ASIAN GeograASIAN - Geographicphic - Issue 6 2013

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No. 99 Issue 6/2013
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AFTERLIFE ANGELS & DEMONS
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No. 27 Issue 4 | 2013
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TIMELESS
Incarnate Devil
Incarnate devil in a talking snake, The central plains of Asia in his garden, In shaping-time the circle stung awake, In shapes of sin forked out the bearded apple, And God walked there who was a fiddling warden And played down pardon from the heavens hill. When we were strangers to the guided seas, A handmade moon half holy in a cloud, The wise men tell me that the garden gods Twined good and evil on an eastern tree; And when the moon rose windily it was Black as the beast and paler than the cross. We in our Eden knew the secret guardian In sacred waters that no frost could harden, And in the mighty mornings of the earth; Hell in a horn of sulphur and the cloven myth, All heaven in the midnight of the sun, A serpent fiddled in the shaping-time. By Dylan Thomas
Krishna fights Kaaliya, the poisonous Naga of Hindu mythology
N O. 9 9 IS SU E 6 / 2013
01
Philippe Lissac/Corbis
Dylan D Dyla Dy y n Marlais M Ma arlai rla lais Th lai Thomas Thomas om oma mas as (19141953) (19 ( 19 9141 141953) 14 14 4 1953) 41 953) was 953 wa as a W Welsh els elsh lsh poe p po poet oet o and an a nd nd writer. writ writ iter it er. r. r . Thomas Tho Th Thom homa as as s s refusal refu re efu e ef f sal sa al to o align alig li lign ign gn g n with wi wit it th any any literary an litera li te erary y group gr roup oup p or or movement movement mov move men ent has ha as made mad m ad de him him and hi and his an h hi is work wo w ork k difficult diffic diffi iffi f ult ffi lt l t to to categorise. categ ate teg te gorise. oris ori oris ri i e. e. Although Alt Alt Alth lth l oug ough ugh ug gh influenced gh in in infl nfl fluenc fluenc ue e ced d by by the the modern th m de mo de der dern ern r symbolism sym ymb ymb boli oli l li ism ism m and and d surrealism su surr urr r ea eali al ali lis li sm m movement, movem vem em ment, en ent nt nt, n t, t he he refused ref refu efu f sed ed to to follow follo ll l llo low its its creed. it creed cr eed. ed e d. Instead, Ins In Ins nstead tead ad, Thomas Thom Th Thom ma as s is is viewed vi viewed ewe wed ed as s part par art a t of f the the h modernism mod mode m ode o d rnis de ism and a d romanticism an romant a ticism an icis ici icis ci im movements, move move ement ments, men ent ts, s, though thoug houg gh attempts at a attemp te tem temp em t e ts to to pigeonhole pig pi ge geon eon e nhole hole l le e him hi i within wit wit i hin hin in a particular part pa par part ar icul a icu icu cul c ula ar r neo-romantic neo eo-r o-r o roma roman oman man ma an ntic ti ic c school sch scho cho c h o ol l have have ave been av been n unsuccessful. uns uns succe uc ucc u ccessfu sfu s sf f l l. .
10
PICTURESQUE
THE MORBID AND THE MACABRE

Channelling the darkness within
By Ash Sivils
To digital artist Ash Sivils, goth is her cathartic fix, where she finds herself most comfortable. In encapsulating the grotesque in all its morbid glory, she accentuates the frightening pleasures of what lurks beyond popular cult-like ethos and exposes a twisted and oxymoronic force, disturbing yet alluring, that is latent in each of us.
30
FEATURE
THE WORSHIP OF GAJAN

Pleasing the gods for a better year ahead
By Boris Joseph
At the end of winter, the rural communities of West Bengal engage in a series of graphic processions as devotees submit their bodies to extreme physical tests. For good measure, these sanyasis use the heads from corpses in their famed death dance. But its not about gore celebration, penance and strength restoration are part of this sacred month.
42
FEATURE
MAHA KUMBH MELA

The biggest festival on Earth
By Nikki Thapa Photos Thomas Kelly
The largest human congregation on the planet, Kumbh Mela is a show of devotion like no other, held every 12 years at each of four sacred places in India. However, this supersized festival is taking a huge toll on the sacred waters so revered by Hindus, with health and hygiene issues threatening the events long-term future.
88
ON ASSIGNMENT
EPIPHANY AT QASR AL-YAHUD

Sharing a belief
By Rachel Einav Photos Vered Shahef
The traditional spot where the biblical narrative of the baptism of Jesus took place goes by an Arabic name that means Castle of the Jews. As one of the holiest sites in Christianity, it comes alive at Epiphany, when adherents take a dip in the holy Jordan River, many saving their white baptismal robe for their entrance to the next life.
1 TIMELESS
No. 99, Issue 6/2013
INCARNATE DEVIL
By Dylan Thomas
28 REVEALED
A WOMAN SCORNED
The mainly yin of Chinese ghosts
By Dr Gerry Groot
38 ART
WHATS THAT IN THE PHOTO?
16
PHOTOGRAPHICA
When ghosts reveal themselves

56 CARE
PHOTOGRAPHING GODS AND GHOSTS

An attraction to faith
By Joanie Fan Hui Ling
AOTEAROA
Land of the long white cloud
By Adrian Page
To photographer Joanie Fan, capturing representations of folklore culture on camera is a means of keeping these significant rituals alive. Through it all, she is challenged to also translate into pictures the reverence of a 1,000-year-old tradition in modernday Taiwan, where hordes of spirited visitors flock to the boatburning festival to seek peace and fortune.
64 ENVIRONMENT
SKY FATHER, MOTHER EARTH

Revitalising Tengrism
By Sophie Ibbotson and Maxwell Lovell-Hoare
70 FEATURE
I AINT AFRAID OF NO GHOST

Crossing worlds
By Flash Parker
76 EXPLORATION
THE HIDDEN ONES

Theres a genie in a bottle
By Sophie Ibbotson and Maxwell Lovell-Hoare
82 HERITAGE
OH HEAVENS, FROM EUNUCH TO GOD

Admiral Zheng Hes leap to Sam Po fame
By Khong Swee Lin
98 OCEAN
QUEEN OF THE SEVEN SEAS

A penchant for men?
By Anita Surewicz
48
102 CONSERVATION THE GEOGRAPHIC
GODS, DEMONS AND CONSCIOUSNESS

The allure of Mount Kailash
By Amardeep Singh
SPARKS
Ghosts in the machine
The enigma of electricity drives every aspect of our existence, from laptops and underground trains to the very circuits in our own bodies. Its a ghost that shows itself in a rare flash of light, a bolt from the heavens or a static snap from a seemingly random contact, but it is no less mysterious for all its familiarity.
110 MEMORIES
WRATH OF THE WEHEDU

Egypts faceless evil spirit
112 ICON
THE RING
Asias paragon of fear
EDITORS NOTE
Chairman LIM Geok Khoon
I think a Person who is thus terrified with the Imagin nation of Ghosts and Spectres much more reasonable, than one who contrary to o the Reports... thinks the Appearance of Spiri its fabulous and groundless.
Joseph Addison, The Spectator, 1711
Publisher/Editorial Director John THET | thet@asiangeo.com Senior Editor Lunita S V MENDOZA | lunita@asiangeo.com Contributing Editor Ian SELDRUP | ian@asiangeo.com Editorial Assistant Selina TAN | selina@asiangeo.com SUPPORTING EDITOR Editor (AG THE READ) LIM Say Liang | sayliang@asiangeo.com ADVERTISING & MARKE TING Senior Advertising/Marketing Manager Elysee TAN | elysee@asiangeo.com Advertising/Marketing Manager Colin LIN | colin@asiangeo.com PR/Marketing Manager Cassandra Ann DRAGON | cassandra@asiangeo.com Events/Marketing Manager Dinn EFFENDY | dinn@asiangeo.com DESIGN Senior Graphic Designer ENG Chun Pang | chunpang@asiangeo.com Graphic Designer Paul DIVINA | paul@asiangeo.com Contributing Graphic Designer Eric WONG | eric@asiangeo.com Web Senior Art Director Ralph HRING | ralph@asiangeo.com CIRCUL ATION Senior Circulation/Distribution Manager Victor OW | victor@asiangeo.com Circulation/Marketing Manager Emrys PHUA | emrys@asiangeo.com Circulation/Administration Executive Sheila DEVI | sheila@asiangeo.com Traffic/Production Executive Kamille PANLAQUI | kamille@asiangeo.com
A curse is born: Dont look in the mirror at night, but they say that ghosts are the product of spirits succumbing to strong negative emotions that keep them here in the corporeal world
FROM THE POLITICAL to the social to the simple need of faith, our lives have been lled with tales of gods and angels, as well as ghosts and the devil. It was what kept many of us up at night as children. It entertained, terried and amused; for some, it was the beginning of worlds beyond we could only imagine. Indeed, the concept of the Asian ghosts is terrifyingly unique, so much so, the West has gravitated to this haunting perception like moth to a ame. On the ipside, the Asian gods continue to evoke powerful reactions from those who remain admirably close to our diverse Asian roots. Faith is sewn into the very fabric of culture and heritage that keeps us in fervent strive to appease deities and satisfy the presence that could bring doom. We scared the bejeezus out of ourselves to bring you this spectacular edition. Enjoy and keep the light on at night if you need to.
FIELD EDITORS Doug Perrine (USA), YD Bar-Ness (Australia), Oliver Benjamin (Thailand), Renyung Ho (Singapore), Scott Bennett (Canada), Stephen Burrows (Hong Kong), Dr Rachel Einav (Israel), Zann Huizhen Huang (Middle East) SCIENTIFIC ADVISORS Dr Simon Pollard, Dr Doug Fenner, Dr Nicolas J Pilcher, Dr Dionysius Sharma, Dr Carl Grundy-Warr EDITORIAL INTERNS Dorian GEIGER, Mark SONG, Esther TAN, Flora TOH, TOH Wei Shi
ASIAN Geographic magazine is a recipient of the Ngee Ann School of Engineering Internship Programme/ Sponsorship of Industrial Projects appreciation award for the academic year 2010/2011.
LOVE & LIGHT,

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ON THE COVER The Fisherman and the Genie by Maxeld Parrish Photo: PoodlesRock/Corbis
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OVERALL MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR (MPAS MAGAZINE AWARDS 2012)
EYE-OPENING IMAGES
I recently bought a copy of ASIAN Geographics Disease & Decay Edition (Issue 2/2013 No 95). I saw it on the newsstands by chance and the cover was truly intriguing. I loved the photos by Dr Glenn Losack. They both repelled and attracted me at the same time. I have never seen anything like it. There is so much we dont see and dont know about our Asian neighbours. For me, these photos were such an eye-opener. Andrew Cheam, KL, Malaysia
No No. o. . 95 95 Issue ss ssue ssu sue 2/2013 su 2/2013 201 201 13
AS ASIA SIA A WITHOUT WITHOUT ITHOU TH THO TH THOUT HOUT BORDERS BORD BORDE ORDE ORD R ERS RS
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INFORMATIVE AND SURPRISING

Thank you for your Disease & Decay Edition (Issue 2/2013 No 95). I recently became a fan of ASIAN Geographic after seeing your Life & Death Edition, and the Disease & Decay Edition has only reinforced the unique messages ASIAN Geographic always puts across. I was touched by the breast cancer story and the data were really informative. I had no idea that cancer was so rampant in Israel and that mortality was so high in Lebanon. Its a captivating fact, which makes me wonder why this is so. And the photos, my goodness, what an inspiration! Anguish and elegance at the same time. How do you do it? Rita Kong, Singapore
OVERALL MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR (MPAS MAGAZINE AWARDS 2012)
No. 96 Issue 3/2013
ASIA WITHOUT BORDERS
MAP MAGNETISM
Thank you for your Treasures of Asia Edition (Issue 3/2013 No 96). The cover was strange, so I picked it up. The old map was very interesting and I wish I had a high-resolution version to hang on my wall. I also really liked some of the stories, like the one on Jiuzhaigou [Valley National Park]. I am now planning to go there this year. You really do a good job of getting readers interested in visiting the places you talk about. They are treasures I hope to discover sooner or later on my travels. Thank you.
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N O. 9 9 IS SU E 6 / 2013
09
PICTURESQUE THE MORBID AND THE MACABRE

text & photos ASH SIVILS
THE MACABRE
Channelling the darkness within
ITS EASY to overlook things that are less than comfortable to gaze upon, to ignore things that go bump in the night and to settle into your happy place. But what if that happy place is full of terror, morbid entities and thoughts that keep you from sleeping at night? At that point, you must nd the beauty that can be found in the grotesque. The macabre is my escape; its where I can release my nightmares and negativity, where I create images that some love, while others might call them creepy or strange. When it comes down to it, the macabre found me and oered an outstretched arm into an entire world of darkness.I just choose where to shine a light. AG
Muted
10
Room 27
PICTURESQUE THE MORBID AND THE MACABRE
Gone Batty Prey Not One Word
Ash Sivils is a mixed media artist working from Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She began her career as a traditional scenic artist, eventually finding herself immersed in digital worlds of dark, yet beautiful subjects pulled from nightmarish dreams. She is an artist that has become synonymous with dark, surreal, grotesque and odd forms of art while still portraying the beauty that can be found in the macabre. Her work has been seen all around the globe, in many different mediums ranging from exhibit walls, clothing, album art and book covers.
N O. 9 9 IS SU E 6 / 2013
15
PHOTOGRAPHICA PHOTOGRAPHING GODS AND GHOSTS

text & photos JOANIE FAN HUI LING
PHOTOGRAPHING GODS AND GHOSTS

An attraction to faith
16
A huge pile of spiritual paper money is stacked up to set the stage for the burning of the royal ship
I HAVE APPRECIATED Taiwanese folklore culture since I was young. After I took up photography in 2006, I tried using the medium to preserve this rich heritage for posterity. The vibrant performances at such religious ceremonies certainly provide challenges for photographers. In Taiwan, religious ceremonies are held around the island on dierent months of the year. These events are connected to folklore beliefs of gods and ghosts. They involve oerings of food, ritual dances and music, chanting by monks and priests, ceremonial processions and the burning of spiritual paper money.
The ceremony centres around religious figures called the Eight Infernal Generals, who help the deities rid the population of plagues. In Taiwan, there are many troupes dedicated to playing the Eight Infernal Generals
18
In Tai iwan, rel ligious ceremoni ies are held around the island on different months of the year. These events are connect ted d to fol lklore bel lief fs of f gods and ghosts.
Once the make-up has been applied, the performers playing the Infernal Generals must maintain a solemn demeanor and are not allowed to talk to anyone
N O. 9 9 IS SU E 6 / 2013
19
The 1,0 000-year-ol ld trad dition of f boat burning is connected with a group of deities called the Wang Ye, , or roy yal l lord ds , wh hich h were once worshipped for their ability to prevent t pest tilence and d disease.
Helpers dressed like palace guards distribute spiritual paper money to devotees, who rush to gather the money as a sign of good fortune The royal ship is set ablaze at the end of the ceremonies at a park near the beach
20
One of Taiwans signicant religious ceremonies that have attracted a lot of foreign visitors is the boat-burning festival. The ceremony, which lasts for a few days, oers fabulous opportunities for travel stories and pictures. The 1,000-year-old tradition of boat burning is connected with a group of deities called the Wang Ye, or royal lords, which were once worshipped for their ability to prevent pestilence and disease. The burning of the royal ship is one of the folk rituals of the seafaring people in southwestern Taiwan. While its original purpose was to send the plague gods out to sea and
disease along with them today, it is designed to bring peace and good fortune. The ceremonies at the Donglong Temple in Donggang include large-scale temple activities, climaxing in the burning of the royal ship on the last day of the ceremonies during the early hours of the morning. AG
Taiwanese photographer Fan Hui-ling () was named Best Author at the 6th Emirates Photography Competition held in the United Arab Emirates in 2011. Besides this honour, Fan has also been presented with two silver medals and two honourable mentions.
N O. 9 9 IS SU E 6 / 2013
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GODS AND GHOSTS OF ASIA SPEAKING OF GHOSTS
Allah A Zyn A Allah Meshe Adam or Aac Kii G God Devi

TURKEY CYPRUS LEBANON ISRAEL JORDAN PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES EGYPT KUWAIT BAHRAIN QATAR SAUDI ARABIA U.A.E. OMAN PAKISTAN NEPAL KAZAKHSTAN
J Jesus Christ Ogi A Allah Gulyabani G God Spirits of Greek Cypriots Jahwe J Lilith
Allah A Otakhon
GEORGIA ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN TU TURKMENISTAN UZBEKISTAN
Allah A Albarste
KYRGYZSTAN TAJIKISTAN A
SYRIA IRAQ N IRAN
Allah A Pari Allah A Gidim

AFGHANISTAN
Allah A Momo A Allah Shaitan
Allah A Pharaoh Akhenaten
I Ishvara Bhut pret

INDIA
YEMEN
A Allah Djinn B Buddha Kola Sani Yaka
Ishvara I Churel
SRI LANKA
MALDIVES
Allah A Maali
SPEAKING OF GHOSTS
We W e have have a vocabulary vocabular y and and image image of of g ghosts ho s t s a and nd g ghostliness h o s t lin e s s t that hat stems stem ems f r om a E from European ur o p e an c concept onc e p t t that hat has has travelled tr avelled around ar o un d t the he w world or ld and an d ad o p t e d n adopted new ew g global, lobal, c cultural u l t u r al m meanings. e a ni n g s . T The he O Old ld G Germanic e r m a ni c w word ord gast g as t h has as become become our o ur m modern o der n w word or d ghost, ghost , b but ut iits ts o original r ig i n al m meaning e a ni n g w was as a b berserk er s er k fury. fur y. Ghosts Gho s st ts o of ft the he E European ur o p e an v vocabulary o c ab ular y a are, re, t therefore, herefore, inherently inh e r e n t l y malevolent, m al e v o l e n t , a as so opposed pp o s e d t to ot the he d divine i v in e s spark p ar k o of ft the he s soul. oul. W What ha t o other t he r cultures, cultures, and and what what other other words, wo or r ds, h have ave d dealt e al t w with it h t the he s spirits pir it s of of the the dead? d e a d?
22
S RUSSIA
G God Stalins ghost
Tengri T Merchant ghosts

MONGOLIA
Buddha B Delog
BHUTAN CHINA
Tutelary gods T Pyolsang

NORTH KOREA
God G Kun manura Mazu M Hungry ghosts
SOUTH KOREA
A JAPAN
Amaterasu A Yrei
BANGLADESH MYANMAR
A Allah Bhoot
OS LAOS
HONG KONG MACAU
TAIWAN
The Th Jade Emperor Hungry ghosts God G Manananggal
God G Aniti
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
Buddha B Nats
Buddha B Phi
CAMBODIA VIETNAM
(Atheism) Cuyn ma
PHILIPPINES
GUAM
THAILAND MALAYSIA OR SINGAPORE
Buddha B Ghosts of Khmer Rouge

UN N BRUNEI
God G Taotamona
PALAU
God G Devil mask ghost

MICRONESIA (KOSRAE)
G God Demon Sisters of Ujae

MARSHALL ISLANDS
A Allah Hantu
God G Idedeleb G God Savis

PAPUA NEW GUINEA (PORT MORESBY) EAST S T TIMOR
G God Eiyaiwo
NAURU
G God Four ghosts of Marakei

KIRIBATI (SOUTH TARAWA)
God G Ghostly canoe of Niutao God G Vaka-Atua

TOKELAU SAMOA (APIA) WALLIS AND FUTUNA AMERICAN SAMOA TONGA
INDONESIA
G God Funeral ghosts

SOLOMON ISLANDS
TUVALU
A Allah Pontianak Multi religious with a variety of ghosts
G God Klamar Mate God G Sukwe
God G Aitu
FRENCH E N POLYNESIA
VANUATU
FIJI
NEW CALEDONIA
God G Atua
NIUE COOK ISLANDS
God G Tupuqa
B Buddha Tai Hong Klom
ST AUSTRALIA
God G Ancestral spirits G God Fehulini

NORFOLK ISLAND
Baiame B Bunyip God G Ghost of Barney Duffy
G God Taakura
PITCAIRN ISLANDS
God G Spirits of the newly dead
NEW W ZEALAND
God G Patupaiarehe
N O. 9 9 IS SU E 6 / 2013
23

text YD BAR-NESS
S PEAKING OF GHOSTS (Cont)

t The HAWAIIANS speak of aumakuas, the benevolent ancestral ghosts. The word aumakua means many ancestors and can serve as a reminder of how many generations of parents lead to an individual. After death, the aumakua would exit from the eyes of the corpse and travel to other places. The living might enter their recently deceased in the ocean or in the lava craters of the Hawaiian volcanoes, perhaps to be reincarnated as an underwater spirit or fiery deity. Besides the aumakuas, there were dangerous demon kupuas, spirit helpers menehune and the weak but friendly eepa. t The MAORI of New Zealand believe that the spirits of their ancestors left this mortal world via the branches of an ancient Pohutakawa tree (Metrosideros excelsa) at the northernmost point of the North Island. Their journey from life must be accompanied by the appropriate prayers and rituals performed by their surviving family. There are also malicious ghosts, such as the insanity-inducing kikokiko or forestdwelling maero spirits. t To the cultures of the INDIAN SUBCONTINENT, the restless, malevolent spirits of the deceased are known as bhoot and can be recognised by their twisted ankles and their avoidance of the sacred earth. While they are attracted to milk, they are wary of iron or water. The Sanskritic etymological origin of the word bhoot is related to that of the English word being. t In EGYPT, the multiple aspects of the living persons soul fused after death to form a sacred spirit, the akh. Sometimes, this akh would remain in and around the tomb and could become involved with the living world by helping their descendants, or haunting others with dreams and disease. t To the Navajo people of the NORTH AMERICAN SOUTHWEST, the remnant evil of a person haunts the house in which they died and are summoned when their living name is spoken. They can be sometimes seen as small whirlwinds of dust and sand. t To the Aztecs of MEXICO, the manner of ones death determined ones fate. For women who died in childbirth, their spirit would return to the world, seeking the child they were never granted. In modern-day Mexico, ancient Aztec beliefs have fused with Roman Catholicism in unique ways. On the day after All Hallows Eve (Halloween), the dearly departed are respected and remembered; throughout Mexico people visit their family graves and celebrate their memory. t To CHINESE BUDDHISTS, the ancestral e-kuei ghosts are associated with frustration, as they can never successfully assuage their thirst or hunger. Prayers and rituals may help to release these poor spirits from their torture. t TIBETAN BUDDHISTS believe that between reincarnations, a soul remains in the bardo state of afterlife as a preta , eternally hungry and unsatisfied. A yearly festival is held in midwinter, where ceremonies are performed to ritually exorcise ghosts. t In ancient JAPANESE culture, the reikon spirit of a deceased human becomes a guardian ancestor spirit. However, it can be trapped as a yrei in this world by violent, unjust or improper death. There are many different classifications of yrei for those lost in childbirth, those needing vengeance, those lost at sea, and more. Japanese Buddhists also believe in hungering ghosts, as well as jikininki, who are the self-hating spirits of the dead with a longing for human flesh. t In WESTERN AFRICA and the CARIBBEAN ISLANDS, the duppy is the half of a deceaseds soul that stays on Earth the other half goes upwards to divinity. Stories are told of their fiery eyes and teeth. t The MALAYSIAN word for ghost is hantu, and has been combined with the Muslim concept of djinn. Traditionally, the anitu spirit is present at the burial site for seven nights and may cause grief to the living until exorcised or pacified. There are varieties of hantu associated with stillborn children, women lost in childbirth, and sorcery exercises.
Some English synonyms for ghost:

