Foot binding was the custom of binding the feet of young girls painfully tight to prevent further growth. The practice probably originated among court dancers in the early
Song dynasty, but spread to upper class families and eventually became common among all classes. The tiny narrow feet were considered beautiful and to make a woman's movements more feminine and dainty.
A gamelan is a kind of
musical ensemble of
Indonesian origin typically featuring
metallophones,
xylophones,
drums, and
gongs. The term can be used to refer either to the set of instruments or the players of those instruments. Traditionally, "gamelan" comes from the Javanese word "gamel", meaning hammer.
A farmer harvests
seaweed growing on a rope, on the small island of
Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia. Wooden posts demarcate the bay into rectangular plots that are owned by different families. Seaweed farming is a fairly simple process: Attached plants are placed in the sea and allowed to grow naturally, with little human intervention.
A photo of two maiko (apprentice geisha), with the typical
make-up clearly visible, leaving portions of the
nape uncovered. This is done to accentuate what is a traditionally
erotic area. The white face make-up is supposed to resemble a
mask, and a line of bare skin around the
hairline helps create that illusion. Established geisha generally wear full white face makeup characteristic of maiko only during special performances.
The Kayan or Padaung are a group of the
Karen people found in
Myanmar and
Thailand. They are known for a particular
body modification, which consists of coiling lengths of brass around the neck of the women. The coils are first applied when the girls are about five years old, and the coil is replaced with longer coils as the weight of the brass pushes down the
collar bone and compresses the
rib cage, resulting in the appearance of a very long neck. The practice has seen a surge in recent years because the custom draws tourists who buy their handicrafts.
The Dharmaraya Swamy Temple located in Bangalore is known for being the place where the
Bangalore Karaga festival takes place. It is the only festival that is brought about in the temple
The town of Ortahisar in Cappadocia, a region in central
Turkey famous for its
fairy chimneys, rock formations that may reach 40 m (130 ft) in height. Over thousands of years, wind and rain have eroded layers of
consolidated volcanic ash to form the area's landscape. Early occupants of the area dug tunnels into the exposed rock face to build residences, stores, and churches, now home to
Byzantine artwork.
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is the fifth and current
Bhutan Dragon King and head of the
Wangchuck dynasty. He became king on 14 December 2006, and was officially crowned on 6 November 2008. The young king began his unusual reign overseeing the
democratization of
Bhutan, stating that the responsibility for this generation of Bhutanese was to ensure the success of democracy.
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the
Manchu-led
Qing dynasty, and the fourth
Qing emperor to rule over China. The fourth son of the
Yongzheng Emperor, his reign officially began 11 October 1735, lasting for 60 years. Named Hongli, he chose the
era nameQianlong, meaning "heavenly prosperity". Although his early years saw the continuation of an era of prosperity and great military success in China, his final years saw troubles at home and abroad converge on the Qing Empire. Qianlong abdicated the throne at the age of 85, to his son, the
Jiaqing Emperor, fulfilling his promise not to reign longer than his grandfather, the
Kangxi Emperor.
A scene from the Ramayana, an ancient
Sanskritepic. Depicted here are several stages of the War of Lanka, with the monkey army of the protagonist
Rama (top left, blue figure) fighting the demon army of the king of Lanka,
Ravana, to save Rama's kidnapped wife
Sita. The three-headed figure of the demon general
Trisiras occurs in several places – most dramatically at the bottom left, where he is shown beheaded by
Hanuman.
Nataraja is a depiction of the
Hindu god
Shiva as the cosmic dancer Koothan who performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe and make preparations for god
Brahma to start the process of creation.
Utamaro's Ase o fuku onna ("Woman wiping sweat"), an example of bijinga (literally, "pictures of beautiful people"), a central theme of the ukiyo-e genre of
Japanese art. Nearly all ukiyo-e artists produced bijinga, but a few, including Utamaro,
Suzuki Harunobu,
Toyohara Chikanobu, and
Torii Kiyonaga, are widely regarded as the greatest innovators and masters of the form.
The Toda people are a small pastoral tribe of less than 1,000 people who reside in the
Nilgiri hills of Southern
India. Shown here is a typical Toda hut, about 3 m (10 ft.) high, 5.5 m (18 ft.) long and 2.7 m (9 ft.) wide. They are built of bamboo fastened with rattan and thatched. The hut has only a tiny (about 0.9 x 0.9 m, 3 x 3 ft.) entrance at the front, which serves as protection from wild animals.
