Показаны сообщения с ярлыком jainism. Показать все сообщения
Показаны сообщения с ярлыком jainism. Показать все сообщения

22 дек. 2014 г.

- Oh, Gomez. The Bermuda Triangle. Devil's Island. The black hole of Calcutta. - Excuse us. Second honeymoon.


Not so long ago, I started to tell you about my trip to the mysterious India. The second city on our way was Calcutta. People call it "The city of joy". And they are definitely right. Calcutta looks very different than Delhi. The reason for that its colonialist past. As you know, the city was founded by the British, and this is evident throughout. Everywhere there are beautiful houses in European style, and each of them deserves to be immortalized in a photo. Wide avenues with sidewalks are laid in the center. Absolutely fabulous appear Christian churches rising above the palm trees here and there. Oh yes, madly many trees, parks and gardens. So Calcutta became a real surprise for us. And you know what is the most exciting? Victorian atmosphere of the city. At the heart of it is the Victoria Memorial - a charming building with a monument to Queen Victoria, who imperiously looks at you from the top down. At the same time, the Indian way of life contributed to the appearance of the city. Many rickshaws, some kind of cables everywhere, people, merchants, vegetable stalls, tents, English yellow cabs and old buildings - all this creates an atmosphere of post apocalyptic London. It's fantastic! 

(I called myself a little Victorian ghost, and passers-by - a doll)


(I promise I will never do so again!)





Unfortunately we didn't have so much time. What I'm really sorry, it's that we don't have time to explore the cult of the great and terrible Hindu goddess Kali, after whom the city is named. We have been in only one temple dedicated to her, and it's very extraordinary place. It's imbued with incredible energy. Kali is the only goddess who in the peaceful Hinduism receives bloody sacrifices... So this place is creepy and sacred and causes trembling. 


(Ripon street, 82 - guest house for the Europeans, where  Mircea Eliade lived)
(Boot cleaner on the opposite side of the street)

Yet another reason to visit Kolkata - my favorite writer Mircea Eliade. The fact that Romanian scholar of religion had spent a few years before the outbreak of the World War II here. I wanted to go to the same places that he did, as I imagined Calcutta from his books. Of course, Kolkata nowdays is not at all as he described it, however for me it was a kind of pilgrimage. 


15 апр. 2014 г.

The Writing on My Father's Hand

Hooray! On April 21 in the journal of  University of Culture and Art will be published my first two research papers. I waited for this moment for so long! ^^ The first of them is available in the section on the history of art. It's "Tirthankaras image in Jain sculptural tradition". This article is dedicated to an undoubtedly important theme – the analysis of the Jain sculptural tradition. The author touches upon a new issue for the Russian science – semantics of sculpture in Jainism. Despite that the article does not pretend to present a comprehensive description of this cultural phenomenon, the scientific novelty of this work is that the author treats the subject with facts not previously published in the works of other researchers. 

The second article is called "Acharya Mahapragya: the second Gandhi" and located in the section of socio-cultural activities. I wrote it in honor of the great Jain teacher. And this is the beginning of the article: "The problem of violence is as high as ever in today’s society, we need only to recall the recent events in Iraq and Syria. They talk a lot on this subject, but few have made concerted action to address it. This paper considers the problem of violence, as it is understood in Jain religious community, and what are the ways to solve it, offered by Acharya Mahapragya to humanity, regardless of religion and national origin". When I read an introduction, I begin to realize how ironic is fate.  These words were written last fall, when the aggressor in the political sphere were U.S. Now everything has been turned upside down and our government's actions make me blush. I never wanted to write in this blog about politics, but I must tell the world that local people in Russia do not approve words of our president. We do not want war, we do not need other people's land, we want only peace. So please do not judge us, we are behind the iron wall in a desperate situation. I hope I will not be forced to raise this issue again...

Let's go back to my research! Very soon, my thesis will be finally ready and I would like to offer you a few photos of Jain temples, which were made ​​by me in India. I hope you'll get pleasure from this exotic, spiritual, and vital art :)



Just imagine that a few years of your life you spent studying something very distant and finally you had the opportunity not only to see it firsthand, but also touch! I felt like Indiana Jones when I first walked through the ancient Jain temples :)


I sit and soak up the positive vibes around :)


The most beautiful temple on this earth - the temple at Ranakpur!



Three floors of the finest carvings on marble. Thus can be decorated only celestial palace.






It is a magical tree that grants wishes. I believe that my wish will come true!