Postcards from the World

Dear Students,

Greetings from Tanjore, India

The Brihadeeswara Temple also called as "Thanjavur Periya Kovil" in local language (Tamil) is located at Tanjore in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

This Hindu temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is an important example of Tamil architecture achieved during the Great Chola kingdom. The temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples".

This is one of the largest temples in India and one of India's most prized architectural sites. Built by emperor Raja Raja Chola 'I' and completed in 1010 AD, the Brihadeeswara Temple, also popularly known as the 'Big Temple', turned 1000 years old in 2010.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Melbourne, Australia

There are many kangaroos living around Melbourne in the state of Victoria, Australia where I live.

Kangaroos are fairly timid and prefer to live in the countryside grazing on grasses and usually avoid populated areas. They blend into the environment very well, and are usually only spotted if they move. Kangaroos are a special kind of mammal; they are marsupials. The females carry their young (called joeys) in a pouch. The joeys are born blind, hairless and are the size of a baked bean. The baby stays in the pouch and lives on mother's milk for months. When it is bigger it begins to peek out of the mother's pouch. Then for a few months it begins to graze on grass, but continues to stay in the pouch. Mother kangaroos can carry two joeys of different ages in the pouch. One attached to the teat and another that is larger and more independent.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Brussels, Belgium

A popular food in Belgium is steak and frites. But in recent years, cheese burgers have become very popular too with some restaurants charging a premium price for "American style" hamburgers.

In Belgium, fries are known by the French word, frites, but many people in America assume french fries come from France. In fact they come from Belgium where they were believed to be prepared as far back as the 1600's!

It is believed that the reason they are called French Fries in America is because in World War I, American soldiers enjoyed this Belgian dish and assumed that since Belgian soldiers spoke French, they came from France.

In Belgium the official languages are French and Dutch (and German is also recognized in some parts of the country).

This photo also shows another Belgian delight... beer. Many people around the world enjoy Belgian beers made by Trappist monks. This one is called Duvel which means Devil in Dutch. It is rather strong, hence the name. Though it does go well with burger and frites.

Dear Students,

Greetings from India

Bharatanatyam Artists
Bharatanatyam originated in southern India in the state of Tamilnadu. It started as a temple dance tradition called Dasiyattam (the dance of the maid-servants) 2000 years ago and is perhaps the most advanced and evolved dance form of all the classical Indian dance forms.

The name Bharatanatyam is a simple derivation from the four most important aspects of dance (in Sanskrit). These are: Bha from Bhava meaning emotion, Ra from Raaga meaning music or melody, Ta from Taala meaning rhythm and Natyam meaning dance. Thus Bharatanatyam is the dance that encompasses music, rhythm and expressional dance or Abhinaya and strictly adheres to the Natyashastra (the scripture of classical Indian dance).

This dance style is characterised by a linear form of the body without any pronounced movement of the upper body and linear spatial patterns, which make the dance form extremely dynamic and powerful.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Australia

Be nice' cos I gotta stick and big claws .... !

Did you know that Koalas are not bears? They are marsupials just like Kangaroos. Marsupials have babies that are like small baked beans, are blind and deaf and need to crawl into their mother's pouch to drink milk for many months before they can come out into the world. Baby koalas usually ride on their mother's back. Koalas spend most of their time in the trees eating eucalyptus leaves. They are nocturnal, which means they find a fork in the tree branches and nap during the day and are more active at night.

Koalas look cute and cuddly, but they are actually wild animals with very big, sharp claws that help them climb and hang onto trees in strong winds.

If you would like to read more interesting facts about Koalas, you can find some by clicking here.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Kerela, India

This image is of the Sholayar Forest, which is one the important rain forests located in the Indian state of Kerala.

It has a total area of 400 sq kms (150 sq miles). There are over a 1000 species of wild animals in this forest. There is also great diversity in fauna like the Niligiri langur, elephants, gaur, sambhar, spotted deer, barking deer, Malabar giant squirrel, porcupine, Indian civet, toddy cat, sloth bear, tiger and leopard.

The journey through this thick deciduous and evergreen forest is one of the most refreshing and wild experience, one will never forget in his/her lifetime.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Granby Canada

... le calme d'un matin d'été,
près du Lac Boivin...

à granby, au québec,
une ville francophone à moins d'une heure de Montréal,
la terre d'accueil de plus d'une centaine d'ethnies

on y vit calmement et en beauté

Dear Students,

Greetings from Arizona, USA

The Indian Watchtower sits out on a promontory overlooking the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. From a distance, the building's silhouette looks like the Anasazi watchtower it was meant to mimic.

As Virginia L. Grattan wrote in Mary Colter Builder Upon the Red Earth, "The Indian watchtower at Desert View was not a copy, but what Colter called a 're-creation' of an Indian watchtower." Standing at 70 feet, with a 30-foot base, the tower is unique in having a concrete foundation and steel framework well-hidden in the stones of the tower.

The ground level of the tower is a large, round observation room with a spectacular view of the Grand Canyon. Upstairs, the Hopi Room presents paintings by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie, who took the room's theme from the Hopi Snake Dance. An outdoor observation deck is directly above the observation room.

Photo captured May 8, 2013.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Istanbul, Turkey

Let's simply enjoy the passage of time

Here is a peaceful place in Istanbul (Turkey) where to buy a book and sip a tea. My grands-parents used to live in this city in their youth and cherished it. They were Armenians. They were compelled to leave for France in 1923. Later, my parents and I were born in Paris where I still live.

