prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Professional cyclist Sara Symington competed in which Olympic Games held in Sydeney, Australia?

The following are given passages.
Context 1: Passage 1:
Sven Nys
Sven Nys (Dutch: [ˌsfɛˈnɛis]; born 17 June 1976) is a former professional cyclist competing in cyclo-cross and mountain bike  With two world championships, seven world cups, and over 140 competitive victories, he is considered one of the best cyclo-cross racers of his generation, and remains a prominent figure in cyclo-cross  Apart from cyclo-cross, Nys is also fivefold national mountainbike champion, and has competed in that discipline in two Olympic games 

Career overview
Early years
Born in Bonheiden, Belgium, Nys began racing BMX at the age of 8  He won eight BMX national titles before switching to cyclocross, a more popular sport in Belgium  He won the under-23 world championship in 1997 and 1998, beating another Belgian, Bart Wellens  Nys moved to the elite category in 1998–1999, joining the Dutch Rabobank team 

Becoming elite
In the elite class he won the Superprestige competition and came third in the national championships  The next season, he won the Superprestige again, ended the World Cup as leader and became Belgian champion  This made him favourite for the 2000 world championship  But his Rabobank management told him not to beat his teammate, the Dutchman Richard Groenendaal  Groenendaal sprinted away from the start and Nys was forced to hold back and not help another Belgian, Mario De Clercq, chase him  Groenendaal won and Nys, who came third, was criticised in Belgium for choosing team over country  The Royal Belgian Cycling League demanded an explanation  It became more forgiving but the head coach, Erik De Vlaeminck, remained unconvinced Nys blamed an injury for not winning a season-long competition or championship in 2000–2001  A year later he won the World Cup and the Superprestige again  In the world championships that year he came third after being outsprinted by De Clercq and Tom Vannoppen  The following season Nys won the Superprestige for the fourth time as well as the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy for a first time  He became Belgian champion again, but Wellens won the world championship and the World Cup 
Wellens dominated 2003–2004  Nys' chance for the World Cup ended when other Belgians sprinted past him, taking points  Nys was angry that his countrymen had allowed Groenendaal, a Dutchman, to win the World Cup rather than him  That evening Nys decided from then on to ride for himself 

This is war  Thanks Vannoppen, thanks Van der Linden  This is the last thing I have done for the Belgian team  They can all go to hell  [   ] Apparently there are some who take joy out of me not winning the World Cup  I know who and will take that into account next year  National team coach Rudy De Bie told me that he has never seen anything like this before  Our country loses the World Cup today 

The cannibal
Nys won everything of importance and at the end of 2004–2005 won the national and world championships, ended number one in the UCI rankings and World Cup, the Superprestige and the Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy  He is the only cyclo-crosser to achieve such dominance  Nys came close to repeating the feat the following season but he gave up in the world championship after a fall on the last lap 
Nys won all eight Superprestige races in 2006–2007  In the Superprestige he won 13 races from Hoogstraten in 2005 to Asper Gaver in 2007  That season he won the World Cup and the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy again, but neither the national or world championship  The national involved a lot of running, not Nys' talent, and were won by Wellens  At the world championship in Hooglede-Gits Nys fell three times: over Wellens, who fell because a television motor had hit one of the road markers; over Erwin Vervecken; and because of an error of his own  He finished 11th 
The following season, Nys won the World Cup, the Superprestige and the Gazet van Anterwerpen trophy again  He also won his fifth national championship  The Dutchman Lars Boom became champion of the world and Zdeněk Štybar took the silver, both barely 22 at the time  Nys, already nearing 32, came third 

Nys switched teams from Rabobank to Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner  Niels Albert, 2008's U23 world champion, joined the elite category that season, giving Nys another opponent  But Nys won all the season-long competitions and the national championship  Albert won the world championship, Štybar was second and Nys third  The Belgian press referred to Albert, Štybar and Nys as De Grote Drie (The Big Three), it was clear that Nys' years of absolute domination were behind him 
In his second mountain bike race Nys won the Belgian championship and then came ninth at the Olympic Games in 2008  On 31 December 2006 Nys won his 150th race with the elites, at Diegem  Four years later, he scored his 300th career win at the Koppenbergcross, one of the toughest races in the season 
Nys was appointed as a member of the inaugural UCI Athletes' Commission in 2011 In 2013 Nys won the world championship a second time  He said his career was now complete On 10 February 2013, Nys won his 60th race in the Superprestige On 22 November 2015, Nys won the Koksijde round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Belgium, his fiftieth victory in the series  His win came seventeen years and a day after his first World Cup victory Sven Nys called a halt to his career on 5–6 March 2016 at an event called "Merci Sven" which was held at the Antwerp Sportpaleis (Belgium) 

Post cycling career
After ending his active cyclocross career Nys bought the cyclocross team Telenet–Fidea Lions of which he is the general manager  He is also a motivational speaker, during his keynotes he shares information about his experiences during his cycling career 

Major results
Cyclo-cross
Major championship results
UCI World Cup results
Superprestige
BPost Bank Trophy
Up until the season 2011–2012, this competition was called the Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy (GvA) 

Mountain Bike
Road
Passage 2:
Anton Villatoro
Anton Villatoro (born June 10, 1970 in Guatemala City, Guatemala) is a Guatemalan former professional cyclist  He attended the University of Colorado, where he raced with future US Postal teammate Tyler Hamilton  Villatoro won the 1991 Junior Tour of Guatemala, a gold medal at the 1994 Central American Games (team time trial) and placed fourth at the 1995 Pan American Games (time trial)  In 1996, he represented Guatemala at the Olympic Games in Atlanta 
He raced for the US Postal Service Cycling Team from 1996–1998 and then served as team captain for Team 7-UP from 1999 to 2000 
He retired in 2001 to pursue business interests 
Passage 3:
Jennifer Parilla
Jennifer Parilla (born January 9, 1981) is an American trampolinist who was born in Newport Beach, California   She was the first and only American to qualify to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney as a trampolinist when the sport debuted; and finished in 9th place   She competed for the US at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics 
She was on the national team for eleven years from 1993 to 2004; her favorite event was trampoline but she also competed successfully on the double mini  She was the National Champion in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004 on the trampoline, and on the double mini in 1998 and 1999   She earned national titles in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1998 in synchronized trampoline, bringing her total national title count to twelve She was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2010 

Personal life
Jennifer's hometown is Lake Forest, California but she now resides in Newport Beach  She trained with Team Everybody gymnastics club and was coached by Lionel Rangel  Jennifer attended Orange Coast College and California State Polytechnic University in Pomona 
Jennifer is one of two children to Paul and Jan Parilla; she has an older brother named Steve   She is currently the Trampoline and Tumbling Director at National Gymnastics Training Center in Aliso Viejo, California 

International competition
2003 World Championships, Hannover, GER; 16th-Trampoline
2003 World Cup, Prague, CZE; 4th-Trampoline
2003 World Cup, Ostend, BEL; 18th-Trampoline
2003 Canada Cup, Oakville, O N , CAN; 8th-Trampoline
2002 World Cup, Mykolayiv, UKR; 11th – Trampoline
2001 World Championships, Odense, DEN; 19th – Trampoline
2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney, AUS; 9th-Trampoline
2000 World Cup, Sydney, AUS; 6th – Trampoline (4th vs  Olympic Field)
2000 Olympic Test Event, Sydney, AUS; 6th – Trampoline (4th vs  Olympic Field)
1999 Olympic Selection; 9th – Trampoline
1999 World Championships, Sun City, RSA; 7th – Synchro, 17th – Trampoline
1999 French Nationals, Toulouse, FRA; 1st – Synchro
1998 World Championships, Sydney, AUS; 2nd – Double Mini, 3rd – Team Double Mini
1997 Trampoline World cup final, Frankfurt, GER; 5th – Trampoline
1997 Indo-Pacific Championships, Durban, RSA; 3rd – Double mini
1997 Trampoline World Cup Final, Sydney, AUS; 4th – Trampoline
1996 Trampoline World Cup, Frankfurt, GER; 2nd Trampoline
1996 World Championships, Vancouver, CAN; 6th – Synchro, 7th – Trampoline
1995 Trampoline World Cup, Vancouver, CAN; 7th – Trampoline
1994 World Championships, Porto, POR; 1st – Team Double Mini
1994 World Age Group Games, Vila De Conde, POR; 1st - Trampoline 2nd – Double Mini

National Competition
2004 U S  Olympic Team Trials, San Jose, Calif ; 1st - Trampoline
2004 Visa U S  Championships, Nashville, Tenn ; 1st - Trampoline
2003 U S  Championships, Sacramento, Calif ; 1st – Trampoline
2003 Winter Classic, Tampa, Fla ; 2nd - Trampoline
2002 National Championships, Cleveland, Ohio; 1st – Trampoline
2002 U S  Elite Challenge, Indianapolis, Ind ; 1st – Trampoline
2002 Winter Classic, Indianapolis, Ind ; 4th – Trampoline
2001 National Championships, San Antonio, Texas; 11th - Trampoline
2000 National Championships, St  Louis, Mo ; 1st – Trampoline
1999 U S  World Team Trials, Sacramento, Calif ; 1st – Trampoline, 1st – Synchro - 2nd Double Mini
1999 U S  World Team Trials, Knoxville, Tenn ; 1st – trampoline, 1st – Double Mini, 1st - Synchro
1999 National Championships, Anaheim, Calif  ; 1st – Double Mini
1998 National Championships, St  Paul, Minn ; 1st – Trampoline, 1st – Syncro, 1st – Double Mini
1996 National Championships, Phoenix Ariz ; 1st – Synchro, 3rd – Trampoline
1995 National Championships, Denver, Colo ; 1st – Synchro, 2nd – Trampoline, 3rd – Double Mini
1994 National Championships, Nashville, Tenn ; 1st - Synchro, 4th – Double Mini
1993 National Championships; San Diego, Calif ; 1st - Synchro
Passage 4:
Kurt Betschart
Kurt Betschart born 25 August 1968 in Erstfeld Switzerland is a former professional cyclist  He was a Six Day Track specialist holding a world record 37 victories with the same partner, Bruno Risi  He had a total of 47 professional victories and represented Switzerland at the Olympic games  After sixteen years in professional cycling Kurt retired on 26 July 2006 

Olympic Games
2000 Summer Olympics - Sydney
11th, Men's Madison (Track cycling)

Palmares
Passage 5:
Eddy Schepers
Eddy Schepers (born 12 December 1955) is a Belgian former professional cyclist  He was a professional cyclist from 1978 to 1990 where he rode for many teams including C&A, Carrera and Fagor–MBK  He started out in the C&A cycling team of Belgian Eddy Merckx before riding for various teams  He competed in the individual road race event at the 1976 Summer Olympics In 1986 he rode alongside Irish cyclist Stephen Roche for the first time in the Carrera cycling team and he became a loyal teammate of Roche that year  During the following year, Schepers was instrumental in Roche winning the 1987 Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in supporting him on the road and also against the rest of the team who wanted the Italian Roberto Visentini to win the Giro d'Italia  On the fifth stage of the 1987 Giro d'Italia, Schepers let his breakaway companion Jean-Claude Bagot take the stage win in exchange for team support from Bagot's Fagor team if it was called upon in the future  In spite of working for Roche in the Giro d'Italia, Schepers still managed to place 12th in the general classification  Again in the 1987 edition of the Tour de France, Schepers provided Roche with crucial support while the rest of the team did not  Afterwards Schepers went with Roche to the Fagor team but with Roche past his peak due to chronic knee injury, their association stopped  Schepers spent his last year in the peloton riding for the Belgian team Tulip Computers 
His career victories include the overall of the Tour de l'Avenir stage race in 1977 and the first stage of the 1985 Tour de Romandie 

Major results
Passage 6:
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: Gadigal 2000), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia  It marked the second time the Summer Olympics were held in Australia, and in the Southern Hemisphere, the first being in Melbourne, in 1956 
Sydney was selected as the host city for the 2000 Games in 1993  Teams from 199 countries participated in the 2000 Games, which were the first to feature at least 300 events in its official sports programme  The Games' cost was estimated to be A$6 6 billion  These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch before the arrival of his successor Jacques Rogge  The 2000 Games were the last of the two consecutive Summer Olympics to be held in a predominantly English-speaking country following the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States 
The final medal tally at the 2000 Summer Olympics was led by the United States, followed by Russia and China with host Australia at fourth place overall  Cameroon, Colombia, Latvia, Mozambique and Slovenia won a gold medal for the first time in their Olympic histories, while Barbados, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam won their first ever Olympic medals  Australia will host the Summer Olympics again in 2032 at Brisbane, Queensland making it the first Oceanian country to host the Olympics three times 
The 2000 Games received universal acclaim, with the organisation, volunteers, sportsmanship, and Australian public being lauded in the international media  Bill Bryson of The Times called the Sydney Games "one of the most successful events on the world stage", saying that they "couldn't be better"  James Mossop of the Electronic Telegraph called the Games "such a success that any city considering bidding for future Olympics must be wondering how it can reach the standards set by Sydney", while Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette suggested that the "IOC should quit while it's ahead  Admit there can never be a better Olympic Games, and be done with it," as "Sydney was both exceptional and the best"  These games would provide the inspiration for London's winning bid for the 2012 Olympic Games in 2005; in preparing for the 2012 Games, Lord Coe declared the 2000 Games the "benchmark for the spirit of the Games, unquestionably", admitting that the London organising committee "attempted in a number of ways to emulate what the Sydney Organising Committee did "

Host city selection
Sydney won the right to host the Games on 24 September 1993, after being selected over Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul and Manchester in four rounds of voting, at the 101st IOC Session in Monte Carlo, Monaco  The Australian city of Melbourne who also hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics had lost out to Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympics three years earlier  Beijing would later be selected to host the 2008 Summer Olympics eight years later on 13 July 2001 and the 2022 Winter Olympics twenty-two years later on 31 July 2015  Beijing's loss to Sydney was seen as a "significant blow" to an "urgent political priority" of the Chinese Communist Party leadership having mounted the most intense and expensive candidacy campaign at the date so far(this include the Summer and Winter Games)  Although it is unknown as two members of the International Olympic Committee voted for Sydney over Beijing in 1993, it appears that an important role was played by Human Rights Watch's campaign to "stop Beijing" because of China's human rights record and international isolation following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests  Many in China were angry at what they saw as U S -led interference in the vote, and the outcome contributed to rising anti-Western sentiment in China and a new phase at the tensions in Sino-American relations 

Costs
The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics at US$5 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 90% in real terms  This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organising committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e g , expenditures for technology, transportation, workforce, administration, security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e g , the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast centre, and media and press centre, which are required to host the Games  Indirect capital costs are not included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games  The cost for Sydney 2000 compares with a cost of US$4 6 billion for Rio 2016, US$40–44 billion for Beijing 2008 and US$51 billion for Sochi 2014, the most expensive Olympics in history  The average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is US$5 2 billion, average cost overrun is 176% 
In 2000, the Auditor-General of New South Wales reported that the Sydney Games cost A$6 6 billion, with a net cost to the public between A$1 7 and A$2 4 billion  In the years leading up to the games, funds were shifted from education and health programs to cover Olympic expenses It has been estimated that the economic impact of the 2000 Olympics was that A$2 1 billion has been shaved from public consumption  Economic growth was not stimulated to a net benefit and in the years after 2000, foreign tourism to NSW grew by less than tourism to Australia as a whole  A "multiplier" effect on broader economic development was not realised, as a simple "multiplier" analysis fails to capture is that resources have to be redirected from elsewhere: the building of a stadium is at the expense of other public works such as extensions to hospitals  Building sporting venues does not add to the aggregate stock of productive capital in the years following the Games: "Equestrian centres, softball compounds and man-made rapids are not particularly useful beyond their immediate function "Many venues that were constructed in Sydney Olympic Park failed financially in the years immediately following the Olympics to meet the expected bookings to meet upkeep expenses  It was only the 2003 Rugby World Cup which reconnected the park back to citizens  In recent years, infrastructure costs for some facilities have been of growing concern to the NSW Government, especially facilities in Western Sydney  Proposed metro and light rail links from Olympic Park to Parramatta have been estimated to cost in the same order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games  Stadium Australia had been considered for demolition in 2017 by then NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, citing that the stadium was "built for an Olympics" but not for modern spectators  The plan was scrapped in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic  The Dunc Gray Velodrome has also struggled to keep up its $500,000 per year maintenance costs, although it is still used for track cycling events 

Chronological summary of the 2000 Summer Olympics
Preliminary matches
Although the Opening Ceremony was not scheduled until 15 September, the football competitions began with preliminary matches on 13 September  Among the pre-ceremony fixtures, host nation Australia lost 1–0 to Italy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was the main stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics 

Day 1: 15 September
Cultural display highlights
The opening ceremony began with a tribute to the Australian pastoral heritage of the Australian stockmen and the importance of the stock horse in Australia's heritage  It was produced and filmed by the Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation and the home nation broadcaster Channel 7  This was introduced by lone rider Steve Jefferys and his rearing Australian Stock Horse Ammo  At the cracking of Jefferys' stockwhip, a further 120 riders entered the stadium, their stock horses performing intricate steps, including forming the five Olympic Rings, to a special Olympics version of the theme, which Bruce Rowland had previously composed for the 1982 film The Man from Snowy River 
The Australian National Anthem was sung, the first verse by Human Nature and the second by Julie Anthony 
The ceremony continued, showing many aspects of the land and its people: the affinity of the mainly coastal-dwelling Australians with the sea that surrounds the "Island Continent"  The indigenous occupation of the land, the coming of the First Fleet, the continued immigration from many nations and the rural industry on which the economy of the nation was built, including a display representing the harshness of rural life based on the paintings of Sir Sidney Nolan  Two memorable scenes were the representation of the "Heart" of the country by 200 Aboriginal women from Central Australia who danced up "the mighty spirit of God to protect the Games" and the overwhelmingly noisy representation of the construction industry by hundreds of tap-dancing teenagers 
Because Bibi Salisachs (the wife of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch) was seriously ill and unable to accompany her husband to the Olympics, Dawn Fraser, former Australian Olympic Champion swimmer and member of the Parliament of New South Wales, accompanied Samaranch during the Australian cultural display, explaining to him some of the cultural references that are unfamiliar to non-Australians 

