply needs, so Ando decided to develop the production of noodles by himself. The experience convinced him that "Peace will come to the world when the people have enough to eat."

tumblr_l127d7oKDE1qz82doo1_1280

On August 25, 1958, at the age of 48, and after months of trial and error experimentation to perfect his flash-frying method, Ando marketed the first package of precooked instant noodles. The original chicken flavor is called Chikin Ramen . It was originally considered a luxury item with a price of ¥35, around six times that of traditional udon and soba noodles at the time. Ando began the sales of his most famous product, Cup Noodle , on September 18, 1971 with the masterstroke of providing a waterproof polystyrene container. As prices dropped, instant ramen soon became a booming business. Worldwide demand reached 98 billion servings in 2009. As of 2007, Chicken Ramen is still sold in Japan and now retails for around ¥60, or approximately one third the price of the cheapest bowl of noodles in a Japanese restaurant.

In 1964, seeking a way to promote the instant noodle industry, Ando founded the Instant Food Industry Association, which set guidelines for fair competition and product quality, introducing several industry standards such as the inclusion of production dates on packaging and the "fill to" line. He was also the chairman of the International Ramen Manufacturers' Association. The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum is named after him.

According to The Financial Times, Ando's invention of Cup Noodles in 1971, at the age of 61, helped spark the popularity of instant noodles overseas. He had observed that Americans ate noodles by breaking the noodles in half, putting them into a cup, and pouring hot water over the noodles. They also ate them with a fork instead of chopsticks. Ando was inspired, and felt that a Styrofoam cup—with a narrower bottom than the top—would be the ideal vessel for holding noodles and keeping them warm. Eating the noodles would then be as easy as opening the lid, adding hot water and waiting. This simplicity, efficiency and low price of Cup Noodles went on to transform Nissin's fortunes.

 

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum

TheMomofukuAndoInstantRamenMuseum

The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum  is a museum dedicated to instant noodles and Cup Noodles, as well as its creator and founder, Momofuku Ando. The museum is located in Ikeda in Osaka, and is located within walking distance of Ikeda Station on the Hankyu-Takarazuka Line. Admission is free.

6-18745-instant-ramen-museum-1347475466

There is also a CupNoodles Museum located in Yokohama, which features four stories of fun-filled exhibitions and attractions. This location includes various exhibits to display the history of instant ramen and Momofuku Ando's story. Admission is free for high school age children and younger, and 500 yen for adults.

Both museums have an instant ramen workshop allowing visitors to make their own "fresh" instant noodles (fresh as in just made). Reservations must be made in advance to enjoy this feature at the museum. There is also a noodle factory where visitors can assemble their own personal Cup Noodles from pre-made ingredients for a small fee of 300 yen

momofukuramen_02

Osaka location: Wednesday-Sunday, 9:30am – 4:00pm

Yokohama location: Wednesday-Monday, 10:00am – 6:00pm

 

 More information

Palace of Versailles, France

The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles.

france-007

When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a wealthy suburb of Paris, some 20 kilometres southwest of the French capital. The court of Versailles was the center of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime.

palace-versailles-4_683790c

The earliest mention of the name of Versailles is in a document dated 1038, that is related to the village of Versailles. In 1575, the seigneury of Versailles was bought by Albert de Gondi, a naturalized Florentine, who invited Louis XIII on several hunting trips in the forests surrounding Versailles. Pleased with the location, Louis ordered the construction of a hunting lodge in 1624. Eight years later, Louis obtained the seigneury of Versailles from the Gondi family and began to make enlargements to the château. This structure would become the core of the new palace. Louis XIII's successor, Louis XIV, had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world. Following the Treaties of Nijmegen in 1678, he began to gradually move the court to Versailles. The court was officially established there on 6 May 1682.

