The Central Java Heritage Conservation Agency plans to restore the Hindu temple, known as Sukuh, this March as the earth beneath the temple’s foundation continues to shift.Conservation work to begin on the Hindu Temple of Sukuh [Credit: Antara Photo/Maulana Surya]
Some parts of the exotic temple complex will remain open to tourists during the renovations, but not the main pyramid-shaped structure.
The agency estimates that the renovation will be completed in 2016.
Before work can start, however, the agency and a team of archeologists will remove some stones from the pyramid to study the best method to stop the main temple from further damage.
The pyramid is now bulging on one side and could threaten the integrity of the entire structure.
The first stage of restoration is estimated to cost around Rp 1 billion ($79,000).
“Restoration was proposed last year as the temple’s foundation has continued to shift every year, making the pyramid lopsided,” the agency spokesman Wahyu Kristanto said.
The agency has also limited the number of tourists entering the pyramid on fears that overcrowding will trigger the foundations to collapse.
Wahyu said the pyramid’s structure is fragile as it is composed of rudimentary carved rocks held together with soil and clay, which is different from the Borobudur and Prambanan temples, which are made entirely out of stone.
Sukuh temple is located in Ngargoyoso on the slopes of Mount Lawu, around 1,186 meters above sea level. It was built at the end of the Majapahit Kingdom in the 15th century and “rediscovered” in the 19th century by British voyager Thomas Raffles.
The temple’s architecture is unusual as its main building resembles pyramids of Egypt and Mesoamerican civilizations.
Author: Ari Susanto | Source: Jakarta Globe [January 30, 2015]
A throne belonging to Emperor Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty in the 1700's has sold for 5.15 million US dollars at auction. The sale took place in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province.A visitor looks at a throne of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) during an auction preview in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Jan 7, 2015. The seat, made of rosewood and inlaid with gold and exquisite flowers pattern, is given a starting price of 35 million yuan ($5.6 million). It was from the Hall of Imperial Supremacy (Huangji dian) in the Forbidden City, the main hall in the area of Palace of Tranquil Longevity (Ningshou gong), which the Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) built for spending his years after his retirement [Credit: China News Service]
The throne, made of rosewood and inlaid with gold and a floral pattern, was owned by philanthropist Li Chunping.
It took him three years to buy the throne from a descendant of a royal highness of the Qing Dynasty in Tianjin.
Li said the final price was lower than he expected and that the throne will have a higher value after two or three years.
A buyer from Beijing bought the throne after three rounds of bidding.
It has been over a month since rust and decay uprooted a massive wooden door, Moti Darwaza, of the historic Golconda Fort.
When Moti Darwaza almost came off in 2006, the officials had repositioned it within a few days. But this time, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) sub-circle office at Golconda is yet to act.
The ASI has chalked out big plans for restoration of all the doors at as many as eight entrances to the fort.
According to ASI superintending archaeologist R Krishnaiah, plans are afoot for complete restoration and repositioning of the door by this month-end.
“After an inspection, we have decided to take measures to prevent any such incident in the future. Estimates are ready and work will start soon,” he said.
As of now, the ASI has decided to tie down the doors onto the fort walls using iron cables so that they do not fall down.
“The mechanism for operating these old doors is different. Since none of them is operational anymore, we have decided to tie them to the original position using flat iron cables at two places using L-angle and an iron U-channel from the top portion on to the masonry wall,” said N Ch Peddintlu, assistant superintending archaeological engineer, ASI-Hyderabad circle.
Regarding the damaged right door of Moti Darwaza that has been lying at the ASI sub-circle office in Golconda, he said, “We are going to add a wooden plank of teakwood and embed it to the old door using the ancient techniques. Also, we are going to apply wood preservatives to prevent any further deterioration of wood. This will be done for all the doors at eight different darwazas,” he added.
He said the ASI has also decided to restore the merlons of the fort walls that have either been damaged or have collapsed. This work is expected to start soon and would be completed by June 2015.
During an inspection, it was also noted that land close to the inner fort walls was being misused for parking purposes.
“We are going to enhance greenery by planting vegetation close to the walls so as to prevent littering or defecation or even unauthorised vehicle parking,” Peddintlu explained.
Golconda Fort is over 900 years old. Built by the Kakatiyas, it rose to prominence during the Qutb Shahi era. There are eight darwazas on the outer wall of the fort. All these gateways lead to important urban centres.
