title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: In the late 1960s, following a demonstration of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier on the Italian Navy ("Marina Militare") helicopter carrier , the country began investigating the possibility of acquiring the Harrier. Early efforts were hindered by a 1937 Italian law that prohibited the navy from operating fixed-wing aircraft because they were the domain of the air force. In early 1989, the law was changed to allow the navy to operate any fixed-wing aircraft with a maximum weight of over 3,300 lb (1,500 kg). Following a lengthy evaluation of the Sea Harrier and AV-8B, an order was placed for two TAV-8Bs in May 1989. Soon, a contract for a further 16 AV-8B Plus aircraft was signed. After the TAV-8Bs and the first three AV-8Bs, all subsequent Italian Navy Harriers were locally assembled by Alenia Aeronautica from kits delivered from the U.S. The two-seaters, the first to be delivered, arrived at Grottaglie in August 1991. They were used for proving flights with the navy's helicopter carriers and on the light aircraft carrier .


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: In early 1994, the initial batch of U.S.-built aircraft arrived at MCAS Cherry Point for pilot conversion training. The first Italian-assembled Harrier was rolled out the following year. In mid-January 1995, "Giuseppe Garibaldi" set off from Taranto to Somalia with three Harriers on board to maintain stability following the withdrawal of UN forces. The Harriers, flown by five Italian pilots, accumulated more than 100 flight hours and achieved 100% availability during the three-month deployment, performing reconnaissance and other missions. The squadron returned to port on 22 March.


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: In 1999, Italian AV-8Bs were used for the first time in combat missions when they were deployed aboard "Giuseppe Garibaldi", which was participating in Operation Allied Force in Kosovo. Italian pilots conducted more than 60 sorties alongside other NATO aircraft, attacking the Yugoslav army and paramilitary forces and bombing the country's infrastructure with conventional and laser-guided bombs.


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: In 2000, the Italian Navy was looking to acquire 7 additional remanufactured aircraft to equip "Giuseppe Garibaldi" and a new carrier, . Existing aircraft, meanwhile, were updated to allow them to carry AIM-120 AMRAAMs and Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs. From November 2001 to March 2002, eight AV-8Bs were embarked aboard "Giuseppe Garibaldi" and were deployed to the Indian Ocean in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The aircraft, equipped with LGBs, operated throughout January and February 2002, during which 131 missions were logged for a total of 647 flight hours.


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: In 2011, Italian Harriers, operating from "Giuseppe Garibaldi", worked alongside Italian Typhoons and aircraft of other nations during Operation Unified Protector, part of the 2011 military intervention in Libya. They conducted airstrikes as well as intelligence and reconnaissance sorties over Libya, using the Litening targeting pods while armed with AIM-120 AMRAAMs and AIM-9 Sidewinders. In total, Italian military aircraft delivered 710 guided bombs and missiles during sorties: Italian Air Force Tornados and AMX fighter bombers delivered 550 bombs and missiles, while the eight Italian Navy AV-8Bs flying from "Giuseppe Garibaldi" dropped 160 guided bombs during 1,221 flight hours.


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: Italian Navy AV-8Bs are slated to be replaced by 15 (originally 22) F-35Bs, which will form the air wing of "Cavour".


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: Spain, already using the AV-8S Matador, became the first international operator of the AV-8B by signing an order for 12 aircraft in March 1983. Designated VA-2 Matador II by the Spanish Navy ("Armada Española"), this variant is known as EAV-8B by McDonnell Douglas. Pilot conversion took place in the U.S. On 6 October 1987, the first three Matador IIs were delivered to Naval Station Rota. The new aircraft were painted in a two-tone matte grey finish, similar to U.S. Navy aircraft, and deliveries were complete by 1988.


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: BAe test pilots cleared the aircraft carrier for Harrier operations in July 1989. The carrier, which replaced the World War II-era , has a 12° ski-jump ramp. It was originally planned that the first unit to operate the aircraft would be the "8 Escuadrilla". This unit was disbanded on 24 October 1986, following the sales of AV-8S Matadors to Thailand. Instead, "9 Escuadrilla" was formed on 29 September 1987, to become part of the Alpha Carrier Air Group and operate the EAV-8B.


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: In March 1993, under the September 1990 Tripartite MoU between the U.S., Italy, and Spain, eight EAV-8B Plus Matadors were ordered, along with a twin-seat TAV-8B. Deliveries of the Plus-standard aircraft started in 1996. On 11 May 2000, Boeing and the NAVAIR finalized a contract to remanufacture Spanish EAV-8Bs to bring them up to Plus standard. Boeing said the deal required it to remanufacture two EAV-8Bs, with an option for another seven aircraft; other sources say the total was 11 aircraft. The remanufacture allowed the aircraft to carry four AIM-120 AMRAAMs, enhanced the pilot's situational awareness through the installation of new radar and avionics, and provided a new engine. Eventually, 5 aircraft were modified, the last having been delivered on 5 December 2003.


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: Spanish EAV-8Bs joined Operation Deny Flight, enforcing the UN's no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Spain did not send its aircraft carrier to participate in the Iraq War in 2003, instead deploying F/A-18s and other aircraft to Turkey to defend that country against potential Iraqi attacks. Starting in 2007, Spain was looking to replace its Harrier IIs—with the likely option being the F-35B. The Spanish government, in May 2014 however, announced that it had decided to extend the aircraft's service life to beyond 2025 due to a lack of funds for a replacement aircraft.


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: Following the decommissioning of "Príncipe de Asturias" in February 2013, the sole naval platform from which Spanish Harrier IIs can operate is the amphibious assault ship .


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: During its service with the USMC, the Harrier has had an accident rate three times that of the Corps' F/A-18s. , approximately 110 aircraft have been damaged beyond repair since the type entered service in 1985, the first accident occurring in March 1985. The "Los Angeles Times" reported in 2003 that the Harrier family had the highest rate of major accidents among military aircraft in service at that time, with 148 accidents and 45 people killed. Author Lon Nordeen notes that several other USMC single-engine strike aircraft, like the A-4 Skyhawk and A-7 Corsair II, had higher accident rates.


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: Accidents have in particular been connected to the proportionate amount of time the aircraft spends taking off and landing, which are the most critical phases in flight. The AV-8 was dubbed a "widow maker" by some in the military. Further analysis shows that U.S. Marine senior officers never understood the uniqueness of the aircraft. Cutbacks in senior maintenance personnel and pilot mistakes had a disastrous effect on the safety of the American-operated AV-8B and unfairly gained it a negative reputation in the U.S. press.


title: McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

text: As part of its 1996 Pepsi Stuff marketing campaign, Pepsi ran an advertisement promising a Harrier jet to anyone who collected 7 million Pepsi Points, a gag that backfired when a participant attempted to take advantage of the ability to buy additional points for 10 cents each to claim a jet for US$700,000. When Pepsi turned him down, a lawsuit ensued, in which the judge ruled that any reasonable person would conclude that the advertisement was a joke.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: Cheon Soo-yeon (born Cheon Seong-im on 15 August 1981), professionally known by her stage name Song Ji-hyo, is a South Korean actress and model. Song is one of the regular cast members of the South Korean variety show "Running Man" since 2010, which brought her international recognition. She was a cover model for Kiki Magazine before she made her acting debut in the feature film "Wishing Stairs" (2003), the third installment in the "Whispering Corridors film series". She made her television debut in the romantic comedy "Princess Hours" (2006) and the historical "Jumong" (2006). Song then received wider recognition for her roles in the film "A Frozen Flower" (2008), "New World" (2013), the TV series "Emergency Couple" (2014) and "Was It Love?" (2020), and her first-ever film released after the start of the pandemic COVID-19 since March 2020 in South Korea, "Intruder" (2020), which received a positive response from moviegoers even though it was released during the pandemic.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: Song Ji-hyo was born as Cheon Seong-im on 15 August 1981, in Pohang, North Gyeongsang. Her mother swam competitively for South Korea. She has a younger sister and a younger brother, Cheon Seong-moon, an actor. Song dreamed of becoming an actress during her high school years after watching Park Shin-yang in the 1998 South Korean film, "Promise". She graduated with a degree in tax accounting from Kyungmoon University (now Kookje College). Before entering the acting industry, Song was cast while working a part-time job at a cafe.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: Before Song debuted as an actress, she was a model for Kiki Magazine. She chose "Song Ji-hyo" as her stage name because she was inspired by the two famous actors Song Seung-heon and Song Hye-kyo, both main protagonists of "Autumn in My Heart". Song then appeared in the music videos of Lee Soo-young's "And I Love You" and JTL's "Just Say Goodbye". She also made a cameo appearance in the television series "Age of Innocence".


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: Song made her feature film debut in "Wishing Stairs" (2003), the third installment of the horror "Whispering Corridors film series", after beating out 3000 actors in an audition. Then she was nominated for the Best New Actress at the 24th Blue Dragon Film Awards for her performance in the film. She starred in the crime thriller "Some" (2004), where she played a reporter.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: Song made her television debut in the romantic comedy, "Princess Hours" (2006), where she played a ballet dancer who dreams to be a ballerina. The series became hit across Asia, contributing to the Korean Wave. In the same year, she played the role of Lady Ye So-ya, the first wife of Jumong and the mother of King Yuri in the historical television series "Jumong" (2006). The series was a commercial hit, receiving the highest viewership ratings of all the Korean dramas that aired in 2006. Song experienced a rise in popularity and was nominated for Best New Actress in the TV category at the 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards for her performance.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: The following year, Song starred as a swimming champion who has a painful past in the comedy film "Sex Is Zero 2" (2007), the sequel to "Sex Is Zero" (2002) opposite Im Chang-jung. She also co-hosted SBS' music show "Inkigayo", with Heechul of Super Junior from 11 November 2007 to 4 May 2008. Song then portrayed the role of Queen in Yoo Ha's film "A Frozen Flower" (2008), alongside Jo In-sung and Joo Jin-mo. The film became one of the highest-grossing films of 2008, and led to increased recognition for Song. She later commented about the film and her nude scenes, "When I decided to do this film, nudity was not the central issue. How much I expose is not important to me; I thought without that scene, it would be difficult to portray the subtle changes in emotion. What mattered to me at the time was working on my facial expressions apart from the posture that the director wanted me to convey".