Formal presentation
A record 199 nations entered the stadium, with a record 80 of them winning at least one medal  The only missing IOC member was Afghanistan, who was banned due to the extremist rule of the Taliban's oppression of women and its prohibition of sports  The ceremony featured a unified entrance by the athletes of North and South Korea, using a specially designed unification flag: a white background flag with a blue map of the Korean Peninsula  Four athletes from East Timor also marched in the parade of nations as individual Olympic athletes and marched directly before the host country  Although the country-to-be had no National Olympic Committee then, they were allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag with country code IOA  The Governor-General, Sir William Deane, opened the games 
The Olympic Flag was carried around the arena by eight former Australian Olympic champions: Bill Roycroft, Murray Rose, Liane Tooth, Gillian Rolton, Marjorie Jackson, Lorraine Crapp, Michael Wenden and Nick Green  During the raising of the Olympics Flag, the Olympic Hymn was sung by the Millennium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia in Greek  Following this, Tina Arena sang a purpose-written pop song, The Flame The opening ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Olympic Flame, which was brought into the stadium by former Australian Olympic champion Herb Elliott  Then, celebrating 100 years of women's participation in the Olympic Games, former Australian women Olympic medalists Betty Cuthbert and Raelene Boyle, Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland (later Shirley Strickland de la Hunty), Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King brought the torch through the stadium, handing it over to Cathy Freeman, who lit the flame in the cauldron within a circle of fire  The  choice of Freeman, an Aboriginal woman, to light the flame was notable given the history of human rights abuses against Aboriginal people in Australia  Following her lighting, Freeman was the subject of racial abuse from some Australians  The planned spectacular climax to the ceremony was delayed by the technical glitch of a computer switch which malfunctioned, causing the sequence to shut down by giving a false reading  This meant that the Olympic flame was suspended in mid-air for about four minutes rather than immediately rising up a water-covered ramp to the top of the stadium  When the cause of the problem was discovered, the program was overridden and the cauldron continued its course, and the ceremony concluded with a fireworks display 

Day 2: 16 September
The first medals of the Games were awarded in the women's 10 metre air rifle competition, which was won by Nancy Johnson of the United States 
The Triathlon made its Olympic debut with the women's race  Set in the surroundings of the Sydney Opera House, Brigitte McMahon representing Switzerland swam, cycled and ran to the first gold medal in the sport, beating the favoured home athletes such as Michelie Jones who won silver  McMahon only passed Jones in sight of the finish line 
The first star of the Games was 17-year-old Australian Ian Thorpe, who first set a new world record in the 400-metre freestyle final before competing in an exciting 4 × 100 m freestyle final  Swimming the last leg, Thorpe passed the leading American team and arrived in a new world record time, two-tenths of a second ahead of the Americans  In the same event for women, the Americans also broke the world record, finishing ahead of the Netherlands and Sweden 
Samaranch had to leave for home, as his wife was severely ill  Upon arrival, his wife had already died  Samaranch returned to Sydney four days later  The Olympic flag was flown at half-staff during the period as a sign of respect to Samaranch's wife 

Day 3: 17 September
Canadian Simon Whitfield sprinted away in the last 100 metres of the men's triathlon, becoming the inaugural winner in the event 
On the cycling track, Robert Bartko beat fellow German Jens Lehmann in the individual pursuit, setting a new Olympic Record  Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel set a world record in the semi-finals the same event for women 
In the swimming pool, American Tom Dolan beat the world record in the 400-metre medley, successfully defending the title he won in Atlanta four years prior  Dutchwoman Inge de Bruijn also clocked a new world record, beating her own time in the 100 m butterfly final to win by more than a second 

Day 4: 18 September
The main event for the Australians on the fourth day of the Games was the 200 m freestyle  Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband had broken the world record in the semi-finals, taking it from the new Australian hero Ian Thorpe, who came close to the world record in his semi-final heat  As the final race finished, Van den Hoogenband's time was exactly the same as in the semi-finals, finishing ahead of Thorpe by half a second 
China won the gold medal in the men's team all-around gymnastics competition after being the runner-up in the previous two Olympics  The other medals were taken by Ukraine and Russia, respectively 
Zijlaard-van Moorsel lived up to the expectations set by her world record in cycling in the semis by winning the gold medal 

Day 7: 21 September
During the Women's Gymnastics All-Around, female athletes suffered damning scores and injuries due to improperly installed gymnastics equipment  Gymnasts performing on the vault gave uncharacteristically poor performances and fell  Officials blamed the series of falls and low scores on performance anxiety  It wasn't until Australian gymnast Allana Slater and her coach, Peggy Liddick, voiced concerns about the equipment that officials discovered the apparatus was five centimetres, or almost two inches, lower than it should've been  While athletes were given the opportunity to perform again, for some of them, the damage to their mental or physical health caused by the vault was irreparable  Chinese gymnast Kui Yuanyuan and American gymnast Kristen Maloney both injured their legs while attempting to stick their landings, with Kui needing to be carried to an examination area and Maloney damaging a titanium rod that had recently been implanted in her shin  Romanian gymnast Andreea Răducan ultimately took gold while her teammates, Simona Amânar and Maria Olaru took silver and bronze, respectively 

Day 9: 23 September
By rowing in the winning coxless four, Steve Redgrave of Great Britain became a member of a select group who had won gold medals at five consecutive Olympics 
The swimming 4 x 100-metre medley relay of B J  Bedford, Megan Quann (Jendrick), Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres became the first women's relay under 4-minutes, swimming 3:58 and setting a world record, claiming the gold medal for the United States 

Day 10: 24 September
Rulon Gardner, never an NCAA champion or a world medalist, beat Alexander Karelin of Russia to win gold in the super heavyweight class, Greco-Roman wrestling  Karelin had won gold in Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta  Before this fight, he had never lost in international competition, had been unbeaten in all competitions in 13 years, and had not surrendered a point in a decade 

Day 11: 25 September
Australian Cathy Freeman won the 400-metre final in front of a jubilant Sydney crowd at the Olympic Stadium, ahead of Lorraine Graham of Jamaica and Katharine Merry of Great Britain  Freeman's win made her the first competitor in Olympic Games history to light the Olympic Flame and then go on to win a Gold Medal  The attendance at the stadium was 112,524 – the largest attendance for any sport in Olympic Games history 
In a men's basketball pool match between the United States and France, the USA's Vince Carter made one of the most famous dunks in basketball history  After getting the ball off a steal, the 6'6"/1 98 m Carter drove to the basket, with 7'2"/2 18 m centre Frédéric Weis in his way  Carter jumped, spread his legs in midair, scraped Weis' head on the way up, and dunked  The French media dubbed the feat le dunk de la mort ("the dunk of death") 

Day 14: 28 September
The Canadian flag at the athletes' village was lowered to half-mast as Canadian athletes paid tribute to the former prime minister Pierre Trudeau after hearing of his death in Montreal (because of the time zone difference, it was 29 September in Sydney when Trudeau died)  The Canadian flag was flown at half-mast for the remainder of the Olympics, on orders from both IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, as the state funeral did not take place until 3 October, two days after the closing ceremony, and the Canadian athletes subsequently rushed back to attend his funeral after 1 October 

Day 16: 30 September
Cameroon won a historic gold medal over Spain in the Men's Olympic Football Final at the Olympic Stadium  The game went to a penalty shootout, which was won by Cameroon 5–3 

Day 17: 1 October
The last event of the games was the Men's Marathon, contested on a course that started in North Sydney  The event was won by Ethiopian Gezahegne Abera, with Kenyan Erick Wainaina second, and Tesfaye Tola, also of Ethiopia, third  It was the first time since the 1968 Olympics that an Ethiopian won the gold medal in this event 
The closing ceremony commenced with Christine Anu performing her version of the Warumpi Band's song "My Island Home", with several Aboriginal dancers atop the Geodome Stage in the middle of the stadium, around which several hundred umbrella and lamp box kids created an image of Aboriginal Dreamtime  The Geodome Stage was used throughout the ceremony, which was a flat stage mechanically raised into the shape of a Geode 
IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch declared at the Closing Ceremony,
"I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever "
Subsequent Summer Olympics held in Athens, Beijing and London have been described by Samaranch's successor Jacques Rogge as "unforgettable, dream Games", "truly exceptional" and "happy and glorious games" respectively – the practice of declaring games the "best ever" having been retired after the 2000 Games 

Sports
The 2000 Summer Olympic programme featured 300 events in the following 28 sports:

Although demonstration sports were abolished following the 1992 Summer Olympics, the Sydney Olympics featured wheelchair racing as exhibition events on the athletics schedule Special quarantine conditions were introduced to allow entry of horses into Australia to participate in equestrian events, avoiding the need for such events to take place elsewhere as had happened at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne 

Calendar
All dates are in AEDST (UTC+11); the other two cities, Adelaide uses ACST (UTC+9:30) and Brisbane uses AEST (UTC+10)

Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals in the 2000 Games 
The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee  Some other sources may be inconsistent due to not taking into account all later doping cases 

  *   Host nation (Australia)

Participating National Olympic Committees
199 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Sydney Games, two more than in the 1996 Summer Olympics; in addition, there were four Timorese Individual Olympic Athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics  Eritrea, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau made their Olympic debut this year 
Democratic Republic of the Congo was once again designated under that name, after it participated as Zaire from 1984 to 1996 
Afghanistan was the only 1996 participant (and the only existing NOC) that did not participate in the 2000 Olympics, having been banned due to the Taliban's totalitarian rule in Afghanistan, their oppression of women, and its prohibition of sports 

Venues
Sydney Olympic Park
Stadium Australia: Ceremonies (opening/closing), Athletics, Football (final)
Sydney International Aquatic Centre: Diving, Modern Pentathlon (swimming) Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo (medal events)
State Sports Centre: Table Tennis, Taekwondo
NSW Tennis Centre: Tennis
State Hockey Centre: Field Hockey
The Dome and Exhibition Complex: Badminton, Basketball, Gymnastics (rhythmic), Handball (final), Modern Pentathlon (fencing, shooting), Volleyball (indoor)
Sydney SuperDome: Gymnastics (artistic, trampoline), Basketball (final)
Sydney Baseball Stadium: Baseball, Modern Pentathlon (riding, running)
Sydney International Archery Park: Archery

Sydney
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre: Boxing, Fencing, Judo, Weightlifting, Wrestling
Sydney Entertainment Centre: Volleyball (indoor final)
Dunc Gray Velodrome: Cycling (track)
Sydney International Shooting Centre: Shooting
Sydney International Equestrian Centre: Equestrian
Sydney International Regatta Centre: Rowing, Canoeing (sprint)
Blacktown Olympic Centre: Baseball, Softball
Western Sydney Parklands: Cycling (mountain biking)
Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre: Water Polo
Penrith Whitewater Stadium: Canoeing (slalom)
Bondi Beach: Volleyball (beach)
Sydney Football Stadium: Football
Olympic Sailing Shore Base: Sailing
Centennial Parklands: Cycling (road)
Marathon course: Athletics (marathon)
North Sydney: Athletics (marathon start)
Sydney Opera House: Triathlon 

Outside Sydney
Canberra Stadium, Canberra: Football
Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide: Football
Melbourne Cricket Ground: Football
The Gabba (Brisbane Cricket Ground), Brisbane: Football

Organization
Organisations responsible for the Olympics
A number of quasi-government bodies were responsible for the construction, organisation and execution of the Sydney Games  These included:

the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and the Sydney Paralympic Organizing Committee (SPOC), primarily responsibles for the staging of the Games
Olympic Coordination Authority (OCA), primarily responsible for construction and oversight
Olympic Roads & Transport Authority (ORTA)
Olympic Security Command Centre (OSCC)
Olympic Intelligence Centre (OIC)
JTF Gold the Australian Defence Force Joint Taskforce Gold
Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation (nominally part of SOCOG)
IBM, provider of technology and the Technical Command Centre
Telstra, provider of telecommunications
Great Big Events, event management and marketingThese organisations worked closely together and with other bodies such as:

the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC)
the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC)
the other 197 National Olympic Committees (NOCs)
the other 125 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs)
the 33 International Sports Federations (IFs)
all three levels of Australian government (federal, state and local)
dozens of official sponsor and hundreds of official supplier companiesThese bodies are often collectively referred to as the "Olympic Family" 

Organisation of the Paralympics
The organisation of the 2000 Summer Paralympics was the responsibility of the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC)  However, much of the planning and operation of the Paralympic Games was outsourced to SOCOG such that most operational programmes planned both the Olympic and Paralympic Games 

Other Olympic events
The organisation of the Games included not only the actual sporting events, but also the management (and sometimes construction) of the sporting venues and surrounding precincts, the organisation of the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, and the Olympic torch relay, which began in Greece and travelled to Australia via numerous Oceania island nations 

Phases of the Olympic project
The staging of the Olympics were treated as a project on a vast scale, broken into several broad phases:

1993 to 1996 – positioning
1997 – going operational
1998 – procurement/venuisation
1999 – testing/refinement
2000 – implementation
2001 – post-implementation and wind-down

SOCOG organisational design
The internal organisation of SOCOG evolved over the phases of the project and changed, sometimes radically, several times 
In late 1998, the design was principally functional  The top two tiers below the CEO Sandy Hollway consisted of five groups (managed by Group General Managers and the Deputy CEO) and twenty divisions (managed by divisional General Managers), which in turn were further broken up into programmes and sub-programmes or projects 
In 1999, functional areas (FAs) broke up into geographic precinct and venue teams (managed by Precinct Managers and Venue Managers) with functional area staff reporting to both the FA manager and the venue manager  SOCOG moved to a matrix structure  The Interstate Football division extant in 1998 was the first of these geographically based venue teams 

Volunteer program
The origins of the volunteer program for Sydney 2000 dates back to the bid, as early as 1992 
On 17 December 1992, a group of Sydney citizens interested in the prospect of hosting the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games gathered for a meeting at Sports House at Wentworth Park in Sydney 
In the period leading up to 1999, after Sydney had won the bid, the small group of volunteers grew from approximately 42 to around 500  These volunteers became known as Pioneer Volunteers  The Pioneer Volunteer program was managed internally by SOCOG's Volunteer Services Department in consultation with prominent peak groups like The Centre for Volunteering (Volunteering and TAFE  Some of the Pioneer Volunteers still meet every four months, an unseen legacy of the games which brought together a community spirit not seen before 
During the Olympic games, tens of thousands of volunteers (the official figure placed at 46,967) helped everywhere at the Olympic venues and elsewhere in the city  They were honoured with a parade like the athletes had a few days before 

Marketing
Official logo
The bid logo was introduced in 1992 and created by architect and designer Michael Bryce  It featured a colourful, stylised image of the Sydney Opera House which is a possible reference to the motif of the rainbow serpent  
The official logo was revealed in 1996, and is also referred to as the "Millennium Man"   It incorporated similar curves to the bid logo and combined them with a stylised image of a runner to form a torchbearer in motion  The image of the runner s composed of  two small yellow boomerangs for arms and a larger red boomerang for legs  Over the runner's head is a trail of smoke that represents the arches of the Sydney Opera House The design process of the official logo, as well as all other aspects of the Olympic Games' visual design identity, was awarded to Melbourne design studio FHA Image Design  The Sydney Olympics brand identity project officially started in 1993, and lasted 7 years  It was also up to FHA Design to prepare the visual identity of the Paralympic Games and this also absorbed some elements as the identification signals and the pictograms 

Mascots
The official mascots chosen for the 2000 Summer Olympics were Syd the platypus, Millie the echidna, and Olly the kookaburra, designed by Matthew Hattan and Jozef Szekeres and named by Philip Sheldon of agency Weekes Morris Osborn in response to the original SOCOG recommendation of Murray, Margery, and Dawn after famous Australian athletes 
There was also Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat, an unofficial mascot popularised by comedy team Roy Slaven and HG Nelson on the TV series The Dream with Roy and HG  Roy and HG also frequently disparaged the official mascots on their television program 

Sponsors
Medals and bouquets
A total of 750 gold, 750 silver and 780 bronze medals were minted for the Games  The gold and silver medals contained 99 99 percent of pure silver  The bronze medals were 99 percent bronze with one percent silver, they were made by melting down Australian one-cent and two-cent coins, which had been removed from circulation from 1992 onward 
The bouquets handed to medal recipients incorporated foliage from the Grevillea baileyana, also known as the white oak 

Awards and commendations
The International Olympic Committee awarded Sydney and its inhabitants with the "Pierre de Coubertin Trophy" in recognition of the collaboration and happiness shown by the people of Sydney during the event to all the athletes and visitors around the world After the games' end, the New South Wales Police Force was granted use of the Olympic Rings in a new commendation and citation as the IOC consideration after having staged the "safest" games ever 

Mo Awards
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards  They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016 

In popular culture
In F J  Campbell's 2018 novel No Number Nine, the last part of the book is set at the Sydney 2000 Olympics In Tom Clancy's thriller Rainbow Six and its video game adaptation, the 2000 Olympic Games are the setting of a plot by eco-terrorists, who plan to use the games in order to spread a terrible new plague throughout the world In Morris Gleitzman's children's book Toad Rage, a cane toad travels to Sydney in a bid to become the Olympic mascot The Games was a mockumentary television series run on the ABC network, with two seasons that ran in 1998 and 2000  The series satirized corruption and cronyism in the Olympic movement, bureaucratic ineptness in the New South Wales public service, and unethical behaviour within politics and the media  An unusual feature of the show was that the characters shared the same name as the actors who played them 

See also
2000 Summer Paralympics
Olympic Games celebrated in Australia
1956 Summer Olympics – Melbourne
2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney
2032 Summer Olympics – BrisbaneList of IOC country codes
The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony
Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi
John Coates
Use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympic Games – Sydney 2000

Notes
Passage 7:
List of Olympic Games host cities
This is a list of host cities of the Olympic Games, both summer and winter, since the modern Olympics began in 1896  Since then, summer and winter games have usually celebrated a four-year period known as an Olympiad; summer and winter games normally held in staggered even years  There have been 29  Summer Olympic Games held in 21 cities, and 24 Winter Olympic Games held in 21 cities  In addition, three summer and two winter editions of the games were scheduled to take place but later cancelled due to war: Berlin (summer) in 1916; Sapporo–Garmisch-Partenkirchen (winter) and Tokyo–Helsinki (summer) in 1940; and Cortina d'Ampezzo (winter) and London (summer) in 1944  The 1906 Intercalated Olympics were officially sanctioned and held in Athens  However, in 1949, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to unrecognize the 1906 Games  The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were postponed for the first time in the Olympics history to summer 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the 2022 Winter Olympics being held roughly six months later in Beijing Four cities have been chosen by the IOC to host upcoming Olympic Games: Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo for the 2026 Winter Olympics, Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Olympics, and Brisbane for the 2032 Summer Olympics 
In 2022, Beijing became the first city that has held both the summer and the winter Olympic Games  Ten cities will have hosted the Olympic Games more than once: Athens (1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics), Paris (1900, 1924 and 2024 Summer Olympics), London (1908, 1948 and 2012 Summer Olympics), St  Moritz (1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics), Lake Placid (1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics), Los Angeles (1932, 1984 and 2028 Summer Olympics), Cortina d'Ampezzo (1956 and 2026 Winter Olympics), Innsbruck (1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics), Tokyo (1964 and 2020 Summer Olympics) and Beijing (2008 Summer Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics)  Stockholm hosted the 1912 Summer Olympics and the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics  London became the first city to have hosted three Games with the 2012 Summer Olympics  Paris will become the second city to do this with the 2024 Summer Olympics, followed by Los Angeles as the third in 2028 
The Games have primarily been hosted in the regions of Europe (30 editions) and the Americas (13 editions); eight Games have been hosted in Asia and two have been hosted in Oceania  Rio de Janeiro became South America's first Olympic host city with the 2016 Summer Olympics  Africa has yet to host an Olympic Games  Other major geographic regions which have never hosted the Olympics include the Middle East, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, Central America and the Caribbean  Between the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and the last ones to be held in the same year as the Summer Olympics in 1992, the Summer and Winter games took place in the same country three times 
Host cities are selected by the IOC membership, usually seven years in advance  The selection process lasts approximately two years  In the first stage, any city in the world may submit an application to become a host city  After 10 months, the Executive Board of the IOC decides which applicant cities will become official candidates as based on the recommendation of a working group that reviews the applications  In a second stage, the candidate cities are investigated thoroughly by an Evaluation Commission, which then submits a final short list of cities to be considered for selection  The host city is then chosen by vote of the IOC session, a general meeting of IOC members 

