Bhaktapur Durbar Square

Bhaktapur (27.67°N 85.43°E. Also Bhadgaon or Khwopa) is an ancient Newari town in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It is located in Bhaktapur District and has approx. 78,000 inhabitants. The male inhabitants of this city wear a special type of cap called the Bhaad-gaaule topi. This city is famous for its yoghurt or curd ju-ju Dhau - king of curd.

Bhaktapur's main square, Durbar Square, houses the 55-window Palace which was constructed by King Bhupatindra Malla and was home to royalty until 1769. It is now a National Gallery. Close by is the Golden Gate which leads into Mulchok Court which is home to the Taleju Temple. This temple, like others in the main towns of the Kathmandu valley, is dedicated to the goddess Taleju Bhawani and includes shrines to the both Taleju Bhawani and Kumari. Entrance to the temple is restricted to Hindus and the goddess strictly cannot be photographed.

From time immemorial it lay on the trade route between Tibet/China and India. This position on the main caravan route made the town rich and prosperous: each autumn the traders from Tibet came with sheep ("changra"), fitting nicely with the main Nepali holidays, 'Dasain' (Hindi: Dussehra), when nearly everyone in Nepal sacrificed male animals to the goddess Durga. On the return trek the traders brought back to Tibet grains, sugar or Buddhist scriptures.

This prosperity fueled the cultural life: ie. the temple builders developed a Pagoda-style, spreading it through Tibet all the way to Japan. Finest of all is the five-tiered, heaven piercing Nyatapole.

Bhaktapur is a popular day-trip destination for tourists visiting Kathmandu. Lately, with more air-pollution in Kathmandu, more and more tourists are staying in Bhaktapur for a few days, before arrangements for trekking are finished. For foreign tourists the entry fee is NPR 750/$10; for nationals of SAARC-countries and China (sic!) the fee is NPR 50.

Lord Buddha

Lumbini(27° 28' 60N, 83° 16' 60E) (Sanskrit: लुम्बिनी, "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site located in Rupandehi District, Lumbini Zone of Nepal. It is the place where Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautam, who later became a Buddha (Gautam Buddha), and founded the religion of Buddhism. Gautam Buddha lived between approximately 623 BC and 544 BC.

Kapilvastu, the birth place of Buddha is 26 km to the West of Lumbini and approximately 12 km,to the South of East- West Highway (Mahendra Highway), and 19 km to the North of Indian border check post, Khunuwa. It is about 300 km. west of capital city Kathmandu. Kapilvastu, Rupandehi and Nawalparasi Terai districts of Lumbini Zone are around Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, which are fertile and densely populated.It has been the Shakya Kingdom where King Suddodhana, father of Lord Buddha, reigned, 2600 years ago.

Buddha, Known as the Lord of Asia, was born in Lumbini during the full moon day in the month of Baisakh in 623 BC. He was born under a sal (Shorea robusta) tree when Mayadevi was going to her maternal town on the occasion of delivery. Emerging from a bath with her face to the east, she leant her right arm on a sala tree. The Buddha was then born from her right side and immediately took seven steps—from which lotus flowers sprang up—in each of the four directions. To each direction he proclaimed as with a lion's roar: "I am the first, the best of all beings, this is my last birth.''

Main events in the life of Buddha:-
· Birth (Lumbini,Rupandehi) - 623 BC
· Marriage (Kapilavastu) - 608 BC
· Renunciation (Kapilavastu) - 595 BC
· Enlightenment (Bodh Gaya) - 589 BC
· 1st Year after Enlightenment (Sarnath) - 588 BC
· Death / Parinirvana at Kushinagar - 544 BC

Eternal Flame Symlolising the Peace.


The eight places of Buddha Pilgrimage:-
1. Lumbini—birthplace of the Buddha
2. Bodhgaya—site of Buddha's enlightenment
3. Sarnath—first turning of the Wheel of Dharma
4. Rajgir—second turning of the Wheel of Dharma
5. Shravasti—teachings in the Jetavana Grove
6. Sankashya—where Lord Buddha descended from Tushita Heaven
7. Nalanda—site of the great monastic university
8. Kushinagar—where Buddha entered mahaparinirvana








"Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha " was added to Unesco's World Heritage List in 1997. "
Country: Nepal
Theme: Religious structure, Buddhist




In general, 'Buddha' means 'Awakened One', someone who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and sees things as they really are. A Buddha is a person who is completely free from all faults and mental obstructions.There is nothing that Buddha does not know. Because he has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and has removed all obstructions from his mind, he knows everything of the past, present, and future, directly and simultaneously.