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: Song has been a member of the urban action variety show "Running Man" since 2010. She was requested to join by PD Kim Joo-hyung or also known as Myeok PD, whom she worked with while hosting "Inkigayo". She appeared in the show as a guest from episode 2 to episode 5 then became a regular member in episode 6.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: After her contract ended with Namoo Actors, Song signed with C-JeS Entertainment in early 2011 and appeared in Choo Chang-min's film "Late Blossom" (2011). The film is based on the comic "I Love You" by web cartoonist Kang Full. She reunited with "Jumong" co-star Song Il-gook in the police procedural television series "Detectives in Trouble" (2011) where she played a role as a reporter. Later in the year, she starred in the historical television series "Gyebaek" (2011) as the Queen of King Uija. In November, she was appointed as promotional ambassador for the Ministry of Education along with label-mates JYJ. Song then co-starred alongside Kim Jae-joong of JYJ in the action comedy "" (2012) where she played a clumsy assassin.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: The following year, Song participated in dubbing for the animated film "Maritime Police Marco" (2013) alongside fellow "Running Man" cast Lee Kwang-soo, and played a detective in Park Hoon-jung's crime film "New World" (2013). She also starred opposite Lee Dong-wook as a royal nurse in the historical television series "The Fugitive of Joseon" (2013).


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: Song took on the leading role in the medical romantic comedy television series "Emergency Couple" (2014) co-starring Choi Jin-hyuk, playing a divorced medical intern who encounters her ex-husband of an ugly divorce at an emergency room. Song also collaborated with NBA in a collaboration titled "NBA X Song Ji Hyo", which she released her own cap series called "CHO.2".


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: In 2015, Song starred in the romantic comedy series "Ex-Girlfriends' Club" opposite Byun Yo-han as a film producer. She also featured and appeared in Taiwanese singer and actor Kenji Wu's music video "You Are So Cute".


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: In 2016, Song was cast alongside Taiwanese actor Chen Bolin in the reality variety show "We Are In Love", the Chinese version of "We Got Married". Song then starred in two Chinese films, the romantic drama "708090" opposite Kenji Wu and the action comedy "Super Express". She then made her small-screen comeback, starring in the remake of a Japanese television series "Listen to Love" co-starring Lee Sun-kyun. In December, Song signed with the management agency, My Company, after ending her contract with C-JeS Entertainment.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: She next starred in the web series "29gram" and acted in the one-act drama "Chief B and the Love Letter" co-starring Jo Woo-jin. Song produced and launched her first own reality program "I Am Jyo Unnie" in December 2017.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: In 2018, Song starred in the romantic comedy film "What a Man Wants" alongside Lee Sung-min, Shin Ha-kyun, and Lee El. She co-hosted beauty program "Song Ji Hyo's Beautiful Life" and a reality program "Pajama Friends". Song was also cast in the romance horror drama "Lovely Horribly" alongside Park Si-hoo, which premiered in August.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: In 2019, Song was cast in the mystery thriller film "Intruder" alongside Kim Mu-yeol. In October, Song signed with Creative Group ING after her contract with My Company ended in September. In November, Song was cast as female lead of JTBC drama Was It Love? alongside Kim Min-jun, Son Ho-jun, Song Jong-ho and Koo Ja-sung, which premiered in July 2020.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: On 2 February 2021, Song was confirmed as the female lead for TVING web series "The Witch's Diner" which premiered in 2021.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: Song revealed on a May 2017 episode of "Running Man" that she had changed her birth name from "Cheon Seong-im" to "Cheon Soo-yeon" because "a lot of people recognize it nowadays".


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: In 2001, Song made her debut as magazine cover model and has appeared in various commercials such as Boryeong Pharmaceutical's Nook, Paris Baguette, LG Household & Health Care's Cash Cat, Lotte Confectionery's Natuur Ice Cream, HiteJinro, SK Telecom's TTL, Pantene shampoo, and Nongshim's raw udon.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: On 5 April 2006, Song signed an exclusive contract with Enprani to advertise their comestics brand Natural Bee, the contract was worth million which was considered unprecedented treatment for a newcomer. A representative revealed that Song was chosen due to her "ability to express a variety of emotions from an intelligent image to cute feelings".


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: On 2 May 2017, Song was selected as the muse for Shinsegae's premium cosmetic brand, Vidivici. A representative revealed that Song was chosen for her "eight colors of charm, from a natural and fresh image to a luxurious and elegant atmosphere" that represented the brand's various images.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: On 13 December 2021, Song was announced as an endorsement model for Nexus Pharma's Glutanex in Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: In 2014, it was announced that Song Ji Hyo was working with the NBA to release her own cap series called “CHO.2” in a collaboration called, “NBA X Song Ji Hyo.” “CHO.2” stands for two Chinese characters that sum up her motto “to never lose the original heart so that you will do everything.”


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: On April 30, 2016, Song Jihyo walked her First-Ever fashion runway With Hong Jonghyun as the main models of the Hallyu collaboration fashion show “Very Korean,” which featured Korean designer brands like katiacho sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Foundation for Cultural Exchange which was held in Beijing, China.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) acknowledged that Song Ji-hyo not only demonstrated her influence and her popularity throughout Asia, but also her significant role in the spread of Hallyu's commercial success. On 10 May, KOTRA conducted a survey with a report titled '2018 Asian Regional Marketing Indicator Research', for residents and businessmen in 9 Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, and Singapore). She took first place in five questions: Famous Korean Person I Want to Meet in Person, Korean Figure Who Represents Technological Korea, Korean Figure Who Most Close Resembles My Type, Korean Figure Who Represents Quality Korean Products, and Korean Figure Who Reminds Me of Korean Products I Want To Buy. She was selected as the best Hallyu star in Southeast Asia.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: Song have been cited as a role model for volleyball athlete Sara Hong, actress Park Eun-woo, actress Seo Jin-young, and Japanese model's Sato Moeka. UNB's Euijin, actor Lee Tae-hwan and Olympic figure skater Cha Jun-hwan mentioned her as an ideal type.


title: Song Ji-hyo

text: In 2021, Song was selected as one of the 200 actors to feature in the Korean actors 200 campaign, run by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). The goal of the methodical project is to select actors that best represent the present and future of Korean film and introducing them to film people overseas.


title: Ur

text: Ur (; Sumerian: , , or "Urim"; "Uru"; ; ) was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar () in south Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate. Although Ur was once a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, the coastline has shifted and the city is now well inland, on the south bank of the Euphrates, from Nasiriyah in modern-day Iraq. The city dates from the Ubaid period circa 3800 BC, and is recorded in written history as a city-state from the 26th century BC, its first recorded king being Mesannepada.


title: Ur

text: The city's patron deity was Nanna (in Akkadian, Sin), the Sumerian and Akkadian moon god, and the name of the city is in origin derived from the god's name, UNUG, literally "the abode (UNUG) of Nanna". The site is marked by the partially restored ruins of the Ziggurat of Ur, which contained the shrine of Nanna, excavated in the 1930s. The temple was built in the 21st century BC (short chronology), during the reign of Ur-Nammu and was reconstructed in the 6th century BC by Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon. The ruins cover an area of northwest to southeast by northeast to southwest and rise up to about above the present plain level.


title: Ur

text: The city, said to have been planned by Ur-Nammu, was apparently divided into neighbourhoods, with merchants living in one quarter, artisans in another. There were streets both wide and narrow, and open spaces for gatherings. Many structures for water resource management and flood control are in evidence. Houses were constructed from mudbricks and mud plaster. In major buildings, the masonry was strengthened with bitumen and reeds. For the most part, foundations are all that remain today. People were often buried (separately and alone; sometimes with jewellery, pots, and weapons) in chambers or shafts beneath the house floors.


title: Ur

text: Ur was surrounded by sloping ramparts high and about wide, bordered in some places by a brick wall. Elsewhere, buildings were integrated into the ramparts. The Euphrates River complemented these fortifications on the city's western side.


title: Ur

text: Archaeological discoveries have shown unequivocally that Ur was a major Sumerian urban center on the Mesopotamian plain. Especially the discovery of the Royal Tombs has confirmed its splendour. These tombs, which date to the Early Dynastic IIIa period (approximately in the 25th or 24th century BC), contained an immense treasure of luxury items made of precious metals and semi-precious stones imported from long distances (Ancient Iran, Afghanistan, India, Asia Minor, the Levant and the Persian Gulf). This wealth, unparalleled up to then, is a testimony of Ur's economic importance during the Early Bronze Age.


title: Ur

text: Archaeological study of the region has contributed greatly to our understanding of the landscape and long-distance interactions during these ancient times. Ur was a major port on the Persian Gulf, which extended much farther inland than today, and the city controlled much of the trade into Mesopotamia. Imports to Ur came from many parts of the world: precious metals such as gold and silver, and semi-precious stones, namely lapis lazuli and carnelian.


title: Ur

text: It is thought that Ur had a stratified social system including slaves (captured foreigners), farmers, artisans, doctors, scribes, and priests. High-ranking priests apparently enjoyed great luxury and splendid mansions. Tens of thousands of cuneiform texts have been recovered from temples, the palace, and individual houses, recording contracts, inventories, and court documents, evidence of the city's complex economic and legal systems.


title: Ur

text: Excavation in the old city of Ur in 1929 revealed the Lyres of Ur, instruments similar to the modern harp but in the shape of a bull and with eleven strings.


title: Ur

text: When Ur was founded, the Persian Gulf's water level was two-and-a-half metres higher than today. Ur is therefore thought to have had marshy surroundings; irrigation would have been unnecessary, and the city's evident canal system was likely used for transportation. Fish, birds, tubers, and reeds might have supported Ur economically without the need for an agricultural revolution sometimes hypothesized as a prerequisite to urbanization.


title: Ur

text: Archaeologists have discovered the evidence of an early occupation at Ur during the Ubaid period (c. 6500 to 3800 BC). These early levels were sealed off with a sterile deposit of soil that was interpreted by excavators of the 1920s as evidence for the Great Flood of the Book of Genesis and Epic of Gilgamesh. It is now understood that the South Mesopotamian plain was exposed to regular floods from the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, with heavy erosion from water and wind, which may have given rise to the Mesopotamian and derivative Biblical Great Flood stories.


