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Saturday, June 14, 2008

Friday, December 21, 2007

pilgrimage

Among the many holy places and religious destinations Holly Hayes has visited, the spired monument in Cologne, Germany , is among her favorites. "To stand in front of the astonishing, soaring Gothic architecture at Cologne Cathedral is to begin to understand majesty," she says.

Hayes, a self-described "religious historian who loves to travel," is the founder and editor of the website Sacred Destinations, and while she says her interest in holy places is "more cultural and architectural than spiritual," she felt something special at Cologne.

"It was Christmas Mass there," she recalls, "and the huge nave was packed full of worshippers bundled up in their winter coats. Watching the solemn processions and listening to the Latin readings in the magnificent medieval surroundings, I felt transported back in time, as if I were participating in a small way in a very long, unbroken tradition of faith and history." Approximately six million visitors come to the Cologne Cathedral each year. Some come to the church out of historical or cultural interest, others out of religious devotion. Still others to take a picture of a place they read about in a guide book.

We've gathered visitation figures for 20 of the world's top religious destinations, and while it's clear that the world's sacred sites draw millions upon millions of visitors, travel to shrines, churches, temples, mosques or other holy place can come from a mix of motivations.

"On one end of the spectrum you have religious devotees who go to have a spiritual experience; and on the other you have the curious who want to see a Buddhist temple, for example, and are interested just from a cultural or historical perspective, " says Dallen Timothy, professor in the department of geography at Brigham Young University and author of Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys.

"A lot of religious organizations, and countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel, with huge groups of pilgrims, refuse to call them tourists," he says. "But the distinction between tourist and pilgrim is a false dichotomy," he argues. "Religious travel is one of the biggest forms of tourism in the world."

The ForbesTraveler list seems to confirm this: Every year, massive numbers of travelers visit the sites of saints' and prophets' tombs, or to partake in annual celebrations at holy shrines. At the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, in Mexico City, where the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared in the 16th century to a poor peasant, estimates for annual visitation to the basilica run as high as 20 million. According to a 1999 Vatican Council report, it was the most-visited Catholic shrine in the world.

At Sabarimala, a Hindu pilgrimage center in South India, visitation estimates vary from five million to as high as 60 million annually. Juan Campo, a professor in the religious studies department at the University of California Santa Barbara, was recently in Sabarimala during pilgrimage season, and guesses that the actual number might be closer to 10 million. "It's a large shrine located in the mountain area," he says, "and people come there primarily from South India. But you also have South Indians who work abroad, and they'll return home to participate in the pilgrimage. It's a constant influx of people."

Campo also studies pilgrimages to Guadalupe and Islam's holiest site, Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. No matter the differing faiths, nearly all pilgrims "will say that at some point (they had) an experience of intimate contact with the divine -- some sense of a sacred experience that they remember very clearly."

Hayes agrees. "Regardless of their position or form (there) is a direct connection with the holy, the spiritual, and the supernaturally powerful. Pilgrims seek places where gods or saintly humans have walked and miracles have occurred, in the hopes they might participate in it and/or benefit from it themselves."

In Lourdes, France [Images], where in 1858 a 14-year-old girl reported multiple visions of the Virgin Mary, that benefit comes in part from spring water that is said to possess healing powers. An estimated five million pilgrims a year come to follow the injunction of the message written above the spring: "Wash your face, drink this water and pray God to purify your heart."

Suzanne Kaufman, professor of history at Loyola University of Chicago and author of Consuming Visions: Mass Culture and the Lourdes Shrine, says, "When one visits Lourdes today, one is confronted with two remarkable sites: crowds of desperately sick pilgrims drinking, bathing and praying at the Catholic shrine, and equally large numbers of customers shopping at hundreds of piety shops that line the major boulevards leading to the pilgrimage site."

Kaufman says the mass-marketing of Lourdes was in full force even a hundred years ago, when "the Augustinian Fathers of the Assumption, a Paris-based religious order, made Lourdes the site of their national pilgrimage. With the help of the railway and the Catholic popular press, the Assumptionists transformed Lourdes into a site of mass pilgrimage, bringing hundreds of thousands of devout Catholics to the shrine."

The ease and luxury of transportation, of course, is part of what distinguishes the modern pilgrim from faithful journeyers in the past, who may have trekked long distances on foot to pay homage to their god. "The word 'travel' comes from ancient word 'travail,' which means hardship," explains Dallen Timothy. "It used to be that the trail or pathway was more important than the destination. The original notion of pilgrimage, regardless of religious tradition, was that getting there was more important than the destination. "

Today, Muslims can book five-star Haj packages and Christians can join luxury cruises in Greece to follow in the footsteps of St Paul. Religious destinations and pilgrimages have become more commodified. Says Timothy, "Every religion does it."

