title: Jesse Palmer

text: Jesse James Palmer (born October 5, 1978) is a Canadian television personality, sports commentator, actor, and former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons in the early 2000s. Palmer played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in the NFL before spending half of the 2006 season with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Palmer was cast in 2004 as the bachelor on the fifth season of the reality television series "The Bachelor". He went on to become a college football analyst for ESPN/ABC in the United States, and has been a contributor to The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada. He was also a contributor to ABC's "Good Morning America". In 2018, he hosted the kickoff season of "The Proposal on ABC". Since 2017 he has hosted the "Holiday Baking Championship" on Food Network. Jesse was host of "DailyMailTV" from 2017 to 2020. Palmer married model Emely Fardo on June 5, 2020, at a close friend's house in Connecticut. In 2021, Palmer was named as the permanent host of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette".


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Palmer was born in Toronto, Ontario, and raised in Nepean, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa. He attended both Confederation and St. Pius X high schools, although he played all of his amateur football on teams in the Ontario Minor Football Association and most importantly with the Ottawa Norsemen and Myers Riders Football Clubs in Ottawa.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: His father, Bill Palmer, played for the Ottawa Rough Riders. His mother, Susan, was a prominent fashion and print model, co-founder of Barrett Palmer Models and former owner of the original ITM: International Top Models, a modeling agency and training centre located in Ottawa; eventually became the current agency MIM Model International Management.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Palmer accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1997 to 2000.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Palmer often alternated playing time with quarterback Doug Johnson, and, later, with quarterback Rex Grossman. As a senior, he was selected as one of the team captains and received the Gators' Fergie Ferguson Award, recognizing the "senior football player who displays outstanding leadership, character and courage." He finished his four-year college career with 3,755 passing yards.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Palmer graduated from the University of Florida in 2001 with two undergraduate degrees: a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from the College of Business Administration.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Palmer was chosen by the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) in the fourth round (125th overall pick) of the 2001 NFL Draft, and he played for the Giants for four seasons from to . As a Giants quarterback, he spent most of his NFL career as a backup behind starter Kerry Collins. In 2002, Palmer played in two games. The following season, Palmer played in six games, starting three. In 2003, he was sacked by Washington Redskins defensive end Bruce Smith, Smith's 199th career sack, which enabled him to become the all-time career sack leader.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: After a four-year stint as a backup quarterback, he was cut on September 3, 2005, by the Giants. Palmer was the second Canadian (after Mark Rypien of the Washington Redskins) to start at quarterback in the NFL.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Palmer was drafted by the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) 15th overall in 2001 CFL Draft. At first, wanting to stay in the game, he looked to the Canadian Football League for employment. His rights were held by Montreal; however, the Ottawa Renegades tried to acquire the Ottawa native as their top quarterback in September 2005, and Palmer expressed interest in playing for his home town.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Attempting to locate another opportunity to stay in the NFL, Palmer worked out with the Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders and was signed by the San Francisco 49ers on November 1, 2005, as injuries plagued their quarterbacks Alex Smith and Ken Dorsey. Dorsey and Smith returned from injury three weeks later, and Palmer was released without having played a down. Palmer was re-signed by the 49ers in March 2006 during the off-season but was later released on August 29, 2006, toward the end of training camp. On September 11, 2006, the Montreal Alouettes signed him to their developmental roster. Palmer did not dress for a game with Montreal. He retired from the CFL before the start of the 2007 season to pursue a broadcasting career.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: In 2004, Palmer was the first professional athlete to appear on "The Bachelor" television program and the first non-American Bachelor. During the first rose ceremony, Palmer called the name Katie in error, meaning to say Karen. After consulting with host Chris Harrison, Palmer offered a rose to both contestants. He eventually selected Jessica Bowlin, but their courtship lasted for only a few months after the end of the show. He would return as host of the 26th season, a role which he will also fill on the 19th season of "The Bachelorette". Palmer also hosted "Bachelor In Paradise", Season 8. He is currently host of "The Bachelor" franchises.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Palmer was a color commentator for Fox for two games late in the 2005 season, and returned to the booth on November 26, 2006. On April 25, 2007, Palmer appeared on the NFL Network as an analyst and commentator for the weekend's NFL Draft.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: On May 24, 2007, Palmer announced his retirement from the Canadian Football League to pursue a broadcasting career with Fox. He joined ESPN in 2007. Palmer worked for ESPN as a studio analyst on College Football Live and ABC telecasts, and frequently appeared with fellow Canadian John Saunders until 2017. He is a game analyst on ESPN Thursday Night College football games. He was also co-host on The Palmer and Pollack Show on ESPNU with former Georgia defensive end, David Pollack.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: On March 12, 2014, ESPN named Palmer and Brent Musburger as the lead game announcers for the forthcoming SEC Network.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Palmer was also New York correspondent for CTV's entertainment news program, "eTalk", covering both sports and entertainment events, including the Super Bowl and the 79th and 80th Academy Awards.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Palmer was a studio analyst for ESPN's broadcast of the 2012 Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, the 2010 Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, and the 2009 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. he is also an NFL analyst for TSN's "Monday Morning Quarterback" segment.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: Palmer guest starred in the "" season 7 episode "Design," portraying professional baseball player Don Lacey. He hosted the first two seasons of the food competition show "Recipe to Riches" on Food Network Canada. On May 19, 2015, Palmer joined "Good Morning America" as a "Special Contributor". He left the position in August 2017, to host the newly launched "DailyMailTV". He has also hosted "Spring Baking Championship" and "Holiday Baking Championship" on Food Network, as well as "Food Truck Face Off", "Bakeaway Camp," and "Holiday Baking: Gingerbread Showdown." In 2019 he became one of the commentators on ESPN’s College Football Final.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: In September 2018, Palmer began doing commercials as a spokesman for retail furniture chain Rooms To Go. He also became host of "The Proposal" on ABC.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: On August 14, 2020, the producers of "DailyMailTV" announced that Palmer was being replaced as host for the show's fourth season by Thomas Roberts.


title: Jesse Palmer

text: In 2021, Palmer hosted the inaugural season of ABC's show "The Ultimate Surfer". Subsequently it was announced that he would become the new host of "The Bachelor", Season 26, replacing Chris Harrison. He then hosted "The Bachelorette," Season 19, and "Bachelor In Paradise", Season 8. He is currently host of "The Bachelor" franchises.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: Abduwali Abdulkadir Muse (; ; ; born 1990) is a convicted Somali pirate. He is the sole survivor of four pirates who hijacked the in April 2009 and then held Captain Richard Phillips for ransom. On 16 February 2011, Muse was sentenced to 33 years and 9 months in U.S. federal prison.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: Muse was portrayed by Somali actor Barkhad Abdi in the 2013 film "Captain Phillips", a dramatization of the hijacking.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: Muse was born in Galkayo, a divided city in Somalia. The US Federal Bureau of Prisons states he was born in 1990, while his mother states he was born in 1992, and his father states he was born in 1993.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: He grew up in poverty often without food or clothes. At a young age he was kicked in the face by a camel and lost two of his front teeth. By the age of 12, he was living alone and initially worked as an assistant to taxi drivers before working as a cook for fishermen. He was married in 2008 but could not afford to establish a home for himself and his wife.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: At a hearing to determine Muse's age, Assistant United States Attorney Brendan McGuire said to U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck, that Muse had told Americans he was variously 16, 18, 19 and 26 years old.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: According to his indictment, Muse was the first of the four men who boarded "Maersk Alabama". During the attack, he was stabbed in the hand by a sailor. The crew attacked and held Muse hostage while Richard Phillips offered him and the pirates money to leave "Maersk Alabama" safely on the ship's lifeboat. However Muse's fellow pirates forced Phillips into the lifeboat before "Maersk Alabama"'s crew could release Muse. All four pirates escaped the ship, with Phillips held hostage inside the lifeboat. A day later USS "Bainbridge" intercepted the lifeboat and navy officers negotiated with the armed pirates for hours and agreed to take Muse on board "Bainbridge" to "meet" with elders from his tribe to negotiate the release of Phillips. After Muse had been taken on board, the three remaining pirates were shot dead simultaneously by Navy SEAL sharpshooters before Muse was charged and taken into American custody. Muse was thought to be the first person to be charged with piracy in an American court in more than 100 years, when courts ruled in 1885 that "Ambrose Light" was not a pirate vessel. A more recent case, 2008's "United States v. Shi", which was quoted in his indictment, involves murder and a crew member taking over a ship and holding a hostage.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: In 2010, Muse was charged in connection with two additional attacks on international shipping. The indictment does not name the two vessels involved, hijacked in March and April 2009. However, they are likely to include the 700-ton fishing vessel "Win Far 161", which was used as a mother ship in other attacks, including the "Maersk Alabama" hijacking. Two of the "Win Far 161's" crew, one sailor from mainland China and the other from Indonesia, died of illness.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: Muse was tried in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: There was some confusion as to his age. According to the "New York Daily News", he was at the time 17 to 19 years old. Muse was to stand trial in New York because of the local FBI office's expertise in handling cases where major crimes were perpetrated against Americans in Africa, such as the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. CBC News also reported that U.S. authorities had considered transferring him to authorities in Kenya per international agreement to prosecute pirate suspects.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: When initially captured, U.S. officials reported Muse as being 16 to 20 years old, and that his name was Abduhl Wali-i-Musi. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asserted that all four pirate suspects were between the ages of 17 and 19. On 20 April 2009, CBC News reported that U.S. officials indicated that investigators had confirmed Muse was over 18, which removed additional steps that would be required to prosecute him had it been determined that he was a minor.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: Muse's mother, Adar Abdurahman Hassan, stated in a telephone interview with the Associated Press that U.S. authorities had both his name and age wrong. She indicated that he was only 16 years old and that his name was Abdi Wali Abdulqadir Muse. In an interview with the BBC Somali service, Muse's mother also appealed to the U.S. government and president to free her son, asserting that Muse had been lured into pirate activity by wealthy unnamed criminals.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: In a court ruling on 21 April 2009, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck decided Muse was not under 18 and that he could be tried as an adult. Muse was then brought to New York to face trial on charges including piracy under the law of nations, conspiracy to seize a ship by force, conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, and firearms related charges, carrying a potential of up to four life sentences. The charge of piracy has a mandatory life sentence (18 USC 1651), and there is no parole in U.S. federal prisons.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: Muse pleaded guilty to the hijacking, kidnapping and hostage-taking charges on 18 May 2010. Charges of piracy and possession of a machine gun were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: Muse was initially incarcerated (and currently resides) at the Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute in the Communications Management Unit. His projected release date is 20 June 2038. He was moved to Edgefield Federal Correctional Institution temporarily, but has since been transferred back to Terre Haute as of November 2020.