title: Ur

text: The further occupation of Ur becomes clear only during its emergence in the third millennium BC (although it must already have been a growing urban center during the fourth millennium). As other Sumerians, the new settlers of Ur were a non-Semitic people who may have come from the east circa 3300 BC, and spoke a language isolate. The third millennium BC is generally described as the Early Bronze Age of Mesopotamia, which ends approximately after the demise of the Third Dynasty of Ur in the 21st century BC.


title: Ur

text: There are various main sources informing scholars about the importance of Ur during the Early Bronze Age. The First Dynasty of Ur seems to have had great wealth and power, as shown by the lavish remains of the Royal Cemetery at Ur. The Sumerian King List provides a tentative political history of ancient Sumer and mentions, among others, several rulers of Ur. Mesannepada is the first king mentioned in the Sumerian King List, and appears to have lived in the 26th century BC. That Ur was an important urban centre already then seems to be indicated by a type of cylinder seal called the City Seals. These seals contain a set of Proto-Cuneiform signs which appear to be writings or symbols of the name of city-states in ancient Mesopotamia. Many of these seals have been found in Ur, and the name of Ur is prominent on them. Ur came under the control of the Semitic-speaking Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon the Great between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC. This was a period when the Semitic-speaking Akkadians, who had entered Mesopotamia in approximately 3000 BC, gained ascendancy over the Sumerians, and indeed much of the ancient Near East.


title: Ur

text: After a short period of chaos following the fall of the Akkadian Empire the third Ur dynasty was established when the king Ur-Nammu came to power, ruling between c. 2047 BC and 2030 BC. During his rule, temples, including the Ziggurat of Ur, were built, and agriculture was improved through irrigation. His code of laws, the "Code of Ur-Nammu" (a fragment was identified in Istanbul in 1952) is one of the oldest such documents known, preceding the Code of Hammurabi by 300 years. He and his successor Shulgi were both deified during their reigns, and after his death he continued as a hero-figure: one of the surviving works of Sumerian literature describes the death of Ur-Nammu and his journey to the underworld.


title: Ur

text: Ur-Nammu was succeeded by Shulgi, the greatest king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, who solidified the hegemony of Ur and reformed the empire into a highly centralized bureaucratic state. Shulgi ruled for a long time (at least 42 years) and deified himself halfway through his rule.


title: Ur

text: The Ur empire continued through the reigns of three more kings with Semitic Akkadian names, Amar-Sin, Shu-Sin, and Ibbi-Sin. It fell around 1940 BC to the Elamites in the 24th regnal year of Ibbi-Sin, an event commemorated by the Lament for Ur.


title: Ur

text: According to one estimate, Ur was the largest city in the world from c. 2030 to 1980 BC. Its population was approximately 65,000 (or 0.1 per cent share of global population then).


title: Ur

text: The city of Ur lost its political power after the demise of the Third Dynasty of Ur. Nevertheless, its important position which kept on providing access to the Persian Gulf ensured the ongoing economic importance of the city during the second millennium BC. The city came to be ruled by the first dynasty (Amorite) of Babylon which rose to prominence in southern Mesopotamia in the 19th century BC. After the fall of Hammurabi's short lived Babylonian Empire, it later became a part of the Sealand Dynasty for several centuries. It then came under the control of the Kassites in the 16th century BC.


title: Ur

text: The city, along with the rest of southern Mesopotamia and much of the Near East, Asia Minor, North Africa and southern Caucasus, fell to the north Mesopotamian Neo-Assyrian Empire from the 10th to late 7th centuries BC. From the end of the 7th century BC Ur was ruled by the so-called Chaldean Dynasty of Babylon. In the 6th century BC there was new construction in Ur under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. The last Babylonian king, Nabonidus (who was Assyrian-born and not a Chaldean), improved the ziggurat. However, the city started to decline from around 530 BC after Babylonia fell to the Persian Achaemenid Empire, and was no longer inhabited by the early 5th century BC. The demise of Ur was perhaps owing to drought, changing river patterns, and the silting of the outlet to the Persian Gulf.


title: Ur

text: Ur is possibly the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim patriarch Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic), traditionally believed to have lived some time in the 2nd millennium BC. There are however conflicting traditions and scholarly opinions identifying Ur Kasdim with the sites of Şanlıurfa, Urkesh, Urartu or Kutha.


title: Ur

text: The biblical Ur is mentioned four times in the Torah or Old Testament, with the distinction "of the Kasdim/Kasdin"—traditionally rendered in English as "Ur of the Chaldees". The Chaldeans had settled in the vicinity by around 850 BC, but were not extant anywhere in Mesopotamia during the 2nd millennium BC period when Abraham is traditionally held to have lived. The Chaldean dynasty did not rule Babylonia (and thus become the rulers of Ur) until the late 7th century BC, and held power only until the mid 6th century BC. The name is found in Genesis 11:28, Genesis 11:31, and Genesis 15:7. In Nehemiah 9:7, a single passage mentioning Ur is a paraphrase of "Genesis."


title: Ur

text: In 1625, the site was visited by Pietro Della Valle, who recorded the presence of ancient bricks stamped with strange symbols, cemented together with bitumen, as well as inscribed pieces of black marble that appeared to be seals. European archaeologists did not identify Tell el-Muqayyar as the site of Ur until Henry Rawlinson successfully deciphered some bricks from that location, brought to England by William Loftus in 1849.


title: Ur

text: The site was first excavated in 1853 and 1854, on behalf of the British Museum and with instructions from the Foreign Office, by John George Taylor, British vice consul at Basra from 1851 to 1859. Taylor uncovered the Ziggurat of Ur and a structure with an arch later identified as part of the "Gate of Judgment".


title: Ur

text: In the four corners of the ziggurat's top stage, Taylor found clay cylinders bearing an inscription of Nabonidus ("Nabuna`id"), the last king of Babylon (539 BC), closing with a prayer for his son Belshar-uzur (Bel-ŝarra-Uzur), the Belshazzar of the Book of Daniel. Evidence was found of prior restorations of the ziggurat by Ishme-Dagan of Isin and Shu-Sin of Ur, and by Kurigalzu, a Kassite king of Babylon in the 14th century BC. Nebuchadnezzar also claims to have rebuilt the temple.


title: Ur

text: Taylor further excavated an interesting Babylonian building, not far from the temple, part of an ancient Babylonian necropolis. All about the city he found abundant remains of burials of later periods. Apparently, in later times, owing to its sanctity, Ur became a favorite place of sepulchres, so that even after it had ceased to be inhabited, it continued to be used as a necropolis. Typical of the era, his excavations destroyed information and exposed the tell. Natives used the now loosened, 4,000-year-old bricks and tile for construction for the next 75 years, while the site lay unexplored, the British Museum having decided to prioritize archaeology in Assyria.


title: Ur

text: After Taylor's time, the site was visited by numerous travellers, almost all of whom have found ancient Babylonian remains, inscribed stones and the like, lying upon the surface. The site was considered rich in remains, and relatively easy to explore. After some soundings were made in 1918 by Reginald Campbell Thompson, H. R. Hall worked the site for one season for the British Museum in 1919, laying the groundwork for more extensive efforts to follow.


title: Ur

text: Excavations from 1922 to 1934 were funded by the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania and led by the archaeologist Sir Charles Leonard Woolley. A total of about 1,850 burials were uncovered, including 16 that were described as "royal tombs" containing many valuable artifacts, including the Standard of Ur. Most of the royal tombs were dated to about 2600 BC. The finds included the unlooted tomb of a queen thought to be Queen Puabi—the name is known from a cylinder seal found in the tomb, although there were two other different and unnamed seals found in the tomb. Many other people had been buried with her, in a form of human sacrifice. Near the ziggurat were uncovered the temple E-nun-mah and buildings E-dub-lal-mah (built for a king), E-gi-par (residence of the high priestess) and E-hur-sag (a temple building).


title: Ur

text: Outside the temple area, many houses used in everyday life were found. Excavations were also made below the royal tombs layer: a layer of alluvial clay covered the remains of earlier habitation, including pottery from the Ubaid period, the first stage of settlement in southern Mesopotamia. Woolley later wrote many articles and books about the discoveries. One of Woolley's assistants on the site was the British archaeologist Max Mallowan.


title: Ur

text: The discoveries at the site reached the headlines in mainstream media in the world with the discoveries of the Royal Tombs. As a result, the ruins of the ancient city attracted many visitors. One of these visitors was the already famous Agatha Christie, who as a result of this visit ended up marrying Max Mallowan. During this time the site was accessible from the Baghdad–Basra railway, from a stop called "Ur Junction".


title: Ur

text: In 2009, an agreement was reached for a joint University of Pennsylvania and Iraqi team to resume archaeological work at the site of Ur. Excavations began in 2015 under the direction of Elizabeth C Stone and Paul Zimansky of the State University of New York. The first excavation season was primarily to re-excavate Woolley's work in an Old Babylonian housing area with two new trenches for confirmation. Among other finds a cylinder seal, a cuneiform tablet, and balance pan weights were found. A similar though smaller dig was made in a Neo-Babylonian housing area.


title: Ur

text: When the Royal Tombs at Ur were discovered, their size was unknown. Excavators started digging two trenches in the middle of the desert to see if they could find anything that would allow them to keep digging. They split into two teams - A and team B. Both teams spent the first few months digging a trench and found evidence of burial grounds by collecting small pieces of golden jewelry and pottery. This was called the "gold trench". After the first season of digging finished, Woolley returned to England. In Autumn, Woolley returned and started the second season. By the end of the second season, he had uncovered a courtyard surrounded by many rooms. In their third season of digging archaeologists had uncovered their biggest find yet, a building that was believed to have been constructed by order of the king, and a second building thought to be where the high priestess lived. As the fourth and fifth season came to a close, they had discovered so many items that most of their time was now spent recording the objects they found instead of actually digging objects. Items included gold jewelry, clay pots and stones. One of the most significant objects was the Standard of Ur. By the end of their sixth season they had excavated 1850 burial sites and deemed 17 of them to be "Royal Tombs". Some clay sealings and cuneiform tablet fragment were found in an underlying layer.


title: Ur

text: Woolley finished his work excavating the Royal Tombs in 1934, uncovering a series of burials. Many servants were killed and buried with the royals, who he believed went to their deaths willingly. Computerized tomography scans on some of the surviving skulls have showed signs that they were killed by blows to the head that could be from the spiked end of a copper axe, which showed Woolley's initial theory of mass suicide via poison to be incorrect.