Palace_of_Versailles1

After the disgrace of Nicolas Fouquet in 1661, Louis confiscated Fouquet's estate and employed the talents of Le Vau, Le Nôtre, and Le Brun, who all had worked on Fouquet's grand château Vaux-le-Vicomte, for his building campaigns at Versailles and elsewhere. For Versailles, there were four distinct building campaigns.

The four building campaigns (1664–1710)


The first building campaign (1664–1668) commenced with the Plaisirs de l'Île enchantée (Pleasures of the Enchanted Island) of 1664, a fête that was held between 7 and 13 May 1664. The campaign involved alterations in the château and gardens to accommodate the 600 guests invited to the party.

Cour_royale_de_Versailles

The second building campaign (1669–1672) was inaugurated with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of Devolution. During this campaign, the château began to assume some of the appearance that it has today. The most important modification of the château was Le Vau's envelope of Louis XIII's hunting lodge. Significant to the design and construction of the grands apartments is that the rooms of both apartments are of the same configuration and dimensions—a hitherto unprecedented feature in French palace design. Both the grand apartment du roi and the grand apartment de la reine formed a suite of seven enfilade rooms. The decoration of the rooms, which was conducted under Le Brun's direction, depicted the "heroic actions of the king" and were represented in allegorical form by the actions of historical figures from the antique past (Alexander the Great, Augustus, Cyrus, etc.).

Versailles_chateau

With the signing of the Treaty of Nijmegen in 1678, which ended the Dutch War, the third building campaign at Versailles began (1678–1684). Under the direction of the architect, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the Palace of Versailles acquired much of the look that it has today. In addition to the Hall of Mirrors, Hardouin-Mansart designed the north and south wings and the Orangerie. Le Brun was occupied not only with the interior decoration of the new additions of the palace, but also collaborated with Le Nôtre's in landscaping the palace gardens.

versailles-mirrors

Soon after the defeat of the War of the League of Augsburg (1688–1697), Louis XIV undertook his last building campaign at Versailles. The fourth building campaign (1699–1710) concentrated almost exclusively on construction of the royal chapel designed by Hardouin-Mansart and finished by Robert de Cotte. There were also some modifications in the appartement du roi, namely the construction of the Salon de l'Œil de Bœuf and the King's Bedchamber. With the completion of the chapel in 1710, virtually all construction at Versailles ceased; building would not be resumed at Versailles until some twenty one years later during the reign of Louis XV.

Louis XV–Louis XVI (1722–1789)


During the reign of Louis XV, Versailles underwent transformation, designed by Louis Le Vau and his assistant Monsieur Paul Chatal, but not on the scale that had been seen during the reign of Louis XIV. The first project in 1722 was the completion of the Salon d'Hercule. Significant among Louis XV's contributions to Versailles were the petit appartement du roi; the appartements de Mesdames, the appartement du Dauphin, and the appartement de la Dauphine on the ground floor; and the two private apartments of Louis XV—petit appartement du roi au deuxième étage (later transformed into the appartement de Madame du Barry) and the petit appartement du roi au troisième étage—on the second and third floors of the palace. The crowning achievements of Louis XV's reign were the construction of the Opéra and the Petit Trianon. Equally significant was the destruction of the Escalier des Ambassadeurs (Ambassadors' Stair), the only fitting approach to the State Apartments, which Louis XV undertook to make way for apartments for his daughters.

The gardens remained largely unchanged from the time of Louis XIV; the completion of the Bassin de Neptune between 1738 and 1741 was the only important legacy Louis XV made to the gardens. Towards the end of his reign, Louis XV, under the advice of Ange-Jacques Gabriel, began to remodel the courtyard facades of the palace. With the objective revetting the entrance of the palace with classical facades, Louis XV began a project that was continued during the reign of Louis XVI, but which did not see completion until the 20th century.

Much of Louis XVI's contributions to Versailles were largely dictated by the unfinished projects left to him by his grandfather. Shortly after his ascension, Louis XVI ordered a complete replanting of the gardens with the intention of transforming the jardins français to an English-style garden, which had become popular during the late 18th century. In the palace, the library and the salon des jeux in the petit appartement du roi and the decoration of the petit appartement de la reine for Marie-Antoinette are among the finest examples of the style Louis XVI.

