Holly Angelina Vs Bolly Ash

Two beautiful women, Angelina Jolie and Aishwarya Rai, I think it is really interesting to compare and find some similarities. Come on , have a look, have some fun.

Angelina Jolie is an American film actor and a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. She is often cited by popular media as one of the world’s most beautiful women and her off-screen life is widely reported.She has received three Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and an Academy Award.

Though she made her screen debut as a child alongside her father Jon Voight in the 1982 film Lookin’ to Get Out, Jolie’s acting career began in earnest a decade later with the low budget production Cyborg 2 (1993). Her first leading role in a major film was in Hackers (1995). She starred in the critically acclaimed biographical films George Wallace (1997) and Gia (1998), and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama Girl, Interrupted (1999). Jolie achieved international fame as a result of her portrayal of videogame heroine Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), and since then has established herself as one of the best-known and highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. She had her biggest commercial success with the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005).

Divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie currently lives with actor Brad Pitt, in a relationship that has attracted worldwide media attention. Jolie and Pitt have three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, as well as a biological daughter, Shiloh. Jolie has promoted humanitarian causes throughout the world, and is noted for her work with refugees through UNHCR.

Aishwarya Rai or Aishwarya Bachchan is an internationally renowned Indian actress. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model, and gained fame after winning the Miss World contest in 1994.

Often touted as the most beautiful woman in the world, Rai made her movie debut in Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film, Iruvar . She had her first commercial success in the Tamil movie Jeans (1998), and came to the attention of Bollywood in the Hindi movie, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her performance in the film won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award, and she successfully performed in Bhansali’s next project, Devdas (2002), for which she won her second Best Actress Award at the Filmfare. Since then, she has acted in over forty movies in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and English, including the international productions, Bride & Prejudice (2003), Mistress of Spices (2006) and The Last Legion (2007) in English. (Visit http://www.binbrain.com/photos/ for more photos)

Here is our first contest. Which woman would you prefer? Aishwarya Rai or Angelina Jolie. Both are beautiful and both are successful. You can answer this in a number of ways. Which is sexiest? Which is most beautiful? Which is most successful? Which would you prefer to be with? Just leave your comments and let’s see which one all of you really prefer. You can also visit http://binbrain.com/poll/index.php?poll_id=28

TAJ MAHAL- “The Symbol of Love”

TAJ MAHAL is one of the seven wonders of the world. Any one who knows India is familiar with the name Taj Mahal . The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, that was built under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.”

While the white domed marble and tile mausoleum is most familiar, Taj Mahal is an integrated symmetric complex of structures that was completed around 1648. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered as the principal designer of Taj Mahal.

History of Taj Mahal

It is a symbol of the eternal andeverlasting love that Shah Jehan showed for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz Mahal married Shah Jehan in 1612 . This was his second marriage, and the couple loved each other greatly. Mumtaz Mahal had fourteen children while with Shah Jehan, and died in child birth in 1630 while away on a battle with Shah Jehan . Legend has it that Shah Jehan was so devastated by her death that in the course of only a few months, his beard and hair had turned completely white. Mumtaz Mahal’s body was buried for six months, then was returned to Agra, later to be permanently buried in the Taj Mahamumtaz1.

The Taj Mahal, designed by two Persian architects, was built by Shah Jehan to create a memorial for Mumtaz Mahal. This monument was constructed as a display of Shah Jehan’s eternal love for his wife . The building of the Taj began in 1632. An army of 20,000 workers labored on this structure . The Taj Mahal is often referred to as “the greatest single work of Safavid art ever constructed”. In 1648, on the exact anniversary of Mumtaz’s death, this wonderful monument was completed . The Taj Mahal is located on the river Yamuna in Agra

The garden

The complex is set around a large 300 meters square charbagh, a Mughal garden. The garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four quarters of the garden into 16 sunken parterres or flowerbeds. A raised marble water tank at the center of the garden, halfway between the tomb and gateway, with a reflecting pool on North-South axis reflect the image of Taj Mahal. Elsewhere, the garden is laid out with avenues of trees and fountains. The charbagh garden, a design inspired by Persian gardens, was introduced to India by the first Mughal emperor Babur. It symbolizes four flowing rivers of Paradise and reflects the gardens of Paradise and derived from the Persian paridaeza, meaning ‘a walled garden’.

