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Dashain is the longest and the most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar, celebrated by Nepalese people throughout the globe. It is also celebrated by many Hindus elsewhere. Dashain symbolizes the victory of good over evil.<br/><br/> For followers of Shaktism, it represents the victory of the goddess Parvati. In Hindu mythology, the demon Mahishasura had created terror in the devaloka (the world where gods live ) but Durga killed the demon. The first nine days of Dashain symbolizes the battle which took place between the different manifestations of Durga and Mahishasura. The tenth day is the day when Durga finally defeated him. For other Hindus, this festival symbolizes the victory of Rama over Ravana as recounted in the Ramayana.<br/><br/> Buddhists Nepal celebrate Dashain to commemorate Ashoka's adoption of ahimsa and Buddhism.<br/><br/> Kathmandu is an unexpected and extravagant mixture of peoples and religions, child-goddesses, bare-foot porters padding in back alleys, and sacred cows. The Kathmandu most people come to see is the Old City, a tangled network of narrow alleys, stores and temples located around central Durbar Square.
Sati (also spelled suttee) is an obsolete Hindu funeral custom where a widow immolates herself on her husband's pyre, or commits suicide in another fashion shortly after her husband's death.<br/><br/> Mention of the practice can be dated back to the 4th century BCE, while evidence of practice by widows of kings only appears beginning between the 5th and 9th centuries CE. The practice is considered to have originated within the warrior aristocracy on the Indian subcontinent, gradually gaining in popularity from the 10th century CE and spreading to other groups from the 12th through 18th centuries. The practice was particularly prevalent among some Hindu communities, observed in aristocratic Sikh families, and has been attested to outside South Asia in a number of localities in Southeast Asia, such as in Indonesia and Champa.
Lu Xun (or Lu Hsun), was the pen name of Zhou Shuren (Chou Shu-jen), September 25, 1881 – October 19, 1936. One of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century. Considered by many to be the founder of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in baihua (the vernacular) as well as classical Chinese. Lu Xun was a short story writer, editor, translator, critic, essayist and poet. In the 1930s he became the titular head of the Chinese League of the Left-Wing Writers in Shanghai.<br/><br/> Built in 1894 by the 72 Chen (usually romanised as Chan in Cantonese) clans, the Chen Family Temple (Chenjia Si), also known as the Chen Clan Academy (simplified Chinese: 陈家祠; traditional Chinese: 陳家祠; pinyin: Chén Jiā Cí) is an academic temple in Guangzhou (Canton). The academy was built for the clans juniors', a place to live and prepare for the imperial examinations during the Qing Dynasty.
Knossos (alternative spellings Knossus, Cnossus, Greek Κνωσός), also known as Labyrinth, or Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square.<br/><br/> Detailed images of Cretan life in the late Bronze Age are provided by images on the walls of this palace. It is also a tourist destination today, as it is near the main city of Heraklion and has been substantially restored by archaeologist Arthur Evans.<br/><br/> The city of Knossos remained important through the Classical and Roman periods, but its population shifted to the new town of Chandax (modern Heraklion) during the 9th century AD. By the 13th century, it was called Makryteikhos or 'Long Wall'; the bishops of Gortyn continued to call themselves Bishops of Knossos until the 19th century. Today, the name is used only for the archaeological site situated in the suburbs of Heraklion.
The Dura Europos synagogue is an ancient synagogue uncovered at Dura-Europos, Syria, in 1932. The last phase of construction was dated by an Aramaic inscription to 244 CE, making it one of the oldest synagogues in the world. It is unique among the many ancient synagogues that have emerged from archaeological digs as it was preserved virtually intact, and it has extensive figurative wall-paintings. These frescoes are now displayed in the National Museum of Damascus.
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the king of Mycenae, or Argos. He and his brother Menelaus were also known as 'Atrides', the sons of Atreus. Agamemnon had four children by his wife Clytaemnestra. Menelaus was married to Clytaemnestra's sister, Helen. When Helen was abducted—or seduced—by the Trojan Paris, the result was the Trojan war. Agamemnon was a central player in the war as both commander of the Greek fleet and Helen's brother-in-law. In order to summon up winds to propel his ships, he was forced to sacrifice his daughter Iphigeneia to the goddess Artemis. This eventually led to his downfall. Clytaemnestra never forgave Agamemnon for the death of her daughter and took her revenge years later when he returned from Troy.
According to the Mekong Exporation Commission's report: “Alevy decided to atone for his past sins in Peunom [Wat Phanom]. Once there, he had his head shaved, donned the monk's robe and after a night in prayer went to consult the pagoda's resident monk … The old man, after a few moments' reflection, told him simply: 'My son, follow your heart.' The penitent sinner hesitated no longer. He went to a chapel near the pyramid and there on a small altar, before a statue of the Buddha, he at once cut off the tip of one of his left hand fingers with a knife. This offering had set his conscience at rest. Commander de Lagree reproached him gently … and tried to expalin that the best way to repent was to change his conduct rather than mutilate his body. Alevy pretended to agree but in his inmost heart probably cherished the heroic way he had atoned for his sins.”
The Naxi or Nakhi are an ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China. The Naxi are thought to have come originally from Tibet and, until recently, maintained overland trading links with Lhasa and India. The Naxi form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. The Naxi are traditionally followers of the Dongba religion. Through both Han Chinese and Tibetan cultural influences, they adopted Tibetan Buddhism and, to a lesser extent, Taoism, in the 10th century.
The Naxi or Nakhi are an ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China. The Naxi are thought to have come originally from Tibet and, until recently, maintained overland trading links with Lhasa and India. The Naxi form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. The Naxi are traditionally followers of the Dongba religion. Through both Han Chinese and Tibetan cultural influences, they adopted Tibetan Buddhism and, to a lesser extent, Taoism, in the 10th century.
Uzbekistan: A painting from the court of Timurid sultan Baysungur Bahadir Khan, late 15th century. The Timurids were a Central Asian Sunni Muslim dynasty of originally Turko-Mongol descent whose empire included the whole of Central Asia, Iran, modern Afghanistan, as well as large parts of Pakistan, India, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the Caucasus. It was founded by the great conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) in the 14th century from the remnants of the Mongol Empire.
The Nyahuen or Hyanon are a Mon-Khmer ethnic group of about 5,000 persons who inhabit about 30 villages in Champasak province in southern Laos. The Nyahuen are strongly animist with spirits and shamans being consulted for virtually every decision. The Nyahon believe each person has seven different souls. They especially revere a spirit called 'Brrah'. Other spirits of nature include the spirit of trees, water, rice fields, thunder and mountains. Shamans, or spirit priests, conduct regular ceremonies where they make sacrifices and offer up prayers to protective spirits. Offended spirits are identified by a ritual involving rice and the organs of a chicken. Special ceremonies are held in the event of a natural disaster or epidemic.
Ai-Khanoum or Ay Khanum ( 'Lady of the Moon' in Uzbek, probably the historical Alexandria on the Oxus, also possibly named Eucratidia), was founded in the 4th century BCE, following the conquests of Alexander the Great and was one of the primary cities of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom.<br/><br/> The city is located in Kunduz Province northern Afghanistan, at the confluence of the Oxus river (today's Amu Darya) and the Kokcha river. Ai Khanoum was one of the focal points of Hellenism in the East for nearly two centuries, until its destruction by nomadic invaders around 145 BCE about the time of the death of Eucratides.<br/><br/> The site was excavated through archaeological searches by a French mission under Paul Bernard between 1964 and 1978, as well as by Russian archaeologists. These researches had to be abandoned with the beginning of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, during which the site was looted and used as a battleground, leaving very little of the original material.