French Revolution (1789–1799)

map-of-marie-antoinettes-estate-versailles-palace-france
On 6 October 1789, the royal family had to leave Versailles and move to the Tuileries Palace in Paris, as a result of the Women's March on Versailles. During the early years of the French Revolution, preservation of the palace was largely in the hands of the citizens of Versailles. In October 1790, Louis XVI ordered the palace to be emptied of its furniture, requesting that most be sent to the Tuileries Palace. In response to the order, the mayor of Versailles and the municipal council met to draft a letter to Louis XVI in which they stated that if the furniture was removed, it would certainly precipitate economic ruin on the city. A deputation from Versailles met with the king on 12 October after which Louis XVI, touched by the sentiments of the residents of Versailles, rescinded the order. However, eight months later, the fate of Versailles was sealed.

1281314374_PalacedeVersailles2

On 21 June 1791, Louis XVI was arrested at Varennes after which the Assemblée nationale constituante accordingly declared that all possessions of the royal family had been abandoned. To safeguard the palace, the Assemblée nationale constituante ordered the palace of Versailles to be sealed. On 20 October 1792 a letter was read before the National Convention in which Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière, interior minister, proposed that the furnishings of the palace and those of the residences in Versailles that had been abandoned be sold and that the palace be either sold or rented. The sale of furniture transpired at auctions held between 23 August 1793 and 30 nivôse an III (19 January 1795). Only items of particular artistic or intellectual merit were exempt from the sale. These items were consigned to be part of the collection of a museum, which had been planned at the time of the sale of the palace furnishings.

Versailles_Queen's_Chamber

In 1793, Charles-François Delacroix deputy to the Convention and father of the painter Eugène Delacroix proposed that the metal statuary in the gardens of Versailles be confiscated and sent to the foundry to be made into cannon. The proposal was debated but eventually it was tabled. On 28 floréal an II (5 May 1794) the Convention decreed that the château and gardens of Versailles, as well as other former royal residences in the environs, would not be sold but placed under the care of the Republic for the public good. Following this decree, the château became a repository for art work confiscated from churches and princely homes. As a result collections were amassed at Versailles that eventually became part of the proposed museum.

Marie_Antoinette_amusement_at_Versailles

Among the items found at Versailles at this time were a collection of natural curiosities that has been assembled by the sieur Fayolle during his voyages in America. The collection was sold to the comte d'Artois and was later confiscated by the state. Fayolle, who had been nominated to the Commission des arts, became guardian of the collection and was later, in June 1794, nominated by the Convention to be the first directeur du Conservatoire du Muséum national de Versailles The next year, André Dumont the people's representative, became administrator for the department of the Seine-et-Oise. Upon assuming his administrative duties, Dumont was struck with the deplorable state into which the palace and gardens had sunk. He quickly assumed administrative responsibilities for the château and assembled a team of conservators to oversee the various collections of the museum.

Versailles_Plan_Jean_Delagrive

One of Dumont's first appointments was that of Huges Lagarde as bibliographer of the museum, on 10 messier an III (28 June 1795). Lagarde was a wealthy soap merchant from Marseille with strong political connections, With the abandonment of the palace, there remained no less than 104 libraries which contained in excess of 200,000 printed volumes and manuscripts. Lagarde, with his influential contacts and his association with Dumont, became the driving force behind Versailles as a museum at this time. Lagarde was able to assemble a team of curators including sieur Fayolle for natural history and, Louis Jean-Jacques Durameau, the painter responsible for the ceiling painting in the Opéra, was appointed as curator for painting.

