The white mans grave

ArtphotoasiA · Mar 8, 2012

Hello forum!
Here some shoot done in a famous Chinese Buddhist temple in the island of Penang in Malaysia that in the old time was called white mans grave because the malaria problem.

The islands history is fascinating so I probably expected too much. The city of Georgetown/Penang is chaotic and smelly with cars stuck in traffic anywhere. The pollution is unsustainable and can barely breathe.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Comments and critiques always welcomed...
For the complete job, the story, and more details:

photos of Penang

Trever1t · Mar 8, 2012

I just love photos from distant lands and different cultures. Thanks for sharing

matthewo · Mar 8, 2012

number 4... is that swastikas on the wall tile?

snowbear · Mar 8, 2012

matthewo said:
number 4... is that swastikas on the wall tile?

Looks like it. They are ancient symbols, used by Buddhists for centuries.

banderson · Mar 9, 2012

snowbear said:
Looks like it. They are ancient symbols, used by Buddhists for centuries.

From what I understand, they are a symbol of peace.

ArtphotoasiA · Mar 9, 2012

Hi there, and thanks for all the comments.

Yes you right, swastikas are all over in Malaysia both in Chinese or Indian temple.

As you can see that symbol is not rotated, as in nazi, but is regular and I think mean the constant cycle of life of rebirths for Buddhist and Hindu

ArtphotoasiA · Mar 9, 2012

Trever1t said:
I just love photos from distant lands and different cultures. Thanks for sharing

You welcome, just added you in Flickr.

Trever1t · Mar 9, 2012

the Swastika is a Nazi symbol when rotated so that it's unbalanced and tetering on a 90* angle. The symbol is otherwise found in many cultures including American Indian cultures.

ArtphotoasiA · Mar 9, 2012

That is interesting.... I didn't know there was swastikas also in American Indian cultures.

Trever1t · Mar 9, 2012

Yes indeed. The Straight Dope: Was the swastika actually an old Native American symbol? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

It's pretty widespread throughout all ancinet cultures. There are many indicators that ancient man communicated and travelled a lot more between the continents than was commonly thought.

edit: I watch a lot of the History channel

o hey tyler · Mar 9, 2012

Trever1t said:
Yes indeed. The Straight Dope: Was the swastika actually an old Native American symbol? Swastika - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's pretty widespread throughout all ancinet cultures. There are many indicators that ancient man communicated and travelled a lot more between the continents than was commonly thought.

edit: I watch a lot of the History channel

The straight dope ftw.

shuttervelocity · Mar 9, 2012

ArtphotoasiA said:
Hi there, and thanks for all the comments.

Yes you right, swastikas are all over in Malaysia both in Chinese or Indian temple.

As you can see that symbol is not rotated, as in nazi, but is regular and I think mean the constant cycle of life of rebirths for Buddhist and Hindu

Thanks for sharing the pictures. You are correct about Swastika type symbols in the Hindu culture. but the ones in your picture seem to be the mirror reflection of the Hindu version. This is the hindu version with the Ganesha god in between.