Animated Journeys : September 2020

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Cartoon shows Corona supremacy

Ever since the Corona Pandemic has devastated the world, many other serious ailments having higher mortality rates as well as number of deaths per year have been relegated to background. As much as 70% of hospital beds have been reserved for corona patients.

click here to see my other blog of Mohammed Rafi songs.

Monday, September 28, 2020

Cartoon Farmer's Act

Farmer's act coming into force has resulted in a slanging match between ruling NDA and opposition, the ruling alliance calling it Pro- farmer and the opposition labelling it Anti-farmer. This has resulted in utter confusion among the farmers who don't know which side to believe and follow.

Click here to visit my other blog of Mohammed Rafi songs.

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Cartoon Deepika Padukone

The Bollywood is rocked by a spate of allegations of drug abuse in the industry. Narcotics control bureau (NCB) has called four female actresses viz. Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and Rakul preet Kaur, to testify. Interestingly no male actor, although seen in the viral video, is called to testify. Hence this confused cartoon.

Click here to visit my other blog of Mohammed Rafi songs

Saturday, September 26, 2020

Valley of the Kings and the Hatshepsut temple - Egypt

"Life is not meant to be in one place"- A travel quote

Valley of the Kings

Valley of the kings is a long narrow valley just west of the river Nile. It was the part of ancient city of Thebes and was the burial site of almost all the kings [Pharaohs] of the New Kingdom in the period 1539BC-1075BC. Presently the number of known tombs is 62, which show variety in both plan and decoration.

The site of the valley of the Kings was selected keeping in view its safety from robbers. All the tombs of the kings were dug deep into the mountain. The tomb usually consisted of the stone sarcophagus, containing the mummified body of the king along with furniture and treasures. The belief was that these goods would be carried on into the afterlife.

The walls and the roofs of many tombs were embellished with paintings and carvings, showing the dead king in the presence of deities, especially the gods of the underworld. Some of the paintings and carvings are so preserved that they appear to be absolutely fresh. Astronomical figures are depicted in the roofs of many tombs.

Virtually all the tombs in the valley were cleared out long ago, either by robbers or by the following rulers. Only the tomb of the Tutankhamun [reigned 1333-1323BC] escaped the reach of robbers. The tomb was found in the year 1922 and the excavators were dazzled by the treasures alongside the sarcophagus of the King. The world famous treasures were exhumed and now reside in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Tutankhamun

Way to one of the tombs in Valley of Kings

Colossi of Memnon

The colossi of Memnon are two massive statues of King Amenhotep III, each made from a single block of quartzite sandstone which are sitting there since 1350 BC in the necropolis of Thebes to the west of river Nile, near the valley of Kings. These statues are the only remains of a huge temple of King Amenhotep III, which once existed and these statues stood at its main entry gate.

In 27 BC an earthquake broke the northern statue, following which the lower part of the statue sometimes produced a whistling sound at dawn, within one to two hours of sunrise. Thereafter this led to the statue being called as Singing Memnon. However during a later period a Roman king got the crack in the statue filled with a cementing substance and thence the singing stopped.

Colossi of Memnon

Temple of Hatshepsut

Located near the valley of Kings, beneath the sheer cliffs of Deir el-Bahri stands a majestic mortuary temple of an extraordinary person, namely the Pharaoh Hatshepsut, she being the only second confirmed female Pharoah in the entire history of ancient Egypt, who wielded extraordinary power for a female.

She was the eldest daughter of Pharoah Thuthmose I. She became the regent after the death of her husband and ruled for more than two decades. She dressed up like any other male Pharoah, wearing the royal headgear and even carried the royal beard.

The temple has been restored and consists of three layered terraces reaching 97 feet. The colonnades and courts at three levels are approached by long ramp and the approach to ramp was once lined with sphinxes on both sides.

Statues of Hatshepsut and goddess Osiris adorned this temple. Dedicated to gods Amun, Osiris, Hathor and to deified Hatshepsut. Her reign was followed by Pharoah Thutmoses III, who in later part of his rule damaged the statues of Hatshepsut and even removed her name from the list of Pharoahs, possibly because he did not like a female to be glorified in a male bastion.

This temple was the site of a terrorist attack in 1997, in which 60 people including tourists were killed.

Temple of Hatshepsut

Click here to visit my other site of Mohammed Rafi songs

Friday, September 25, 2020

Cartoon depicting the belief of Afterlife

Belief in the Afterlife is prevalent across generations and continents. One of the most famous finds depicting this belief is the discovery of king Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt, which was loaded with treasures for the Afterlife.