Author: Rahul V Pisharody | Source: Indian Express News [January 12, 2015]
It is always a shock reaching Bamiyan, coming face to face with the two huge cavities in the cliff face. The upright tombs stare out over the valley, a splash of vegetation surrounded by wild mountains. The town straddles the Silk Road, close to the point where it used to enter Persia, dwarfed by two massive mountain ranges, the Koh-i-Baba and Hindu Kush. The void left by the two destroyed Buddha figures is appalling, it rouses an emotion almost more powerful than their once tranquil presence did for centuries.
The giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, which stood for over 1500 years, were destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001 in an 'Islamic' mission to destroy ancient statues. They were reduced to rubble over a period of about 3 weeks using dynamite, rockets and tank shell [Credit: Getty Images]
To understand what happened you must go back to the beginning of 2001. The Taliban-led regime was on very poor terms with the international community and increasingly tempted by radical gestures. The decision to destroy the two monumental Buddha figures at Bamiyan was just part of the drive to destroy all the country’s pre-Islamic “icons”, an act of defiance to the outside world.
Demolition work at Bamiyan started at the beginning of March 2001 and lasted several weeks, the two figures – 58 and 38 metres tall – proved remarkably solid. Anti-aircraft guns had little effect, so the engineers placed anti-tank mines between their feet, then bored holes into their heads and packed them with dynamite. The world watched this symbolic violence in impotent horror.
Now almost 14 years on, reconstruction work has yet to start as archaeologists and UNESCO policy-makers argue.
The two cavities resemble open wounds, a blemish on the long history of Afghanistan, which experienced the fervour of Buddhism long before the arrival of Islam. For 15 centuries the two mystic colossi gazed down as the trading caravans and warring armies streamed past. Monks came from China to worship here. Others meditated in nearby caves.
The two Buddhas, draped in stucco robes, are testimony to a unique case of cross-breeding, which flourished in the early years of the first century AD, drawing on Buddhist influences from India and Greek aesthetics left behind by Alexander the Great. It gave rise to the kingdom of Gandhara and made a mark so deep that even the disciples of Allah, who reached here in the ninth century, made no attempt to disturb it.
Today the site has recovered a certain serenity. Children play volleyball below the cliffs and archaeologists work unhindered. Whereas a low-intensity war is still rumbling on elsewhere in Afghanistan, the central Hazarajat region and its capital Bamiyan (population circa 60,000) has been relatively spared. Most of the inhabitants are Shia Muslims and they had little sympathy with the Sunni Taliban from the Pashtun south. In the 1990s there was fierce fighting between the two sides. In Bamiyan there is a fairly enlightened view of Islam, and few women wear burqas. They proudly explain that 40% of girls in the province are in education, the highest proportion in Afghanistan.
So the outrage perpetrated by the Taliban came as a huge shock, a blow against a tolerant community that sees itself as unusual in the country as a whole. “The statues symbolised Bamiyan,” says mullah Sayed Ahmed-Hussein Hanif. Bamiyan had adopted and integrated the statues, making them a part of local legend. They had become an allegory for unhappy love, a foreshadow of Romeo and Juliet set in the Hindu Kush. He was Salsal, prince of Bamiyan; she was Shamana, a princess from another kingdom. Their love affair was impossible so, rather than live apart, they turned into stone, beside each other for all eternity.
“Local people had completely forgotten they were figures of the Buddha,” says Hamid Jalya, head of historical monuments in Bamiyan province. The Taliban and their dynamite reminded them of the original story. Ever since, people here have been unsure what to do about them.
An incident in 2013 demonstrated the sensitivity of the subject. A decade ago UNESCO authorised archaeologists and engineers to consolidate the two niches, with props and grouting. But nothing else. Almost two years ago someone noticed that, on the site of the small Buddha, a team from the German branch of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) was beginning to rebuild the feet. This was contrary to UNESCO policy, based on the 1964 Venice charter for the conservation and restoration of monuments and sites, which requires the use of “original material”. If work on the Bamiyan remains disregarded this rule, then the site would be struck off the World Heritage list. The Afghan authorities ordered the Icomos team to down tools, leaving the remains even less sightly than they were before.
The incident highlights the lack of a clear consensus on the future of Bamiyan both internally and among the international community. “Bamiyan seems emblematic of the way international aid has treated Afghanistan,” says Philippe Marquis, former head of the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (Dafa). There has been endless dithering, underhand rivalry, pointless discord and mistakes.