Versailles_Queen's_Chamber

Owing largely to the political vicissitudes that occurred in France during the 1790s, Versailles succumbed to further degradations. Mirrors were assigned by the finance ministry for the payment of debts incurred by the Republic; and draperies, upholstery, and fringes were confiscated and sent to the mint to recover the gold and silver used in their manufacture. Despite its designation as a museum, Versailles served as an annex to the Hôtel des Invalides pursuant to the decree of 7 frimaire an VIII (28 November 1799), which commandeered part of the palace for use as a military hospital. Wounded soldiers were housed in the petit apartment du roi.

Cour_royale_de_Versailles

In 1797, the Muséum national was reorganised and renamed Musée spécial de l'École française. The grands appartements were used as galleries in which the morceaux de réception submitted by artists seeking admission to the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture during the 17th and 18th centuries, the series The Life of Saint Bruno by Eustache Le Sueur and the Life of Marie de Médicis by Peter Paul Rubens were placed on display. The museum, which included the sculptures in the garden, became the finest museum of classic French art in existence.

First Empire to July Monarchy (1800–1850)


With the advent of Napoléon and the First Empire, the status of Versailles changed again. Paintings and other art work that had previously been assigned to the Muséum national and the Musée spécial de l'École française were systematically dispersed to other locations and eventually the museum was closed. In accordance with the provisions of the 1804 Constitution, Versailles was designated as the Imperial palace located in the Department of the Seine-et-Oise.
While Napoléon did not reside in the château, apartments were, however, arranged and decorated for the use of the empress Marie-Louise. The emperor chose to reside at the Grand Trianon.

52962263
The château continued to serve, however, as an annex of the Hôtel des Invalides.Nevertheless, on 3 January 1805, Pope Pius VII, who came to France to officiate at Napoléon's coronation, visited the palace and blessed the throng of people gathered on the parterre d'eau from the balcony of the Hall of Mirrors.

The Bourbon Restoration saw little activity at Versailles. Areas of the gardens were replanted but no significant restoration or modifications of the interiors were undertaken, despite the fact that Louis XVIII would often visit the palace and walk through the vacant rooms.Charles X chose the Tuileries Palace over Versailles and rarely visited his former home.

With the Revolution of 1830 and the establishment of the July Monarchy, the status of Versailles changed. In March 1832, the Loi de la Liste civile was promulgated, which designated Versailles as a crown dependency. Like Napoléon before him, Louis-Philippe chose to live at the Grand Trianon; however, unlike Napoléon, Louis-Philippe did have a grand design for Versailles.

Cour_royale_de_Versailles

In 1833, Louis-Philippe proposed the establishment of a museum dedicated to “all the glories of France,” which included the Orléans dynasty and the Revolution of 1830 that had put him on the throne of France. For the next decade, under the direction of Eugène-Charles-Frédéric Nepveu and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, the château underwent major alterations.[ The museum was officially inaugurated on 10 June 1837 as part of the festivities that surrounded the marriage of the Prince royal, Ferdinand-Philippe d'Orléans with princess Hélène of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and represented one of the most ambitious and costly undertakings of Louis-Philippe's reign. Over, the emperor at the king's home—Napoléon at Louis XIV's; in a word, it is having given to this magnificent book that is called French history this magnificent binding that is called Versailles (Victor Hugo).

JnZTL0Rwy1

The aile du Midi, was given over to the galerie des Balles, which necessitated the demolition of most of the apartments of the Princes of the Blood who lived in this part of the palace during the Ancien Régime. The galerie des Batailles was an epigone of the Grande galerie of the Louvre Palace and was intended to glorify French military history from the Battle of Tolbiac (traditionally dated 495) to the Battle of Wagram ( 5–6 July 1809). While a number of the paintings displayed in the galerie des Batailles were of questionable quality, a few masterpieces, such as the Battle of Taillebourg by Eugène Delacroix, were displayed here. Part of the aile du Nord was converted for the Salle des Croisades, a room dedicated to famous knights of the Crusades and decorated with their names and coats of arms. The apartments of the dauphin and the dauphine as well as those of Louis XV's daughters on the ground floor of the corps de logis were transformed into portrait galleries. To accommodate the displays, some of the boiseries were removed and either put into storage or sold. During the Prussian occupation of the palace in 1871, the boiseries in storage were burned as firewood.