But while the journey aspect of pilgrimage may be greatly diminished, Holly Hayes says, "I'm not sure this means the essence of pilgrimage has been lost in modern times. If a medieval pilgrim were offered a trip to their destination on an airplane -- even in economy class -- I find it hard to believe many of them would refuse. That's because, I would argue, the most important thing is to visit the shrine, to be close to the holy and the supernatural. "

For a closer look at the numbers of faithful -- and curious -- and where they flock, take a journey through our slide show. As the wildly divergent estimates for Sabarimala attest, data on visitation to religious destinations can be less than reliable, as can the definition of "religious destination" -- which, in some broad definitions includes places like Civil War battlefields or religious gatherings. The periodic Hindu convergence, Kumbh Mela, for example, rotates among four locations.

With an estimated 70 million in attendance, the most recent Kumbh Mela would top our list, but we've chosen a more conventional definition: looking at physical sites that are part of present-day religions (which excludes heavily visited sites such as the Egyptian Pyramids or the Parthenon in Athens). We've gathered figures from tourist boards, the sites themselves, scholars, reputable media sources and, where possible, a combination of these.

Although they are listed in approximate order, according to the best sources available, we are not giving religious destinations hard-and-fast number-rankings. Other sources for these estimates may surface, which we will monitor and -- if persuasive -- will adjust accordingly.

Labels: most visited place

Thursday, December 20, 2007

IS IT STILL APPLICABLE (WHAT DOYOU CALLRACISM OF BUISNESS)

Indian Hotelswants an apology from Orient Express. The search for a global alliance has been reduced to a war of words between the two companies and their managements. CNBC-TV18’s Menaka Doshi reports on the latest round of fighting!
A few months ago Indian hotels bought a 10% stake in Orient Express and asked for an alliance, they were turned down by the Orient Express management. The Tata company bought another 1.5% and asked for an alliance again - this time they were rejected rudely.
Orient Hotels in an open letter said many things, but this one line may have hurt the most. Menaka Doshi quotes the letter sent by Orient Hotels - "We believe any association of our luxury brands and properties with your brands and properties would result in a reduction in the value of our brands and business."
According to Menaka, Indian Hotels found the letter to be pejorative, inaccurate and libelous.
Now Indian Hotels is asking for an apology for what it considers a 'pejorative, inaccurate and libelous' letter that Orient Hotels also issued as a press release, though it was meant to be confidential.
Here's the point-by-point rebuttal by the Taj chain to the issues raised by Orient Express -
Taj Hotels insists it never suggested a merger . It does not need Orient's help to improve the performance of its non-Indian properties.
That in fact, Orient has gaps in its network in New York and London that could have been filled by Taj.
That, the association would not reduce the value of Orient's properties, because Taj enjoys a higher room occupancy rate compared to Orient and that it's trailing EBIDTA margin is 15% more than that of Orient's.
That, contrary to Orient's allegation Taj does not re-brand all acquired hotels as 'Taj'.
Taj believes Orient Hotels has not met it's shareholders needs, nor does it respect the basic tenets of corporate governance as it has refused to enter into any meaningful dialogue on an alliance with Taj.
Indian Hotels says many Orient shareholders have made advances to meet, but the company has honourably declined them. Now Taj wants an apology from Orient Express.
But here's the killer line at the end of the letter, she says - and it goes - "We believe that those with a fossilized frame of mind risk being marginalised"!

Labels: what is this

Saturday, January 27, 2007

important facts of my home land

Q.
Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard (hp) ?
A.
Rajiv Gupta
Q.
Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the today's computers run on it)?
A.
Vinod Dahm
Q.
Who is the third richest man on the world?
A.
According to the latest report on Fortune Magazine, it is Azim Premji, who is the CEO of Wipro Industries. The Sultan of Brunei is at 6 th position now.
Q.
Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 web based email program)?
A.
Sabeer Bhatia
Q.
Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creator of program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)?
A.
Arun Netravalli
Q.
Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000, responsible to iron out all initial problems?
A.
Sanjay Tejwrika
Q.
Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart?
A.
Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar.

Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America, even faring better than the whites and the natives.

There are 3.22 millions of Indians in USA (1.5% of population). YET,
38% of doctors in USA are Indians.
12% scientists in USA are Indians.
36% of NASA scientists are Indians.
34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.
28% of IBM employees are Indians.
17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.
13% of XEROX employees are Indians.

Some of the following facts may be known to you. These facts were recently published in a German magazine, which deals with WORLD HISTORY FACTS ABOUT INDIA.