Olympic Games host cities
Host cities for Summer and Winter Olympic Games
Key  †   Cancelled
  §   Postponed

The 1906 Intercalated Games are no longer officially recognized by the IOC as an official Olympic Games 

Host cities for multiple Summer and Winter Olympic Games
Number of Olympic Games by country
Number of Olympic Games by region
See also
List of bids for the Summer Olympics
List of bids for the Winter Olympics

Notes
Passage 8:
Jelle Nijdam
Jelle Nijdam (born 16 August 1963) is a Dutch former professional road cyclist  Nijdam turned professional after the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles  He participated in the Tour de France 10 times, winning six stages and wearing the yellow jersey for three days  Nijdam's father, Henk Nijdam, was a professional cyclist from 1962 to 1969, who won the 1962 world amateur track pursuit championship  He also competed in the individual pursuit and team pursuit events at the 1984 Summer Olympics 

Career achievements
Major results
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
See also
List of Dutch Olympic cyclists
List of Dutch cyclists who have led the Tour de France general classification
Passage 9:
Kuwait national under-23 football team
The Kuwait national under-23 football team is the youth association football team representing Kuwait in youth competitions and it is controlled by Kuwait Football Association  Kuwait under 23 Could also be called as Kuwait Olympic Team  Kuwait under 23 also represents its country in the Olympic Games  From 1900 to 1976 Kuwait did not qualify for the Olympic Games but in 1980 Kuwait qualified for the Olympic Games in China and had the best record of their country finishing in the quarter-finals of that Olympic games  Kuwait missed the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games  But in 1992 Kuwait finally qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games in Spain, however with their poor performance, Kuwait was eliminated in the first round of that tournament  After that Kuwait had missed the 1996 Olympic Games that was hosted by the United States, Kuwait then qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia and that was the last time Kuwait qualified for the Olympic Games  Kuwait has never won the GCC U-23 Championship but their best finish at that Competition was as a runner up in 2010  In the 2022 Asian U-23 qualification Cup Group D, Kuwait managed to defeat Bangladesh by 1-0 and Saudi Arabia by 2-1, this resulted in Kuwait to qualify for the 2022 Asian U-23 Cup 

Honours
Regional honours
GCC U-23 ChampionshipRunners-up (2): 2010, 2015

Minor
2018 Olympic Return Cup

History
Kuwait’s first-ever qualification to the Olympic games was in the 1980 Olympic Games which Kuwait were eliminated in the quarter-finals of that Olympic games  Kuwait missed the 1984 Olympic Games and the 1988 Olympic Games  Kuwait came back to the Olympic Games in 1992 after missing two events being eliminated in the quarter-final of that event  Kuwait did not qualify until the 2000 Olympic Games and that was the last time Kuwait qualified for the Olympic games  Kuwait did not qualify to the Olympic Games in 2004 after being eliminated in the qualifying Preliminary round 3 of the Football at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Qualifiers at the third position of the 3rd group  Kuwait was unqualified from Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualifier, with 2 being 4 goals less than Qatar due to that, Kuwait missed the 2008 Olympic Games  Kuwait also failed to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games after losing Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Qualifiers, within losing the first leg to Japan 3-1 but then Kuwait defeated Japan 2-1, Japan won on the aggregate 
Kuwait does not have a good record at GCC U-23 Championship after finishing 5th in the final group of the 2008 GCC U-23 Championship 
Kuwait was at the bottom of the table at that time  In 2010 Kuwait was the runner-up of their group  Kuwait was qualified for the semi-finals, Kuwait defeated Oman 5-4 on penalties  But lost to UAE  In the 2011 and 2012 GCC U-23 Championship, Kuwait was unfortunately eliminated in the first round with 0 points losing all three games 

Participation in Tournaments


=== Summer Olympics ===
Passage 10:
Sara Symington
Sara Symington (born 25 September 1969) is a female English former professional cyclist 

Cycling career
She was the first British female rider to take a medal in a World Cup race, which she achieved in Australia in 1999  She represented Great Britain at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics and England at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and 2002 Commonwealth Games  She also rode at the 1998, 1999, and 2000 UCI Road World Championships and on the track at the 2001 and 2002 UCI Track Cycling World Championships 

Personal life
Symington was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, lived in Aylestone and she now lives in Nottingham  She had competed as a javelin thrower as a junior, and she was a member of the national triathlon team prior to becoming a full-time cyclist  Symington started her elite triathlon career whilst combining studying for a master's degree with a spell serving in the police, having previously graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in sports science 

Post cycling
Symington retired from competition after the 2004 Olympics: following this she worked in business for two years, before returning to the sports world through working as a performance advisor for UK Sport  She was subsequently appointed performance director of Archery GB in February 2009  In February 2015 England Netball announced that she would join them as their performance director the following month  In that role she helped the England national netball team to its first Commonwealth gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games  In August 2020 Symington was appointed by UK Athletics as their performance director  She left this role in October 2021 in order to take up an appointment as head of British Cycling's Olympic and Paralympic programmes 

Palmarès
Context 2: Passage 1:
Masilamaniswara Temple, Thiruvaduthurai
Masilamaniswara Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Hindu god Shiva, located in the village of Thiruvaduthurai, located 22 km from the South Indian town, Kumbakonam and 14 km from Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu  It is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams  The temple is referred to in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century Tamil Saiva canon by Tirugnana Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar  The temple is associated with the legend of Saivite saint Tirumular (6th century CE) 
The temple is believed to have been built by Cholas during 9th century A D and with significant additions from later Chola kings and by the subsequent ruling empires  It houses five-tiered gateway towers known as gopurams  The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Masilamaniswarar and Oppilamulai Nayagi Amman being the most prominent  The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 6:30 a m  to 8:30 p m , and three yearly festivals on its calendar  The temple is maintained and administered by the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam, whose headquarters is located inside the temple 

Legend
Legend associates the temple with the saivite saint Tirumular (6th century CE)  Tirumular saw a herd of cows lamenting the death of their herdsmen named Moolan  Being a siddha, he entered into the body of Moolan, came back alive to serve as the herdsman  It is believed that he was coming from North to South India to meet sage Agastya  When he went back to the place where he left his original body, he did not find it  Considering it as a divine play, he continued to remain in the body of Moolan for the rest of his life As per another legend, Parvathi was cursed to become a cow and she worshipped Shiva to attain her original form  The legend is closely associated with this temple, but is also associated with other temples like Thenupuriswarar Temple at Patteswaram, Aavoor Pasupatheeswaram and Tirukogarnam near Pudukkottai 

History
The temple is counted as one of the earliest temples built during the regime of Parantaka I  An inscription in the temple indicates record of grants to pipers, land endowments, flower gardens, carriers of sacred water during his third regnal year  Another inscription from his 38th regnal year recorded as 143 of 1925 indicates  gift of 500 kalanjus of gold for the construction of the kudapadai upwards  Historians believe that the temple was built by Tirukaralippichan and was completed during the regime of Parantaka  There are other inscriptions that indicate donation of gold and silver vessels to the temple  The inscriptions from Rajaraja I recorded as 104 and 107 of 1925 indicate similar gift of metal images to the temple  This is counted as the first mention of portrait installation indicated in an inscription, with the other ones being in Konerirajapuram and Thiruvisanallur temples  The temple has been maintained and administered by the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam, whose headquarters is located inside the temple 

Architecture
The temple is located 12 km away from Mayiladuthurai and 24 km away from Kumbakonam  The temple has a five tiered Rajagopuram with elevated stone walls separating the second, third and fourth precinct  The images of the presiding deity, Masilamaniswarar, in the form of Shiva lingam occupies the main sanctum facing east  The shrine of the consort of Masilamaniswarar, Oppilamulaiyar faces west  The third prakaram has a separate shrine for the saivite saint Tirumular  The temple has three water bodies located at various places inside the temple  The Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam is located in the premises outside the fourth precinct 

Religious significance
The temple is revered in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century Saivite canonical work by the three saint poets, namely, Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar   The temple is reverred by Sambandar in the third Tirumurai in one verse, Appar in five and Sundarar in two verses 
"இடரினும் தளரினும் எனதுறுநோய்
தொடரினும் உனகழல் தொழுதெழுவேன்
கடல்தனில் அமுதொடு கலந்தநஞ்சை
மிடறினில் அடக்கிய வேதியனேஇதுவோஎமை ஆளுமா றீவதொன்றெமக் கில்லையேல்
அதுவோவுன தின்னருள் ஆவடுதுறை அரனே "
translating to

"when I am undergoing sufferings 
when I am depressed in spirits 
when my big karmams follow me I shall wake up from sleep worshipping your feet 
Civaṉ who gave out the Vētams and who controlled the poison which was mixed with the nectar in the ocean of milk and made it stay in the neck!
Civaṉ in Āvaṭutuṟai!
if there is nothing to give to us 
is this way you admit us as your protege?
is your sweet grace like that?" Sambandar is believed to obtained gold coins from the presiding deity for performing Yagna by his father  Sundarar was relieved off his curse after praying the presiding deity  Thirumoolar, a Sidhha saint, is believed to have sung 3,000 in praise of the presiding deity in the temple  Thirumaligai Devar, another Siddha, is believed to have performed many wonders in the temple  The Samathi of both the Siddhas are in the precinct of the temple  The temple is counted as one of the temples built on the banks of River Kaveri 

Worship practices
The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis  Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaiva community, a Brahmin sub-caste  The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Ushathkalam at 6:30 a m , Kalasanthi at 8:00 a m , Uchikalam at 12:00 a m , Sayarakshai at 5:00 p m , and Ardha Jamam at 8:00 p m  Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Masilamaniswarar and Kodiyidai Nayagi  The worship is held amidst music with nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred texts) read by priests and prostration by worshipers in front of the temple mast  There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like pradosham and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi  
Brahmotsavam during the Tamil month of somavaram (September – October), Thiruvadhirai during the month of Margazhi (December – January) and Annabhishekam during the Tamil month of Masi are the major festivals celebrated in the temple  Saiva Sithantham philosophy is promulgated in the temples owned by Atheenam  Tevaram is recited during all the six daily rituals 
Passage 2:
Bylakuppe
Bylakuppe is an area in Karnataka which is home to the Indian town Bylakuppe and several Tibetan settlements (there are several Tibetan settlements in India), established by Lugsum Samdupling (in 1961) and Dickyi Larsoe (in 1969)  Bylakuppe is the second largest Tibetan settlement in the world outside Tibet after Dharamshala  It is located to the west of Mysore district in the Indian state of Karnataka which is roughly 80 km from Mysore city 

History
In 1960, the Government of Mysore (as Karnataka was called at that time) allotted nearly 3,000 acres (12 km2) of land at Bylakuppe in Mysore district in Karnataka and the first ever Tibetan exile settlement, Lugsung Samdupling came into existence in 1961  A few years later another settlement, Tibetan Dickey Larsoe, also called TDL, was established  This was followed by the establishment of three more settlements in Karnataka state making it the state with the largest Tibetan refugee population  
The Government of India built special schools for Tibetans that provide free education, health care and scholarships for those students who excel in school  There are a few medical and civil engineering seats reserved for Tibetans  Tibetans live in India with a stay permit which is processed through a document called Registration Certificate (RC)  It is renewed every year, or half-year in some areas  Every Tibetan refugee above the age of 16 must register for the stay permit  RCs are not issued to new arrival refugees  The Indian Government also issues "Yellow Books" after one years' processing with a RC, which allow Tibetans to travel abroad which is an Identity Certificate 

Population
The town is mainly inhabited by Tibetans who, according to a demographic survey carried out by the Central Tibetan Administration's Planning Commission in 1998, accounted for 50,727 individuals at that time  However, it is unclear whether these figures included the Vajrayana Buddhist monks living there  Today, an estimated 70,000 Tibetans live in the settlements; these were established on land leased by the state government to accommodate some of the Tibetan expatriates who came to resettle in India after 1959  Bylakuppe consists of a number of agricultural settlements, colonies are close to each other, and has number of monasteries and temples in all the major Tibetan Buddhist traditions  Most notable among them are the large educational monastic institution Sera Monastery, the smaller Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (both in the Gelug tradition) and Namdroling Monastery (in the Nyingma tradition)  Bylakuppe also has many Buddhist universities for advanced Buddhist practices 

Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries and Study Centres of Bylakuppe
Namdroling Monastery of Nyingma Also known as Golden Temple
Drigung Kagyud Monastery
Sakya Monastery
Sera je Monastery
Sera Mey Monastery
Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Bylakuppe was newly built  Inaugurated by Dalai Lama in 2016 

Facilities
Bylakuppe is a small town  It has a police station, commercial banks, a telephone exchange, a post office, lodges and hotels  Transport facilities such as buses, auto-rickshaws and taxis are also available  PAP (Protected Area Permit) is mandatory for foreigners to stay here overnight, which can take up to three months to be issued 

Accessibility
Bylakuppe is situated on the state highway 88 (now NH 275) and is well connected to most of the major cities in south-India  Bus facilities are available from major towns like Mysuru, Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Chennai, Panaji, etc  Following are the distances between Bylakuppe and other cities in kilometers: Kushalanagar(05),Mysuru (82), Bengaluru  (222), Mangaluru (172), Mandya (122), Chennai (582), Hassan (80), Madikeri (36), Kasaragod (145), Kozhikode (190) 

Main attractions
Ingalakere: Largest lake in Mysore district
Namdroling Monastery (Golden Temple)
Sera Monastery
Other Buddhist monasteries, schools and settlements

Image gallery
Climate
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as tropical wet and dry (Aw) 

See also
Kaveri Nisargadhama
Dubare Elephant camp
Kushalanagar
Passage 3:
Birgunj
Birganj (Nepali: वीरगञ्ज) is a metropolitan city in Parsa District in Madhes Pradesh of southern Nepal  It lies 135 km (84 mi) south of the capital Kathmandu, attached in the north to Raxaul in the border of the Indian state of Bihar  As an entry point to Nepal from Patna, Birganj is known as the "Gateway of Nepal"  It is also called "Commercial capital of Nepal"  The town has significant economic importance for Nepal as most of the trade with India is via Birganj and the Indian town of Raxaul  Tribhuvan Highway links Birgunj to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu  
Birganj was one of the first three municipalities formed during the rule of Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana  It was declared a Metropolitan City on 22 May 2017 along with Biratnagar and Pokhara  Birganj is one of the largest city in Nepal and largest in Madhesh Province  Birganj is the fifth most populated metropolis of the nation 

Etymology
Birgunj was established as a conglomerate of several villages in and around Gahawa Mai Temple  Gahawa Mai Temple remains the epicenter of the town  The settlement was named after the Rana Prime Minister Bir Shamsher, thus acquiring the name Birgunj 

History
Ancient
Before the establishment of Birgunj, the main center of Parsa district was Alau (near Dryport), Nepal  In July 1959 From Sugauli King Rajendra Bikram Shah has a history of setting up a military camp in Alau of Parsa district Birgunj was founded in 1897 by 11th Rana Prime Minister Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana; the ancient name was Gahawa  Before the establishment of Birgunj Bazar, the surrounding villages Bagahi, Alau, Barewa, Kalaiya, Parsauni, Inaruwa, Chhapkaiya existed  To establish Birgunj Bazar in a forest covered area, Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana appointed his trusted duo Siddhvir Mathema and Dhadjavir Mathema (two brothers) respectively in Birgunj as the ruler of Mal Ada and Kath Mal Ada  In this connection, Siddhvir Mathema distributed free land and timber and provided cash assistance to the homeowners in Birgunj  The act had subsequently required Siddhvir Mathema to pay the death penalty 
After the death of Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, Dev Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana became Prime Minister, but within three months Chandra Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana had driven Dev Shamsher and made himself Prime Minister  The people of Late Bir Shamsher Rana and Dev Shamsher Rana did not tolerate Chandra Shamsher Rana  Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana'special man Siddhivir Mathema, was accused of conducting an inspection of a reservoir treaty and carrying out three lakh irregularities on his forehead  When Siddhivir showed the calculations he had spent on setting up Birganj Bazar, he was declared invalid and an order was issued to pay the money immediately  After answering that he could not pay for what he did, As a punishment, the signboard was stick on his chest and move it around the market  The verbal verdict of the death sentence was decided to cut off and kill  After hearing about verbal of death sentence to Mathema who worked day and night to establish Birgunj Bazar, Late Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana's wife has paid 3 lakh and rescued Mathema from the death penalty 
Chandra Shamsher also wanted to displace Birgunj Bazar, which his brother had established  He wanted to remove the Birgunj bazaar from there and set it in Rautahat  According to the move to displace the market, In 1959, it raided the main market from Raxaul to Birgunj and extended the rail line service to Amalekhganj  From the link, the train used to run around the houses, exploding and terrorizing the residents  Later, the rail link was moved to the east of the market (outside the market)  The Raxaul city in India, which is currently connected to Birgunj as the main gateway to Nepal, was not established  At that time Indian trains operated only till Sugauli 

Modern
On 18 May 2006, the parliament of Nepal declared that the country would become a secular state  Birgunj was the main center from where Madhes movement started twice both in 2007 and 2013 

Geography
Topography, Geology and Soils
Birgunj is located in the Terai plain which is the northern part of the Indo-Gangetic plain  Birgunj metropolitan city has an elongated shape  The variation in altitude is in the range of 78 m to 95 m when moving from south to north of Birgunj  Although the range of altitude variation is small, but there is a high micro-topographical variation  The city lies about 90 m above sea level  Quaternary sediments are mainly found in the area  Soil is very fertile that consists the mixture of clay, silt and sand 

Climate
The climatic condition is sub-tropical monsoon with a very hot and humid summer  The mean annual temperature ranges from 23 8 to 24 5 °C (74 8 to 76 1 °F)  The annual rainfall ranges from about 1,300 to 2,800 mm (51 to 110 in) with an average of 1,800 mm (71 in)  Majority of the precipitation occurs during June, July, August and September 

Surface and Ground Water
Sirsiya in the west and Singaha in the east are the two major rivers in Birgunj  Both rivers flow from north to south  During monsoon, these rivers are flooded and river bank cutting at the bends is common  The water level is very low in these rivers during winter  The depth of groundwater table is approximately between 9–15 m (30–49 ft) deep with 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) fluctuation during wet and dry season 