I visited Istanbul and Armenia, both with wonder and emotion. World is wide and our heart even more.

I am a French — from an Armenian family — from Istanbul. Yes, all that ;) And Mother Earth is my home.

Dear Students,

Hello from Tervuren, Belgium!

In Belgium, many people have miniature ponies and miniature goats as pets.

The history of the miniature pony dates back to Ancient Egypt. In the late 19th century, breeders from Belgium and other parts of Europe began exporting these little sweeties to the United States.

This miniature pony lives down the street from us. We gave her the name of "Speckle Lou" because she's a diminutive dapple grey but also because one of my favorite Belgian biscuits is called Speculoos.

Speculoos cookies or biscuits as they are referred to in Belgium, taste a little like gingerbread.

Dear Students,

Greetings from India

Kathakali is a stylized classical Indian dance and drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the playback music and traditional percussion.

It originated in Kerala, India during the 17th century and has developed over the years. A Kathakali actor uses immense concentration, skill and physical stamina, gained from a regimented training to prepare for his demanding dance/drama role. The training can often last for 8–10 years, and is very intensive.

In Kathakali, the story is enacted purely by the movements of the hands (called locally as 'mudras' or hand gestures) and by facial expressions (called in local language as 'rasas') and bodily movements. It is a delightful experience to watch Kathakali and the audience are sure to get engrossed and become part of the drama with such engaging performance of the artists.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Mashhad, Iran

The Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of Twelver Shi'ites.

It is the largest mosque in the world by dimension and the second largest by capacity. Also contained within the complex are the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries,[1] a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Hong Kong

It is 11:00 p.m. on D'Aguilar Street

The upper section of D'Aguilar Street together with Lan Kwai Fong is one popular (expatriate) haunt for drinking, entertainments and night life. Though I'm not a fan of night life of this sort, I have always been drawn by its atmosphere.:-)

Dear Students,

With Love from India.

A group of young boys on a tour at the 1000 years old Ancient temple in India. After looking at my Photography equipments, they were curious and approached me to take a Photograph of them.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Mashhed, Iran

:)

My God !
......
This photo was taken Mashhed Iran.
she`s my niece holding up her hands looking at sky. I thought for a moment she was talking to God.

That is why I took the photo.

Dear Students,

Greetings from India

This is the performance of a Kalaripayattu (a form of martial art) artist in India.

Kalaripayattu - The Orient's treasure trove, a gift to the modern world and the mother of all martial arts. Kalaripayattu is the oldest existing martial art form, dating back more than 2000 years and said to be the forerunner of popularly known Chinese martial arts, as the Buddhist monk

Bodhidharma took this knowledge from India to China.

Kalaripayattu is a traditional psycho-physiological discipline emanating from Kerala's (a southern Indian state) unique mytho-historical heritage as well as a scientific system of physical culture training. It draws inspiration from the raw power and sinuous strength of the majestic animal forms - Lion, Tiger, Elephant, Wild Boar, Snake, and Crocodile has also been the combat code of the ancient kingdoms in South India.

Dear Students,

Greetings from India

This image is of the Great Himalayan mountain range which runs across the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir, (one of the states in) India. The Himalayan range is home to the planet's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest (at 29029 feet). The Himalayas include over a hundred mountains exceeding 7,200 meters (23,600 feet) in height.

The Himalayas cross five countries: India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, and Pakistan. Three of the world's major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, rise in the Himalayas.

You can witness the might and magnitude of the Himalayas by visiting Ladakh in India. It will leave you speechless for sure, with its sheer endless presence and diversity.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Hong Kong

This is Peel Street. To some, it's one of the last remaining "street markets" in Hong Kong, and to others, it's where they just come for foods whether it be traditional or trendy; to some, it's a fascinating mix of cultures but to others, it's the invasion of the old way of living by some pretentious bourgeois... To me, it's a street I have to pass by at least once a week but never seem to be able finishing photographing.:-)

Dear Students,

This is a picture of an young Kattaikkuttu Artist. Kattaikkuttu is the theatre of the rural people in the southern Indian state of Tamilnadu. It speaks their language and is acted by performers who share similar social and cultural backgrounds with the spectators.

Kattaikkuttu uses song, music, dance, make-up and costumes, drama and ritual. All-night performances are powerful, high-energy, intense and long duration events that temporarily recreate the mythical world of kings, gods and sages on earth. The stirring quality of the music, the actors' singing and their passionate embodiment of mighty mythological characters keep local audiences spellbound. All-night performances are intense events. Their rootedness in rural Hinduism can trigger emotional responses in spectators and performers causing some of them to fall into trance-like states at particularly dramatic moments in the story.

The theatre derives its name from the special ornaments called kattai or kattai camankal. Kattai ornaments are typically worn by heroic male characters, such as kings, gods and demons. These ornaments represent the heroic qualities, power and royal status of the wearers.Kattaikkuttu is also known as Terukkuttu or street (teru/theru) theatre (kuttu/kuthu). Kattaikoothu, Therukoothu and Terukoothu are alternative ways to spell the theatre's name.

Dear Students,

Greetings from Paris, France

This photo is a sharp angle of the beautiful and historic Notre Dame de Paris. The religious cathedral, on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France, is quite arguably one of the most famous of cathedrals.

In 2008, it also was the meeting place for the very first "photo walk" for the Aminus3 photographers who joined us in Paris. We had a wonderful day meeting each other for the first time and many great photos were taken and shared.