title: Abduwali Muse

text: Muse worked as a prison orderly, although his wage was garnished to pay the restitution he owes for the hijacking as well as a court fee. He said he spent his free time in prison watching TV, reading and writing. In 2016, he acquired a GED. While in Terre Haute he received his first English lesson from Mufid Abdulqader who had been sentenced to 20 years in prison after the Holy Land Foundation trial. He spent some time in solitary confinement for being "disruptive".


title: Abduwali Muse

text: Muse was portrayed by Somali actor Barkhad Abdi in the 2013 film "Captain Phillips", a dramatization of the events in 2009, also starring Tom Hanks as the titular character. The film received a nomination for Best Picture, and Abdi was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Muse.


title: Seed

text: A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm plants.


title: Seed

text: Seeds are the product of the ripened ovule, after the embryo sac is fertilized by sperm from pollen, forming a zygote. The embryo within a seed develops from the zygote, and grows within the mother plant to a certain size before growth is halted. The seed coat arises from the integuments of the ovule.


title: Seed

text: Seeds have been an important development in the reproduction and success of vegetable gymnosperm and angiosperm plants, relative to more primitive plants such as ferns, mosses and liverworts, which do not have seeds and use water-dependent means to propagate themselves. Seed plants now dominate biological niches on land, from forests to grasslands both in hot and cold climates.


title: Seed

text: The term "seed" also has a general meaning that antedates the above – anything that can be sown, e.g. "seed" potatoes, "seeds" of corn or sunflower "seeds". In the case of sunflower and corn "seeds", what is sown is the seed enclosed in a shell or husk, whereas the potato is a tuber.


title: Seed

text: In the flowering plants, the ovary ripens into a fruit which contains the seed and serves to disseminate it. Many structures commonly referred to as "seeds" are actually dry fruits. Sunflower seeds are sometimes sold commercially while still enclosed within the hard wall of the fruit, which must be split open to reach the seed. Different groups of plants have other modifications, the so-called stone fruits (such as the peach) have a hardened fruit layer (the endocarp) fused to and surrounding the actual seed. Nuts are the one-seeded, hard-shelled fruit of some plants with an indehiscent seed, such as an acorn or hazelnut.


title: Seed

text: The first land plants evolved around 468 million years ago, they reproduced using spores. The oldest seed bearing plants were gymnosperms, which had no ovaries to contain the seeds, arising sometime during the late Devonian period (416 million to 358 million years ago) From these early gymnosperms, seed ferns evolved during the Carboniferous period (359 to 299 million years ago); they had ovules that were borne in a cupule, which were groups of enclosing branches likely used to protect the developing seed.


title: Seed

text: Seeds are produced in several related groups of plants, and their manner of production distinguishes the angiosperms ("enclosed seeds") from the gymnosperms ("naked seeds"). Angiosperm seeds are produced in a hard or fleshy structure called a fruit that encloses the seeds for protection in order to secure healthy growth. Some fruits have layers of both hard and fleshy material. In gymnosperms, no special structure develops to enclose the seeds, which begin their development "naked" on the bracts of cones. However, the seeds do become covered by the cone scales as they develop in some species of conifer.


title: Seed

text: Seed production in natural plant populations varies widely from year to year in response to weather variables, insects and diseases, and internal cycles within the plants themselves. Over a 20-year period, for example, forests composed of loblolly pine and shortleaf pine produced from 0 to nearly 5.5 million sound pine seeds per hectare. Over this period, there were six bumper, five poor, and nine good seed crops, when evaluated for production of adequate seedlings for natural forest reproduction.


title: Seed

text: Angiosperm (flowering plants) seeds consist of three genetically distinct constituents: (1) the embryo formed from the zygote, (2) the endosperm, which is normally triploid, (3) the seed coat from tissue derived from the maternal tissue of the ovule. In angiosperms, the process of seed development begins with double fertilization, which involves the fusion of two male gametes with the egg cell and the central cell to form the primary endosperm and the zygote. Right after fertilization, the zygote is mostly inactive, but the primary endosperm divides rapidly to form the endosperm tissue. This tissue becomes the food the young plant will consume until the roots have developed after germination.


title: Seed

text: After fertilization, the ovules develop into the seeds. The ovule consists of a number of components:


title: Seed

text: The shape of the ovules as they develop often affects the final shape of the seeds. Plants generally produce ovules of four shapes: the most common shape is called anatropous, with a curved shape. Orthotropous ovules are straight with all the parts of the ovule lined up in a long row producing an uncurved seed. Campylotropous ovules have a curved megagametophyte often giving the seed a tight "C" shape. The last ovule shape is called amphitropous, where the ovule is partly inverted and turned back 90 degrees on its stalk (the funicle or funiculus).


title: Seed

text: In the majority of flowering plants, the zygote's first division is transversely oriented in regards to the long axis, and this establishes the polarity of the embryo. The upper or chalazal pole becomes the main area of growth of the embryo, while the lower or micropylar pole produces the stalk-like suspensor that attaches to the micropyle. The suspensor absorbs and manufactures nutrients from the endosperm that are used during the embryo's growth.


title: Seed

text: Monocotyledonous plants have two additional structures in the form of sheaths. The plumule is covered with a coleoptile that forms the first leaf while the radicle is covered with a coleorhiza that connects to the primary root and adventitious roots form the sides. Here the hypocotyl is a rudimentary axis between radicle and plumule. The seeds of corn are constructed with these structures; pericarp, scutellum (single large cotyledon) that absorbs nutrients from the endosperm, plumule, radicle, coleoptile, and coleorhiza – these last two structures are sheath-like and enclose the plumule and radicle, acting as a protective covering.


title: Seed

text: The maturing ovule undergoes marked changes in the integuments, generally a reduction and disorganization but occasionally a thickening. The seed coat forms from the two integuments or outer layers of cells of the ovule, which derive from tissue from the mother plant, the inner integument forms the tegmen and the outer forms the testa. (The seed coats of some monocotyledon plants, such as the grasses, are not distinct structures, but are fused with the fruit wall to form a pericarp.) The testae of both monocots and dicots are often marked with patterns and textured markings, or have wings or tufts of hair. When the seed coat forms from only one layer, it is also called the testa, though not all such testae are homologous from one species to the next. The funiculus abscisses (detaches at fixed point – abscission zone), the scar forming an oval depression, the hilum. Anatropous ovules have a portion of the funiculus that is adnate (fused to the seed coat), and which forms a longitudinal ridge, or raphe, just above the hilum. In bitegmic ovules (e.g. "Gossypium" described here) both inner and outer integuments contribute to the seed coat formation. With continuing maturation the cells enlarge in the outer integument. While the inner epidermis may remain a single layer, it may also divide to produce two to three layers and accumulates starch, and is referred to as the colourless layer. By contrast, the outer epidermis becomes tanniferous. The inner integument may consist of eight to fifteen layers. (Kozlowski 1972)


title: Seed

text: As the cells enlarge, and starch is deposited in the outer layers of the pigmented zone below the outer epidermis, this zone begins to lignify, while the cells of the outer epidermis enlarge radially and their walls thicken, with nucleus and cytoplasm compressed into the outer layer. these cells which are broader on their inner surface are called palisade cells. In the inner epidermis, the cells also enlarge radially with plate like thickening of the walls. The mature inner integument has a palisade layer, a pigmented zone with 15–20 layers, while the innermost layer is known as the fringe layer. (Kozlowski 1972)


title: Seed

text: In gymnosperms, which do not form ovaries, the ovules and hence the seeds are exposed. This is the basis for their nomenclature – naked seeded plants. Two sperm cells transferred from the pollen do not develop the seed by double fertilization, but one sperm nucleus unites with the egg nucleus and the other sperm is not used. Sometimes each sperm fertilizes an egg cell and one zygote is then aborted or absorbed during early development. The seed is composed of the embryo (the result of fertilization) and tissue from the mother plant, which also form a cone around the seed in coniferous plants such as pine and spruce.


title: Seed

text: A large number of terms are used to describe seed shapes, many of which are largely self-explanatory such as "Bean-shaped" (reniform) – resembling a kidney, with lobed ends on either side of the hilum, "Square" or "Oblong" – angular with all sides more or less equal or longer than wide, "Triangular" – three sided, broadest below middle, "Elliptic" or "Ovate" or "Obovate" – rounded at both ends, or egg shaped (ovate or obovate, broader at one end), being rounded but either symmetrical about the middle or broader below the middle or broader above the middle.


title: Seed

text: Other less obvious terms include discoid (resembling a disc or plate, having both thickness and parallel faces and with a rounded margin), ellipsoid, globose (spherical), or subglobose (Inflated, but less than spherical), lenticular, oblong, ovoid, reniform and sectoroid. Striate seeds are striped with parallel, longitudinal lines or ridges. The commonest colours are brown and black, other colours are infrequent. The surface varies from highly polished to considerably roughened. The surface may have a variety of appendages (see Seed coat), and be described by terms such as papillate or digitiform (finger-like). A seed coat with the consistency of cork is referred to as suberose. Other terms include crustaceous (hard, thin or brittle).