The Buddhas are a powerful symbol – of confessional tolerance, Buddhism in a Muslim country and the remains of the Silk Road – with scope for considerable political kudos, so academic quarrels have been diverted to serve strategic aims. The Afghans have watched this spectacle with growing amazement: Germany and its experience of post-war reconstruction; France and its archaeological exploits in Afghanistan; Japan and Korea, with their interest in the origins of Buddhism; UNESCO and its byzantine bureaucracy. The various parties have sometimes cooperated with one another, but more frequently waged secret wars. “All these endless discussions among experts are pitiful, yielding no positive results,” says Zamaryalai Tarzi, a Franco-Afghan archaeologist who has been in charge of the French dig at the foot of the Bamiyan cliff for many years.
Behind the squabbling there is, however, a very real controversy as to how best to honour the fallen Buddhas. How should we go about making sense of an obscurantist crime the better to vanquish it? Or, in other terms, how should we mourn the martyrs? There are two opposing schools of thought: complete reconstruction or keeping the status quo. For now, the latter camp have the upper hand. “The two niches should be left empty, like two pages in Afghan history, so that subsequent generations can see how ignorance once prevailed in our country,” Tarzi asserts. Many other sites have adopted this approach, in particular the Genbaku dome in Hiroshima and the former summer palace in Beijing.
There is also a practical side: any attempt at reconstruction would be extremely complex. The original material, as required by the Venice charter, would be a major obstacle. The 2001 demolition left a heap of scattered fragments. Barely a third of the smaller Buddha has been saved, consisting of a pile of rock behind a wire fence. Furthermore, some of what does remain is from more recent additions. Over the centuries, long before the coming of the Taliban, the two figures were damaged and defaced. In the 1970s Indian archaeologists rebuilt the feet of the smaller Buddha using new material. Given this, how can the Venice charter rules be applied?
The final objection is that it may be a mistake to focus so much attention on the two Buddhas, given that the Bamiyan valley boasts many other exceptional sites, as yet little known. The ruins of the Shahr-e-Gholghola fortress, and probably monastery, perched on a hillock across the valley from the Buddhas, and the fortified town of Shahr-i-Zohak are both at risk, worn down by weather and earthquakes. “The priority is to save all the endangered sites around Bamiyan,” says Amir Fouladi, of the Aga Khan Trust. “There is no urgency about rebuilding the Buddhas.” The economic development of Bamiyan, due to gather speed with the projected launch of the Hajigak iron ore mines, makes it all the more important to adopt an overall strategy.
Meanwhile, the advocates of reconstruction have not wasted their time. Although the current mood is hardly in their favour, the small structure resting on the remains of the small Buddha’s feet suggests that the German branch of Icomos has not given up hope. Its president, Michael Petzet, a professor at the Technical University of Munich, has made many statements in favour of at least rebuilding the smaller of the two figures. The local representative of Icomos Germany, Bert Praxenthaler, sees the controversy about the small Buddha’s feet as salutary in that it “stirred debate about what should be done with the Buddhas”. “We must be ready the day a decision is taken,” he adds. He is referring to the possibility that an ad hoc UNESCO group may give the go-ahead for “partial re-assembly of the fragments”. His organisation sees this as an opportunity to demonstrate the quality of its restoration work in combining old and new materials.
Local residents are in favour. The idea of leaving the larger niche empty but rebuilding the smaller Buddha appeals to them, particularly as they take little interest in quarrels about original material. They are more concerned about boosting tourism in a relatively isolated area in desperate need of revenue. But there is symbolic value too. “By rebuilding a Buddha we could regain possession of our history and send a message to the whole world in favour of reconciliation between religions,” says Shukrya Neda, who campaigns for a local NGO. “By leaving the other niche empty we leave a testimony to the damage done by the Taliban.” Kabul has officially approved this approach, but some in Bamiyan feel its support is rather timid, for ethnic reasons. The Hazara population of Bamiyan distrust the Pashtun leaders in Kabul. “The government doesn’t want Bamiyan to develop its identity and economy,” says Riza Ibrahim, head of the city’s tourist board. “It’s discrimination.”
