Calligraphy - The Art of Inscribe Words

Islamic art is generally reckoned to cover all of the visual arts produced in the lands where Muslims were an important, if not the most important, segment of society. Islamic art differs, therefore, from such other terms as Buddhist or Christian art, for it refers not only to the arts produced by or for the religion of Islam but to the arts of all Islamic cultures. Islamic art was not necessarily created by or for Muslims, for some Islamic art was made by Christian, Jewish, or even Hindu artists working for Muslim patrons, and some Islamic art was created for non Muslim patrons.

Calligraphy is more than ‘beautiful handwriting’ or ‘ornate lettering techniques.Calligraphy is the art of forming beautiful symbols by hand and arranging them well.It’s a set of skills and techniques for positioning and inscribing words so they show integrity, harmony, some sort of ancestry, rhythm and creative fire.

Calligraphy, or the art of writing, was the visual art form prized above all others in traditional China. The genres of painting and calligraphy emerged simultaneously, sharing identical tools namely, brush and ink. Yet calligraphy was revered as a fine art long before painting; indeed, it was not until the Song dynasty, when painting became closely allied with calligraphy in aim, form, and technique, that painting shed its status as mere craft and joined the higher ranks of the fine arts The elevated status of calligraphy reflects the importance of the word in China. This was a culture devoted to the power of the word. From the beginning, emperors asserted their authority for posterity as well as for the present by engraving their own pronouncements on mountain sides and on stone steles erected at outdoor sites.

The Classic Mongolian script written from the top downwards and in clockwise turns and has a classic vertical direction which expresses the almost optimal movement of handwriting due to the theory of probability. The Chinggis Khaan’s stele (inscribed Monument) which was writing around 1224 is an ancient memento, a memory at the same time as well as a monument and a very rare subject of research and studies regarding the Mongolian Calligraphy.

The development of sophisticated calligraphy as an importance art form is not unique to Islamic culture. Other examples include Chinese and Japanese calligraphy and illuminated bibles from north-west Europe including the famous Book of Kells. In the Islamic world, however, calligraphy has been used to a much greater extent and in astonishingly varied and imaginative ways, which have taken the written word far beyond pen and paper into all art forms and materials. For these reasons, calligraphy may be counted as a uniquely original feature of Islamic art.

Ottoman Turkish calligraphy is associated with geometric Islamic art on the walls and ceilings of mosques as well as on the page. Contemporary artists in the Islamic world draw on the heritage of calligraphy to use calligraphic inscriptions or abstractions in their work.The first of those to gain popularity was known as the Kufic script, which was angular, made of square and short horizontal strokes, long verticals, and bold, compact circles.

Most Popular Maori Tattoo Designs

Maori tattoos are among the most distinctive tattoos in the world and have their own identity amongst the Polynesian tattoos. Tattooing is a sacred art among the Maori people of New Zealand, and probably came to them from the islands of East Polynesia.

Maori tattoo art is very beautiful, consisting of curved shapes and spirals in intricate patterns. Distinctive for Maori tattoo designs is the fact that they are based on the spiral and that they are curvilinear. The most prevalent place for a Maori tattoo was the face, probably a result of the cool New Zealand climate.    

     
The Maori tattoo designs have become very popular but they have lost the traditional and tribal meaning that they held for the indigenous Maori. This is because the original Maori tattoos were only made on the members of the community for the particular reasons such as special occasions and festivals. This can be attributed to the different Maori tattoo design meanings. To the Maori considered the head as the most sacred part of the body. Additionally, it was a very visible part.

Ta Moko Tattoos

The Maori tattoo consists of bold spiral designs covering the face, the buttocks and the legs of the Maori men. Maori women were usually tattooed on the lips and chin and in some cases on the neck and the back.Tattooing has a sacred significance the Maori tattoo design itself, and the long and painful process of acquiring the tattoo (Maori tribe tattooing was done with bone chisels).