title: Ur

text: Inside Puabi's tomb there was a chest in the middle of the room. Underneath that chest was a hole in the ground that led to what was called the "King's Grave": PG-789. It was believed to be the king's grave because it was buried next to the queen. In this grave, there were 63 attendants who were all equipped with copper helmets and swords. It is thought to be his army buried with him. Another large room was uncovered, PG-1237, called the "Great death pit". This large room had 74 bodies, 68 of which were women. There were only two artifacts in the tomb, both of which were Lyres.


title: Ur

text: Most of the treasures excavated at Ur are in the British Museum, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Baghdad Museum. At the Penn Museum the exhibition "Iraq's Ancient Past", which includes many of the most famous pieces from the Royal Tombs, opened to visitors in late Spring 2011. Previously, the Penn Museum had sent many of its best pieces from Ur on tour in an exhibition called "Treasures From the Royal Tombs of Ur." It traveled to eight American museums, including those in Cleveland, Washington and Dallas, ending the tour at the Detroit Institute of Art in May 2011.


title: Ur

text: Though some of the areas that were cleared during modern excavations have sanded over again, the Great Ziggurat is fully cleared and stands as the best-preserved and most visible landmark at the site. The famous Royal tombs, also called the Neo-Sumerian Mausolea, located about south-east of the Great Ziggurat in the corner of the wall that surrounds the city, are nearly totally cleared. Parts of the tomb area appear to be in need of structural consolidation or stabilization.


title: Ur

text: There are cuneiform (Sumerian writing) on many walls, some entirely covered in script stamped into the mud-bricks. The text is sometimes difficult to read, but it covers most surfaces. Modern graffiti has also found its way to the graves, usually in the form of names made with coloured pens (sometimes they are carved). The Great Ziggurat itself has far more graffiti, mostly lightly carved into the bricks. The graves are completely empty. A small number of the tombs are accessible. Most of them have been cordoned off. The whole site is covered with pottery debris, to the extent that it is virtually impossible to set foot anywhere without stepping on some. Some have colours and paintings on them. Some of the "mountains" of broken pottery are debris that has been removed from excavations. Pottery debris and human remains form many of the walls of the royal tombs area. In May 2009, the United States Army returned the Ur site to the Iraqi authorities, who hope to develop it as a tourist destination.


title: Ur

text: Since 2009, the non-profit organization Global Heritage Fund (GHF) has been working to protect and preserve Ur against the problems of erosion, neglect, inappropriate restoration, war and conflict. GHF's stated goal for the project is to create an informed and scientifically grounded Master Plan to guide the long-term conservation and management of the site, and to serve as a model for the stewardship of other sites.


title: Ur

text: Since 2013, the institution for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs DGCS and the SBAH, the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, have started a cooperation project for "The Conservation and Maintenance of Archaeological site of UR". In the framework of this cooperation agreement, the executive plan, with detailed drawings, is in progress for the maintenance of the Dublamah Temple (design concluded, works starting), the Royal Tombs—Mausolea 3rd Dynasty (in progress)—and the Ziqqurat (in progress). The first updated survey in 2013 has produced a new aerial map derived by the flight of a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) operated in March 2014. This is the first high-resolution map, derived from more than 100 aerial photograms, with an accuracy of 20 cm or less. A preview of the ORTHO-PHOTOMAP of Archaeological Site of UR is available online.


title: Ur

text: Since 2012, a joint team of Italian and Iraqi archaeologists led by Franco D'Agostino have been excavating at Tal Abu Tbeirah, located 15 kilometers east of Ur and 7 kilometers south of Nasariyah (30° 98′


title: Ur

text: The site, about 45 hectares in area divided into four sectors by an ancient channel, appears to have been a harbor and trading center associated with Ur in the later half of the 3rd Millennium BC. The site was a medium sized city in the Early Dynastic period but shrank down to a small area in the northeast sector in the Ur III and Old Babylonian periods. Among the finds was a large perforated potter's wheel and two bricks inscribed with the name of Ur III king Amar-Sin.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: Rupert William Penry-Jones (born 22 September 1970) is a British actor, known for his performances as Adam Carter in "Spooks", Clive Reader in "Silk", DI Joseph Chandler in "Whitechapel", and Mr Quinlan in the American horror series "The Strain".


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: Penry-Jones was born in London, the son of Welsh actor Peter Penry-Jones and English actress Angela Thorne. His brother, Laurence Penry-Jones, is an actor turned ambulance driver who is married to actress Polly Walker.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: On BBC One's "Who Do You Think You Are?", broadcast in August 2010, it was revealed that Penry-Jones' maternal grandfather, William, had served with the Indian Army Medical Corps at the Battle of Monte Cassino and that his earlier ancestors had a long-standing connection with the Indian Army. Penry-Jones also discovered that he had Indian ancestry from the early 19th century.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: Penry-Jones was educated at Dulwich College in Dulwich, London, until the age of 19 when he was enrolled at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: Penry-Jones made his London stage debut at the Hackney Empire theatre in 1995 playing Fortinbras to Ralph Fiennes's Hamlet in an Almeida production of "Hamlet". He was cast as Richard in the premiere staging of Stephen Poliakoff's "Sweet Panic" at Hampstead Theatre in 1996. The following year he appeared in both "The Paper Husband" at Hampstead Theatre and as the upper-class Pip Thompson in a revival of Arnold Wesker's "Chips with Everything" on the Lyttelton stage at the Royal National Theatre.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: In 1998, he created the role of the Boy in Edward Albee's "The Play About the Baby" at the Almeida Theatre. In 1999, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon, playing the title role in "Don Carlos" at The Other Place theatre and Alcibiades in "Timon of Athens" at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Both productions transferred to the Barbican Centre in London in 2000, where his performance as Don Carlos won the Ian Charleson Award. At the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, in 2001 he was cast as Robert Caplan in J.B. Priestley's thriller "time-play" "Dangerous Corner" opposite Dervla Kirwan, who played Olwen Peel. The production then transferred for a four-month run at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End. From July to October 2003 at the National's Cottesloe Theatre he played the leading role of Louis XIV in Nick Dear's historical drama "Power". Penry-Jones returned to the theatre at the end of 2009 playing the role of Carl in Michael Wynne's new play "The Priory" at the Royal Court Theatre, London, from 19 November 2009 to 16 January 2010.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: On television, Penry-Jones has played barrister Alex Hay in C4's ten-part serial "North Square" in 2000; Donald Maclean in the BBC's four-part production of "Cambridge Spies" in 2003; and Grimani in Russell T. Davies' production of "Casanova" in 2005. In 2004, he joined the cast in series 3 of the BBC's BAFTA-winning series "Spooks". He played the lead role of section leader Adam Carter for four series before leaving the show in 2008. He won a ITV3 Crime Thriller Award for his role in "Spooks" in 2008. He also went on to play the role of Captain Wentworth in ITV's adaptation of "Persuasion".


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: In 2008, he starred with Bradley Whitford and Neve Campbell in "Burn Up" playing an oil executive who becomes embroiled in the politics surrounding global warming and oil stocks. He played Richard Hannay in the BBC adaptation of "The 39 Steps" which was screened at Christmas 2008.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: In February 2009, Penry-Jones took the lead in an ITV drama, "Whitechapel", a three-part thriller based on the copycat killings of Jack the Ripper. "Whitechapel" was the highest-performing new drama in 2009. A second series of the show based around the Kray twins was broadcast in autumn 2010; the third series began in January 2012. The fourth and last series aired in September 2013.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: Penry-Jones was scheduled to appear alongside other celebrities in , but broke a bone in his knee during training, putting him in a plaster cast and ruling him out of the final match on 6 June 2010.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: Penry-Jones was also cast opposite Maxine Peake in a legal drama "Silk" created by Peter Moffat. The show revolves around two barristers, played by Penry-Jones and Peake who are competing to become QCs. Series 2 aired in 2012 and Series 3 premiered on 24 February 2014. He also joined the cast of the film "A Little Chaos" with Kate Winslet as Antoine. The film was directed by Alan Rickman.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: In August 2020, the release of the first trailer for "The Batman" revealed that he had an as-yet unannounced role in the film, later reported to be that of Gotham City Mayor Don Mitchell, Jr.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: In March 2022, Penry-Jones starred as Mike/Toby in ITV 1's drama "Our House" alongside Martin Compston and Tuppence Middleton.


title: Rupert Penry-Jones

text: Penry-Jones married Irish actress Dervla Kirwan in August 2007, following a three-year engagement. They had met in 2001 at a production of J. B. Priestley "Dangerous Corner". They have two children. His brother Laurence is married to TV and film actress Polly Walker.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramakrishna Paramahansa (; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886), also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya, was an Indian Hindu mystic and religious leader; who after adhering to various religious practices from the Hindu traditions of Bhakti yoga, Tantra, and Advaita Vedanta, as well as from Islam and Christianity, proclaimed the world's various religions as "so many paths to reach one and the same goal", thus validating the essential unity of religions. Ramakrishna's followers came to regard him as an avatara, or divine incarnation, as did some of the prominent Hindu scholars of his day.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramakrishna, who experienced spiritual ecstasies from a young age, started his spiritual journey as a priest at the Dakshineshwar Kali Temple, built by Rani Rashmoni. Soon his mystical temperament gained him widespread acclaim amongst the general public as a Guru, attracting to him various religious teachers, social leaders, Bengali elites, and common people alike; initially reluctant to consider himself a guru, he eventually taught his disciples, who later formed the monastic Ramakrishna Order. After his demise, his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda popularized his ideas, and founded the Ramakrishna Math, which provides spiritual training for monastics and householder devotees, and the Ramakrishna Mission, to provide charity, social work and education.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Sri Ramakrishna was born on 18 February 1836, in the village of Kamarpukur, in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, India, into a very poor and pious Bengali Brahmin family. He was the fourth and the youngest child of his parents. His father, Khudiram Chattopadhyaya, was born in 1775, and his mother, Chandramani Devi, was born in 1791. The couple's first son, Ramkumar, is said to be born in 1805. A daughter, Katyayani, was born five years later, and a second son, Rameswar, in 1826.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Chandramani Devi was Khudiram's second wife, as his first wife had died young. Khudiram had ancestral property in Dere Village of West Bengal, India. A unscrupulous landlord, Ramananda Roy, who was angry with Khudiram for refusing to commit perjury, brought a false petition against him in the court and took possession of his ancestral property. Bereft of all property, Khudiram and Chandramani Devi moved to Kamarpukur where a friend, Sukhlal Goswami, gifted them one Bigha and ten Chataks of land for their maintenance.