Demographics
According to the 2021 Census, Birgunj had a population of 268,273  It is the second biggest city in Terai and the fifth biggest city in Nepal after Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bharatpur, and Lalitpur  It serves as the headquarters of the Parsa District 
At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Birgunj Metropolitan City had a population of 244,086  Of these, 78 6% spoke Bhojpuri, 6 5% Nepali, 5 5% Maithili, 3 1% Urdu, 1 9% Rajasthani, 1 5% Newar, 0 7% Tharu, 0 6% Hindi, 0 4% Rai, 0 1% Bengali, 0 1% Magar, 0 1% Punjabi, 0 1% Tamang, 0 1% Uranw/Urau, and 0 1% other parties as their first language In terms of ethnicity/caste, 18 1% were Musalman, 9 6% Kurmi, 6 5% Yadav, 6 4% Kanu, 3 6% Hill Brahmin, 3 6% Teli, 3 2% Dhanuk, 3 1% Sonar, 3 1% Thakuri, 3 0% Kalwar, 2 9% Chamar/Harijan/Ram, 2 8% Koiri/Kushwaha, 2 3% Newar, 2 2% Marwadi, 2 1% Kathabaniyan, 2 1% Kayastha, 1 9% Chhetri, 1 9% Dusadh/Paswan/Pasi, 1 8% Terai Brahmin, 1 6% Baraee, 1 6% Mallaha, 1 4% Nuniya, 1 4% other Terai, 1 3% Rajput, 1 2% Hajjam/Thakur, 1 2% Lohar, 1 2% Tatma/Tatwa, 1 1% Dhobi, 0 9% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 0 7% Kumal, 0 7% Musahar, 0 5% Kumhar, 0 5% Rai, 0 4% Halkhor, 0 4% Tamang, 0 3% Dom, 0 3% Magar, 0 3% Mali, 0 2% Badhaee, 0 2% Bengali, 0 2% Bin, 0 2% Halwai, 0 2% Kahar, 0 2% Kewat, 0 2% Natuwa, 0 2% Rajbhar, 0 2% Thakuri, 0 1% Damai/Dholi, 0 1% Gaderi/Bhedihar, 0 1% Gurung, 0 1% Jhangad/ Dhagar, 0 1% Kami, 0 1% Majhi, 0 1% Punjabi/Sikh, 0 1% Sudhi, 0 1% Yakkha and 0 1% others In terms of religion, 81 1% were Hindu, 17 9% Muslim, 0 4% Buddhist, 0 1% Christian, 0 1% Kirati, 0 1% Sikh and 0 2% others In terms of literacy, 66 5% could read and write, 2 4% could only read and 31 0% could neither read nor write 

Economy
Birgunj is the Industrial and Commercial Capital of Nepal  Birgunj Chamber of Commerce & Industries is the leading and the oldest Chamber of Commerce & Industries in Nepal  
In 1964 when Birgunj Sugar Factory Ltd  was established by the Government of Nepal in collaboration with the Soviet Union (at present, Russia) with initial crushing capacity of 1,000 metric tons which later increased to 1,500 metric tons (Rajak, 2006)  This was the first sugar mill established in the public sector  Later on, this mill was liquidated due to heavy losses 
Birgunj is a major business centre of Nepal, especially for trade with India  Almost all trade with India occurs through this route  The Indian border town of Raxaul has become one of the busiest towns for heavy transportation due to high trade volume  With a large number of industries set on the Birgunj-Pathlaiya industrial corridor, Birgunj produces a wide range of products such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, vegetable ghee, plastic, steel, plastic, cigarettes, aluminium, among others  Almost 56% of the total products of Birgunj are exported to the Indian state of Bihar Birgunj Customs holds a major contribution in terms of revenue earnings in the nation  On 16 July 2004 Birganj Inland Dry Port came in operation to improve trade operation and address the concerns in handling the large volume of goods 
The India-Nepal oil pipeline construction that began on March 9, 2018, saw its completion up to 13 km (8 1 mi)  The 69-kilometre (43 mi) Amlekhgunj-Raxaul oil pipeline connecting the two countries has been laid along the Pathlaiya-Simara-Jitpur, Parwanipur and Birgunj bypass roadway  According to the reports, major part of the pipeline alignment is covered in the Birgunj-Pathlaiya commercial highway 

Tourism
Birgunj is main entry to Nepal  So, the city is widely visited by the Indians  There are good three-star hotels in the main centre of the city  These hotels operate some mini casinos as well 

During Chhath festival, Ghadiarwa Pokhari is visited by numerous people from different parts of the country  Vishwa Buddha Vihar is another religious place which is located in the out-skirts of the city  Vishwa is actually shaped like a stupa and has engravings of Buddha facing the cardinal directions of the universe  This place has a tranquil ambience and it attracts those tourists who want to flee the bustling life of the city  The term vishwa is derived from the word vicchu-wa, which is translated as a resting place for Bikshu(s) or Buddhist monks and means a resting place  In the ancient times, the pilgrims stopped at Birgunj in the midst of their journey between Lumbini and Bodh Gaya (India)  The mound is protected by a boundary wall, and future excavations may well tell us about the history of not just Birgunj but also its importance to Buddhism 2,500 years ago 
Parsa National Park which is 33 km (21 mi) from the city, known for inhabiting Royal Bengal Tigers (Panthera tigris tigris), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), One-horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), Common Leopard (Panthera pardus) and also various species of mammals, birds and reptiles  The park can visited by one hour drive by bus from the city 

Transport
Birgunj was built as the closest Nepalese city connecting the capital Kathmandu with India  Birgunj railway station was connected by the Nepal Government Railway (NGR) to Raxaul station in Bihar across the border with India  The 47 km (29 mi) railway extended north to Amlekhganj in Nepal  It was built in 1927 by the British but discontinued beyond Birgunj in December 1965 Rail
Trains run to major cities of India from Raxaul station (in India, adjacent to Birgunj) and Sugauli station (17 miles from Raxaul) including the Satyagrah Express to Delhi, Mithila Express to Kolkata, Lokmanya Tilak express to Mumbai, and HYD-RXL express to Hyderabad  Thus, Birgunj has direct connectivity to major Indian cities like – Patna, Varanasi, Haridwar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Allahabad, Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal, Amritsar, Guwahati, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Ranchi, Raipur, Nagpur, Hyderabad, etc  The Raxaul-Birgunj-Kathmandu railway survey report has been ready and in coming future the further work will be started soon 
Air
Birgunj is served by Simara Airport, which lies 9 miles north of the city  Regular flights operate to Kathmandu & Pokhara, and   The second International Airport of Nepal is under construction at Nijgadh (22 miles from Birganj)  There are plans to connect the new airport, Birgunj and Kathmandu via a "Fast track" expressway after its completion  This is expected to reduce travel times between the capital and the commercial capital, Birgunj 
Buses
There are regular bus services to all major cities and towns in Nepal including Kathmandu, Pokhara, Patan, Bhaktapur, Biratnagar, Dharan, Butwal, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi, Kakarvitta, Janakpur, Bhairahawa (Lumbini), Bharatpur (Chitwan), etc 
Local bus services provide transportation inside the city and into its vicinity  Night buses from Birgunj to Kathmandu are the most luxurious bus services in all over Nepal  Birgunj bus park is the centre to find buses for any route,
Tanga
Horse driven carts locally called Tanga have historically been the mode of transport for the Madheshi people  Today it survives as a popular transportation vehicle between Birgunj and its sister city Raxaul 
Cargo
The 6 km (3 7 mi) railway track from Raxaul to Birgunj was converted to broad gauge two years after the Indian railways converted the track to Raxaul inside India to broad gauge  Now, broad gauge railway line connects Raxaul to the Sirsiya (Birgunj) Inland Container Depot (ICD) that became fully operational in 2005  Talks have been held to reopen the railway route from Birgunj to Amlekhganj in Nepal by converting it to broad gauge because of its socio-economic importance 
Goods are transported to and from India via Birgunj dry port, which is the key terminal of surface cargo delivery to Nepal  This cargo point on the south connects the heart of the country, Kathmandu, via another key industrial city, Hetauda  It is also served by Tribhuvan Highway, extending from the Indian border at Raxaul through Birgunj and Hetauda to Kathmandu with frequent bus service  Simara Airport — 9 mi (14 km) north near the highway in Pipara Simara, Bara district—offers scheduled flights to Kathmandu 
India and Nepal have an open border with no restrictions on the movement of their citizens  There is a customs checkpoint for the movement of goods between the two countries 

Sports
The city has its own stadium, Narayani Stadium which is Nepal's second largest stadium after Dasarath Rangasala built on 1981  The stadium has capacity of 15,000 seats  At Present, the stadium is in poor condition 
A national level Cricket Ground is also located beside the Narayani Stadium  The cricket ground has top class outfield and a better cricket pitch  National level and Regional level cricket tournament are regularly held here  Every year day night T20 Cricket tournament is held using temporary flood light towers  Day night cricket match in Nepal was first played here  Nepal national cricket team's players Haseem Ansari, Aarif Sheikh, Avinash Karn and Irshad Ahmed hail from Birgunj  Cricket is the most popular sport and is played more than any other games and sports 

Education
Birgunj has a history in education  Education was started in town with the establishment of Trijuddha School by Mahavir Prasad and Raghubir Ram during the regime of Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana which was among the first three schools to be established in Nepal  Currently, Trijuddha School is the second oldest school in Nepal  It serves classes in both English and Nepali Medium and also conducts diplomas for civil engineering 
Thakuram Multiple Campus, located in the city was the first campus o be established outside Kathmandu Valley as well as in the Narayani zone  This city has made rapid development in the field of education by the establishment of many schools and colleges  Notable institutions include Gyan Jyoti School, Moonlight English Boarding School and Gautam School 

National Infotech College

Media
Birgunj has many FM Community radio stations including Narayani FM 103 8Mhz, Terai FM, Radio Birgunj, Bhojpuriya FM, Indreni FM, Radio Bindas, Birgunj Musical FM, City FM, Aawaz FM, Public FM etc  It has also different television stations: My Television, TV Birgunj and Birgunj Television (BTV)  Many local newspapers like Prateek, Loktimes Daily, Kripa, Bhojpuri Time, Birgunjsanjal, Jana Aawaz etc  are published 
Some popular online news site like Yatra daily, Nepal Post Daily, Aapan Birgunj, etc  are from Birgunj  TEDxBirgunj was successfully held on 17 December, that was the first ever TED event conducted in Terai region of Nepal 

Health
Narayani Hospital is one of the oldest government hospital of Nepal  It is the central hospital of government of Nepal  National Medical College under TU and Kedia Dental College also under TU are two major institutions providing health facilities   There are many other big and small hospitals, and international standard diagnostic centres throughout the city such as Asharam Hospital, Gandak hospital, Advance Medicare Hospital, Kedia eye hospital, Bhawani Hospital, Mangalam Diagnostic Centre, Vision Diagnostic Private Limited, Vayodha Hospital etc  The area extending from Chhapakaiya ward No  3 up to Gandak is full of private nursing homes and clinics  Mostly the people of Nepal from Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, Sarlahi and other districts along with the people from Raxaul and different districts of India come here for medical check ups & treatments 

Culture
Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Teej, Krishna Janmasthami, Maha Shivaratri, Durgapuja, Chhath, Dipawali and Ram Navami are major festivals celebrated in Birgunj  Small proportion of the religious diversity of Birgunj is occupied by Buddhists  Thus Buddha Jayanti is also celebrated throughout the city  The culture of this city is not limited to religious diversity but ethnic diversity is found too  People of Madheshi ethnicity occupies greater portion of population which includes castes such as Chaurasiya, Jaiswal, Gupta, Sah, Singh, Kushwaha, Yadav, Mahato, Rauniyar, Patel, and others from the Hindu community  There is also a presence of Marwari, Agrawal, Kedia, Sarawagi, Golchha, and Sharma, people who migrated from Rajasthan 

Cuisine
The cuisine of Birgunj has influence of both Nepali and Indian culture  Dal, bhat, roti, vegetable curry, and achar (pickle) are the most widely consumed food items  Tibetan cuisine such as momo and chowmein are also popular among the youths and the elderly  A place named Adarsh Nagar has established its name as the center for street food where food vendors sell varieties of street food during evening time  Food such as Pav Bhaji (bread and vegetable curry) and Chaat (snack made with potato as the main ingredient) are relatively popular 

Notable people
Ranu Devi Adhikari— Nepalese singer
Usha Khadgi— winner of Miss Nepal 2000
Anju Kumari— politician
Ruby Rana— winner of Miss Nepal 1994
Samragyee RL Shah— actress
Aarif Sheikh— cricketer
Prakash Shrestha— singer

Places of interest
Gadhimai Temple
Maisthan Mandir
Narayani Stadium
Parsa National Park
Ramtole
Simraungadh

Gallery
See also
Pokhara
Butwal
Dharan
Janakpur
2022 Birgunj municipal election
Passage 4:
Pasupatheeswarar Temple, Aavoor
Pasupatheeswarar Temple, Avoor or  Avoor Pasupatheeswaram is a Hindu temple dedicated to Hindu god Shiva, located in the village Avoor, located 12 km south of South Indian town, Kumbakonam,  Tamil Nadu, India  The temple is one of the 70 madakoil built by 2nd century Chola king, Kochengat Chola  The temple is known for the Panchabairavar, the five images of Bhairavar  The temple is revered in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century Tamil Saiva canon by Tirugnana Sambandar 
There are various inscriptions associated with the temple indicating contributions from Cholas  The present masonry structure was built during the Chola dynasty in the 9th century, while later expansions are attributed to Thanjavur Nayaks during the 16th century 
The temple is built in Dravidian architecture with a three-storied gopuram, the gateway tower  The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Padikasunathar and Soundaranayagi being the most prominent  The temple complex houses many halls and two precincts  The temple has four daily rituals at various times from 6:30 a m  to 8 p m , and two yearly festivals on its calendar 
The major festivals celebrated in the temple are Shivratri during the Tamil month of Vaikaasi (May - June), Annabhishekam during Aippasi (October - November) and Thiruvadhirai in Margazhi (December - January) 

Legend
Pasupatheeswarar indicates God of cows  Shiva is believed to have descended for the holy cow Kamadenu that prayed to him by ablution with their milk on the Shivalingam to get relief from the curse of sage Vashista  A sculpture indicating the legend is present in the walls of the second precinct of the temple  Another legend associates the temple with the saivite saint Tirumular (6th century CE)  Tirumular saw a herd of cows lamenting the death of their herdsmen  Being a siddha, he entered into the body of dead herdsman, came back alive to serve as the herdsman and sung 3000 verses in praise of Shiva  The legend is closely associated with Gomukteswarar temple at Tiruvadurai, but is also associated with other temples like Thenupuriswarar Temple at Patteswaram and Tirukogarnam near Pudukkottai As per another legend, sage Vasishtha cursed the sacred cow Kamadhenu  To relieve off the curse, Kamadhenu sought the advice of Brahma who asked her to perform penance at this place  It is also believed that the presiding deity is believed to have been worshipped by the Devas, Saptarishi, Indra, Surya and Navagrahas, the nine planetary deities  As per a local legend, Vayu, the god of wind, in a contest with Adisesha, brought two hillocks, one of which was installed here and other at Nallur 

Maadakovil
Avur was a fort during the 2nd century rule of Cholas  Kochengat Chola was a Chola king and one of the 63 nayanmars (saivite saints) of saivism  He is believed to have attained spiritual rebirth of a spider that fought with an elephant in its previous birth over the worship of the Hindu god Shiva  He had red eyes during birth as he remained in his mother's womb a little longer  His mother, looking into the babies red eyes said Kochengkannano (in Tamil ko=king, cheng=red, kan=eyes), which literally means king with red eyes and hence he was named Kochengat Cholan  After becoming a king, he followed saivism and built 70 Maadakovils, temples with elevated structure where elephants cannot reach the sanctum, in the Chola empire  The temple has an inscription (181 of 1911) dating from the 3rd year of the rule of Rajendra Chola III (1246-1279 CE) indicating grants of land to the temple  The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu 

Architecture
The temple is located 10 km away from Kumbakonam, 6 km east of Tirukarugavoor and 30 km south of Thanjavur  The temple has a five tiered Rajagopuram with an elevated structure for the main shrine  The temple is a Maadakoil, a series of 70 temples which were built by Kochengat Chola with the major shrines of the temple located in the elevated structure  The images of the presiding deity, Pasupatheeswarar, in the form of Shiva lingam occupies the main sanctum  The consort of Pasupatheeswarar, Mangalanayagi and Pangajavalli occupy twin sanctums facing west  The images of Panchabairavar, the five Bairavar statues are found in the corner facing the main sanctum  The second prakaram downstairs has a separate shrine for the Hindu god Murugan in the form Dhanush Subramaniyar  Muruga sports a dhanush (bow) instead of his regular weapon, the vel  The temple has a small tank called Braham Tirtham located outside the main entrance  The image of Mangalanayagi was found in the temple tank  The temple is counted as one of the temples built on the banks of River Kaveri  It is located on the banks of Kudamurutti, a tributary of river Kaveri 

Literary mention
It is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams  The temple is revered in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century saivite canonical work by the three saint poets namely, Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar   The temple is revered by Sambandar in the first Tirumurai in eleven verses  He refers to the temple as Avoor Pasupatheeswaram 
"புண்ணியர் பூதியர் பூதநாதர் புடைபடு வார்தம் மனத்தார்திங்கட்
கண்ணிய ரென்றென்று காதலாளர் கைதொழு தேத்த விருந்தவூராம்
விண்ணுயர் மாளிகை மாடவீதி விரைகமழ் சோலை சுலாவியெங்கும்
பண்ணியல் பாடல றாதவாவூர்ப் பசுபதி யீச்சரம் பாடுநாவே "translating to

This is the place where the blessed devotees of Shiva
who are rich and where Shiva has raised in the temple in such a place called Avoor Pasupatheeswaram 
The place is surrounded by beautiful gardens, palaces and where Shiva's name is frequently uttered 
Let my tongue praise Avoor Pasupatheeswaram" 

Worship practices
The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis  Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaiva community, a Brahmin sub-caste  The temple rituals are performed four times a day; Kalasanthi at 8:00 a m , Uchikalam at 10:00 a m , Sayarakshai at 5:00 p m , and Ardha Jamam at 8:00 p m  Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Pasupatheeswarar and Mangalambikai  The worship is held amidst music with nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred texts) read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast  There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like pradosham and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi 
The major festivals celebrated in the temple are Shivratri during the Tamil month of Vaikaasi (May - June), Annabhishekam during Aippasi (October - November) and Thiruvadhirai in Margazhi (December - January) 

