PART TWO OF GREECE- METEORA!

METEORA

Meteora!  The word sounds like Meteor?  Now what is a meteor?  A meteor is a bright trail or streak that appears in the sky when a meteoroid is heated to incandescence by friction with the earth's atmosphere. However in Greek a meteora means,"suspended rocks" or "in the heaven's above" or "suspended in the air". 

Tell me did you read Jack and the Beanstalk? Remember the giant had a house on top of the tree, high up in the heavens? Well, so that is what Meteora looks like when you look at it from Kalambaka,  a little town near the base of these amazing mountains. Only there is no beanstalk, there is this sheer straight mountain, which has no slope, and on top of that there are these lights twinkling at you! A house so far up almost in the sky?One wonders how on earth do people live there. How did they get there and what are they doing there?

A MONASTERY HIGH UP NEAR THE SKY.

As we set out on our exploration, I could not believe my eyes. Those black sheer straight rocks had caves. Right on top of the mountain, I saw a building, on the next mountain, I saw a ruin and yet another building. It was intriguing indeed! 

THE ROAD

I was much relieved to see that there was a road which took us up the mountain. On the way one came across caves and the ruins of older structures and rope ladders to climb the hill. So that was one mystery solved. 

THE ROPE PATH, A CAVE & A MONASTERY

The first people to inhabit Meteora were hermit monks who climbed up the pinnacles of these mountains in the 9th Century. To begin with they  lived in hollows and fissures in the rock towers, some of which reach 1800 ft (550m) above the ground. This great height, combined with the sheerness of the cliff walls, kept away all but the most determined visitors. Initially the hermits led a life of solitude, meeting only on Sundays and special days to worship in a Chapel built at the foot of a rock known as Dhoupiani. 

REMINDS YOU OF AN ELEPHANT?

The Ascetics lived here and practiced their religion undisturbed by the political upheavals of the mainland. Access to the monasteries was  therefore deliberately kept difficult. It  required either long ladders lashed together or large nets were used to haul up both goods and people.  To keep invaders at bay they could draw up the rope ladders when they were threatened.   There were Persian and then Turkish invasions on Greece, which could make it difficult for the people to follow their Religion.Therefore the ascetic monks moved upwards. Around the 14th Century about 20 monasteries were built here. In the beginning both men and women lived in the same monasteries but later they became segregated. Now only 6 monasteries remain, of which 4 are inhabited by monks and 2 by nuns. So now you know that Meteora is an important complex of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, situated high up in the air! 

THE STEPS TO A MONASTERY

The road takes us up to a point beyond which one has to climb up stairs. This climb too is quite steep and therefore the rope basket is still used to haul up the Head Priest when he visits the monastery.

SEA PEBBLES!

After reaching the monastery the rocks become quite clear. They are made up of sea pebbles lodged inside sea silt!

THE NUNNERY GARDEN

The buildings are interesting. There is a courtyard, a Church, a museum and the rooms for the monks/nuns to stay in. They are maintained immaculately. Very neat, clean, fresh, tiny and beautiful. The nunnery, that is the monastery for women are very beautiful. They have gardens with flowers and also vegetables and herbs are grown there. They even sell these herbs in pouches. Shows the determination of the women to level out rocks and surround themselves with things of beauty!

HARD WORK & DEDICATION 

Women visitors have to compulsorily wear skirts or rather a long flowing dress, most probably a saree may be allowed. We women were therefore handed out skirts to wear over our trousers. Once inside the Museum I saw priceless books, and material associated with prayers. There were beautifully embroidered robes, gold painted books, prayer articles, candellebra, and paintings on display. Everything has been maintained nicely and securely. Photography was not allowed

A JAMES BOND MOVIE" For your eyes only"WAS SHOT ON THIS ROPEWAY

The Church was very tiny with about 6 chairs kept close together, with defining partitions. One could sit there and look at the priceless chandeliers and images and statues of Jesus and Maddona, and also the beautiful paintings on the walls. There was a calmness that enters your entire being. It is here that one feels that there is more to life than the everyday strife, race and combat that one faces in the materialistic world that lies at the foot of the mountains!

There is peace, tranquility, happiness and a sense of serenity up in the mountain away from the humdrum, traffic, pollution and what not, where we  people keep running against time!

LOOKING DOWN FROM THE TOP

I wonder if these monks were running away from those everyday problems that one has to face in the real world?

Nevertheless, these sanctuaries were what kept the Greek language alive. During the Persian and Turkish rule Greek was not allowed to be spoken except in the Church, so the people could keep alive their Language here. In fact Greece is dotted with Churches as the people would gather there to speak their language and teach the children their language.

SERENITY,BEAUTY,TRANQUILITY

I found Meteora a unique place. A place which I had never- ever imagined.