WHERE IS GOLD FOUND?

Rocks: Gold is present in tiny quantities in all igneous rocks. Some patches of rocks contain a high enough concentration of gold to make it worthwhile for companies to mine, crush, and chemically leach the metal from the ore. High -quality ore contains only about 30 grams of gold per ton of rock.

Reefs: On rare occasions gold is found in sheets or veins wedged between layers of quartz. This is known as reef gold.

Rivers: Over time, gold - bearing reefs that become exposed to sun, rain, and wind break down, releasing trapped gold, which then accumulates in creeks and rivers as tiny speaks, or flakes. In this form it is known as alluvial gold.

Earth's Surface: Odd -shaped clumps of gold that seem to form at random in the earth's surface are known as nuggets. These clumps can sometimes reach spectacular sizes. The largest gold nugget ever found in Australia was called The Welcome Stranger, and it weighed about 70 kilograms! It was discovered in 1869 in the Australia state of Victoria. Australia is the home of big nuggets, having yielded 23 of the 25 biggest nuggets ever discovered. Today gold nuggets, which can be as small as a match head, are more rare than gem -quality diamonds.

Collected from "Awake, September 22, 2005"

Dactylorhiza

Dactylorhiza is a genus of terresterial (ground-dwelling) plants from the orchid family (Orchidaceae). The name Dactylorhiza is derived from Greek words daktylos" (finger) and "rhiza" (root). This is because of the shape of the genus' two underground tubers. Dactylorhiza were previously classified under Orchis.

These orchids are distributed throughout the subarctic and temperate northern hemisphere : in Europe, from Scandinavia to North Africa; also on Madeira, Iceland, West Asia, North Asia, the Humalayas, North America and even in Alask.

These terrestrial orchids grow in basic soils in wet meadows, bogs, heathland and in areas sparsely populated by trees. They are tuberous geophytes. In a thickened underground stem, they can store a large amount of water to survive arid conditions.

The long leaves are lanceolate and, in most species, also speckled. They grow along a rather long stem which reaches a height of 70-90 cm. Leaves higher on the stem are shorter than leaves lower on the stem.The inflorescence, compared to the length of the plant, is rather short. It consists of a compact raceme with 25-50 flowers. These develop from axillary buds. The dominant colors are all shades of pink to red, sprinkled with darker speckles.

UTILITY OF RANDOM AMPLIFICATION OF POLYMORPHIC DNA -POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (RAPD-PCR) IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Seminar Presentation Abstract

Mahendra Chaudhary

22nd Dec ,2006

This presentation focuses on random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique and its utility in biological research .PCR, an in vitro replication of DNA, is used to amplify specific DNA fragments by a repeating cycle of denaturation, annealing and extension in an automated thermal cycler [1]. RAPD-PCR, a variation of general PCR where forward and reverse primers are used to amplify specific DNA segment, is used to amplify an unknown segment of DNA flanked by a single arbitrary primer [2] that is able to anneal and prime at multiple locations throughout the genome. Thus, a spectrum of amplified products is obtained on agarose gel electrophoresis characteristic to the chromosome of the organism. RAPD-PCR can be used to develop genome fingerprinting and, thus, high- resolution genetic maps for those organisms whose genetic markers are not known [3]. Hence, the technique can be used in forensic analysis. A series of RAPD primers can be used to develop RAPD markers useful to further categorize a given species. RAPD -PCR has been successfully used to detect genetic variation among Bacillus thuriengiensis serovars [4] and has been used to assay genetic diseases[5].

References:
1. Padmalatha k and Prasad MNV, (2006).Optimization of DNA isolation and PCR protocol for RAPD analysis of selected medicinal and aromatic plants of conservation concern from Peninsular India. African Journal of Biotechnology, 5(3), 230-234.

2. Singh BD, (1998). Recombinant DNA Technology In: Biotechnology, Kalyani Publishers, 28-36.

3. Mitchelson KR, Drenth J, Doung H, et al, (1999). Direct Sequencing of RAPD fragments Using 3' - extended oligonucleotide primers dye terminator cycle -sequencing. Nucleic Acid Research, 27(19), e28.

4. Adelaida M, Gaviri R and Priest FG, (2003). Molecular Typing of Bacillus thuringiensis Serovars by RAPD-PCR. System. Appl. Microbiol. 26, 254-261.

5. Olivier M, Meehi MA, and Lust G, (1999). RAPD Sequences as Markers for CanineGenetic Studies. The Amecian Genetic Association, 90, 78-82.

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It's me mahen!
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