title: Seed

text: In addition, the endosperm forms a supply of nutrients for the embryo in most monocotyledons and the endospermic dicotyledons.


title: Seed

text: Seeds have been considered to occur in many structurally different types (Martin 1946). These are based on a number of criteria, of which the dominant one is the embryo-to-seed size ratio. This reflects the degree to which the developing cotyledons absorb the nutrients of the endosperm, and thus obliterate it.


title: Seed

text: Six types occur amongst the monocotyledons, ten in the dicotyledons, and two in the gymnosperms (linear and spatulate). This classification is based on three characteristics: embryo morphology, amount of endosperm and the position of the embryo relative to the endosperm.


title: Seed

text: In endospermic seeds, there are two distinct regions inside the seed coat, an upper and larger endosperm and a lower smaller embryo. The embryo is the fertilised ovule, an immature plant from which a new plant will grow under proper conditions. The embryo has one cotyledon or seed leaf in monocotyledons, two cotyledons in almost all dicotyledons and two or more in gymnosperms. In the fruit of grains (caryopses) the single monocotyledon is shield shaped and hence called a scutellum. The scutellum is pressed closely against the endosperm from which it absorbs food and passes it to the growing parts. Embryo descriptors include small, straight, bent, curved, and curled.


title: Seed

text: Within the seed, there usually is a store of nutrients for the seedling that will grow from the embryo. The form of the stored nutrition varies depending on the kind of plant. In angiosperms, the stored food begins as a tissue called the endosperm, which is derived from the mother plant and the pollen via double fertilization. It is usually triploid, and is rich in oil or starch, and protein. In gymnosperms, such as conifers, the food storage tissue (also called endosperm) is part of the female gametophyte, a haploid tissue. The endosperm is surrounded by the aleurone layer (peripheral endosperm), filled with proteinaceous aleurone grains.


title: Seed

text: Originally, by analogy with the animal ovum, the outer nucellus layer (perisperm) was referred to as albumen, and the inner endosperm layer as vitellus. Although misleading, the term began to be applied to all the nutrient matter. This terminology persists in referring to endospermic seeds as "albuminous". The nature of this material is used in both describing and classifying seeds, in addition to the embryo to endosperm size ratio. The endosperm may be considered to be farinaceous (or mealy) in which the cells are filled with starch, as for instance cereal grains, or not (non-farinaceous). The endosperm may also be referred to as "fleshy" or "cartilaginous" with thicker soft cells such as coconut, but may also be oily as in "Ricinus" (castor oil), "Croton" and Poppy. The endosperm is called "horny" when the cell walls are thicker such as date and coffee, or "ruminated" if mottled, as in nutmeg, palms and Annonaceae.


title: Seed

text: In most monocotyledons (such as grasses and palms) and some (endospermic or albuminous) dicotyledons (such as castor beans) the embryo is embedded in the endosperm (and nucellus), which the seedling will use upon germination. In the non-endospermic dicotyledons the endosperm is absorbed by the embryo as the latter grows within the developing seed, and the cotyledons of the embryo become filled with stored food. At maturity, seeds of these species have no endosperm and are also referred to as exalbuminous seeds. The exalbuminous seeds include the legumes (such as beans and peas), trees such as the oak and walnut, vegetables such as squash and radish, and sunflowers. According to Bewley and Black (1978), Brazil nut storage is in hypocotyl, this place of storage is uncommon among seeds. All gymnosperm seeds are albuminous.


title: Seed

text: The seed coat develops from the maternal tissue, the integuments, originally surrounding the ovule. The seed coat in the mature seed can be a paper-thin layer (e.g. peanut) or something more substantial (e.g. thick and hard in honey locust and coconut), or fleshy as in the sarcotesta of pomegranate. The seed coat helps protect the embryo from mechanical injury, predators, and drying out. Depending on its development, the seed coat is either bitegmic or unitegmic. Bitegmic seeds form a testa from the outer integument and a tegmen from the inner integument while unitegmic seeds have only one integument. Usually, parts of the testa or tegmen form a hard protective mechanical layer. The mechanical layer may prevent water penetration and germination. Amongst the barriers may be the presence of lignified sclereids.


title: Seed

text: The outer integument has a number of layers, generally between four and eight organised into three layers: (a) outer epidermis, (b) outer pigmented zone of two to five layers containing tannin and starch, and (c) inner epidermis. The endotegmen is derived from the inner epidermis of the inner integument, the exotegmen from the outer surface of the inner integument. The endotesta is derived from the inner epidermis of the outer integument, and the outer layer of the testa from the outer surface of the outer integument is referred to as the exotesta. If the exotesta is also the mechanical layer, this is called an exotestal seed, but if the mechanical layer is the endotegmen, then the seed is endotestal. The exotesta may consist of one or more rows of cells that are elongated and pallisade like (e.g. Fabaceae), hence 'palisade exotesta'.


title: Seed

text: In addition to the three basic seed parts, some seeds have an appendage, an aril, a fleshy outgrowth of the funicle (funiculus), (as in yew and nutmeg) or an oily appendage, an elaiosome (as in "Corydalis"), or hairs (trichomes). In the latter example these hairs are the source of the textile crop cotton. Other seed appendages include the raphe (a ridge), wings, caruncles (a soft spongy outgrowth from the outer integument in the vicinity of the micropyle), spines, or tubercles.


title: Seed

text: A scar also may remain on the seed coat, called the hilum, where the seed was attached to the ovary wall by the funicle. Just below it is a small pore, representing the micropyle of the ovule.


title: Seed

text: Seeds are very diverse in size. The dust-like orchid seeds are the smallest, with about one million seeds per gram; they are often embryonic seeds with immature embryos and no significant energy reserves. Orchids and a few other groups of plants are mycoheterotrophs which depend on mycorrhizal fungi for nutrition during germination and the early growth of the seedling. Some terrestrial orchid seedlings, in fact, spend the first few years of their lives deriving energy from the fungi and do not produce green leaves. At up to 55 pounds (25 kilograms) the largest seed is the "coco de mer"(Lodoicea maldivica). This indicates a 25 Billion fold difference in seed weight. Plants that produce smaller seeds can generate many more seeds per flower, while plants with larger seeds invest more resources into those seeds and normally produce fewer seeds. Small seeds are quicker to ripen and can be dispersed sooner, so autumn all blooming plants often have small seeds. Many annual plants produce great quantities of smaller seeds; this helps to ensure at least a few will end in a favorable place for growth. Herbaceous perennials and woody plants often have larger seeds; they can produce seeds over many years, and larger seeds have more energy reserves for germination and seedling growth and produce larger, more established seedlings after germination.


title: Seed

text: Seeds serve several functions for the plants that produce them. Key among these functions are nourishment of the embryo, dispersal to a new location, and dormancy during unfavorable conditions. Seeds fundamentally are means of reproduction, and most seeds are the product of sexual reproduction which produces a remixing of genetic material and phenotype variability on which natural selection acts. Plant seeds hold endophytic microorganisms that can perform various functions, the most important of which is protection against disease.


title: Seed

text: Seeds protect and nourish the embryo or young plant. They usually give a seedling a faster start than a sporeling from a spore, because of the larger food reserves in the seed and the multicellularity of the enclosed embryo.


title: Seed

text: Unlike animals, plants are limited in their ability to seek out favorable conditions for life and growth. As a result, plants have evolved many ways to disperse their offspring by dispersing their seeds (see also vegetative reproduction). A seed must somehow "arrive" at a location and be there at a time favorable for germination and growth. When the fruits open and release their seeds in a regular way, it is called dehiscent, which is often distinctive for related groups of plants; these fruits include capsules, follicles, legumes, silicles and siliques. When fruits do not open and release their seeds in a regular fashion, they are called indehiscent, which include the fruits achenes, caryopses, nuts, samaras, and utricles.


title: Seed

text: Myrmecochory is the dispersal of seeds by ants. Foraging ants disperse seeds which have appendages called elaiosomes (e.g. bloodroot, trilliums, acacias, and many species of Proteaceae). Elaiosomes are soft, fleshy structures that contain nutrients for animals that eat them. The ants carry such seeds back to their nest, where the elaiosomes are eaten. The remainder of the seed, which is hard and inedible to the ants, then germinates either within the nest or at a removal site where the seed has been discarded by the ants. This dispersal relationship is an example of mutualism, since the plants depend upon the ants to disperse seeds, while the ants depend upon the plants seeds for food. As a result, a drop in numbers of one partner can reduce success of the other. In South Africa, the Argentine ant ("Linepithema humile") has invaded and displaced native species of ants. Unlike the native ant species, Argentine ants do not collect the seeds of "Mimetes cucullatus" or eat the elaiosomes. In areas where these ants have invaded, the numbers of "Mimetes" seedlings have dropped.


title: Seed

text: Seed dormancy has two main functions: the first is synchronizing germination with the optimal conditions for survival of the resulting seedling; the second is spreading germination of a batch of seeds over time so a catastrophe (e.g. late frosts, drought, herbivory) does not result in the death of all offspring of a plant (bet-hedging). Seed dormancy is defined as a seed failing to germinate under environmental conditions optimal for germination, normally when the environment is at a suitable temperature with proper soil moisture. This true dormancy or innate dormancy is therefore caused by conditions within the seed that prevent germination. Thus dormancy is a state of the seed, not of the environment. Induced dormancy, enforced dormancy or seed quiescence occurs when a seed fails to germinate because the external environmental conditions are inappropriate for germination, mostly in response to conditions being too dark or light, too cold or hot, or too dry.