Tourism

The Taj Mahal attracts 2 to 3 million visitors every year with more than 200,000 from overseas. Most tourists visit during the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourist must either walk from the carparks or catch an electric bus. Lists of recommended travel destinations often feature Taj Mahal, which also appears in several listings of seven wonders of the modern world, including the recently announced New Seven Wonders of the World, a recent poll with 100 million votes.

For security reasons , only five items – water in transparent bottles, small video cameras, still cameras, mobile phones and small ladies-purse – are allowed inside the Taj Mahal.

THE KING KHAN

Bollywood is the central stage of Indian film industry. When thinking of Bollywood you can never leave the name Shahrukh, the king Khan. I don’t think that a single article can go through the whole life of Shahrukh , as he is really a topic for a blog itself. But let us have a glance at his life and achievements.

Shahrukh Khan born 2 November 1965, Zodiac Sign: scorpio , is a highly acclaimed Indian actor who works in Bollywood films, as well as film producer and television host. Khan was born to Muslim parents of Pathan ethnicity. His father, Taj Mohammed Khan was a freedom activist. His mother Lateef Fatima was the adopted daughter of Major General Shah Nawaz Khan of the Janjua Rajput clan, who served as a General in the Indian National Army of Subash Chandra Bose. Shahrukh had one sister named Shehnaz fondly called Lala Rukh.

Khan had his education at St. Columbia High School In New Delhi and Graduated from Hansraj College, & then Masters in Mass Communication from Jamiya Miliya Islamiya, New Delhi After the death of his parents, Khan moved from Gurgaon to Mumbai in 1991. In that same year, he married Gauri Khan in a Hindu wedding ceremony. They have two children, son Aryan (b. 1997) and daughter Suhana (b. 2000)

Khan studied acting under celebrated Theatre Director Barry John at Delhi’s Theatre Action Group. Khan made his acting debut in 1988 when he appeared in the television series, Fauji, playing the role of Commando Abhimanyu Rai. He went on to appear in several other television serials, appearing most notably in the 1989 serial, Circus (directed by Aziz Mirza), which depicted the life of circus performers. The same year, Khan also had a minor role in the made-for-television English-language film, In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, which was based on life at Delhi University and was written by Arundhati Roy.

Shahruk Khan made his Bollywood movie debut in Deewana (1992). The movie was a box office hit, and launched his career in Bollywood. His performance won him a Film fare Best Male Debut Award. His second movie, Maya Memsaab, generated some controversy because of his appearance in an “explicit” sex scene in the movie. Since then, he has been part of numerous commercial successes, as well as delivering a variety of critically acclaimed performances.

During his career years, he has won seven Film fare Best Actor Awards, and has had significant box office success, with films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and Om Shanti Om (2007) being some of Bollywood’s biggest hits, while films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Veer Zaara (2004) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) are the biggest Bollywood hits in the overseas market.Khan’s first release in 2007, the sports movie Chak De India, earned him good reviews. Though the movie started low at the box office, it became one of the year’s biggest hits. For his performance as the coach of a girl’s hockey team, he earned his seventh Film fare Best Actor Award. Next followed Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om. The film emerged as the year’s highest grossing film in India and the overseas market, as well as earned him another nomination for Best Actor at the Film fare ceremony. Since 2000, Khan branched out into film production and television presenting as well. He is also the owner of the Kolkata Twenty20 franchise in the Indian Premier League.

Khan was chosen as the host of the third series of the popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of Who wants to be a millionaire?, in 2007 taking over from the original host Amitabh Bachchan who had hosted the show from 2000 to 2005. On Monday, January 22, 2007, “Kaun Banega Crorepati” aired with Khan as the new host. The season ended on April 19 2007

(For more interesting photos visit :www.BinBrain.Com/Photos)

Awards

Shah Rukh Khan has won six Filmfare Awards for Best Actor, the most recent being in 2005 for Swades, acting the role of an Indian-American NASA engineer whose life is transformed by his encounters with rural India. 2004 was also a good year for Shahrukh; he acted in three movies, receiving Filmfare nominations for his work in each of them.
Filmfare Power Award 2004
# Best Actor – Swades
# 2004 Filmfare Power Award (along Amitabh Bachchan) 2003
# Best Actor – Devdas
# 2002 Filmfare Special Award Swiss Consulate Trophy 2002
# Best Actor, Critics’ Choice – Mohabbatein
# 2000 Best Actor – Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
# 1998 Best Actor – Dil To Pagal Hai
# 1997 Best Actor – Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
# 1995 Best Villain – Anjaam# 1994 Best Performer Critics’ Choice# 1993 Best Actor – Baazigar
# 1993 Best Newcomer – Deewana
If all categories in which he has won are counted, Shah Rukh has the greatest number of Film fare Awards for performance in Hindi movies. He is two short of equalling the record for Best Actor category – Dilip Kumar heads that list with eight awards between 1954 and 1983.Two of the films in which Shah Rukh starred as a leading actor have been India’s entry in Hollywood’s Oscars. Paheli (2005) has been nominated for the 2006 Oscars. Devdas (2002) was an earlier nomination. Shah Rukh also appeared in a third Oscar entry, as a supporting actor in Hey Ram (2000). See List of India’s official entries to the Oscars.He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004.

