New Light 
Entertainment
Places
People
Arts,Literature
Lifestyle
Religion
Travel
Conference
MRTV 3
Ministries 
Missions
Foreign Missions
Organizations
Stereoscopic pair of photographs taken by Underwood & Underwood in c.1900 of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon (Yangon) in Burma (Myanmar). The Shwe Dagon is a giant gilded stupa of legendary origins which stands at the heart of a Buddhist temple complex on a hill in Rangoon. It is the city’s most famous and revered monument. These prints show a view of ornate shrines, a temple bell, and tall flagstaffs on the temple platform with palm trees in the background. They are from a collection of 36 stereoscopic views of Burma, one of a series of “stereoscopic tours” of foreign countries published as part of the ‘Underwood Travel Library’. Stereoscopic views became enormously popular from the mid-19th century onward as they enabled observers to imagine that they were really “touring” around distant parts of the world. Each pair of views, made using a special camera with two lenses, is mounted on stout card for insertion in a stereoscope or binocular viewer. This device creates the illusion of a single three-dimensional image in the mind of the observer by using the binocular function of human sight to combine the two images, which are seen from fractionally different viewpoints. The photographs in this set are generally of high quality and selected for their clarity and instructive value. A few of the mounts also have a detailed descriptive caption printed on the reverse, with instructions (presumably for the guidance of teachers) as to what general topic the photograph illustrates.
Stereoscopic pair of photographs taken by Underwood & Underwood in c.1900 of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon (Yangon) in Burma (Myanmar). The Shwe Dagon is a giant gilded stupa of legendary origins which stands at the heart of a Buddhist temple complex on a hill in Rangoon. It is the city’s most famous and revered monument. The prints show a view overlooking shrines on the platform of the Shwe Dagon taken from the stepped sides of the main stupa. They are from a collection of 36 stereoscopic views of Burma, one in a series of "stereoscopic tours" of foreign countries published as the ‘Underwood Travel Library’. Stereoscopic views became enormously popular from the mid-19th century onward as they enabled observers to imagine that they were really “touring” around distant parts of the world. Each pair of views, made using a special camera with two lenses, is mounted on stout card for insertion in a stereoscope or binocular viewer. This device creates the illusion of a single three-dimensional image in the mind of the observer by using the binocular function of human sight to combine the two images, which are seen from fractionally different viewpoints. The photographs in this set are generally of high quality and selected for their clarity and instructive value. A few of the mounts also have a detailed descriptive caption printed on the reverse, with instructions (presumably for the guidance of teachers) as to what general topic the photograph illustrates.
Photograph of a dagun-daing or prayer-post at the Shwe Dagon in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar), taken by Frederick Oscar Oertel during the 1870s. Dagun-daings, the tall prayer-posts found at Burmese temples and used in Buddhist ritual, are usually decorated at the top with a mythical bird known as a hintha, and a long streamer. This image shows the base of the pole and a stepped plinth on which are seated vividly-realised sculptures of spirit figures from the Burmese pantheon known as nats, and bilus or ogres, both guardians of Burmese temples such as the Shwe Dagon. The prayer-post is situated on the platform surrounding the main pagoda or stupa, which can be seen in the background together with smaller satellite stupas. The Shwe Dagon is Burma's most important and iconic Buddhist shrine, tradition associating its origins with the life of the Buddha. This photograph was reproduced in George W. Bird, 'Wanderings in Burma' (London, 1897). It is one of a series of images in the Temple Collection documenting Burmese pagodas which were taken from a set of slides used by Sir Richard Carnac Temple to illustrate a lecture on 'Developments in Buddhist Architecture'.
Photograph of a group of men and women at prayer on the platform of the Shwe Dagon Paya (Pagoda), Rangoon (Yangon), in Burma (Myanmar), taken by Philip Adolphe Klier in the 1890s. The Shwe Dagon is Burma’s most revered Buddhist shrine and a site of pilgrimage. It is of ancient origin, according to legend founded in the 6th century BC to enshrine hair relics of the last Buddha. The main shrine is built in the characteristic Burmese form of a stupa or zedi, a solid, gilded structure containing the relics. It stands on a terraced platform on Singuttara Hill, surrounded by many other shrines and pavilions which are visited by worshippers in great numbers.
Photograph of the façade of the east entrance to the Shwe Dagon Paya (Pagoda) at Rangoon (Yangon), taken by Philip Adolphe Klier in the 1890s. The Burmese have an ancient tradition of woodcarving, at which they excel both technically and aesthetically. Beautifully-carved and ornate wooden elements such as the intricate scrollwork spandrels framed between the columns and the foliated eaves in this view are a characteristic feature of Burmese sacred architecture. The spandrels depict an episode from the legendary foundation story of the Shwe Dagon, Burma's most revered Buddhist shrine. Tapissa and Balika, two Burmese merchant brothers, shown on the right with bullock-drawn carts, were encouraged by a nat spirit to seek out the Buddha in India and found him meditating under a sacred Bo tree. He is shown in the carving seated on the left. On their departure, the brothers were given eight hairs from his head and asked to enshrine them as relics on Singuttara Hill where the pagoda now stands.