title: Seed

text: Seed dormancy is not the same as seed persistence in the soil or on the plant, though even in scientific publications dormancy and persistence are often confused or used as synonyms.


title: Seed

text: Often, seed dormancy is divided into four major categories: exogenous; endogenous; combinational; and secondary. A more recent system distinguishes five classes: morphological, physiological, morphophysiological, physical, and combinational dormancy.


title: Seed

text: The following types of seed dormancy do not involve seed dormancy, strictly speaking, as lack of germination is prevented by the environment, not by characteristics of the seed itself (see Germination):


title: Seed

text: Not all seeds undergo a period of dormancy. Seeds of some mangroves are viviparous; they begin to germinate while still attached to the parent. The large, heavy root allows the seed to penetrate into the ground when it falls. Many garden plant seeds will germinate readily as soon as they have water and are warm enough; though their wild ancestors may have had dormancy, these cultivated plants lack it. After many generations of selective pressure by plant breeders and gardeners, dormancy has been selected out.


title: Seed

text: For annuals, seeds are a way for the species to survive dry or cold seasons. Ephemeral plants are usually annuals that can go from seed to seed in as few as six weeks.


title: Seed

text: Seed germination is a process by which a seed embryo develops into a seedling. It involves the reactivation of the metabolic pathways that lead to growth and the emergence of the radicle or seed root and plumule or shoot. The emergence of the seedling above the soil surface is the next phase of the plant's growth and is called seedling establishment.


title: Seed

text: Three fundamental conditions must exist before germination can occur. (1) The embryo must be alive, called seed viability. (2) Any dormancy requirements that prevent germination must be overcome. (3) The proper environmental conditions must exist for germination.


title: Seed

text: Seed viability is the ability of the embryo to germinate and is affected by a number of different conditions. Some plants do not produce seeds that have functional complete embryos, or the seed may have no embryo at all, often called empty seeds. Predators and pathogens can damage or kill the seed while it is still in the fruit or after it is dispersed. Environmental conditions like flooding or heat can kill the seed before or during germination. The age of the seed affects its health and germination ability: since the seed has a living embryo, over time cells die and cannot be replaced. Some seeds can live for a long time before germination, while others can only survive for a short period after dispersal before they die.


title: Seed

text: Seed vigor is a measure of the quality of seed, and involves the viability of the seed, the germination percentage, germination rate, and the strength of the seedlings produced.


title: Seed

text: The germination percentage is simply the proportion of seeds that germinate from all seeds subject to the right conditions for growth. The germination rate is the length of time it takes for the seeds to germinate. Germination percentages and rates are affected by seed viability, dormancy and environmental effects that impact on the seed and seedling. In agriculture and horticulture quality seeds have high viability, measured by germination percentage plus the rate of germination. This is given as a percent of germination over a certain amount of time, 90% germination in 20 days, for example. 'Dormancy' is covered above; many plants produce seeds with varying degrees of dormancy, and different seeds from the same fruit can have different degrees of dormancy. It's possible to have seeds with no dormancy if they are dispersed right away and do not dry (if the seeds dry they go into physiological dormancy). There is great variation amongst plants and a dormant seed is still a viable seed even though the germination rate might be very low.


title: Seed

text: In order for the seed coat to split, the embryo must imbibe (soak up water), which causes it to swell, splitting the seed coat. However, the nature of the seed coat determines how rapidly water can penetrate and subsequently initiate germination. The rate of imbibition is dependent on the permeability of the seed coat, amount of water in the environment and the area of contact the seed has to the source of water. For some seeds, imbibing too much water too quickly can kill the seed. For some seeds, once water is imbibed the germination process cannot be stopped, and drying then becomes fatal. Other seeds can imbibe and lose water a few times without causing ill effects, but drying can cause secondary dormancy.


title: Seed

text: During seed dormancy, often associated with unpredictable and stressful environments, DNA damage accumulates as the seeds age. In rye seeds, the reduction of DNA integrity due to damage is associated with loss of seed viability during storage. Upon germination, seeds of "Vicia faba" undergo DNA repair. A plant DNA ligase that is involved in repair of single- and double-strand breaks during seed germination is an important determinant of seed longevity. Also, in Arabidopsis seeds, the activities of the DNA repair enzymes Poly ADP ribose polymerases (PARP) are likely needed for successful germination. Thus DNA damages that accumulate during dormancy appear to be a problem for seed survival, and the enzymatic repair of DNA damages during germination appears to be important for seed viability.


title: Seed

text: Scarification allows water and gases to penetrate into the seed; it includes methods to physically break the hard seed coats or soften them by chemicals, such as soaking in hot water or poking holes in the seed with a pin or rubbing them on sandpaper or cracking with a press or hammer. Sometimes fruits are harvested while the seeds are still immature and the seed coat is not fully developed and sown right away before the seed coat become impermeable. Under natural conditions, seed coats are worn down by rodents chewing on the seed, the seeds rubbing against rocks (seeds are moved by the wind or water currents), by undergoing freezing and thawing of surface water, or passing through an animal's digestive tract. In the latter case, the seed coat protects the seed from digestion, while often weakening the seed coat such that the embryo is ready to sprout when it is deposited, along with a bit of fecal matter that acts as fertilizer, far from the parent plant. Microorganisms are often effective in breaking down hard seed coats and are sometimes used by people as a treatment; the seeds are stored in a moist warm sandy medium for several months under nonsterile conditions.


title: Seed

text: Stratification, also called moist-chilling, breaks down physiological dormancy, and involves the addition of moisture to the seeds so they absorb water, and they are then subjected to a period of moist chilling to after-ripen the embryo. Sowing in late summer and fall and allowing to overwinter under cool conditions is an effective way to stratify seeds; some seeds respond more favorably to periods of oscillating temperatures which are a part of the natural environment.


title: Seed

text: Leaching or the soaking in water removes chemical inhibitors in some seeds that prevent germination. Rain and melting snow naturally accomplish this task. For seeds planted in gardens, running water is best – if soaked in a container, 12 to 24 hours of soaking is sufficient. Soaking longer, especially in stagnant water, can result in oxygen starvation and seed death. Seeds with hard seed coats can be soaked in hot water to break open the impermeable cell layers that prevent water intake.


title: Seed

text: Other methods used to assist in the germination of seeds that have dormancy include prechilling, predrying, daily alternation of temperature, light exposure, potassium nitrate, the use of plant growth regulators, such as gibberellins, cytokinins, ethylene, thiourea, sodium hypochlorite, and others. Some seeds germinate best after a fire. For some seeds, fire cracks hard seed coats, while in others, chemical dormancy is broken in reaction to the presence of smoke. Liquid smoke is often used by gardeners to assist in the germination of these species.


title: Seed

text: Seeds may be sterile for few reasons: they may have been irradiated, unpollinated, cells lived past expectancy, or bred for the purpose.


title: Seed

text: The issue of the origin of seed plants remains unsolved. However, more and more data tends to place this origin in the middle Devonian. The description in 2004 of the proto-seed "Runcaria heinzelinii" in the Givetian of Belgium is an indication of that ancient origin of seed-plants. As with modern ferns, most land plants before this time reproduced by sending into the air spores that would land and become whole new plants.


title: Seed

text: Taxonomists have described early "true" seeds from the upper Devonian, which probably became the theater of their true first evolutionary radiation. With this radiation came an evolution of seed size, shape, dispersal and eventually the radiation of gymnosperms and angiosperms and monocotyledons and dicotyledons. Seed plants progressively became one of the major elements of nearly all ecosystems.


title: Seed

text: Also called growing true, refers to plants whose seed will yield the same type of plant as the original plant. Open pollinated plants, which include heirlooms, will almost always grow true to seed if another variety does not cross-pollinate them.


title: Seed

text: Seeds harbor a diverse microbial community. Most of these microorganisms are transmitted from the seed to the developing seedlings.


title: Seed

text: In the United States farmers spent $22 billion on seeds in 2018, a 35 percent increase since 2010. DowDuPont and Monsanto account for 72 percent of corn and soybean seed sales in the U.S. with the average price of a bag of GMO corn seed is priced at $270.


title: Seed

text: Many seeds are edible and the majority of human calories comes from seeds, especially from cereals, legumes and nuts. Seeds also provide most cooking oils, many beverages and spices and some important food additives. In different seeds the seed embryo or the endosperm dominates and provides most of the nutrients. The storage proteins of the embryo and endosperm differ in their amino acid content and physical properties. For example, the gluten of wheat, important in providing the elastic property to bread dough is strictly an endosperm protein.


title: Seed

text: Seeds are used to propagate many crops such as cereals, legumes, forest trees, turfgrasses, and pasture grasses. Particularly in developing countries, a major constraint faced is the inadequacy of the marketing channels to get the seed to poor farmers. Thus the use of farmer-retained seed remains quite common.


title: Seed

text: Seeds are also eaten by animals (seed predation), and are also fed to livestock or provided as birdseed.


title: Seed

text: While some seeds are edible, others are harmful, poisonous or deadly. Plants and seeds often contain chemical compounds to discourage herbivores and seed predators. In some cases, these compounds simply taste bad (such as in mustard), but other compounds are toxic or break down into toxic compounds within the digestive system. Children, being smaller than adults, are more susceptible to poisoning by plants and seeds.


title: Seed

text: A deadly poison, ricin, comes from seeds of the castor bean. Reported lethal doses are anywhere from two to eight seeds,


title: Seed

text: In addition, seeds containing amygdalin – apple, apricot, bitter almond, peach, plum, cherry, quince, and others – when consumed in sufficient amounts, may cause cyanide poisoning.


