BAWO

Though we have seen many types architecture with specific style and technique behind them, the Japanese architecture is one which is based on the safety of the people who lived in and around the construction site. They concentrate mainly on the safety. The style and design integrity is only the secondary consideration for the Japanese. Being placed on the junction of tectonic plates, Japan is often attacked by earthquakes. This made them think wise and to construct buildings which either resists the force of the earthquake or else move in synch with them. Though they derived their architectural style from Chinese architecture, it contained the stability and reduced floor space. Most houses were built with bamboo. This technique made their house to be strong enough to face an earthquake of high magnitude. These houses generated low loss on damage and also easy for construction. The rooms were spacious and all the inner decorations were made of wood. Even the doors and windows were made of wood. Today’s architecture is quite different from the traditional Japanese architecture. There was a change in their style only after the influence of other traders who visited the coastal cities of Japan to trade and get shelter on their sea voyage.

Since Akashi Kaikyo Bridge was built to connect an island and did not have a solid support, the engineers came up with the idea of creating a huge concrete well beneath the Akashi strait. These wells required more than 3, 50,000 tons of concrete each and more than 3, 00,000 tons of steel cables. This would sound funny, but the technicians at the construction site proved that nothing is impossible. The total length of the bridge covers around 3,911 meters and with its height reaching a sky creeping 282.8 meters, making it majestic. This bridge obtains suspension with the help of cables which joined together to form a pole running along the span of the bridge. In order to reduce the traffic on the bridge, 6 lanes were provided. The bridge was built to withstand cyclonic wind currents around 250 kilometers and also to tackle the earthquakes measuring above 8 on Richter scale. This bridge carries around 1700 illumination lights to provide beauty and light during night. This bridge is of great utility to local people who used to cross the strait through ferries which appears dangerous for almost half of the year. With various difficulties in construction, it took one decade to complete this record setting bridge.

As a point of tourist Thanjavur Brahadeshwarer temple is a must see tourist spot. The sculptures on the walls say lots and lots of stories about this temple. King Raja Raja Chola had destroyed nearly sixty kilometer area in diameter to raise the final piece of stone on the top of the gopuram as that piece of stone was 80 tons and in those days they did not have facilities to lift it directly. According to the story, God first refused to enter the temple on the opening day, because of the devastation caused to the villagers for raising that one big piece of stone on top of the gopuram. King got humiliated before lakhs and lakhs of people. After his repeated prayers the king compromised god and brought god into the temple. Now this temple has crossed decade of centuries and it still stands unaltered. This temple is made with much space that it can occupy any mass of people, even today. The most amazing thing about this temple is that, this temples tower (gopuram) is the symbol the State Government.

Grassroutes 2011 from Yofa on Vimeo.

This Tanjore (Thanjavur) temple had become a popular tourist place attracting many foreigners. The foreigners come here to study about the temple’s architecture and the people’s cultural heritage of that period. One of the amazing facts is that, the pillars consist of sculptures made on a single rock. This is one of the architectural proofs which depicts the strength and agility of using bricks to build. The great temple built by Raja Raja Chola consists of one of the Gopuram built with bricks and artists carved these blocks of bricks to make statues and sculptures. Even today thousands of people visit this temple and especially on the full moon day. This temple is not only religious temple, but also was built with the intension to provide a platform for socio and cultural development. The king used the river to transport the stone blocks. The temple was also considered to be a FORT; the compound wall of the Temple is around 30 meters thick. The design of the Temple is splendid and also has a number of underground tunnels, which would have been used as an escape route.