UNESCO has tried to steer a cautious middle course on the issue of reconstruction. Its ad hoc expert committee has warned against rushing to make a decision. “It is neither for nor against reconstruction,” says Masanori Nagaoka, head of UNESCO’s culture unit in Kabul. The committee has ruled that before considering partial reassembly of the small Buddha, a thorough technical and scientific study would be required. All of which favours keeping the status quo. Will the reconstruction lobby finally succeed in resurrecting Shamana (the small Buddha)? Perhaps, by dint of patience, but everyone seems to have overlooked an essential detail: the legendary prince and princess wanted to stay together forever. If Shamana rises again, but without Salsal, it would break their oath.
The rock paintings in the Marayur-Chinnar forest belt of Kerala, the second largest concentration of cave paintings in south India, are at high risk of degeneration.
Rock art in the Marayur-Chinnar forest belt [Credit: The Hindu]
As per isolated studies conducted so far, there are 21 cave paintings of red ochre in this Kerala-Tamil Nadu region, a senior official of the Kerala Forest Department told The Hindu. Over 50 caves, situated in the forest belt, are believed to be of the prehistoric period. The cave paintings in Ezhuthala and Attala in Marayur sandal division, the most noted ones, were in more danger.
The official said the rock paintings were in the eastern slope of the Western Ghats, at around 3,000 metres above sea level. The sandy rocks were highly prone to degeneration, he said, adding that they needed new methods of protection. Without assured protection, visitors could not be allowed entry there, he added. Rocks were in bad shape in the Madathala cave at Alampertty in the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, which was accessible to visitors.
The first cave painting in Marayur was identified in Ezhuthala Madi on the Tamil Nadu border by Padmanabhan Thampi as part of his research paper in 1974. In 2009-10, archaeological researchers Benny Kurien and Dhanushkody documented the paintings in Ezhuthala, where the largest number of paintings was identified.
Author: Giji K. Raman | Source: The Hindu [January 07, 2015]
A fire in the southwest of China has destroyed the 600-year-old Gongchen tower, part of an ancient city gate in Weishan county in Dali prefecture, Yunnan province.
The fire started at about 3 a.m. on Saturday. Firefighters struggled for nearly 2 hours to put out the flames. About 300 square meters of the architecture was burnt down. No causalities have been reported and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The Gongchen tower was a city gate tower, which was built in 1390 during the Ming Dynasty. It was listed as a key cultural protection site in Yunnan province. Last month, a fire engulfed an ancient Miao village in southwest China's Guizhou Province.
In 2006, China nominated the village as a UNESCO World Heritage site. And in January last year, Dukezong Ancient Town, in the famous resort county Shangri-la in Yunnan province, was also burned down in a fire. The so called "Moonlight City" is one of the most renowned resorts in Shangri-la, known for its well-preserved ancient Tibetan dwellings.
India's white marvel, the Taj Mahal, is slowly turning brownish-yellow because of air pollution, says an Indo-US study which also identifies the pollutants responsible for the effect.
Smog enveloping the Taj Mahal [Credit: Scott Burdick/Susan Lyon]
It says Taj is changing colour due to deposition of dust and carbon-containing particles emitted in the burning of fossil fuels, biomass and garbage. The study confirms what has been suspected for long — that Agra's poor air quality is impacting India's most celebrated monument.
The research was conducted by experts from US universities — Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Wisconsin — as well as Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Archaeological Survey of India. The paper was published in the Environmental Science & Technology journal in December.
The findings can lead to targeted strategies to curb air pollution in and around Agra and more effective ways to cleanse the marble surface of the 366-year-old mausoleum, which remains by far the most visited man-made structure in the country with footfalls of more than 6 million in 2013.
The researchers first analysed air samples at the site for roughly a year using filters and found high concentrations of suspended particles that could potentially discolour Taj's surface.
Clean marble samples were then placed at various points on the monument accessible only to ASI staff. After two months of exposure, the samples were analysed using electron microscope and X-ray spectroscope.
The pollutants deposited on the marble were identified through these investigations. Researchers found 3% of the deposits to be black carbon, around 30% organic carbon (or brown carbon) and most of the rest dust. Black carbon is emitted by vehicles and other machines that burn fossil fuels. Brown carbon is typically released through burning of biomass and garbage, a common practice in the region.
S N Tripathi of IIT Kanpur, one of the authors, said the team then used a novel approach to estimate how these deposited particles would impact light reflecting off the marble surface. "We found that black carbon gives a greyish colour to the surface while the presence of brown carbon and dust results in yellowish-brown hues," he said.