title: Seed

text: Other seeds that contain poisons include annona, cotton, custard apple, datura, uncooked durian, golden chain, horse-chestnut, larkspur, locoweed, lychee, nectarine, rambutan, rosary pea, sour sop, sugar apple, wisteria, and yew. The seeds of the strychnine tree are also poisonous, containing the poison strychnine.


title: Seed

text: The seeds of many legumes, including the common bean ("Phaseolus vulgaris"), contain proteins called lectins which can cause gastric distress if the beans are eaten without cooking. The common bean and many others, including the soybean, also contain trypsin inhibitors which interfere with the action of the digestive enzyme trypsin. Normal cooking processes degrade lectins and trypsin inhibitors to harmless forms.


title: Seed

text: Many important nonfood oils are extracted from seeds. Linseed oil is used in paints. Oil from jojoba and crambe are similar to whale oil.


title: Seed

text: Seeds are the source of some medicines including castor oil, tea tree oil and the quack cancer drug Laetrile.


title: Seed

text: Many seeds have been used as beads in necklaces and rosaries including Job's tears, Chinaberry, rosary pea, and castor bean. However, the latter three are also poisonous.


title: Seed

text: And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.


title: Seed

text: It is Allah Who causeth the seed-grain and the date-stone to split and sprout. He causeth the living to issue from the dead, and He is the one to cause the dead to issue from the living. That is Allah: then how are ye deluded away from the truth?


title: Sharna Burgess

text: Sharna May Burgess (born 21 June 1985) is an Australian ballroom dancer who is best known for being a professional partner and troupe member on the ABC series "Dancing with the Stars". She is the winner of season 27 of American television show "Dancing with the Stars" with her celebrity partner Bobby Bones, where she has also been a runner-up in several other seasons. She has also been a judge on the Australian version of the show since 2019, along with Craig Revel Horwood and Tristan MacManus.


title: Sharna Burgess

text: Burgess was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia to Ray and Lucy Burgess. Despite being a tomboy, Burgess found a love for dance. Growing up, she was involved in several sports and different styles of dance. At the age of five, she began training in ballet, jazz and gymnastics. When she turned eight, her study of ballroom began, and she went on to win many local and national titles. At age 15, she was chosen to represent Australia at the World Championships in both the Standard and Latin styles, and performed in the 2000 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremonies.


title: Sharna Burgess

text: At age 18, Burgess moved to London, where she collected numerous titles and appeared in a UK tour with the show, Simply Ballroom. Post Simply Ballroom, choreographer Jason Gilkison gave her a spot on tour with Burn the Floor. She was in the cast for six years. Burgess was a member of the Burn the Floor cast when the show moved to Broadway.


title: Sharna Burgess

text: Burgess' first television appearances were on the Australian "Dancing with the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance" in Belgium and the Netherlands. She joined the cast of season 13 of "Dancing with the Stars" as a troupe member. While on the troupe, she also assisted "So You Think You Can Dance" choreographer Jason Gilkison on both the Australian and American versions of the show. She remained on the troupe until the end of season 15. For season 16, Burgess was bumped to regular pro and was partnered with Andy Dick. She returned as a professional for season 17, this time partnered with retired NFL star Keyshawn Johnson. They were the first couple eliminated. For season 18, she was paired with Olympic ice dancer Charlie White. They were eliminated during week 9 (the semi-finals) and ended in 5th place despite raves from the judges and high scores throughout the season. Sharna was then confirmed for season 19 on 27 August. For season 19, she paired with talk-show host Tavis Smiley. They were eliminated on week 2, finishing in 12th place.


title: Sharna Burgess

text: For season 20, Burgess was paired with combat veteran and motivational speaker, Noah Galloway. The pair made it to the finals and finished in third place. For season 21, she was paired with Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter. The couple made it to the finals and ended in second place behind winners Bindi Irwin, and her partner Derek Hough. For season 22, she was paired with NFL player Antonio Brown. The couple made it to the semi-finals but were eliminated and finished in 4th place. For season 23, Burgess was partnered with race car driver James Hinchcliffe. Due to a knee injury from the previous week's dress rehearsal, Burgess had to sit out during week 8-9. Jenna Johnson substituted for her as Hinchcliffe's partner. The couple made it to the finals, and finished in 2nd place behind winners Laurie Hernandez and her partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy.


title: Sharna Burgess

text: For season 24, Burgess was partnered with professional bull rider Bonner Bolton. The couple were eliminated on week 8, and finished in fifth place. Burgess returned for season 25 and was paired with former NBA player, Derek Fisher. The couple were eliminated on week 4, and finished in eleventh place. For season 26, she was paired with NFL player Josh Norman. The pair made it to the finals, finishing in second place overall. For season 27, she was partnered with radio personality Bobby Bones. Despite low scores from the judges, they were consistently saved by the viewers' votes and won the competition. On 2 February 2019, it was announced that Burgess was joining the Australian version of the reality dancing competition series as its sole female judge. Burgess did not appear on season 28 of the American version. She returned the following year for season 29 of the American version and was partnered with actor Jesse Metcalfe. The couple was eliminated in the fifth week of competition and finished in 12th place.


title: Sharna Burgess

text: In an interview with "Access Hollywood", Burgess admitted she knew nothing of Dick's tumultuous past, due to the fact that she was living out of the country.


title: Sharna Burgess

text: Andy and Sharna continually received low scores and harsh criticisms from the judges. However, Burgess was praised for her work with him.


title: Sharna Burgess

text: After her performance in the World Championships semi-finals, Burgess discovered she had a small tear in her knee ligament. Rather than take immediate action, she insisted on finishing the competition. She needed knee ligament reconstruction surgery because she ripped two ligaments in half and lost all the meniscus in one knee.


title: Sharna Burgess

text: She is currently dating Brian Austin Green. They met in 2020 after being set up by mutual friends. In February 2022, they announced they are expecting their first child together. Their son was born on 28 June 2022.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: The Taj Mahal Palace is a heritage, five-star, luxury hotel in the Colaba area of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, situated next to the Gateway of India. Built in the Saracenic Revival style, it opened in 1903 as the Taj Mahal Hotel and has historically often been known simply as "The Taj". The hotel is named after the Taj Mahal, which is located in the city of Agra approximately from Mumbai. It has been considered one of the finest hotels in the East since the time of the British Raj. The hotel was one of the main sites targeted in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: Part of the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, the hotel has 560 rooms and 44 suites and is considered the flagship property of the group; it employs 1,600 staff. The hotel is made up of two different structures: the Taj Mahal Palace and the Tower, which are historically and architecturally distinct from each other (the Taj Mahal Palace was built in 1903; the Tower was opened in 1972).


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: The hotel has a long and distinguished history, having received many notable guests, from presidents to captains of industry and show business stars.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: The Taj Mahal Hotel was commissioned by Jamsetji Tata and opened its doors to guests on 16 December 1903.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: An oft-repeated story concerning the reasoning behind the construction of the hotel was Tata being refused admission into Watson's Hotel, as it was reserved for Europeans. However, the validity of this has been challenged by writer Charles Allen, who wrote that Tata was unlikely to care about such a slight to the extent that he would construct a new hotel. Instead, Allen writes, the Taj was built at the urging of editor of "The Times of India" who felt a hotel "worthy of Bombay" was needed and as a "gift to the city he loved" by Tata.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: The original Indian architects were Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D. N. Mirza, and the project was completed by an English engineer, W. A. Chambers. The builder was Khansaheb Sorabji Ruttonji Contractor, who also designed and built its famous central floating staircase. The cost of construction was £250,000 (£127 million in 2008 prices).


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: The original clientele were mainly the Europeans, the Maharajas and the social elites. Many world-renowned personalities from all fields have since stayed there, from Somerset Maugham and Duke Ellington to Lord Mountbatten and Bill Clinton.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: When it opened in 1903, the Taj Mahal Hotel was the first in India to have electricity, American fans, German elevators, Turkish baths and English butlers. Later, it also had the city's first licensed bar, India's first all-day restaurant, and India's first discotheque, Blow Up. Initially in 1903, it charged 13 for rooms with fans and attached bathrooms, and 20 with full board. During World War I, the hotel was converted into a military hospital with 600 beds.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: Between 1915 and 1919, work proceeded at Apollo Bundar, to reclaim the land behind the hotel where the Gateway of India was built in 1924. The Gateway of India soon became a major focal point in Bombay.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: Ratanbai Petit, the second wife of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, lived in the hotel during her last days in 1929; her sister-in-law, Sylla Tata, had born into the Tata family, builders and owners of the hotel.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: By 1966, the Taj Mahal Hotel had become neglected and run-down, perhaps as a result of losing the British customers after Indian independence. The Taj Mahal Hotel was home to legendary jazz musician Micky Correa, "The Sultan of Swing", from 1936 to 1960.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: Management of the Taj Mahal Hotel was franchised to Pan Am's Inter-Continental Hotels division in 1972 and it was renamed The Taj Mahal Inter-Continental, with the new tower wing opening that same year.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: Known today as The Taj Mahal Tower, it was designed jointly by Daraius Batliwala & Rustom Patell, with the latter having a greater focus later on. The Tower was built on the site of the historic Green's Hotel, constructed as flats in 1890, and operated by Tata as a hotel from 1904 until its demolition to build the Tower.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: In the 1970s, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces was reorganised. The company built new properties and converted palaces into heritage hotels. In 1980, the chain expanded overseas. The franchise agreement with Inter-Continental ended in 1995 and the hotel again became the Taj Mahal Hotel.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: The hotel received extensive international exposure in 2008 during a terrorist attack and reopened after extensive repairs.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was specifically chosen by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terror group who attacked multiple targets, for an attack intended to strike "a blow against a symbol of Indian wealth and progress". The hotel was attacked on 26 November 2008, during which material damage occurred, including the destruction of the hotel's roof in the hours following. Hostages were taken during the attacks, and at least 167 people were killed, including many foreigners. The casualties were mostly Indian citizens, although westerners carrying foreign passports were singled out. Indian commandos killed the terrorists barricaded in the hotel, to end the three-day battle on 29 November. At least 31 died at the Taj. Approximately 450 people were staying in the Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel at the time of the siege. The attack was planned using information compiled by David Headley, a Pakistani-American, who had stayed at the hotel multiple times.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: Soon after this on 30 November, Tata chairman Ratan Tata said in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria that they had received advance warning of the attacks and that some countermeasures had been taken. These may have been relaxed before the attack, but in any case were easily sidestepped by the operatives.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: The less-damaged sections of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel reopened on 21 December 2008. It took several months to rebuild the popular heritage section of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: Hillary Clinton visited Mumbai in July 2009, aiming to deepen India – United States relations and stayed at the Taj hotel; she also attended a commemoration event. She said, "I wanted to send a message that I personally and our country is in sympathy and solidarity with the employees and the guests of the Taj who lost their lives … with the people of Mumbai." On 15 August 2010, India's Independence Day, the Taj Mahal Palace was reopened after restoration. The cost of the restoration of the hotel so far has been 1.75 billion rupees. The palace wing has been restored and offers new hotel services.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: In March 2010, as restoration work neared completion, the hotel dropped the word "Tower" from its name and became The Taj Mahal Palace.