Photograph of the Shwe Dagon Paya (Pagoda), at Rangoon (Yangon), in Burma (Myanmar), taken by Philip Adolphe Klier in the 1890s. The Shwe Dagon is Burma’s most revered Buddhist temple. It is of ancient origin, according to legend founded in the 6th century BC to enshrine hair relics of the Buddha. The main shrine is built in the characteristic Burmese form of a stupa or zedi, a solid structure containing sacred relics, precious stones or images of the Buddha, and is gilded a bright and dazzling gold. It stands on a terraced platform on Singuttara Hill, surrounded by many other shrines and pavilions. This is a general view of the stupa from the platform. Its bell-shaped body narrows to a pointed spire culminating in a hti or umbrella, and rests on a series of square and octagonal terraces. The stupa is surrounded by sixty-four satellite stupas (the smaller conical structures) and by statues of manuthihas (sphinxes) and chinthes (leogryphs), the traditional guardian figures of Burmese temples.
Photograph by Linnaeus Tripe, from a portfolio of 120 prints, with a view of the portico of the west entrance of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon (Yangon) in Burma (Myanmar). In 1855 a British mission was sent to King Mindon Min of Burma to negotiate a settlement regarding Pegu, annexed by the British after the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852. Linnaeus Tripe was the official photographer on this mission and his architectural and topographical views of the country form an important record. According to legend, the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, most revered of all the Buddhist monuments of Burma, was founded in the lifetime of the Buddha as a reliquary to enshrine eight hairs from his head brought back from India by two merchant brothers, Tapissa and Balika. While the core of the stupa may be very ancient, the whole is relatively more recent. It has been rebuilt several times from the 14th century onwards and the structure as seen by Tripe's mission dates from the 1770s when King Hsinbushin made many improvements to it. The ascent to the stupa on its platform is by four stairways from the four cardinal points. The western entrance and staircase was closed for a long period when the pagoda was under military use during British rule.
Photograph by Linnaeus Tripe, from a portfolio of 120 prints, with a general view of one of the ancillary pagodas of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon (Yangon) in Burma (Myanmar). In 1855 a British mission was sent to King Mindon Min of Burma to negotiate a settlement regarding Pegu, annexed by the British after the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852. Linnaeus Tripe was the official photographer on this mission and his architectural and topographical views of the country form an important record. Tripe wrote, 'On the platform of the Shwe Dagon. There were numbers around the great Pagoda similar to this, which have been destroyed'. The Shwe Dagon stupa on Singuttara Hill is Burma's most significant Buddhist monument, of great national importance. Traditional history states that it was founded in the 6th century to enshrine eight hairs from the Buddha's head. Its documented history begins from the 14th century from which time a succession of rulers rebuilt it or made improvements to it. The bell-shaped main stupa or zedi rises to a height of just under 100 ms, and is surrounded by a multitude of smaller shrines such as planetary shrines arranged around it in no particular order or grouping on its terraced platform.
Photograph by Linnaeus Tripe, from a portfolio of 120 prints, with a view of the hinthas or hamsas (mythical birds) atop sacred flagstaffs or dagun-daings of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon (Yangon) in Burma (Myanmar). Linnaeus Tripe wrote, 'These, painted in bright colours diapered with gold and silver (traces of which still remain) must have had a very gay appearance. Henza [hintha] staves are attached to all pagodas'. The hintha bird (or hamsa in Sanskrit) features in many Jataka tales: the stories which narrate details of the Buddha's previous lives. In 1855 a British mission was sent to King Mindon Min of Burma to negotiate a settlement regarding Pegu, annexed by the British after the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852. Linnaeus Tripe was the official photographer on this mission and his architectural and topographical views of the country form an important record. The Shwe Dagon stupa on Singuttara Hill is Burma's most significant Buddhist monument, of great national importance. Traditional history states that it was founded in the 6th century to enshrine eight hairs from the Buddha's head. Its documented history begins from the 14th century from which time a succession of rulers rebuilt it or made improvements to it.
Photograph by Linnaeus Tripe, from a portfolio of 120 prints, with a view of the east tazaung (devotional chapel) of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon (Yangon) in Burma (Myanmar). The tazaung is a square open-sided wooden pavilion with a tiered roof, and in the foreground can be seen the guardian lions or chinthes. Tripe wrote, 'The base of the Pagoda is ornamented by brickwork lions, having altars for offerings before them; their necks and the scrolls above them are inlaid with a mosaic of mirror - in the panelling behind too, were squares of mirror, the rest having once been gilt; the effect of the whole must have been very brilliant'. In 1855 a British mission was sent to King Mindon Min of Burma to negotiate a settlement regarding Pegu, annexed by the British after the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852. Linnaeus Tripe was the official photographer on this mission and his architectural and topographical views of the country form an important record. The Shwe Dagon stupa on Singuttara Hill is Burma's most significant Buddhist monument, of great national importance. Traditional history states that it was founded in the 6th century to enshrine eight hairs from the Buddha's head. Its documented history begins from the 14th century from which time a succession of rulers rebuilt it or made improvements to it. The ascent to the stupa on its platform is by four stairways from the four cardinal points. Tazaungs on the platform are adoration halls where offerings are made and prayers are said before rows of Buddha images. Each of the cardinal tazaungs is dedicated to one of the four Buddhas of this era (kalpa or kappa). The eastern tazaung is dedicated to Kakusandha, the first Buddha of this era.
0 comments:
Post a Comment