The kris or keris is an asymmetrical dagger or sword nowadays most strongly associated with the
culture of Indonesia, but also indigenous to
Malaysia,
Southern Thailand and
Brunei. The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade (luk), but many have straight blades as well.
In the grotto of the flute reeds,
China, a family shows reverence for an ancient
turtle. The turtle is a symbol of longevity throughout many parts of Asia. Its four feet represent the four corners of the earth, its endurance is considered to last 10,000 years. A symbol of good luck and long life, many turtles are pushed towards extinction by consumption in
Chinese medicine.
A
Sikhpilgrim at the Harmandir Sahib, known informally as the "Golden Temple", located in the city of
Amritsar,
Punjab,
India. The temple is the best-known of the Sikh
gurdwaras and was completed in 1604. In the early nineteenth century,
MaharajaRanjit Singh covered the upper floors of the gurdwara with
gold, giving it its distinctive appearance.
A colorful dougong supporting a structure at Sagami Temple,
Kasai, Hyōgo,
Japan. Dougong is a structural element of interlocking wooden
brackets, one of the most important elements in traditional
Chinese,
Japanese, and
Korean architecture. The use of dougong first appeared in buildings of the late centuries BC and evolved into a structural network that joined pillars and columns to the frame of the roof. The pieces are fit together by
joinery alone without
glue or
fasteners, due to the precision and quality of the
carpentry.
Out in a morning wind, Have seen a pair of mandarin ducks parting. Even the best loving couple makes a quarrel.
Hiroshige was a member of the Utagawa school, which was founded by
Utagawa Toyoharu, whose primary innovation was his adaptation of
linear perspective to Japanese subject matter. His pupil,
Toyokuni I, took over after Toyoharu's death and raised the group to become the most famous and powerful woodblock print school for the remainder of the 19th century, so much so that today more than half of all surviving
ukiyo-e prints are from it. In addition to Hiroshige,
Kunisada,
Kuniyoshi and
Yoshitoshi were Utagawa students.
Onna yu ("Bathhouse Women"), a late-eighteenth century
Japanese woodblock print in the ukiyo-e style, depicting women at a sentō, or Japanese
public bath house. Commercial bath houses in Japan date to at least 1266 and became especially popular immediately after
World War II, due to the devastation caused by the war.
A c. 1890
Korean illustration of a litter (gama in
Korean), a type of
human-powered transport, for the transport of persons. Gamas were primarily used by
royalty and government officials, or in traditional
weddings. Because of the difficulties posed by the mountainous terrain of the
Korean Peninsula and the lack of paved roads, gamas were preferred over wheeled vehicles.
Bangkok is the
capital city of and largest
urban area in
Thailand.The city's many cultural landmarks and attractions in addition to its nightlife venues has made it synonymous with
exoticism. Its rapid modernization, reflected in the cityscape and the urban society, has left untouched the historic
Grand Palace,
Wat Arun,
Vimanmek Palace Complex, hundreds of Buddhist temples, and the city's illegal (but tolerated)
red-light districts draw about 10 million international visitors each year, second only to London.
An unpeeled and a peeled rambutan, the
fruit of the rambutan tree. The plant is native to the
Malay Archipelago and can be found through much of
Southeast Asia, although its exact distribution remains unknown. The name is derived from the
Malay word rambut, which literally means 'hairy'. The fruit flesh is translucent, whitish or very pale pink, with a sweet, mildly acidic flavour.
Ceiling of the Sioni Cathedral, a
Georgian Orthodox cathedral in
Tbilisi, capital of
Georgia. The cathedral is situated in historic Sionis Kucha (Sioni Street) in downtown Tbilisi. It was initially built in the 6th and 7th centuries. Since then, it has been destroyed by foreign invaders and reconstructed several times. The current church is based on a 13th-century version with some changes from the 17th to 19th centuries. The Sioni Cathedral was the main Georgian Orthodox Cathedral and the seat of
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia until the
Holy Trinity Cathedral was consecrated in 2004..
An
Adivasi (
indigenous) woman from the Kutia Khond tribal group in the
Indian state of
Orissa. Khonds were known for their
human sacrifices, which were intended to further the fertilization of the earth.
A 17th century Central
Tibetanthangka (
painted or
embroidered banner) of Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra, from the Guhyasamāja tantra, a
tantra whose practice is important to many schools of
Tibetan Buddhism. The Guhyasamaja ("Secret Assembly") tantra was developed at an early date in history to aid the Buddhist practitioner in understanding and practicing
Tantric Buddhism to attain
enlightenment. These are the basic texts of the Tantric—an esoteric and highly symbolic—form of
Buddhism, which developed in
India and became dominant in
Tibet.