Other Recognitions

# 2001 – Jade Magazine Award Sexiest Man in Asia
# 2004 – Asian Guild Awards Bollywood Star of the Decade
# 2004 – Pepsi Sabsey Favourite Star Kaun Award Favourite Hero
# 2004 – ‘F-Awards’ for Excellence in Indian Fashion Celebrity Model of the Year
# 2004 – Chhoton Ka Funda Award
# 2004 – Cover of Time magazine
# 2004 – Sabse Tez Personality of the Year Award
# 2004 – MSN Search Personality of the Year Award
# 2005 – Cover of National Geographic

National Honours

# Oscar For Best Actor To Ever Be On This Earth
# Padma Shri Award 2006
# Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence in the Field of Entertainment 2005
# Best Indian Citizen Award 2002

He has won

# 13 Filmfare Awards
# 10 Rupa Cinegoers Awards
# 6 Star Screen Videocon Awards
# 6 Sansui Viewers Choice Movie Awards
# 4 Zee Cine Awards
# 4 People’s Choice Movie Awards
# 3 IIFA Awards, 3 Zee Gold Bollywood Awards
# 2 AFJA Awards, 1 Aashirwad Award
# 1 Disney Kids Channel Awards
# 1 MTV Immies Indian Music Excellence Awards
# 1 Sports World Film Awards

Kerala’s Architecture – VASTHUSASTHRA

‘Vas‘ means ‘to dwell’ or ‘to occupy’. Vasthu means ‘dwelling place.’ Vasthu Shastra is the set of guidelines prescribed by the Rishis or learned men of ancient India for planning and constructing our dwelling places which range from our homes, cities, states, countries and eventually extend to our planet and the universe!

Nature consists of Panchabhutam, the five elements Akasham or Sky, Vaayu or Air, Agni or Fire, Bhumi or Earth and Jalam or Water The shastras or the ancient Indian texts on science tell us that cosmic energy has a specific influence on living beings.Five elements reside in nature in specific proportions. Vasthu Shastra involves the alignment of these five basic elements according to the law of nature. The effects of these five elements have to be studied to appreciate the science of vasthu in its pure form and also to pacify skeptics who question the efficiency and validity of vasthu shastra.

Plants and animals live in perfect harmony with nature. But we human beings, the superior beings that inhabit the earth, have forgotten how to keep peace with our surroundings. If we can modify our homes to harness the energy of the cosmos in such a way that our homes are in complete harmony with our bodies it can help us to succeed in all our endeavors. Due to the magnetic properties of the earth, the needle of a compass always points to the north.

Since vasthu is based on the permanent property of the earth namely inclination towards the north, the effect of vasthu is universal . Which means the effect of vasthu does not merely extend to the people of India or to the followers of Hinduism!

The Vasthusasthram has developed over generations as a result of observations of the influence of the SUN and the MAGNETIC fields on earth and living bodies, mentally and physically.

For any problems that you may be having with your health, mental and body peace, it is recommended that you construct buildings “as per the principals of Vasthusasthra – THE LAW OF NATURE

There are two parts to Vasthu Sasthra.

1. The science of Vasthu of land.
2. The science of Vasthu of building.

The science of Vasthu of land:-

We have to study the level, shape, and size of land before starting any construction. The shape of a land may be changed by adding or deducting parts or corners. We can also provide boundaries to separate the compound to suit Vasthu Sasthram. A land may be square or rectangle with all corners, Right angle is good for construction. A plot that slopes to the north or east or northeast is good for any purpose. In a plot having a way on its east and north and slopes to the east or north is considered very good for construction or for business.

