Posts Tagged ‘palace’
The Fort & Palace August 22nd, 2010
Some time back, I offered up my two cents on the HDR debate, featuring shots from the Al Jahili Fort and the late Sheikh Zayed’s Palace in Al Ain.
Today, I wish to share with you two more shots from those two places (minus debate, this time).
Above is a shot of the main tower of the fort. Below is one of one of the wings of the Palace.
More coming soon!
Tags: Al Ain, arab, emirate, fort, jahili, jahili fort, palace, sheikh, sheikh zayed, sheikh zayed palace, UAE, united, united arab emirates, Zayed
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Traditional Damascene Houses July 22nd, 2010
Within the walls of the old city of Damascus you can find peppered here and there examples of beautiful Damascene houses.
A typical Damascene house is built on two storeys, with all rooms looking out onto a spacious courtyard. Trees are generally planted there and a water basin or fountain usually adorns the center. Often, a reception area (called an Ewaan) opens out onto the courtyard. These typically consist of a U-shaped hall and seating area with
decorated
high ceilings.
During my half-day visit to Damascus, I had the chance to visit a number of these houses. Their proprietors were generous enough to allow us to visit them. Below are a selection of pictures from three of them.
One has been converted into a small boutique hotel (we got a guided tour of the place – wonderful!), another was unfortunately in ruin (but the owners are in the process of trying to restore it – the caretaker invited us in to visit it), and the third, Kasr Na’asan (Na’asan Palace), was the biggest surprise.
We’d spoken to a number of people who told us of it, so when we eventually came across it and found the door open, we entered. We met a number of people going to and fro across the courtyard, who hailed us in a friendly manner and then carried on their business. I wandered about taking in the extraordinary beauty of the place, and snapping the occasional picture. Finally, we ventured into one of the rooms to speak to a young man who was at desk working on his computer.
Turns out it wasn’t a museum or a hotel, as we’d been speculating: it was still being used as a residence by it’s owners. Oops. In testament to the extraordinary hospitality of the residents of Damascus, t
he owners had no problems with us coming in unannounced to wander about their home. They chatted with us pleasantly for a while and even offered us coffee.
Gotta love Arab hospitality.
I didn’t unfortunately get to visit one of the biggest, and perhaps best known of these small palaces – the Azm Palace. But I look forward to revisiting Damascus at some point again soon and will hope to correct that oversight then.
More coming soon!
Tags: courtyard, damascene, damascus, house, old city, palace, syria
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A Traditional Dance June 15th, 2010
These shots were taken on a day trip to Al Ain at the late Sheikh Zayed’s Palace, which is now a museum and open to the public.
I’d been wandering around the old oasis in the centre of town for a while, and every so often I would dimly hear traditional Emirati music and song. My first thought was that there must be a wedding some place nearby.
Once I had my fill of the oasis, I chose to visit the Palace before I made my way home. When I arrived and walked into the courtyard I realised that the music and song had been coming from here.
This was a rare privilege for me – it’s not every day you get to enjoy one of these beautiful traditional Emirati dances. To my chagrin, I only caught the last minutes of the very last performance before the traditional singers, musicians and dancers disbanded for the day.
It was a treat to watch as the musicians danced in time to the beat of the drums, jumping and twirling as they went, and the wall of singers on either side of the musicians swung their canes in unison to and fro as they sang, swaying.
It was a challenge to shoot as the light was fading fast. I ended up shooting at the widest aperture my lens would allow (3.5 at 24mm and 5.6 at 135mm), increasing ISO (to 640 from 200 as the light faded) and slowing the shutter speed as much as I could without losing (too much) sharpness (to 1/60sec). The low shutter speed also allowed me to get some movement blur as the musicians danced and beat their drums, and the singers swung their canes. These pictures are some of the shots I took in those few short minutes.
More coming soon!
Tags: Al Ain, arab, emirate, emirati traditional dance, emirati traditional song, oasis, palace, shaikh zayed, sheikh zayed, sheikh zayed palace, traditional dance, traditional song, UAE, united, united arab emirates, Zayed
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A South-Indian Wedding December 8th, 2009
Quite a few of you have been waiting for the Bangalore Wedding pictures.
So here they are!
As one of my fellow guests said: “Our eyes were full of colour”. I think the pictures speak for themselves so I’ll be keeping comments to a minimum.