title: Ramakrishna

text: The parents of Ramakrishna are said to have experienced supernatural incidents and visions regarding his birth. In Gaya, his father Khudiram had a dream in which Bhagwan Gadadhara (a form of lord Vishnu) told him that he would be born as his son. Chandramani Devi is said to have had a vision of light entering her womb from the lingam in Yogider Shiv Mandir. In another vision following Ramakrishna's birth, his mother saw a strange tall person lying in the bed instead of the baby Ramakrishna.


title: Ramakrishna

text: The family was devoted to the Hindu deity Rama (the family deity was Sri Raghubir, an epithet of Rama), and the male children of Khudiram and Chandramani were given names that started with Ram or Rama: Ramkumar, Rameswar, and Ramakrishna. There has been some dispute about the origin of the name Ramakrishna, but there is "...evidence which proves beyond doubt that the name 'Ramakrishna' was given to him by his father..." Ramakrishna confirmed this himself, as recorded in "M"s diaries, "I was a pet child of my father. He used to call me Ramakrishnababu."


title: Ramakrishna

text: Around the age of six or seven, Ramakrishna experienced his first moment of spiritual trance. One morning, while walking along the narrow ridges of a paddy field, eating some puffed rice from a small basket, he came across the sight of a flock of milky white cranes, flying against the background of heavy rain laden black clouds, which soon covered the entire sky. The ensuing sight was so beautiful that he got absorbed into it and lost all his outer consciousness, before falling down with the rice scattered all over. People nearby who saw this, came to his rescue and carried him home.


title: Ramakrishna

text: At age nine, in accordance with Brahminical tradition, the sacred thread was vested on him, thus making him eligible for conducting ritual worship. He would later help his family in performing worship of their deities. As a result of his devotion in worship, he started to experience Bhava-Samadhi or Savikalpa-Samadhi. He reportedly had experiences of a similar nature a few other times in his childhood—while worshipping the Goddess Vishalakshi, and portraying the God Shiva in a drama during the Shivaratri festival.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramakrishna was sent to the village school where he learned to read and write, but he had an aversion to arithmetic, and didn't progress beyond simple addition, multiplication and division. He read the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and other religious books with devotion. But he observed the scholars and found that they were only interested in acquiring wealth and contrasted this with his father's standards of detachment and righteous conduct. So he later lost interest in this "bread-winning education". He instead became proficient in making images, acting and painting. When he was fourteen years old, he started a drama group with some of his friends and left school to pursue it. Ramakrishna had practically no formal education and spoke ungrammatical imperfect Bengali with a rustic accent.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Kamarpukur, being a transit-point on well-established pilgrimage routes to Puri, brought him into contact with renunciate saints and holy men. He became well-versed in the "Puranas", the "Ramayana", the "Mahabharata", and the "Bhagavata Purana", hearing them from the wandering monks and the "Kathaks"—a class of men in ancient India who preached and sang the "Purāṇas". He used to sing and enact the songs and scenes from the "Purāṇas" to the village women. A trader, Durgadas Pyne, who enforced a strict purdah on the women in his household, criticised those who met Ramakrishna to listen to the "Purāṇas". Ramakrishna argued with him that women can only be protected through good education and devotion to God, and not through Purdah. A challenge was thrown by Durgadas that it was impossible to look into his inner apartments. Ramakrishna accepted the challenge and dressed himself like a weaver woman, then fooled Durgadas with his disguise and entered the inner apartments of his house. Durgadas, defeated, allowed the women to go and listen to Ramakrishna's recitals.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramakrishna's father died in 1843, a loss which he felt very strongly, making him more reticent. Ramakrishna was about seven and half years at this time. Sometimes, visiting the nearby cremation ground alone, he would practice spiritual disciplines there. At this stage, the family responsibilities fell on his elder brother, Ramkumar, who was about thirty-one years older than him. When Ramakrishna was in his teens, as the family's financial position worsened, Ramkumar started a Sanskrit school in Calcutta (Jhama pukur lane), whilst also serving as a priest there. Ramakrishna moved to Calcutta in 1852 along with his brother to assist him in the priestly work.


title: Ramakrishna

text: In 19th century Calcutta, there lived Rani Rasmani, a feisty and wealthy widow with four daughters. She was the first of many prominent women who played a major role in the life of Ramakrishna. Inheriting property from her husband, she managed to endear herself to the people of the city through her exceptional managerial skills of the estate, resistance against the British authorities and through her various philanthropic works. Well known for her kindness, benevolence to the poor, and also for her religious devotion, she was much loved and revered by all, and proved herself to be worthy of the title, "Rani" Being an ardent devotee of the Goddess Kali, she had the words, "Sri Rasmani Dasi, longing for the Feet of Kali”, inscribed in her estates official seal. After having a vision of the Goddess Kali, in a dream on the night before her departure for a pilgrimage to the Hindu holy city of Kashi, she founded the now famous Dakshineswar Kali Temple. Reportedly in the dream, the goddess instructed her that instead of visiting Kashi, she had better set up a stone idol of the Goddess at a beautiful place on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, and make arrangements for the daily worship and Prasada offering there; then she would manifest in the deity and receive her worship.


title: Ramakrishna

text: With great delight, the Rani bought a large piece of land on the banks of Hooghly river at Dakshineswar and started the construction of the nine-spired temple, where pilgrims could congregate to catch a glimpse of the Goddess. However being born into a "Cāsi kaivarta" family, she was deemed unworthy by local Brahmins to make food offerings to Kali. But it was her heart's desire to offer Prasada to the deity of Kali, and if she did so going against the norms of brahmanical society of that time, then no devotees would visit that temple, nor would a kulin Brahmin priest officiate there. To find a scriptural solution to her problem, the Rani sought the written opinions of various pandits from different parts of the country, however none of them were in her favor. When all hope was seemingly lost, she received a letter from Ramkumar, who assured her that scriptural principles would be observed intact if she made a gift of the property to a Brahmin, who could then install the deity and make arrangements for food offerings. No blemish would then be incurred by anyone who partook of the Prasada there. When she agreed to these conditions she displayed savviness in working around the rigidities of caste privileges while apparently adhering to its restrictions.


title: Ramakrishna

text: The Rani decided to consecrate the temple and proceeded with her plans. While the search for priest was on, a Brahmin named Mahesh chandra Chattopadhyaya, who worked on the estate of the Rani, and her secretary Ramdhan Ghosh, both of whom were well acquainted with Ramkumar, requested him to officiate as a priest at the Rani's temple, albeit temporarily.


title: Ramakrishna

text: The devout Ramkumar agreed, and when Rani installed the black Kali image on the last day of May, 1855, he became her chief priest.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramkumar informed Ramakrishna about his taking up the post of the priest and asked Ramakrishna to stay in the Kali Temple. Ramakrishna objected strenuously and reminded Ramkumar that their father never officiated in the ceremonies of the purported 'lower castes', but the will of Ramkumar prevailed in this matter. In spite of having Brahmanical authority since beginning, every religious Hindu, irrespective of caste, creed and class, had access to this temple.


title: Ramakrishna

text: On Thursday, May 31, 1855 — Ramkumar, in the presence of his brother Ramakrishna, officiated at the dedication ceremony of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple. Within three months after the consecration of the temple, Mathur Babu, the Rani's right-hand man, much impressed by Ramakrishna, appointed him with the task of dressing the deity of Kali, and Hriday, the sixteen year old nephew of Ramakrishna, as an assistant to both him and Ramkumar. Ramkumar began to teach his brother the mode of worship and service of the Goddess in the hope that he might perform them in his absence. To initiate him properly, a Sadhaka of Shakti, named Kenaram Bhattacharya, was invited. He was apparently charmed to see the religious fervor in Ramakrishna, who became ecstatic as soon as a mantra was recited in his ear.


title: Ramakrishna

text: In order to get him accustomed, Ramkumar later employed Ramakrishna on few occasions to perform the worship of Kali. As Ramkumar grew old and infirm to carry out the difficult duties at the Kali temple, Mathur, with the permission of the Rani, requested him to move to the Vishnu temple in the complex for conducting worship, and appointed Ramakrishna to the office of priest. Ramkumar was glad with this arrangement, and after serving for one year since the consecration of the temple, he died suddenly while preparing to go home on leave, in 1856.


title: Ramakrishna

text: At age 20, Ramakrishna who by now had witnessed more than one death in his family, realising the utter impermanence of life, became more engrossed in the worship of the Mother. After the daily worship, he would sit in the temple looking intently at the deity and get absorbed in her, before losing himself in devotion whilst singing with a profound emotion the songs composed by devotees like Ramprasad and Kamalakanta. He regarded their songs as an aid in his worship, and was certain about getting the vision of the Mother as Ramprasad did. With an ardent heart he would say, "Thou showed thyself to Ramprasad, Mother, why then shouldst Thou not reveal Thyself to me? I don't want wealth, friends, relatives, enjoyment of pleasure, and the like. Do show Thyself to me." Being averse to wasting any time, after the closure of temple during midday or at night, he would visit the nearby jungle to think and meditate on the Mother.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Before meditating, he would put down his clothes and the sacred thread aside, and meditate completely naked. When Hriday, his nephew, found this out, he confronted him to ask him to explain his strange conduct. Ramakrishna explained to him that when one thinks about God, one should be free from all attachments and the eight servitudes of "hatred, fear, shame, aversion, egoism, vanity, noble descent, and good conduct." He viewed his sacred thread as a display of the ego, of his Brahmin descent, and thus kept it aside, saying when calling upon the Mother, one should discard all such bondages and call on Her with a focused mind. He assured his nephew that he would put them on after the end of his meditation. Hriday was aghast at hearing this and left him in dismay.