1
India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.
2
India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
3
The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
4
According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.
5
Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
6
Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.
7
The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.
8
The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now k! ! nown as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6 th Century which is long before the European mathematicians.
9
Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 1053.
10
According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.
11
USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Pr! ! ofessor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
12
The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
13
Chess was invented in India.
14
Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India
15
When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilisation).
16
The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.

Quotes about India.

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
Albert Einstein.
India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grand mother of tradition.
Mark Twain.
If there is one place on the face of earth where all dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India .
French scholar Romain Rolland.
India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.
Hu Shih (former Chinese ambassador to USA

Tatia Tope
He was the here of the Revolt of 1857, he was among the first to raise his voice for the freedom of his country. The British rulers feared this courageous and mighty general. When he was deceived by his friend, he faced his death like a hero.

Rani Laxmi Bai
She symbolizes the bravery of Indian women and their sacrifice for the country. She led her troops to battle against the British in the Revolt of 1857. One of the first women martyrs of the country..

Mahatma Gandhi
The Mahatma who is considered to be the father of the nation was the architect of India's freedom and arguably the greatest man of this century. Gandhiji's life was dedicated to the ideals of Truth, Non- violence and Love. He led the non violent movement for freedom and became an ambassador of peace to the world.

Sardar Patel
India's Man of Steel as he is better known is responsible for the existence of united India today. During the indepenence procedures, he managed to persuade the different princely states to join the Indian Union and make India a single country.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak
He gave the people a strong cause to fight for when he said "Swaraj is our birthright". He was an indefatigable worker for India's freedom and development, he founded schools and published newspapers. He wore himself out, in his bid to awaken the sleeping patriotism of his fellowmen.

Bhagat Singh
He was a fierce patiot, a young revolutionary. His bravery has made him i a symbol of the heroism of the youth of India. He threw a bomb when the Legislature was in session, to warn the British Government. He was executed by the British Government but lives on in the heart of India as a beloved hero.

Ashfaqualla Khan
He was the young pathan patriot who kissed his hangman's noose and gave up his soul with the name of Allah on his lips. A courageous young man endowed with a will of steel, he dedicated everything to the service of India and her struggle for freedom.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Azad took part in the Khalifat movement. He wrote in a revolutionary journal called Al Hilal. He joined the Indian National Congress (I.N.C) in January 1920. He presided over the special session of Congress in September 1923 and at 35 years of age, was the youngest man to be elected the President of the Congress.

Surendranath Banerjee
Surendranath Banerjee played a major part in channelizing the youth forces of Bengal towards the the struggle for freedom. He served as the President of the Indian National Congress twice, in 1895 and 1902. He became the editor of a paper called "Bengalee" from 1878 and wrote fearlessly on patriotism, freedom, unity and culture.

Dr. Annie Besant
Annie Besant was born of Irish parents in London but made India her home from November, 1893. It was said of her that "there was scarcely any modern reform (in England) for which she had not worked, written spoken and suffered." She was the one who started the Home Rule league in India

Republic India Coinage
India won its independence on 15th August, 1947. During the period of transition India retained the monetary system and the currency and coinage of the earlier period. While Pakistan introduced a new series of coins in 1948 and notes in 1949, India brought out its distinctive coins on 15th August, 1950.
Chronologically, the main considerations influencing the coinage policy of Republic India over time have been:
The incorporation of symbols of sovereignty and indigenous motifs on independence;
Coinage Reforms with the introduction of the metric system;
The need felt from time to time to obviate the possibility of the metallic value of coins rising beyond the face value;
The cost-benefit of coinisation of currency notes
Independent India Issues could broadly be categorised as
The Frozen Series 1947-1950
This represented the currency arrangements during the transition period upto the establishment of the Indian Republic. The Monetary System remained unchanged at One Rupee consisting of 192 pies.
1 Rupee = 16 Annas
1 Anna = 4 Pice
1 Pice = 3 Pies
The Anna Series
This series was introduced on 15th August, 1950 and represented the first coinage of Republic India. The King's Portrait was replaced by the Lion Capital of the Ashoka Pillar. A corn sheaf replaced the Tiger on the one Rupee coin. In some ways this symbolised a shift in focus to progress and prosperity. Indian motifs were incorporated on other coins. The monetary system was largely retained unchanged with one Rupee consisting of 16 Annas.
Denomination
Metal
Obverse
Reverse
Rupee One
Nickel
Half Rupee
Nickel
Quarter Rupee
Nickel
Two Anna
Cupro-Nickel
One Anna
Cupro-Nickel
Half Anna
Cupro-Nickel
One Pice
Bronze
The Decimal Series
The move towards decimalisation was afoot for over a century. However, it was in September, 1955 that the Indian Coinage Act was amended for the country to adopt a metric system for coinage. The Act came into force with effect from 1st April, 1957. The rupee remained unchanged in value and nomenclature. It, however, was now divided into 100 'Paisa' instead of 16 Annas or 64 Pice. For public recognition, the new decimal Paisa was termed 'Naya Paisa' till 1st June, 1964 when the term 'Naya' was dropped.
Naya Paisa Series 1957-1964
Denomination
Metal
Weight
Shape
Size
Coin
Rupee One
Nickel
10 gms
Circular
28 mm
Fifty Naye Paise
Nickel
5 gms
Circular
24 mm
Twenty Five Naye Paise
Nickel
2.5 gms
Circular
19 mm
Ten Naye Paise
Cupro-Nickel
5 gms
Eight Scalloped
23 mm (across scallops)
Five Naye Paise
Cupro-Nickel
4 gms
Square
22 mm (across corners)
Two Naye Paise
Cupro-Nickel
3 gms
Eight Scalloped
18 mm (across scallops)
One Naya Paisa
Bronze
1.5 gms
Circular
16 mm
With commodity prices rising in the sixties, small denomination coins which were made of bronze, nickel-brass, cupro-nickel, and Aluminium-Bronze were gradually minted in Aluminium. This change commenced with the introduction of the new hexagonal 3 paise coin. A twenty paise coin was introduced in 1968 but did not gain much popularity.