Cry for noble Saichō, a poem written by
Emperor Saga of
Japan in the 9th century, upon the death of the
Buddhist monkSaichō—an early example of Japanese calligraphy. Although calligraphy as an art form had existed prior to that time, Japanese practitioners tended to imitate the styles developed by Chinese calligraphists. The influence of Chinese styles had weakened after the
Heian period, with this text as one of the few surviving examples of the transformation to a native Japanese style.
A Navy HH-60H Seahawk helicopter, assigned to the "Golden Falcons" of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Two (HS-2), delivers relief supplies at a mosque in the town of
Meulaboh on the Island of
Sumatra,
Indonesia. Helicopters assigned to Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) and Sailors from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) are supporting Operation Unified Assistance, the humanitarian operation effort in the wake of the
Tsunami that struck South East Asia.
Petra, originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu, is a historical and archaeological city in southern
Jordan. Petra lies on the slope of
Jabal Al-Madbah in a
basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of the
Arabah valley that runs from the
Dead Sea to the
Gulf of Aqaba.
Kaindy lake in south-east of
Kazakhstan. The mountain lakes like this form after the landslide blocks the mountain river. The trunks are dead Picea schrenkiana trees.
Wat Xieng Thong is a
Buddhisttemple (
wat) on the northern tip of the peninsula of
Luang Phrabang,
Laos. Wat Xieng Thong is one of the most important of Lao monasteries and remains a significant monument to the spirit of religion, royalty and traditional art. There are over 20 structures on the grounds including a sim, shrines, pavilions and residences, in addition to its gardens of flowers, ornamental shrubs, and trees.
Inle Lake is a
freshwaterlake located in the
Nyaungshwe Township of
Taunggyi District of
Shan State, part of
Shan Hills in
Myanmar (Burma). It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of 44.9 square miles (116 km2), and one of the highest at an elevation of 2,900 feet (880 m). During the dry season, the average water depth is 7 feet (2.1 m), with the deepest point being 12 feet (3.7 m), but during the
rainy season this can increase by 5 feet (1.5 m).
The Nizwa Fort is a large
castle in
Nizwa,
Oman. It was built in the 1650s by the second Ya’rubi ; Imam
Sultan Bin Saif Al Ya'rubi, although its underlying structure goes back to the 12th century. It is Oman's most visited national monument. In this particular photograph, The minaret of Friday Mosque is seen from
Nizwa Fort.
The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the late 15th century, by Sufi Imam Muhammad Ibn Said Al Dhabhani who is known to have imported goods from Ethiopia to
Yemen. From the Arabian peninsula its use spread across the globe. The picture shows
Palestinian women grinding coffee beans.
Street view of
Souq Waqif, a
souq in the
Mushayrib district of
Doha, capital of
Qatar. Transliterated to "the standing market," Souq Waqif, is a former livestock market from end of 19th century / beginning of the 20th century, and has become today a popular place with all kind of shops, restaurants and Shisha lounges.
Wild
Asian elephants (Elephas maximus maximus) in
Minneriya National Park,
Sri Lanka. The elephant calf is suckling. White birds wait for insects to jump scared by the elephants and then catch them.
The head of a sandstone Buddha statue nestled in the tree roots beside the minor chapels of Wat Maha That,
Phra Nakhon Si,
Ayutthaya Province,
Thailand. The temple is one of the most tourist and photographic attractions in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ayutthaya, an ancient capital of
Siam.
The
Darvaza gas crater, also called the "Door to Hell" or the "Gates of Hell" by locals, a crater of natural gas that has been burning since 1971, is located in the
Karakum Desert in
Turkmenistan. The crater is a major tourist attraction, with hundreds of visitors arriving each year.
The Burj Khalifa (known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration) is a
skyscraper in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the
world's tallest structure. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding antenna, but including a 242.6 m spire) of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the
tallest structure and building in the world since its
topping out in 2009, surpassing
Taipei 101, the previous holder of that status. (Full article...)
The rupiah is the national currency of Indonesia. Introduced in 1946 by Indonesian nationalists
fighting for independence, the currency replaced a version of the
Netherlands Indies gulden which had been introduced during the
Japanese occupation in
World War II. In its early years the rupiah was used in conjunction with other currencies, including a new version of the gulden introduced by the Dutch. Since 1950, it has had a
lengthy history of inflation and revaluation. As of August 2018[update], the currency—which is issued and controlled by the
Bank of Indonesia—is trading for more than 14,600 rupiah to the
United States dollar.