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: On 6 November 2010, U.S. president Barack Obama became the first foreign head of state to stay at the Taj Mahal Palace after the attacks. In a speech from the terrace of the hotel, Obama said that "the Taj has been the symbol of the strength and the resilience of the Indian people."


title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

text: In 2017, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel acquired an image trademark, the first building in the country to secure intellectual-property-right protection for its architectural design.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Irène Joliot-Curie (; ; 12 September 1897 – 17 March 1956) was a French chemist, physicist and politician, the elder daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie, and the wife of Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Jointly with her husband, Joliot-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of induced radioactivity, making them the second-ever married couple (after her parents) to win the Nobel Prize, while adding to the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. This made the Curies the family with the most Nobel laureates to date. She was also one of the first three women to be a member of a French government, becoming undersecretary for Scientific Research under the Popular Front in 1936. Both children of the Joliot-Curies, Hélène and Pierre, are also prominent scientists.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: In 1945, she was one of the six commissioners of the new French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) created by de Gaulle and the Provisional Government of the French Republic. She died in Paris on 17 March 1956 from an acute leukemia linked to her exposure to polonium and X-rays.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Irène was born in Paris, France, in 1897 and was the first of Marie and Pierre's two daughters. Her sister was Eve. They lost their father early on in 1906 due to a horse-drawn wagon incident and Marie was left to raise them. Education was important to Marie and Irène's education began at a school near the Paris Observatory. This school was chosen because it had a more challenging curriculum than the school nearby the Curie's home. In 1906, it was obvious Irène was talented in mathematics and her mother chose to focus on that instead of public school. Marie joined forces with a number of eminent French scholars, including the prominent French physicist Paul Langevin to form "The Cooperative", which included a private gathering of nine students that were children of the most distinguished academics in France. Each contributed to educating these children in their respective homes. The curriculum of The Cooperative was varied and included not only the principles of science and scientific research but such diverse subjects as Chinese and sculpture and with great emphasis placed on self-expression and play. Irène studied in this environment for about two years.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Irène and her sister Ève were sent to Poland to spend the summer with their Aunt Bronia (Marie's sister) when Irène was thirteen. Irène's education was so rigorous that she still had a German and trigonometry lesson every day of that break. Irène re-entered a more orthodox learning environment by going back to high school at the Collège Sévigné in central Paris until 1914. She then went onto the Faculty of Science at the Sorbonne to complete her baccalaureate, until 1916 when her studies were interrupted by World War I.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Irène took a nursing course during college to assist her mother, Marie Curie, in the field as her assistant. She began her work as a nurse radiographer on the battlefield alongside her mother, but after a few months she was left to work alone at a radiological facility in Belgium. She taught doctors how to locate shrapnel in bodies using radiology and taught herself how to repair the equipment. She moved throughout facilities and battlegrounds including two bombsites, Furnes and Ypres, and Amiens. She received a military medal for her assistance in X-ray facilities in France and Belgium.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: After the war, Irène returned to the Sorbonne in Paris to complete her second baccalaureate degree in mathematics and physics in 1918. Irène then went on to work as her mother's assistant, teaching radiology at the Radium Institute, which had been built by her parents. Her doctoral thesis was concerned with the alpha decay of polonium, the element discovered by her parents (along with radium) and named after Marie's country of birth, Poland. Irène became a Doctor of Science in 1925.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: As she neared the end of her doctorate in 1924, Irène Curie was asked to teach the precision laboratory techniques required for radiochemical research to the young chemical engineer Frédéric Joliot, whom she would later wed. From 1928 Joliot-Curie and her husband Frédéric combined their research efforts on the study of atomic nuclei. In 1932, Joliot-Curie and her husband Frédéric had full access to Marie's polonium. Experiments were done using gamma rays to identify the positron. Though their experiments identified both the positron and the neutron, they failed to interpret the significance of the results and the discoveries were later claimed by Carl David Anderson and James Chadwick respectively. These discoveries would have secured greatness indeed, as together with J. J. Thomson's discovery of the electron in 1897, they finally replaced John Dalton's model of atoms as solid spherical particles.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: However, in 1933, Joliot-Curie and her husband were the first to calculate the accurate mass of the neutron. The Joliot-Curies continued trying to get their name into the scientific community; in doing so they developed a new theory from an interesting experiment they conducted. During an experiment bombarding aluminium with alpha rays, they discovered that only protons were detected. Based on the undetectable electron and positron pair, they proposed that the protons changed into neutrons and positrons. Later in October 1933, this new theory was presented to the Seventh Solvay Conference. The Solvay Conferences consisted of prominent scientists in the physics and chemistry community. Irene and her husband presented their theory and results to their fellow scientists, but they received criticism of their finding from most of the 46 scientists attending. However they were able to build on the controversial theory later on.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: In 1934, the Joliot-Curies finally made the discovery that sealed their place in scientific history. Building on the work of Marie and Pierre Curie, who had isolated naturally occurring radioactive elements, the Joliot-Curies realised the alchemist's dream of turning one element into another: creating radioactive nitrogen from boron, radioactive isotopes of phosphorus from aluminium, and silicon from magnesium. Irradiating the natural stable isotope of aluminium with alpha particles (i.e. helium nuclei) resulted in an unstable isotope of phosphorus: Al + He → P + n. This discovery is formally known as positron emission or beta decay, where a proton in the radioactive nucleus changes to a neutron and releases a positron and an electron neutrino. By then, the application of radioactive materials for use in medicine was growing and this discovery allowed radioactive materials to be created quickly, cheaply, and plentifully. The Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 brought with it fame and recognition from the scientific community and Joliot-Curie was awarded a professorship at the Faculty of Science.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Irène's group pioneered research into radium nuclei that led a separate group of German physicists, led by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Fritz Strassman, to discover nuclear fission: the splitting of the nucleus itself, emitting vast amounts of energy. Lise Meitner's now-famous calculations actually disproved Irène's results to show that nuclear fission was possible.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: In 1948, using work on nuclear fission, the Joliot-Curies along with other scientists created the first French nuclear reactor. The Joliot-Curies were a part of the organization in charge of the project, the Atomic Energy Commission, "Commissariat à l'énergie atomique" (CEA). Irène was the commissioner of the CEA and Irène's husband, Frédéric, was the director of the CEA. The reactor, Zoé (Zéro énergie Oxyde et Eau lourde) used nuclear fission to generate five kilowatts of power. This was the beginning of nuclear energy as a source of power for France. Because of the work of the Joliot-Curies, France in 2020 generates approximately 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy. France also exports surplus energy to other European countries.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Years of working so closely with radioactive materials finally caught up with Joliot-Curie and she was diagnosed with leukemia. She had been accidentally exposed to polonium when a sealed capsule of the element exploded on her laboratory bench in 1946. Treatment with antibiotics and a series of operations relieved her suffering temporarily but her condition continued to deteriorate. Despite this, Joliot-Curie continued to work and in 1955 drew up plans for new physics laboratories at the Orsay Faculty of Sciences, which is now a part of the Paris-Saclay University, south of Paris.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: The Joliot-Curies had become increasingly aware of the growth of the fascist movement. They opposed its ideals and joined the Socialist Party in 1934, the "Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes" a year later, and in 1936 they actively supported the Republican faction in the Spanish Civil War. In the same year, Joliot-Curie was appointed Undersecretary of State for Scientific Research by the French government, in which capacity she helped in founding the "Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique".


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Frédéric and Irène visited Moscow for the two hundred and twentieth anniversary of the Russian Academy of Science and returned sympathizing with Russian colleagues. Frédéric's close connection with the Communist Party caused Irène to later be detained on Ellis Island during her third trip to the US, coming to speak in support of Spanish refugees, at the Joint Antifascist Refugee Committee's invitation.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: The Joliot-Curies had continued Pierre and Marie's policy of publishing all of their work for the benefit of the global scientific community, but afraid of the danger that might result should it be developed for military use, they stopped: on 30 October 1939, they placed all of their documentation on nuclear fission in the vaults of the French Academy of Sciences, where it remained until 1949.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Joliot-Curie's political career continued after the war and she became a commissioner in the "Commissariat à l'énergie atomique". However, she still found time for scientific work and in 1946 became director of her mother's "Institut Curie".