title: Ramakrishna

text: In this way, he spent his days and nights altogether in prayer, singing, and meditation, while his longing for her vision kept increasing daily. It was not long before people around the temple started noticing his passion and adherence in devotion, which was quite unperturbed by the opinions of people around him. The Rani was informed by her son-in-law, Mathur thus: "We have got an extraordinary worshipper; the Goddess will be awakened very soon".


title: Ramakrishna

text: As the days passed, Ramakrishna's food intake and sleep gradually declined, and when not engaged in either worship or meditation, he was seen to be in a state of turmoil over whether he would have a vision of the Mother. Seeing the evening sun, he would cry, "Mother, another day is gone and still I have not seen you!" Eventually he would question, "Are you true, Mother, or is it all a fabrication of my mind, mere poetry without reality? If you do exist, why can't I see you?"


title: Ramakrishna

text: In time, his longing for her vision became extreme, and he was engaged in either worship or meditation for almost twenty-four hours a day. Despaired, and feeling an unbearable pain at the thought that he might never have her vision, one day, as he later recounted: "In my agony I said to myself, 'What is the use of this life?' Suddenly my eyes fell on the sword that hangs in the temple. I decided to end my life with it then and there. Like a madman I ran to it and seized it. And then — I had a marvellous vision of the Mother and fell down unconscious." He became overwhelmed, and before fainting, observed that to his spiritual sight — houses, doors, temples and everything else around vanishing into an empty void and "What I saw, was a boundless infinite conscious sea of light! However far and in whatever direction I looked, I found a continuous succession of effulgent waves coming forward, raging and storming from all sides with a great speed. Very soon they fell on me and made me sink to the unknown bottom. I panted, struggled and fell unconscious. I did not know what happened then in the external world — how that day and the next slipped away. But, in my


title: Ramakrishna

text: heart of hearts, there was flowing a current of intense bliss, never experienced before, and I had the immediate knowledge of the light that was Mother." When he regained consciousness, he was found, uttering the word ""ma"" (Mother) repeatedly in an aching voice.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Thoroughly convinced of her existence, Ramakrishna now lived at her abode, all the time, and like a child disinclined to leave its mother, so was he disinclined to leave his Divine Mother. Hovering in an ocean of bliss, he guided various seekers to the Mother, realising one cannot experience it anywhere but from Her. When asked why he called the deity a "Mother", he answered that it was because the child is most free with the Mother, and she alone can cherish the child more than anyone else. People around him noted that he engaged in talks of spiritual matters alone and never any worldly issues, and while talking about Kali the Divine Mother, he would simply cry and be elated. When someone once asked him about Kali worship, he said:


title: Ramakrishna

text: "I do not worship Kali made of clay and straw. My Mother is the conscious principle. My Mother is pure Satchidananda — Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. That which is infinite and deep is always dark-coloured. The extensive sky is dark-coloured and so is the deep sea. My Kali is infinite, all-pervading, and consciousness itself."


title: Ramakrishna

text: Rumors spread to Kamarpukur that Ramakrishna become unstable as a result of his spiritual practices at Dakshineswar. Ramakrishna's mother and his elder brother, Rameswar, decided to get Ramakrishna married, thinking that marriage would be a good steadying influence upon him — by forcing him to take up responsibilities, and keep his attention on normal affairs rather than on his spiritual practices and visions. Ramakrishna himself mentioned that they would find the bride at the house of Ramchandra Mukherjee in Jayrambati, three miles to the north-west of Kamarpukur. The five-year-old bride, Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya (later known as Sarada Devi; she is also considered an avatar) was found, and the marriage was duly solemnised in 1859. Ramakrishna was twenty-three at this point, but this age difference for marriage was typical for nineteenth-century rural Bengal. They later spent three months together in Kamarpukur when Sarada Devi was fourteen, and Ramakrishna thirty-two. Ramakrishna became a very influential figure in Sarada's life, and she became a strong follower of his teachings. After the marriage, Sarada stayed at Jayrambati and joined Ramakrishna in Dakshineswar at the age of eighteen.


title: Ramakrishna

text: By the time his bride joined him, Ramakrishna had already embraced the monastic life of a sannyasi; the marriage was never consummated. As a priest, Ramakrishna performed the ritual ceremony – the "Shodashi Puja" in his room, where he worshipped his wife, Sarada Devi as the "Divine Mother". Ramakrishna regarded Sarada Devi as the Divine Mother in person, addressing her as the Holy Mother, and it was by this name that she was known to Ramakrishna's disciples. Sarada Devi outlived Ramakrishna by thirty-four years and played an important role in the nascent religious movement.


title: Ramakrishna

text: As a part of practicing a spiritual mood, called "mādhurā bhavā sādhana", Ramakrishna dressed and behaved as a woman. Disciple Mahendranath Gupta quotes the Master as follows:How can a man conquer passion? He should assume the attitude of a woman. I spent many days as the handmaid of God. I dressed myself in women's clothes, put on ornaments and covered the upper part of my body with a scarf, just like a woman. With the scarf on, I used to perform the evening worship before the image. Otherwise, how could I have kept my wife with me for eight months? Both of us behaved as if we were the handmaid of the Divine Mother.


title: Ramakrishna

text: In 1860, Ramakrishna returned to Dakshineswar and was again caught up in a spiritual tempest, forgetting his wife, home, body, and surroundings. He once described his experiences during this most tumultuous period of his life thus:


title: Ramakrishna

text: "No sooner had I passed through one spiritual crisis than another took its place. It was like being in the midst of a whirlwind, even my sacred thread was blown away. I could seldom keep hold of my dhoti [cloth]. Sometimes I would open my mouth, and it would be as if my jaws reached from heaven to the underworld. "Mother!" I would cry desperately. I felt I had to pull her in, as a fisherman pulls in fish with his dragnet. A prostitute walking the street would appear to me to be Sita, going to meet her victorious husband. An English boy standing cross-legged against a tree reminded me of the boy Krishna, and I lost consciousness. Sometimes I would share my food with a dog. My hair became matted. Birds would perch on my head and peck at the grains of rice which had lodged there during the worship. Snakes would crawl over my motionless body. An ordinary man couldn't have borne a quarter of that tremendous fervour; it would have burnt him up. I had no sleep at all for six long years. My eyes lost the power of winking. I stood in front of a mirror and tried to close my eyelids with my finger and I couldn't! I got frightened and said to Mother: "Mother, is this what happens to those who call on you? I surrendered myself to you, and you gave me this terrible disease!" I used to shed tears — but then, suddenly, I'd be filled with ecstasy. I saw that my body didn't matter — it was of no importance, a mere trifle. Mother appeared to me and comforted me and freed me from my fear."


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramakrishna grew up practicing Bhakti towards Lord Rama and his duties as a priest at the Dakshineswar temple led him to practice worship of Mother Kali. While serving as a temple priest at Dakshineswar, Ramakrishna would encounter various itinerant sadhus who would visit his place and stay there for a while. Practicing their own modes of worship, several of them initiated Ramakrishna into various schools of Hinduism.


title: Ramakrishna

text: In the year 1861, a female ascetic named Bhairavi Brahmani initiated Ramakrishna into Tantra. Afterwards, he took up the practise of vatsalya bhava (attitude of a Parent towards the divine child) under a Vaishnava guru named Jatadhari. In 1865, a Vedanta monk named Tota Puri initiated Ramakrishna into sannyasa and he attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi, considered as culmination of spiritual practices. In 1866, Govinda Roy, a Hindu guru who practised Sufism, initiated Ramakrishna into Islam, further in 1873, Ramakrishna practiced Christianity and had the Bible read to him.


title: Ramakrishna

text: After more than a decade of sadhana in various religious paths, each culminating in the realization of God by that path, his personal practices settled, and he is said to have remained in bhavamukha, a level of blissful samadhi. He would meditate in the Panchavati (a wooded and secluded area of the Dakshineswar Temple grounds), go to the Kali temple to offer flowers to the Mother, and wave incense to the assorted deities and religious figures, whose pictures hung in his room.


title: Ramakrishna

text: At some point in the period between his vision of Kali and his marriage, Ramakrishna practised "dāsya bhāva", during which he worshiped Rama with the attitude of Hanuman, who is considered to be the ideal devotee and servant of Rama. According to Ramakrishna, towards the end of this "sadhana", he had a vision of Sita, the consort of Rama, merging into his body.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Bhairavi Brahmani, an ascetic who used to carry with her the "Raghuvir Shila" - a stone idol representing lord Rama and all Vaishnava deities, who is also well versed in the texts of Gaudiya Vaishnavism stated that Ramakrishna was experiencing a phenomenon that accompanies "mahabhava", the supreme attitude of loving devotion towards the divine, and quoting from the "bhakti shastras", she stated that other religious figures like Radha and Chaitanya had similar experiences.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Tantra focuses on the worship of "shakti" and the object of tantric training is to transcend the barriers between the holy and unholy as a means of achieving liberation and to see all aspects of the natural world as manifestations of the divine "shakti".


title: Ramakrishna

text: In the year 1861, an itinerant middle-aged female ascetic named Bhairavi Brahmani initiated Ramakrishna into Tantra. Under her guidance, Ramakrishna went through sixty-four major tantric sadhanas which were completed in 1863. For all the sixty-four sadhana, he took only three days each to complete. He began with mantra rituals such as japa and purascarana and many other rituals designed to purify the mind and establish self-control. He later proceeded towards tantric sadhanas, which generally include a set of heterodox practices called "vamachara" (left-hand path), which utilise as a means of liberation, activities like eating of parched grain, fish and meat along with drinking of wine and sexual intercourse. According to Ramakrishna and his biographers, Ramakrishna did not directly participate in the last two of those activities (some even say he didn't indulge in meat eating), all that he needed was a suggestion of them to produce the desired result. Ramakrishna acknowledged the left-hand tantric path, though it had "undesirable features", as one of the "valid roads to God-realization", he consistently cautioned his devotees and disciples against associating with it.


title: Ramakrishna

text: The Bhairavi also taught Ramakrishna the "kumari-puja", a form of ritual in which the Virgin Goddess is worshipped symbolically in the form of a young girl. Under the tutelage of the Bhairavi, Ramakrishna also learnt Kundalini Yoga. The Bhairavi, with the yogic techniques and the tantra, played an important part in the initial spiritual development of Ramakrishna.