Aluminium Series 1964 onwards
Denomination
Metal
Weight
Shape
Size
Coin
One Paisa
Aluminium-Magnesium
0.75 gms
Square
17 mm (Daigonal)
Two Paise
Aluminium-Magnesium
1 gm
Scalloped
20 mm (across scallops)
Three Paise
Aluminium-Magnesium
1.25 gms
Hexagonal
21 mm (Daigonal)
Five Paise
Aluminium-Magnesium
1.5 gms
Square
22 mm (Daigonal)
Ten Paise
Aluminium-Magnesium
2.3 gms
Scalloped
26 mm (across scallops)
Twenty Paise
Aluminium-Magnesium
2.2 gms
Hexagonal
26 mm (diagonal) 24.5 mm (across flats)
Over a period of time, cost benefit considerations led to the gradual discontinuance of 1, 2 and 3 paise coins in the seventies; Stainless steel coinage of 10, 25 and 50 paise, was introduced in 1988 and of one rupee in 1992. The very considerable costs of managing note issues of Re 1, Rs 2, and Rs 5 led to the gradual coinisation of these denominations in the 1990s.
Contemporary Coins
Denomination
Metal
Weight
Diameter
Shape
Cupro-Nickel
9.00 gms
23 mm
Circular
Cupro-Nickel
6.00 gms
26 mm
Eleven Sided
Ferratic Stainless Steel
4.85 gms
25 mm
Circular
Ferratic Stainless Steel
3.79 gms
22 mm
Circular
Ferratic Stainless Steel
2.83 gms
19 mm
Circular
Ferratic Stainless Steel
2.00 gms
16 mm
Circular
Provided by: Amit Shedha

Labels: extract from net .

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

U NEED TO COMMENT ON THIS

IS THIS THE QUALIFICATION NEEDED TO JOIN THE POLITICS ?

MUMBAI: Gangster Abu Salem is set to contest nextyear's elections to the Uttar Pradesh assembly fromMubarakpur constituency as an independent and hasapplied for the inclusion of his name in the statevoters' list, his lawyer said on Friday. "He has forwarded all necessary documents forinclusion of his name in the voters' list to thedistrict magistrate. Earlier, he had applied to thetehsildar (revenue official) as well," lawyer AshokSarogi said. The updated voters' list for the constituency isexpected to be issued on January 3. The term of theUttar Pradesh assembly ends in the middle of nextyear. "We are very confident of his name being included inthe list. I submitted Salem's documents to the DM,"Sarogi said. Last month, posters and banners of the incarcerateddon, greeting people on the occasion of Diwali andEid, had sprung up in the constituency dominated byMuslims. The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Shiv Sena has alreadypledged support for Salem, whose campaign managers arereportedly in talks with other political parties. Salem's family members and Sarogi will manage his pollcampaign. The gangster was extradited in November last year withhis companion, starlet Monica Bedi, from Portugal. Salem, currently held in Arthur Road prison here, isan accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case. He isalso an accused in the murders of city builder PradeepJain and actress Manisha Koirala's assistant Ajit Dewani

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Jagran.com - World's Largest Hindi Portal

Always be connected to ouu very own india Jagran.com - World's Largest Hindi Portal

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Yahoo! Photos - new collection

Yahoo! Photos - new collection
MUST SEE