Water Bridge in Germany

Water Bridge in Germany 

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Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama, the Lord Buddha, was born in 623 B.C. in the famous gardens of Lumbini, Nepal. The site is now being developed as a Buddhist pilgrimage centre, where the archaeological remains associated with the birth of the Lord Buddha form a central feature.

Justification for Inscription
The Committee decided to inscribe this site on the basis of criteria (iii) and (vi). As the birthplace of the Lord Buddha, the sacred area of Lumbini is one of the holiest places of one of the world's great religions, and its remains contain important evidence about the nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centres from a very early period.
Long Description
As the birthplace of the Lord Buddha - the apostle of peace and the light of Asia was born in 623 BC - the sacred area of Lumbini is one of the holiest places of one of the world's great religions, and its remains contain important evidence about the nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centres from a very early period. Lumbini, in the South-Western Terai of Nepal, evokes a kind of holy sentiment to the millions of Buddhists all over the world, like Jerusalem to Christians and Mecca to Muslims.

Lumbini is the place where the Buddha, known as the Tathagata, was born. It is the place which should be visited and seen by a person of devotion and which should cause awareness and apprehension of the nature of impermanence. The site and its surrounding area is endowed with a rich natural setting of domesticable fauna and favourable agricultural environ. Historically, the region is an exquisite treasure-trove of ancient ruins and antiquities, dating back to the pre-Christian era. The site, described as a beautiful garden in the Buddha's time, still retains its legendary charm and beauty.

The birthplace of the Gautama Buddha, Lumbini, is one of the four holy places of Buddhism. It is said in the Parinibbana Sutta that Buddha himself identified four places of future pilgrimage: the sites of his birth, Enlightenment, First Discourse, and death. All these events happened outside in nature under trees. There is no particular significance in this, other than it perhaps explains why Buddhists have always respected the environment and natural law.

Lumbini is situated at the foothills of the Himalayas in modern Nepal. In the Buddha's time, Lumbini was a beautiful garden full of green and shady sal trees (Shorea robusta ). The garden and its tranquil environs were owned by both the Shakyas and the clans. King Suddhodana, father of Gautama Buddha, was of the Shakya dynasty and belonged to the Kshatriya (warrior caste). Maya Devi, his mother, gave birth to the child on her way to her parent's home in Devadaha while resting in Lumbini under a sal tree in the month of May, 642 BC. The beauty of Lumbini is described in Pali and Sanskrit literature. Maya Devi, it is said, was spellbound to see the natural grandeur of Lumbini. While she was standing, she felt labour pains and catching hold of a drooping branch of a sal tree, she gave birth to a baby, the future Buddha.

In 249 BC, when the Indian Emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini, it was a flourishing village. Ashoka constructed four stupas and a stone pillar with a figure of a horse on top. The stone pillar bears an inscription, which in translation runs as follows: 'King Piyadasi (Ashoka), beloved of devas, in the 20th year of the coronation, himself made a royal visit, Buddha Sakyamuni having been born here; a stone railing was built and a stone pillar erected to the Bhagavan having been born here, Lumbini village was taxed reduced and entitled to the eight part (only)'.

Lumbini remained neglected for centuries. In 1895, Feuhrer, a famous German archaeologist, discovered the great pillar while wandering about the foothills of the Churia range. Further exploration and excavation of the surrounding area revealed the existence of a brick temple and sandstone sculpture within the temple itself, which depicts the scenes of the Buddha's birth.