Phantom Funnel ghost Spectre Dark entity
Shade GHOST Wraith Spirit Poltergeist Presence Apparition
Shadow people
Messenger
Speculation
Ectoplasm
24
EAST ASIA
NORTH KOREA
GOD
CHINA, HONG KONG, MACAU

GOD
Tutelary gods: An unorganised pantheon of

gods that inhabit trees, sacred caves, piles of stones, and oversee households and villages. They can be summoned during shamanic rituals, where they possess the shaman.
SOURCE: KOREAN SHAMANISM MUISM BY T-G KIM
Mazu: A folk goddess of the sea that protects

sailors and fishermen. She started out as a local folk goddess but has entered the Taoist and Buddhist pantheon. Also known as Tianhou or Tinhau in Hong Kong.
SOURCE: NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
BAHRAIN, IRAQ, KUWAIT, JORDAN, LEBANON, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, OMAN, QATAR, SAUDI ARABIA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, YEMEN
GH OS T
GHOST
CHINA, HONG KONG, MACAU, TAIWAN

G HO ST
Hungry ghosts: The spirits of persons who

have committed the sin of greed while they were alive. It is also believed that they can emerge from neglect or desertion of ancestors.
SOURCE: TAOISM: ORIGINS, BELIEFS, PRACTICES, HOLY TEXTS, SACRED PLACES BY J. OLDSTONE-MOORE
Pyolsang: Ghosts of deceased individuals who met with violent or tragic ends. They cause illnesses and bad fortune to their victims. They can be exorcised by shamans.
SOURCE: FOLK-RELIGION: THE CUSTOMS IN KOREA BY C-S CHLOE
Djinn: Central to the Muslim worldview, djinns belong to a class of demonic beings or nature spirits that goes back to pre-Islamic times. Many Iraqis believed that seven djinns protected Saddam Hussein from harm, and that he spoke daily with the king and queen of the djinns on how to run the country and maintain power.
S O U R C E : I R AQ : S U P E R S T I T I O N S A N D F O L K L O R E A N D T H E RO U T L E D G E D I C T I O N A R Y O F G O D S A N D G O D D E S S , D E V I L S AND DEMONS
NORTH ASIA
CYPRUS
GH OS T
RUSSIA
GOD
TAIWAN
GOD
Spirits of Greek Cypriots: These are the

sprits of men killed at the time of the Turkish invasion in 1974. These ghostly figures, whose killers have never been punished, have a symbolic and political potency.
SOURCE: NEWS.BBC.CO.UK
God: An incorporeal, omnipresent spirit a

Trinity of the Father (God), the Son (Christ), and the Holy Spirit that comprises one God Almighty.
SOURCE: BELIEFNET
The Jade Emperor: The ruler of Heaven,

Earth and Hell. He was proclaimed supreme sovereign of all by immortals, gods and men by defeating a great and powerful demon too powerful to be stopped by the other gods.
SOURCE: GODS OF TAOISM
GHOST
Ghost of Joseph Stalin: The countrys

former leader is said to be the Kremlins most frequently seen ghost. He often appears in times of national crisis with witnesses claiming that the ghost wants to establish order.
SOURCE: ASTROLOGYGUIDE.COM
GEORGIA
GH OS T
JAPAN
GOD
Amaterasu: Goddess of the sun and the

universe. The meaning of her whole name, Amaterasu-mikami, is the great august kami (Gama or God) who shines in the heaven. The Emperor of Japan is said to be her direct descendant.
SOURCE: JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY A TO Z
Devi: These have horns and multiple heads that regenerate if severed. They live in the underworld or remote mountains and hoard treasures.
SOURCE: FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGY
WEST ASIA
ISRAEL
GOD
ARMENIA
GOD
Jesus Christ: Members of the Armenian

Apostolic Church believe that Jesus Christ is God, that he is one being with dual natures, human and divine.
SOURCE: SYRIAN ORTHODOX RESOURCES
Jahwe (Jahve): The name of the God of Israel. Jewish adherents believe they are commanded by Him to love one another as He does humankind.
SOURCE: THE ROUTLEDGE DICTIONARY OF GODS AND GODDESS, DEVILS AND DEMONS
G HO ST
Yrei: Analogous to Chinese and Western ghosts, spirits kept from a peaceful afterlife. They usually appear dressed in white, with long, black and dishevelled hair. They lack hands and feet.
SOURCE: TAOISM: ORIGINS, BELIEFS, PRACTICES, HOLY TEXTS, SACRED PLACES BY J. OLDSTONE-MOORE
GH OS T
GHOST
Ogi: Synonymous with Armenian words for

breath (shunch) and soul (hogi). An evil spirit in Armenian folklore exits a dead body from the mouth, and can do harm by entering another person and causing diseases.
SOURCE: ARMENIAN FOLK BELIEFS
Lilith: Jewish legend has it that Adam had another partner, Lilith, before Eve. She turned down Adams sexual advances and was cursed. She takes vengeance by kidnapping children.
SOURCE: THALIATOOK.COM
MONGOLIA
GOD
SYRIA
GH OS T
Tengri: One of the names of the primary

chief deity of the early Turkic peoples. He is the creator of all things, and father to the sun and the moon.
SOURCE: ANIMAL AND SHAMAN: ANCIENT RELIGIONS OF CENTRAL ASIA BY J. BALDICK
AZERBAIJAN, BAHRAIN, IRAQ, KUWAIT, JORDAN, LEBANON, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, OMAN, SYRIA, TURKEY, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, YEMEN
GOD
Ekimmu: The spirit of one who died a violent death or was denied entry into the underworld. Ekimmu walk the earth to haunt the living.
SOURCE: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GHOSTS & SPIRITS
TURKEY
GH OS T
G HO ST
Merchant ghosts: Long-bearded old men

dressed in silken clothes, ghosts of merchants who come back to reclaim goods they could not take with them in the beyond.
SOURCE: PARASITIC CHINESE, VENGEFUL RUSSIANS: GHOSTS, STRANGERS, AND RECIPROCITY IN MONGOLIA BY G. DELAPLACE
Allah: The supreme deity, creator of the earth

and giver of water, interpreted by the Prophet Muhammad as the one true God to which men should submit.
Gulyabani: In Turkish mythology, the gulyabani

roams the desert by night tormenting those brave enough to travel in the dark and is said to take on the hairy appearance of a werewolf by moonlight.
SOURCE: CAUCASIAN MYTHOLOGY, AZERBAIJANI MYTHOLOGY
CYPRUS, GEORGIA
GOD
SOUTH ASIA
SOUTH KOREA
G HO ST
God: An incorporeal, omnipresent spirit - a

SOURCE: BELIEFNET
Kun manura: Spiteful, jealous or dissatisfied

spiritual apparitions of first wives frequently manifest in shaman rituals. Also known as big wife or major wife, their emotional experiences persist in restless ancestors.
SOURCE: WIVES, LESSER WIVES, AND GHOSTS: SUPERNATURAL CONFLICT IN A KOREAN VILLAGE BY L. KENDALL
AFGHANISTAN, BANGLADESH, IRAN, MALDIVES, PAKISTAN

GOD

AZERBAIJAN
GHOST
Meshe Adam/Aac Kii: A spirit that

lives in mountainous forests, it looks like a hairy creature of both sexes and possesses intermediate facial features between an ape and a humans.
SOURCE: (SOVIET ENCYCLOPEDIA)
N O. 9 9 IS SU E 6 / 2013
25
BHUTAN, SRI LANKA

E N LI GH TENED B EI NG
SRI LANKA
GHOST
LAOS
GH OS T
Buddha: Buddhists reject the concept of a

supreme Creator God or at least consider it irrelevant. Buddha, a fully enlightened being, is revered instead.
SOURCE: BELIEFNET
Kola Sani Yaka: These creatures were born to

human parents but later became demons. Under the rule of a king, demons are forbidden to kill humans. Instead, they afflict diseases upon them.
SOURCE: ON DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT IN CEYLON
Phi: Belief in phi (spirits) is blended with

Buddhism. Some phi are associated with the elements earth, heaven, fire, water and some, called khwan (32 spirits), are believed to be connected to wellbeing. Illness occurs when one or more of these spirits leave the body.
SOURCE: EVERYCULTURE
INDIA, NEPAL
GOD
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Ishvara: Also worshipped as Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva, or Shakti, depending on the Hindu sect. Interpretations of this supreme being vary, partly because the fundamental idea of the Hinduism is metamorphoses or transformations.
SOURCE: THE RELIGION OF THE HINDUS
BRUNEI, INDONESIA, MALAYSIA

GOD
PHILIPPINES
GH OS T

Manananggal: A vampire that can separate

her upper torso from her lower body. With its huge bat-like wings, it flies off into the night, with trailing entrails, seeking pregnant women in their homes, and preys on their unborn foetuses.
SOURCE: THE BALETE BOOK: A COLLECTION OF DEMONS, MONSTERS AND DWARFS FROM THE PHILIPPINE LOWER MYTHOLOGY
AFGHANISTAN
G HOST
Djinn: Central to the Muslim worldview, djinns

belong to a class of demonic beings or nature spirits that goes back to pre-Islamic times.
MYANMAR, CAMBODIA, LAOS, THAILAND

E NLIGHTE NE D B E ING
Buddha: Buddhists reject the concept of a supreme Creator God or at least consider it irrelevant. Buddha, a fully enlightened being, is revered instead.
SOURCE: BELIEFNET
SINGAPORE
Multi religious with a variety of ghosts

THAILAND
GH OS T
BANGLADESH
G HOST
Tai Hong Klom: One of the most feared

ghosts in Thailand. A wrathful spirit of a woman impregnated and abandoned by her lover.
SOURCE: GHOSTS IN THAI CULTURE
Bhut (bhoot): These ghosts are believed to

be the spirits of those who died in unnatural or abnormal circumstances (e.g., murder).
SOURCE: STUDENTS BRITANNICA, INDIA
PHILIPPINES, EAST TIMOR

GOD

SOURCE: BELIEFNET
VIETNAM
BHUTAN
G HOST
Atheism: Officially an atheist country, Vietnam

has seen a rise in religious practice in the last few decades. As well as a large proportion adhering to the major faiths (especially Buddhism), Vietnamese also worship local spirits and gods.
SOURCE: THE ROUGH GUIDE TO VIETNAM
Delog: They are women (occasionally men) who have passed on, travelled to the other world and witness the judgment of the dead.
SOURCE: LONELY PLANET: BHUTAN
BRUNEI
GHOST
Hantu: An old Malay belief is that a persons

hantu (ghost) returns to haunt his or her grave for seven days before departing. These ghosts are believed to be active only at night, especially when there is a full moon.
SOURCE: ENCYCLOPEDIA.PARANORMAL-CIRCLE.COM
INDIA
G HOST
GH OS T
Churel: Women who die in childbirth or

pregnancy due to the negligence of her relatives are often described as turning into churels, who return to seek vengeance and suck the blood of their male relatives.
SOURCE: CHILD-BEARING AND CULTURE: WOMEN CENTERED REVISIONING OF THE TRADITIONAL MIDWIFE: THE DAI AS A RITUAL PRACTITIONER BY J. CHAWLA
Cuyn ma: There are many ways that ghosts

haunt the Vietnamese. For example, places where road accidents frequently occur are believed to be plagued with ghosts who pop out in front of cars.
SOURCE: ROMANCE, GENDER, AND RELIGION IN A VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN COMMUNITY: TALES OF GOD AND BEAUTIFUL WOMEN
MYANMAR
GHOST
Nats: Spirits worshipped in conjunction with

Buddhism in Myanmar, they include forest guardian spirits and mountain guardian spirits. After a failed ban on nat-worship, King Anawrahta of Bagan designated an official pantheon of 37 nats.
SOURCE: NAT BELIEF AND BUDDHISM
IRAN
G HOST
CENTRAL ASIA
Gidim: The gidim takes on the memories and

character of a dead person. In the netherworld, they lead an existence similar to that of the living.
SOURCE: GODS, DEMONS, AND SYMBOLS OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA: AN ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY
KAZAKHSTAN, KYRGYZSTAN, TAJIKISTAN, TURKMENISTAN, UZBEKISTAN

GOD
CAMBODIA
GHOST

Ghosts of Khmer Rouge: Many

Cambodians believe victims of the genocide during the Khmer Rouge regime linger on as haunting spirits and poltergeists.
SOURCE: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
MALDIVES
G HOST
Maali: These evil spirits are thought to

be associated with epidemics in the island community. To ward off these spirits, the elders of the island perform a dance, the Kadhaa Maali.
SOURCE: BRITANNICA
EAST TIMOR
GHOST
KAZAKHSTAN
GH OS T
Klamar mate: Malevolent souls of the

recently deceased. Through rituals, they may prohibit remarriage within a specified period.
SOURCE: ENCYCLOPEDIA.COM
Zyn: An evil spirit that inflicts harm on people.

To protect newborn babies from harm, Kazakhs believe zyn can be deceived by hanging sheeps vertebrae at the door.
SOURCE: KAZAKHSTAN: COMING OF AGE
NEPAL
G HOST
Bhut pret: These are restless spirits of people

who have died violent deaths and were not given proper funeral rites.
SOURCE: THE ROUGH GUIDE TO NEPAL
INDONESIA, MALAYSIA
GHOST
KYRGYZSTAN
GH OS T
Pontianak: A vampiric ghost in Malay and

Indonesian mythology. It is said to be the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant. It resides in banana trees during the day, and appears at night, often as beautiful women, to prey on men.
SOURCE: THE ALM OST COMPLETE COLLECTION OF TRUE SINGAPORE GHOST STORIES
Albarste: This demoness with misshapen

feet is believed to be the cause of difficult childbirth. Barking dogs, firing guns, and holding a Quran over the mother are thought to ward off the demoness.
SOURCE: PEOPLES ON THE MOVE: INTRODUCING THE NOMADS OF THE WORLD
PAKISTAN
G HOST
Shaitan: InPakistan,mental illnessesare considered to arise from an encounter withShaitan(Satan) orevildjinnswho have taken control of ones body and mind.
SOURCE: BELIEVING IN MAGIC: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SUPERSTITION
26
TAJIKISTAN
G HO ST
FIJI
GHOST
KIRIBATI (SOUTH TARAWA)

GH OS T
Momo: The spirit helpers of shamans, they

assist in rituals and fortune telling and are considered to be compassionate.
SOURCE: AGENTS AND AUDIENCES
Atua: Gods and ghosts of the Polynesian

peoples. Fijians believe the atua is responsible for causing sleep paralysis kana tevoro, being eaten by a demon.
SOURCE: PATHS TO THE DIVINE: ANCIENT AND INDIAN
Four ghosts of Marakei: These are spiritual

female guardians of the island, namely Nei Reei, Nei Rotebenua, Nei Tangangau and Nei Nantekimam. Te Katabwanin is a tradition where first time visitors are required to pay their respects to the ghosts by being escorted anticlockwise around the island.
SOURCE: MANEIKOTRAVEL.CO.NZ
TURKMENISTAN
G HO ST
NEW ZEALAND
GHOST
Pari: This evil female spirit, which is invisible

to humans, is said to reside in hilly areas. The jingling of their anklets can be heard in the jungle.
SOURCE: CULTURE, ECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Patupaiarehe: Pale spirit beings that

are believed to live in deep forests and mountaintops. They are sometimes hostile to human beings.
SOURCE: PATUPAIAREHE AND PONATURI
TUVALU
GH OS T
UZBEKISTAN
G HO ST
Otakhon: In Uzbekistan, the otakhon are

benevolent ancestor spirits sent by God to work with spiritual healers.
SOURCE: ARTICULATING ISLAM: ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO MUSLIM WORLDS EDITED BY M. MARSDEN AND K. RETSIKAS
MICRONESIA
GHOST
Devil Mask Ghost: It is believed that a very

notorious ghost haunted Micronesias island of Tol. The inhabitants carved masks in its image, fooling it into believing the region was surrounded by other ghosts. It retreated, never to return.
SOURCE: VISIT-MICRONESIA.FM
Ghostly canoe of Niutao: This is a carrier of paranormal entities in Tuvaluan folklore. According to legend, the men of Niutao encountered it and deemed it a vehicle of the gods that threatened them with disaster.
SOURCE: SONGS OF TUVALU BY G. KOCH (TRANS. G. SLATTER)
SOLOMON ISLANDS
GH OS T
OCEANIA AND THE PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA
GOD
Baiame: In Australian Aboriginal mythology,

Baiame was the Creator God and Sky Father. This All-father was responsible for the conjuring of rivers, mountains and forests.
SOURCE: AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH, INC
PALAU
GHOST
Funeral ghosts: The people of the Solomon Islands have elaborate and complex funeral processions. It is believed this prevents the dead from returning to haunt the living.
SOURCE: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GHOSTS & SPIRITS
Idedeleb: A ghost spirit that was captured by

seven spirits known as Tekiimelab, who injected Idedeleb into a drowned woman, Miladeldel, reviving her.
SOURCE: BELAUNATIONALMUSEUM.ORG
WALLIS AND FUTUNA

GH OS T
Aitu: Most Nieuans of Alofi Island still embrace

older religious ideas, believing in a supernatural world inhabited by aitu, who are spirits of dead ancestors. Aitu keep a close eye on behaviour and punish individuals with misfortune, illness or even death who transgress social norms or flout cultural conventions.
SOURCE: EVERYCULTURE.COM
G HO ST
Bunyip: Conceived as an evil spirit who dwells

in murky swamps and billabongs, this Aboriginal name translates as devil. In their mythology, the destructive bunyip is pictured to devour life men whole.
SOURCE: AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH, INC
GUAM
GHOST
Taotamona: Headless, deformed and

ugly spirits who sometimes take the form of humans. Many in Guam believe that the Taotamona can be seen if the steam of cooked rice is closely observed.
SOURCE: GUAM.NET
VANUATU
GH OS T
NEW CALEDONIA, NORFOLK ISLAND, FIJI, NEW ZEALAND, MICRONESIA, PALAU, GUAM, NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS, NAURU, PAPUA NEW GUINEA (PORT MORESBY), MARSHALL ISLANDS, KIRIBATI (SOUTH TARAWA), TUVALU, SOLOMON ISLANDS, WALLIS AND FUTUNA, VANUATU, AMERICAN SAMOA, SAMOA, NIUE, TONGA, COOK ISLANDS, FRENCH POLYNESIA
GOD
Sukwe: This ghost, alongside other nonPolynesian type beings, are commonly associated with the underground, caves, mazes, snakes, spiders, rats, acts of a devouring or destructive kind, and the failure to attain a satisfactory afterlife.
SOURCE: VANUATU RELIGIONS (ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION, SECOND EDITION)
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

GHOST
Aniti: The Chamoru people of the Mariana

Islands believe that roaming and inhabiting their caves are these ancestral spirits who have unresolved wishes.
SOURCE: GUAM.ORG.GU
NAURU
GHOST
AMERICAN SAMOA, SAMOA, NIUE

GH OS T

SOURCE: BELIEFNET
NEW CALEDONIA
G HO ST
Eiyaiwo: A woman with long, black hair, and in a clean, white dress is often reported to be seen at Naurus main hotel, the Menen. She is said to be the ghost of a woman raped by the Japanese during World War II.
SOURCE: SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Aitu: Often malevolent, these spirits take the

form of plants and animals. They are believed to have originated from Samoa.
SOURCE: A DICTIONARY OF THE MAORI LANGUAGE OF RAROTONGA
TONGA
GH OS T
Ancestral spirits: These are the spirits of

humans receiving power after death. They are considered sacred to the Kanak people and the flche fatire (rooftop spire) that adorns their houses is the home of these spirits.
SOURCE: LONELY PLANET: NEW CALEDONIA
PAPUA NEW GUINEA (PORT MORESBY)

GHOST
Fehulini: An identity-switching spirit believed

to appear as a man to women, and a woman to men. As a woman, she combs her decapitated heads hair.
SOURCE: TONGATA PU.NET
Savis: These supernatural beings are some of

the most powerful spirits in Papua New Guinea. During festivals, people wear savi masks, complete with protruding tongues and large eyes, to prevent evil spirits from causing chaos.
SOURCE: BEST COUNTRY REPORTS
NORFOLK ISLAND
G HO ST
COOK ISLANDS
GH OS T
Ghost of Barney Duffy: A giant of an Irishman, Barney Duffy was imprisoned on Norfolk Island and stayed hidden for seven years in a hollow pine. He was known to curse and foretell the death of the soldiers. His ghost is still feared today.
SOURCE: THE SUPERNATURAL: FAMOUS GHOSTS AND HAUNTED PLACES BY G.J. LYNCH, D. CANWELL AND J. SUTHERLAND
MARSHALL ISLANDS
GHOST
Demon Sisters of Ujae: Two demon sisters

from the island of Ujae once stole flowers from a chiefs tree. Instead of punishing them, he married them. But forgetting his promise to their father to keep them close, the chief drowned in a huge storm.
SOURCE: SPIRITOFTREES.ORG
Taakura: A beautiful red-haired girl who promised to kill her unfaithful lover and every Rarotonga male before committing suicide. Her ghost is believed to roam Cook Islands, tricking men into falling to their deaths.
SOURCE: WEBCENTRAL
FRENCH POLYNESIA
GH OS T
Tupuqa: In traditional Polynesian and Tahitian

culture, the tupuqa embodies all supernatural beings that have exceeded the boundaries of physical mortality.
SOURCE: GHOSTS IN POLYNESIAN CULTURE EDITED BY F.D. MILLER, A.F. VANDOME AND J. MCBREWSTER
REVEALED
text DR GERRY GROOT
A WOMA AN SCORNED The mainly yin of Chinese ghosts

