(March 4, 2012 at 6:08 pm)Rokcet Scientist Wrote: Are you blaming this board for being a party pooper?

LOL, no, blaming our resident and visiting theists for pooping on my party. I really do love the myths.

Well, I've seen some pretty stunning buildings, with wonderful stained glass. Not overly fond of the quietly-rotting cadavers in glass cases in some Italian churches I saw.

There is a vast amount of wonderful religious art.

As much as I love Michelangelo's Pieta in St Peter's, Donatello's Mary Magdalene in the Uffizi moved me to tears.(really)

The Book of Kells is Dublin is pretty amazing too.

Some Islamic illustrated manuscripts are sublime,as is some Islamic architecture such as the Taj Mahal.

However,I'm not entirely convinced the wonderful art makes up for the vile con game which is organised religion.

(March 4, 2012 at 8:07 pm)padraic Wrote: Some Islamic illustrated manuscripts are sublime,as is some Islamic architecture such as the Taj Mahal.

That's what I thought too for at least half a century. Until I found out (very recently) that the Taj Mahal is really a mud-brick building with 7 feet thick walls (including the dome), or else they would collapse. The marble covering is only a half inch deep 'veneer'.

But it's still as beautiful, mud-brick or not.

And it's black mirror image, on the other side of the river, is poetic genius.

Quote:And it's black mirror image, on the other side of the river, is poetic genius.

Indeed,or it would have been,had it been built.

I found the information below below about building materials used in the Taj:

Quote:Other materials which were used for the construction of Taj Mahal included different kind of bricks, Gaj-i-Shirin (sweet limestone), Khaprel or tiles, Qulba or Spouts to lead off water, San, Gum, Sirish-i-Kahli or reed glue, Gul-i-Surkh or red clay, Simgil (silver clay) and glass. The center and skeleton of the main building is made up of extra strong brick masonary in which massive white marble slabs, have been used on the headers and stretchers system to give it a white marble outlook. Country ingredients such as molasses; batashe (sugar-bubbles), belgiri-water, urd-pulse, curd, jute and Kankar (pieces of fossilized soil) were mixed with lime mortar to make it an ideal cementing material.

http://www.agraindia.org.uk/taj-mahal/ar...-used.html

(March 4, 2012 at 10:45 pm)padraic Wrote:

Quote:And it's black mirror image, on the other side of the river, is poetic genius.

Indeed,or it would have been,had it been built.

It was.
Only it wasn't a building, a physical mirror image, in black, of the white Taj as everybody assumed, but it was a large shallow reflecting pool! And when Shah Jahan stood at the far edge of the reflecting pool, at sunset, facing the white Taj, his beloved wife's mausoleum directly across the river, with the setting sun and lighter sky behind it, its mirror image, literally, in black, would be beautifully visible upside down in the reflecting pool.

Imo poetic genius.

The remains of the reflecting pool have been found.

Quote:The remains of the reflecting pool have been found.

Fascinating, I didn't know that. Do you have a reference?


As far as I'm aware,Shah Jihan originally planned to built a black marble replica on the opposite side of the river. This did not occur due to the cost and being deposed by his son Aurangzeb (1658)


Addendum: after doing some digging,it seems the notion of a real black Taj may be myth.

(March 5, 2012 at 12:05 am)padraic Wrote:

Quote:The remains of the reflecting pool have been found.

Fascinating, I didn't know that. Do you have a reference?

It was shown in a documentary on History Channel or the BBC or some such.
Obviously what remains of a 10 inch high pond wall isn't much, 4 centuries later. But there are visible bits left. That, and the location on a terrace directly opposite the Taj, plus a CGI reconstruction with the correct lighting where you could actually see the black Taj and the white Taj against the dusk sky from Jahan's viewpoint paint a very convincing picture.
That concept is one of today's must-have attractions for decadent luxury hotels in exotic locales: an "infinity pool". Only Jahan incorporated two aspects more brilliantly than in any "infinity pool" that I'm aware of: light and reflection.

Quote:As far as I'm aware,Shah Jihan originally planned to built a black marble replica on the opposite side of the river. This did not occur due to the cost and being deposed by his son Aurangzeb (1658)

That was the amalgamated explanation agreed on when they couldn't find any remains of a physical black Taj. Understandably, but erroneously, it turns out. A perfect example of history by committee!

Quote:Addendum: after doing some digging,it seems the notion of a real black Taj may be myth.

No, the black Taj wasn't a myth, the black Taj was real. Just not as a physical building. The two notions got mixed up.

The beautiful art, music and architecture has been mentioned. Many mythological stories are supreme works of imagination, and texts like the Bible and the Mahabharata include some of the finest literature ever written.

I enjoy the rituals of religion, and as a spiritual atheist enjoy participating in some of them. There is something really primal and basic-to-human-nature about them...perhaps it's the archetypes they evoke. I sometimes have what you might call "spiritual experiences" at these rituals, though that's not the only place I have them. I personally think it would be nice if humanity could keep the subjective mystical experiences and sense of community often found in these rituals, while rejecting the literal belief in them. I think that's the reason a lot of people are attracted to Wicca (I'll eat my head if most of them actually believe that stuff...).

Some (but not even close to most!) philosophical insights that came out of religions, especially Dharmic religions, are very profound.

(March 4, 2012 at 12:07 am)Rhythm Wrote: Admittedly, it'll be a lot easier to like when it's gone. Bit like in-laws in that regard.

LOL. Quoting for truth.

LOL, I'm a spiritual atheist myself...minus all the spirits. I used to attend (and participate) in pagan gatherings as well. I like to watch people do their thing..lol.

Quote:It has created some of the beautiful architecture in the western world.

A feat which predates xtianity by centuries.



Parthenon - Temple of Athena - Athens




Temple of Artemis - Ephesos



Pantheon - Rome