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Joliot-Curie became actively involved in promoting women's education, serving on the National Committee of the Union of French Women ("Comité National de l'Union des Femmes Françaises") and the World Peace Council. The Joliot-Curies were given memberships to the French "Légion d'honneur"; Irène as an officer and Frédéric as a commander, recognising his earlier work for the resistance.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Irène and Frédéric hyphenated their surnames to Joliot-Curie after they married in 1926. The Joliot-Curies had two children, Hélène, born eleven months after they were married, and Pierre, born in 1932.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Between 1941 and 1943 during World War II, Joliot-Curie contracted tuberculosis and was forced to spend time convalescing in Switzerland. Concern for her own health together with the anguish of her husband's being in the resistance against the German troops and her children in occupied France was hard to bear. She did make several dangerous visits back to France, enduring detention by German troops at the Swiss border on more than one occasion. Finally, in 1944, Joliot-Curie judged it too dangerous for her family to remain in France and she took her children back to Switzerland. Later in September 1944, after not hearing from Frédéric for months, Irene and her children were finally able to rejoin him.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Irène fought through these struggles to advocate for her own personal views. She was a passionate member of the feminist movement, especially regarding the sciences, and also advocated for peace. She continually applied to the French Academy of Sciences, an elite scientific organization, knowing that she would be denied. She did so to draw attention to the fact they did not accept women in the organization. Irène was also involved in many speaking functions such as the International Women's Day conference. She also played a big role for the French contingent at the World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace, which promoted the World Peace movement. In 1948, during a strike involving coal miners, Joliot-Curie reached out to Paris Newsletters to convince families to temporarily adopt the children of the coal miners during the strike. The Joliot-Curies adopted two girls during that time.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: In 1956, after a final convalescent period in the French Alps, Joliot-Curie was admitted to the Curie Hospital in Paris, where she died on 17 March at the age of 58 from leukemia, possibly due to radiation from polonium-210. Frédéric's health was also declining, and he died in 1958 from liver disease, which too was said to be the result of overexposure to radiation.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Joliot-Curie was an atheist and anti-war. When the French government held a national funeral in her honor, Irène's family asked to have the religious and military portions of the funeral omitted. Frédéric was also given a national funeral by the French government.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Joliot-Curie's daughter, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, went on to become a nuclear physicist and professor at the University of Paris. Joliot-Curie's son, Pierre Joliot, went on to become a biochemist at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.


title: Irène Joliot-Curie

text: Her name was added to the "Monument to the X-ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations" erected in Hamburg, Germany.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: Sri Venkateswara Swami Vaari Temple is a Hindu temple situated in the hill town of Tirumala at Tirupati in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The Temple is dedicated to Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu, who is believed to have appeared on the earth to save mankind from trials and troubles of "Kali Yuga". Hence the place has also got the name Kaliyuga Vaikuntha and the Lord here is referred to as Kaliyuga Prathyaksha Daivam. The temple is also known by other names like Tirumala Temple, Tirupati Temple and Tirupati Balaji Temple. Venkateswara is known by many other names: Balaji, Govinda, and Srinivasa. The temple is run by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which is under control of Andhra Pradesh Government. The head of TTD is appointed by Andhra Pradesh Government. The revenue from this shrine is used by Andhra Pradesh government.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: Tirumala Hills are part of Seshachalam Hills range. The hills are above sea level and comprise seven peaks, representing the seven heads of Adisesha. The temple lies on the seventh peak—Venkatadri, on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini, a holy water tank. Hence the temple is also referred to as "Temple of Seven Hills". Tirumala town covers an area of about .


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: The Temple is constructed in South Indian architecture and is believed to be constructed over a period of time starting from 300 CE. The Garbhagruha (Sanctum Sanctorum) is called Ananda Nilayam. The presiding deity, Venkateswara, is in standing posture and faces east in Garbha Gruha. The temple follows Vaikhanasa Agama tradition of worship. The temple is one of the eight Vishnu Swayambhu Kshetras and is listed as the 75th Divya Desam. The Temple premises have two modern Queue complex buildings to manage the pilgrim crowd, Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasadam complex for free meals to Pilgrims, hair tonsure buildings and a number of pilgrim lodging sites.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: There are several legends associated with the manifestation of the Lord in Tirumala. According to one legend, the temple has a murti of Venkateswara, it is believed, which shall remain here for the entire duration of the present "Kali Yuga".


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: During "Dvapara Yuga", Adisesha resided on earth as Seshachalam Hills after losing a contest with Vayu. According to Puranas, Tirumala is regarded as Adivaraha Kshetra. After killing Hiranyaksha, Adivaraha resided on this hill. Venkatachala Mahatyam is the widely accepted legend over Tirumala Temple.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: During "Kali Yuga", Narada advised some sages who were performing yagna to decide who could be given the fruits of yagna among Trimurtis (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva). Bhrigu was sent to test the Trinity. The sage who had an extra eye in the sole of his foot visited Brahma and Shiva and went unnoticed in both these locations. He cursed Brahma to be not worshipped and Shiva to be worshipped as a lingam. At last he visited Vishnu and the lord acts as if he had not noticed Bhrigu. Getting angered by this act, sage Bhrigu kicked Vishnu in the chest, to which Vishnu did not react and instead apologised to the Sage by massaging his feet. During this act, he squashed the extra eye that was present in the sole of Bhrigu's foot. However Lakshmi finds it as an insult since Vishnu's chest was considered as Lakshmi's residence ("vakshasthala") and Bhrigu kicked it which indirectly insulted Lakshmi. She then left Vaikuntha and came to Earth to Kolhapur and started meditating.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: Vishnu bore human form as Srinivasa, left Vaikuntha, in search of Lakshmi, reached the "Seshachalam" hills in Tirumala and started meditating. Lakshmi learned of the condition of Srinivasa and called Shiva and Brahma. Shiva and Brahma then converted themselves into Cow and Calf and Lakshmi had handed over the cow and calf to Chola king ruling over Tirumala Hills at that time. The Cow would provide milk to Srinivasa daily while it was taken for grazing. One day, a cowherd saw this and tried to beat the Cow with his staff but Srinivasa had borne the injury. Getting angered by this Srinivasa had cursed the Chola king to become a Demon as dharma says sins committed by servants ("shudras") should be borne by Kings. The king prayed for mercy after which Srinivasa said to him, that the King should take next birth as Akasharaja and should perform marriage of his daughter Padmavati with Srinivasa.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: Srinivasa went to his foster-mother Vakula Devi on Tirumala hills and stayed there for a while. After curse, Chola king took rebirth as Akasharaja and he had a daughter named Padmavati, who was born in the Padmapushkarini situated at present day Tiruchanur in Andhra Pradesh. Srinivasa married Padmavati at present day Narayanavanam in Andhra Pradesh and returned to Tirumala Hills. After few months, Goddess Lakshmi had discovered the marriage of Srinivasa with Padamavati and went to Tirumala hills to question Srinivasa. Srinivasa, unable to bear the quarrel between Lakshmi and Padmavati, turned into stone right when he was encountered by Lakshmi and Padmavathi. Brahma and Shiva appeared before the confused queens and explain the main purpose behind all this - The Lord's desire to be on the seven hills for the emancipation of mankind from the perpetual troubles of "Kali Yuga". Goddesses Lakshmi and Padmavathi also turn into stone deities expressing their wish to be always there. Lakshmi stays with Him on His Chest on the left side while Padmavathi rests on His Chest's right side.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: The first recorded endowment was made by Pallava queen Samavai in the year 966 CE. She donated many jewels and two parcels of land (one 10 acres and other 13 acres) and ordered to use the revenues generated from that land for the celebration of major festivals in the temple. The Pallava dynasty (9th century), the Chola dynasty (10th century), and Vijayanagara pradhans (14th and 15th centuries) were committed devotees of Venkateswara. The temple gained most of its current wealth and size under the Vijayanagara Empire, present-day Karnataka state, with the donation of diamonds and gold. In 16th century, Vijayanagara Emperor Krishnadevaraya was a frequent donor and visitor to the temple. His donations of gold and jewels enabled the Ananda Nilayam (inner shrine) roofing to be gilded. On 2 January 1517, Krishnadevaraya installed his own statue in the temple.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: After the decline of Vijayanagara Empire, rulers from states such as the Kingdom of Mysore and the Gadwal Samsthanam worshipped as pilgrims and donated ornaments and valuables to the temple. Maratha general Raghoji I Bhonsle (died 1755) visited the temple and set up a permanent administration for the conduct of worship in the temple. Between 1320 CE and 1369 CE, idols of Ranganatha temple of Srirangapatnam were brought to this temple for safe keeping.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: In the 11th and 12th centuries, Ramanujacharya visited Tirupati thrice. On the first occasion, he spent a year with his uncle, Tirumalai Nambi, learning the esoteric meaning of Ramayana. His second visit was for settling a dispute that arose between the Saivites and Vaishnavites regarding the nature of the image set up in the Tirumala temple. During the last visit, which was at an advanced old age of 102 years, the acharya installed the image of Govindaraja and laid the foundations of the present town of Tirupati. Ramanuja streamlined the rituals at Tirumala temple according to Vaikanasa Agama tradition and introduced the recitation of Naalayira Divya Prabandham. He also set up Tirupati Jeeyar Mutt in 1119 AD in consultation with Tirumalai Ananthalwan to institutionalize service to the Lord and supervise the temple rituals. The Jeeyars to this day ensures that the rituals ordained by Ramanuja are observed.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: After the end of Vijayanagara Empire, the temple went into the hands of Golconda in July 1656 and then it was under the French for a short period of time and under Nawab of Carnatic till 1801 CE. With the advent of British during the early 19th century, the management of the temple passed to hands of East India Company, who accorded special status to temple and avoided interference in temple activities. Madras government passed Regulation seven of 1817, which passed the temple to Board of Revenue through collector of North Arcot District. In 1821, Mr. Bruce, the then East India company commissioner for Chittoor district, had drawn rules for the management of Temple which is referred to as "Bruce's Code".


