Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts

Saturday 10 October 2015

Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque, Grozny, Russia



In 1818, Grozny was founded, when the defense line was no longer required.  In 1870, Grozny became a regional center, and experiences a larger migration of workers for oil industry development. The newly built railroad in the end of 18th century, made Grozny largest industrial center of Caucasus region. As the time passes, the town of Grozny grows in terms of everything. Now, from last 10 to 15 years, Muslims culture has been flourished and lot of Mosque (Masjid) built. The famous official known "Heart of Chechnya" Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque was built, along with a large Islamic complex, a religious school, an Islamic university, a hotel, a religious library, a soccer stadium, the Grozny-City Towers. Indeed the amazing beauty of Mosque has captivating people hearts. The exterior walls are adorned in travertine marble, as well as interior walls are decorated with white marble especially brought from Turkish Marmara Island. On October 16, 2008, the Masjid was officially opened for public in a ceremony. The “Heart of Chechnya” Masjid contains one of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) relics, a 1,400 year old bowl used by Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH).

The "Heart of Chechnya" is the largest mosque in Europe & Russia. The dome diameter is 16 meters with a height of 32 meters. The mosque minarets are 62 meters tall, actually makes them tallest minarets in Russia. Though, it is strictly prohibited to climb up on minarets, but an “Airpano” team has given special sanctions to view from top. The dizzying ascent steep stairs will take you on top to see the marvelous view of city. It is incredible that a Muezzin used to climb up to a minaret five times a day to call for prayer, often called Azan or Adhan). Imagine, going to top of minaret for Azan, the person must be physically fit, equal to 20th floor of building over and over again. But these days, technology has get the job easier for Muezzin by using loudspeakers installed on the minarets and microphone is connected to the lower level of Masjid. The "Heart of Chechnya" Masjid can accommodate more than 10,000 people, and almost equal number of peoples can pray on the square in front of the Mosque as well as in the summer gallery. The Mosque walls and the dome are competently painted by master artisans from Turkey. Moreover, the inner surface of the main dome is majestically decorated by Surat al-Ikhlas ("The Purity of Faith", the 112th Sura of the Qur'an): "He is Allah, who is one, the eternal God. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent".

This beautiful Masjid is shine in night with 36 chandeliers (a chandelier alone is 8 meters high) and modeled after other famous mosques: “Al-Kubbat Sahra” in Jerusalem, Roza-Nabevi in Medina, and the Kaa’bah shrine in Makkah. In fact, Masjid itself and all its elements are extremely impressive, especially air lightness of the structure. As everybody knows, Muslims are strongly believer of One Allah, and during the month of Ramzan, when Muslims are with fasting, offering Namaz or Salat,  and Tarawhe means (Rest), the atmospheres are extremely impressive and eye-catching. Moreover, in the Ramadan month, hundreds of men, shoulder to shoulder praying together without any hassel. They lined up in an impressive way, without feeling of cast, colors, offer prayers, and even teach other to stay on Allah’s path. In the time of sunsets, the “Heart of Chechnya” Masjid beautifully glows in the descending ascending darkness, and surrounding park, fountains are illuminated as well, which makes it an inviting place for an evening stroll. Source: Airpano

Courtesy of www.AirPano.com

Courtesy of www.AirPano.com

Tuesday 15 September 2015

The Mysterious Manpupuner Rock Formations



The Manpupuner rock formations are a set of 7 huge stone pillars situated on a flat plateau, west of the Ural Mountains in the Troitsko-Pechorsky District of the Komi Republic. More than 200 million years ago this area was comprises with high mountains. However, natural weathering conditions by rain, wind, snow, coldness and heat progressively damaging the mountains, particularly the weaker rock. The comparatively hard sericite-quartzite schist, which the stone pillars are composed of, lasted and now towers over the surrounding plain. One of these pillars stand to some extent apart from the others, and with its slender bottom and broad mid-section look like a massive bottle, turned upside down. Moreover, six others are lined up at the edge of a cliff. People have seen all sorts of shapes in these pillars the figure of a man, or the head of a horse or a sheep. To each of these monoliths is between 30 to 42 meters high. This wonderful ready-made piece of folklore must have stimulated a thousand variations on the story over the millennia since people first come across the Manpupuner Rock Formations. And why not geologists still haven’t quite worked out what happened exactly to make the formation.
Moreover, these pillars are also called the "Seven Giants" or "Seven Strong Men" are mysterious, starkly contrasting their plateau environment. According to a several local legends, the stone pillars were once an entourage of Samoyeds giants walking through the mountains to Siberia in order to abolish the Mansi people. Though, the men were challenged by a shaman with the white face, called Yallingner, who turned all the warriors into stones. Yallingner himself was turned into a stone, and since then, the seven formations have been standing in this area, with one facing the other six. It is believed one of the Seven Wonders of Russia, the Manpupuner rock formations are a very popular attraction in Russia, though not well known internationally and comparatively unspoiled by tourism, thanks to their remote location. Visitors trying to understand these bizarre monuments, and looking for a greater challenge can attempt to climb the Strong Men. However, reaching the top of the Manpupuner Formations is in actual fact impossible considering their shape and texture and a number of expert climbers have failed in their face.