I may just give some context - shamelessly lifted from a card we were given at one of the events which explained the festivities, rituals and their significance in brief.
The wedding ceremony starts with the bride being escorted in a procession to the Mantapam (the decorated stage on which the ceremony is to take place). Friends and family take part. The procession is led by bridesmaids carrying brass pots filled with rice and coconut on the left and bridesmen carrying ceremonial umbrellas on the right. I understand that generally, they are dressed in all manner of colours, but this time was different – the bridesmaids were in beautiful green saris, and the men in white silk robes. For the most part, that is. If I’m not mistaken there was one bridemaid alone who hadn’t been issued with her green sari – and wore a beautiful white one instead. The men also had one stand-out: Me. On my arrival, one of the bride’s uncles pulled me aside and handed me a ceremonial umbrella. When I objected, pointing out the red kurtha I wore, he said: “nevermind that, we want you here”. I couldn’t begin to express how touched I was by that gesture – at being asked to participate in, and not simply attend, my friend’s wedding.
Once the bride is settled on the Mantapam, and the groom arrives, he too is escorted along with his friends and family to the Mantapam in a procession led by the same bridesmaids and men. That complete, we were all led onto the Mantapam as well, and sat to the right of the stage to watch the ceremony. The wedding hall was massive, with seating perhaps for thousands in front of the stage, but I felt that it was a cosy ceremony in which there was just us, we few on the Mantapam.
Evidently, I took no pictures of the processions and the initial part of the ceremony as my camera wasn’t with me, and I couldn’t anyway. Ali – am so grateful to him – the fine gent to whom I’d handed the camera for safekeeping – came up to the stage and handed me the camera early on. Thanks to him, I got the chance to take these pictures you see here. And from a different angle to that of the photographers clustered stage front.
I was struck by how similar some of the rituals and concepts evident in this beautiful South Indian wedding are to those in other cultures. For instance – the raining of Akshatha (rice) on the happy couple – common to Christian and Muslim weddings. Also, the three rounds the couple effected around the holy fire during the wedding ceremony proper, which echoes the three rounds around the altar in some Christian (notably Orthodox and Greek Catholic) wedding ceremonies (called the Dance of Isaiah). I understand that this is a ritual that predates Christianity. The various explanations given for the three rounds in each culture and religion may vary, but the symbolism remains the same – the newlyweds taking their firsts steps together as one.
Anyway. Enough talk. Picture time!
Above, the entrance to Bangalore Palace on the morning of the wedding. Below, one of the line of drummers who greeted us at the entrance to the palace.
This lady’s long hair was bedecked in jasmine. A lovely sight.
One of the trumpeteers who preceded the bride.
The lovely bride, looking regal.
Here, the bride and groom after holy water was poured on their hands during the Dhare. The Dhare is the prayer ritual which follows the wedding ceremony proper. Prayers are offered to Agni, the Lord of Fire, who dispels darkness and leads the way to the light of wisdom and knowledge.
This is one of a series of saffron mounds, seen between the groom and bride. These were crushed by the bride during the ceremony.
An ecstatic bride and groom during the one of the rounds of the saptapadi (the seven rounds around the holy fire).
I loved that although the wedding was such a detail-rich series of rituals and symbolism, steeped in the traditions of a millenia-rich culture, there so much room for joy in it:
I can easily say it was the most beautiful and moving weddings I have yet attended.
In closing, here’s another picture from the Bangalore Palace grounds. Now, this isn’t strictly speaking wedding related – but the cannon was just sitting there outside the Palace gates, looking all cannon-y. Couldn’t resist. Hehe.
More pictures coming soon! Including pictures of my favourite wedding-related event – the giving away ceremony!
P.S. Any errors in the descriptions of the ceremony and rituals are mine own alone. Please do feel free to clarify if you like.
Tags: agni, akshatha, bangalore, bangalore palace, brass pot, bride, cannon, ceremonial umbrella, ceremony, christian, coconut, color, colour, dance of isaiah, drum, drummer, fire, greek catholic, groom, india, jasmine, kurtha, lord of fire, mantapam, muslim, orthodox, palace, prayer, procession, rice, ritual, saptapadi, sari, south, south indian, trumpet, trumpeteer, wedding
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