Cartoon in context of Tutankhamun's tomb treasures

Click here to see my other blog of Mohammed Rafi songs

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Cartoon - Violence against Doctors

The ever increasing instances of violence against Doctors is a blot to the society. People in general fail to see the repercussions of such actions in the long term because ultimately it is the society which is going to be the loser. The underlying reasons for these type of actions need introspection by everyone concerned.

Cartoon showing violence against Doctors

Click here to see my other blog of Mohammed Rafi songs

Monday, September 21, 2020

Cartoon Mayawati

A ragpicker in south, near Salem has spent his whole life's savings of Rs.10 lakh to erect his own statue in his town, which reminds one of the penchant of BSP supremo Mayawati of erecting her own statues, while she was the Chief Minister of UP. A take on the same

Click here to view my other blog of Mohammed Rafi songs

Sunday, September 20, 2020

Cartoon IPL 2020 batsman

The Corona Pandemic has resulted in IPL 2020 to be held in UAE, without spectators in the stadium. The state of mind of the batsman after hitting a six in an empty stadium is depicted in the cartoon.

Click here to visit my other blog of Mohammed Rafi songs

Saturday, September 19, 2020

Temples of Abu Simbel, Egypt - A historical and engineering marvel

"I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad"- A travel quote

Abu Simbel is a village in the southern Egypt in the Egyptian part of Nubia near the Sudan border and this small village is famous for the two temples built by the Egyptian king Ramesses II.

The temples are not only historically famous but have a fascinating story about their relocation. During the construction of the famous Aswan dam, planned in 1960, a large area was to be flooded by the construction of Lake Naseer.

Apart from few other smaller areas of archaeological interest, there were two important temples namely the temples of Ramesses II and the temple of Philae, which were located in the areas likely to be inundated by the waters of Lake Naseer.

UNESCO launched an international appeal to save the monuments in Nubia and appealed to its member countries to come forward and help. As many as 50 countries collaborated and made possible the unbelievable rescue of these temples.

The Ramesses temples built in 1265 BC consisted of two parts. The bigger temple was dedicated to deified King Ramesses II and their deities god Amun, Ra-Horakhty and Ptah. The smaller temple lay just to the north of main bigger temple and was dedicated to Ramesses' most beloved of his many wives, queen Nefertari and the deity goddess Hathor.

It was decided in 1963 to relocate both these temples. The temple of Ramesses II had four huge statues of the king in sitting posture , each 66 feet high, in the facade and it required advanced engineering heroics to relocate them at a higher level.

A relocation site was chosen 200 feet above the existing site. Interestingly the entire temple including the giant statues were shifted by cutting the entire structure into more than 16000 smaller blocks, each properly numbered and reassembled in exactly the same proportions.

Even the planetary orientation was taken into consideration. Twice in a year on 22nd february and 22nd october, the early rays of sun at exactly 6.2O AM, used to reach the statues of two dieties and of the king Ramesses II, located in the inner sanctuary. Marvellously the new placement also has the same event twice a year on same days. The completely relocated temple was inaugurated on 22 september 1968.

Temple of Ramesses II

Hats off to the perseverence, technolgy and human skill, one cannot make out that the temple has beeen remade as the joints are completely imperceptible to the naked eye.

The temple is located about 240 kms from Aswan, the site of the famous Dam. As the road to Abu Simbel has to go through a large stretch of uninhabited desert, there is risk of cars or coaches being waylaid and looted by the robbers. Hence as a rule the cars as well as coaches move in a caravan with a police jeep in the front and also at the tail end.

Another interesting thing is the popularity of superstar Amitabh Bachchan in Egypt. The Egyptians, especially the youth are so enamoured by Amitabh Bachhan that whenever they seen an Indian tourist, they try to attract their attention for shopping, by calling Amitabh Bachchan's name.

Temple of queen Nefertari

Click here to go to my other site on Mohammed Rafi

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Cartoon - Kangana Ranaut Rants Rattle Bollywood

Kangana Ranaut's rants incriminating the bigwigs of Bollywood has rattled many in the Industry. Some are silent, while others are vocal. The Bollywood is shaken, as if hit by an earthquake. A take on the same.

Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan & Hrithik Roshan cartoon

Click here to see my other blog on Mohammed Rafi songs

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Cartoon Aamir Khan - Then and now

Aamir Khan, film actor, quite vocal on social issues was responsible for making the TV show "Satyamev Jayate" a hit. What happened now?