AMONG THE MANY DIFFERENCES between Chinese and Western cultures are the beliefs in ghosts. Although many Westerners, especially colonial period ones, believed that they had the edge over Orientals in rationality, where ghost beliefs are concerned, Chinese beliefs exhibit much more internal consistency and predictability. Among the features of these beliefs is the high preponderance of female ghosts such as fox spirits. Unlike Western beliefs, which lack a central organising principle, Chinese beliefs in the ideas of qi, harmony, yin and yang and the nature of the body, and how these relate to the soul can combine to give rise to numerous sorts of spirits, good and bad (usually seen as ghosts). While Christian beliefs posit the possession of only one soul per person, ancient Chinese beliefs, while setting no specific limit, generally agree on the existence of a two-part soul, one divided into yin-yang parts. The yin half, known as po (), has yin features feminine, dark, moist, etc. and it is these features that are consigned to the earth upon burial to await the reunification with their yang other half. Anything which prevents the souls reunification or which upsets the harmony of the qi underlying both yin and yang elements, can turn benign spirits into more malevolent ones and be seen as dangerous ghosts. In the famous Chinese ghost story movies, originally directed by Tsui Hark, the reason a beautiful girl becomes a hunter of men is because she has been murdered and her remains are far from their proper ancestral graveyard, where harmony would reign and her soul would be at rest. Preventing such ethereal disruption is a key reason for a common Chinese insistence on being buried in the right location. Should the geomancer get the feng shui wrong and choose a poor location, more such ghosts might arise and the family and others might pay a very high price. Feng shui, it should be remembered, was, not so long ago, much more about preventing such bad things from happening than about long life, prosperity and fecundity. While the yin nature of ghosts is one reason many Chinese ghosts are female, another relates directly to the powerlessness of women in a traditionally usually fiercely patriarchal Chinese society, where wives were not only subject to the whims of their husbands, they also often suffered terribly at the hands of their mothers-in-law with whom they were forced to live. One of the few ways such bullied women could exercise power was to commit suicide and, by performing such outrage against harmony, could return to the world as a ghost to punish the mothers-in-law and bring disaster to the family as revenge. Similarly, women who were murdered or raped could also return as ghosts to seek retribution among the living. In these sorts of circumstances, it is not surprising that one of the consistent themes is that of men scared that ghosts would turn up some day to suck out their very virility. Freud would have had something to say about that, if only he had known about it. AG
is a senior lecturer in Chinese Studies, Centre for Asian Studies (University of Adelaide). Although his main research area is Chinese politics, especially united front work, he is also interested in Chinese folk religion, superstitions, ghosts and Zhong Kui. He also has a collection of hundreds of Chinese cook books, but never uses them for cooking.
28
The female ghost may be symbolic of women gaining an equal footing in the repre pressive societies found un in ma m ny parts of Asia a
N O. 9 9 IS SU E 6 / 2013
29

text & photos BORIS JOSEPH

Pleasing the gods for a better year ahead
This sanyasi paints a red dot on the forehead of a skull before starting the skull dance, a procession in honour of Lord Shiva
WE LEAVE BEHIND the bustle of Kolkata to go inland to the countryside of the state of West Bengal. In this remote corner of India, the modernity of the cities has not impacted ancestral customs in the rural areas, and village life still follows the rhythm of the seasons and the religious calendar. In this part of the country, the most enigmatic and most spectacular practice is undoubtedly that of Gajan. Each year, at the end of winter, hundreds of farmers leave their daily life for a month to become ascetics. Engaged in a series of ancestral rituals, they submit their bodies to physical tests as they honour the sun. These rituals, depending on the region, take dierent forms, yet retain the same meaning and the same goal: to celebrate the marriage of the Sun and the Earth and satisfy the divinities, so that after the hot season, rain will fall and harvests will be good. The origins of Gajan are tribal. Predating Hinduism, the concept behind the rituals is that of fertility and reproduction, which also symbolically bring the dead back to life. It relates to how rain can breathe new life into elds dried out by heat or ll ponds that eventually bring
The face of this sanyasi has been painted to imitate the god Shiva
Sanyasis parade in the village of Kurmun. They go from house to house with an earthen cup in one hand and ask the villagers for offerings
sh. It also concerns the life women are able to breathe back into the world. The festival is very much associated with the village folk, who, each spring, anxiously wait the arrival of the rainy season. It takes place at a time of year when the land is bloodless, emptied of water, cracked, consumed by the sun. Only the liberating monsoon is able to fertilise the elds and allow farmers to survive. Placing their gratitude in the hands of this divine grace by way of Gajan is the only mode of respect these village folks have come to know. It is these rural roots that make this celebration unique. Compared to all the other Hindu rites, which are led by Brahmins, Gajan is organised, managed and provided for by farmers from the lower castes. As well, unlike the Brahmins, who simply serve as intermediaries between the divinities and the living by
32
praying and making offerings, the sanyasis (disciples of Lord Shiva) of Gajan offer their bodies through mutilation, over time becoming the main focus of the festival. Indeed, Gajan was banned by the British Empire in 1864, which considered it too barbarous. Yet, 150 years later, far from the tumult and changes in major Indian cities, Gajan has endured. THE SKULL DANCE Our rst destination is the village of Kurmun in the district of Bardhaman. In this small locality, the villagers are following one of Gajans strangest rituals, the skull dance. As we arrive, the sanyasis are all grouped together in the village centre and are painting their faces. They adorn themselves with the colours of Shiva and their costume features some of his distinct appendages, such as the sword. After several hours of makeup, tempers are. Musicians begin to pound out a rhythm on their drums. The sanyasis then embark on a wild dance around the village, going from house to house. The sanyasis oer the villagers waiting outside their doors small cups of soil, and in return, they hope to receive a few coins as oerings. The handful of rupees collected will enable them to
feed themselves and break the fast typically observed by sanyasis for several days before Gajan. During the procession, the villagers show reverence to the sanyasis as if they were deities. Women spray them with buckets of water and throw themselves at their feet. The children are expected to lie on the ground in the hope that the sanyasis will walk on their bodies and bless them with their swords. While the younger children wait anxiously for their blessings, the more adventurous teenagers do not hesitate to throw themselves under the feet of the sanyasis, believing that this act will aord them protection. The dance lasts several hours, under the scorching heat of the day til nightfall. In the darkness, the processions separate. And then, for a few hours, the villagers, dressed in their Sunday best, forsake the gods to partake in a decidedly more modern celebration, dancing to the ear-blasting Bollywood-beat of Indian music. Gajan, it seems clear, is also an opportunity for everyone to come together and have fun, a parenthesis in a life devoted to work. Meanwhile, far from the cacophony, on the dark roads nearby, small groups of sanyasis leave the surrounding
This priest is about to pierce the tongue of this young sanyasi
A sanyasi puts his foot on the body of a child lying on the ground and brandishes his sword to bless him
villages to converge in Kurmun. Overnight, in total secrecy, the sanyasis go to look for the bodies that they will use to perform the death dance they need to accomplish in the following hours. From these corpses, the sanyasis will only keep the head. But where do all these bodies come from? There are many rumours about their origin. Some suggest that the sanyasis go to Muslim cemeteries to nd the bodies; others say they get a supply from hospitals near the cemeteries. The latter hypothesis is probably the most likely, but this secret is well kept. At 5am the next day, I wait under a large banyan tree with a few villagers. As dawn breaks, the sanyasis arrive and climb the big tree under which we are waiting, bringing down small packages. They put them on the ground and carefully unravel the enveloping fabric to extract skulls. One still has its long hair; chances are that its the skull of a woman. The pungent smell is overpowering. These bodies have not been buried for very long. Emerging from the darkness, other sanyasis arrive, loaded with small white bundles.
Everyone carefully unravels their bundles. The skulls are then cleaned. Amid the crowd, a man burns incense in a clay jar to override the stench of decomposition. Some sanyasis undertake the task of decorating the skulls, ending with painting a red dot on the forehead. By daybreak, the crowd has swelled. While the sound of drums echo, the sanyasis gather in procession and begin their dance. In one hand, they hold a sword, in the other, the skull, raised high so everyone can see. They cross the streets of the village, where more crowds have gathered. The dance then accelerates and alternately, they rush towards the crowd, hypnotised, aunting their skulls up close. Some are frightened and retreat; the children are paralysed with fear. Others are clearly entertained by the unfolding drama. The beat pounds faster and the sanyasis turn towards one another, brandishing their trophies higher and higher. After arriving at the village square near the temple of Shiva, the drums stop abruptly. The sanyasis prostrate themselves on the oor in front of the small building, and then rush into the temple to oer the corpses they exhumed and submit prayers in a way only sanyasis are allowed to perform. In the Gajan of Kurmun, the sanyasis not only symbolically evoke life from death, but also physically depict this resurrection by bringing back to life the bodies they dig up, through dance. For their part, the villagers hope that the gods are appeased by the oerings and that clemency will be shown by the gods over the coming year. THE SELF-SACRIFICE That same day, we leave Kurmun to go to Panchal, in another district about 160 kilometres away. The moment we arrive, I encounter a procession of men and women. On their heads, they are carrying wooden boards topped with spiked nails. I learn later that these patas, pieces of wood from a sacred tree, whose shape is reminiscent of a human, refer to an episode of the lore of the God Dharma. In this ancient legend, Queen Ranjavati, unable to get pregnant, impales herself on a spiked plank as a form of self-sacrice. Dharma, seeing her devotion, decides to revive her and gives her a son, Lausen, who becomes the main hero of the Kingdom of Dharma on Earth. The sanyasis, by performing in front of the patas, re-enact
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the sacrice of Ranjavati, with the hope that this similar oering will evoke kindness from the God Dharma, as it once did for Ranjavati. The ritual takes place at the end of the day around a sacred pool of water, where the sanyasis perform ablutions and dip the patas to purify them. It is a rather curious site to see men and women treat these pieces of wood as if they were fragile babies. They then return to the banks, place the patas on the ground and begin a puja. As they sing, they honour the patas with owers, sprinkle rice and worship the sacred pieces of wood. Night falls on Panchal. Like in Kurmun, festivities have begun in the village, and villagers from the surrounding communities are making their way there. The young people are dancing frenetically to the music. I walk through the village and come to the sacred pool, the same one where the last ritual of the day occurred. On its banks, a hundred sanyasis have gathered. Around a lamp powered by a generator, two men sit opposite each other and greet the devotees one by one. As I approach, I see a priest examining the tongue of a young man. He touches it, pulls it, kneads it and suddenly, without hesitation, pierces it with a metal rod. Some sanyasis are very young and are pierced with small rods. Other older sanyasis are pierced with much longer rods, sometimes
...a a priest examining the tongue of a young man. He touches it, pulls it, kneads it and suddenly, without hesitation, pierces it with a metal rod.
almost two metres in length. In front of the priest, another man supports each of the sanyasis on his chest so that he does not move as the priest pierces his tongue. The same ritual is repeated for hours. The sanyasis spend the night with rods in their tongues. Some stay prostrate in a corner; others will dance through the night with the villagers to the rhythms of the drums. Among these people, I observe a young child, whose head is covered with dollar notes oered by villagers. Earlier, he paraded in the streets with a large metal rod in his tongue. It was so long, it had to be supported by two assistants one at each end accompanying the child. The child is now surrounded by drummers, as he dances, stopping regularly to sit down. Men, surely a parent among them, cool him with a fan. He seems to be suering: blood oozing from his mouth has to be constantly wiped away with a large white cloth. In the early morning, the sanyasis return, in
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A sanyasi is swung in circles high above the heads of the crowd, suspended in the air by iron hooks thrust through the muscles in his back. The practice, called Charak Puja, was made illegal by the British in 1894, but it has persisted in remote localities of West Bengal until today On the day of Gajan, these sanyasis parade in the village of Kurmun, dancing with their recently procured skulls. The ritual honours the god Shiva
procession, to the Shiva temple. There, hidden from view, they remove the metal rods and oer them to the deities. THE WORSHIP OF THE WHEEL It is the last day of Gajan. Dawn is breaking. After a tiring night without sleep, the sanyasis take a few hours of respite. They gather around the Shiva temple and listen to the prayers coming from inside the building. They are exhausted, but they know they must still pass one nal test: to honour the sun by undertaking the worship of the wheel, known as the Charak Puja. Several metres away in a clearing, the men are working to install a large wooden pole about 15 metres high. The complex, time-consuming operation will take several hours and as many as 10 men. At 4pm, when the sun begins to dip, a priest appears to bless the ceremony. With this done, the sanyasis gather around the vertical piece of wood to embrace it and kiss it. At the same time, near the Shiva temple, men prepare the rst sanyasi that will execute this worship of the wheel by inserting two large hooks into the esh of his back. He is then carried to the clearing, where he is greeted as a hero by the assembled crowd. The other sanyasis circle the pole, holding up their sticks and shouting with joy. The chosen one is then carefully hung by the hooks to ropes connected to one of the two pendulums mounted on the pole. On the opposite pendulum, several men provide counterbalance to hoist up the sanyasi, who begins to rotate in the air. The
man ies like a bird, suspended high in the air by iron hooks thrust into his muscles. He spins faster and faster over the screaming crowd. The movement symbolises the arrival of the spring and the revival of life after the dead of winter. It emulates that of the sun, nishing the years journey and starting towards the next. The ritual is also a reference to the story of Lausen, who self-sacrices in an eort to make the sun rise in the west and to create a long day. The sanyasi rotates in the air for several minutes. In his ecstasy, he hurls owers and dried fruit at the crowd. The sanyasi is then slowly let down, and back on the ground, he is carried through the village like a hero. Others follow suit, taking turns on the wheel until the sun has totally set and the sky is totally black. For the sanyasis, after a month of penance, the worship of Gajan is over for the year. It is time to return to their daily lives as farmers in the hope that the gods have heard their prayers and will be lenient in the coming year. AG
Boris Joseph studied architecture and fine arts. Based in China since 2005, he has produced many stories, particularly on the Tibetan Plateau and on the Chinese cities that maintain a traditional lifestyle, such as Langzhong. His work has been published in numerous magazines, including GEO, Le Monde 2, Corriere della Serra, and Aftenposten. Many of his photographs on China have been purchased by the National Library of France.
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ARTS WHATS THAT IN THE PHOTO?
When ghosts reveal themselves
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By Mark Song
IN THE PHOTO?
The famous picture of the Brown Lady, thought to be the ghost of Lady Dorothy Townshend: It became one of the most famous hauntings in Great Britain, the first recorded by Lucia C. Stone at Raynham Hall at Christmas 1835
Spirit photography pioneer William Hope (18631933) claimed he could communicate with the dead spirits would appear in front of his camera
AT FIRST GLANCE, all it looks like is a patch of light shining upon a staircase. However, upon closer inspection, one begins to discern minor details in the light shadows, folds in linen, a human-like silhouette. A trick of the mind? Matrixing, perhaps? Not if you ask experts of the paranormal. The photograph you are looking at is that of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall. As the legend goes, the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall is the apparition of Lady Dorothy Walpole, the sister of Robert Walpole, who is considered the rst Prime Minister of Britain. Apparently caught by her husband, Lord Wharton, for having committed adultery, she was then locked up in a room for the rest of her earthly life. Experts have tried to disprove the validity of the photograph for years. The methods and equipment of the photographer, Captain Hubert Provand, and his assistant Indre Shira were investigated and scrutinised; even the photographers themselves were put under the microscope. But no matter how hard they tried, no one could nd any evidence of tampering or trickery. Thus, the only conclusion left is that the image captured in 1936 must then be that of a real life spirit. Photography has long been used to attempt to prove that ghosts and spirits exist. Spirit photography may have existed as early as 1853, but it only gained notoriety in 1861 when jeweller William Mumler took a self-portrait and discovered another being lurking in the photograph. After showing it to his friend and jokingly saying he did not know how he had captured the other gure, he was persuaded into publishing the photo with a written description alongside it. The photograph garnered widespread attention and Mumler, previously uninterested in spirits, decided to go into spirit photography full time, becoming the rst spirit photographer working to capture the spirits of the dead, alongside their living relatives. Mumlers otherworldly ability was nothing but a trick, however. What Mumler had actually done was discover double exposure, resulting from the incomplete cleaning of one of his photographic plates. The image formerly imposed on the plate, having not been properly cleaned o,
Photography has long been used to attempt to prove that ghosts and spirits exist.
would then show up again the next time the plate was used, superimposing the rst image onto the second to become one image. The trick was used to superimpose the deceased loved ones of many clients onto photos he took of them.
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William Hope/Public Domain
ARTS WHATS THAT IN THE PHOTO?
In those days, it was fairly easy to trick common folk into believing in the power of the camera. The advent of scientic technologies in the same period introduced to people many things they could not explain, like the telegraph or electricity. It was thus easy to lead them into believing that the camera possessed the power to capture the images of not just the living, but also of the dead, something many photographers took advantage of. Although Mumlers photographs would prove to be fakes in 1869, marring his reputation, many other spirit photographers sprung up after him. And like Mumler, many would turn out to be frauds, thus further reducing the art to no more than a sideshow attraction. While many still insisted that spirit photography was real, they failed to be able to prove it. Interestingly though, time and again, a photograph would emerge that experts could not demonstrate was fake. This largely kept the belief alive. If it cannot be disproved, then it must be real.
Spirit photography eventually found its way into Asia with the introduction of photography to the continent. Records of photographs started to appear as early as 1840 in India, just a year after photography was invented, and in 1842 in China. Photographs were regarded with the same wonder as they had been in the West, but also as some form of mystical sorcery. Belief in spirits and the afterlife runs deep in Asian culture and it was easy to associate that belief with the power of the camera. It was believed that the camera could capture the souls of people and trap them in the image especially after seeing evidence of ghosts in the photographs again the consequence of double exposure. Today, spirit photography is widespread in Asia as well, although it is a bit dierent than what is practised in America because of the dierence in attitudes toward ghosts. For instance, in Asia, ghosts do not necessarily harbour malevolent intentions. For the most part, ghosts
There have been many reported sightings of ghostly inhabitants aboard the RMS Queen Mary, the ex-Cunard liner now permanently docked in Long Beach, California, as a floating hotel and historic attraction Spirit photography from 1870: The ghost of a mans wife appears before him Ghosts of women: Some spirit photographs were less convincing than others
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and spirits are a part of life, so there isnt a culture of ghost hunting. They are feared in society and treated with the utmost respect, as evidenced in festivals such as the Hungry Ghost Festival in Chinese culture. Because ghost hunting is not as prominent in Asia, the practice of spirit photography for that purpose isnt either. Spirit photography here usually refers to the capture of the distorted image of a spirit inadvertently. In Japan, such photographs are referred to as shinrei shashin, where ghosts or spirits choose to show parts or all of themselves in photos. Spirit photography in modern times has seen a drop in popularity, since with the advancement of technology it has been much easier to produce highly realistic forgeries of ghosts. With the Internet, which is unregulated for the most part, fakes spread rampantly, and not knowing what to believe and having no resource to authenticate them, people generally regard them all with scepticism. Understandably, scientists still turn their noses up at such photos. Although unable to debunk certain spirit
Getty Images/Workbook Stock/Patryce Bak
Getty Images/The Bridgeman Art Library
Because ghost hunting is not as prominent in Asia, the practice of spiri it photogra aphy for that purpose isnt either. Spirit photography here usually refers to the capture of the distorted image of a spirit inadvertently.
photographs, they still refuse to accept them as evidence of a spirit world. In this modern day, as it was back then, many refuse to even begin scrutinising these photographs. Perhaps it is because even with current photographic equipment and techniques, the capture of unexplainable spectral elements still occurs and it continues to bae seemingly well-informed experts. AG
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MAHA KUMBH MELA

text NIKKI THAPA photos THOMAS KELLY
MAHA KUMBH MELA
The biggest festival on Earth
Sadhus at their camps after initiation: Once at the ghats, the two-hourlong initiation sees all 500 or so sadhus perform the same rituals at the same time
MAHA KUMBH MELA
Hindu devotees bathe in the river at sunrise and also privately perform the ancient ritual of offering a flower to the river In their millions, pilgrims converge at the banks of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers to bathe on Mauni Amawasya, one of the holy bathing days
THE KUMBH MELA is the largest human event on the planet, a moment when millions of people descend upon a single sacred place. According to Hindu lore, the devas (gods) and asuras (demons) teamed up to churn the ocean, from which arose a series of precious objects, the most prized of which was Amrit, the nectar of immortality. As they struggled for the pitcher (kumbh) holding the elixir, one drop spilled at each of four sacred places: Nashik, Ujjain, Haridwar and Prayag (aka Allahabad). From ancient times, Hindus have celebrated the Kumbh Mela (festival) at each of these places in a 12-yearrotation determined by the position of Jupiter. The nectar is said to have been absorbed in Nashik, Ujjain, Haridwar and Prayag, which is why people come in large numbers to these sacred places for Kumbh Mela
From ancient times, Hindus have cel leb brat ted d the Kumb bh Mel la (festival) at each of these places in a 12-y year-r rotation determined by the position of Jupiter.
to advance their spiritual life. The Mela is also a time when saints and sages emerge from their solitude and meditation in the inaccessible caves and areas of the Himalayas and mingle with the people. The babas, with their long dreadlocks wrapped around their heads like turbans and the saron-attired sadhus and sages are, for a few days, a common sight. The Kumbh Mela happens every 12 years in one of the four places, but 2013 saw the celebration of the Maha Kumbh Mela, which only comes around every 144 years. This years Kumbh Mela saw a remarkable attendance of more than 120 million devotees and ascetics over the course of several weeks, densely populating the area, to take a holy dip at the Sangam the conuence of the holy rivers of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. The Mela concluded with a magnicent ritual bathing on the occasion of Mahashivratri (March 10, 2013), a night devoted to Lord Shiva that is celebrated on the 13th night of the Maagha month on the Hindu calendar. Staging the festival was a huge logistical eort for the workforce and ocials of the Kumbh Mela Administration of the Uttar Pradesh Government. Thousands of policemen in khaki uniforms and volunteers were seen patrolling the city to ensure that any unseemly stories,
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INDIA
like those from old Hindi movies, could be attached to the festivities. (Losing loved ones during the Mela was once a standard plot in Hindi lms of the past.) Some 20,000 makeshift toilets were erected, while 10,000 sweepers were deployed to keep the tent town clean. The ghats, the steps leading down to the water, were extended up to two kilometres so that as many as two to three thousand pilgrims could take a bath at any one time. To provide access to the ghats, temporary roads were built, accommodating 300,000 pilgrims at a time. Not to mention the temporary pontoon bridges over the Yamuna, which had a holding capacity of one million. There are six auspicious bathing days decided by the alignment of the stars when devout Hindus bathe to wash away their sins and attain moksha (liberation from the cycle of life, death and rebirth). Most drink a few drops of river water and many ll bottles to take home with them. The main bathing days are known as shahi snans, or royal bathing days. The second and the biggest shahi snan of the event saw 13 akharas (dierent sects of Yogis) parading to the Sangam.
Haridwar New Delhi
Allahabad
Ujjain
Nashik Mumbai
0km
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MAHA KUMBH MELA
The sadhus deafening chant of Har Har Mahadeva! (Hail to Lord Mahadeva!) lls the air as they approach Mahadevas temple. (Lord Mahadeva is another name for Lord Shiva.) The nagas, the naked sadhus, line up along the river and jump into the water as soon as the symbolic bath of the deities is nished, after which they parade back to their akhara. Then there are Vaishnava Gurus, attired in saron or white robes, who arrive for shahi snan on a ower-decked vehicle. They parade through the event ground singing devotional songs (bhajan). As they pass, these saints impart blessings of divine grace on the people, while their followers surround the vehicle carrying holy ags that connote their sect. Vaisnavas are followers of Lord Vishnu, whereas nagas are Shaivites, followers of Lord Shiva. These glorious saints then take their dip in the holy Ganges. This takes place according to tradition, each group proceeding to the river and then bathing in a particular sequence. After all these groups have bathed,
The nagas, the naked sadhus, line up p al long g the ri iver and d jump p into the water as soon as the symbolic bath of the deities is fin fi nished, after which they parade back to their akhara.
all the other people will take their turn to bathe in the sacred waters. Hindu devotees take a dip in the river at sunrise and also privately perform the ancient ritual of oering a ower to the river. They also perform pujas (rituals) on the behalf of the absent and the deceased. The Kumbh Mela is also known for the new initiations to sadhu-hood. The initiation ceremony diers from one akhara to another. Women are also eligible, and are known as sadhavis. Around 500 sadhus and sadhavis are initiated
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Sadhavis spend time with one another in their akhara. Most of them are Nepali The Kumbh Mela is the largest human gathering on the planet, a moment when millions descend upon a single sacred place
this year. Sitting patiently as the ceremonial shaving of their heads is conducted, they occasionally raise their hands and shout, Har Har Mahadeva! or Om Namah Shivaya! (Hail to Lord Shiva!). Then the procession to the ghats begins, with hundreds of thousands of devotees lining the road. Again and again, the sadhus shout Om Namah Shivaya!, and the crowd yells the words back each time with loud devotion. Once at the ghats, an hour-long initiation ceremony is conducted by the head pandit (priest) and several other senior priests. All 500 or more of the initiates must perform the same action at the same time the oering of incense and owers; the bathing in the river. The ceremony concludes with the donning of new loincloths and sacred thread. The largest river in India, the Ganges holds extraordinary religious importance for Hindus. But the river is aected by long-term industrial and urban pollution from the cities and towns located along its banks. While the implementation of the authorities Ganga Action Plan to save the river is ongoing, Hindu groups have also let their concerns be heard. On the occasion of Kumbh Mela, on March 2, 2013, Swami Chidananda Saraswati and Baba Ram Dev, along with other Hindu dignitaries, conducted their own mission called Save the Ganga, performing puja at the banks of the river to support the cause.
This once-i in-a a-l lifetime festival is an imp pressi ive test tament t to the vibrancy of the Hindu faith, the devotion of its adherents and the spiritual power of the Ganges.
Despite the health concerns associated with bathing in the Ganges indeed, despite the inherent risks and challenges that come with gathering so many people in one location Indias Kumbh Mela remains one of the most spectacular displays of religious devotion that it is possible to witness. This once-in-a-lifetime festival is an impressive testament to the vibrancy of the Hindu faith, the devotion of its adherents and the spiritual power of the Ganges. AG
Thomas L. Kelly has been a photo-activist for 30 years. He has documented Hindu culture, festivals and religion in Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, and has photographed all the Kumbh Melas in all four places in India. This years Maha Kumbh Mela was his second in Allahabad, his first being in 1998. He currently represents Hinduism Today magazine, based out of Hawaii. Nikki Thapa is a photo editor and works for Thomas Kelly. She is also a frequent freelance writer for various magazines.
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THE GEOGRAPHIC SPARKS

