Its been a while....I promised to bray incessantly but then I proved that donkeys are better than humans. They do what they promise to do. Humans like me PROMISe but mostly split the word up and land up being a PRO at MISsing most of what they promise. I can come up with a million reasons for not penning thoughts here but I guess I will just accept that laziness and lack of effort to make the brain work stopped me from coming up with a post.
I was busy with three things staring with S last month ( and that can be a lame reason for me not updating the blog).A trip to Singapore,hosting the birthday of my daughter whose name starts with S and the biography of Steve Jobs.Children make everything seem special to parents but its nothing out of the ordinary actually and I will spare you the details of the celebration. Jobs is too complicated and interesting to restrict a discussion on him here. So, I will concentrate on something from my trip to Singapore.
Singapore is synonymous with glitz, shopping and as everyone will vouch is a place worth visiting. There are enough travel sites to give you the details on what to see and where to stay and all those who have already been there must have cozy memories about the place. No...I wont be talking the same thing.
I will talk of the Merlion...It was in Sentosa and our destination on day 3 of the visit where I came to know about the story behind the Merlion which all associate Singapore with but probably not many know why we associate Singapore with it..For those who are still at a loss about what I am talking of...this pic should be helpful...
Merlion,as the word suggests, is a fictional character with the body of mermaid and the head of a lion. It all goes back to the discovery of this island hundreds of years ago.The great king Alexander had a grandson Sang Nila Utama, a brave and strong man, who not only inherited Alexander's kingdom but was also worthy of the throne just like his grandfather. Once while on a hunting expedition, King Sang Nila Utama was chasing a stag and reached the edge of a hill.He lost track of the stag but from the top of the hill he saw a beautiful island standing in the middle of the sea which immediately caught his fancy. He had a deep desire to get to that island and asked his men to get things ready to sail across. The king's wish was respected and King Nila Utama with his men started the journey but the sea was rough and the weather turned ugly scaring all aboard that they would die before reaching the destination. The sea was angry and King knew exactly what he had to do to calm it down. He offered his crown made of the costliest of jewels to the sea goddess and asked her to let his men and him sail through. The sea goddess was appeased and the weather turned just right to carry on the journey. Finally, the king and his men stepped on the beautiful island and that very moment a lion leaped in front and seemed enraged with the invasion on its land.However, as the king and the lion locked their eyes, the lion slowly calmed down as an unspoken word of understanding crossed between the two and the lion left. The king declared that this beautiful island guarded by the lion would be developed from now on by him and it would be called SINGAPURA (Singa = Lion and PURA = City in sanskrit).
Keeping this mythology in mind, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) adapted the MERLION as its symbol as a respect to the Lion and the fish which have been gaurding and helping the city flourish into the fourth prosperous economy in the world. The Merlion was designed by Alec-Fraser Brunner and has been in use since 1964. It appears on all souvenirs and its use needs approval from the STB.
I was busy with three things staring with S last month ( and that can be a lame reason for me not updating the blog).A trip to Singapore,hosting the birthday of my daughter whose name starts with S and the biography of Steve Jobs.Children make everything seem special to parents but its nothing out of the ordinary actually and I will spare you the details of the celebration. Jobs is too complicated and interesting to restrict a discussion on him here. So, I will concentrate on something from my trip to Singapore.
Singapore is synonymous with glitz, shopping and as everyone will vouch is a place worth visiting. There are enough travel sites to give you the details on what to see and where to stay and all those who have already been there must have cozy memories about the place. No...I wont be talking the same thing.
I will talk of the Merlion...It was in Sentosa and our destination on day 3 of the visit where I came to know about the story behind the Merlion which all associate Singapore with but probably not many know why we associate Singapore with it..For those who are still at a loss about what I am talking of...this pic should be helpful...
Merlion,as the word suggests, is a fictional character with the body of mermaid and the head of a lion. It all goes back to the discovery of this island hundreds of years ago.The great king Alexander had a grandson Sang Nila Utama, a brave and strong man, who not only inherited Alexander's kingdom but was also worthy of the throne just like his grandfather. Once while on a hunting expedition, King Sang Nila Utama was chasing a stag and reached the edge of a hill.He lost track of the stag but from the top of the hill he saw a beautiful island standing in the middle of the sea which immediately caught his fancy. He had a deep desire to get to that island and asked his men to get things ready to sail across. The king's wish was respected and King Nila Utama with his men started the journey but the sea was rough and the weather turned ugly scaring all aboard that they would die before reaching the destination. The sea was angry and King knew exactly what he had to do to calm it down. He offered his crown made of the costliest of jewels to the sea goddess and asked her to let his men and him sail through. The sea goddess was appeased and the weather turned just right to carry on the journey. Finally, the king and his men stepped on the beautiful island and that very moment a lion leaped in front and seemed enraged with the invasion on its land.However, as the king and the lion locked their eyes, the lion slowly calmed down as an unspoken word of understanding crossed between the two and the lion left. The king declared that this beautiful island guarded by the lion would be developed from now on by him and it would be called SINGAPURA (Singa = Lion and PURA = City in sanskrit).
Keeping this mythology in mind, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) adapted the MERLION as its symbol as a respect to the Lion and the fish which have been gaurding and helping the city flourish into the fourth prosperous economy in the world. The Merlion was designed by Alec-Fraser Brunner and has been in use since 1964. It appears on all souvenirs and its use needs approval from the STB.
No comments:
Post a Comment