Click here to view my other blog on Mohammed Rafi songs

Saturday, September 12, 2020

Karnak temple and the story of obelisks - Egypt

" A MARVEL IS A TRUE MARVEL ONLY WHEN YOU SEE IT"- A TRAVEL QUOTE

KARNAK TEMPLE

In the Egyptian tour, this one was a real pleasant surprise.

The Karnak temple complex is located in Egypt near the city of Luxor. It is the second most visited historical site in Egypt after the Pyramids. The key difference in this and other sites is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Contributions have been made by approximately thirty Egyptian kings [Pharaohs]. Construction of temples started around 2000 BC and continued upto 30 BC.

The vast complex of temples demonstrates the religious significance of the area in ancient times.

The temple was built on two axes and spread outwards from a small shrine, as successive kings made their own contributions in the form of pylons, chapels and obelisks. In antiquity, the temple was connected to Nile by a canal. Leading to the first pylon is an avenue of ram headed sphinxes protecting the figure of a king. The first pylon leads to the Great court of kings. In the centre of the court is an impressive open papyrus column.This precinct also has one of the largest obelisks, standing 95 feet tall [29 meters].

The Hypostyle Hall

This is part of the largest precincts of the temple complex and is dedicated to Amun-Re, the chief deity of the area Thebes. This hall, measuring 50000 square feet is the mainstay of this temple complex, which has made it world famous.

The hall is made up of huge 134 columns. The columns are in the style of Papyrus flower, the most important plant as far as Egyptians are concerned. 122 columns are 10 meters tall and are in the closed papyrus bud style and 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of over 3 meters and in the open papyrus bud style. The larger columns are aligned along the aisle of the hall.

The roof of the hall was made of massive sandstone blocks. The hall would have been completely dark but for the windows near the roof, which allowed shafts of light to penetrate and illuminate parts of the hall.

Hypostyle Hall, Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt

Huge columns of the Hypostyle hall, Karnak temple

Great court of Kings, Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt

Huge column in Great court of Kings, Karnak temple and the statue of the King Ramesses II

OBELISKS

Obelisks are the tall rectangular tapering pillars made of up of single piece of stone, usually granite. They have a square or rectangular base and taper upwards and ending in a conical structure, called pyramidion.

The obelisks were made to commemorate an event or person and honour the gods.The granite obelisks were made from stone quarried in the southern Egyptian town of Aswan. They have an unfinished obelisk in Aswan even today. These obelisks were stationed at the entry of Egyptian temples, one on each side of the main entry gate. One of the tallest obelisks is seen in the temple complex at Karnak.

What is surprising is that in today's world, more obelisks are found in Rome including Vatican city [eight ancient Egyptian and five Ancient Roman] than in Egypt. It is because the rulers of the Roman Empire took a fascination for these columns and after conquering Egypt, took these precious structures with them to their own land. Later on some of the obelisks were gifted by the Egyptian government to other friendly countries. As a result these obelisks are now found in many countries, the largest one of them [96 feet] is found in Lateran square in Rome.

A list of the obelisks in world is given below:

Egypt has 11 in the cities of Cairo, Karnak and Luxor and Aswan [Unfinished]
Italy has 12, in Rome [7 Egyptian obelisks and 5 roman obelisks]
Vatican city has 1
France has 1,in paris
United states of America has 1, in New York
United Kingdom has one, in London
Poland has one, in Poznan
Turkey has one, in Istanbul
Israel has one, in Caesarea

I have been fortunate to see the Egyptian, Italian, Vatican city, French and English obelisks during my travels.

Obelisk in Karnak temple

Click here to view my other blog on Mohammed Rafi

Saturday, September 5, 2020

Fifty Cartoon Creations

"YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE IN YOU"

Corona Pandemic produced a window of opportunity for me to experiment something different and thankfully, if the encouragement shown by my friends and well wishers is anything to go by, it has not proved to be a disaster. As a result I have been able to put together 50 cartoon creations in less than four months time. Pandemic has been a stressful time for many and putting something on paper which helps people smile may be construed to be my contribution to stress alleviation. What follows is the creation of these cartoons in chronological order. If the subject or treatment of any of these cartoons has any difference of opinion or any comments (both favourable and unfavourable), I will welcome them in the comments section near the bottom of the post. Please enter them with your gmail ID or with your name alongside.