Rihanna Maori tattoo

Rihanna has covered up her tattoo just weeks after getting the ink done in the traditional Maori way in New Zealand.Celebrity tattooists Bang Bang McCurdy and Cally Jo of Bang Bang Tattoos flew to Rihanna in the Dominican Republic to "incorporate" their design with her Maori tattoo.

Spear Head Maori Tattoo

The Spear Head Maori tattoo stands as a symbol of courage, wisdom and strength. It tries to express the image of a warrior and his great skills. The tattoo has very intricate designs and every line could stand as a symbol for something. It is very innovative and unique in appearance.

Ocean Maori Tattoo

Ocean Maori tattoos are very common. Some understand oceans as a symbol of death or the world beyond it. There are various patterns and designs available to choose from and people have really liked the idea as it makes your tattoo look strikingly amazing.

Lizard Maori Tattoo

In Polynesian culture art, lizards or geckos represent a God like figure. It is a very important part of Polynesian beliefs and ideals. They are known to guard all kinds of diseases and misfortunes and delivering people from enemies. The lizard tattoos are indeed very unique and creative in appearance.

Trditional Dance of Zulu Tribe in South Africa

Traditional Zulu dancing is an important part of the Zulu Tribe culture. Dancing is usually performed during a traditional Zulu Tribe ceremony, and is accompanied by vibrant singing and sometimes the beating of drums. Zulu dance is something quite spectacular, especially when the men and women are fully dressed in their traditional attire.It is customary that unmarried and young men dance, alternating in separate groups, occasionally the married women and men break in and join the festivities.

According to Zulu Tribe Culture thousands of Zulu Tribe virgins dance at the Enyokeni Zulu Tribe Royal Palace each September at the Reed Dance Festival, or Umkhosi Womhlanga. The tradition begins with the virgin maids gathering reeds from the river and bringing them to the Zulu king. The girls dance with the reeds in front of the king, and then he chooses his bride. Besides the bride choice, one of the main purposes of this ritual was to encourage girls to remain virgins until marriage.                  

Native to South African Music, the Zulu tribe has many rituals that have been passed from generation to generation over time. Dancing is one of the most common types of community rituals, and it is incorporated into most Zulu ceremonies. Zulu Tribe dances are signs of happiness and they occur when any significant event takes place.

Types of Zulu Dances

There are many types of Zulu Tribe dances besides the reed dance. The Ingoma dance is considered one of the most purist forms of Zulu Tribe dance, according to Zululand Ecoadventures. This dance is performed to a chant and during transition ceremonies, such as coming of age, weddings and pre-hunt or pre-battle time periods. The Ingoma is frantically danced and incorporates high kicking motions.

Bull Dance

Bull Dance a most popular dance that originated in the cramped confines of the mine dormitories imitating a bull with the arms held aloft and the legs brought down with a thump. The rural girls have their own version.

Music

Ingoma dances are done with the sounds of the dancers’ chants. In the Isishameni form of Ingoma, the boys and girls dance separately, and the opposite genders clap along for each other. The Indalamu dance is done with drums and whistles. The Isicathamiya and Umbholoho dances are danced to both drums and songs.

Hunting Dance

The Hunting Dance imitates the actions of hunting and the bravery it requires. This fiery dance is danced using sticks instead of spears to avoid injury and was danced before the hunt began. The girls also dance their own version but to welcome the men back from the hunt.

Clothing

Girls are bare-chested and wear wool skirts and ankle rattles during the Ingoma dances and reed dance. Boys and men typically only wear cowhides that cover their genitals and backsides during the Ingoma dance. Men wear full warrior attire, such as cowhides, head rings, ankle rattles, ceremonial belts and shields during the Indalamu dance.

Popular Museums in Greece

The Museum of Greek Musical Instruments Research Center for Ethnomusicology- comprises the collection of about 1.200 Greek popular musical instruments dating from 1750 to the present day,the fruit of half a century of research and study by the musicologist Fivos Anoyanakis. The Museum is housed in the historical Lassanis Mansion which was built in 1842 close to the Roman Agora.