Citations
Passage 5:
Tharangambadi
Tharangambadi (Tamil: [t̪aɾaŋgambaːɖi]), formerly Tranquebar (Danish: Trankebar, pronounced [ˈtsʰʁɑŋkəˌpɑˀ]), is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the Coromandel Coast  It lies 15 kilometres (9 3 mi) north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary named Uppanar of the Kaveri River  Tranquebar was established on 19 November 1620 as the first Danish trading post in India  King Christian IV had sent his envoy Ove Gjedde who established contact with Raghunatha Nayak of Tanjore  An annual tribute was paid by the Danes to the Rajah of Tanjore until the colony of Tranquebar was sold to the British East India Company in 1845 Tharangambadi is the headquarters of Tharangambadi taluk  Its name means "place of the singing waves"; the old designation Trankebar remains current in modern Danish  Tharangambadi is located at the distance of 285 km from Chennai  The nearest airport is at Tiruchirapalli international airport at 172 km and the nearest port is at Karaikal at 26 km  It is served by Tharangambadi railway station 

History
The place dates back to the 14th century  Masilamani nathar (Shiva) temple was built in 1306, in a land given by Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I  As of now, this temple is the oldest monument  Until 1620, when the Danes came, the place was under Thanjavur Nayak kingdom  Danish admiral Ove Gjedde felt the place would be a potential trading centre, made a deal with Raghunatha Nayak and built a fort, which is known as Fort Dansborg A Jesuit Catholic congregation in Tranquebar predated the arrival of the Danes by several decades  This congregation descended from Tamil fishermen converted by Portuguese missionaries  There was also a sizable population of Indo-Portuguese due to their presence nearby in Nagapattinam  The Catholic church was probably demolished to build the fort  This fort was the residence and headquarters of the governor and other officials for about 150 years  It is now a museum hosting a collection of artifacts from the colonial era 

Among the first Protestant missionaries to set foot in India were two Lutherans from Germany, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Pluetschau, who began work in 1705 in the Danish settlement of Tranquebar  Ziegenbalg translated the Old and New Testaments into Tamil, imported a printing press, and printed the New Testament in Tamil in 1714 

Bible translations into the Tamil language started with the arrival of Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg at Tranquebar in 1706  He was a member of the Lutheran clergy who responded to the appeal of King Frederick IV of Denmark to establish a mission for the natives of Tranquebar  They also established a printing press, which within a hundred years of its establishment in 1712 had printed 300 books in Tamil  At first they only made little progress in their religious efforts, but gradually the mission spread to Madras, Cuddalore and Tanjore  Today Bishop of Tranquebar is the official title of a bishop in the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) in South India which was founded in 1919 as a result of the German Lutheran Leipzig Mission and Church of Sweden Mission   The seat of the Bishop, the Cathedral and its Church House ("Tranquebar House") is in Tiruchirappalli 
The Zion church was consecrated in 1701, which is the oldest Protestant church in India  In 1718, The New Jerusalem Church was constructed  Moravian Brethren missionaries from Herrnhut, Saxony established the Brethren's Garden at Porayar near Tranquebar and operated it as a missionary centre for a number of years  An Italian Catholic Father Constanzo Beschi, who worked in the colony from 1711 to 1740, found himself in conflict with the Lutheran pioneers at Tranquebar, against whom he wrote several polemical works Tranquebar was occupied by the British in February 1808 during the Napoleonic Wars but was restored to Denmark following the Treaty of Kiel in 1814  Along with the Danish settlement of Serampore in Bengal, it was sold to the British in 1845  Tranquebar was then still a busy port, but it later lost its importance after a railway was opened to Nagapattinam The Subrahmanya Temple, Perambur, located in the outskirts of the town is one of the most prominent Murugan temples in the region 

Tranquebar Museum
The 17th and 18th century antiquities and relics from the Vijayanagara empire and Thanjavur Nayak kingdom, which authorised, allowed, and sanctioned the aforementioned Danish port township connected with the colonial period and Danish settlement at Tharangampadi are exhibited  The museum contains porcelain ware, Danish manuscripts, glass objects, Chinese tea jars, steatite lamps, decorated terracotta objects, figurines, lamps, stones, sculptures, swords, daggers, spears, sudai (stucco) figurines and wooden objects  There is also part of a whale skeleton, a giant sawfish rostrum and small cannonballs 

New Jerusalem Church
The New Jerusalem Church was built in 1718 by the Royal Danish missionary Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg in the coastal town of Tranquebar, India which was at that time a Danish India colony  The church is located on King Street, and church services are conducted every Sunday  The church, along with other buildings of the Tranquebar Mission was damaged during the tsunami of 2004, and were renovated at a cost of ₹ 7 million, and re-consecrated in 2006 

Fort Dansborg
Construction of Fort Dansborg started in 1620  Many parts of the fort have been reconstructed several times  Dansborg is the second largest Danish fort ever constructed, with Kronborg in Helsingør being the largest  The rampart wall is a fairly large four sided structure, with bastions at each cardinal point  A single storied building was constructed along three inner sides of the rampart, with barracks, warehouse, kitchen, and jail  The rooms on the southern side remain in good condition, but the rooms on the western and northern sides have been substantially damaged  On the eastern side of the fort, there was a two storied building facing the sea  It was the main building of the fort  The vaulted lower storey served as a magazine and a warehouse, while the vaulted upper storey contained the church and the lodgings of the governor, the senior merchants, and the chaplain  The sea on the eastern and western side protected the fort  The fort was surrounded by a moat, access to the fort being over a drawbridge  The moat has completely disappeared  Interestingly, today, none of the fort’s door openings and windows have doors in them  It is believed that during the end of their colonisation period, the Danish ran into financial issues  To make ends meet, they pulled out the metal doors, molded them into weapons and sold them 

Demographics
As of 2001 India census, Tharangambadi had a population of 20,841  Males constitute 48% of the population and females 52%  Tharangambadi has an average literacy rate of 74%, similar to than the national average of 74 5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 69%  In Tharangambadi, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age 

Notable people
Kavignar Meenavan (1933–2012), Tamil poet, writer and activist

Gallery
See also
India portal
 Denmark portal
 Norway portal
Passage 6:
Thirukkalacherry
Thirukkalachery is a small village in Mayiladuthurai District, Tranquebar (Tharangambadi) Taluk, Tamil Nadu, India 
See: The Taluk Map of Tranquebar (Tharangambadi)

Transport and communication
Thirukkalachery is well-connected with other major towns in the region, such as Porayar which is the nearest town and links with Karaikal, Mayiladuthurai, Sirkali, Nagapattinam and Tiruchirappalli 
The nearest international airport is at Tiruchirapalli, which is 150 kilometres from Thirukkalachery and Chennai International Airport is approx  300 kilometers away  There are regular government and private bus services to Chennai  Nearest Railway Junction is also at Mayiladuthurai 

Economy
Agriculture is the main activity in this area as this is a cultivation rich land  Rice, sugarcane, Coconut and banana plantation are the main products  This is a small village with about ten to twenty shops along Thirukkalachery's Main Road 

Landmark
*the famous #sri seethala devi Mariyaman temple situated here  One of grand temple  

The famous naganathaswamy temple also situated here (the Siva temple) 
The famous petti kaliyaman temple also situated here 
The famous Vinayagar temple situated here 
Mohaideen Andavar Mosque - This is the biggest mosque (also called Pallivasal) in Mayiladuthurai District Experiment ideas Tamil YouTube channel  foundation office  in situated here  
Fashion tailor Shop situated here  

Schools
There are four Schools in this village:-

Aided Elementary School, Thirukkalachery 
Aiyas Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Thirukkalachery 
Hameediya Higher Secondary School, Thirukkalachery 
Hameediya Free Nursery & Primary School, Thirukkalachery 

Adjacent communities
Passage 7:
Suryanar Kovil
Suryanar Kovil (also called Suryanar Temple) is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Hindu Sun-God, located in Suryanar Kovil, a village near the South Indian town of Kumbakonam Thanjavur District in Tamil Nadu, India  The presiding deity is Suriyanar, the Sun and his consorts Ushadevi and Pratyusha Devi  The temple also has separate shrines for the other eight planetary deities  The temple is considered one of the nine Navagraha temples in Tamil Nadu  The temple is one of the few historic temples dedicated to Sun god and is also the only temple in Tamil Nadu which has shrines for all the planetary deities The present masonry structure was built during the reign of Kulottunga Choladeva (1060-1118 CE) in the 11th century with later additions from the Vijayanagar period  Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple has a five-tiered rajagopuram, the gateway tower and a granite wall enclosing all the shrines of the temple It is believed that the planetary deities were cursed by Brahma to dwell in Vellurukku Vanam, the white wild flower jungle and were blessed by Shiva to make it their abode to devotees  The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5:30 a m  to 9 p m , and two yearly festivals on its calendar  The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu 

Legend
As per Hindu legend, Sage Kalava was suffering from serious ailments along with leprosy  He prayed to the Navagrahas, the nine planet deities  The planets were pleased by his devotion and offered cure to the sage  Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, was angered as he felt that the planets have no powers to provide boons to humans  He cursed the nine planets to suffer from leprosy and were sent down to earth in Vellurukku Vanam, the white wild flower jungle  The planets prayed to Shiva to relieve them off the curse  Shiva appeared to them and said that the place belonged to them and they would have to grace the devotees worshipping them from the place  This is the only temple where there are separate shrines for each of the planet deities  It is also the only temple among the nine planetary temples where Shiva is not the presiding deity 

History
It is stated in one of the inscriptions found in the temple that it was built in the reign of Kulottunga Choladeva (1060-1118 CE) and was called Kulottungachola-Marttandalaya  In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu  The temple is mentioned in the songs of Muthuswami Dikshitar, who has composed a song starting with "Suryamurthe" in Saurashatra ragam 

Architecture
Suriyanar Temple is located at the distance of 15 km from Kumbakonam in west, 2 km from Aduthurai, 8 km from Thiruppanandal and 58 km (36 mi) from Thanjavur  The temple can be accessed by road through Aduthurai in Kumbakonam - Mayiladuthurai road and Thiruppanandal in Kumbakonam - Chennai road  The temple has a rectangular plan with compound walls, pierced by a five-tiered raja gopuram (entrance tower)  The central shrine is of Surya, the Sun God, is built on an elevated structure  The central shrine houses the image of Surya and his consorts Usha and Chhaya  The hall leading to the central shrine has images of Viswanathar, Visalakshi, Nataraja, Sivakami, Vinayagar and Murugan  On the axial line in front of the central shrine, there is an image of Guru (Jupiter), one of the planetary deities  There are separate shrines for all the other seven planet deities namely Budha (Mercury), Shani (Saturn), Sukran (Venus), Soma (Moon), Angaragan (Mars), Rahu and Ketu  All the other eight shrines of the Navagrahas are arranged facing the shrine of Suryanar  Guru is depicted performing pooja to Shiva 

Worship and festivals
The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis  Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaivaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste  The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Ushathkalam at 5:30 a m , Kalasanthi at 8:00 a m , Uchikalam at 10:00 a m , Sayarakshai at 6:00 p m , Irandamkalam at 8:00 p m  and Ardha Jamam at 10:00 p m  Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for Surya, Usha and Chhaya  The worship is held amidst music with nadaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas  read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast  There are weekly rituals like somavaram and sukravaram, fortnightly rituals like pradosham and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi 

Religious importance
The temple is one of the nine Navagraha temples of Tamil Nadu and is a part of the popular Navagraha pilgrimage in the state - it houses the image of Surya (Sun)  The planets are believed to influence the horoscope computed based on time of one's birth and subsequently influence the course of life  Each of the planets are believed to move from a star to another during a predefined period and thus sway over an individual's fortunes  Kol vinay theertha Vinayagar is an important deity inside the temple and should be worshiped first before worshiping Lord Suriyan and other planets
  The Navagrahas, as per Hindu customs, are believed to provide both good and bad effects for any individual and the bad effects are mitigated by prayers  As in other Navagraha temples, the common worship practises of the devotees include offering of cloth, grains, flowers and jewels specific to the planet deity  Lighting a set of lamps is also commonly followed in the temple  As per contemporary Saivite belief, the energies distributed cyclically by Navagrahas can be channeled based on remedial measures  As per local legends, Shiva, the overlord of the nine planetary deities, allowed them to freely grant wishes based on devotion of the devotees According to Hindu legend, Mahalingaswamy is the centre of all Shiva temples in the region and the Saptha Vigraha moorthis (seven prime consorts in all Shiva temples) are located at seven cardinal points around the temple, located in various parts of the state  The seven deities are Nataraja in Chidambaram Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram, Chandikeswarar temple at Tirucheingalur, Vinayagar in Vellai Vinayagar Temple at Thiruvalanchuzhi, Muruga in Swamimalai Murugan Temple at Swamimalai, Bhairava in Sattainathar Temple at Sirkali, Navagraha in this temple and Dakshinamoorthy in Apatsahayesvarar Temple at Alangudi, Nannilam  The temple is counted as one of the temples built on the northern banks of River Kaveri 
Passage 8:
Sawaare Sabke Sapne    Preeto
Sawaare Sabke Sapne Preeto (SSSP) is an Indian television series that premiered on Imagine TV on 4 July 2011 and ended abruptly on 12 April 2012  The story is located against a Punjabi backdrop and is based on the lives of five sisters  Set in the picturesque north Indian town of Amritsar, which is also an Indian Air Force base, this is the story of the quirky, lovable Dhillon family  They live in a run-down mansion, having moved to India from Pakistan after the Partition, a generation ago  In many ways the Dhillon family is a typical lower-middle-class Indian family 
At the head of the family is retired school master Gangandeep Dhillon, who lives with his wife Kanwal and five daughters 

Plot
Sawaare Sapke Sapne Preeto is the story of Preeto, third among the five Dhillon sisters  The eldest sister is Jasmeet (Meeta) who is lovable and plump, second is Ishmeet (Ishu) who is quiet and respectful and is considered the prettiest, third is Manpreet (Preeto) who is respectful but always speaks her mind, fourth is Gurbaani (Bani) who is in college and like partying, and the youngest is Sonu who is in school and is everybody's favorite  Their father's income is not enough to maintain the entire family  Preeto's mother often regrets that she does not have a son who could have supported them all  Hence Preeto decides to contribute to the family income by designing and stitching clothes for clients  Her dream is to get her older sisters married and the younger ones educated 
Meeta is engaged to Bobby but he tries to take advantage of Ishu and the wedding is called off  At her friends' wedding, Preeto meets Rajbeer, an air force officer and they develop feelings for each other  Dhruv, another air force officer, falls in love with Ishu  Dhruv and Ishu's wedding is fixed and Preeto and Rajbeer confess their love to each other  But Preeto's father meets with an accident and loses his job  Preeto decides to break up with Rajbeer to focus on arranging money for Ishu's wedding 
However, Dhruv's parents are unhappy with the wedding  At a family outing in Manali, Rajbeer saves Dhruv's sister Simran and she falls in love with him  In Amritsar, Bani falls in love with a man named Ranjeet but he only wants to destroy Rajbeer  He sells Bani off to some goons but Preeto and Rajbeer are able to save her and expose Ranjeet's true intentions  Meanwhile, Preeto's Biji finds out about Preeto and Rajbeer and encourages Preeto to fight for her love 
Dhruv and Simran's mother, Neelam, blackmails Preeto that if she confesses her love to Rajbeer, Neelam would make sure Dhruv divorces Ishu  Conflicted, Preeto decides to fake marriage with Sunny, a cousin of Pankaj's (Meeta's husband) who loves Preeto but knows about her feelings for Rajbeer  But one day Rajbeer overhears Preeto talking to herself and realizes that her marriage is fake and she still loves him 

Cast
Main
Ankita Sharma as Manpreet "Preeto" Dhillon: Kavaljit and Gagandeep's third daughter; Meeta, Ishu, Bani and Sonu's sister; Rajbeer's lover (2011–2012)
Aditya Redij as Rajbeer Singh: Preeto's lover (2011–2012)

Recurring
Ira Soni as Ishmeet "Ishu" Ahluwalia: Kavaljit and Gagandeep's second daughter; Preeto, Meeta, Bani and Sonu's sister; Dhruv's wife (2011−2012)
Divya Bhatnagar as Jasmeet "Meeta" Ambrela: Kavaljit and Gagandeep's eldest daughter; Ishu, Preeto, Bani and Sonu's sister; Pankaj's wife (2011–2012)
Devoleena Bhattacharjee as Gurbani "Bani" Dhillon: Kavaljit and Gagandeep's fourth daughter; Meeta, Ishu, Preeto and Sonu's sister (2011−2012)
Mahima Makwana as Sonam "Sonu" Dhillon; Kavaljit and Gagandeep's youngest daughter; Meeta, Ishu, Preeto and Bani's sister (2011−2012)
Kanan Malhotra as Dhruv Ahluwalia: Neelam and Kulbhushan's son; Simmi's brother; Ishu's husband (2011–2012)
Rohit Mehta as Mr  Kumar administrative officer (2012)
Pavitra Punia as Simran "Simmi" Ahluwalia: Neelam and Kulbhushan's daughter; Dhruv's sister (2011−2012)
Sailesh Gulabani as Pankaj Ambrela: Sunny's cousin; Meeta's husband (2011−2012)
Shresth Kumar as Shivansh "Sunny" Ambrela: Pankaj's cousin; Preeto's ex-fiancé (2012)
Ujjwal Rana as Baljeet "Bobby" Singh: Meeta's former fiancé (2011−2012)
Susheel Parashar as Gagandeep Dhillon: Kavaljit's husband; Meeta, Ishu, Preeto, Bani and Sonu's father (2011–2012)
Nitika Anand as Kavaljit Kaur Dhillon: Gagandeep's wife; Meeta, Ishu, Preeto, Bani and Sonu's mother (2011–2012)
Ritwika Gupta as Aisha Sood: Simmi's friend (2011–2012)
Vijay Aidasani as Kulbhushan Ahluwalia; Dhruv and Simmi's father (2011−2012)
Aradhana Uppal as Neelam Ahluwalia: Kulbhushan's wife; Dhruv and Simmi's mother (2011−2012)

Guest stars
Himesh Reshammiya as himself for the promotion of Bodyguard and Damadamm! (2011)
Passage 9:
Buckingham Archeological Site
Buckingham Archeological Site is an archaeological site near Berlin in Worcester County, Maryland   It is one of the few known Woodland period village sites in the coastal marsh areas of the Atlantic Coast section of Maryland  The site falls within the general vicinity of an Assateague Indian town  It is located four miles east of the Sandy Point Site, both including the southernmost reported occurrence of Townsend Series ceramics on the coastal section of the Eastern Shore It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 
Passage 10:
Paravakkal
Paravakkal is a town in the Kadungapuram village of the Puzhakkattiri panchayath, located in the Malappuram district, in the state of Kerala, southeast India  It was the homeland of Valluvanad, an erstwhile kingdom in Malabar  Perinthalmanna, Malappuram, and Kottakkal are some of the major towns nearby 
There is a tradition known as Nercha and Pooram which is a symbol of unity among various religions in the area 

Geography
The town is 12 km (7 5 mi) from Perinthalmanna, the taluk headquarters, and 11 km (6 8 mi) from the district headquarters at Malappuram  The town is midway between Perinthalmanna and Kottakkal road  The Paravakkal Lake is located north of the town, which lays close south to National Highway 213  The land is mostly dry and flat, few hills obstruct the nearby fields  An abundant amount of trees and shrubbery lie to the south of the town 

People
Paravakkal consists of 1723 people, 838 of which are male, and 885 female 

Culture
Paravakkal village is a predominantly Muslim populated area  Hindus exist in comparatively smaller numbers  So the culture of the locality is based upon Muslim traditions  Duff Muttu, Kolkali and Aravanamuttu are common folk arts of this locality  There are many libraries attached to mosques giving a rich source of Islamic studies  Most of the books are written in Arabi-Malayalam which is a version of the Malayalam language written in Arabic script  People gather in mosques for the evening prayer and continue to sit there after the prayers discussing social and cultural issues  Business and family issues are also sorted out during these evening meetings  The Hindu minority of this area keeps their rich traditions by celebrating various festivals in their temples  Hindu rituals are done here with a regular devotion like other parts of Kerala 

Transportation
Paravakkal village connects to other parts of India through Perinthalmanna town  National highway No 66 passes through Tirur and the northern stretch connects to Goa and Mumbai  The southern stretch connects to Cochin and Trivandrum  Highway No 966 goes to Palakkad and Coimbatore  The nearest airport is at Kozhikode  The nearest major railway station is at Tirur 



ground_truth: 2000 Summer Olympic Games

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Thirukkalacherry is a village in which Indian town?