From the Second Empire (1850–present)

Gardens and palace of Versailles in the 1920s

La_Galerie_des_Glaces .
Pierre de Nolhac arrived at the Palace of Versailles in 1887 and was appointed curator of the museum in 1892.Nolhac began to restore the palace to its appearance before the Revolution.Nolhac also organized events aimed at raising the awareness of potential donors to the Palace. The development of private donations led to the creation of the Friends of Versailles in June 1907.

versailles-mirrors

Under the aegis of Gérald van der Kemp, of the museum from 1952 to 1980, the palace witnessed some of its most ambitious conservation and restoration projects: new roofing for the galerie des glaces; restoration of the chambre de la reine; restoration of the chambre de Louis XIV; restoration of the Opéra.At this time, the ground floor of the aile du Nord was converted into a gallery of French history from the 17th century to the 19th century.

Current use

The-palace-of-Versa_803299c  
The Fifth Republic has enthusiastically promoted the museum as one of France's foremost tourist attractions. The palace, however, still serves political functions. Heads of state are regaled in the Hall of Mirrors; the Sénat and the Assemblée nationale meet in congress in Versailles to revise or otherwise amend the French Constitution, a tradition that came into effect with the promulgation of the 1875 Constitution.Public establishment of the museum and Château de Versailles Spectacles recently organized the Jeff Koons Versailles exhibition.

Versailles-afternoon-fountain

Ordos: Ghost town of China

Built for over a million people, the city of Ordos was designed to be the crowning glory of Inner Mongolia. Doomed to incompletion however, this futuristic metropolis now rises empty out of the deserts of northern China. Only 2% of its buildings were ever filled; the rest has largely been left to decay, abandoned mid-construction, earning Ordos the title of China’s Ghost City.

OrdosPeopleMap

The story started about 20 years ago, with the beginning of a great Mongolian coal rush.Private mining companies poured into the green Inner Mongolian steppe lands, pock-marking the landscape with enormous opencast holes in the ground, or tunnelling underground.Local farmers sold their land to the miners, and became instantly rich. Jobs burgeoned. Ceaseless coal truck convoys tore up the roads.

640x-1

And the old city of Ordos flourished as the money flowed in.The municipality decided to think big, too.It laid out plans for a huge new town for hundreds of thousands of residents, with Genghis Khan Plaza at the centre of it.

article-0-1430A826000005DC-76_964x642

Ten years later Ordos new town is an empty new city.And it is merely the most spectacular example of a new Chinese phenomenon, in many cities - unsold flats, unlet shops, empty office blocks.It looks to outsiders as though the great Chinese building boom is over, the real estate extravaganza that shook the world.

tqheqvacftmejbj4ct74

Western financial experts who fear a bursting of the Chinese real estate bubble point out that the Chinese economy is more dependent on house building than the United States economy was, before the sub-prime lending bubble burst in 2007.Many Chinese local authorities seem to have become dependent on the proceeds of big land sales to developers.In the eyes of the critics, China's housing boom is becoming a disaster.

ls1qhqy8h18b560rryrd

Today, streets are filled with incomplete houses. Even the completed buildings are hardly occupied thanks to their high prices. Many of the residents occupying the town are also leaving for elsewhere. In just five years, price per square foot fell from $1,100 to $470. To encourage people to come to the town, investors have reduced prices. Fresh graduates who move to the town to start a business are even given office space, Internet connections, and several other utilities for free.

msb9irqryrgksjuoq1mo

 ogk6nhxkfhbrefonbx5p

Empty roads of A-town ordos housing complex

psz8ampvumstzvwgssno

SB-10-China-Ord-00310

sndhtdgzi8oi1zj07oyw

 v4ybnan33lbhqt0xehgq

 zm66wsocjkwurhlgcttx

Sunday, March 15, 2015

World’s Most dangerous drug:Colombia's Devil’s Breathe

Before I start writing this article,I would like to ask few questions

How would you feel If your going to party,get drunk and black out all of sudden and when you wake up you find yourself in some park bench either robbed or raped .You pull up yourself and try to reach home and find that your house is looted.Later you think what happened ,but you can’t remember anything and you have no money so you reach nearest ATM or Bank to withdraw and you find no money in it.Well, this is the case of many victims who were drugged by this “Devil’s Breathe”.