Thursday 3 September 2015

Mud Volcano that has Supernatural Resemblance to a Massive Human Eye



These unbelievable photographs show a spectacular mud volcano which looks like a huge human eye when captured from the sky. The erratic phenomenon was caught on camera on the Sakhalin Island, East Russia, at the Pugachevskiy mud volcano. From high above, the center of the volcano looks like the pupil, surrounded by a muddy brown iris. The 40 years Old Russian photographer Mikhail Mikhailov said, I didn't ever see anything like this before.

Although, there’re a lot number of mud volcanoes in the world, but this one is really special because it is resembles with the human eye. I haven't ever seen it looking like an eye! It is strongly believed, that it was a formed with a very strong eruption, the mud was getting out from one point and got spread around evenly. Therefore, the consequences created a very stunning view, looking exactly like an earth eye especially from a helicopter. It is for sure a rare and exclusive phenomenon. Generally mud volcanoes are formations created by geo-excreted gases and liquids, though the process can vary somewhat. As de-compaction occurs, gases are produced at a high rate, causing mud to become tough. As the pressure builds up, the mud is released out of the volcano through fractures in the structure. Well, the largest concentration of mud volcanoes can be found in Azerbaijan, which boasts around 400 in total, some of which have created perpetual and temporary islands. 

Wednesday 2 September 2015

Valley of Geysers, A Natural Wonder in Kamchatka Russia

The Valley of Geysers is a geyser field on Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, and has the second largest concentration of geysers in the world. This six kilometers  long basin with around 90 geysers and various hot springs is located on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, mainly on the left bank of the ever-deepening “Geysernaya River”, into which geothermal waters flow from a fairly young stratovolcano, Kikhpinych. It is part of the “Kronotsky Nature Reserve”, which, in turn, is included into the World Heritage Site "Volcanoes of Kamchatka" and temperatures have been found to be 250 °C, 500 m below the caldera ground. The valley is one of the rare places in the world where geysers occur naturally, along with Yellowstone National Park in the United States and sites in Iceland, Chile, and New Zealand. The access to valley is extremely difficult; you can reach with helicopters available the only feasible means of transport.

In 1942 a local scientist “Tatyan Ustinova” has discovered the "pulsating" geysers of Kamchatka. Therefore, she revealed her findings after 14 years later and little exploration of the area until 1972. As the time goes, an idea was introduced to get systematic survey to be done in mid-1970 and later on, an automatic monitoring system was introduced in 1990. Out of hundreds geysers, only 30 geysers were given names. Hence one of massive geyser “Velikan” is capable of generating a jet of water reaching up to 130 feet. So, in the early 1980’s the area was promoted across the USSR, and popularity increase in the tourist magnets of Kamchatka and Russian Far East. However, foreigner visitors were permitted into valley in 1990. Almost more than 3000 tourists visited valley of Geysers annually.  The valley is an extremely paradise, steaming waterfalls cascade down the valley walls; grassy banks breathe with life; geysers erupts jets of boiling water; and bubbling mud pots gurgle and pop. Beautiful multicolored clays and algae- matted waterslides mark the landscape, and wafting aromas bear witness to sulfur-belching springs.

The Valley of Geysers has seriously suffered from the landslide on June 3, 2007, a gigantic mudflow inundated two thirds of the valley witnessed an exclusive natural event, but the consequences of such a natural catastrophe are irreversible. Therefore, the World Heritage Site has also expressed its deep concern over the issue. In fact this was a tragic event for humankind, in that we have lost one of the best rare natural wonders of the world. On June 5 2007, it was reported that a thermal lake is forming above the valley due to the landslide occurred while the documentary Wild Russia was filmed; it features footage of before and after the disaster. The extent of long-lasting change is not yet clear, but may be less than was originally thought. As of June 9, 2007, waters have receded to some extent, revealing some of the inundated features. Velikan (Giant) Geyser, one of the field's largest, was not buried in the slide and has in recent times been observed to be active. In 2008 the Valley of Geysers was elected as one of seven Wonders of Russia, because of several thousand people visit the Valley every year because of its remote location and reserve status. Nonetheless, the Valley is still very alive and attracts a lot of interest from scientists and tourists.