text YD BAR-NESS
A sense of doom: The classic scene when lightning strikes as a weathervane is revealed
Ghosts in the machine
INSTANTANEOUS, MARVELLOUS, DEADLY AND MAGICAL electrical sparks allow humans to do amazing things. These sparks are like ghosts they are intangible, motivated and mysterious. By taming electricity, we have found a way to harness and store energy, but it is energy beyond our instinctive understanding. Normally, we never see these ghosts that drive the machine you can carry a phone in your pocket, look at a computer all day and travel in an electric train and youll never see the spark made visible. Theres electricity driving an even more complicated machine: our own bodies. Scientic advances in the last century have allowed us to not only monitor the electrical activity in our brains, hearts and muscles, but also to study, measure and, sometimes, alter these sparks that keep us alive. What does electricity actually look like? Is this ghost ever made visible? MACHINES AND GHOSTS The phrase ghost in the machine has its origins in the British philosopher Gilbert Ryles critical analysis of the French Enlightenment philosopher Ren Descartes division of mind and body. Ryle identified this division as an entirely false discrimination, because it is across two entirely distinct categories. Similarly, for those observing electrical impulses of the brain, there will always be a categorical distinction between spark and thought. Questions of motivation, soul and awareness will never be answered definitively and are best answered by philosophical, religious and spiritual reflection.
However, the metaphor of a ghost points to some characteristics of electricity. Like ghosts, electricity is a shapeless phenomenon that has apparent direction. Its most basic workings take place in the bewildering world of quantum mechanics. Unlike ghosts, however, electrical activity is precisely measurable and can have tangible impacts on our physical world. JUMPING THE GAP Long ago, Greek observers noticed that fossilised tree wood amber could trigger these sparks when rubbed with wool, and we use their word for this substance, elektro, in our modern vocabulary. Electrons, the negatively charged components of atoms, can be passed along from atom to atom and transmit energy. The origin of this energy the push that begins the ow can be chemical or magnetic. Like gravity or heat, electricity is not visible. However, electrical sparks can provide light indirectly, by heating a wire, triggering a diode, or starting a ame. But most magical of all is the image of a spark. A spark must jump a gap. When an electrical current passes along a conductor water, a wire, the Earth it does not radiate light. But sometimes, a spark jumps a gap to complete a circuit and it can be of such a high temperature that it turns the surrounding atmosphere into a plasma along its path. This fourth phase of matter is hotter than gases and much hotter than liquids. In plasma, the electrical properties of atoms are changed and it can radiate electromagnetic radiation at visible and invisible wavelengths. When you see the visible light of a spark, you are also exposed to radio and gamma ray radiation.
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Camerique/Corbis
BOLTS FROM THE SKY The most visually dramatic and powerful of all electrical displays is lightning, when a dierence in electrical potential is triggered by water vapour in clouds. A lightning bolt can travel within a cloud, between clouds or, most spectacularly, to the ground. In this last instance, rising cumulonimbus clouds billow upwards and these upper portions form a positive charge. Lower in the cloud, at a height where the temperature is freezing, a negative charge accumulates. As this charged cloud travels overland, it creates a matching, opposite charge on the ground by a process known as induction. A lightning bolt can bridge that gap at the speed of light and ash its way to the ground in a superheated spark. A moment later, the comparatively slow sound waves of the accompanying thunder arrive, rumbling and growling. A lightning bolt can reach 50,000 degrees Celsius, a temperature hotter than the surface of the sun. They are unfailingly awe-inspiring. These sparks have been identied as divine in origin by cultures around the world: from the deity Indra in Hinduism, from Raijin in Shintoism, from Jupiter in Ancient Rome, and from Tlaloc in Aztec America.
MYSTERIOUS GLOWS As well as being immensely powerful, lightning can also be bizarre and unpredictable. Cloud to cloud lightning can appear, to the observer on the ground, as an unpredictable ash within the sky. For a brief moment, a night-time scene can be illuminated with an eerie, bright light and then just as quickly return to darkness. A ghostly, mysterious blue light known as St. Elmos Fire can appear around pointed, conductive surfaces in the presence of lightning clouds. It has been famously observed by historical mariners, including the Chinese explorer Zheng He and the British scientist Charles Darwin. During a thunderstorm, sailors are justiably nervous and this glow has been seen as a magical or divine omen.
A ghostly, mysterious blue light known as St. Elmos Fire can appear around pointed, conductive surfaces in the presence of lightning clouds.
Nigel Russel/Corbis
A lightning bolt can reach 50,000 degrees Celsius Many cultures identified the aweinspiring sparks from lightning as divine in origin
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St. Elmos Fire is not actually a form of lightning. Named after Saint Erasmus (otherwise known as Saint Elmo), the Christian saint of sailors, it is a ghostly ame of plasma, caused by the formation of a charged electrical eld. It is the same ionisation phenomenon as that used to make neon lights. Sprites are another rarely seen electrical phenomenon and were rst visible to observers ying high above thunderclouds. Sprites can appear in the shapes of vast halos, columns or even jellysh, arising from the upper surface of a lightning cloud. Like St. Elmos Fire, these colourful and bizarre shapes are not bolts of lightning, jumping gaps of electrical potential, but rather discharges of ions into the upper atmosphere. Sprites have been studied and photographed from the International Space Station, but are rarely seen by observers on the ground. Strangest of all is the poorly understood ball lightning a oating sphere of ery sparks, less than a metre in diameter, which appears during thunderstorms and drifts along and towards metal objects. Ball lightning can disappear with a sudden bang and has struck people with lethal consequences. It has been often spotted indoors, after arriving through glass windows. They have been witnessed in a variety of locations: aeroplanes, dancing above power plants, within underwater submarines and by mariners at sea.
A variety of creative theories have been presented as to the causes of ball lightning, including the arrival of black holes, the stimulation of evaporated elemental silicon and electrically stimulated mental hallucinations. However, due to the rare and unpredictable appearance of these phenomena, ball lightning will most likely remain a mysterious spectre into the foreseeable future. CONTROLLING SPARKS At a smaller scale, sparks can be witnessed. Charges can accumulate in your own body, especially when one rubs together the right combination of materials such as plastic clothing, carpeting, woollen clothing, or hair. When you near a conductive material, such as a doorknob, a tiny spark can jump across electricity made visible. This is called static electricity, since it is in stasis in your body until it nds an onward path when it becomes an electrical current. Welders utilise the high temperatures of a spark to directly craft and melt metal. They must wear protective shielding to protect their eyes and bodies from the plasmas radiation. The ash of a welding spark is not only too bright to look at, but can also cause ultraviolet burn similar to sunburn. We now have electrical systems bringing power and energy into our buildings, and wires are strung up across
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An X-ray image of sparks between two fingers
The thoughts and rhythm of a human life are electrical. Your brain is an incredibly complex electrical system, and a heart following an electric signal pumps your blood.
much of the inhabited world. But in a well-designed system, a visible spark is rare. Be careful if you see any sparks near an electrical system. They can indicate damage or poor design, and can be lethal if they jump the gap to you.
THE HUMAN RHYTHM From plasmas to amber and from clouds to doorknobs, sparks can be witnessed in a few situations. However, there are two sites of electrical activity that are far more intimate, and immediate, than these external phenomena. The thoughts and rhythm of a human life are electrical. Your brain is an incredibly complex electrical system, and a heart following an electric signal pumps your blood. As the heart pumps, blood transports oxygen throughout the body. This pulse adjusts to demand; when there is more activity, the heart pumps faster and the interval shortens. The rhythmic contraction of the heart muscle is controlled by the sinoatrial node, the pacemaker. Cells in the body are charged electrically by ions of the element potassium, and the sinoatrial node naturally,
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Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis
SPARKS THE GEOGRAPHIC
Purple sparks fire through a glass vessel in a recreation of the MillerUrey experiment of 1953. Electricity is sent through gases believed to be present in the atmosphere of the Earth billions of years ago, resulting in the formation of amino acids
Electrical sparks can also massively disrupt the cardiac system. Lightning bolts, in particular, are a signifi fic cant cause of death worldwide.
precisely, controls the relationship and transfer of these ions. Its spark is transmitted to the rest of the heart, which faithfully contracts. This spark is provided relentlessly since before you were born: it began in the fth week of your mothers pregnancy. For some people with malfunctioning hearts, an articial pacemaker can help their hearts to function properly. While expensive and complex machines, these electronic devices can detect irregularities in a humans natural pulse and provide a spark to keep the heart contracting adequately. There are other situations where articial sparks are provided. In emergency medicine, debrillators provide electrical shocks in an attempt to restore rhythm to a quavering, unsynchronised, brillating heart. During heart surgery, clinicians may use direct electrical stimulation of the heart to maintain an appropriate rhythm during the operation. Electrical sparks can also massively disrupt the cardiac system. Lightning bolts, in particular, are a signicant cause of death worldwide. Twenty-four thousand people are killed annually by lightning strikes. Those unfortunate enough to be struck, even indirectly, by lightning, can have their hearts pacemaker knocked out of rhythm. In addition, they can suer burns, blasts and deafness. Industrial, civil and domestic wiring, like lightning, can be unpredictable and lethal. Treat electricity with great caution!
THE SPARKS AND THE GHOST In the networked, complicated structure of an animal brain, special branching cells known as neurons are the site of the electrical activity known as thought. Electrical impulses move from neuron to neuron and these tiny sparks occur in intricate patterns in response to thoughts. There are a staggering number of neurons in a human brain, perhaps trillions. As you read this, a subset of these neurons is ring in dierent areas of the brain associated with reading, language processing and visual activity. Far more elaborate than the most advanced computer, a human brain is at the heart of your electrical nervous system. Sensations are sent into, and responses sent out of, your brain as electrical signals travelling along nerves to your brain. In recent years, the invention of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has allowed a real-time view of this intense electrical activity within the human brain. Researchers can prompt thoughts by presenting stimuli to subjects or asking questions and observe the location of electrical activity in the brain. Before this technology was available, neuroscientists had only crude tools to piece together the electrical zoning of the human brain: by direct experimentation on animals or by observing the behaviour of people with brain injuries. What is the brain? And what is the mind? In the human brain occur all of our emotions, thoughts, memories and sensations. All of this electrical activity somehow adds up to something more than just tiny bolts of lightning. It is possible, as Descartes proposed, that the ghost is a separate thing to the machine. It is possible that the energetic sparks that control your body are, indeed, the sparks of divinity. If there is a philosophical space between machine and ghost, brain and mind, it is here that the bright spark will be made visible, as it jumps the gap. AG
YD Bar-Ness is a conservation ecologist based in Fremantle, Western Australia. As a scientist, he specialises in climbing trees to explore the canopy biodiversity and as a conservationist, he seeks to use geography and photography to create environmental education materials. outreachecology.com
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text & photos ADRIAN PAGE
AOTEAROA
Land of the long white cloud
The separation of the Gods Papatuanuku (Papa), the Earth mother, and Ranginui (Rangi), the Sky father bought light into the world
In association with
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TE WHEKE O MUTURANGI ed across the surface of the ocean with Kupe and his crew in hot pursuit of a giant wheke (octopus). The chase was on. Kupe was a great Polynesian navigator and sherman who instigated the pursuit of the giant wheke, which began from Kupes mythological homeland, Hawaiki. Te Wheke o Muturangi had been singled out as the culprit for consistently taking the bait from the shing hooks of Kupe and his shermen as they shed. Day after day, the same thing occurred, resulting in the shermen returning with no sh until nally the decision was made to hunt down and kill Te Wheke o Muturangi. In the pursuing waka (canoe) was Kupe and his wife Hinete-Aparangi, along with many warriors and shermen from their tribe.
Kupe was a great Polynesian navigator and fi fis sherman who instigated the pursuit of the giant wheke, which began from Kupes mythological homeland, Hawaiki.
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There are various stories about this legend, which is considered to have occurred in about 950 AD, but it does seem that the chase continued for several weeks across the vast Pacic Ocean. But just as their supplies were running low, Hine-te-Aparangi noticed a long cloud on the horizon, which for Polynesians was an indication of land. Hine-te-Aparangi exclaimed, He ao! He aotea! He Aotearoa! (A cloud! A white cloud! A long white cloud!) This then became Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud the Maori name for New Zealand. Going ashore to replenish their supplies, Kupe, Hine-te-Aparangi and the crew gazed around them in amazement at the beauty of the newfound land that stood before them. After restocking the waka, Kupe and his crew again began the pursuit of Te Wheke o Muturangi, this time down the east coast of Aotearoas North Island. They had several encounters with the giant wheke only for it to escape on each occasion. Finally, they managed to track Te Wheke o Muturangi down and corner the monster at the entrance to Te Moana O Raukawa (Cook Strait). This is where the nal battle commenced and ended with Kupe launching himself from the waka onto the back of Te Wheke o Muturangi before striking the fatal blow with his mere (short club). The chase was nally over.
AOTEAROA CARE
Kupe and his crew spent time circumnavigating their newfound land, Aotearoa. Exploring and naming the various locations, they journeyed to both the North and South Islands, where they also looked for signs of human occupation (which they reported as absent). Finally, they stopped at Hokianga on Aotearoas North Island where they settled to prepare for their voyage back to Hawaiki. Kupe and his crew had many things to convey to the people back in their homeland. Te Wheke o Muturangi was considered a bad omen, but this giant wheke led us to a new land Aotearoa, admitted Kupe. It was land Kupe knew future generations would call home, a land with forests lled with bird life, rivers and coasts alive with sh and mammal life.
The canoes could range in size and style from small, undecorated canoes, waka tiwai, to large ornamented war canoes, waka taua, which could be as much as 40 metres long
Tane Mahuta, the god of forests, and all which inhabits the forests
Haumia, god of uncultivated foods
And they did. The Great Migration from Hawaiki is considered to have begun in the middle of the 14th century with a eet of seven large double-hulled waka setting sail for Aotearoa. The rst permanent Maori settlers in Aotearoa arrived with more than their agricultural goods and their dogs they also bought their gods. The Maori did not have a written history of their spiritual values and genealogy. This was passed down from generation to generation by the telling of stories, songs and forms of artwork such as carving. The Maoris believed in many forms of atua (gods), which represent the natural world, the sky, the earth, forests, oceans and the forces of Nature. They consider that the gods are responsible for the creation of the universe, planets, stars, Sun, Moon and everything living on Earth, including humans. For the Maori, their ancestors could be considered demigods, as they hold and remember them in high esteem. Maori believe that their ancestors spirits can be called upon to help in times of need. One of the most significant Maori creation stories refers to the arrival of the gods.
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In the beginning, there was Te Kore (nothingness) no light, only darkness. Then into this Te Kore two gods appeared Ranginui (Rangi), the god of the sky and Papatuanuku (Papa), the goddess of the earth...
In the beginning, there was Te Kore (nothingness) no light, only darkness. Then into this Te Kore two gods appeared Ranginui (Rangi), the god of the sky and Papatuanuku (Papa), the goddess of the earth and with them the sky and the earth appeared. The two embraced so closely that the earth and the sky became joined tightly together.
United, they produced many ospring, which became the gods of the Maori, such as Tawhiri Matea (god of the weather), Tane Mahuta (god of the forests), Tangaroa (god of the sea), Rongo (god of cultivated foods) and Haumia (god of uncultivated foods). All were trapped between Rangi and Papa in eternal darkness, but the children yearned to see light. Eventually, all the children, except for Tawhiri Matea, decided their parents should be parted, Rangi to the sky and Papa to the earth, so that light could enter the world. One at a time, the children tried in vain to separate their parents. Tane Mahuta was the last in line. Using his shoulders with all his might, he managed to part Rangi and Papa. For the rst time, light ooded the world and there was sky and there was earth. Rangi shed so many tears at the parting that much of the land, now revealed by light, became the sea. So the children decided to turn
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Papa over onto her stomach so that they would not be constantly looking at each other and grieving. Today, Rangi does not cry so much. His tears fall as drops of dew on Papas back and the early morning mist that forms in the valleys before rising skywards is considered Papas sighs of longing for her husband Rangi. Tawhiri Matea, god of the elements, who was against his parents separation, went skywards to join his father. Maori consider that the erce winds and storms that rage across the world are caused by Tawhiri Mateas revenge for the separation of Rangi and Papa. At the time Papa was turned over, her son Ruamoko was at her breast, and hence was carried into the earth below. Maori regard his movements below the earth to cause the shaking of the land, such as earthquakes and volcanoes. Ruamoko is thus recognised by the Maori as the god of earthquakes. Tane Mahuta, the god of the forests, having parted his parents, then performed what is considered an even greater achievement by creating human life. He moulded the rst human being from the earth before breathing Mauri Ora (life force) into its nostrils to create Hineahu-one an earth-form maiden. This is considered the starting point of Maori genealogy Whakapapa. Genealogy has always been very important to the Maori, as it allows
them to know who was who in their tribe. Today, many Maori can trace their ancestors back to the rst canoe that bought their forefathers from Hawaiki to Aotearoa. According to the Maori, all the elements that make up the natural world ultimately come from Rangi and Papa. Everything is related, interdependent, and these relationships dene traditional Maori attitudes to the world. Maori always considered their gods rst and foremost; shermen would throw their rst catch back for Tangaroa, god of the sea. Rongo, the god of cultivated foods, would be oered the rst kumara (sweet potatoes) harvested. Even Tumatauenga, the god of war, would receive te mata-ika (the face of the sh), the rst man killed in battle. Carving has always been a vital part of Maori culture. The biggest trees were considered the personication of Tane rising to separate the earth and the sky. Carvers following in the footsteps of their tipuna (ancestors) try to replicate the techniques used hundreds of years ago and may also develop new ones. Traditional carvers help to keep Maori culture alive, with every piece telling a story that can be read by those who know how. The shape of the heads, position of the body as well as the surface patterns work together to record and remember gods, ancestors and events. Maori carvings pay deep respect to their ancestors, history and also to their myths and legends.
Maori carvings have a variety of functions such as guardians. They would be placed around the boundary of a property as protectors and to ward off unwanted visitors approaching, especially at nighttime. They often represented an ancient ancestor. A notable feature of some figures is the care and attention devoted to facial tattooing The earthen floor of the meetinghouse is said to represent Papatuanuku, Earth Mother
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Today, traditional carving continues with master carvers passing their knowledge on to future generations so that this ancient tradition and knowledge will be maintained. Wood was not the only medium used by the Maori when it came to carving. Not long after the rst Maori had settled in Aotearoa, they discovered stone called pounamu (greenstone) that was hard and could hold a very keen edge, making it ideal for weapons and tools, especially chisels for carving. The stone began to be valued not just as a tool or weapon, but also for trade and for producing symbolic forms, which were often worn around the neck. These symbols came in a variety of forms, such as the hei matau (sh hook). According to Maori mythology, Maui, who was a demigod, carved a hook from his grandmothers jawbone to sh up the North Island of Aotearoa. This is why shhooks are now considered a symbol of leadership or a badge of authority.For the Maori, the hei matau signies abundance, prosperity and good health. According to Maori belief, the hei matau is also considered a talisman that can bring good luck and positive energy. When travelling, it provides a safe journey over water, and if worn as a pendant, it is a sign of respect for the sea and its creatures. The koru, a spiral design that appears in Maori art, was inspired by the unfurling fern frond as it grows.
Thus, to the Maori, the koru is associated with new life and harmony, and represents peace, tranquillity, personal growth, positive change and awakening. Today, the tiki is widely associated with the Maori and New Zealand. Like many Maori symbols, this humanoid form has several meanings and interpretations, the main one being fertility, which is represented by the hands on the hips, but it can also be a symbol of goodwill.The Maoris ornamental pendant, the hei-tiki, represents the rst mortal born to the gods. It is a believed to give the wearer clarity of thought and great inner knowledge. The tilted head symbolises clear thinking, the hands represent strength, the mouth communication, the heart symbolises love, and the hips fertility. European settlers didnt only bring steel to Aotearoa, they also brought their god. History books reveal how early 19th-century missionaries established Christianity in New Zealand and how the Maori largely embraced the religion. Today, churches can be seen located within many sacred places, or marae. That being said, the Maori have not abandoned their own religion, blending Christianity with their own traditional beliefs. The marae is a meeting place, a Maori community facility that consists of an elaborately carved meeting house called a wharenui, a dining hall, a cooking
Students at the Maori school of Art and Craft continue the tradition of Maori carving Christianity was brought to New Zealand in the 19th century
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The marae is a symbol of Maori tribal identity, a place of great spirituality. It is considered a place where people can stand tall, stand upon Mother Earth and express themselves...
area and a marae atea, the sacred place in front of the meeting house. The wharenui originally represented the Ranginui and Papatuanuku in their embrace. Then, over time, the meeting houses came to represent an important tribal ancestor. Various parts of the building are considered parts of the body. The main ridgepole represents their backbone, the rafters are the ribcage, and the ornate bargeboards (boards fastened to the projecting gables of the roof ) are the welcoming outstretched arms. Usually, the carved gure on the front gable represents the ancestor whose name the meeting house takes. The marae is a symbol of Maori tribal identity, a place of great spirituality. It is considered a place where people can stand tall, stand upon Mother Earth and
express themselves hug, kiss, laugh, weep where every emotion can be expressed and shared with others not just the living, but also those who have gone, Ki Tua Ote Arai (beyond the veil). It is at a marae where the Maori tangihanga (funeral service) takes place. It is from here the soul of the departed travels rst to the furthest point on the North Island Spirit Bay. From there, the Maori believe that the departed leave Aotearoa to return to their homeland Hawaiki. For millennia, traditional beliefs have played a major role in Maori culture and traditions in Aotearoa, even as New Zealand has emerged as an important regional power. Today, most Maoris still refer to their country as Aotearoa, and their daily lives continue to be very much enriched by their language, culture and traditions and their gods. AG
Adrian Page is a research journalist and photographer based in Queensland, Australia. His writing and photography work takes him to a variety of locations around the world. Adrian also produces current affairs programmes for radio broadcast shows related to environmental and humanitarian issues.
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SKY FATHER, MOTHER EARTH ENVIRONMENT