The following are given passages.
Context 4: Passage 1:
1961 Night Series Cup
The 1961 VFL Night Premiership Cup was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in August and September of the 1961 VFL Premiership Season  This was the sixth season of the VFL Night Series  Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1961 VFL finals series  Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games  Geelong won its first night series cup defeating North Melbourne in the final by 12 points 

Games
Round 1
Semifinals
Final
See also
List of Australian Football League night premiers
1961 VFL season

External links
1961 VFL Night Premiership - detailed review including quarter-by-quarter scores, best players and goalkickers for each match
Passage 2:
1971 Heinz Cup
The 1971 VFL H J  Heinz Night Premiership was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in September of the 1971 VFL Premiership Season  Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1971 VFL finals series  Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games  It was the 16th and last VFL Night Series competition, with the series disbanded the following year due to waning interest and the introduction of the final five in the premiership competition  Melbourne won its first night series cup defeating Fitzroy in the final by 16 points 

Games
Round 1
Semi-finals
Final
See also
List of Australian Football League night premiers
1971 VFL season
Passage 3:
1965 Golden Fleece Cup
The 1965 VFL Golden Fleece Night Premiership was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in September of the 1965 VFL Premiership Season  Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1965 VFL finals series  It was the tenth VFL Night Series competition  Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games  This was the first time the Night Series cup had a naming rights sponsor in Golden Fleece petroleum products  North Melbourne won its first night series cup defeating Carlton in the final by 40 points 

Games
Round 1
Semi-finals
Final
See also
List of Australian Football League night premiers
1965 VFL season

External links
1965 VFL Night Premiership - detailed review including quarter-by-quarter scores, best players and goalkickers for each match
Passage 4:
1956 Night Series Cup
The 1956 VFL Night Premiership Cup was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played between the eight teams that didn't make the finals of that season  It was held between 23 August to 17 September 1956 with games being played at the Lake Oval, home ground of South Melbourne as it was the only ground equipped to host night games 
Eight teams played in the first competition with the final seeing an attendance of 32,450 as South Melbourne defeated Carlton in the final by 6 points (13 16 94 to 13 10 88) 

Games
Quarterfinals
The opening match of the 1956 edition saw South Melbourne record the first victory of the new competition by 20 points over St Kilda  But the match was remembered for the brawl that happened in the third quarter which featured all of the players, umpires and some spectators in scenes not since the 1945 VFL Grand Final between Carlton and South Melbourne  The following match which was played five days later saw a surprise victory by North Melbourne who defeated Essendon by two points with North Melbourne leading at every change to get the win  Richmond and Carlton also recorded narrow wins over Hawthorn and Fitzroy in the remaining two quarter-finals which was played on 30 August and the 4 September 

Semifinals
The semi-finals began on the 6 September with South Melbourne taking on North Melbourne  In another tight tussle between the teams, it was not until late on in the final quarter with the usage of the wind that South Melbourne would take the win with a goal from Monks sealing the five point victory  In the second semi-final, an attendance of 25,500 saw Carlton win the match by 12 points in what The Age called fast, rugged and exciting football with Carlton leading at each break to record the victory 

Final
The final of the 1956 edition was played on the 17 September 1956 between South Melbourne and Carlton  With an attendance of 32,450 watching the match, South Melbourne's win was credited in the second quarter when they outscored Carlton 4 2 to 0 3 to open up a thirty-one point lead  Carlton tried to come back into the match throughout the final quarter and had a chance to take the lead but a dropped pass from Hands would give South Melbourne the win by six points and become the first winners of the Night Series Cup 

See also
List of Australian Football League night premiers
1956 VFL season
Passage 5:
1958 Night Series Cup
The 1958 VFL Night Premiership Cup was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in August and September of the 1958 VFL Premiership Season  This was the third year the VFL Night Series had existed  In last years competition, each of the day finalists were duly defeated upon entry and their addition to the competition resulted in a drawn-out and complicated fixture of matches  The VFL thus elected to return to the original format for this year's competition as previously used in the 1956 Night Series Cup  Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1958 VFL finals series  Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games  St Kilda went on to win the night series cup, defeating Carlton in the final by 8 points 

Games
Round 1
Semifinals
Final
See also
List of Australian Football League night premiers
1958 VFL season

External links
1958 VFL Night Premiership - detailed review including quarter-by-quarter scores, best players and goalkickers for each match
Passage 6:
1960 Night Series Cup
The 1960 VFL Night Premiership Cup was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in September of the 1960 VFL Premiership Season  This was the fifth season of the VFL Night Series  Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1960 VFL finals series  Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games  South Melbourne went on to win the night series cup for the third time, defeating Hawthorn in the final by 13 points 

Games
Round 1
Semifinals
Final
See also
List of Australian Football League night premiers
1960 VFL season

External links
1960 VFL Night Premiership - detailed review including quarter-by-quarter scores, best players and goalkickers for each match
Passage 7:
Albert Park, Victoria
Albert Park is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km (2 5 mi) south of Melbourne's Central Business District  The suburb is named after Albert Park, a large lakeside urban park located within the City of Port Phillip local government area  Albert Park recorded a population of 6,044 at the 2021 census The suburb of Albert Park extends from the St Vincent Gardens to Beaconsfield Parade and Mills Street  It was settled residentially as an extension of Emerald Hill (South Melbourne)  It is characterised by wide streets, heritage buildings, terraced houses, open air cafes, parks and significant stands of mature exotic trees, including Canary Island Date Palm and London Planes 
The Albert Park Circuit has been home to the Australian Grand Prix since 1996, with the exception of 2020–2021 due to the COVID-19 lockdowns 

History
Indigenous Australians first inhabited the area that is now Albert Park around 40,000 years ago  The area was a series of swamps and lagoons  The main park after which the suburb was named was declared a public park and named in 1864 to honour Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert Albert Park was used as a garbage dump, a military camp and for recreation before the artificial lake was built  In 1854 a land-subdivision survey was done from Park Street, South Melbourne, to the northern edge of the parkland (Albert Road)  St Vincent Gardens were laid out and the surrounding streets home to the city's most successful citizens  Street names commemorated Trafalgar and Crimean War personalities 

Heritage Victoria notes that Albert Park's St Vincent Gardens "is historically important as the premier 'square' development in Victoria based on similar models in London  It is significant as the largest development of its type in Victoria and for its unusual development as gardens rather than the more usual small park" and "was first laid out in 1854 or 55, probably by Andrew Clarke, the Surveyor-General of Victoria  The current layout is the work of Clement Hodgkinson, the noted surveyor, engineer and topographer, who adapted the design in 1857 to allow for its intersection by the St Kilda railway line  The precinct, which in its original configuration extended from Park Street in the north to Bridport Street in the south and from Howe Crescent in the east to Nelson Road and Cardigan Street in the west, was designed to emulate similar 'square' developments in London, although on a grander scale  The main streets were named after British naval heroes  The development of the special character of St Vincent Place has been characterised, since the first land sales in the 1860s, by a variety of housing stock, which has included quality row and detached houses and by the gardens which, although they have been continuously developed, remain faithful to the initial landscape concept "
St Vincent's is a garden of significant mature tree specimens  It is registered with the National Trust and is locally significant for the social focus the gardens provide to the neighbourhood  Activities in the park range from relaxing walks, siestas to organised sports competition  The Albert Park Lawn Bowls Club was established in 1873 and the Tennis Club established 1883, on the site of an earlier croquet ground 

Geography
Albert Park features part of the massive Albert Park and Lake (formerly South Park in the 19th century until it was also renamed after Prince Albert) and is located nearby  It is a significant state park managed by Parks Victoria



ground_truth: Tharangambadi

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Which California band, whose debut album Adrenaline appeared in 1995, has been referred to as "the Radiohead of metal"?

The following are given passages.
Context 3: Passage 1:
Adrenaline (album)
Adrenaline is the debut studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones, released on October 3, 1995, by Maverick Records  The majority of the album was produced by Terry Date, while a hidden track titled "Fist" was produced by Ross Robinson 

Background and recording
Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham and Chino Moreno were high school friends  All three went to Sacramento's C  K  McClatchy High School together, and participated in the city's skateboarding scene  Carpenter was a fan of heavy metal; Moreno was interested in hardcore punk bands such as Bad Brains as well as post-punk and new wave bands such as Depeche Mode and the Cure  When Moreno learned that Carpenter was a guitarist, he set up a jam session with Cunningham, who played drums  The trio began playing regularly in Carpenter's garage around 1988  They recruited bassist Dominic Garcia some time after, and the band became a four-piece  When Cunningham left Deftones to join Phallucy, another band from Sacramento, Garcia switched instruments and became the band's drummer  Chi Cheng filled the void as bassist, and the band recorded a four-track demo soon afterwards Regarding the recording, drummer Abe Cunningham said, "At the time we did the first record – which I really like and think is good – you can tell the band was really young  We'd been playing most of those songs for quite a while, and we were just so happy to be making a record that we didn't really think a whole lot about making the songs better"  Frontman Chino Moreno felt that Adrenaline was recorded "really fast", and he performed all his vocals live with the band in the room using a hand-held Shure SM58 microphone 

Composition
Musically, Adrenaline has been described as alternative metal, post-hardcore, nu metal, and rap rock 

Promotion
"7 Words" was released as the first promotional single from the album on December 17, 1995  It was followed by "Bored", issued as the second promotional single on April 4, 1996  Music videos were released for "7 Words" and "Bored"  The song "Engine No  9" was also featured in the film Law Abiding Citizen Deftones performed heavily throughout North America to support the album, going on tours with Handsome, Korn, White Zombie and Super 8 (whose vocalist helped discover Deftones)  They also opened for Kiss on their Alive/Worldwide Tour 

Reception
Adrenaline was praised for its new, innovative sound, with critics initially comparing it to a diverse range of acts such as Helmet, Nine Inch Nails, the Cure, Korn, Nirvana, and the Smashing Pumpkins  In his 1995 review, Kerrang!'s Paul Brannigan felt the album's sound "falls between Quicksand and Tool", and said Deftones "explode from atmospheric croons into buck-mad rages"  He wrote, "Excellent production from Terry Date allows the crisp guitar on 'Lifter' and '7 Words' to shine", and that "Bored" and "Nosebleed" are "just as blunt and angry, slabs of guitar crashing down on swirling, hypnotic rhythms " Brannigan rated it 4 out of 5 stars, saying it was "Impressive " In 1995, Jon Wiederhorn of Pulse stated that "Adrenaline pitches between gloom-saturated melodies and explosive riffs, lashing out like a sleep-deprived paranoiac awakened by noisy neighbors  The rhythms are crisp and crafty and the vocals resonate both fury and sensitivity in a way that's similar to, but far more blatantly metallic than Nirvana"  Critic Katherine Turman wrote in January 1996, "If this is what heavy metal is evolving into, it's a damn good thing" Giving the album 3 out of 4 stars in her 1996 review, Los Angeles Times critic Sandy Masuo praised the album's nuance and blend of musical extremes and various influences: "On the outside, Sacramento's Deftones are all pummeling rhythms and high anxiety, but delving further into the music turns up some surprising nuances: traces of post-punk pop, tinges of rap, a pinch of industrial grit  Chino Moreno rants, sobs, croons and even works some Middle Eastern overtones into his vocals, while Stephen Carpenter's guitar shifts from coarse outbursts to crisp Helmet-ine precision  A bracing blend of extremes"  In his 1996 review, Tomas Pascual of Livewire magazine similarly noted the album's subtle yet diverse musical influences and the juxtaposition of loud and heavy with soft and melodic: "There are many bands these days that lay claim to a diverse section of influences  But no one band is as subtly boisterous about their eclectic mix as are Deftones  [   ] Deftones' course is piloted by vocalist and frontman Chino Moreno, who expresses his smooth, melodic lyrics emotionally one minute before giving way to abrasive, maddened screams the next  Backed by the serene and apocalyptic guitar of Stephen Carpenter, this Yin-Yang formula keeps Deftones' debut Adrenaline progressively contagious" 

Retrospective reviews
In a retrospective AllMusic review of the album, Daniel Gioffre wrote, "Unlike many of their contemporaries, Deftones are very controlled even in the midst of chaos", adding, "Throw Abe Cunningham's surprisingly sophisticated drumming into the mix, and you have a band that possesses a far greater degree of nuance than most others that work in the genre"  While he noted that "there is a bit of sameness in Chino Moreno's whispered vocal melodies, which drags the record down a bit", Gioffre ultimately states that "[o]n later albums, the band's progressive tendencies become more developed, but the more straight-ahead material on Adrenaline does not disappoint  A promising debut " In the book The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal, author Essi Berelian wrote that the album "still stands as one of the best examples of nu-metal"  Writing for MetalSucks in June 2009, Carlos Ramirez noted that the wide range of musical influences in both Adrenaline and Around the Fur helped to establish the band in the underground music scene prior to their larger commercial breakthrough with third album White Pony: "[Deftones'] first two albums, Adrenaline (1995) and Around the Fur (1997), were both chock full of bombastic guitars, new wave-kissed vocal lines, and post-hardcore informed arrangements, and their wide-scoped sound helped the Sacramento, CA band find audiences in various facets of the underground music scene"  In critic Tim Karan's 20th anniversary assessment for Diffuser, he wrote: "For those who were swept up in the burgeoning nu-metal movement, 'Adrenaline' was a landmark, life-changing release  But Deftones never really were a true nu-metal band -- this album is more like hardcore-influenced post-hardcore than 'Nookie' -- and it only scratched at the surface of the experimental metal Deftones would soon step into" 

Commercial performance
While the album was initially unsuccessful, extensive touring and word-of-mouth promotion built the band a dedicated fanbase and helped Adrenaline to sell over 220,000 copies  When asked what he attributed the album's success to, bassist Chi Cheng responded, "One word: perseverance  We've been together for almost eight years, on the road for two and we do it with honesty and integrity – and the kids can tell"  The album was certified gold by the RIAA on July 7, 1999, in recognition of 500,000 units sold  It was eventually certified platinum on September 23, 2008, in recognition of 1,000,000 units sold 

Track listing
Note

"Fist" is currently misspelled "First" on several digital editions, as well as Japanese copies 

Personnel
Credits taken from the CD liner notes 
Deftones

Chino Moreno – lead vocals
Stephen Carpenter – guitar
Chi Cheng – bass, backing vocals
Abe Cunningham – drumsTechnical

Deftones - producer (all songs except "Fist")
Terry Date - producer (all songs except "Fist"), engineer, mixing
Ross Robinson - producer ("Fist")
Ulrich Wild - engineer
Tom Smurdy - 2nd assistant
Ted Jensen - mastering

Charts
Certifications
Passage 2:
Given to the Rising
Given to the Rising is the ninth studio album by American band Neurosis, released on June 5, 2007  The album is available in a standard jewel case, a limited-edition digipak, and a limited-edition double LP, all with the same track list  Decibel Magazine listed Given to the Rising as the 76th-best metal album of the decade  A DVD documentary is also available from Neurot Records  The artwork for the album, designed by Josh Graham, is a mixture of photos from Heroes Square in Budapest and drawings inspired by the place  Coincidentally, singer/guitarist Steve Von Till and Josh Graham had separately thought of the idea of using Heroes Square as the artwork for the album 

Musical style
The album has been described by music critics as a more aggressive, heavier album than their recent previous output, showcasing a "more direct and hard-hitting approach", resulting in "their heaviest record since 99's 'Times Of Grace'" 

Critical reception
The album received critical acclaim upon release  In D  Shawn Bosler's review of the album for Pitchfork, he described it as "their best album in a decade " AllMusic's Thom Jurek praised it as "one hell of an album, better than anyone had any right to expect, and one of the high moments in a career filled with them  Neurosis have no need of caricatures or "more evil than thou" posturing  They are in a league of their own, and from the sounds of Given to the Rising, will remain there for some time "

Track listing
Personnel
NeurosisScott Kelly – vocals, guitar
Dave Edwardson – bass, backing vocals
Jason Roeder – drums, percussions
Steve Von Till – guitar, vocals
Noah Landis – keyboards, synthesizers, effects, backing vocalsTechnical personnelSteve Albini – production, mastering
John Graham – artwork

Chart performance
Passage 3:
Just Keep Runnin'
Just Keep Runnin' is a punk rock album by the Poway, California band Agent 51  It was first released in 2000 on the band's own Suburban Hooligans Records label, then was re-released in 2001 by Adeline Records with additional tracks  It was the band's second album and expanded their punk rock sound to include influences of classic rock and heavy metal  It also greatly expanded the band's secret agent mythos, with the liner notes extensively detailing the comic book-style secret origins of the band and its members  According to the story, the band members were rogue secret agents with psychic, cybernetic and alien-enhanced abilities who were struggling against a secret government organization known as "The Agency " The Agency sought to use satellites to control the minds of Earth's population, and Agent 51's mission was to expose the Agency's secrets to the general public disguised as an ordinary rock band  The songs "C I A F B I " and "Psychic Spies" dealt directly with this theme  The songs "The Last Pirate Standing", "Free-Wheel" and "Who's Gunna Riot?" had been part of the band's live set for several years under the titles "The Pirate Song", "Free-Wheel Burning" and "Riot "

Reception
Stewart Mason of Allmusic gave Just Keep Runnin' three stars out of five, calling it "basically insubstantial, but a lot of fun" and saying that the band has "a Dickies-like tongue-in-cheek quality" 

Track listing
Personnel
Band
Chris Armes – guitar, vocals, art design and illustration
Eric "E-Rock" Davis – guitar, vocals
Greg Schneider – bass guitar, vocals (tracks 1–18); story and layout
Michael "Mikey L" Levinson – drums
Sean Scura – bass guitar, vocals (tracks 19 and 20)

