Scattering Cheerful Beams

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“O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart.
Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.”
(Saint Augustine – Ancient Roman Christian Theologian and Bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430. One of the Latin Fathers of the Church. 354-430)

This picture was shot before sunset inside the Small Sas Bahu temple in Gwalior located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.It was initially dedicated to Lord Vishnu by the King Mahipala and was built in red sandstone during the 10th century.
Lord Vishnu is also known as Sahastrabahu, the one with many hands however gradually the name changed into Sas Bahu Temple, perhaps by mispronunciation, or misinterpretation.
Lord Vishnu is supposed to be the preserver of this Universe and keeps vigilance over this earth and if there is any disobedience among men, he punishes them.
But he is also considered to be the most kind hearted among the Hindu Avatars of God, who come to help his followers under any circumstances.
The construction of this temple was completed in the year 1092 AD by the king Mahipala who shed for the success of his Kingdom and the overall prosperity.

There are two temples, which are conjointly known as the Sas Bahu Temple.
One of the temples is bigger than the other, and perhaps for that reason, one is considered as the Mother-in Law whiles the other as the Daughter-in-Law.

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“Then farewell, Beauty”

 

“Beauty spent three months very contentedly in the palace. 
Every evening Beast paid her a visit, and talked to her, during supper, very rationally, with plain good common sense, but never with what the world calls wit; and Beauty daily discovered some valuable qualifications in the monster, and seeing him often had so accustomed her to his deformity, that, far from dreading the time of his visit, she would often look on her watch to see when it would be nine, for the Beast never missed coming at that hour. 
There was but one thing that gave Beauty any concern, which was, that every night, before she went to bed, the monster always asked her, if she would be his wife. 
One day she said to him, “Beast, you make me very uneasy, I wish I could consent to marry you, but I am too sincere to make you believe that will ever happen; I shall always esteem you as a friend, endeavor to be satisfied with this.”
“I must,” said the Beast, “for, alas! I know too well my own misfortune, but then I love you with the tenderest affection.
However, I ought to think myself happy, that you will stay here; promise me never to leave me.” ”
(Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête), a 1946 French romantic fantasy film adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont’s fairy tale). 

This was shot in the Royal Château de Fontainebleau which is located 55.5 km (34.5 mi) south-southeast of the centre of Paris.

The Age of Enlightenment

 

The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority.

Today when a periodical asks its readers a question, it does so in order to collect opinions on some subject about which everyone has an opinion already; there is not much likelihood of learning anything new. 
In the eighteenth century, editors preferred to question the public on problems that did not yet have solutions. 
I don’t know whether or not that practice was more effective; it was unquestionably more entertaining.
( Michel Foucault – “What is Enlightenment ?” (“Qu’est-ce que les Lumières ?”), in Rabinow (P.), éd., The Foucault Reader, New York, Pantheon Books, 1984, pp. 32-50)
foucault.info/documents/whatIsEnlightenment/foucault.whatIsEnlightenment.en.html

This was shot in the Royal Château de Fontainebleau which is located 55.5 km (34.5 mi) south-southeast of the centre of Paris.

Haunted Evanescence

This was shot in the bedroom that I use in the city palace of Huescapur in Uttar Aragonshal, a northern princely state of India.
When the family of the legendary Maharajah of Huescapur wanted to settle this huge mansion on the Himalayan hills they managed to rebuilt a part of a French renaissance castle there.
It is said that those rooms are never empty, they keep the soul of those who were too eager to find the location of this place which is of course not mentioned on any map.
Once or twice I managed to capture a kind of haunted evanescence which I can see sometimes in backlighting during winters.
I always feel it watching me, trying to pull me down with those long lost words whispered slowly to me.

Hunting you I can smell you alive,
I know you are still there…
(Inspired by the lyrics of “HAUNTED” by Evanescence)

The Maharajah of Huescapur

This a portrait of the legendary Maharajah of Huescapur in Uttar Aragonshal a northern princely state of India.
He was famous for his many royal decrees referring to anything that could be off-limits.

The word Mahārāja (also spelled maharajah) is Sanskrit for “great king” or “high king” (a karmadharaya from mahānt “great” and rājan “king”; due to the distinct Indoeuropean origin of the two words, the Latin cognates are very similar: “magnus rex”). 
Due to Sanskrit’s major influence on the vocabulary of most languages in India, the term ‘maharaja’ is common to many modern languages, such as Bengali, Hindi, Gujrati, etc. 
Its use is primarily for Hindu potentates (ruler or sovereign).The female equivalent title Maharani (or Maharanee) denotes either the wife of a Mahārāja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. 

The term Maharaj denotes separate noble and religious offices, although the fact that in Hindi the suffix ‘a’ in Maharaja is silent makes the two titles near homophones.

On the eve of independence in 1947, India (including present day Pakistan) contained more than 600 princely states, each with its own ruler, often styled Raja or Thakur (if the ruler were Hindu) or Nawab (if he was Muslim); there was a host of less current titles as well.

Juan-Pablo from Huesca in Aragon (Spain) appears here under the features of this imaginary Maharajah, Huescapur and Uttar Aragonshal don’t exist, those places are coming from my mind…

Moonlight in Huescapur

Last night the moon seemed to be very close, it was looking huge with a few gold shades.
I was standing at the upper terrace of the city palace of Huescapur in Uttar Aragonshal, a northern princely state of India.
This place is located on the Himalayan hills but there is no map mentioning its existence.
However at specific nights of the lunar month, when there are less clouds, the reflection of the moonlight on the cristal roof of the palace allows a few visitors to see the road from the valley.