SOPHIE IBBOTSON AND MAXWELL LOVELL-HOARE text and photos
Circa 1909: A Mongolian shaman
MOTHER EARTH
Revitalising Tengrism
THE SKY-GOD TENGRI controls the celestial sphere; he is a pure, white goose that ies through the sky. Ak-Ana, the white mother, calls out to him from beneath the waters to create the Earth around her. Since man rst walked on the Earth, he has looked to both the heavens and the waters to explain how he got here, and the ancient nomads of Mongolia were no dierent from any others. They prayed to Munkh Khukh Tengri (Eternal Blue Sky) for protection and to give thanks after their victories; and they gave their own lands the poetic name of Munkh Khukh Tengriin Oron, the Land of Eternal Blue Sky. For fertility, quite understandably, they looked to Tengris wife, the Earth Mother who made the crops grow and granted children to the faithful. They oered horses as sacrices, invoked the spirits of their ancestors to intercede on their behalf, and ensured that the elements were shown their due respect. Tengrism, or shamanism as it is more commonly known, developed out of these most elemental beliefs, but it grew steadily to become a cohesive religion with adherents not only in Mongolia, but across Central Asia, up into Russia and even as far west as Bulgaria, carried there by the Bulgars and Huns in the early centuries AD. Though not believers, King of France Philip the Fair (12681314) and Pope Nicholas IV (12271292) were both already acquainted with Tengrism by the late 13th century, and it had become the state religion of the Gok Turk, or Mongol, Empire under the infamous Genghis Khan. The Mongol emperors would remain followers of Tengri until they eventually adopted Islam under his descendant Uzbeg Khan (12821341). This early Tengrism was not a static faith and it did not develop in isolation: the fourth Great Khan, Mngke Khan (12091259), hosted religious debates at his court at which the adherents of other faiths were invited to participate, and, in his Account of the Mongols, the 13th-century Flemish missionary and explorer William Rubruck records him as saying, As God gives us the dierent ngers of the hand, so he gives to men diverse ways to approach Him. Such openness and acceptance of alternative religious discourses would have been almost inconceivable at the Ethiopians: Each Church Christian and Islamic courts of the time. has their own uniforms and the they come dancing Tengrist thought became entwined with and singing Babylonian religion Manichaeism in western China and with Christianity in the form of Nestorianism, the Church of the East. With the rise of Islam across the traditional Tengrist heartland, Tengrism lost its ocial status but did not disappear: signicant numbers of practising Muslims continued to follow Tengrist rituals in parallel with those of their new faith, particularly at times of birth, ill health and death. Even today, many Central Asian Muslims see no theological contradiction or conict between the two. In fact, the biggest threat to the survival of Tengrism came not from Islam, but from the rise of the Soviet Union. In a period of 70 years, life in the steppe lands changed to such an extent that it was scarcely recognisable. Communism, not religion, was to be the opium of the masses, leading to the merciless persecution of religious gures, including shamans and spiritual healers. Nomadic communities were forcefully urbanised, leaving behind forever their ancestral lands, familial burial grounds and holy places. A single, authorised and
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ENVIRONMENT SKY FATHER, MOTHER EARTH
Tengrism was still not dead, however: the Sky y Father was just biding his time. He would again ride high, not this time as a wh hite goose, , but t on the back k of a rather more unexpected body: nationalism.
Soviet form of education and culture replaced traditional teachings, storytelling, and the passing of customs and rituals from one generation to the next. Political and social change separated man from his natural surroundings and demanded dedication to the Party in place of God. Tengrism was still not dead, however: the Sky Father was just biding his time. He would again ride high, not this time as a white goose, but on the back of a rather more unexpected body: nationalism. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the newly independent states needed to redene themselves. With their cultures and histories largely erased from popular understanding, something had to be rebuilt, however articially, in their place if communities were to be bound together in distinct nation states. Nation builders looked to heroes of the past in Uzbekistan, to the emperor Timur, a descendant of Genghis Khan; in Kyrgyzstan, to the legendary Manas, mighty warrior and unier of the 40 tribes and for indigenous ideas that could underpin the modern states cultural development. Starting in Tatarstan with the publication of Bizneng-Yul, a Tengrist periodical, in the late 1990s, Tengrism once again caught peoples imagination and began to spread through southern Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia. Though adoption has been slow at a grass-roots level, Tengrism has been a popular discourse for the countries intellectuals yearning to better understand their past and cultural identities, and for politicians looking to garner support and shape their countries futures. AG
Sophie Ibbotson read Oriental Studies at Cambridge, specialising in Hindi and Urdu. She is a member of council at the Royal Society for Asian Affairs (www.rsaa. org.uk), an advisor to the British Georgian Chamber of Commerce (www.bgcc.org.uk) and the co-author of guides to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Sudan and Kashmir. She works in the investment promotion sector, specialising in developing economies in Asia. Max Lovell-Hoare is a special advisor on international co-operation and economic development, and works with government departments, intergovernmental organisations and private sector businesses through his consultancy firm Maximum Exposure Productions (facebook.com/maximumexposureproductions). He is the co-author of guides to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and South Sudan, and has also contributed to guides on China, Kazakhstan and the Silk Road.
An Oroqen shaman circa 1994 Shaman shrines
66
THE GHOSTS OF TIBET ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL

SOPHIE IBBOTSON AND MAXWELL LOVELL-HOARE text and photos
THE GHOSTS OF TIBET The incarnation of Dorje Shugden
The powers of meditation: Conjuring a ghost is not fun and games
THE GHOULISH DWAGS (qaRv) are monstrous creatures: the shape of teardrops, their stomachs are bloated, but their necks are too narrow to properly pass food. Their mouths are no bigger than a needles eye and yet they are still hungry, screaming out for sustenance that they can never receive. Their attempts to fulfil their physical desires are futile, but they cannot stop, and, despite their contorted, tortured example, man does not learn from the lesson they set. They inhabit the preta, their own realm of the bhavacakra, the wheel of life, separated from both man and demigods. The dwag is no Hollywood horror film monster: Buddhists believe that Tibet is filled with such ghosts. When a man dies, he enters the transitional state of bardo, a place where the soul can pause between one life and the next. The consciousness, or soul, is separated from the physical body: how the person responds to this separation is in part due to the control over their mind and desires that they have developed during their previous lifetime. Those with limited self-control might experience terrifying hallucinations and torment those who are still alive; those who are better prepared for what is to come have the opportunity for transcendental insight and may even carry the experience to their new life once they have been reborn. These bardo ghosts are not limited only to Tibet: similar creatures are also found in the religious texts and stories of Chinese and Indian Buddhists (in Sanskrit, they are referred to as antarabh va) and indeed, in other cultures, too.
But what if there was a ghost you could create from scratch? What if you could create a ghost by thinking about one, developing its character until it became self-aware and even, on occasions, human? That would be a powerful and, likely, terrifying concept indeed. Some Tibetan Buddhists believe it is possible. The tulpa, or thought-form, is a ghost that a skilled practitioner can will into existence. Through disciplined thought, mystics are believed to be able to give physical form to their ideas, creating human forms (or at least ghostly approximations of them), where previously there was nothing. The first human teacher of Ati Yoga, Garab Dorje, is believed by some Buddhists to have perfected this art in the first century AD. The Belgian-French explorer and Buddhist spiritualist Alexandra David-Nel also claimed to have created a tulpa of a monk, following her visit to Tibet in the 1920s and 30s though she was forced to destroy it when it developed a life of its own. Ghosts pose a significant threat to those unable to control them and so, it should come as little surprise that Tibetans have an annual festival, the Guoduojie, to exorcise ghosts, drive them out from their homes and to start the new year in a more peaceful and auspicious way, the spiritual and physical worlds in tune. The largest such ceremony is held on December 29 (according to the Tibetan calendar) at the Potala Palace in Lhasa, formerly the chief residence of the Dalai Lama, where musicians and masked dancers perform elaborate and energetic rituals to get rid of the spirits. On a more
ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL THE GHOSTS OF TIBET
Alexandra David-Nel (left) claimed he created the tulpa of a monk, but then had to destroy it
Hungry ghosts inhabit their own realm of the bhavacakra, the symbolic representation of cyclic existence in Tibetan Buddhism
local scale, families clean their homes from top to bottom, decorate the rooms with protective symbols and in the evening, join long, torchlit processions, chanting as they walk through the village streets. Even with such intervention, however, not all ghosts can be appeased and their actions have far-reaching ramifications in the physical as well as spiritual worlds. Dorje Shugden was a Buddhist monk and supposed incarnation of the Gelugpa Lama Dragma Gyaltsen. After he was murdered in the 17th century, his spirit would not rest. While some sources described him as being an enlightened protector and a holy being, other descriptions are truly frightening: he is a fearsome creature with three bloodshot eyes, bared fangs and orange flames sprouting from his eyebrows; rain clouds with violent lightening emanate from his nostrils; and he wears a garland of 50 freshly severed heads. There is a deep division between those who think Dorje Shugdens ghost is a force for good and those who believe him to be a malevolent spirit, and this is the root of the so-called Dorje Shugden controversy.
The current Dalai Lama (the 14th) was first introduced to Dorje Shugden in 1959, and he began to encourage different forms of worship and meditation associated with the cult. In 1975, however, Zemey Rinpoches The Yellow Book was published, claiming that Dorje Shugden was responsible for the death of a number of Gelugpa lamas, including the fifth Dalai Lama. This inspired the Dalai Lama to undertake his own research into the monk and his ghost, ultimately concluding that he was not an enlightened deity, but a dangerous spirit. He began to speak out publicly against Dorje Shugden as a protector of Tibetan Buddhism and argued that the monk created sectarian divisions, even going as far as to say that the actions of Dorje Shugdens spirit were detrimental to the cause of a free Tibet. Understanding our physical, human world is complicated enough, but when the realms of the spirits are added to it, it inevitably becomes overwhelmingly complex. Whether ghosts are the wandering souls of those caught between incarnations or are summoned into life from the depths of our imaginations, there is little doubt that these thoughts, teachings and actions are influenced by these beliefs. As well, whether you personally believe or not, the beliefs of others impact not only religious teachings, but also family rituals in the home, our art and culture and, in the most extreme cases, even political policies. AG
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text & photos FLASH PARKER
Whether this human skull was swept out to sea by a renegade wave or snatched by one of the islands merfolk, will remain one of Malapascuas great mysteries so long as the oral legends continue to pass down from generation to generation

Crossing worlds
I NEVER HAD much use for ghosts, goblins, ghouls or spirits. As a child of the 1980s, I had a healthy appreciation for the Ghostbusters and their clumsy way of dealing with the supernatural, but thats about as much attention as I ever paid to the things that go bump in the night until I visited the Philippines for the rst time and found myself knee-deep in the sea and face to face with a human skull. Allow me a moment to rewind. I was waiting impatiently for the sun to crash over the horizon and spring the trap on a brand new day. The western beaches of Malapascua Island, a tiny blip on the map north of Cebu, were bathed in smooth purple light. I primed my camera and sat waiting for the scene to unfold while my mind wandered to the history of the island and how little I knew of it.
The souls of the dead, Edita told me, are linked to the bones for some time after death, and if the merfolk act quickly enough, they can get their hands on both.
Malapascua represents a slice of tropic idyll, the sort of place tourists visit in a vain attempt to forget about their everyday if only for a little while. The sand is white, the beers are cold and the sharks are friendly. It always sounded like a place Id love to visit. When I found the skull, everything changed. It was a human skull, that much was obvious, and it was caught in the surf between two boulders. As I guessed at the skulls origin and owner an old woman emerged from the jungle and forever changed the way I look at the human form and the way I perceive that which is not quite human. The skull had come from an open tomb located in the islands seaside cemetery. Edita, the old lady, told me that waves sometimes crash over the retaining walls and carry old bones out to sea but the waves had help in the form of mysterious merfolk known as the bantay tubig. The bantay tubig are obsessed with treasure and hold the bones ransom until shermen of the island compensate them adequately. The souls of the dead, Edita told me, are linked to the bones for some time after death, and if the merfolk act quickly enough, they can get their hands on both. Edita explained that the bantay tubig are sneaky merfolk and just because a family oers them recompense does not mean that the bones of their loved ones will be returned. The bantay tubig, part human, part animal and part ethereal creature, collect treasure in the hope that it will help them pay whatever toll is necessary for them to cross into the afterlife. Some old souls escape from the bantay tubig and sometimes they are released; this is when we nd the bones on the shore. Edita and I returned this one lucky soul to its whitewashed resting place, but I was left wondering how many other spirits were out there bobbing in the surf. Ive learned since that day that theres more to the spirit world than meets the eye and there are more than a few convincing theories out there that, supercially at least, seem to validate the existence of such beings as
When the sun spills over the horizon, Malapascua becomes the domain of mischievous spirits. Few local folk venture out onto the water in the dark
the bantay tubig. If you dont know anything about string theory, dont worry Im not going to put you to sleep. String theory is just a framework that crazy brilliant scientists like Stephen Hawking and Edward Witten are using to try and help describe the fundamental building blocks of Nature. One of these building blocks happens to be the dimensionality of matter, and by association, the extra-dimensionality of our very own plane of existence. Consider your mind blown. Certain maverick scientists who subscribe to string theory believe that the universe is not linear in the way we perceive it, but rather constantly looping and curling in on itself in an endless cycle, and sometimes,
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when our universe overlaps with another, we may come to perceive things on our plane that belong on another and sometimes, these things, lets call them ghosts just to be cute, may in fact inhabit a plane where four-dimensionality is real. And as simpleminded humans from a three-dimensional plane, we simply dont have the brain power to process what it is were encountering. Confused yet? Welcome to the world of ethereal science. I know what youre thinking this doesnt explain how the bantay tubig are able to move about our plane of existence in what is essentially plain sight of human beings. Or does it? What if the souls of our
dearly departed, once released from the shackles of their physical form, become trapped in our plane of existence or our dimension, as some scientists refer to it while attempting to move to another? Heres an even wilder suggestion: What if heaven and hell exist as two examples of extra-dimensional space and these so-called ghosts are simply spirits trapped between our world and the next? Part and parcel to this theory of extra-dimensionality is the theory that the universe is comprised of as many as 11 dierent planes of existence, all running parallel to one another, and, due to disturbances between those planes, can from time to time overlap or trap beings moving between.
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His 2011 book The Hidden Reality explores the nature of dimensionality, delving deep into concepts of multiverses, doppelgngers and bubble universes.
Consider for a moment the dierent types of ghosts that have become top of mind in the popular consciousness. Weve discussed ghosts like the merfolk already spirits trapped between two planes of existence but what does this sort of science have to say about the ghosts that briey appear on our plane, unable to interact with the physical life forms around us? These ghosts appear frequently as shimmering apparitions and they shimmer when their plane comes into close proximity to our own. Because time and space are always looping in on one another (weve established this already, so were going to roll with it), these ghosts can appear to us over and again, seemingly at random, like ickers on a movie reel,
when a frame from a wholly dierent reel is spliced into the one youre watching. What about those ghosts that come so close we can feel them? Brian Greene is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and has authored insightful books on paranormal activity as viewed through the lens of science. His 2011 book The Hidden Reality explores the nature of dimensionality, delving deep into concepts of multiverses, doppelgngers and bubble universes. He may even oer an explanation for the chill you feel when youre in the presence of some ghosts and it makes a lot of sense (though not so much sense that the scientic community is willing to accept the explanation, but well worry about that later). The suggestion is that when a ghost materialises on our physical plane, it is required to draw energy from the space it is attempting to occupy; when a ghost draws this energy, the space becomes colder if you accept the theory that when you remove energy from a given space, you also remove heat. The next time you feel a chill and the hair on the back of your neck stands up, youll have something to think about.
Sand dollars arent traditionally accepted by Malapascuas merfolk, but in lieu of other hard currency, you might as well give them a shot Edita, one of the islands oldest residents, is also a fountain of local legends, and a tremendous storyteller. She knows more about sprites, spirits and spooks than anyone else on the island
Its amazing how science is attempting to break down the barriers between our dimensional plane of existence and other unknown dimensions, especially when science has always tended to lean toward the practical.
I never got close enough to the bantay tubig to catch a chill, but I probably shouldnt be surprised. Edita told me that not everyone who visits the island comes in contact with the merfolk, and those who do rarely live to tell the tale. According to Edita, the male bantay tubig, known as the siyokoy, are the real naughty ones, fond of sinking pirate ships in search of treasure. They do it for the gold and for the swords and the shiny things, she said. If a siyokoy ever oers to show you his pirate sword, you had better say no. These bantay tubig who interact with the physical bones of our dimension quite literally may be trapped between planes, but since we are rmly rooted in our own dimension, we cannot perceive them when they shuttle back and forth. Biochemist Colm A. Kelleher documents a similar case of paranormal activity from a cattle ranch
in Uintah County, Utah, in his 2005 book Hunt for the Skinwalker. The ranchs owner had spent years battling a paranormal force that mutilated cows, manipulated light and shifted into various forms that were impervious to bullets and other human weapons. Kelleher is unable to draw rational conclusions in his book the occurrences ended once his team was on site but his speculations about the dimensional nature of existence are fascinating. Its amazing how science is attempting to break down the barriers between our dimensional plane of existence and other unknown dimensions, especially when science has always tended to lean toward the practical. But if noted and respected scientic minds are willing to pay attention to the goings on of the astral plane, there may come a day when the door to that plane is unlocked and well all be able to meet the bantay tubig face to face. Better hide your gold. AG
Flash Parker is a photojournalist from Ontario, Canada. His work has been featured by ASIAN Geographic, Lonely Planet, Cond Nast Traveler, Vacations & Travel, Escape, Readers Digest, and more. Flash was nominated for a 2011 PATA Gold Award in destination journalism, though he lost in record fashion. Flash is interested in responsible travel, global sustainability, the economics of life on the road, and good beer. He speaks a little bit of Korean, a little less French, and a heck of a lot more English than he lets on. flashparker.com
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EXPLORATION THE HIDDEN ONES

text and photos SOPHIE IBBOTSON AND MAXWELL LOVELL-HOARE
1893: A book illustration by Will and Frances Brundage from The Arabian Nights
THE
Theres a genie in a bottle
IN ISLAMIC MYTHOLOGY , Allah created three distinct kinds of sentient beings: there are, of course, humans and angels, with whom the adherents of all the Abrahamic religions will be familiar, but there are also the djinn (or jinn), those who remain hidden. Spiritual beings invisible to the human eye, the djinn are born out of re but, unlike angels who inhabit a heavenly realm, they dwell amongst men on Earth. Like mankind, each djinn has freewill and can therefore be good or evil or somewhere in between. Some of the Hadith (the collection of sayings and customs of Prophet Muhammad and his companions) suggest that every man has his own djinn, much like a conscience, which sits upon his shoulder and whispers messages into his soul. Such is the importance of djinn in the Quran, in fact, that in addition to many casual references, they are given their own sura, or chapter, the Srat al-Jinn ( ). In this chapter, the 28 ayat, or verses, describe how the djinn recanted their beliefs in false gods, apologised for their blasphemy, and instead venerated Mohammed for his monotheism. The verses emphasise that regardless of whether you are man or djinn, the wrath of God is inescapable. Mans response to a djinn when he meets one or given that they are invisible, perhaps we should say is aware of one is very much dependent on whether or not it is benevolent. If the djinn is a force for good, it is not a problem, but if it is an evil force, then spiritual protection is needed. Islamic tradition suggests that reciting Ayat
And indeed, We created man from sound ding g cl lay y of f al ltered d black smooth mud. And the djinn, We created aforetime from the smokeless fla fl ame of fi fir re.
Quran 15:2627
al-Kursi, or Verse of the Throne (Quran 2:255), and the nal three chapters of the Quran (chapters 112 to 114) are eective means of warding o all kinds of sinister inuences, including not only djinn but the Devil himself. Some believers, in particular adherents of Susm, a mystical form of Islam, may also wear a tawiz, an amulet worn around the neck that contains a depiction of the throne room of God and a list of divine names and saints. Though the concept of a djinn may at rst seem a little alien, in particular to non-Muslims, if one were to think of the equivalent in English as a genie (derived from the Latin genius for a tutelary or guardian spirit), then things may start to become somewhat clearer. The collection of stories known as One Thousand and One Nights (also called simply Arabian Nights) rst developed in the ninth and 10th centuries AD and incorporated tales from India and Persia, expanding by the 1400s with additional inuences from Egypt and
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Blue Lantern Studio/Corbis
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Corbis
716713 BC: A winged genie relief from the north wall of the Palace of King Sargon II at Dur Sharrukin in Assyria (now Khorsabad in Iraq) The translation of The Arabian Nights into French and English introduced djinn into popular culture
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THE HIDDEN ONES EXPLORATION
From Rudyard Kiplings s Just So Stori ies to Sal lman Rush hdie s Satanic Verses, and Disneys s cartoon Aladdin to Christina Aguileras hit single Genie in a Bottle, modern audiences require no introduction to the genie.
Syria to the point that it could justify its name. It became popular in Europe in the early 18th century when there was a fashion for all things oriental. The book was translated from the Arabic into French as Les Mille et une Nuits, Contes Arabes, replete with two stories, those of Aladdin and his lamp and of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, that were unknown in the original text but are thought to have come from a separate Syrian source. The book was subsequently translated into English, most notably by the famed explorer and orientalist Sir Richard Francis Burton, and the djinn, or genie, entered into popular imagination in the West as well as in its homelands in the East. The genie was here to stay. From Rudyard Kiplings Just So Stories to Salman Rushdies Satanic Verses, and Disneys cartoon Aladdin to Christina Aguileras hit single Genie in a Bottle, modern audiences require no introduction to the genie. They know or think they know exactly what to expect: a magical object is touched and theres a sudden pu of smoke before a ghostly whisp of a creature emerges. It is capable of superhuman, even miraculous, feats from the granting of wishes to the moving of mountains but it is not always to be trusted: every now and then a genie turns on the human character and the nal outcome is not always pleasant. This modern genie, the one with which we are all so familiar, undoubtedly owes its roots to the djinn of Islamic theology, from its smoke-like appearance to its powers that reach beyond those given to man and its inclination to behave wilfully, dangerously even, when it sees t. Like the word itself though, this is no straight adoption of an idea, however: it has morphed in its new environment and become romanticised.
In Western literature, lms and music, the genie or djinn has supernatural power, but has no religious connotation and need not be invisible. He and it seems always to be a he is a fantasy gure far removed from everyday life and belief. Perhaps this, then, is why the name of djinn, the hidden ones, is so apt: even in our modern world, the caricature continues to obscure the real thing, and the djinn keeps on whispering into our souls, for good or for bad, and we carry on our lives oblivious. AG
Sophie Ibbotson read Oriental Studies at Cambridge, specialising in Hindi and Urdu. She is a member of council at the Royal Society for Asian Affairs (www.rsaa. org.uk), an advisor to the British Georgian Chamber of Commerce (www.bgcc.org.uk) and the co-author of guides to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Sudan and Kashmir. She works in the investment promotion sector, specialising in developing economies in Asia. Max Lovell-Hoare is a special advisor on international co-operation and economic development, and works with government departments, intergovernmental organisations and private sector businesses through his consultancy firm Maximum Exposure Productions (facebook.com/maximumexposureproductions). He is the co-author of guides to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and South Sudan, and has also contributed to guides on China, Kazakhstan and the Silk Road.
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EXPLORATION SPECIAL NO TO NUCLEAR
It is really difficult to overestimate the outstanding contribution of Kazakhstan and its president in securing a safer world for all of us and for future generations.
NO TO NUCLEAR Kazakhstan spearheads the fight against proliferation