In my childhood whenever I thought of Jack and his giant living at the top of the bean stalk, I would end up with a dreadful thought that this was so imaginary, it couldn't be true! Seeing Meteora, I think I am ready for another round of Fairy tales where I will allow my imagination to run riot once again!

MUGHAL INDIA IN LONDON.

MUGHAL INDIA-ART, CULTURE AND EMPIRE.


It was just by chance that I came to know that the British Library was having an exhibition of rare manuscripts,  important documents and valuable possessions of the Mughal Empire.I quickly decided to visit the Library. The kind of stuff that I saw there  left me awe struck. I was delighted to see the collection of articles that were being exhibited. The magnificence of the Mughal empire was very evident. The way in which the Mughals  nurtured arts, artists, calligraphy, miniature painters, embroiderers, weavers, is unbelievable.All these activities and nurturing of arts, crafts and things of beauty are possible only when there is more peace than war. When life is going on without much of a struggle, it's only then that rulers can encourage the growth of objects of beauty.

What pained me was the fact that I had to see all this in London. All these treasures which belonged to my country are in the possession of some other country! But then the victor takes it all,isn't it?

There were about 200 artifacts in the exhibition.At the starting point was the Akbarnama with entries made by Abul Fazal, who kept an administrative account of the Empire. Everything that grew in the land was recorded and  taxes were levied accordingly. The Register is quite big, the entries are made very methodically and the writing though small is immaculate and neat. 

Some  manuscripts were farmaans(Royal Orders). The picture above says that a Qazi Jalaluddin of Batala was to be given 5000 copper coins. It is dated 1527. Besides this there was the Baburnama, Jahan Ara's poetry book, and even a recipe book from the kitchen of Shah Jehan. The page that was open in the recipe book gave the recipe for making a paratha. A quarter of a seer of ghee with animal fat was to be kneaded into the dough. Later frying the paratha would need more ghee! I quickly moved on from this extremely high in calories recipe. Then I saw  another book which had  17 chapters giving recipes for making perfumes, soaps, and there was a list of  specified auspicious and inauspicious dates for cutting down of trees!  Further on there was a  Notebook of Fragrance, a 17th-century guide to princely household management and also courtly activities. All these manuscripts were written in Persian and the writing was calligraphic. The Nikahnaama of Bahadur Shah with Zeenat Mahal too was on display. They were married on 18.11.1840. Today incidentally would be their 172nd marriage anniversary! Bahadur Shah was 64 and Zeenat Mahal was 19 years old. The signature of Bahadur Shah too was there. 

The manuscripts of the Babarnama were very beautifully written. It was calligraphy of the highest order. The page was painted with gold color and the writing was in black. The margins and borders of the pages were artistically painted with black and gold. The pattern was more like filigree work.There were extremely fine lines and very fine patterns on every page. I actually needed a magnifying glass to see the detailing. 

12 BADSHAHS OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

The miniature paintings on display are exquisite. Even if there were 10 persons in a miniature painting in the size of 5" x8" the face of each individual was painted with detailing and different expressions. Complexions too were painted beautifully. I was really very impressed with what I saw.I was amazed at the steady hands and perfect eyesight that the artists must have had then.

AURANGZEB IN SHAH JEHAN'S COURT

In fact Miniatures were from Babar's time to the later day Mughals and one could see that as time went by the artistry and gold in the paintings reduced. The borders and margins became less and the use of gold became quite visibly reduced.

AKBAR IN A SHIKAR SCENE

There was a sketch of Akbar's face done with what looked like a pencil to me. It was quite a small piece and yet the nuances were perfect. Babar had introduced miniature style paintings by getting artists from Iran. Around 1580, he established a royal painting workshop, initially with Iranian artists, to produce illustrated histories. At its peak it employed 100 painters fusing elements of Iranian, Indian and European art into what can be called Mughal style. These paintings show scenes of hunting, festivities, and life of the princes. There is one painting of Holi where everyone is well coloured with the vibrant colours of Holi.  A number of them show the King with his son and the obesience of the son to the father. The work is often luminous. A lot of gold is used in the paintings and the borders have fine filigree like drawings, which are very neat. Works from this period include pages from the illustrated Persian translation of “Memoirs of Babur”, such as “Babur Hunting”, a luminous painting in which deer plunge and twist as peasants beat them toward the royal hunter. Richard Johnson, an East India Company representative collected a vast number of miniatures between 1770 and 1790, and these masterpieces from the earlier reigns of Akbar and Jahangir  are on display here.

A CROWN OF BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR.

