November, 2021 - Rotaract Arts

Forspoken: Angkor Wat

By RotaractArts November 30, 2021 0

Towering over 699 feet above ground and spanning over 400 acres of Northern Cambodian land lies the largest religious monument in the world. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, Angkor Wat is the legacy of the Great Khmer Empire. The Khmer Dynasty, was founded by King Jayavarman the 2nd, who presented himself as the king of all kings, the universal monarch and thus was revered as a descendant of god, by his subjects. It is this reverence instilled in the population that fueled the construction of unimaginably massive monuments such as Angkor Wat, which, as per inscriptions, is said to have been built over 35 years with the labour of 300 000 men and 6000 elephants. Originally a…

Blog Series Editorial Forspoken

Forspoken: Taj Mahal

By RotaractArts November 25, 2021 0

Whenever you hear about India, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Among all those Bollywood songs, actors and Indian Sweets, Taj Mahal as an epitome of love and passion is most probably deep rooted in your hearts. Taj Mahal is the symbol of India’s rich culture and heritage. It was built by Shah Jahan in 1631 as a way of showing his devotion towards his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died on 7th June in the same year. Taj Mahal is declared by Rabindranath Tagore as ‘the tear-drop on the cheek of time’. Because it is cherished for its architecture, beauty and the grandeur. Moreover, Taj Mahal was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. However, this article…

Blog Series Editorial Forspoken

Forspoken: Easter Island

By RotaractArts November 23, 2021 0

Easter Island (indigenously known as Rapa Nui) which is a small island of 64 square miles in the South Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Chile, is best known for the unique cultural marvel to which it bears witness. The original Polynesian settlers who made this island their home, as far back as 300 A.D., also established a distinctive tradition of commemorative sculpture and architecture. The great stone figures erected by these early settlers in memory of their ancestors, were known as Moai Aringa Ora which means, ‘the living face of our ancestors’. Nearly 1,000 of these monumental statues remain in existence to this day, averaging 13 feet high and some even weighing as much as 80 tons. The largest…

Blog Series Editorial Forspoken

Forspoken: Great Pyramid Of Giza

By RotaractArts November 18, 2021 0

A trip to Egypt is indeed a bucket list-worthy tour. A camel ride under the sun along the bank of the longest river in the world, a walk among rich archeological sites that lay as the only reminiscences of a rich civilization, or better yet, as some say, the ruins of a lost civilization. Egypt indeed holds a special place in my heart as my first plane ride was a visit to Egypt. Among all the significant landmarks in Egypt, everybody remembers one monument as soon as they hear the name of the country: the pyramids. When I first saw huge blocks of rocks piled together in the shape of a pyramid, I was a six-year-old girl who was too…

Blog Series Editorial Enigma

Enigma: The Illuminati

By RotaractArts November 16, 2021 0

An odd feeling emerged in my mind as I started writing this article. But why? I guess what triggered me the most was the phrase “they are watching you” or descriptions that candidly supported the phrase, which was in almost every blog article I read and video I watched in reference to the Illuminati. Are they actually watching you (and me)? Well, let’s find out. It is no secret that the Illuminati has been one of the contentious topics and tenacious conspiracy theories in the world. In a modern and plausible way, the Illuminati can be described as a mystery, an elite global cult or an organization that sways the thoughts and actions of humans through fully or partially unknown…

Blog Series Editorial Enigma

Enigma: The Sodder Children

By RotaractArts November 11, 2021 1

The night before Christmas in 1945, Fayetteville, West Virginia, George Sodder and Jennie Sodder along with their nine children were sound asleep when a fire started in their house at around one o’clock in the morning. The parents along with four of their children managed to escape out of the burning house. Seeing that five of their children; Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie and Betty who shared two bedrooms upstairs between them, did not make it out safely, George Sodder broke back in to the house in a desperate attempt to save his five children who were stuck in the fire. Once he was back inside the burning house, he realized that the staircase was on fire and rushed out to…

Blog Series Editorial Enigma

Enigma: Bermuda Triangle

By RotaractArts November 9, 2021 0

This was first published in press and brought in front of the general eye by Vincent Gaddis in 1994 in his article published in Argosy magazine. He named it “The deadly Bermuda Triangle”. Is it a solved mystery as most newspaper headlines and some credible YouTube thumbnails claim it to be or is it still very much a location shrouded in mystery? Pull up your socks as I am going to walk you through some intense and interesting ideas. The Bermuda triangle, also known as the Devil’s Triangle is located off the Southeastern coast of the US in the Atlantic Ocean, between Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico, the region has become the center of unresolved mysteries. This is also referred…

Blog Series Editorial Enigma

Enigma: Jeannette DePalma

By RotaractArts November 4, 2021 0

One mundanely normal autumn day in Springfield, New Jersey, a woman walking her dog was about to meet with a gruesome surprise. Her dog, catching a whiff of something she did not quite register, ran off in the direction of the nearby Houdaille Quarry. What it returned with was about to turn this mundanely normal day completely upside down. Her dog had just dragged back the decomposing arm of Jeannette DePalma, a 16-year-old who had gone missing six weeks prior. Thus begins the decades long enigma that is Jeannette DePalma’s mysterious and perplexing death. Jeannette DePalma was born on August 3rd, 1956, to a family residing in idyllic Springfield, New Jersey. Many described the DePalmas as steadfast Christians, a trait…

Blog Series Editorial Enigma

Enigma: Area 51

By RotaractArts November 2, 2021 0

Area 51 has long been a hub of mystery for anyone interested in aliens, Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) and paranormal activity. It is located about 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas, somewhere between mile markers 29 and 30 along Nevada’s “Extraterrestrial Highway” lead by an unmarked dirt road. Buildings are not visible even from the asphalt road and this track leads to Groom Lake or Homey Airport and that is indicated on the civilian aviation maps. This is also considered to be a military base referred by many unofficial names: Paradise Ranch; Watertown; Dreamland Resort; Red Square; The Box; and The Ranch; Nevada Test and Training Range; Detachment 3, Air Force Flight Test Center and most commonly as Area 51. The…

Blog Series Editorial Enigma

Enigma: Jack The Ripper

By RotaractArts November 1, 2021 0

The population of East End in London during the Mid-19th Century saw a reconfiguration due to two events in the area. The first was the rapid migration of Irish immigrants as well as Jewish refugees fleeing East Europe. Secondly, it was the increased rates of homicides for which the mastermind behind some peculiar murders was Jack the Ripper, whose identity remains unknown to date. The unfortunate victims of these murders were predominantly sex workers in the slum area of London’s East End, in district of Whitechapel. While the brutal tactics used in the butchering of these women alone are haunting, they also shed light to critical social issues in London during the mid-1800s. From poverty, anti-Semitism, Gender Based Violence (GBV),…

Month: November 2021