TWENTY-TWO YEARS AGO, on August 29, 1991, shortly before gaining independence from the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan officially closed the notorious Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, earning the respect of nations the world over. In 2009, recognising the profound significance of the countrys actions, the United Nations General Assembly declared August 29 as the International Day against Nuclear Tests. In so doing, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for increasing awareness and education about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear weapon-free world. Kazakhstans bold closure of Semipalatinsk was a first fundamental step in those efforts to achieve a safer planet.
Douglas Roche,
Founding Chairman, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament
On this day in 2012, the Kazakhstani capital, Astana, played host to the 2012 Astana-Semipalatinsk Forum, aptly titled From a Nuclear Test Ban to a Nuclear-Free World, which culminated in the adoption of the Parliamentary Appeal for Nuclear Abolition. The forum was opened by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who announced in his address the launch of the ATOM Project ATOM standing for Abolish Testing: Our Mission, Kazakhstans latest international campaign to promote nuclear disarmament. He then called upon the attending 168 delegates from 51 countries to sign the appeal at the end of the conference. Besides endorsing the presidents initiatives in the area of nuclear non-proliferation, the conference sought to build on Kazakhstans disarmament experience in order to field political momentum and ultimately achieve global abolition of nuclear
Embassy of Kazakhstan in Qatar (Doha)
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By Selina Tan
weapons. The programme featured the fundamental topics surrounding the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty as the building block for a nuclear weapons-free international climate and the effective phasing out of nuclear deterrence. During the sessions, delegates further examined issues such as harnessing peaceful nuclear energy, which resonated strongly with Kazakhstans plans for the construction of a safe and efficient new nuclear power plant by 2018. As well as championing the battle against nuclear proliferation, Kazakhstan is also at the forefront of promoting global security. In November 2010, with support from the United States and in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Kazakhstan completed a large-scale project to ensure long-term secure storage for more than 10 tonnes of highly enriched uranium and three tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium from what was, when it was shut down in 1999, the countrys only reactor. Moreover, Kazakhstan is set to open the worlds very first nuclear fuel bank by the end of 2013, marking a critical milestone in nuclear non-proliferation by providing other countries safe access to low-enriched uranium. Moving forward, according to President Nazarbayev, equality and confidence must be emphasised, in which all states should be granted equal rights to the access of peaceful nuclear technology. AG
Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan since 1997: Much of its modern architecture is striking in both scale and design UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (centre) visits the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in April 2010 in support of Kazakhstans efforts
KAZAKHSTANS MARK ON THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SCENE

Expo 2017 MANY SCIENTISTS AND POLICYMAKERS see nuclear proliferation as a serious threat to our environment, with potential impacts on agriculture and human health as well as peace and security. More than 20 years after Kazakhstan made the groundbreaking decision to close down Semipalatinsk, the main test site of the Soviet Union, the country has taken yet another major step forward for the environment. The capital, Astana, will host Expo 2017, marking the first major international exhibition organised by a former Soviet satellite state. Building on the same ambition of the Astana Green Bridge Initiative of 2010, Expo 2017 will see Kazakhstan bringing its
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By Flora Toh
futuristic vision for the environment to Central Asia and the world through the theme of Future Energy. An emerging leader in technological innovation and the drive for regional cooperation, it views sustainable growth as a national priority, evidenced by home-grown initiatives such as its nationwide cap-and-trade emissions trading system, the first in Asia. For Expo 2017, organisers expect more than 100 countries to participate and, at the same time, hope to attract top experts to seek critical national solutions in areas such as energy-saving technologies and alternative energy. AG
Embassy of Kazakhstan in Qatar (Doha)
HERITAGE OH HEAVENS, FROM EUNUCH TO GOD

text KHONG SWEE LIN photos CARL-BERND KAEHLIG
A shrine dedicated to Sam Po is prepared at the Tay Kak Sie temple in Semarang for the yearly procession to the Gedung Batu temple
Admiral Zheng Hes leap to Sam Po fame
WHAT DO Mr Guan Gong, Miss Lin Moliang and Mr Ma He have in common? Apart from their common ethnicity (being of Chinese origin), and their respective demises in 219 CE (59 years), 987 CE (28 years) and 1433 CE (62 years), these individuals were posthumously propelled into otherworldly halls of fame, thanks to their exemplary conduct and good deeds on Earth, fuelled by nothing less than Chinese pragmatism, practicality and purpose. Ensconced in temples dedicated to themselves (obviously a bit of a surprise to them), and now deied, the trio labour on instead of resting in peace, in a kind of heavenly task force, righting wrongs, raising the downtrodden, basically doing the same jobs they had done as mortals. Hence, images of Guan Di (the god of war and Guan Gongs deity-name) and Matsu (the goddess of the sea and Lin Moliangs deityname) dot places of worship along the south China coast, Southeast Asian islands, archipelagos and peninsulas settled by generations of intrepid Overseas Chinese. And Mr Ma He? He is Zheng He for the record, the legendary Ming eunuch explorer, who didnt escape deication either. It is largely within the Indonesian Archipelago and Malay Peninsula that the cult of Zheng He took root and ourished, worship even extending towards his fellow eunuchs and ocers. Zheng Hes (or Cheng Hos, as he is commonly known to the Hokkien-speaking Chinese in the region) real name was Ma He. Undoubtedly one of the worlds greatest navigators, he commanded seven expeditions to much of
West Asia and Southeast Asia, crossing the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and even to the east of Africa, all under the auspices of Ming Emperor Yongle. Prior to his death in 1433 and to the ending of the Ming expeditions, Zheng He had a marked inuence on the Muslim Chinese community in the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. A Muslim himself, he not only propagated the spread of Islam in the parts of Southeast Asia he called at, but organised and established the Overseas Chinese Bureau, to look after the concerns of the Chinese Muslim communities, including, naturally, economic concerns. This did not deter the non-Muslim Chinese from regarding him as Chinese and a supportive one at that. He had, after all, rid Palembang in Sumatra of the infamous Chinese pirate Chen Zuyi and also supported the worship of Matsu, patron saint of seafarers and sherfolk, by his non-Muslim crewmembers. After his death, on his way home from the seventh voyage, many Chinese-style mosques raised by him, for example in Semarang on Java, morphed into temples due to re-sinicisation and as some converts lapsed back to traditional beliefs. These temples were known as Sam Po (Kong) temples. The Hokkien or Fujianese term Sam Po is equivalent to the Mandarin term San Bao meaning three treasures, another name or alias for Zheng He. It could refer to the three treasures of Buddhism (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) or of Taoism (concepts of compassion, frugality and humility) or to the trinity of eunuchs who were to embark on the voyages.
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The religion of many Southeast Asian Chinese is a syncretic mix of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, intertwined and woven in with folk belief and a good dose of superstition. It is also a practical and pragmatic religion. So the act of apotheosis or deication of a departed mortal who has pursued justice and righteousness (in the case of Guan Gong) would mean that people who now begin to worship him as a deity would be rewarded by him extending help to them. As the Chinese pantheon is full of beings elevated to divine status, Zheng Hes elevation, it is surmised, was nothing out of the ordinary. In a cave on Javas northern coast near the old city of Semarang sat Zheng He one night in deep prayer
and meditation. As the story goes, Zheng He then left Semarang, but not without depositing one ill crewmember behind, a helmsman named Wang Jin Hong who was to recuperate. He, together with a few accompanying shipmates, fashioned a mosque out of the caves rocky interior as a tribute to the great Admiral. With the eventual re-sinicisation after the end of the Ming voyages, the cave, rebuilt after a collapse, became known as Gedung Batu, or Stone Building, a Sam Po Kong temple located at Simonang, a few kilometres away from downtown Semarang. It is a double sanctuary where Muslims and non-Muslims are welcome to come and pray. Two Muslim tombs in the compound are thought to be that of the helmsman and his wife. He had established a small Muslim community there. Around 1783 to 1791, one Wang Dahai, or Ong Tae Hee, wrote of a Sam Po cave in Semarang at which it is commonly reported that wonders are wrought and at every full moon, Chinese ladies and gentlemen go in crowds to worship at the place Fast-forward to the 21st century special days for worship attract crowds twice a month on Friday and Tuesday, according to the Javanese calendar. It is also a common practice for devotees to stay overnight for meditation. Mostly, they come to seek blessings success in business ventures, exam success or nding a good spouse. The cave itself is small, but has been tiled. It also has a sacred well, which, it is said, never runs dry. What may lift eyebrows is the allegation that an old iron anchor in the temple is that of its patron deitys junk, but it may well be that of the Leiden, a Dutch ship that sank in 1835. Since the end of the 18th century, a procession has taken place on the 29th day of the sixth lunar month, according to the Chinese lunar calendar. The procession originates from the Tay Kak Sie temple (established around 1772) some ve kilometres away from Gedung Batu. An image of Sam Po is then brought out, paraded all the way to the temple and accompanied by boisterous drumming, prancing lions, dragons as well as mediums in trance, truly an awesome sight.
A shrine with the Sam Po statue on the way to the Gedung Batu temple; the leaves provide extra protection
The Sam Po temple in Surabaya is said to contain a beam from one ship of Zheng Hes fleet
A statue of Sam Po in Semarangs Gedung Batu temple
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Cirebons 17th-century Thiaw Kak Sie temple, built in typical South Chinese style, is ve hours away, east of Jakarta. Its claim to fame is the legend of how Zheng He wrestled with a snake o the coast of Cirebon and wrested its pearl away, upon which the creature turned into a rocky island. It also possesses an old, Western-style anchor, but claimed to originate from whom else but the great explorer! Surabaya, Indonesias second largest city is also not without any Zheng He memorabilia. Visited by the man himself in the 15th century, this important port boasted of an ancient holy grave in the area of Moro Krembangan. Moved in the 1930s, the grave, or keramat, has been named Tempat Ibadat Sam Po Tai Djien Mbah Ratu. A sixmetre long beam is secreted under the altar, said to be part of the great eunuchs junk! Rightly so, Sam Po is also worshipped on the coast near Jakarta, in a place named Ancol, between the old town of Kota (the oldest part of Jakarta) and the harbour Tanjong Priok. As with Gedung Batu in Semarang, it was
Surabaya, Indonesias second largest city is also not without any Zheng He memorabilia. Visited by the man himself in the 15th century, this important port boasted of an ancient holy grave in the area of Moro Krembangan.
once a mosque. In the book Historical Sites of Jakarta, author Adolf Heuken notes that the Ancol site was mentioned by scholars in 1674 and 1746. The temple may have been erected around 1650. Four Muslim tombs are located in Ancol. The rst two are of Sam Po Soei Soe and his wife Ibu Sitiwati, a ronggeng dancer. The other two may be those of her father and sister. Legend has it that a helmsman of a Chinese junk fell in love with a ronggeng dancer, but the helmsmans real
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A part of the relief at the entrance of the cave in the Gedung Batu temple compound depicting scenes from Zheng Hes travels A mural with a replica of a ship from Zheng Hes fleet in front of a Surabaya mosque built in the style of a Chinese temple
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As this temple is regarded as a double sanctuary, offerings of pork are prohibited. Also offerings of odorous produce such as petai (stinky bean) and jengkol (the slightly toxic dogfruit belonging to the pea family) are not allowed.
name was never disclosed, even to the dancer whom he eventually married. One day, the helmsman, described as Sam Po Soei Soe (literally, Three Treasures Helmsman), told a certain Kong To Tjoe Seng to build a temple and guard it for 100 years, as the helmsman was going away. The builder, Kong To Tjoe Seng, turned into Toa Pek Kong, who is the temples main deity, principally worshipped for prosperity by Hokkien Chinese of Southeast Asia. In early times, it was recorded that merchants came to the temple to burn incense and pray with sincerity. The helmsmans boss was described as Sam Po Toa Lang or Sam Po Tai Jin (The Eldest or Three Jewelled
Eunuch), whose junk ran aground in Semarang and anchor kept at Gedung Batu. Thus, there seems to be a link between the Ancol temple and that of Gedung Batu. As this temple is regarded as a double sanctuary, oerings of pork are prohibited. Also oerings of odorous produce such as petai (stinky bean) and jengkol (the slightly toxic dogfruit belonging to the pea family) are not allowed. Then, neither Muslim worshippers nor Chinese devotees would be oended. So, Heavens ways are certainly intriguing, linking adherents of dierent faiths by the common bond of a man who was seven feet tall and with a sonorous voice as loud as a tigers AG
Khong Swee Lin is a freelance writer and has contributed the texts to the three photo books Chinatown Rhythm and Blues, Indonesian Truck Paintings Art in Hindsight and Sari, Sarong and Shorts Singapores Kampong Glam & Little India by her husband Carl-Bernd Kaehlig. She is also a docent with the Peranakan Museum in Singapore and is currently looking into her Peranakan roots. Carl-Bernd Kaehlig is a serious hobby photographer with four photo books to his credit, including Volcanoes of Indonesia Creators and Destroyers. Together with his wife, Khong Swee Lin, he has contributed photo essays to magazines like Garuda, Silver Kris, The Peak and ASIAN Geographic.
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ON ASSIGNMENT EPIPHANY AT QASR AL-YAHUD

text RACHEL EINAV photos VERED SHACHAF
EPIPHANY AT QASR AL-YAHUD

Sharing a belief
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Ethiopians: Different denominations have their own uniforms and they come dancing and singing
EPIPHANY is the holiday during which Christians celebrate the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God a revelation that was fulfilled with his baptism in the Jordan River. The ritual differs between the various denominations, but its main components are being baptised in the Jordan while clothed in white robes, releasing pigeons and throwing a flowered cross into the river. These commemorate Jesus baptism and the consecration of the Jordans water. The baptism signalled his spiritual rebirth as the Son of God, who would conjure after him a world of believers. The site is holy to both Jews and Christians, and the Muslims host them both. In bygone days, thousands would march from Jerusalem even the elderly to the Jordan River in long processions, all the way to the holy site. Today, they use buses and cars.
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ON ASSIGNMENT EPIPHANY AT QASR AL-YAHUD
Members of the Greek Orthodox Church are united in prayer Looking inward: Emerging from the holy waters of the Jordan River
However, the sites source of holiness is much older and two stories attest to this in the Old Testament. The site is traditionally where the Children of Israel crossed the Jordan on their way from Egypt to Israel. Their aged leader, Moses, remained there, and Joshua Bin-Nun, a member of the desert generation, took his place at the head of the nation and led them into the Promised Land. By tradition, this is also where the prophet Elijah parted from his student Elisha and ascended skywards in a aming chariot. It would seem that the gateway to Heaven shines over the Jordan making it holy. The Jordan River brings water to the Sea of Galilee and continues on to the lowest place on Earth the Dead Sea. Human history ows through its bends and turns, and it is considered one of the holiest rivers in the world. In summer, it sometimes runs dry, but during this present season, thanks to the rain, it gushes forth with pure river water a boon for the Christmas and Epiphany trade of Christians of various denominations, each celebrating on its own holy date. Originally, celebrations were held according to the Jewish Lunar calendar, but with the introduction of the Gregorian, each denomination determined its own date according to its own specic calculations. The two-day festival that takes place from January 18 to 19 sees believers from all around the world celebrating the baptism of Christ. Another festival takes place during Easter, when the water is somewhat warmer.
Qasr Al-Yahud is Christianitys third holiest site, after Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The site was closed to visitors for over 40 years, following an earthquake that destroyed many of the monasteries in the area, and then a host of security problems over the years. Anyone seeking to take the baptismal dip had to do so either on the Jordanian side of the river or further north, at a makeshift site at the rivers southern estuary on the Sea of Galilee. The reopening of Qasr Al-Yahud, two years ago, was a joyful occasion for Israelis as well, and everyone hopes this will be a harbinger of cooperation, peace and dialogue. The site is surrounded by barbed-wire fences, soldiers maintaining order, and Nature and Parks Authority ocials selling baptismal robes, bottles of Holy Water and towels all at aordable prices. During the festivals, everyone seems patient and kind, and free shuttles take visitors from the parking area to the baptismal site itself. Plans are to continue developing the site and keep it open, free of charge and with no need for advance coordination. The festive atmosphere is apparent as soon as one sets out to make the trip. Busloads of bright-eyed tourists in festive clothes, white robes and stiletto heels make their way here. A man in a silver leather jacket, a girl with heavily made-up eyelashes, and a roguish fellow sporting a bronze-coloured leather jacket, round earrings, a pink ribbon and high-
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EPIPHANY AT QASR AL-YAHUD ON ASSIGNMENT
heeled leather boots. Nothing seems out of place when confronted with the magnitude of the event. In jeans and sweaters, Vered, the photographer, and I feel somewhat underdressed in comparison. We are sure that most pilgrims would be from abroad, but instead discover they are mostly Israelis. Most of them belong to local Christian communities going to church on Sundays, celebrating and supporting each other throughout the year. Camera in hand, I must admit that I feel somewhat guilty. These people are dipping in the Jordan at the height of religious ecstasy. Some (especially the Russians) will save their baptismal robe and ask to be buried in it. They will joyfully recount this day to their friends and relatives for years to come. And here we are, amongst them, taking pictures. And yet, since the number of photographers is nearly the same as the number of celebrants, we can easily join the throngs and continue releasing the shutter. When we nally enter the baptismal site, our rst view is of the Jordan, the border between two states, conveying its murky water to the Dead Sea. At least this time, the
water is muddy with silt and not pollution a result of recent rains. The two baptismal platforms, one on either side of the river-border, are made of wooden planks and look very similar. We arrive early morning, when it is still somewhat chilly and watch as people mill around waiting to see who will go rst. The rst couple seems not to be in much of a hurry to either go in or to come out again. They totally immerse themselves three times, crossing themselves in between, then emerge to display bathing suits under their robes. Friends and relatives congratulate them and give them large towels to cover themselves with. A few dignied priests approach a makeshift prayer lectern decorated with owers and smelling of incense. Their prayer is amplied and worshippers answer them from both banks of the river a lovely form of collaboration that conceals the latent competition over baptised souls between the two sides. There are speeches in languages I cant understand, even though the spirit of exuberance is quite clear. The speakers are greeted with applause from all directions. Now and then, people on opposite banks wave at each other. Relatives? Acquaintances?
The bell rings to wake up the angels There are differences between the customs of various ethnicities, but the cross unifies them all
EPIPHANY AT QASR AL-YAHUD ON ASSIGNMENT
A cross stands guard on a desert mountaintop overlooking the Jordan River Clothed in white robes, celebrants baptise themselves in the Jordan River Singing competition: Periodically, someone will walk into the circuit, lead the prayer and then let another believer continue
On the Jordanian side, the Greek Patriarch sets loose some white doves. Tradition tells that when Jesus was baptised, the skies opened and he saw the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove: And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17) And so, the Greek Patriarchs doves are released in commemoration, circling until they come to rest on the churchs golden dome. Following the prayer, the number of bathers rises. One after the other, they dip, they cross themselves one goes as far as taking his go-pro camera with him; perhaps he hasnt been briefed on the waters turbidity. Some gather holy water in empty water bottles or special asks on sale at the stalls. And for those who for some reason cannot actually descend the riverbank, a large cask of holy water is at hand on a nearby porch. The colours of the Bethlehem Scouts marching band in khaki uniforms, red caps and Scottish plaid scarves all contribute to the festive atmosphere. One of the musicians is playing a bagpipe yet another contribution to the general cultural mix. Epiphany is mostly celebrated amongst the Eastern churches primarily the Greek Orthodox and the Russian, whose adherents dip in the morning. At noon, the Ethiopians hold their ceremony. On the day we are there, there are two distinct waves of visitors rst the brighter-skinned Eastern Orthodox believers, then the darker skinned Ethiopians. Each church has its own
rituals and the time slots seem to be preordained. On both days, about 20,000 visitors come to rinse and rejoice. We had met the Ethiopians and the Eritreans on our way throngs of joyful believers, excited, colourful, musical. As their baptismal time-slot approaches, the complex is evacuated, and only a small number of photographers are allowed to remain Vered, amongst them. The pilgrims wait in long lines for their turn to be individually baptised. There is a near mishap when one or two try to cross the border (inadvertently or not); the process is halted and the two culprits are arrested. Ethiopian churchgoers arrive in large organised groups from everywhere around Israel and abroad. Each community has its own particular dress code of gowns and crowns blue, purple, yellow, gold, burgundy They march and sing, sometimes accompanied by a large drum played by a drummer who dances in a circle. The human ow never ceases, the elderly praying together, the young singing and dancing. And slowly, the scent of incense gives way to the potent aroma of exotic spices AG
Dr Rachel Einav is a biologist and ecologist very much involved in nature and ethnology of Israel and the MiddleEast. She is a writer and environment consultant in her company Blue Ecosystems. blue-ecosystems.com Vered Shachaf studied photography at the Masa-Acher Geographic Photography College in Tel Aviv. Vereds interests mainly lie in documentary photography in her country of residence, Israel.
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T R AV E L W I T H O U T B O R D E R S
No. 27 Issue 4 | 2013
Getty Images/Flickr RM
History repeats itself at the gorgeous Three Gorges Tribes Village, where maidens on sailboats are silhouetted against the mighty blue a vital resource that gave rise to the Ba Kingdoms ancient fishing culture. Salt production, dating back to 1100 BC, ensured proper preservation of resources and in turn, a thriving economy.
02 G E O R G I A
Breathtaking Tbilisi
10 C H I N A
Holding out for Hubei
GEORGIA
A Geor o gian sto ory

