The Ellora is a Wolrd Heritage site located in Maharashtra, India, a large monastery and temple carved from large rocks and formed caves of basalt cliffs. The extravagant monument features Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain artwork and complexes with temples. One of the more popular temples apart of the Ellora is the Kailasha that features the gods, goddesses, and mythologies found in Vaishnavism, Shaktism and other relief panels from Hindu epics. It was built to represent the religious harmony that existed in Ancient India funded by royals, traders, merchants, and the wealthy in the region. Not only was it a center for pilgrims but a commercial center in the region as apart of the South Asian trade route. There are several other caves and monuments in the same location or region that attract a lot of tourism.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Friday, October 12, 2018
Kava
Kava is a significant drink throughout the Polynesian islands and the South Pacific. The root of the Piper Methysticum plant is ground into a fine powder then soaked and strained with a mixture of water producing the drink, Kava. This beverage takes part in the traditional and ancient kava ceremony done in a majority of occasions such as weddings, funerals, homecomings, birthdays, wars, etc. The origin of the plant has been widely accepted to be from the Oceanic country Vanuatu however, recent studies have indicated the Piper Methysticum had originated in South India or Southeast Asia. Found in an article it discusses how scholars had developed this theory, "where the pepper species Piper nigrum (black pepper) and Piper longum (long pepper) are found. These arguments trace the similarities of ceremonial and ritualistic procedures in each culture. One scholar suggested an Asian origin for Kava by linking the Kava ceremony to the Chinese tea ceremony! And another scholar outlines the similarities of Kava drinking ceremonies to the ancient Vedic religion of India."
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Polynesians Originally From East Asia
A game-changing study suggests the first Polynesians voyaged all the way from mainland East Asia to the South Pacific remote islands. The study of ancient DNA from prehistoric Polynesians indicate that the ancient mariners who also possibly could have mixed with Melanesians. Ancient artifacts found among the Polynesian islands dating from around 3,000 years ago were stamped red pottery. obsidian tools and shell ornaments were collectively known as Lapita culture as well as the growth the culture acquired growing taro, yams, etc. and the spread of livestock which proposed that it had roots in farming cultures in East Asia. Peter Bellwood of the Australian National University in Canberra research configures him to guess the Lapita originated from mainland China than moving to Twain and the Philippines then sought out to Tonga and eventually Samoa. Other researches argued that the DNA of living Polynesians suggested their Lapita ancestors did linger in Melanesia as mentioned before, the two groups mixing. Ancient skeletons were studied, and a significant sample were four women found in Tonga around 2300 to 3100 old. Researches discovered that the women shared all their ancestry with the indigenous Atayal people in Tawain and the Kankanaey people in the Philippines.
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