Then I saw the  very beautiful crown of the Last Mughal, Bahadur Shah "Zafar". It is made of gold with lovely filigiree work. It is set with rubies, emeralds, diamonds, pearls and turquoise. The size and beauty of the gems has to be seen to be believed. The inside lining is made of red velvet. After the Badshah was deposed, Major Tytler  of the 38th regiment of Native Infantry, which had taken part in the seige of Delhi,was in charge of the Red Fort. He bought the Crown in an auction of the jewelry and along with two thrones, one of which was made of crystal,he brought them to London and sold them to Queen Victoria in 1861, for a paltry sum of Pounds 500! 

Besides this there is a jade fly whisk, which was used by Shah Jehan's attendant. This is set with rubies and emeralds in gold floral motifs and is very beautiful, the whisk would have had peacock feathers or horse hair sprouting from the top to keep insects at bay.

It is believed to have been acquired by the 6th Earl and Countess of Macclesfield in 1876 during a visit to India with the Prince of Wales.

If an attendant handled such a beautiful and expensive whisk, what would the family members be wearing? How magnificent must that collection have been!


There is the sword of Dara Shikoh, with a jade handle encrusted with jewels. There was a huge jade three striped roofed turtle displayed quite prominently. This belonged to Jehangir.

In the last room there was a 15 foot painting with the detailed map of Shahjehanabad. It was like a panorama and all the interesting buildings of Mughal Delhi like Begum Samru's haweli, Bada Hindurao, St. James Church, The Chandni Chowk, and Qutab minar in the far distance were all shown.The inscription below the Church said,"Girja ghar yani Church"

The pictures of the Red Fort and the different palaces and houses inside the fort are shown very clearly.Now we can see only clear lands and lawns where once stood houses inside the Fort. After 1857 almost all the houses were demolished and the British used the area and also built their own buildings there.

ZEENAT MAHAL'S PHOTO

ZAFAR IN CAPTIVITY-PHOTO

There was a photograph of Zeenat Mahal as well as of Bahadur Shah's two sons also on display. The photograph of Bahadur Shah shows an old man smoking his hukka, lying forlorn and quite dejected on his bed. The most telling photograph  was that of the Diwan-e Khas with the crystal throne wrapped up and packed to be removed from where it belonged. The photo showed the walls of the palace and it seemed quite decrepit.

One could see that decay  had already set in and the might, and beauty of the magnificent Lal Quila along with the Mughals was nearing its end.

BRITISH LIBRARY FOYER

GREECE! ANCIENT! AMAZING!

Know the alphabets? this pitcher is from 4th Century BC

Did you say it's all Greek to me? Inadvertently, you have actually stated a fact. There are a lot of Greek words that we use everyday. The alphabets that we use in English, came from Greek. All those Science/maths terminology like, Ω Omega,Φ Phi, Σ Sigma, Π Pi, Δ Delta are all Greek alphabets!

 So many words have actually originated from Greek, that without knowing it we are often talking in Greek!

Having said that let me tell you that Greece was the place where almost everything began. Democracy, theatre, drama, athletic contests, medicine, architectural styles, aqueducts, are a few things that I name here.

TNN at starting point at Olympia Stadium.Note the grooves please.

 The Olympic games started in 776 BC in Olympia. They were held every 4 years. These Games honored the ancient Greek God Zeus. During the games all wars were halted and it was made convenient for people to go to Olympia and participate or watch the Games. The participants had to arrive a month in advance. The elimination process started from day one. 

The wreath of olive leaves

The winner was presented with a wreath of Olive leaves.  It was highly prestigious to win at the Games as the winner was then treated like a demi God. In fact a portion of the City wall was broken to welcome the winner back. It was symbolic to show that the winner would protect the City State like the wall!

Olympics were not the only games in ancient Greece. There were three other Games organised in different places, all at 4 yearly intervals. The one at Delphi was called the Pythian Games, the prize awarded was a Laurel Wreath, these games honored Apollo. Nemean Games were held at Nemea, the prize awarded was a Wreath of wild celery, and it honored Zeus, the Isthmian Games were held at Corinth and the prize awarded was a wreath of Pine leaves, and it honored Poseidon. The old saying "Don't rest on your laurels" originated at Delphi.

The ancient strip at Olympia

The Stadium at Olympia is just a strip where the races were held. The starting and finishing lines are made of marble. The starting line has got grooves in which the runner would have to keep his feet. There were no seats for the spectators. It was a stadium with slopes. On one side of the stadium were seats for the judges and opposite them was a place for the High Priestess, the only woman who could watch the games.

Arched entrance at Olympia

There was an arched entrance for going into the Stadium. The word stadium also is derived from the Greek Stadia.  The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race, and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, pankration, and equestrian event.

The statue of Zeus would have been like this

Near the Stadium there was a temple of Zeus with a seated statue of the god which was 40' high. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The basic statue was made in wood and arms and legs were made of Ivory. Robes were made of gold. He held a 6' statue of Nike(pronounced Nikke), the Godess of Victory, in his hand. This gigantic statue of Zeus is said to have burned down. I think perhaps it may have been plundered to get the precious metal! The workshop where this statue was made also exists opposite the temple of Zeus.