text
JUSTYNA MIELNIKLEWICZ
Unravel the celestial elegance of the Tusheti region, where pristine white clouds spread out to meet exquisite snow-clad mountain terrain. The locals continue to live a life based on transhumance herding sheep up the pastures during summer months and taking them to the lowland villages in winter.
Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images
Tbilisi is a place where East truly meets and mixes with West. My friends from Western Europe or the US feel Tbilisi is as good as the next Eastern European country. But there is one rule about Georgia, if you want to fully experience its beauty, you have to open yourself up and leave complaining about the little things back home because if you do not love Georgia, it will not love you back.
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BREATHTAKING TBILISI
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Georgi a
K u ta i si A ir p o r t T bi l i si I n t e r n at i o n a l Airport
B at u mi A ir p o r t
T bi l i si
Multiculturalism is the strongest and most attractive element about Georgia for me personally. It sits on the crossroads where cultures from Persia, Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, just to mention a few, have been meeting and mixing for centuries. These are all topped by a very strong Georgian identity infused with its own alphabet, language and rich culture. Living here, I am continuously inspired by thepeople, their curiosity about other Georgians, their strong sense of community, their need for communication with people (strangers included) and the Georgian hospitality experienced, especially outside of the capital, Tbilisi. The locals are intense, yet they have a good sense of humour and are very friendly. And I would say this combination, more than anything else, shaped my artistic vision and my way of telling thestories of this region and beyond.
Getting t o
Georgi a
Flight information: Fly Turkish Airlines from Changi International Airport (Singapore), stopping over at Atatrk International Airport, to Tbilisi International Airport, or take to the skies with Qatar Airways from Doha to Tbilisi International Airport. Travel with Turkish Airlines from John F. Kennedy International Airport (NY), stopping over at Atatrk International Airport, to Tbilisi International Airport. Also, Lufthansa takes you to Tbilisi International Airport from Franz Josef Strauss Airport (Munich) Domestic transport: Georgian Airways flies from Batumi Airport and Kutaisi Airport to Tbilisi International Airport, while domestic trains from Batumi, Gori, Kutaisi, Samtskhe Javakheti, Marneuli, Poti and Zugdidi can also get you there. An overnight sleeper train from Yerevan, Armenia, is also an option; or domestic buses from Batumi and Kazbegi or daily buses from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Greece are all great alternatives Hotels: Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel radissonblu.com/hotel-tbilisi Tbilisi Marriott Hotel marriott.com/hotels/travel/tbsmc-tbilisimarriott-hotel Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel starwoodhotels.com/Sheraton Currency: Georgian Lari (US$1 = GEL1.651)
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01 A fruity haven: Alleyways form a distinctive sight in Tbilisi. Jaunt through the heart of the city and find yourself in the midst of a bazaar. 02 Indulge in an al-fresco evening in Old Tbilisi and discover numerous grand fortresses framed by quaint religious buildings. 03 The far northeast: A spectacular mix of soaring peaks, deep gorges and verdant alpine meadows, Tusheti valley is a unique world unto itself.
My favourite neighbourhood of Tbilisiis Upper Vera, where I live. Vera, like the Mtatsminda area and Sololaki next to it, preserves the feel of Old Tbilisi. Vera is centrally located in the hills just above the main Rustaveli Avenue. With a maze of small streets and houses built on the steep hills, it feels like a separate town, quiet, where neighbours know one anotherand kids play in the streets. I love Tbilisi, but just as inspiring are the surrounding regions, so I would advise any traveller to go east or west of the capital to find the true spirit of the country. I like the mountains most, specifically the Tusheti region, where my favourite haunts are the villages of Omalo and Shenako. It takes a few hours to drive there. At the end of the road,at about 2,000 metres above sea level, one can see huge, green open fields surrounded by the Caucasus Mountains. Villages here reveal typical mountain houses, some of which are preserved from the beginning of the 20th century.
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04 04 Tuck into a delectable Georgian feast of roasted pork and khinkali meat dumplings served with world-famous local wine appellations.
The garden itself is at the city centre, yet one can still see the waterfalls. It underlines the natural beauty of Tbilisi city and the verdant surrounding hills.
But there are more must-see places in Tbilisi as well. My favourite spot is a lovely area in the Botanical Garden. The garden itself is at the city centre, yet one can still see the waterfalls. It underlines the natural beauty of Tbilisi city and the verdant surrounding hills. Just above the garden is the fourth-century Narikala Fortress, encased in endless layers of Georgian history. Itoverlooks the city from a hill, offering one of the best viewing spots. Recently, the whole area was renovated, for the better places are now connected by paths and passages, making it easy to explore on foot. Below the hill, around Leselidze Street, one can find numerous restaurants and cafs. Georgia has a strongrestaurant culture. People get together to go out to eat and drink and there are plenty of places serving excellent food, freshly made using organic ingredients. Some restaurants havelive Georgian music an absolute must-see or rather, must-hear. The local cuisine is relatively simple, but dishes make use of lots of spices andfresh vegetables, thus creating lots of delicious vegetarian options. Needless to say, the fare would be accompanied by a variety of internationally acclaimed locally made wines, as Georgiais the worlds oldestwine-producing region. Still, on special occasions, I love ending my day with a shot of Chacha , a Georgian vodka made from wine grapes in a process similar to producing grappa. a g p
J U S T Y NA M I E L NI K I E W I C Z
Justyna Mielnikiewicz is a photographer based in Tblisi, Georgia. Between 2001 and 2009, she worked on a project revolving around the South Caucasus and its conflicts. Her works have been published in many international publications such as Russian Reporter and National Geographic Traveler. justmiel.com 06
B r e a t h t a k ing T bi l isi
Top 5 in Tbilisi
Georgia
Mtkvari (Kura River)
Tbilisi
Lake Lisi
Tbilisi Reservoir
K ak heti H
ighw ay
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1 Na r ik a l a Fortress
An ancient fortress from the fourth century known by locals as the heart and soul of the city. Take the tram up for spectacular views of Tbilisi from the top of the hill.
2 A ba notu ba n i
A district in the Old Town famous for its street of public bathhouses, recognisable by their beehive-like domes. Following an invigorating soak in the sulphuric waters, opt for an exfoliating, luxurious hot massage like no other.
3 Ol d Ci ty of T bil isi
This historic area will bring you back some 1,600 years. Having survived 29 invasions and an earthquake or two, the twisting, cobbled streets, overhanging balconies and slanting houses tell a story no museum can.
4 Georgi a n Nat iona l Museum
Reinvented in 2004, the museum houses the Dmanisi fossils, the oldest remains of humans discovered outside Africa dating back 1.8 million years. Also, see the magnificent metalwork and gold jewellery of the renowned Golden Fleece exhibit.
5 T smi n da sa meba Cat hedr a l
AFP/Getty Images
T a l k o f t h e t o wn
One of the most sacred places in Georgia, the church symbolises the Georgian land and people. From this holy ground in the Kazbegi Mountains, savour the breathtaking view of snow-capped peaks.
By Flora Toh
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1 Wine
Evidence suggests that Georgians invented wine back in 5000 BC. The liquid luxury is made the traditional underground way, in a clay qvevri. Savour Stalins personal favourite, a velvety Khvanchkara.
2 Artwork
The art of Tbilisi is enchanting, exquisite yet affordable. Peruse the works of famous Georgian artists like David Kakabadze, Korneli Sanadze and Gigo Gabashvili on the streets of Old Tbilisi and along the Mtkvari River.
3 A n t iques 1
Getty Images/Aurora Creative
Every weekend, revel in the rich assortment of Soviet medals and swords, old coins and bank notes, even Nazi trinkets at the Dry Bridge Market, tucked behind the main street, Rustaveli Avenue.
4 J ewellery
One of the biggest commodities of Georgia, jewellery is sought after for its delicate quality yet inexpensive prices. From enamelled knick-knacks to beautifully set precious gems, the Dry Bridge Market will satisfy your magpie tendencies.
5 Ca r pets
Georgian kilims , or woven carpets, are admired for their brilliant colours and abstract geometric prints. Linger on Erekle II Street next to the Sioni Church, and the affable shop-owners there may have an exceptional piece or two to present.
Getty Images/Dorling Kindersley
Top 5 tantalising Tbilisi takeaways
By Flora Toh
B r e a t h t a k ing T bi l isi
Unchanging for 1,500 years

The age - old Georgi a n
The Georgian tongue is buried till the second coming of the Messiah for martyrdom, so that God might appeal to all languages in this tongue. Native Georgians call their language (kartuli ena), the language of the Karts or Georgians. Indeed, the language has taken on great importance in representing their culture. The above-translated verse is from Praise and Glory to the Georgian Tongue, written in the 10th century by local monk and writer Ioane-Zosime. Georgians, as a nation, were among the first to convert to Christianity. The Georgian tongue was built on the Christian faith and their earliest texts were translations from the Bible. Georgian has the rare honour of being one of the oldest and most unchanging languages in the world. A Kartvelian, or South Caucasian language, the geographic isolation of the language family in the Caucasus mountain range and the Kura river valley has allowed its languages to develop richly and independently. Georgian has remained undisturbed for 1,500 years and is mutually unintelligible with other Kartvelian languages. Characteristic of the Caucasian family, Georgian is extremely agglutinative, such that any dictionary of the language would comprise more word-roots than complete words.
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The Georgian language lies both geographically and linguistically at the crossroads of the Indo-European, Altaic and Afro-Asiatic language families. It possesses loanwords from the Arabic and European languages. For instance, khalkhi, meaning people, is derived from the Arabic khalq and the Turkish halk. Another example is gazeti, meaning newspaper, which is from the Russian gazeta. Its syntax is also deeply influenced by Indo-European languages. For example, it shares a similar word order with English. Georgian also possesses the extremely rare phoneme, /q/, a postvelar voiceless stop found in Afro-Asiatic languages such as Arabic; it was likely that the Georgian people encountered Arabic traders on the Silk Road.
Publ ic hol idays in Georgi a

Jan 7
mon day
Orthodox Christmas
The majority of Georgians are Orthodox Christians, so Christmas Day is celebrated on (or near) January 7 in the Gregorian calendar.
f r i day
May 26
su n day
Independence Day
A solemn military parade, flower festival and gala concert are held in Tbilisi to celebrate Georgias independence in 1991.
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maR 8
International Womens Day

A day where Georgian men celebrate women by presenting them with flowers, gifts and a little extra attention.
t u e sday
oct 14
mon day
Svetitskhovloba
Georgians celebrate the building of the main cathedral of Georgia, Mtskheta Cathedral.
By Flora Toh
Apr 9
Memorial Day of National Unity

On this day, Georgians in Tbilisi hold memorial services to remember how their forefathers fought for independence.
Nov 23
s at u r day
St Georges Day
This day celebrates when St George, patron saint of Georgia, became the countrys patron and protector.
Holding out for Hubei

North of the lake
text
China
Li Wei
translated by
Selina Tan
I often think about a special place. It is infused with the fragrance of lush greenery and the invigorating sight of yellow canola flowers so bright, the spring sunshine just glazes over. Every corner I turn, I end up at the doorstep of a Chinese quadrangle residence (si he yuan), characterised by a huge courtyard in the middle where we are allowed to play freely. Mostly, the doors are unlocked, and the grandeur of this architecture gives way to a cacophony of humble aromas. I detect cooked glutinous rice ( ci ba), rice cake (mi gao), salty beancurd skin (dou pi zi), lotus root ( lian ou) and my favourite Shashi fish cake balls, known locally as yu gao wan zi all in a single whiff.
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01 Cruising down the majestic Yangtze River mines a rich panoramic pulse for the avid seeker of natural beauty every direction one turns, its picture perfect. 02 The glowing sun sets over the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang, casting a far-reaching amber hue onto huge hydroelectric cascades.
This heaven on earth is Jingzhou, southern Hubei, where I was born. An unassailable sense of togetherness, in my opinion, was responsible for influencing the architecture of yesterday and tomorrow. Modernisation has set in, but the way homes are built doesnt change. Neither does the food. My old friends tell me about the many restaurants, such as Dujiaji and Shashi 135, which have mushroomed in recent decades. Amazingly, tastes are collected and preserved through the next generation. Between 1982 and 1988, I attended Junior High and High School at a military research lab.Opposite the Yangtze River that meanders grandly through the ancient city of Yichang where I moved to, a confidential intelligence unit with the most inspiring personnel became the focal point for young adolescents. Our teachers often brought into the classroom challenging experiments drawn from their own very exclusive experience as scientific researchers. The Three Gorges Dam, about 50 kilometres west of Yichang, is the worlds largest concrete structure and hydroelectric station. Every year, when the tributaries leave the Sichuan basin and receive the Wu River, a huge body of water floods the spectacular gorges. But my most exciting memories happened downstream, near the Gezhouba Dam. Times spent there seemed like one long, hazy summer, where beautiful temples and trees perched on prominent hills would colour our horizons. The real highlight was the occasional sightings of submarine torpedo shells and huge helicopters they made every child dream of a limitless future. Perhaps it is the unique conflation of logic and sentiment that charged my being as an artist. I often think about defying gravity, a notion so incidentally ingrained into the city I called home during my formative
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X i a n gya n g L i u j i A ir p o r t
years. Of course, I cannot forget the fascinating history imparted to me as a child: Jingzhou stands proud as a famous battleground during the Three Kingdoms period following the Han Dynastys collapse. Till today, the ancient city wall remains one of the most complete in southern China. The summation of all these aspects, so distinctive to Hubei, has shaped my creative perspective irrevocably.
Be i j in g
HU BEI Yichang Sanxia A ir p o r t W u h a n T i a nhe In t e r n at i o n a l A ir p o r t
Getting t o
Hu be i
Flight information: Fly to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on Korean Air from Incheon International Airport, on Silkair from Singapore Changi Airport, on Air France from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and on China Eastern Airlines from San Francisco International Airport Domestic transport: Fly to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on China Eastern Airlines from Beijing, Changbaishan, Changchun, Chengdu, Chongqing and 24 other cities across China. You can also fly to Xiangyang Liuji Airport and Yichang Sanxia Airport on Air China from Beijing and Shanghai, on China Southern Airlines from Guangzhou and on Tianjin Airlines from Haikou, Xian and Zhengzhou. Land at Enshi Xujiaping Airport on China Eastern Airlines or take a train to Wuhan or a cruise liner to Yichang from Chongqing Hotels: Jinjiang International Hotel wuhan.jinjianghotels.com Xiongchu International Hotel xiongchuhotel.com Renaissance Wuhan Hotel marriott.com/hotels/travel/wuhbrrenaissance-wuhan-hotel Currency: Chinese Yuan Renminbi (US$1 = CNY0.163)
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Jingzhou stands proud as a famous battleground during the Three Kingdoms period following the Han Dynastys collapse. Till today, the ancient city wall remains one of the most complete in southern China.
Yichang has certainly transformed over the years, tuning in to the vibes of fun-loving, intrepid travellers. On the odd weekday, chilling at 1886 Classic Coffee or touring the Chaibuxi National Forests injects a surge of adrenaline and compels one to appreciate the long, winding way that the prefecture-level city has come. Some weekends, when I feel like doing more than putting my feet up, I head over to Yichang Theater, the citys most significant performance venue to catch a classic play, followed by a spree at the vibrant Shi Dai Shopping Plaza, my personal retail haven. Indeed, Hubei is a nice, queer mix of entertainment, fulfillment and nostalgia all at once. I only wish the torrid summer would get over its teenage, fiery phase. a g p
Li Wei
Li Wei is a renowned contemporary artist whose works often depict him in apparently gravity-defying situations, a mixture of performance art and photography that creates impressive illusions. He was born and bred in Hubei, but now resides in Beijing. liweiart.com
03 Hall of stature: Journey up the towers of the ancient Brick City in Jingzhou, an amazing historical construction held together completely by sticky rice substances. Magnificent views from atop will be your ultimate reward.
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H o l d ing o ut f o r Hubei
National Geographic/Getty Images
Top 5 in Hubei
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ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images
1 E nshi Gr a n d Ca n yon
Precariously steep precipices, plunging waterfalls and spectacular sights articulate the allure of the Enshi Grand Canyon. Take a stroll on its walkway and immerse yourself in the mystique of the mountains.
2 X i a n n i ng Hot Spr i ng
China
Relaxing in a natural hot spring ranks up there as one of lifes greatest joys. In August, the sweet scent of osmanthus perfumes the air, creating an extravagant indulgence for ones senses. Naturally enriched with more than 10 minerals, the waters of the Xianning Hot Spring are purportedly beneficial for skin conditions and arthritis.
3 Y ellow Cr a n e Tower
Hubei
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Suizhou
It is hard to imagine that the mighty Yellow Crane Tower, standing at the height of 51.4 metres, has been destroyed by fire and war multiple times. Climb to the top and savour a morsel of gold-dipped history.
4 J i ngz hou Ci ty Wa ll
Wuhan
Enshi
Jingzhou
Liangzihu Xianning
Honghu
A silent witness to ancient battles and bloodshed, the Jingzhou City Wall has a history spanning over 2,000 years. Numerous temples and cultural relics dot the ancient city, a must-visit for any history buff.
2 5 Hu bu L a n e
A heady mix of shops, entertainment and snack stalls, Hubu Lane is an almost bewildering combination of urbanity and history. Spanning more than 400 years of history, it is a cultural and culinary feast for the adventurous, with local dishes such as re gan mian and fried tofu skin on offer.
By Toh Wei Shi
Getty Images/Imagemore
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Top 5 products Hubei is known for
3 Chi n ese medici n e
A pharmacy of sorts, Hubei is nicknamed Chinas herb warehouse for its abundance of valuable medicinal herbs. Locals and visitors alike can easily locate energy-boosting gynostemma pentaphyllum (similar to ginseng) and nourishing fritillaria.
1 W uch a ng f ish
Much valued for its tender, moist flavour, the dish of steamed Wuchang fish is much loved by the people of Hubei. Commonly found in Hubeis Liangzi Lake, the freshwater bream can grow up to 60 centimetres in length.
2 T urquoise
4 R ice
With the largest production of rice nationwide, it is no surprise that Hubei is often termed the land of fish and rice. Step into any eatery and you are likely to find a diversity of dishes utilising locally sourced grains and seafood.
By Toh Wei Shi
Vibrant greens and blues dominate the turquoise mined in Hubei province, said to closely resemble those from the now-defunct Nevada mines. The gemstone is prized for its rarity; less than three percent of the worlds turquoise comes from natural sources.
5 Silk
One of Hubeis major commodities, silk is valued for its sensuous lustre and versatility. From luxurious garments to silk-stringed musical instruments, premium quality silk indulges even the most finicky of consumers.
Getty Images AsiaPac
H o l d ing o ut f o r Hubei
Wuhanese
F iery, br ill i a nt, intense
The vast variety of Southwestern Mandarin Chinese dialects spoken across the large geographical area comprising the province of Hubei is known collectively as x nn gunhu. The dialect spoken in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province was once promoted as a frontrunner in the race to become the standard Chinese dialect, or Putonghua . While that honour fell to Mandarin Chinese, the dialect of the countrys longstanding capital Beijing, the Wuhan dialect was a contender as it originates in the north but contains elements of the southern Chinese dialects. Wuhan is where the Yangtze and Han Rivers meet; their courses separate three territories that were formerly the three cities of Hanyang, Hankou and Wuchang. Wuhanese is spoken across the city but may be distinguished amongst speakers from the various territories. The purest Wuhanese today is suggested to be the form spoken in downtown Hankou, between Zhongshan Dadao and the river. This variety may be identified by its large pitch movements.
100th issue
ASIAN Geographic celebrates its
As with its better-known counterpart, Mandarin Chinese, the Wuhan dialect consists of four tones. However, the different tones give the language a unique sing-song quality that is said to resemble Sichuanese from further west as well as ensures that Wuhanese is unintelligible with Mandarin. As compared to the standard language, the Wuhan dialect involves much less rolling of the tongue, such that [zh][sh] becomes [z][s], and [ch] becomes [ts] or even [s]. Mandarin speakers would also be confused by the tendency to switch l and r around, such that the word ren would be read as len.
The people of Wuhan are known for their passionate nature and often, the tendency to exaggerate their feelings in the process. This is reflected in their tongue, which may sometimes sound quarrelsome or argumentative to the undiscerning ear. The use of slang terms is an important part of the language. An instance is the use of sa as definitive endings to sentences.
ASIAN Geographic 100th issue will be aptly themed Voices of Asia. Focusing on the 100 languages found across Asia, this edition will be a true collectors piece.
Publ ic hol idays in Hu bei

Feb 10
s at u r day
Spring Festival
The first day of the Lunar New Year, preparation begins a week before and celebrations continue for 15 days.
t h u r sday
Sep 19
t h u r sday
Mid-Autumn Festival
Originating in an ancient tale about Change, the moon goddess, people admire the full moon while eating mooncakes with friends and family on this day.
tue thu
After more than 14 years of showcasing Asia to the world,