"Results indicate that deposited light absorbing dust and carbonaceous particles are responsible for the surface discolouration of the Taj Mahal," the study concludes.
Since 2008, ASI has been trying to fight the yellowing of the monument by giving it a clay pack treatment using the lime-rich Fuller's earth (Multani mitti) to clean the marble surface. Researchers are now keen on studying the efficacy of this method and finding ways of improving it.
"Now that we know what's causing the yellowing, the focus should now shift to undoing the effect," Tripathi said.
Author: Amit Bhattacharya | Source: The Times of India [January 02, 2015]
The Dutch architects from UNStudio have finished shop Star Place civil-engineering design in city Kaohsiung (Taiwan).
Star Place by UNStudio
The external structure surrounds 10-storeyed shop in which spiral escalators move visitors on the following stage. During building the project was called Ta Lee Plaza. After end has been renamed in Star Place.
National Stadium in Beijing which in the people is called “the birds nest”, has received prestigious Lubetkin Prize, founded Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA, as the most outstanding architectural work outside of the European Union.
Speaking about a building, the main judge of the award and President RIBA, Sunand Prasad has told: “this year the short list looked excellently. Discussion was long, however the result is obvious”.
The National Stadium is a project of architectural company Herzog and de Meuron, executed together with China Architectural Design and research Group, Arup Sport and Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong), artist Ai Wei Wei.
Circles of the applicants who have entered into a short list: Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal, project Foster and Partners together with NACO and Beijing Institute of Architectural Design; Watercube, National Swimming Centre, project PTW Architects together with China State Construction and Engineering Corporation; building Museum Brandhorst in Munich; Sean O’Casey Community Centre in Dublin; building The British High Commission in Sri Lanka, project Richard Murphy Architects.
The project jury in which structure were Sunand Prasad RIBA President, Tony Chapman, RIBA Head of Awards Paul Monaghan, the architect and Chair of the RIBA Awards Group Alison Brooks, architect Tom Dyckhoff — have visited all six buildings-applicants.
Frequently modern architectural constructions grasp spirit the adaptability to manufacture, a flight of fancy and volumes, lines and forms, in height — and force to reflect on safety. In Malaysia not completed stadium has fallen, the blessing, prior to the beginning of large competitions. To construction only one year recently was executed.
Soon here carrying out of open games, analogue of a university game which involve usually thousand spectators and sportsmen has been planned. At a collapse of 80 metres of a roof was not lost any person — however this case became an occasion to a large quantity of trials. The Ministry of Labour of Malaysia will be seriously engaged in incident investigation.
The collapse damage has made 25 million dollars. Roof reorganization will charge to the Korean builder. The stadium will be closed before end of reconstruction works.
The growing India-Australia bonhomie under PM Narendra Modi and his counterpart Tony Abbott is set to bring an end to an international art scandal which saw the surfacing of a Kushan Buddha statue in Canberra's National Gallery of Art (NGA) seven years ago.The Buddha statue of the Kushan period dating back to 2nd century BC is made of red sandstone and is from Mathura [Credit: Times of India]
Australia has informed Indian authorities that it will soon return the sculpture, dating back to second century BC, realizing that it had been stolen from an archaeological site in India. Abbott has on several occasions stated that improving relations with India was high on his priority list and one of the ways he has reached out to the Modi government is by returning stolen artifacts illegally taken out of India.
During his summit meet with Modi last year in September, Abbott returned statues of 11th century Shiva Nataraja and Ardhanariswara to India. According to a report in The Australian earlier this year, the artifact was purchased by billionaire philanthropist Ros Packer for NGA. After Indian authorities took up the issue with Australia, NGA launched a probe into how the statue was bought from a New York antiquities dealer and found that the dealer had tricked Australian authorities into believing that the red sandstone marvel had been purchased from a British collector in Hong Kong. The investigations revealed that the New York based dealer had travelled to India and acquired two Kushan Buddhas from a trafficker.
"The Department of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India are working with the National Museum in Delhi to affect the handover. The Buddha statue of the Kushan period dating back to 2nd century BC is made of red sandstone and is from the Mathura region of Uttar Pradesh," said a senior government official.
Government sources here claimed there was a growing personal bonhomie between Modi and Abbott following their bilateral meetings last year. Modi last year became the first Indian PM to visit Australia after Rajiv Gandhi in 1985.
Author: Sachin Parashar | Source: Times of India [January 01, 2015]