VICE’s Ryan Duffy travelled to the country to find out more about the powerful drug. In two segments, he revealed the shocking culture of another Colombian drug world, interviewing those who deal the drug and those who have fallen victim to it.Demencia Black, a drug dealer in the capital of Bogota, said the drug is frightening for the simplicity in which it can be administered.

angels_trumpets.jpg.size.xxlarge.letterbox

The drug, he said, turns people into complete zombies and blocks memories from forming. So even after the drug wears off, victims have no recollection as to what happened.
According to the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, the drug - also known as hyoscine - causes the same level of memory loss as diazepam.In ancient times, the drug was given to the mistresses of dead Colombian leaders – they were told to enter their master’s grave, where they were buried alive.

  • Scopolamine often blown into faces of victims or added to drinks
  • The drug is odourless and tasteless and can simply be blown in the face of someone on the street; their free will vanishes after being exposed to it
  • Within minutes, victims are like 'zombies' - coherent, but with no free will
  • Some victims report emptying bank accounts to robbers or helping them pillage own house
  • Drug is made from borrachero tree, which is common in Colombia
  • Vice Reports on Devils Breathe

    Monday, March 9, 2015

    Momčilo Gavrić :Youngest corporal in the world.

    At the very start of the Great War, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy concentrated the bulk of its forces at the Drina river, whose surroundings became the battlefield in the first phase of the war. During the first onslaught of the enemy, in the nearby village of Trbušnica near the town of Loznica, the whole family of the eight year old Momčilo Gavrić was killed, whereas he himself was saved by a coincidental visit to his cousin.

    Momčilo_Gavrić_i_major_Stevan_Tucović-res

    From this moment, the life of this boy turned into a novel that could be written only by life itself. Since the enemy had burned his house too, the little one went alone to Gučevo, in order to locate the Serbian forces and call them to avenge his brothers and sisters. The sight of the boy who lost everything shook the 6th Artillery Regiment of the Drina Division commanded by Dimitrije Tucović’s brother – the Major Stevan Tucović. He ordered for the boy to be admitted to the Division and to be allowed to shoot the cannon three times every single day, so that he could avenge his family.

    Legitimacija-A-serbia

    Up to the end of the Great War, the little soldier did not separate from the Serbian army. He fought under its flags at the battle of Kolubara, he went through the Albanian golgotha, he survived the wounds he had sustained at Kajmakčalan, he participated in the Salonika front breakthrough, and he became the youngest corporal in the world.When this unusual soldier was admitted to the Drina Division, the soldiers nicknamed him ”The Son of the Division”; there, he met his best friend Miloš Mišović from Zlatibor, and the two became inseparable. Later, it was said that during the Albania crossing the Zlatiborian fell in the snow from exhaustion, and told the boy to carry on and ignore him. Momčilo curled up around him and said that he would not make a step further without him. That gave Miloš strength to get up and withstand the golgotha to the very end.

    Deo-odlikovanaj-serbia

    The little soldier used spare time at the front to learn to write. One day, a man payed a visit to him and gave him a pocket watch and a clasp-knife. It was Doctor Archibald Reiss, the Swiss criminologist who fell in love with Serbia and fought at the front in the ranks of its army. A great benefactor of Serbian people, an English aristocrat, Lady Leila Paget, had also heard for this hero, and she called him ‘The Serbian Knight’.