ASIAN Geographic has come to a signi cant milestone as we launch our 100th issue.
Apr 4
Qingming Festival
Celebrated by tomb sweeping, where people visit the graves of ancestors, pay respect and burn food and paper offerings. On this day, people also celebrate Spring.
w e dn e sday
oct 1 3
National Day
For the Golden Week, all of China celebrates with flag-raising ceremonies, song and dance shows, firework displays and massive sales at the shops.
As we have done so all these years, ASIAN Geographic will continue to demonstrate our prowess for bringing the best and most unique aspects of Asia to the world.
By Flora Toh
Jun 12
Dragonboat Festival
The main customs of the day are dragonboat racing, eating sticky rice dumplings, tying fivecolour silk threads and hanging mugwort leaves and calamus.
AsianGeo.com
DESTINATION OF MY DESIRE...
My first trip to Kazakhstan was very interesting. Surprisingly, what we read about the country was not quite what I experienced. People are familiar with its beautiful landscapes and rich culture, but not everyone knows about the other Kazakhstan: the fashionable, modern, business-friendly capital and its amazing architecture.
JOHN THET Publisher, Asian Geographic Magazines Pte Ltd
osmopolitan Kazakhstan The city of Astana emanates an atmosphere of lu ury. Hold your breath and take in the grandeur of the emblematic Bayterek set against a brilliant blue sky.
Maxim Petrichuk
THE ULTIMATE
TIGER BREWERY
EXPERIENCE
OCEAN QUEEN OF THE SEVEN SEAS

text ANITA SUREWICZ photos GOEN GUY GUNAWAN
QUEEN
A penchant for men?
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An artists impression of Nyai Loro Kidul by Darwyn Tse, a famous artist
VISITORS to the picturesque seaside resort town of Pelabuhan Ratu (Queens Harbour) on the southern coast of West Java, the most populous island in the Indonesian archipelago, should consider themselves warned and leave their green swimming shorts at home. The Indian Ocean is the realm of Nyai Loro Kidul (or the Queen of the Seven Seas), notorious for dragging swimmers sporting her sacred hue as well as the occasional unlucky sherman and surfer to her underwater kingdom. Over the years, many have tried to appease the ocean spirit, with Indonesias rst president Sukarno ordering that a room be left for her at what was once the most upmarket establishment in the area, the government-run Inna Samudra Beach Hotel. Room 308 was kept a secret for a very long time. Sukarno, who commissioned the hotel in 1962, was one of the few people who knew about it. Locals had no idea that the room even existed, says Sabur Hendriana, sales executive of the Inna Samudra Hotel. Of course, now everybody knows about it and many visit the room to meditate and place oerings at Nyai Loro Kiduls shrine. Sabur performs a small ritual each time he enters room 308. He not only takes o his shoes, an Asian custom before entering a house, but also knocks on the door three times and announces his arrival with a salam aleikum (Peace be upon you in Arabic). The etiquette is just as if you were entering someones home, he says. The room, which accents the rundown hotels aura of mystery, is tted out entirely in green from carpets, curtains and bed sheets to the Queens lavish dresses. While the room does not dier in layout to the hotels other 99 rooms, it boasts a lavish shrine to the sea goddess, consisting of a low table that houses incense, owers and any other oerings that might have been brought for Nyai Loro Kidul by her followers. The legend of Nyai Loro Kidul is taken very seriously in the area, where the coastline faces the open ocean and as such, is notorious for powerful squalls and unpredictable currents. A sign on the stretch of beach in front of Inna Samudra warns of the imminent danger:
...a ask most of the locals and they will tell you that these drownings are the doing of Nyai Loro Kidul, who, to many, personifi fie es the fi fie erce power of the Indian Ocean.
Attention, be careful to swim in the sea, undercurrent is strong. Many who have failed to respect the power of the waves in the area have fallen victim to its treacherous surf, Sabur says. Indeed, ask most of the locals and they will tell you that these drownings are the doing of Nyai Loro Kidul, who, to many, personies the erce power of the Indian Ocean. Query the matter further and you might just nd out that it is the Queens lust for handsome young men in green shorts that fuels her frenzy and sends the unlucky swimmers and surfers to their watery grave. Portraits of the sea goddess, alongside one of the rooms godfathers, Sukarno, grace the walls of her quarters. Hanging above the shrine is a painting of Nyai Loro Kidul emerging from the waves, long-haired and adorned with strands of pearls, a piece by Indonesian master Basuki Abdullah. An artwork on the adjoining wall is inscribed with a special dedication to the Queen from the said painter, which loosely translates to: I wish to present this picture to your highness as a keepsake. From me, Basuki Abdullah. According to one version of the legend that fuels the local belief in Nyai Loro Kidul, she was once the daughter of West Javanese king Prabu Siliwangi who reigned until 1521. Once the princess grew up, the kings many wives, jealous of her beauty, used black magic to bring disease on her and her mother. Banished by the king, the Queen died while the princess wandered aimlessly until she reached the top of Karang Hawu cli on the Indian Ocean. After a vision in a dream that a plunge into the sea would cure
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OCEAN QUEEN OF THE SEVEN SEAS
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A faithful servant: Opik has been the guardian of the Queens headstone since 1972 The Queens resting place on the left; on the right is the resting place of her guardian An offering to Nyai Loro Kidul
Today, the cliff, which juts out into the sea around fi fiv ve kilometres west of Inna Samudra Beach Hotel, houses what is considered to be Nyai Loro Kiduls resting place, with many making the pilgrimage to meditate by her tombstone. .
her of the disease, the princess ung herself from the cli into the violent waves, upon which she was transformed into the beautiful ocean spirit that prays on shermen and holidaymakers to this day. Today, the cli, which juts out into the sea around ve kilometres west of Inna Samudra Beach Hotel, houses what is considered to be Nyai Loro Kiduls resting place, with many making the pilgrimage to meditate by her tombstone. Opik, who has been the guardian of the Queens headstone since 1972, says that it is not unusual for a busload of people to arrive at any one time to pay their respects to the Queen. I keep the shrine open 24 hours a day because some people like to come here at night to meditate, he says. Some come here to seek the Queens help to get rich, get a boyfriend or a girlfriend, a good job or another wife, says the 77-year-old, laughing. Some also bring bottles of water and put them by Nyai Loro Kiduls resting place for one night to turn it into holy water. We also sell water that has been by her grave for Rp2,000 (US$0.21) a bottle. People drink the water and bathe in it for luck. Opik, who says that the grave has been here since the 16th century and that the job of guarding it has been passed in his family from generation to generation, claims that years ago he was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the sea spirit. I saw the Queen sitting near her grave. She was staring in the direction of the ocean and disappeared after half a minute or so. I have never seen her again. I hope that I will see her again one day before I die.
To appease the Queen and maintain harmony with Nature, a festival called Pesta Nelayan is held along the coast each year on April 6 (New Years Day in the Javanese calendar). A colourful parade and traditional dancing takes place near the sh market in Pelabuhan Ratu. The event culminates with local shermen showing their respect to the goddess by throwing a bualo or cow head into the sea as an oering. It is said that if the gift sinks immediately, the Queen is happy and there will be safety and a good catch in the year to come. Meanwhile, the tourist town keeps growing in popularity, with the wild surf and the towns mythical past proving to be its main attractions. Countless new hotels and resorts are opening their doors to visitors, and the Inna Samudra Beach Hotel is following suit with renovations, the rst since the hotels opening in 1966. We are hoping to have oors four and ve completed at some stage in 2013, Sabu says. But I do believe that room 308 will remain as is out of respect for the Queen. AG
From Australia, Anita Surewicz has lived in Asia for the past six years, working at the Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia and most recently at DestinAsian in Indonesia. Now freelancing, Anita spends most of her spare time travelling and hanging out with her Golden Retriever Milo.
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CONSERVATION GODS, DEMONS AND CONSCIOUSNESS

text and photos AMARDEEP SINGH
At Lake Mansarovar, Buddhist belief is displayed through dharma wheels and prayer ags
GODS, DEMONS AND CONSCIOUSNESS

The allure of Mount Kailash
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THERE ARE MANY lakes and mountains around the world, though only a few have an aura and character that can continue to attract people over the ages. In the remote western region of Tibet lies a triad formation of Mount Kailash, Lake Mansarovar and Lake Rakshastal, possessing a unique magnetic force that has for centuries attracted the followers of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Bon religions. Mount Kailash (Tibetan: Kangriboqe, Chinese: Gang Ren Bo Qi Feng), at a height of 6,638 metres, stands isolated on the Tibetan Plateau. Its four sides are so regular that it appears to be the dome of a temple, rising from the base of the plateau at 4,572 metres. Lying 40 kilometres south of it, are Lake Mansarovar (Tibetan: mapham g.yu-mtsho, Chinese: Ma Pang Yong Cuo) and Lake Rakshastal (Tibetan: Lagngar Co, Chinese: La Ang Cuo). Lake Mansarovar lies at 4,600 metres and is the worlds highest freshwater lake, supporting countless species of shes, birds and plants. It is nestled in the massif around Mount Gurla Mandhata (Tibetan: Naimonanyi, Chinese: Namu Nani), which is at a height of 7,694 metres, rising south of the lake.
In the remote western region of Tibet lies a triad formation of Mount Kailash, Lake Mansarovar and Lake Rakshastal, possessing a unique magnetic force that has for centuries attracted the followers of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Bon religions.
Lake Rakshastal, at a height of 4,292 metres, lies a short distance east of Lake Mansarovar. In stark contrast, this is a saltwater lake that supports few forms of life. Through its fresh and calm water, Lake Mansarovar invokes a feeling of peace, while bareness and strong winds found at Lake Rakshastal create a feeling of harshness and turmoil. The former is situated towards the east and latter to the west. In Tibetan art, the rising sun from the east therefore results in pictorial representation of Mansarovar as Sun and that of Rakshastal as Moon. Interestingly, the aerial views of the two lakes are also in stark contrast. Mansarovar, with its circular form, does
River Indus
Lake Mansarovar invokes a feeling of peace
TIBET
Mount Kailash River Sutlej Mount Bonri
Lake Rakshastal
Lake Mansarovar TIBET Mount Gurla Mandhata
CHINA
Pakistan Nepal Lhasa
India River Brahmaputra
River Karnali India Nepal
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indeed look like the sun, while the semi-circular form of Rakshastal evokes the crescent moon. The positive, peaceful aspects of Lake Mansarovar have therefore resulted in its association with gods, whereas the opposite traits of Lake Rakshashtal have linked it to demons. And to the north of these lakes, stands the mighty Mount Kailash, representing metaphysical consciousness. Aspiring pilgrims to this region, rst take a dip in Lake Mansarovar, an act that is believed to bring them closer to the positive forces that represent the gods. They then proceed to Mount Kailash to perform a kora (religious walk circling the mountain) over a two- to threeday period, which signies the purication of human consciousness. It is also very interesting that none of the pilgrims ever aspire to visit Lake Rakshastal, despite being no less beautiful, in its own way. To appreciate the association of consciousness with Mount Kailash, one needs to see an aerial view of its landscape. Within its proximity, radiating like spokes from the hub of a wheel, four mighty rivers of Asia begin their course towards the east, west, northwest and south: the Brahmaputra (Tibetan: Tamchog Khabab),
Mansarovar, Rakshastal, Brahmaputra, Sutlej, Indus, Karnali Mt. Everest 8,848m Mt. Kailash 6,638m
Indian Subcontinent
Himalayas
Tibetan Plateau 4,572m N O. 9 9 IS SU E 6 / 2013 105
NORTH SOUTH CROSS-SECTION OF TIBETAN PLATEAU
Indus (Tibetan: Senge Khabab), Sutlej (Tibetan: Langchen Khabab) and Karnali (Tibetan: Magcha Khabab). The Brahmaputra and Karnali (the source of the Ganges) drain into the Bay of Bengal, while the Sutlej and Indus nd their way to the Arabian Sea.
Water is an essential element to create and sustain life. Since life springs in physical elements through the presence of consciousness, the Kailash landscape, which is the source of water for the Asian subcontinent, is therefore associated with Supreme Consciousness itself. Modern-day politics has now created distinct nationbased landmasses, but in the past this region was a conuence of cultures from India, Nepal, Tibet and China; the inuence of language in the popular names of the mountain, lakes and rivers is clear evidence for this. While nestled in Tibetan territory, they are still popularly called by their Indian (Sanskrit) names. To Hindus and Buddhists, Mount Kailash is metaphysically referred as Meru, and seen as the centre of universe. Just as subatomic particles are essentially microcosmic replicas of the vast universe, so too is the psychophysical organism of the human body. Meru in the human body is represented by the point inside the nervous system into which the spinal cord extends. It is believed that human consciousness resides here. So the metaphysical location of Mount Kailash is seen to be the consolidation of universal consciousness.
Indian/ popular name
Meaning in Sanskrit
Kailash
Crystal (like the pureness of godly consciousness)
Mansarovar
Ocean of Mind
Rakshastal
Demon Lake
Brahmaputra
Son of the Creator
Sutlej, Karnali, Indus

Indian names, but with no specific meanings
To Hindus, Mount Kailash is the seat of Lord Shiva, the form of God that destroys ignorance and illusion. It is on this mountain that he sits in a state of innite meditation. Devout Hindus view the three horizontal lines on the south face of Mount Kailash, where the steep gradient cannot support snow, as the symbol of the followers of Lord Shiva.
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Lake Mansarovar, right, and Mount Kailash in the distance, left
Buddhists, on the other hand, associate Mount Kailash with Milarepa (1052 AD), a teacher of Tantric Buddhism who challenged Naro Bon-Chung, champion of the pre-historic Bon religion of Tibet. Their debates, having resulted in no conclusive supremacy, led to an agreement that whoever reached the summit of Mount Kailash rst would be considered the victor and his philosophy would prevail in Tibet. Naro Bon-Chung used magic drums to rapidly ascend, while Milarepa sat at the base of the mountain in deep meditation. Breaking his trance, he suddenly moved into action and rode on the rays of the sun that had started to descend from the top of the mountain reaching the mountaintop before Naro Bon-Chung. At the peak, he picked up some snow and threw it on the top of a nearby mountain, called Bonri, signifying that even though Tantric Buddhism would become supreme in Tibet, the Bon religion would continue to have a footprint. For the followers of Bon, a religion that predates Buddhism, it is their belief that the entire region of Kailash and its surrounding lakes are a seat of spiritual power. Jainism, a religion from India, associates the region
with their rst teacher, Tirthankara Rishabhdeva. It is here that he is believed to have achieved spiritual liberation. Like the spiritual aspects of Mount Kailash, Lake Mansarovar too nds its importance in many religious beliefs. In Hindu mythology, Mansarovar was carved by Brahma (the god of creation) for his son to bathe in after meditating at the nearby Mount Kailash. Metaphysically, Mansarovar (manas, meaning mind; sarovar, meaning lake) is where one nds a sacred goose (or swan) called Hamsa whose whiteness symbolises purity. For Buddhists, the lake is associated with Maya, Buddhas mother, who is believed to have conceived Buddha around this lake. It is also believed that later in his life, Buddha himself visited the lake. Guru Nanak, the rst guru of the Sikh faith, which was founded on the plains of Punjab in India and Pakistan, is also believed to have travelled to Tibet and stayed around Lake Mansarovar. The Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, says that spiritual seekers may nd the unfathomable presence of God by visiting worldly places like temples, mountains, lakes, and so on, but with a right frame of mind, God can be found within oneself in any place.
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The devotion surrounding Mount Kailash is evident from the sea of prayer flags fluttering around its base
The spiritual teachings of the Guru are like Mansarovar Lake; fortunate ones can realise his presence anywhere by contemplating the teachings to purify their Hamsa [swan/goose soul].
Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture of the Sikhs
Rakshastals Tibetan name, Lagngar Co, has a similar sound to the name Lanka from the country Sri Lanka. In Hindu mythology, it is believed that Sri Lanka was once ruled by Ravana, a 10-headed demon king. Ravana confronted Rama, the god king, and this is described in the Hindu mythological scripture, the Ramayana. According to Hindu belief, Ravan created Lake Rakshastal to gain supernatural powers by meditating on its banks, in close proximity to Mount Kailash. With this association with Ravana and its lifeless waters and gusting winds, the lake is given a wide berth by spiritual seekers, who have no desire to be drawn in by its negative energy. Yet the lake remains a spectacular natural wonder, despite its notorious image. After all, it too is Gods own creation! Profoundness of belief, mythology and the history of this region were also the reasons why the majority of the monasteries here were destroyed during the Chinese
Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. Chairman Mao, who led the movement, is believed to have said, Religion is poison. Not only were the Tibetan Buddhists not able to practise their beliefs for years after the revolution, the region was also closed to Hindu and Jain spiritual seekers from India. No foreigners were allowed in this area till 1980. Even now, travel in Tibet remains highly restricted and requires a lot of planning. However, the true personality of a place lies in its power to consistently inuence its believers. Tibet has again started attracting Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Bon followers. Todays generations yearn to experience the aura of this terrain. Lama Anagarika Govinda, in his book The Way of the White Clouds, summarises the essence of this region perfectly: Take away a few thousand feet from the altitude of Mount Everest, or any of the other famous big mountains of the Himalayas and nothing outstanding would remain of them; they would simply disappear from the map and merge into the myriad of unknown or unnoticed peaks and mountain massifs. But even if one would take away a few thousand feet of Mount Kailash, it still would retain its importance, its unique central position in the general pattern of mountain ranges and the river systems of Tibet and India. AG
Amardeep Singh, is an engineer with an MBA from the University of Chicago. He balances the demands of his daily working life through his passion for photography. amardeepphotography.com
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HIGHLIGHTS
L IQUID COURAGE Malaysian village celebrates installation

of accessible water source AS WATER A FLOWS from a tap outside Roadiah Alings home, tears from her eyes do the same. These are tears of joy. Her smile is contagious. Its the first time her tiny Malaysian village of Balud Batu has had clean, accessible drinking water, a luxury taken for granted in urban centres and much of the Western world. According to the United Nations, water scarcity is a widespread global dilemma, affecting more than 40 percent of the planets population. The UN predicts that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in areas where water is not available. Balud Batu has traditionally been one of these regions. Time has overlooked the small village. Aling and her people live in small wooden open-air longhouses, a far cry from modernity, and electricity comes from a generator. Chickens roam the premises and malnourished dogs seek refuge from the sun underneath Alings house. Small children frolic about, showing decaying smiles, a sign of the poverty here.
Until recently, Aling walked 20 minutes in the scorching heat with sweat stinging her eyes to the nearest reservoir to fill containers with drinking water. Now, a tap has been installed behind her house. Today is like a miracle or a Gods gift that we now have water coming and we now dont have to do that walking anymore. Its an answer to our prayers, she says. Sometimes, she bathed and did laundry there, although water used for these types of chores are also collected in basins underneath her roof when it rains. When there was a lack of rainfall, the shallow water in the old reservoir became stagnant and contaminated, causing skin irritations. British volunteer youth organisation Raleigh International is responsible for mobilising funds and workers to help install a pipe that runs 3.4 kilometres from the reservoir into the village. Partners of Community Organisations in Sabah (PACOS) also worked alongside Raleigh. And so, Balud Batu enjoys an accessible water source and PACOS will continue to make trips into the village to help its people maintain the recently installed infrastructure.
The Coca Cola Company helped fund the water project at Balud Batu in conjunction with Raleigh International. The company paid for ASIAN Geographics flights, hotels and meals, while the magazine covered this event.
By Dorian Geiger
EXPLORER GEAR
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MEMORIES
Ancient Egyptian Demonology Project
WR RATH OF THE WEHEDU Egypts faceless evil spirit

IT WAS IN 1570 BC that the Ebers Papyrus, the oldest and most important p medical record of ancient Egyp gypt, , was written. The early y natives were extremely religious and believed that life was created and dictated by the gods. For example, they subscribed to the notion that their god Thoth made human beings and that childbirth was the area of jurisdiction of the god-demon Bes. They developed a theory of physiology that saw the heart as the centre of a system of 46 tubes, or channels. They identified these channels as metu. However, metu was only used to label the good elements like the blood vessels and respiratory tract that aided life; they lacked a term for its counterpart that alluded to the dynamics of gods and ghosts. Following the observation of damage done to farmers fields when an irrigation channel became obstructed, they finally came up with the idea that disease occurred when an evil spirit, known as the wehedu, emerged to wreak havoc on one of the bodys channels. Unlike other spirits in their culture, these ancient people could not put a face to this malevolent demon that sabotaged peoples health. They simply visualised it as a harmful figure that clogged
The image of the wehedu has never been clearly defined, but a vision created for this demon alludes to its role as an agent of pain, malice and illness
up the bodys natural orifices. It explained everything: if a woman was infertile, it was because the sexual channel was clogged. Historians deduce that a variety of bizarre tools and contraptions were likely to have been aimed at exorcising this evil spirit. Medical practitioners leaning toward spiritual cures drew inspiration from the pre-Christian cult of Isis, resorting to flagellation to pay obeisance to the gods and remove undesirable entities. With the influence of Islamic and Hindu beliefs throughout the Middle Ages, it is understandable why, for an extended period of time, even wounds caused by external objects could not be imputed to anything other than supernatural forces. However, this period did mark a crucial breakthrough in the history of medicine, because it led doctors to examine trauma from another angle and abandon spiritual cures for practical cures mainly designed to clear the channels. They created an impressive body of knowledge on bone structure, respiration, the pulse, the brain and the liver, eventually leaving behind the defunct concept of the angry wehedu. AG
By Selina Tan
N O. 9 9 IS SU E 6 / 2013 111
ICON
TH HE RI ING Asias paragon of fear

A CURIOUS MIND procures a grainy video scene that offers no reference to where the character is lurking or where light and dark is coming from. The phone rings seemingly innocently. All the victim has is seven days Faces, lifeless but twisted in a rictus of unadulterated fear, hint of suffering that only a horrific paranormal entity can induce. There is no end. In Japanese tradition, grudge is a curse that is created when someone dies as the result of an unspeakable evil deed. The elderly natives describe this as a lingering powerful rage or extreme sorrow that is manifested as a ghostly spirit the onry on an undiscerning rampage to punish all who encounter their anguish. Sadako Yamamura, the most intelligent of spirits in popular culture across the entire world, earned her reputation through a film titled Ringu u (1998) directed by Hideo Nakata. It was adapted from Koji Suzukis novel Ring g, which in turn draws on the Japanese folktale Banch Sarayashiki i both centred on an aggrieved female apparition hovering between life and death. Trapped in a well for 30 years, she appears on a mysterious videotape that places a curse on the viewer, who is told that they will die within seven days unless the tape is copied and passed on to another viewer. In this way, she ensures that perennial vengeance is wreaked on humanity.
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Sadako is an amalgamation of two famous Japanese ghosts, Oiwa and Okiku. From Oiwa, she takes on the single misshapen eye that vows to strike fear into anyone who gazes upon it
Many dont realise that Sadako is the physical embodiment of traditional Japanese ghost culture. Since the eighth century, the Japanese had clear classifications for different spirits, including the onry. Sadako became its epitome. Her appearance follows a certain set of conventions, which stem from Kabuki theatre, where the characters have particular features that identify them to the audience. To director Nakata, she is an avenue to explore certain elements, like the shinrei shashin (spirit photography), which have been entrenched in Japanese and Asian culture since the 18th century, but were discouraged from development. With Sadako at the epicentre, Ringu emerged as the highest grossing film in Japan, earning a total of US$6.6 million. The Hollywood remake, The Ring, earned US$8.3 million in only three weeks, making it a cinematographic masterpiece that changed the horror genre of both Japanese and Western movies forever. The onry, the cursed technology, the haunted well and the claustrophobic setting have remained consistent motifs in American films such as Ju-on: The Grudge and Dark Water. This concept of the paranormal has become an icon of Asia, adopted by the Western world, where it looks like it will stay. Sadako remains out there AG
By Selina Tan

ASIAN GeograASIAN - Geographicphic - Issue 6 2013

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OVER ALL MAGA ZINE OF THE YE AR (MPAS MAGA ZINE AWARDS 2012) AsianGeo.

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