Tag Archives: Temple

Temples in Japan

I am not sure if it’s kind of surprising, that many of my postcards from Japan do not actually picture its modern city views but rather the old parts of it where the ancient temples have been around since centuries ago. And these temples are located in some kind of beautiful garden with colorful trees and flowers, with small neat paths… they seem to be preserved well to give an atmosphere as if you really come back to the era of historic Japanese Emperors. And it really reminds me the Sohma family in the Fruits Basket anime.. especially the fact that they live in a traditional huge house inside a garden.. and that guy wearing kimono..

shigure

Shigure: “Hi! Are you talking about me??”

OK OK.. nevermind. Let’s go back to postcards!!!

From Anzuume. This is the Rokkakudo Temple in Kyoto. Rokkaku mean hexagon, and if you look from above, the roof is hexagonal. This temple is said to be founded in thr 6th century, while the main hall was rebuilt in the 19th century.

From Cockie. Another temple in Kyoto.. this is the Kenniji temple. It was founded in 1202. And these bush are tea plants! I have seen tea farm in Cameron Highlands here, but I didn’t know that they can actually blossom with flowers!

From Little_Flower. The Nikko Toshogu shrine was built in 1617, during the Edo period. And this is its Kara-mon Gate. It was made with various kinds of foreign timbers with exquisite carvings. This shrine is part of the “Shrines and Temples of Nikkō”, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Japan.

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Temples in India

I know I have received more India postcards than an average Postcrosser does ;) but don’t hate me yet, because Seetas is just too nice to me!! :D I have said before that Chat Noir was on rank #2 of my postcards contributors, and if you’re wondering who sent me the MOST postcards hence sit on #1 in the ranking… it’s SEETAS!!!!!!!! XD Well, that was from last count in end 2007.. I have received 29 postcards from Seetas all these years, and that’s not a small number, especially she has sent them all individually stamped… resulting from tags and swaps and lottery. I am so lucky!! Well, enough of my brags, here are some amazing historical temples in India…

Temple 1. Located in Ranakpuri, Rajashtan. This temple is dedicated to the Jainism, one of the oldest religions originated from India, and this temple dates back to early of 15th century. Today, it has 4 million followers in India, as well as Indian communities in other countries.

Temple 2. Located in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh. Maheshwar is a picturesque town renowned for its temples and bathing ghats. Ghats are stairs/steps leading to a body of water like rivers or lakes, which can be regularly found in India… and one of them is here at this temple, of course :)

Temple 3. This Khajuraho temples are famous for its architecture and exotic sculptures. There used to be 80 temples but now only 22 remain preserved. This particular sculptures belong to Kandariya Mahadeva temple of Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh. It dates back to the 10th century and has been listed as one of UNESCO World Heritages sites.

Temple 4. This one reminds me to one Hindu temple gate in Kuala Lumpur, but only much bigger and taller! Plus, see in this picture, there’s ANOTHER tower(?) or structure at the back! Yes, these are towers, as said in the card, belong to Madurai’s Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu. “Gopurams” is Tamil for the tower at the temple entrance.

Temple 5. This is rather a “new” tample compared to many other temples in India.. This is Birla Mandir in New Delhi, dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu. It was built in 1933 – 1939.

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People in India

I have featured some postcards of Indian women before.. but I have also got non-women postcards from India a.k.a. the rest of people.. men, and children :D

From Seetas. “A Delightful Friendship” as the postcard says. These are happy children from Tamil Nadu, a state in Southern India.

From Seetas. I love this view coz I don’t see such in my country! The men are the Dabbawalas (Tiffin carriers) in Mumbai. They are a group of people who make a living by delivering lunch boxes to and from homes and offices. Thousands of boxes are delivered everyday without any mistake and always on time!

From Seetas. I am not sure which word to use as the official English term to call this person.. I mean, Buddhist men who wear such orange piece of cloth and have their heads bald. Is it Monks? Coz in Malaysia we call them Sami Buddha so I’m rather confused. Well this is one of the historical Buddhist temples in India, located in Sanchi. It’s well knownfor monasteries, stupas, pillars and temples date back to year 3 BC to 12 AD… such loooong ages back! Surely one of the oldest sites related to Buddhism.

From Rebeccachandy. Err.. is this some sort of man as well? Yes! Look at the unpainted hands at least. He’s playing a traditional dance called Kathakali whose stories are based on Ramayana and Mahabratha Hindu epics. In this dance, men play all the characters even characters of females!

From Pazzolina. This is rather a postcard from France, but I decided to feature in this post coz it was published for “Voyage Indien” de Madras à New Delhi expo in 2006, and the card has several pictures of different Indian people, which I find really interesting!

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