Thanks to shifting international exchange rates, my South-West Africa: Wilderness and Wildlife Photo Tour set to start September 18 has been discounted by $1,000!
This brings the total cost to $9,500 (twin share) for 17 adventurous days.
For more information visit Academy Travel.
Meanwhile, enjoy my short video of Honey Badgers photographed at Okonjima Cheetah Rehabilitation Centre, one of the awesome stopovers on this tour...
Tuesday 8 April 2014
Tuesday 1 April 2014
Buddhist Sins at Haw Par Villa, Singapore
As if Wewurukannala temple in Sri Lanka was not gruesome enough, we visited the old Haw Par Villa in Singapore this morning and saw some of the equally weird statues and tableaux that populate the state run site.
Being of Buddhist origin, the stories depicted at Haw Par are mostly children's stories and fairy tales from various teachings. It also has a chamber of horrors called the Ten Courts of Hell (which features a warning at the gate that children have to be accompanied by an adult) depicting the fate of anyone that commits various sins. Like the temple in Sri Lanka, sinners' fates usually end up in some form of dismemberment, stabbing, burning or drowning (the latter in a wok of hot oil). I thought it more gruesome than Wewurukannala. Here are a few HDR and Grungtastic'd shots that I found particularly illustrative...
This is Pigsy (Zhu Bajie) is one of several mythological characters that populate Haw Par villa in Singapore |
Being of Buddhist origin, the stories depicted at Haw Par are mostly children's stories and fairy tales from various teachings. It also has a chamber of horrors called the Ten Courts of Hell (which features a warning at the gate that children have to be accompanied by an adult) depicting the fate of anyone that commits various sins. Like the temple in Sri Lanka, sinners' fates usually end up in some form of dismemberment, stabbing, burning or drowning (the latter in a wok of hot oil). I thought it more gruesome than Wewurukannala. Here are a few HDR and Grungtastic'd shots that I found particularly illustrative...
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Two seemingly drug-addled pandas |
Don't feed the bears. Moral of the tale of two boys lost in the woods is "A real friend won;t leave you in the lurch...". |
Knife in the head Moral of this story is, I think, three Panadol are better than two. |
A rat emergency Paramedic rats take a seriously gnawed case to ratty hospital. |
One of the denizens of the underworld there to deal with moral miscreants |
One of the less threatening statues at Haw Par Villa |
My favourite: gluttony, punished with a quick stake through the gut. |
Kitsch Devils at Wewurukannala Buddhist Temple
A couple of kilometres off the main road in the southern Sri Lankan town of Dikwella stands the Buddhist temple of Wewerukannala. It's not really signposted and as it's both off the old main road (and now kilometres off the new motorway), it gets precious few visitors. That said it's one of the most interesting of all the Buddhist temples on the island because of its collection of gruesome statues and cartoon illustrations.
The main rooms contain a reclining and a sitting Buddha. Both are about 30 feet high and quite impressive in their own right, perched on shoulder high platforms and surrounded by dozens of smaller (and lesser) statues all garishly painted. But round the back and underneath the huge 30 metre high seated Buddha lies a fabulously kitsch chamber of Buddhist horrors. The large room and underground tunnel is packed full of statues and cartoons depicting the punishments you are likely to get if you sin.
All possible sins are described in the illustrations - with the relevant punishment drawn in striking clarity underneath. Some are illustrated in the form of gruesome life-size statues. Most involve some type of extreme pain: stabbing, flaying, cutting or just burning on a fire. Though the explanations are in Sinhalese (and therefore lost on me), it's obvious that even the most simple misdemeanour requires the full force of the law. Even looking at another woman, married or not, seems to warrant losing a limb (with no anaesthetic of course) at the very least. It's enough to give kids nightmares!
The main rooms contain a reclining and a sitting Buddha. Both are about 30 feet high and quite impressive in their own right, perched on shoulder high platforms and surrounded by dozens of smaller (and lesser) statues all garishly painted. But round the back and underneath the huge 30 metre high seated Buddha lies a fabulously kitsch chamber of Buddhist horrors. The large room and underground tunnel is packed full of statues and cartoons depicting the punishments you are likely to get if you sin.
All possible sins are described in the illustrations - with the relevant punishment drawn in striking clarity underneath. Some are illustrated in the form of gruesome life-size statues. Most involve some type of extreme pain: stabbing, flaying, cutting or just burning on a fire. Though the explanations are in Sinhalese (and therefore lost on me), it's obvious that even the most simple misdemeanour requires the full force of the law. Even looking at another woman, married or not, seems to warrant losing a limb (with no anaesthetic of course) at the very least. It's enough to give kids nightmares!
Probably being punished for uttering non-Buddhist comments. Hopefully this fate befalls politicians. Seems like an apt punishment for telling porkies... |
The front part of Wewurukannala temple is almost normal, with a range if brightly painted Buddhist statues and some nice murals in the background. |
A reclining Buddha in the same hall with quite a beautiful mural immediately behind. |
Another statue detail of a male character who is not Sinhalese but probably a trader. |
Another demonic close-up... |
This is a gruesome penalty; being sawn in half with a hand-operated bow saw - and it looks so easy! |
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