It is pointed out by scholars that the temple of Maya Devi was constructed over the foundations of more than one earlier temple or stupa, and that this temple was probably built on an Ashokan stupa itself. To the south of the Maya Devi temple there is the famous sacred bathing pool known as Puskarni. It is believed that Maya Devi took a bath in this pool before the delivery. By the side of the Ashoka pillar a river which flows south-east and is locally called the Ol. In 1996, an archaeological dig unearthed a 'flawless stone' placed there by Ashoka in 249 BC to mark the precise location of the Buddha's birth more than 2,600 years ago. if authenticated, the find will put Lumbini even more prominently on the map for millions of religious pilgrims.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Historical Description
The Shakya Prince Siddharta Gautama, better known as the Lord Buddha, was born to Queen Mayadevi, wife of King Suddodhana, ruler of Kapilavastu, in 623 BC at the famous gardens of Lumbini, while she was on a journey from her husband's capital of Tilaurakot to her family home in Devadaha.
In 249 BC the devout Buddhist Emperor Ashoka, third of the Mauryan rulers of India, made a pilgrimage to this very sacred area in company with his teacher, Upagupta, and erected pillars at Lumbini, Gotihawa, and Niglihawa, as he did in many parts of India, to commemorate his visit. The inscription on the Lumbini pillar identifies this as the birthplace of the Lord Buddha.

Lumbini was a site of pilgrimage until the 15th century AD. Its early history is well documented in the accounts of Chinese travellers, notably Fa Hsien (4th century AD) and Hsuan Tsang (7th century AD), who described the temples, stupas, and other establishments that they visited there. In the early 14th century King Ripu Malla recorded his pilgrimage in the form of an additional inscription on the Ashoka pillar.
The reasons for its ceasing to attract Buddhist pilgrims after the 15th century remain obscure. The only local cult centred on worship of a 3rd-4th century image of Mayadevi as a Hindu mother goddess. The Buddhist temples fell into disrepair and eventually into ruins, not to be rediscovered until they were identified in 1896 by Dr A Fiihrer and Khadga Samsher, then Governor of Palpa, who discovered the Ashoka pillar.

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15 Photos Of Most Dangerous Walkway in the World

15 Photos Of Most Dangerous Walkway in the World

Did you ever seen such a dangerous walkway..?? El Caminito del Rey (also known as The King’s Walkway) can be considered most dangerous walkway in the world. El Caminito del Rey was built in 1901 as a connection between the power plants of Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls. It took four years to finish and in 1905 Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, crossed the walkway for the inauguration, thus giving it its name, The King’s Walkway.

Built along the steep walls of a narrow gorge, in the Malaga region, El Caminito del Rey has deteriorated severely in the last years and after four people died crossing it, in 1999 and 2000, the authorities decided to close it off to tourists. It’s only 1 meter wide and it stands 300 meters above the river floating in the area. Onlly a small part of the walkway has handrails and much of the concrete walkway has collapsed, leaving only the steel beam that originally held it up.

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The Top 50 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2013

    The Top 50 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2012

50. A SEAHORSE INSPECTS A DIVER’S WATCH

Photograph by Don McLeish

49. AN ILLUMINATED SNOW TUNNEL IN RUSSIA

Photograph by Michael Zelensky

48. THE HONEYBEE’S FINAL STING

Photograph by Kathy Keatley Garvey

47. EVERYBODY WAS KUNG FU FIGHTING

Photograph by China Foto Press

46. STREET ARTIST SAINER GOES BIG IN POLAND

Photograph via Fundacja Urban Forms on Facebook

45. MOUNT RAINIER CASTING A SHADOW ON CLOUDS

Photograph by Nick Lippert (via Komo News)

44. FIRST CONTACT

Photograph by CMGW Photography on Flickr

43. THE IRISH SKY GARDEN CRATER

Photograph by Liss Ard Estate

42. MOON BRIDGE IN DAHU PARK, TAIPEI

Photograph by bbe022001 on Flickr

41. FLIGHT OF THE DEVIL RAYS

Photograph by FLORIAN SCHULTZ

40. GÁSADALUR VILLAGE IN THE FAROE ISLANDS

Photograph by GARETH CODD PHOTOGRAPHY on Flickr

39. WORLD’S EDGE
Photograph by RHYS DAVIES


38. THE CAPILANO SUSPENSION BRIDGE IN VANCOUVER
Photograph by MICHELLE LEE


37. FRACTAL PATTERNS IN DRIED OUT DESERT RIVERS
Photograph by ADRIANA FRANCO for National Geographic


36. MEDITATING MONKS AT PONGOUR FALLS
Photograph by DANG NGO – Prints Available


35. HANGING OUT ON THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE, 1914
Photograph by Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives


34. A SUNSET ECLIPSE
Photograph by GIL NARTEA


33. BORA BORA FROM SPACE
Photograph by PLEIADES-HR SATELLITE


32. THE LARGEST RAFT OF CANOES AND KAYAKS IN THE WORLD
Photograph by NANCIE BATTAGLIA for National Geographic


31. ADAPTIVE ROOTS IN THE CONCRETE JUNGLE

Photograph by HORST KIECHLE

30. THE HAMILTON POOL NATURE PRESERVE
Photograph by DAVE WILSON PHOTOGRAPHY


29. ABOVE THE CANOPY

Photograph by MICHAEL NICHOLS for National Geographic 

28. COLLIDING RIVERS IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Photograph via I_let_my_dog_lick_my on Reddit


27. THE STUNNING GREEN VINE SNAKE
Photograph by SUHAAS PREMKUMAR for National Geographic


26. AURORA AUSTRALIS (SOUTHERN LIGHTS) FROM SPACE
Photograph by André Kuipers / ESA / NASA


25. MOUNT KILIMANJARO FROM ABOVE
Photograph by KYLE MIJLOF 


24. THE AMAZING STRENGTH OF AN ANT
Photograph by Yu Wu for National Geographic – Your Shot


23. YARN BOMBING A BUS IN MEXICO CITY
Artwork by Magda Sayeg (Photograph by Cesar Ortega)



22. FELIX BAUMGARTNER JUMPS FROM 71,580 FEET
© Jay Nemeth/Red Bull Content Pool



21. THE MOST INCREDIBLE AURORA OF 2012
Photograph courtesy of Jónína Óskarsdóttir for NASA



20. THE WATERFALL ISLAND AT IGUAZU FALLS
Photograph by Andrew Murray on Flickr



19. OVERGROWN RAILROAD TRACKS IN THE FOREST
Photograph by T.-C on Flickr




18. A POD OF SLEEPING SPERM WHALES
Photograph by Wild Wonders of Europe via Business & Biodiversity Campaign

17. 7 HOURS IN ONE IMAGE
Photograph by Isil Karanfil (isilkrnfl on deviantART)

16. PIXEL PEOPLE PERFECTION

Artwork by Craig Alan via Artexpo (Eric Smith) on Flickr

15. GALACTIC MONSOON
Photograph by BRET WEBSTER

14. STRIKING ARTISTRY OF MULTIPLE TAKEOFFS AT HANNOVER AIRPORT

Photograph by HO-YEOL RYU

13. SAILING LIKE A BOSS

Photograph by ALEX THOMSON RACING

12. A SEA OF PURPLE IN THE BADLANDS OF UTAH

Photograph by GUY TAL PHOTOGRAPHY 

11. PUTTING THE SIZE OF A WHALE IN PERSPECTIVE

Photograph via timz45 on Reddit

10. MEANWHILE IN SWITZERLAND

Photograph by Reuters/Denis Balibouse

9. ONE BOAT AND 145 WATER-SKIERS

Photograph by MARK SEATON PHOTOGRAPHY

8. SALAR DE UYUNI AFTER SOME RAIN

Photograph via Paean on Reddit

7. OUTDOOR JACUZZI ON THE MATTERHORN

Photograph via Iglu-Dorf.com

6. THE PRECIOUS BLUE MARBLE

Photograph by NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

5. MAELSTROM AT KAUAI, HAWAII

Photograph by PATRICK SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

4. CAPSIZED CRUISE SHIP COSTA CONCORDIA FROM SPACE

Photograph by DIGITALGLOBE.COM

3. Serenity Now

Photograph by ZAK NOYLE for SURFER MAGAZINE

2. BEAUTIFUL BERN FROM ABOVE

Photograph via loki010 on Reddit

1. FIRST RISING SUN OF 2012

Photograph by JIJI Press/AFP/Getty Images

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