The museum there are findings from all the places of ancient Greece and the Greek world, the exhibits include, statues, vases, jewellery, sculpture, weapons, religious items from the Neolithic times, early Cycladic civilisation, the Minoan civilisation, the classical and Hellenistic period and the roman period.      

 
Acropolis Museum

The Acropolis Museum is an archaeological site-specific museum, housing more than 3.000 famous artefacts from the Athenian Acropolis, the most significant sanctuary of the ancient city. Located in the historical area of Makriyianni, southeast of the Rock of the Acropolis, the Museum narrates the story of life on the Rock from prehistoric times until the end of Antiquity. From its opening in June 2009 until March 2012 more than 4 million local and foreign visitors have passed through the Museum’s doors.

National Archaeological Museum

The National Archaeological Museum is the largest museum in Greece and tourist destinations one of the world's great museums. Although its original purpose was to secure all the finds from the nineteenth century excavations in and around Athens, it gradually became the central National Archaeological Museum and was enriched with finds from all over Greece. Its abundant collections, with more than 11,000 exhibits, provide a panorama of Greek civilization from the beginnings of Prehistory to Late Antiquity.

Marathon Museum

The Archaeological Museum of Marathon exhibits art and artifacts unearthed in the surrounding area. Marathon was inhabited since the stone age, so items on display date between the Middle Helladic to the Roman eras.

Nafplion Museum

The Nafplion Archaeological Museum is home to objects unearthed in the Argolis area. Highlights include the bronze Dendra Panoply (15c. BCE), artifacts from the Franchthi cave (Mesolithic to Neolithic), items from the excavations at Tiryns (Bronze to Iron Age), and superb examples of ceramics from the stone Age to the 6th c.

Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum

The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki exhibits artifacts unearthed in northern Greece. The bulk of the collection is comprised of precious metal objects from the Hellenic Kingdom of Macedonia.

Popular Museums in New York

The best museums in the world can be found in New York City. From the sprawling American Museum of Natural History to the eclectic Frick Collection, there's bound to be something that appeals to you.

The American Museum of Natural History documents human cultures, the natural world and the cosmos. Its Hall of Biodiversity features an evolutionary timeline tracing 1,500 specimens over 3.5 billion years, and the Rose Center for Earth and Space houses a 429-seat planetarium. The dioramas lining the museum’s hall offer visitors a look at human environments and biological ecosystems through time and . The lifelike three-dimensional figures inside, set against a painted backdrop, are the collaborative work of historians and taxidermists.  

                                                                             
Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is one of the most famous tourist attractions in New York City. The architecture alone makes the museum stand out; it's a huge, sprawling stone building that reflects an eclectic mix of design styles. The Central Park West entrance has towering white columns and a bronze statue of President Theodore Roosevelt on horseback, other parts of the building look Medieval, with towers like on a storybook castle, and the Rose Center is as modern as a building can get, a glass box with the new Hayden sphere floating in the center.

Guggenheim Museum

The Guggenheim Museum, located on a section of Fifth Avenue known as Museum Mile, is housed in one of the most unique buildings in New York City. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the museum is shaped roughly like a teacup or an upside down terraced hill. It is not unusual to see adults with their children here, going up and down the spiraling ramp.

Madame Tussauds Museum

The favorite celebrities at the 85,000 square-foot, five-story Madame Tussaud's New York. Opened in November, the New York version of the famous London museum takes on "the face of the place" presenting New York's most famous museums and infamous personalities, as well as figures of international fame and acclaim.

Tenement Museum

The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is a portrait of immigrant life in 19th- and early 20th-century New York City on 97 Orchard Street. The museum used to house thousands of working class folks, but it is now a portal into the past. After being abandoned for more than 50 years, this tenement time capsule was revived. With its apartments expertly restored and re-created using everything from personal letters and journals to crime-scene photos and death certificates, the museum brings the building's history back to life.