Additional musicians
Shawn Stern of Youth Brigade (band) - backing vocals on "Straight Outta Hell" (original release only)

Production
Dan de las Isla – mastering
Chris Armes and Greg Hewitt – art design and illustration
Passage 4:
Against All Will
Against All Will is an American rock quartet from Los Angeles, whose debut album lineup was formed in Spring 2009 by Jimmy Allen (formerly of Puddle of Mudd), Jeff Current (formerly of Seven Story Drop), Steve "Boomstick" Wilson (formerly of Dead Kennedys and t A T u ), and Cello Dias (formerly of Soulfly)   The songs "All About You" and "The Drug I Need" from their debut album entitled A Rhyme & Reason ranked in the national rock radio top 50 in 2010 

History
Against All Will was formed in 2007 by Jimmy Allen, guitarist songwriter and former member of the American rock band called "Puddle Of Mudd"  Up until he started "Against All Will", Jimmy had spent several years prior writing for bands and working on independent music projects  Sometime in early 2007 he decided to start his own band with "Mizzy" Pacheco (vocals) and Mark "Moke" Bistany (drums)  Mark had toured with Jimmy in "Puddle of Mudd" and Mizzy was a recently DEPARTED solo artist from Virgin Records, who at the time was working on a new solo record in the dark and lonely part of Hollywood  For the record, Moke, on a stormy night in Hollywood, is the one who contacted Mizzy about cutting some vocals on the Jimmy Allen demo tracks  Mizzy and Moke were good friends for years in LA, drawn together perhaps, for fact they both came from the "East Coast" and shared a splendid love for
In March 2011, Phillip Gonyea replaced Wilson on drums   The band plans to release their first full-length album in 2013 

Personnel
Current members
Jimmy Allen
Jimmy Allen is the former Award-winning songwriter (Blurry, She Hates Me, Drift & Die) and co founding lead guitarist for the rock band Puddle of Mudd 
Jimmy Allen's song "Blurry" won ASCAP's 2003 song of the year and ASCAP most performed song of 2002  Also Billboard rock song of the year Award  Allen also won ASCAP's 2004 most performed song of 2004 for "She Hates Me" 
Allen spent a majority of his childhood in Chanute, KS and is an alum of Chanute High School 

Cello Dias
Cello Dias is the former bass player for the Heavy Metal veteran band Soulfly 

"Mizzy" Pacheco
"Mizzy" Pacheco was the original singer for Against All Will  He can be heard on the tracks "You Can't Change me" (2007) and "Tomorrow and Today" (2008)  In addition to writing the song "The Drug I Need" He also wrote "Nothing Good Anymore" and co-wrote "Swept Away" and "Blue" from the debut Against All Will CD entitled "A Rhyme & Reason", before parting ways with the band  He is also a Photographer and Video director in Los Angeles and is responsible for directing and shooting the Against All Will music videos "Love the way you hate me", "The Drug I Need" and  "Swept Away"  He also owns his own "Pacheco Fine Art Photography" gallery on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu where he showcases his work  He can be heard and seen on the new single and video "Love The Way You hate Me" (2012) 

Steve "Boomstick" Wilson
Steve "Boomstick" Wilson is the former drummer for t A T u  and Dead Kennedys 

Former members
Mark "Moke" Bistany
Mark "Moke" Bistany is a former drummer for Otep, Cellophane and Hed PE  May have also been "the drummer" for Puddle of Mudd from 2005 to 2007 

Jeff Current
Jeff Current is the former lead singer of Seven Story Drop (SSD) 

Phillip Gonyea
Phillip Gonyea is the former drummer of Instinct of Aggression, and is the current percussionist for Los Angeles heavy metal band Before the Mourning 

Timeline
Discography
The discography of Against All Will, currently consists of one extended play album and ten singles 

A Rhyme & Reason
This extended play album (2009)    

A Rhyme & Reason is the debut album by Against All Will recorded at Korn Studios and released on October 20, 2009   Songs "All About You" and "The Drug I Need" ranked in the national rock radio top 50 in 2010 

Track listing
Personnel
Jimmy Allen – Lead Guitar
Jeff Current – vocals
Cello Dias – bass guitar
Steve "Boomstick" Wilson – drums

Production
Tim Harkins – producer

Studio album
Debut Against All Will (full length) Studio Album (TBD)

Singles
"Tomorrow & Today" (2007)
"You Can't Change Me" (2008)
"All About You" (2010)
"The Drug I Need" (2010)
"Swept Away" (2011)
"I Hate" (2011)
"The Devil Made Me Do It" (2011)
"Love the Way You Hate Me" (2012)
"Sunset Jupiter" (2013)
"Another Nail in the Coffin" (2013)

See also
List of alternative rock artists
List of bands from Los Angeles
Passage 5:
Ryan Ferguson (musician)
Ryan Ferguson (born c  1975) is an indie rock guitarist and singer-songwriter, formerly of Southern California band No Knife  In 2004 he contributed the acoustic track "Wait for Me There" to the compilation album San Diego Is Burning  Ferguson's solo debut Three, Four was released in July 2005, winning a San Diego Music Award for "Best Pop Record" that year  Critic Chris Nixon cited it as one of the best releases of the year for San Diego musicians   The Sims 2 featured an interpretation of the album's lead track "Suddenly"  He went on to tour with American rock band Switchfoot, and released a full-length album entitled Only Trying to Help in 2007 Ferguson's influences include Jellyfish and Wire  Critic Kevin Bronson labelled Ferguson's style as "power pop", and Ferguson commented, "We're not ashamed of playing pop songs anymore "

Discography
Albums
Only Trying to Help (2007) Better Looking Records
Three, Four EP (2005) Jr Varsity Records

Compilations
"My Favorite Songwriters" (2004) Five One, Inc 
Passage 6:
Deftones
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988  They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass)  During their first five years, the band's lineup changed several times, but stabilized in 1993 when Cunningham rejoined after his departure in 1990; by this time, Chi Cheng was bassist  The lineup remained stable for fifteen years, with the exception of keyboardist and turntablist Frank Delgado being added in 1999  The band's experimental nature has led some critics to describe them as "the Radiohead of metal" Deftones have released nine albums since their inception  After the lineup settled in 1993, the band secured a recording contract with Maverick Records, and subsequently released their debut album Adrenaline in 1995  Promoting the album by touring exhaustively with other bands in the scene, Deftones managed to gain a dedicated fan base through word of mouth  Their second album Around the Fur was released in 1997, reached chart positions along with its singles, and became the band's first to receive certification from the RIAA  The band found even further success with their third album White Pony (2000), which saw a transition away from their earlier, more aggressive sound into a more experimental direction  Its lead single "Change (In the House of Flies)" is the band's most commercially successful single, and the track "Elite" won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance; it was also the band's first of three albums to be certified platinum in the United States  Their self-titled fourth album was released in 2003  While the group's critical success continued, sales proved to be lackluster compared to White Pony 
Deftones' fifth studio effort, Saturday Night Wrist, was released in 2006  While critically acclaimed, the album's production was marred by creative tensions and personal issues within the band, some of which influenced its material  In 2008, while Deftones were working on an album tentatively titled Eros, Cheng was involved in a traffic collision  As a result, he was left in a minimally conscious state until his death in 2013 of cardiac arrest  After Cheng's accident, Deftones halted production on Eros  Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega, who had filled in as a touring member to replace Cheng, later became his permanent replacement, though Vega alleges he was never an official member 
The band released the critically celebrated Diamond Eyes in 2010 and embarked on a triple-headline tour with Alice in Chains and Mastodon throughout North America  Their seventh and eighth albums, Koi No Yokan (2012) and  Gore (2016) respectively, saw the band continue to move in an increasingly experimental direction and were released to critical acclaim  Their latest album, Ohms, was released on September 25, 2020, receiving significant critical praise for its return to the band's heavier sound  In March 2022, it was announced that bassist Sergio Vega had left the band in early 2021  They have sold more than 10 million albums worldwide 

History
Early years (1988–1993)
When Stephen Carpenter was 15 years old, he was hit by a car while skateboarding  Confined to a wheelchair for several months, he began teaching himself guitar by playing along to songs by thrash metal bands such as Anthrax, Stormtroopers of Death, and Metallica  A long-circulated myth alleged that the driver paid Carpenter a cash settlement that allowed the band to purchase equipment, but Abe Cunningham commented in a 2007 interview that the story about the settlement was false 

Carpenter, Cunningham and Chino Moreno were childhood friends  All three went to C  K  McClatchy High School in Sacramento and remained friends through the city's skateboarding scene  Carpenter was a fan of heavy metal, and Moreno was interested in hardcore punk bands such as Bad Brains and post-punk and new wave bands such as Depeche Mode and the Cure  When Moreno found out that Carpenter played guitar, he set up a jam session with Cunningham, who played drums, and the three began playing regularly in Carpenter's garage around 1988  They recruited bassist Dominic Garcia some time after, and the band became a four-piece  When Cunningham left Deftones to join Phallucy, another band from Sacramento, Garcia switched to drums  Chi Cheng joined to play bass, and the band recorded a four-track demo soon afterwards  John Taylor replaced Garcia on drums in 1991, until Cunningham's return in 1993  Within two years, the band began playing club shows and later expanded their gigging territory to San Francisco and Los Angeles, where they played shows alongside bands such as Korn  While closing for another band in L A , after the majority of the audience had left, the band impressed a Maverick Records representative  They were signed to the label after performing three of their songs for Freddy DeMann and Guy Oseary Carpenter created the band's name by combining the hip hop slang term "def" (which was used by artists such as LL Cool J and Public Enemy) with the suffix "-tones," (which was popular among 1950s bands such as the Delltones and the Harptones)  The name is also a pun on the term "tone deaf "

Adrenaline (1994–1996)
The band's debut album, Adrenaline, was recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington and released on October 3, 1995  It was produced by Deftones and Terry Date, who would go on to produce the band's next three albums  While they were initially commercially unsuccessful, the band built a dedicated fan base through extensive touring, word-of-mouth and Internet promotion  Through their efforts, Adrenaline went on to sell over 220,000 copies  It is regarded as an important part of the 1990s nu metal movement  An early track which predated Adrenaline but did not make the album's final cut was "Teething"; the band contributed the song to the soundtrack for the 1996 film The Crow: City of Angels  The band can also be seen performing the song live during a scene as themselves The album spent 21 weeks on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, reaching a peak position of 23  When asked what he attributed the album's success to, Cheng responded, "One word: perseverance  We've been together for almost eight years, on the road for two, and we do it with honesty and integrity—and the kids can tell"  The album was certified gold by the RIAA on July 7, 1999, and was certified platinum on September 23, 2008 Regarding the recording of the album, Cunningham said, "At the time we did the first record—which I really like and think is good—you can tell the band was really young  We'd been playing most of those songs for quite a while, and we were just so happy to be making a record that we didn't really think a whole lot about making the songs better"  Moreno felt that Adrenaline was recorded "really fast" and performed all his vocals live with the band in the room using a hand-held Shure SM58 microphone  AllMusic's review of Adrenaline praised the album's musical control, precision, overall groove and Cunningham's "surprisingly sophisticated drumming"  It was also noted that "there is a bit of sameness in Chino Moreno's whispered vocal melodies, which drags the record down a bit" 

Around the Fur (1997–1999)
Deftones' second album, Around the Fur, was recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle, Washington and produced by Date  Released on October 28, 1997, the album was dedicated to Dana Wells, the late stepson of the singer Max Cavalera of Sepultura, Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy  Cavalera also collaborated on "Headup", a tribute to Wells  Although not yet a member of the band, Delgado was credited as "audio" on five of the album's tracks  Cunningham's wife, Annalynn, provided guest vocals on "MX" "When we went in to make this record, we really didn't have a set idea of what we wanted to come out with", said Moreno in a 1998 interview with Chart magazine  However, he felt that the album "fell into place" once the band had settled into the studio  The band expanded its sound, spending more time with Date and giving more thought to the album's production  Cunningham varied his drum sound and experimented by using different types of snare drum on almost every track  The album was praised for its loud-soft dynamics, the flow of the tracks, Moreno's unusual vocals, and the strong rhythm-section performance of Cheng and Cunningham  Stephen Thomas Erlewine's retrospective review noted that "while they don't have catchy riffs or a fully developed sound, Around the Fur suggests they're about to come into their own" Around the Fur propelled the band to fame in the alternative metal scene on the strength of radio and MTV airplay for the singles "My Own Summer (Shove It)" and "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)"  Around the Fur sold 43,000 copies in its first week of release, and entered the Billboard 200 at No  29 (its peak position), remaining on the charts for 17 weeks  The band went back to touring, making appearances at the Warped Tour (in the United States, New Zealand and Australia), Pinkpop Festival, Roskilde Festival and Ozzfest as well as releasing a live EP on June 22, 1999  Around the Fur went on to reach RIAA gold status on June 24, 1999, and platinum status on June 7, 2011  "My Own Summer (Shove It)" appeared on The Matrix: Music from the Motion Picture, released March 30, 1999 

White Pony (2000–2002)
On June 20, 2000, the band released their third album, White Pony, again produced by Date and Deftones  It was recorded at the Record Plant studio in Sausalito, California, and at Larrabee Sound Studios, West Hollywood, California  The album debuted at No  3 on the U S  Billboard chart with sales of 178,000 copies  Delgado, now a full-time band member, added new elements to the band's music  The melancholy "Teenager", for example, was a departure in style and mood, a "love song", according to Moreno  Programming duties were carried out by DJ Crook, a friend of Moreno (and bandmate in his side project Team Sleep)  "Passenger" was a collaboration with singer Maynard James Keenan of Tool, and the refrain in "Knife Prty" featured vocals by Rodleen Getsic  Moreno also started contributing additional guitar work 

An interview with the band in Alternative Press described the recording process of White Pony  After a break from touring, the band spent four months in the studio writing and recording it, the longest amount of time they had dedicated to an album thus far  Moreno said that the majority of this time was spent trying to write songs, and that the writing of "Change (In the House of Flies)" was the turning point where the band began working as a unit  Despite being pressured to release the album sooner, the band decided to take their time  Cheng explained, "We didn't feel like we had anything to lose, so we made the record we wanted to make " Moreno did not have an overall lyrical theme in mind, but made a conscious decision to bring an element of fantasy into his lyrics: "I basically didn't sing about myself on this record  I made up a lot of story lines and some dialogue, even  I took myself completely out of it and wrote about other things" Reviews were generally positive, commenting on Moreno's increasing sophistication as a lyricist and the group's experimentalism  Allmusic's review said that "Deftones went soft, but in an impressive way, to twist around its signature punk thrash sound" The album was originally released as an 11-track edition beginning with "Feiticeira" and ending with "Pink Maggit", and featuring gray cover art  A limited-edition print of 50,000 black-and-red jewel case versions of White Pony was released at the same time with a bonus twelfth track titled "The Boy's Republic"  Later, the band released "Back to School (Mini Maggit)", a rap-influenced interpretation of "Pink Maggit"  The song was released as a single and included as the new opening track of a re-released White Pony on October 3, 2000  The new release still had "Pink Maggit" as the final track and featured altered white cover art  Not entirely happy with re-releasing the album, the band negotiated to have "Back to School" made available as a free download for anyone who had already bought the original album  Moreno noted that "Everybody's already downloaded our record before it came out anyway, otherwise I'd be kind of feelin' like, 'Man, why [are] we putting [out] all these different versions of the record?' [   ] that's the best way we can actually get this song out to the people who already purchased this record, for free basically  And if they wanna buy the record again, it's cool" White Pony achieved platinum status on July 17, 2002, selling over 1 3 million copies in the US, and earning the band a 2001 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for the song "Elite" 

Deftones (2002–2005)
Deftones began work on their fourth album under the working title Lovers  Regarding the album's direction, Cheng commented, "We've proven that we can musically go in any direction we want, and we want to get kind of heavy on this one"  Moreno underwent vocal training as a precaution after severely damaging his vocal cords on the band's 2001 summer tour  The band converted their rehearsal space in Sacramento into a fully equipped studio and recorded most of the album there at negligible cost  The band brought in Date to assist with production and also received input on musical arrangement from Greg Wells on several of the album's tracks  The band later added more material at Studio X in Seattle, Washington and at Larrabee Sound Studios  Overall, the album took 12 months and cost roughly $2 5 million to complete  The band was fined by Maverick for missing deadlines In January 2003, Deftones left the studio to perform several one-off shows in Australia and New Zealand as part of the annual Big Day Out festival  Shortly after, the band returned to the studio to finish their fourth album  The self-titled Deftones was released on May 20, 2003  It entered the Billboard 200 at No  2 and sold 167,000 copies in its first week  The album remained in the Billboard Top 100 for nine weeks, supported by the first single, "Minerva"  The band shot a video for the album's second single, "Hexagram", with fans watching the band play the song in an indoor skatepark in Simi Valley, California Reviews were mainly positive, praising the band for the album's progression and originality in the midst of declining creativity in contemporary metal  Moreno was quoted as saying, "It's all on record  We told motherfuckers not to lump us in with nu metal because when those bands go down we aren't going to be with them"  In reviewing Deftones, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "Hexagram", the album's opener, "hits hard—harder than they ever have, revealing how mushy Staind is, or how toothless Linkin Park is"  He also went on to say, however, that the album "sticks a little too close to familiar territory"  The A V  Club similarly called the album "less rewarding than its predecessor, though its peaks rival any in the genre" The band released a compilation album titled B-Sides & Rarities on October 4, 2005  The CD includes various B-sides and covers from throughout their career, while the DVD contains behind-the-scenes footage and the band's complete videography up to that point 

Saturday Night Wrist (2006–2007)
Rather than work with Date, their producer for many years, Deftones decided to record with Bob Ezrin on their fifth studio album  Cunningham said that while the group enjoyed working with Date, "at this point, we just needed to change things up [   ] And this is definitely a different style  Working with him [Ezrin] is just putting us fucking upside down  He's cracking the whip"  After recording all the instrumental parts for the record, Moreno decided to record his vocals separately, and finished recording the album with former Far guitarist Shaun Lopez as producer  According to an interview with Abe Cunningham, there were tensions involved with the recording of Saturday Night Wrist that were related to the band members' personal lives  Cunningham compared the process to “pulling teeth ”The band released the album, titled Saturday Night Wrist, on October 31, 2006  It debuted at No  10 on the U S  Billboard chart with sales of just over 76,000, a significant decrease in the first-week sales of their two previous releases  The album's first single, "Hole in the Earth", was released on September 12, 2006  The single was featured in the video game Saints Row, which was released in August 2006, shortly before the full release of Saturday Night Wrist  It was also later featured as downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Guitar Hero 3  Blabbermouth net wrote that Deftones "have rallied to create one of the strongest discs in the band's repertoire"  "Mein" was the album's second single, which was released on March 9, 2007  Collaborations on the record include Annie Hardy from Giant Drag on the song "Pink Cellphone" and Serj Tankian from System of a Down on the track "Mein" 
Deftones spent the majority of 2006 and 2007 touring around the world in support of the album, performing in North America, Europe, South America, Japan and Australia  The band also performed on such tours as Taste of Chaos, Family Values Tour and the Soundwave Festival 