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: In 1843, the East India Company transferred the Administration of Temple along with other Temples in Tirupati to Mahants of Hathiramji Muth, who acted as Vicaranakartas. It was under the rule of Mahants for six generations until 1933 when Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams was formed as a result of the TTD Act in 1933. The Act of 1933 was superseded by Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act of 1951. Again in 1966, the temple was placed under direct control of Andhra pradesh State Endowments Department, with Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments act. In 1979, act of 1966 was rolled back with new Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams act, where temple administration was vested to a committee consisting of Executive officer, Chairman and two other members nominated by Government of Andhra Pradesh.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: The temple is run by body Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) which is under control of Andhra Pradesh Government. The head of TTD is appointed by Andhra Pradesh Government. The revenue from this shrine is used by Andhra Pradesh government.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: The temple bears as many as 640 inscriptions in Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu languages. There is a unique collection of about 3000 copper plates on which the Telugu Sankirtanas of Tallapaka Annamacharya and his descendants are inscribed. This collection forms a valuable source of material for a historical linguist in Telugu apart from its importance to musicologists.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is the trust board which oversees and manages the operations of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple. It is operated by a Board of Trustees that has increased in size from five (1951) to eighteen (2015) through the adoption of Acts. The daily operation and management of TTD is the responsibility of an executive officer, who is appointed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: The temple attracts approximately 75,000 pilgrims every day. The annual budget, estimated at INR 2530.10 crores for the financial year 2015–16, runs charitable trusts whose funds are derived from the budget and donations from the devotees. The annual income is estimated at INR 10 billion in 2008. Most of its income is derived from the donations in SriVari Hundi. Devotees donate to the TTD, which runs into millions of rupees. TTD, the organisation running the welfare of the temple, runs various charitable trusts, whose funds are derived from the budget and donations from the devotees.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: There are three Dwarams (entrances) which lead to "Garbhagriha" from outside. "Mahadwaram," also known as "padikavali", is the first entrance which is provided through "Mahaprakaram" (outer compound wall). A 50 feet, five storied Gopuram (Temple tower) is constructed over this Mahadwaram with seven Kalasams at its apex. "Vendivakili" (Silver Entrance), also known as "Nadimipadikavali", is the second entrance and is provided through "SampangiPrakaram" (Inner compound wall). A three storied Gopuram is constructed over Vendivakili with seven Kalasams at its apex. "Bangaruvakili" (Golden Entrance) is the third entrance which leads into "Garbhagriha". There are two tall copper images of the Dvarapalakas Jaya-Vijaya on either side of this door. The thick wooden door is covered with gold gilt plates depicting the Dasavathaaram of Vishnu.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: Circumambulation around Sanctum sanctorum in the temple or deities is called Pradakshinam. There are two circumbulation paths in the temple. The first one is area between "Mahaprakaram" and "sampangiprakaram". This path known as "Sampangipradakshinam" has many Mandapas, Dwajasthambam, Balipeetam, Kshetrapalika sila, prasadam distribution area etc. The "Vimanapradakhinam" is the second "pradakshinam", which circumbulates "Ananda Nilayam Vimanam". This path has sub-shrines dedicted to Varadaraja and Yoga Narasimha, Potu (main kitchen), Bangaru Bavi (golden well), Ankurarpana Mandapam, Yagasala, Nanala (coins and Notla (Paper notes) Parkamani, Almyrah of Sandal paste (Chandanapu ara), cell of records, Sannidhi Bhashyakarulu, Lords's hundi and the seat of Vishvaksena.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: "Garbhagriha" is the Sanctum sanctorum where the presiding deity Venkateswara resides along with other small deities. Golden Entrance leads to "Garbhagriha". There are two more doors in between "Bangaruvakili" and "Garbhagriha". The deity is in a standing posture with four hands in different postures - one in "varada" posture, one placed over thigh and other two holding "Shanka" and "Sudarshana Chakra". The deity is decorated with precious ornaments. The deity bears Goddess Lakshmi on the right chest and Goddess Padmavathi on the left. Pilgrims are not allowed to enter the "Garbhagriha" (beyond "Kulasekharapadi" (path).


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: Venkateswara, an avatar of Vishnu is the presiding deity of the temple. It is believed that the Moolavirat is Swayambhu (self manifested).


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: As per Vaikhanasa Agamas, Venkateswara is represented by five deities (berams) including the Moolavirat which are together referred to as Pancha beramulu (Pancha means five; Beram means Deity). The five deities are Dhruva Beram (Moolavar), Kautuka Beram, Snapana Beram, Utsava Beram, Bali Beram. All the pancha berams are placed in the Garbha griha under Ananda Nilayam Vimanam.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: Along with Pancha berams, the garbha griha also hosts the panchaloha deities of Sita, Rama, Lakshmana, Rukmini, Krishna, Chakratalvar. The temple hosts the deities of Garuda (Vishnu's vehicle), Narasimha, Varadaraja, Kubera, Hanuman in their respective sub-shrines. The temple also host the deities of Shesha (Vishnu's serpent), Viswaksena, Sugriva, Ramanuja. Vimana Venkateswara is the exact replica icon of Venkateswara carved on the Ananda Nilayam Viamana's second tier north west corner.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: The temple follows ""Vaikhanasa Agama"" tradition of worship, which is believed to be revealed by Sage Vikhanasa and is propagated by his disciples Atri, Bhrigu, Marichi, Kasyapa. Vaikhanasa is one of the principal traditions of Hinduism and primarily worships Vishnu (and his associated Avatars) as the Supreme God. This ancient texts recommends six times a day puja (worship) for Vishnu, of which minimum one puja is mandatory. Rituals are classified as daily, weekly and periodical. The daily sevas in Temple (in order of occurrence) include Suprabhata Seva, Thomala Seva, Archana, Kalyanotsavam, Dolotsavam (Unjal Seva), Arjita Brahmotsavam, Arjita Vasantotsavam, Sahasra Dipalankarana Seva, Ekanta Seva. Weekly sevas of the Temple include Vishesha Pooja on Monday, Ashtadala Pada Padmaradhana on Tuesday, Sahasra Kalasabhishekam on Wednesday, Tiruppavada Seva on Thursday, Abhishekam and Nijapada Darshanam on Friday. There are no weekly sevas on Saturday and Sunday. Periodical rituals include Jyesthabhishekam, Aaniwara Asthanam, Pavithrotsavam, Koil Alwar Tirumanjanam.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: The world-famous ""Tirupati Laddu"" is given at Tirumala Temple as prasadam. Tirupati Laddu had got Geographical indication tag which entitles only Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to make or sell it. Many other prasadams are also offered to Venkateswara and they are classified as Anna-prasadams and Panyarams. Annaprasadams include chakerapongal (sweet), Pulihora (tamarind rice), miryala pongal, kadambham, daddojanam (curd rice). Panyarams include laddu, vada, Dosa, Appam, jilebi, muruku, poli, payasam. Free meals are given daily to the pilgrims. On Thursdays, the Tiruppavada seva is conducted, where huge quantity of pulihora is offered to Venkateswara by heaping up into a pyramidal shape in Tirummani mandapam (ghanta mandapam).


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: To manage the huge number of Devotees visiting the temple, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam constructed two Vaikuntam Queue Complexes: one in the year 1983 and the other in the year 2000. Vaikuntam Queue complexes have rooms where Devotees can sit and wait until their turn for Darshan. According to tradition, it is important for a devotee to have darshan of Bhuvaraha swamy temple lying on the northern banks of Swami Pushkarini before having Darshan of Venkateswara in the main temple.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: Recently, the administration introduced a separate queue for pedestrian pilgrims. Free but limited number of biometric tokens are issued for the pilgrims to access this special queue. Tokens are provided on a first-come, first-served basis. The pilgrims can worship Venkateswara on the allotted time slots issued in the token. There are two entry points for the foot-path pilgrims: Alipiri Mettu and Srivari Mettu. Alipiri Mettu is open round the clock, whereas Srivari Mettu is open from 6am - 6pm.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: Many devotees have their head tonsured as "Mokku", an offering to God. The daily amount of hair collected is over a ton. The hair is collected and is sold internationally creating a substantial profit for the temple. As per legend, when Venkateswara was hit on his head by a cowherd, a small portion of his scalp became bald. This was noticed by Neela Devi, a Gandharva princess. Immediately, she cut a portion of her hair and, with her magic, implanted it on his scalp. Venkateswara noticed her sacrifice. As hair is a beautiful asset of the female form, he promised her that all his devotees who come to his abode would offer their hair to him, and she would be the recipient of all the hair received. Hence, it is believed that hair offered by the devotees is accepted by Neela Devi. The hill, Neeladri, one of the seven hills, is named after her. Traditionally the barbers employed to do the tonsuring were male and from the Nayee caste and this caused some discrimination and failed to resolve the requests from women that they would like a female barber. A protest led by Kagganapalli Radha Devi overturned the objections and temple agreed to appoint women barbers. Devi was recognised by Andhra Pradesh in 2017 and with an award of the Nari Shakti Puraskar by the President of India in 2019.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: In remembrance of this, devotees go to Tirupati to donate money in Venkateswara's hundi (donation pot) so that he can pay it back to Kubera. The hundi collections go as high as 22.5 million INR a day.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: In the Thulabaram ritual, a devotee sits on a pan of a weighing balance and the other pan is filled with materials greater than the weight of the devotee. Devotees usually offer sugar, jaggery, tulsi leaves, banana, gold, coins. This is mostly performed with newborn babies or children.


title: Venkateswara Temple

text: In the Venkateswara Temple over 433 festivals are being observed in 365 days of a year suiting the title "Nitya Kalyanam Paccha Toranam" where every day is a festival.