Padmanabhaswamy Temple in India

The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in the coastal South Indian state of Kerala will be audited to make a list of its inventory by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India.ut a lawyer named Ananda Padmanabhan had a hunch. According to legend, treasure was sealed in the temple vaults, and Padmanabhan, who was passionate about history, knew that in centuries past maharajas had performed a ceremony in which they weighed local princes approaching adulthood, then donated to the temple an equivalent weight in gold. Padmanabhan believed that these riches were still hidden in the basement, uncounted and unguarded.                      

The history of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple dates back to 8th century. It is one of the 108 sacred Vishnu temples or Divya Desams in India. Divya Desams are the holiest abodes of the Lord Vishnu that are mentioned in the works of the Tamil Azhvars (saints). The presiding deity of this temple is Lord Vishnu, reclining on Anantha, the hooded Serpent.

Marthanda Varma, the noted among Travancore kings did a major renovation to the temple and it resulted in the present day structure of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. It was Marthanda Varma who introduced the Murajapam and Bhadra Deepam festivals in the temple and sacred places of india. Murajapam, which literally means continuous chanting of prayers, is still conducted in the temple once in six years.

In 1750, Marthanda Varma dedicated the kingdom of Travancore to Lord Padmanabha. Marthanda Varma vowed that the royal family will rule the state on behalf of Lord and he and his descendants would serve the kingdom as Padmanabha Dasa or the Servant of Lord Padmanabha. Since then the name of every Travancore King was preceded by the title Padmanabha Dasa. The donation of the kingdom of Travancore to Padmanabhaswamy was known as Thripadidanam. The current head of the Travancore Royal Family is Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma.

Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala takes its name from the presiding deity of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple, who is also known as Anantha (one who reclines on the Serpent Ananatha). The word 'Thiruvananthapuram' literally means - the land of Sree Anantha Padmanabhaswamy. 

Ancient Temples in Greece

Ancient Greece, temples were not places of worship but monuments dedicated to the beloved gods and goddesses. Many important ancient temples are located in Greece and other countries, such as Italy, which were then part of the ancient Greek empire.

Ancient Greece the temple was the most important building. The first temples to be constructed from stone began to appear in the 6th century. The Greek temples were not used as places of worship, but rather as famous monuments to their beloved gods and goddesses. Some of the best examples of Greek temples standing today are located not only in Greece.                                          

Temple of Zeus at Cyrene

Cyrene was the most important of the five Greek colonies in present-day Libya. High up from the rest of the city, lies the Temple of Zeus, dating back to the 5th century BC. It was destroyed during a Jewish rebellion in 115 AD, and was restored 5 years later by the Romans on order of Emperor Hadrian.In 365 AD an earthquake reduced the temple to rubble once more and it was not rebuilt until modern times by British and Italian archaeologists.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

The Temple of Olympian Zeus is the biggest ancient Greek temple remaining. This colossal temple, built approximately 540 yards southeast of the Acropolis, was dedicated to the king of the Olympian gods, Zeus. The intention when construction began in the sixth century B.C. was to surpass the size of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the Temple of Zeus accomplished that feat when it finally was completed in 131 A.D.

Temple of Hephaestus

The Temple of Hephaestus, dedicated to the god of metal-working and craftsmanship, is located in Athens, Greece. The temple was designed by Ictinus, one of the Parthenon’s architects. The Temple of Hephaestus is the best-preserved ancient Greek temple in the world.

Temple of Apollo Epicurius

The Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae is a well-preserved and unusual Greek temple. It was built somewhere between 450 and 400 BC. The temple is aligned north-south, in contrast to the majority of Greek temples which are aligned east-west. The temple is unusual in that it has examples of all three of the classical orders used in ancient Greek architecture.

Valley of the Temples

The city of Agrigento, Sicily lie the remains of seven Greek temples called the Valley of the Temples. The Temple of Concordia, built in the 5th century BC, is the best preserved in the Valley and is one of the largest and best preserved Doric style temples still standing.