The athletes participated in the nude. They first applied Olive oil to their bodies and then covered themselves with sea salt. The word Gymnast comes from the Greek word gymnos which means naked.

Women also had games, which were played to honour Godess Hera the wife of Zeus. The race for women was shorter than the one for men. They had a separate starting line.

The Olympic games were discontinued by the Roman Emperor Theodosius in 393 AD, as he wanted to stop the pursuit of traditional religious practices of Ancient Greek gods which were considered pagan cults.The Christian era had arrived. 

The Olympic stadium at Athens

There is a stadium in Athens which was built in honor of Goddess Athena. In 329 BC this ancient Stadium with wooden seating was rebuilt and marble seating was provided. The remnants of this ancient structure were excavated refurbished and the first Modern Olympic games were held in 1896 in this stadium. 

Theater of Dionysis at Athens behind Acropolis

Athens is where western theatre originated.Theatre  was part of  performances that included religious festivities, rituals, athletics and gymnastics, music, poetry, social activities like weddings, funerals, and symposia. Participation in the many festivals, and attendance at the City Dionysia , as an audience member or  as a participant in the theatrical productions was an important part of citizenship. The Greeks also developed the concepts of dramatic criticism, acting as a career, and theatre architecture.

Theater of Dionysis at Athens another view.

Tragedy, Comedy and Satyr were the different genres of plays in Greece. The words Theatre, Scene, thespian, are of Greek origin. Greek tragedy plays were enacted around 532 BC. An actor Thespis was the oldest recorded tragedy actor. We get the word Thespian from him.

Theater at Delphi

The origins of theatre in ancient Greece, according to Aristotle (384–322BC), the first theoretician of theatre, are to be found in the festivals that honoured Dionysus, the God of wine and fertility. The performances were given in the open, usually at the foot of a hill.The slope of the hill would provide a good "watching place" for the audience and this place was called theatron( watching place). 

Lime stone seats at Epidaurus

The theaters were built to accommodate almost 20,000 people. The seating was in a semi circular arrangement on  the slopes, later seats were cut out on the slopes and then marble seats were provided. Later on the word Theatre included the Theatre( seating for audience), the Orchestra(The performance space which was circular, where the actors danced and sang. The orchestra,  had an average diameter of 78 feet) and the Skene (around  465 BC, the playwrights began using a backdrop or scenic wall, which hung or stood behind the orchestra, which also served as an area where actors could change their costumes. It was known as the skene (from which the word "scene" is derived). The actors (always men) wore masks appropriate to the characters they represented, and each actor played several roles.     

Theater at Epidaurus

In plays the words were the most important part, therefore good acoustics and clear delivery were paramount. The Greek theaters are actually marvels of acoustics. Mathematics played a role in the construction of theatres as the designers had to be able to create acoustics in such a way that the voice of the actors could be heard clearly throughout the theatre. 

The Orchestra at Epidaurus!

I personally could experience this wonder.There is a theater at Epidaurus designed in the 4th century BC.There are 55 rows of seating and the capacity is of 15,000 people. The theatre has exceptional acoustics, which allows words to reach all the audience irrespective of where they sit. The rows of lime stone seats filters out low frequency sounds and amplifies high frequency sound from the stage. This theatre is still being used for performances!  I sang at this ancient theatre. People sitting right at the top of the theatre in the last row could hear me clearly. The resonance that I felt while singing was an unbelievable experience. I will never forget this experience. Standing at the center of the stage which is marked by a marble stone and singing at an ancient theatre was absolutely magical. For me that moment of time simply froze!

THE ODEON-The Musical programmes were held here in Athens

Music or mausiki is also another word which originated in Greece. It comes from Muses, the patron goddesses of creative and intellectual endeavours and  the daughters of Zeus. There is a lot of depiction of music being performed on the ceramic vases of ancient Greece.There is a theatre for music at the Acropolis in Athens. This was called Odeon. Music was also closely linked with healing. A theatre and a hospital were often found close together. It was thought that music soothed and provided relief to the patients.

Asclepius with his staff

That brings us to modern medicine. Asclepius was the healer God. he had temples which functioned as centers of medical advice,prognosis and healing. Hygeia his daughter was the Godess of good health! Hygeine is derived from this word.  Her sister was Panakeia or "all cure". There... we have the word Panacea! A rod entwined with a serpent is a common symbol in Hospitals. This was the rod of Asclepius. We all know of Hippocrates(460-370 BC) Hippocrates invented the Hippocratic Oath for physicians, which is still relevant and in use today.

Amazing! what do you say??
I'll soon be back with a lot more on Greece! Meanwhile do remember  that all this and more happened over 2500 years ago.