title: Ramakrishna

text: In 1864, Ramakrishna practised "vātsalya bhāva" under a Vaishnava guru Jatadhari. During this period, he worshipped a small metal image of Ramlālā (Rama as a child) in the attitude of a mother. According to Ramakrishna, he could feel the presence of child Rama as a living God in the metal image.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramakrishna later engaged in the practice of "madhura bhāva", the attitude of the Gopis and Radha towards Krishna. During the practise of this "bhava", Ramakrishna dressed himself in women's attire for several days and regarded himself as one of the Gopis of Vrindavan. According to Ramakrishna, "madhura bhava" is one of the ways to root out the idea of sex, which is seen as an impediment in spiritual life. According to Ramakrishna, towards the end of this "sadhana", he attained "savikalpa samadhi" (god seen with form and qualities)—vision and union with Krishna.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramakrishna visited Nadia, the home of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu, the fifteenth-century founders of Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava bhakti. According to Ramakrishna, he had an intense vision of two young boys merging into his body while he was crossing the river in a boat. Earlier, after his vision of Kali, he is said to have cultivated the "Santa bhava"—the child attitude – towards Kali.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Towards the end of 1864, an itinerant monk named Tota Puri, the tall naked mendicant with tangled hair, a Naga sadhu of Mahanirvani Akhara, born probably in Punjab, arrived at Dakshineswar while on a pilgrimage through various holy places in India. He was the head of a monastery and claimed leadership over seven hundred sannyasis.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Arriving at the temple ghat, Tota Puri, getting a glimpse of the devotional face of Ramakrishna, stepped up to him wondering if he can be a fit aspirant for learning Vedanta in Bengal, which was then saturated with Tantra. After observing Ramakrishna rigorously, he asked him on his own volition if he was interested in practicing any Vedantic disciplines. Ramakrishna replied, "I know nothing of what I should do or not; my Mother knows everything; I shall do as She commands." A startled Tota told him to go ask your mother, at which Ramakrishna silently went into the temple and returned ecstatically with a joyful face, and informed Tota that his Mother said, "Go and learn; it is in order to teach you that the monk came here." Being aware that the one whom Ramakrishna was referring to as his Mother was the idol of Devi in the temple, Tota though fascinated at his childlike simplicity, opined his behaviour was due to ignorance and false beliefs. Being a learned man, and of sharp intellect, Tota had no regard for any deity except for the Ishvara of Vedanta. He looked upon the Devi as a delusional figure and had no belief in her existence, much less worshipping or propitiating Her. However he did not say anything about it to Ramakrishna, as he felt his impressions of mind would anyway pass away soon once initiated into sannyasa.


title: Ramakrishna

text: At the Panchavati, situated to the north of the temple garden, Ramakrishna was initiated into sannyasa by Tota Puri. At the dawn of morning in the auspicious moment of Brahmamuhurtha, with the Homa fire lighted, he was guided through the various rites and ceremonies involved in the procedure of becoming a Sannyasi. In accordance with the scriptural injunctions and tradition of successive generations, he offered as an oblation, to be free from the desire of having spouse, children, wealth, admiration from people, beautiful body and so on, and renounced them all. He then also offered his sacred thread and the tuft of hair on his head as part of the oblation. A pair of Kaupinas (cloth-covering worn over the privities) and an ochre cloth were then presented by the Guru Tota, to the Sādhaka Ramakrishna, and was instructed thus:


title: Ramakrishna

text: "Brahman, the one substance which alone is eternally pure, eternally awakened, unlimited by time, space and causation, is absolutely real. Through Maya, which makes the impossible possible, It causes, by virtue of its influence, to seem that It is divided into names and forms. Brahman is never really so divided. For, at the time of Samadhi, not even a drop, so to say, of time and space, and name and form produced by Maya is perceived. Whatever, therefore, is within the bounds of name and form can never be absolutely real. Shun it by a good distance. Break the firm cage of name and form with the overpowering strength of a lion and come out of it. Dive deep into the reality of the Self existing in yourself. Be one with It with the help of Samadhi. You will then see the universe consisting of name and form, vanish, as it were, into the void; you will see the consciousness of the little I merge in that of the immense I, where it ceases to function; and you will have the immediate knowledge of the indivisible Existence-Knowledge-Bliss as yourself."


title: Ramakrishna

text: Quoting scriptures, Tota explained to his disciple the need to attain the non-dual consciousness, as it alone can provide a person the supreme bliss.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Girting up his loins, he tried to enable his disciple to experience the gains from his lifelong Sadhana, right on that day and attempted to make him attain Samadhi. He asked his disciple to free his mind from all functions, and merge it in the meditation of the Self. It so came to pass that when Ramakrishna sat for meditation, he could by no means make his mind stop from functioning. He would withdrew his mind easily from everything, but as soon as he did so, the intimately familiar form of the divine Mother, made up of pure consciousness, would appear before him as a living and moving being making him unmindful of renunciation. Every time he sat for meditation, this happened all over again, and becoming nearly hopeless, he said to his guru, "No, it cannot be done; I cannot make the mind free from functioning and force it to dive into the Self." Criticizing his disciple very harshly for his defiance, Tota now feverishly went about searching for something in the hut. After finding a broken piece of glass, he took it into his hand and forcibly pierced its needlelike pointed end on his disciple's forehead between the eyebrows and said, "Collect the mind here to this point With a firm determination." Ramakrishna, now determined, sat for meditation, and when as previously the form of the divine Mother appeared before his mind, he immediately cut her mentally in two with the sword of knowledge. There remained then "no function in the mind, which transcended quickly the realm of names and forms, making me merge in Samadhi."


title: Ramakrishna

text: After being near his disciple for a long time, who now entered into Samadhi, Tota came out of the hut and locked its door lest someone may enter in. Taking his seat outside under the Panchavati, he awaited a call to open the door. Days passed by and nights rolled on, and at the end of three days when there was no call, surprised and curious, he entered the hut and found Ramakrishna sitting in the exact same posture in which he left him, with no sign of breath whatsoever, and face being calm and radiant. Highly versed in the phenomena of Samadhi, Tota was astonished and thought, "Is it indeed true, what I see enacted before me? Has this great soul actually realized in a day what I could experience only as the fruit of forty years of austere Sadhana? " In disbelief, he now began to examine and inspect in detail, all the signs manifested in the body of Ramakrishna. He particularly examined if his heart was beating and whether there was the smallest amount of breath coming out through his nostrils. He touched and checked his body, which was now in a firm posture like a piece of fixed wood. Seeing no signs of change, nor any return of normal consciousness, Tota, brimming with joy and awe, exclaimed, "Is it in truth Samadhi? Is it the Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the ultimate result attained through the path of knowledge spoken of in the Vedanta? Ah, how very strange is the Maya of the Divine." He then began the process of bringing back his disciple to normal consciousness by chanting the Mantra, "Hari Aum", the sound of which reverberated the entire space around Panchavati.


title: Ramakrishna

text: After the experience of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Ramakrishna realized that the great weaver of Maya is none other than Kali, the Divine Mother herself; that she projects it by Her will like a spider that spins a web out of itself, and She can no more be differentiated from Brahman than can the power of burning from fire. Observing Maya as a majestic and enigmatic statement of divinity, he was filled with reverence and love for it, unlike the disdain seen in other realised souls.


title: Ramakrishna

text: He observed that Maya functions in the world in two ways and named them as "Avidya Maya" and "Vidya Maya". Considering Avidya Maya to be represented by the lower forces like evil, greed, cruelty etc., which consign a man to the lower level of existence, and Vidya Maya to be represented by the higher forces like kindness, love and devotion, which elevate a man to the higher levels of existence, he felt that when an individual with the help of Vidya Maya could rid himself of Avidya Maya he would become Mdydtita or free of Maya. He realised these two facets of Maya to be the two forces of creation, the two powers of Kali — Who stands beyond them both, like the beaming sun behind the clouds of different colours and patterns, and shines through them all. Instead of looking upon the world as an illusion of Brahman as per Vedanta, Ramakrishna looked upon it as the manifestation of the Divine Mother.


title: Ramakrishna

text: "When I think of the Supreme Being as inactive - neither creating nor preserving nor destroying - I call Him Brahman or Purusha, the Impersonal God. When I think of Him as active - creating, preserving, and destroying - I call Him Sakti or Maya or Prakriti, the Personal God. But the distinction between them does not mean a difference. The Personal and the Impersonal are the same thing, like milk and its whiteness, the diamond and its lustre, the snake and its wriggling motion. It is impossible to conceive of the one without the other. The Divine Mother and Brahman are one."


title: Ramakrishna

text: Having Seen the rapid progress of Ramakrishna in the Vedantic path, Tota Puri now started to have many serious discussions with him over the devotion to Divine Mother and the Vedantic Brahman. During the course of one such lively discussion, a servant of the temple garden visited them and took a piece of charcoal, so as to light his tobacco, from the pit of the sacred Dhuni fire, which was lit by the great ascetic himself. At this instance, Tota flew into rage and began to threaten the man, while Ramakrishna, who was sitting aside, fell on the ground rolling in laughter, seeing how powerful the influence of Maya was over the behaviour of Tota, as he was until then talking about how everything is Brahman and all people are its manifestations, but forgot everything and got angry at the man. Tota, feeling embarrassed, vowed never to be angry again. Ramakrishna would go on to say, "Caught in the net of five elements, Brahman weeps" and that no amount of self-knowledge will make the life of a man better until the grace of God is bestowed on him through the power of Maya.


title: Ramakrishna

text: After staying in Bengal Province for a while, the revered Tota Puri, who until then had never had any illness in his life, caught dysentery, which made his life quite miserable. Thinking about taking his leave and moving away, he approached Ramakrishna, but every time he did so he would either forget to mention it, or would feel prevented from speaking by someone within him, and would go back hesitantly. Seeing his frail body, and knowing about his condition, Ramakrishna with help of Mathur arranged for a special diet and medicines, all to no avail. Being well versed in Meditation, Tota Puri used to merge his mind into Samadhi at will and thus avoid feeling the pain in his body. However, on one night the pain in his intestines became so intense that his mind was no longer able to merge in Samadhi, and he decided to drown his "cage of bones and flesh" in the river Ganga and be free from it. He thus set out and on reaching a bank of the river, started walking into it and kept walking further all the way to almost other side of the bank. Baffled that there seemed to be not enough water in the river to drown himself, he looked back, to find, in one dazzling vision, the sight of the divine Mother, the one beyond Turiya, filling up all the space round him. Feeling awed and realising that the Brahman he had been worshipping all his life was none other than the divine Mother herself, with a grateful heart he turned back, and spent the remaining night, meditating on the divine Mother near the dhuni under Panchavati.