The science of Vasthu of building:-

Before undertaking any construction of building you have to think of your financial position and requirements and consult an experienced engineer having a thorough knowledge of the preliminaries of Vasthu. While planning your home, remember to position your master bedroom in the southwest, sleeping with your head towards the south or east. Businessmen may sleep in the southeast or northwest bedroom. Our head has a magnetic power, and has to be placed opposite to the north i.e. place your head towards the south for a sound sleep.

The water tank should be positioned in the southwest / south / west and never the northeast. An underground tank or well in the northeast is considered good.

Necessity of Vasthu:-

In remodelling any existing house, you must consult a Vasthu expert. Experts say that they have come across many cases where people complain of financial and other problems after the marriage of a son or daughter. This, they say, is due to the remodelling or rearranging of rooms or a change in position of doors or windows in connection with the marriage.

Nalukettu- unique architecture of Kerala

The Nalukettu is the traditional style of architecture of Kerala, wherein a house has a quadrangle in the centre.

Originally the abode of the wealthy Brahmin and Nair families, this style of architecture has today become a status symbol among the well to do in Kerala. Nalukettu is evident in the traditional homes of the upper class homestead where customs and rituals were a part of life.

The mansion is created using wood and tiles, central open courtyard and wondrous architecture. The interiors of the house are tastefully decorated with a wealth of antiques made from teak, sandalwood, mahogany etc.

Dynastic Influence

Originally the abode of the wealthy Brahmin and Nair families, this style of architecture has today become a status symbol among the well to do in Kerala. Nalukettu is evident in the traditional homes of the upper class homestead where customs and rituals were a part of life.

Priciples Of The Design

The Roof of a Typical Nalukettu, Kerala
The traditional ‘Nalukettu’, barring the foundation and floor is made of carved and slotted wood and has a close resemblance to East Asian gabled and thatched structures. In later years, tiles replaced the coconut fronds.

The enclosed courtyard or ‘ankanam’ is usually sunk and therefore called ‘Kuzhi (pit) Ankanam’. The protruding roofs of the ‘salas’ formed shady verandas and protected the rooms from direct sunlight, keeping them cool even on the hottest of days. The inner verandah around the ‘ankanam’ is open.

The outer verandahs along the four sides of the ‘Nalukettu’ are enclosed differently. While both the western and eastern verandahs are left open, the northern and southern verandahs are enclosed or semi-enclosed.

The ‘Tantrasamuchaya’, ‘Vasthuvidya’, ‘Maushyalaya Chandrika’ and ‘Silparatna’ are the celebrated treatises in the field of architecture that Kerala has contributed to the world.

The Nalukettu of Kerala i

s famous for building along with the rules of ‘Tachu Sastra’ (Science of Architecture). The Padmanabhapuram Palace, the Dutch Palace at Mattancherry and Krishnapuram Palace near Kayamkulam are some of the famous palaces of Kerala.

The rock temples, woodcarvings, and metal cuttings are excellent pieces of works of Kerala

Namboothiri Illams

Namboothiri houses (Brahmaalayam, Mana, illam) were built invariably according to the canons of Vaasthusaasthram (Vaasthuvidya priciples, the science and art – architecture – of building in harmony with the eternally active, creative, and all pervasive ‘Spirit’ and ‘Nature’) and in conformity and proportion with the usually large compound or plot (Illapparambu). In the early days, they were all built in the form of Chathussaalas or Naalukettus (quadrangle or the ancient courtyards) – Kizhakkini (eastern part), Thekkini (south), Padinhaatti (west) and Vadukkini (north), as seperate structures. This can be seen even today in Kurumathur Illam. In later years, joining these four through Meladukkala, kizhakke Ara, Puraththaalam and Vadakke Ara, came to vogue. The Vadakkini floor was always considerably raised, whereas local custom determined whether none, any or all of the other three had raised floors or not. The Thekkini and/ or Padinhaatti may either be single storyed or two (or more) storyes high. Anyway all Brahmaalayams were invariably in the Naalukettu style.

The gateway entrance to the plot (Padippura) is built on the western boundary in line with the Thekkini veranda. The Padippura will have standing (or resting) space both inside and outside. This is done to let the passers – by know that the house is a Brahmaalayam, where food will be available. With the same purpose in mind, the kitchen well is provided with a drum shaped wooden pulley system with wooden balls (or dry fruit shells) inside which produce noise while drawing water.

The Paththaayappura (grain store-house), bathing tank, well, dining halls (Kettu) and all other functional parts have very definite relative locations, size, shape and other details, determined as per Vaastuvidya.