Eros sessions, Cheng's car accident and Vega's arrival (2008–2009)
In the fall of 2007, Deftones started writing songs for what was planned to be their sixth studio album, Eros  Moreno described the album as unorthodox and aggressive  Recording started on April 14, 2008  The band returned to working with Terry Date as the producer for Eros On November 4, 2008, Cheng was seriously injured in a car accident in Santa Clara, California  As a result of the injuries sustained in the crash, he remained in a minimally conscious state  Following the accident, Cheng's bandmates and his mother, Jeanne, began using the Deftones blog to post updates on Cheng's condition  On December 9, 2008, it was announced that Cheng had been moved into the care of an unnamed hospital that "specializes in the care and management of traumatic and non-trauma related brain injuries "In late January 2009, the band released a new statement, stating that "our fallen comrade has not yet made significant progress", and that a friend of the band, Sergio Vega (formerly of Quicksand), would be taking over as bassist in Cheng's absence, as he had done temporarily in 1998  On April 5, the band played their first show without Cheng since 1998 at the Bamboozle Left festival in Irvine, California On June 23, 2009, Deftones announced on their official website that Eros would be delayed indefinitely, saying, "As we neared completion on Eros, we realized that this record doesn't best encompass and represent who we are currently as people and as musicians  And although those songs will see the light of day at some point, we collectively made the decision that we needed to take a new approach, and with Chi's condition heavy on our minds while doing so  We needed to return to the studio to do what we felt was right artistically"  They also said, "The decision to hold off on releasing Eros has no connection with Chi's condition or anything associated  This was, and is, purely a creative decision by the band to write, record, and deliver an amazing product" Korn members Brian "Head" Welch and Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, along with members of Sevendust, Slipknot and other alternative metal bands, recorded and released "A Song for Chi", with proceeds benefiting Cheng and his family  To aid in the fundraising for the Cheng family, the band announced two 2009 benefit shows in Los Angeles A website—One Love for Chi—was launched by Deftones fan Gina Blackmore on March 10, 2009, about four months after Cheng's accident  The site served as a platform for updates and information on Cheng's condition, as well as serving as an auction site for items donated by friends of the band  All proceeds raised by the website were donated to his family so they could provide him the best possible medical care 

Diamond Eyes (2010–2011)
Deftones' sixth album, Diamond Eyes,  was originally scheduled for release on April 27, 2010; this date was later pushed back to May 18  In March, it was announced that the album had leaked onto the Internet, and the album's release date was moved forward to May 4 as a result  On February 23, 2010, the album's first single, "Rocket Skates", was made available for free download at www gunsrazorsknives com  The album was produced by Nick Raskulinecz  In contrast to Eros' dark and aggressive nature, the band took a more optimistic approach both lyrically and sonically on Diamond Eyes 

On March 15, Deftones debuted their first radio-ready single, "Diamond Eyes"  Both "Diamond Eyes" and "Rocket Skates" received positive reviews from fans and critics, with many making comparisons of the two singles' style and sound to that of material from the Around the Fur album Teaming up with bands Mastodon and Alice in Chains, Deftones went on tour in the fall of 2010 in the United States and Canada  The tour was called Blackdiamondskye from the three bands' latest albums (Black Gives Way to Blue, Diamond Eyes and Crack the Skye)  The tour included a limited edition series of silk-screened art prints promoting each show individually, created by the poster artist Jermaine Rogers  Rogers has created a majority of the Deftones concert poster and print artwork since the late 1990s On April 16, 2011, in honor of Record Store Day, the band released an LP titled Covers, containing several cover songs that the band had recorded over the years, including "Drive" (originally by the Cars), "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" (originally by the Cure) and "No Ordinary Love" (originally by Sade)  On October 25, Deftones released The Vinyl Collection 1995–2011 in a limited edition of 1,000 copies 

Koi No Yokan and Cheng's death (2012–2013)
On March 29, 2012, Carpenter revealed that the band were working on a new record in an interview posted on ESP Guitars's YouTube channel  It was reported that Raskulinecz would return to produce their as-yet-unnamed seventh studio album It was also reported that the band would be recording several B-sides for the album, including an Elvis Presley cover and possibly an Earth, Wind, and Fire cover  It was later announced that there would be no bonus tracks  On July 28, Deftones performed a brand-new song titled "Rosemary" and also debuted another track titled "Roller Derby" (later retitled "Poltergeist")  Koi No Yokan was announced on August 30, 2012, and released on November 12, 2012, by Reprise Records  Metacritic rated Koi No Yokan 86 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim" based on 18 reviews On April 13, 2013, despite making a partial recovery and returning home, Cheng died in a hospital in his hometown of Stockton, California, after falling into cardiac arrest  It had been more than four years since his 2008 accident  Moreno announced in May that the album Eros, shelved in 2008 after Cheng's accident, was now more likely to be released following his death In May, Koi No Yokan won Revolver's Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year 

Gore (2014–2017)
In March 2014, while Moreno was touring with his side project Crosses in support of their self-titled debut album, the rest of Deftones began writing a follow-up to Koi No Yokan  Deftones also previously reported that they intended to record a new album either in late 2014 or early 2015 On April 13, 2014, the first anniversary of Cheng's death, Deftones released a track from Eros titled "Smile" on YouTube, the first officially released material from the long-shelved album  The video was removed by Warner Music Group two days later due to copyright infringement, despite the track having been uploaded by Moreno  Although the track has again been made available, it remains the only recording to be released from the Eros sessions to date 

In late February 2015, just after the band had finished the new album's drum tracks, Moreno told Rolling Stone that Deftones had written 16 songs during the album's sessions  He described the album as "a little more of a heady record" than the previous album  On May 15, 2015, Moreno was interviewed by Kerrang! about the new album, which he described as having  "a lot of different moods"  He further explained that it was not a "happy record", but also "not a completely angry record"  Despite reports of Carpenter's initial difficulty getting into the feel of the album, band members have noted the album's distinct collaborative nature  Vega utilized a six-string bass when recording the new material, helping to push the band into new sonic territory  After producing their previous two records with Raskulinecz, Deftones worked with Matt Hyde, who had been a recording engineer on Koi No Yokan The album was pushed back multiple times from its originally scheduled September 2015 release date  On February 4, 2016, the band released the first single from Gore, titled "Prayers / Triangles"  "Doomed User" and "Hearts / Wires" were also made available ahead of the album's release, on March 16 and April 3, respectively  Gore was officially released on April 8, 2016  The second official single, "Phantom Bride", was released on June 7  The song featured a guitar solo by Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell; this is considered unusual for a Deftones song  Gwilym Mumford of The Guardian praised the album for its emphasis on experimentation and ambiance and noted the exploration work in the tension between the "croon" in Moreno's "soulful" voice, his "opaque" lyrics, and Carpenter's "pile-driving" guitar riffs 

Ohms, Black Stallion, and Vega's departure (2017–present)
In 2017, Chino Moreno revealed that Deftones had begun writing material for their ninth studio album, which he stated hoped would be out sometime in 2019  Chino went on to state that the band would be going in a different direction than they had on Gore and that he would be taking a step back from leading the song writing to allow Stephen Carpenter and Abe Cunningham to be more involved in the material on the new album  In May 2018, Moreno was again asked about the new material and he stated the songs were "considerably heavier" than those on Gore  That same month, Deftones embarked on a South American tour with support from Quicksand and Deadly Apples In April 2020, Deftones announced that they were mixing their new album  During the recording sessions, which reportedly took place in Los Angeles, the band reunited with Terry Date as the producer of the album, making it the first time Deftones had worked with him since the unreleased Eros album in 2008  On August 19, 2020, the band teased the release date and the title of their upcoming ninth studio album  A day later, the band officially announced the title of the album, Ohms, set for release on September 25, 2020  At the same time, the band revealed the album itself, the album cover, the track list, and release date  The title track serves as the first single, and was released on August 21  On September 17, 2020, the band released the second single from the album, "Genesis"  On September 22, the band announced their "Adopt-a-Dot" campaign in which fans could digitally sponsor a dot from the Ohms album cover via a charitable donation In October 2020, they officially announced a 20th anniversary reissue of White Pony to be released in December of that year  The reissue was packaged alongside Black Stallion, a companion remix album featuring artists including Mike Shinoda, DJ Shadow and the Cure's Robert Smith Deftones postponed their joint tour with Gojira in support of Ohms twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic In March 2022, it was announced that bassist Sergio Vega left the band in early 2021, with Vega claiming he was never an official member of the band and was just a contracted bassist for his tenure  Vega said he sought what he perceived as official membership, and chose to leave after being offered the same status as he had been since he began performing with the band   The following month, it was announced that Fred Sablan joined the band as Vega's touring replacement  The band was also joined by touring guitarist Lance Jackman; on May 20, 2022, it was announced that Jackman would be temporarily replacing Carpenter during the band's 2022 European Tour 

Musical style, influences and legacy
Although initially rooted in metal, Deftones have always claimed diverse influences from groups of various genres, with their musical style diversifying over their career  Their sound has been described as alternative metal, art rock/art metal, experimental rock, shoegaze, nu metal, post-punk, post-hardcore, alternative rock, dream pop, drone rock, post-metal, post-rock, progressive metal, stoner rock, math metal, hard rock, trip hop, glitch, funk metal, and psychedelia Originally, the band was often associated with the "nu metal" movement in the press  However, Moreno has emphatically rejected the application of that label to the band  Asked about their connection with bands such as Korn, the singer stated that their commonality came down to only the shared influence of Faith No More, especially the percussive approach to vocals by Mike Patton  Following the release of Deftones' third album, White Pony, they were acknowledged by many critics to have moved beyond that label The music critic Johnny Loftus wrote, "Rock critics usually reserve a special place for Deftones above or at least away from the rest of the turn-of-the-century metal movement [    ] Deftones have always seemed more curious, more willing to incorporate traditionally revered sounds like D C  hardcore and dream pop into their Northern California alt-metal"  Peter Buckley, the author of The Rough Guide to Rock, called the band "one of the most primal, powerful, and experimental" bands in the alternative metal scene Moreno's lyrics were described by Time as "suggesting emotions rather than announcing them"  Moreno himself described his lyrics as ambiguous and sometimes impersonal, saying: "I like to be ambiguous when writing to a certain extent, and throwing something so brash [as Chi's accident] against that and playing with it  And also making it sound dimensional  Giving the feeling off that it is raw and it is emotional, but it's not just connected with our personal story  It's not merely about our career and our lives, it's bigger than that  When I hear the music, I get inspired to paint the lyrical pictures you describe, but I'm not always talking about myself"  The band's legacy has been compared to alternative rock group Radiohead, with some dubbing Deftones "The Radiohead of metal" Deftones' influences include Faith No More, Afrika Bambaataa, the Cure, Depeche Mode, Bad Brains, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), the Human League, Meshuggah, Duran Duran, Thompson Twins and Hum 

Side projects
Deftones members have worked on several side projects, with Moreno fronting Team Sleep, Crosses, Palms and supergroup Saudade (the latter including members from hardcore punk bands Bad Brains and Cro-Mags and avant-jazz group Medeski Martin & Wood)  Carpenter works with cinematic electronic metal group Sol Invicto, which he founded with producer Richie Londres  Carpenter has also worked with the supergroup Kush, featuring members of Fear Factory and Cypress Hill  Delgado is a member of a DJ group called Decibel Devils, with DJ Crook of Team Sleep, Matt D and DJ Julez  In 2000, Cheng released a CD composed of his own spoken word poetry, called The Bamboo Parachute 

Band members
Current members

Chino Moreno – vocals (1988–present); guitar (1999–present)
Stephen Carpenter – guitar (1988–present)
Abe Cunningham – drums (1988–1990, 1993–present)
Frank Delgado – keyboards, turntables, samples (1999–present; touring musician 1997–1998)Touring members

Fred Sablan – bass, backing vocals (2022–present)
Lance Jackman ― guitar, backing vocals (2022)Former members

Dominic Garcia – bass (1988–1990); drums (1990–1991)
Chi Cheng – bass, vocals (1990–2008; died 2013)
John Taylor – drums (1991–1993)
Sergio Vega – bass (2009–2021; touring substitute 1999)Timeline

Awards and nominations
Discography
Adrenaline (1995)
Around the Fur (1997)
White Pony (2000)
Deftones (2003)
Saturday Night Wrist (2006)
Diamond Eyes (2010)
Koi No Yokan (2012)
Gore (2016)
Ohms (2020)

Notes
Passage 7:
F-Minus (band)
F-Minus was an American hardcore punk band formed in 1995 in Huntington Beach, California, United States, started by Jen Johnson and Brad Logan  F-Minus was known for their dueling male and female vocals in songs that were sometimes as short as 12 seconds ("Fuck You O C ")  Before breaking up in 2004, their last album was recorded by Steve Albini  Throughout their career, they covered such bands as Antidote, Black Randy and the Metro Squad, 7 Seconds, Negative Approach, and Agnostic Front  Brad Logan currently runs his own record label Blacknoise, and is also member of the New York band Leftöver Crack  Jen Johnson currently is the designer and owner of clothing label E C  Star, and also is a member of the California band Ammunition Affair 

Members
Final line up
Brad Logan- vocals, guitar
Erica Daking- vocals, guitar
Joe Steinbrick- bass
Adam Zuckert- drums

Former members
Jen Johnson- vocals, bass
Sarah Lee- guitar
Chris Lagerborg- drums
John Guerra- drums
JP Otto- drums

Discography
Albums
Self Titled LP/CD (Hellcat, 1999)
Suburban Blight LP/CD (Hellcat, 2001)
Wake Up Screaming LP/CD (Hellcat, 2003)
Won't Bleed Me / Failed Society CD (Alternative Tentacles, 2005)

EPs
Voice of Treason Cassette (Self Released, 1996)
Failed Society 7" (Hellcat, 1997)
Won't Bleed Me 7" (Pelado, 1997)
Failed Society / Won't Bleed Me Cassette (Self Released, 1997)
Split With Crack Rock Steady 7 - Baby Jesus Sliced Up In The Manger 10" (Knife or Death, 2001)
Sweating Blood 7" (Bridge 9, 2003)

Compilations
Give Em' The Boot Volume 1 CD (Hellcat, 1997)
Old Skars and Upstarts CD/LP (Alive, 1997)
Give Em' The Boot Volume 2 CD (Hellcat, 1999)
No Time To Kill (Checkmate, 1999)
Vans Off The Wall Volume 3 CD (Vans, 2000)
Tomorrow Seems So Hopeless CD (Eyeball, 2000)
Give Em' The Boot Volume 3 CD (Hellcat, 2002)
Against Police Injustice CD (Non-Commercial, 2003)
Punk O' Rama Volume 8 CD (Epitaph, 2003)
Give Em' The Boot Volume 4 CD (Hellcat, 2004)
Give Em' The Boot DVD (Hellcat, 2005)
The Kids Are Gonna Pay Split (In Your Face (7 Seconds Cover))(2006)

See also
Leftöver Crack
Passage 8:
The Red &amp; the Black
The Red & the Black is a rock album by the Poway, California band Agent 51, released by Surfdog Records in 2003  It was the band's third album and was named "best punk album" at the 2003 San Diego Music Awards  With it the band distanced themselves from their previous punk rock sound by incorporating much more of an influence of classic rock and heavy metal bands such as AC/DC, Motörhead and Def Leppard  They also distanced themselves from the secret agent mythos they had created for themselves by ceasing to wear matching black suits in concert and by ceasing to write songs dealing with the existence of extraterrestrials and UFOs  The song "Loaded" was originally titled "Fuckin' Loaded" but was changed for printing on the album sleeve  They received airplay on local rock radio station 91X for the song "She's My Heroine " The album was the band's last before their extended hiatus, and they would not reconvene until a reunion show in 2005  Agent 51 have not released any more albums since The Red & the Black 

Track listing
All songs written by Chris Armes 

"American Rock N Roll"
"Wrecking Ball"
"Raised By Wolves"
"Loaded"
"Kiss of Death"
"She's My Heroine"
"Aim High"
"Kinda Like Murder"
"Air Raid"
"Hell Bent Whiskey Suicide"
"Love With the Devil"
"Disappear"
"Been So Long"

Personnel
Chris Armes – guitar, vocals
Eric "E-Rock" Davis – guitar, vocals
Sean Scura – bass, vocals
Michael "Mikey L" Levinson – drumsProduction

Recorded at 4th Street Recording
Mastered by Tom Baker at Precision Mastering
Produced, engineered and mixed by Jim Wirt except tracks 7, 11 & 12 produced and engineered by Jim Wirt and Gary Hoey and mixed by Gary Hoey
Additional production and arrangement by Gary Hoey
Assistant Engineer: CJ Erickson
Executive Producer: Dave Kaplan
Music and lyrics by Agent 51
Art and layout by Shaddox Design
Photography by LaGuerra
Passage 9:
Cream City
Cream City is the debut album by American funk/soul band Aalon  Released in 1977 and produced by Jerry Goldstein, the album reached number 45 on the R&B albums chart in the US  The group disbanded shortly after the album's release  It was reissued on CD by Thump Records in the mid-1990s, and the album has had a cult following ever since 

Track listing
Cream City - (Aalon Butler, Jerry Goldstein)  3:25
Rock and Roll Gangster - (Aalon Butler)  5:25
Midnight Man - (Aalon Butler)  4:41
Summer Love - (Aalon Butler)  5:01
Steven Baine's Electric Train - (Aalon Butler, Jerry Goldstein)  4:04
Lonely Princess - (Aalon Butler)  5:47
Magic Night - (Aalon Butler, Jerry Goldstein)  7:20
Jungle Desire - (Aalon Butler, Juan Luis Cabaza)  7:27

Personnel
AalonAalon Butler — guitars, lead and backing vocals
Luis Cabaza — keyboards
Luther Rabb — bass
Ron Hammond – drumsAdditional personnelAl Roberts — bass
Alvin Taylor – drums
Barbara Benney, Freddy Pool, Paula Bellamy — backing vocals on "Cream City"

Charts
Singles
Passage 10:
Noah Georgeson
Noah Georgeson is an American musician, producer, engineer, mixer and solo recording artist  Georgeson's debut album Find Shelter was released through Plain Recordings on November 28, 2006 

Early life and education
Born in San Anselmo, California, he moved with his family to Nevada City, California at the age of three  Georgeson studied classical guitar and music composition, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in composition from San Francisco State University in 2001, and, with a recommendation from Terry Riley, he attended Mills College, receiving his Master of Fine Arts in 2003  While at Mills, Georgeson studied with Fred Frith, Pauline Oliveros, and Alvin Curran 

Career
Georgeson first found popular success as a part of San Francisco band The Pleased, along with fellow member Joanna Newsom, whose debut album The Milk-Eyed Mender he produced 

Selected discography
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
Latin Grammy Awards
Emmy Awards



ground_truth: Deftones