title: Ramakrishna

text: When Ramakrishna met him in the morning to enquire about his health, he was found a totally different person with no more illness. Reflecting on how imprudent he was to not accept the divine Mother, Tota explained to him the events that transpired the night before, and that by the grace of the Mother, he was now free from his disease. Ramakrishna, with a smile said, "Well, you did not accept the Mother before and argued with me saying that Shakti was unreal! But you have now seen Her yourself and direct experience has got the better of your arguments. She has convinced me already of the fact that just as fire and its burning power are not different, so, Brahman and the power of Brahman are not different, but one and the same." Tota then asked Ramakrishna to exhort Her to give him permission to leave, as he now realised that was Her will that he, who had never spent more than three days at a place, had spent eleven months there. Both of them then visited the temple and Tota, who until then considered the image of the Devi as a delusion, prostrated himself in front of her idol, along with Ramakrishna. A few days later, he took leave and left Dakshineswar. It was his first and the last visit to that place.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Some time after the departure of Tota Puri from Dakshineswar, Ramakrishna owing to his lack of any restraining elements in life or desires in the world, decided to dwell in the plane of Nirvikalpa Samadhi. As he attempted to do so, once again the form of the divine Mother, "beautiful, more beautiful than the most", started appearing in front of his mind and he, not having the heart to leave her behind and go ahead, would return. After much internal deliberation, with great courage, he again, while meditating, took up knowledge as the sword and cut her form into two, and "there was nothing left in the mind then; and it rushed quickly up to the complete Nirvikalapa state."


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramakrishna remained in the Nirvikalapa state continually for a period of six months, a state of perception said to be from which no ordinary person returns, as the body would then fall dead after twenty-one days, like a dry leaf from a tree. He remained unconscious of the outer world throughout this period, and stayed put like a dead man, with matted hair and flies moving through his mouth and nostrils. He might have passed away then if not for the untiring efforts of an unknown monk, who happened to be present in Dakshineswar at the time, and who on recognising the state in which Ramakrishna was, thought his body must be kept alive for the betterment of the world as the work of the Mother is still to be done with it, and made attempts every day to bring it back to awareness by beating him with a stick, and feeding him in the resulting fleeting moments of consciousness, which though appeared very rarely for a few moments on some days. This period of being in the Nirvikalapa state came to an end after Ramakrishna received a command from the Mother to remain in Bhava Mukha, a state of consciousness bordering between being absorbed into the absolute and remaining in the relative world, for the sake of enlightening people. This was followed by him having an affliction with a severe bout of dysentery. After suffering an intense pain in the intestines continually for about six months, his mind gradually returned to the normal plane of consciousness, before that it used to rise and be fixated at the Nirvikalpa state every now and then.


title: Ramakrishna

text: He then firmed his awareness at the sixth chakra of Tantra, and lived with his consciousness oscillating between being either absorbed into the impersonal absolute, or remaining in personal devotion to the Mother. Later in his life, it was observed that while talking about or listening to subjects related to God, Ramakrishna with his face beaming a smile and body turning radiant, would become noticeably stiff and unconscious. When one of his disciples asked him why does it happen so and what does he experience in that state? Ramakrishna smiled and replied:


title: Ramakrishna

text: "Well, it is called samadhi, the culmination of meditation. I borrow one-sixteenth part of the mind from the Divine Mother and talk and laugh with you, but the remaining portion rests with the Mother, meditating on her real essence as Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. When I talk or hear about the Mother, the whole mind goes to the Absolute and samadhi immediately ensues. Do you know what samadhi really is? It is complete absorption in Brahman. Do you know how I feel at that time? Suppose there is a basin of water on the seashore and a fish is confined in it. If the basin is accidentally broken, the fish finds its way to the unfathomable ocean. It then frolics in the height of joy, doesn't it? Similarly, during samadhi my mind leaps out of this body, as it were, and plunges into Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Hence the body appears like that. In other words, there is no body-consciousness, and the soul merges in the higher Self — the Paramatman — in the thousand-petalled lotus of the head and experiences unspeakable bliss. That experience sends a wave of divine bliss to the face, and the body becomes radiant. This very self then becomes Shiva, the Absolute."


title: Ramakrishna

text: The periods of Samadhi would later become a regular part in the life of Ramakrishna, and people near him used to find him in a state of Samadhi every now and then, sometimes for almost twenty four hours a day. Once a government official found him remaining in a state of ecstasy for three days and three nights straight. When found deeply absorbed in Samadhi for a long period of time, his devotees would rub cow ghee on his spine from neck to the lower back, and on knees down to the soles of his feet pulling in a downward direction, so as to bring him back to the plane of normal consciousness. Ramakrishna used to say that the natural tendency of his mind is towards the Nirvikalpa plane and once in Samadhi, he would not be inclined to come back to the normal plane of consciousness, but would return for the sake of his devotees and sometimes even this will was not enough, so he would fill his mind with trivial desires like, "I will smoke tobacco", "I will drink water", "I will take this", "I will see so and so, "I will talk", and by repeatedly saying such things to his mind, he would make it gradually return to the plane of body consciousness. He would later often tell his devotees to "tie the Knowledge of non-duality in the corner of your cloth and then do whatever you want".


title: Ramakrishna

text: In 1866, Govinda Roy, a Hindu man who was previously initiated into Islam and practised Sufism, initiated Ramakrishna into Islam. Ramakrishna learned about Govinda through the latter's regular visits to Dakshineswar. Being much impressed by seeing the faith and love for God in Govinda, Ramakrishna decided to practice Islam, reasoning, "This also is a path to realisation of God; the sportive mother, the source of infinite Lila, has been blessing many people with the attainment of her lotus feet through this path also. I must see how through it she makes those who take refuge in her, attain their desired end."


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramakrishna engaged himself in the practice of Islam according to its prescribed rules. He devotedly repeated the name of Allah and said their prayers five times a day and remained in that state of mind for three days, after which he had full realisation through their path.


title: Ramakrishna

text: During this practice, Ramakrishna had a vision of a luminous figure, and Swami Nikhilananda's biography speculates that the figure was 'perhaps Mohammed'. According to these accounts, Ramakrishna "devoutly repeated the name of Allah, wore a cloth like the Arab Muslims, said their prayer five times daily, and felt disinclined even to see images of the Hindu gods and goddesses, much less worship them—for the Hindu way of thinking had disappeared altogether from my mind." After three days of practice he had a vision of a "radiant personage with grave countenance and white beard resembling the Prophet and merging with his body". He opined this vision to be of the all pervasive Brahman with attributes, as the vision eventually ended with him merging into the attributeless absolute Brahman. Kripal writes that this "would have been a heretical experience through and through" for most Muslims.


title: Ramakrishna

text: After his experience of practicing Islam, Ramakrishna opined that knowledge of Vedanta can make Hindus and Muslims sympathetic to one another as, "There is, as it were, a mountain of difference between them. Their thoughts and faiths, actions and behaviour have remained quite unintelligible to one another in spite of their living together for so long a time."


title: Ramakrishna

text: At the end of 1873, Ramakrishna started the practice of Christianity. After one of his devotees named Sambhu Chandra Mallick read the Bible to him, he got well acquainted with the life and teachings of Jesus.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Once when the Bible was being read out loud to him, from the very beginning there were references to the doctrine of Sin. After hearing a little and finding that it talked of nothing but sin, he refused to listen to it anymore further, saying, "Just as in the case of snakebite, if the patient can be made to believe that there is no poison at all, he will be all right. Similarly, if one constantly thinks, I have taken the name of the Lord, so I am sinless, one becomes pure." He ideated that the more we give up such ideas as "I am sinful", "I am weak", the better it will be for all, as we all are children of God, thus not weak and sinful. He considered thinking of oneself as weak and sinful to be the greatest sin.


title: Ramakrishna

text: In 1874, Ramakrishna experienced a strange vision at the parlour of Jadu Mallik's garden house, situated to the south of Kali temple in Dakshineswar. He was sitting there and looking keenly at a picture of Madonna and Child hanging on the wall, when all of a sudden he saw it come to life with effulgent rays of light emerging from the image and merging into his heart. A few days later, while walking in the Panchavati, he reportedly had a vision of Jesus coming towards him, embracing and merging into his body. At this moment he reportedly lost his normal consciousness, entered into trance and remained for some time identified with the all pervasive Brahman with attributes.


title: Ramakrishna

text: In his own room amongst other divine pictures was one of Christ, and he burnt incense before it morning and evening. There was also a picture showing Jesus Christ saving St Peter from drowning in the water.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Following Keshab, other Brahmos such as Vijaykrishna Goswami started to admire Ramakrishna, propagate his ideals and reorient their socio-religious outlook. Many prominent people of Kolkata—Pratap Chandra Mazumdar, Shivanath Shastri and Trailokyanath Sanyal—began visiting him during this time (1871–1885). Mazumdar wrote the first English biography of Ramakrishna, entitled "The Hindu Saint" in the "Theistic Quarterly Review" (1879), which played a vital role in introducing Ramakrishna to Westerners like the German indologist Max Müller. Newspapers reported that Ramakrishna was spreading "Love" and "Devotion" among the educated classes of Kolkata and that he had succeeded in reforming the character of some youths whose morals had been corrupt.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Ramakrishna also had interactions with Debendranath Tagore, the father of Rabindranath Tagore, and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, a renowned social worker. He had also met Swami Dayananda. Ramakrishna is considered one of the main contributors to the Bengali Renaissance.


title: Ramakrishna

text: Among the Europeans who were influenced by Ramakrishna was Principal Dr. William Hastie of the Scottish Church College, Kolkata. In the course of explaining the word "trance" in the poem "The Excursion" by William Wordsworth, Hastie told his students that if they wanted to know its "real meaning", they should go to "Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar." This prompted some of his students, including Narendranath Dutta (later Swami Vivekananda), to visit Ramakrishna.