Found this Buddha statue and a quiet moment at the Sulamani Temple in the ancient city of Bagan, Myanmar. This temple was originally built in 1183 and rebuilt after the 1975 earthquake. Today, over 2200 of the original 4000 temples/pagodas still stand. Each temple has many Buddha statues within it.
In honor of the last night of Hanukkah, a menorah found in the Musmeah Yeshua synagogue in Yangon. It is the only synagogue in Myanmar and was built in 1896 for the Baghdadi Jews, the Bene Israel Jews and the Cochini Jews from India that arrived during Burma’s colonial-era. It is listed on Yangon City Development Council’s list of Heritage Buildings.
I come from a diverse family of various cultures and religions, from all corners of the world. One of my paternal great-great grandfathers was a Jew from Baghdad, Iraq. This was his synagogue. He and his family were prominent members. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Yangon.
The back view of the Taj Mahal from Mehtab Bagh (Moonlight Garden) across the Yamuna river in Agra, India.
On a recent 36-hour stopover in São Paulo, I learned about Beco do Batman from a Brazilian friend that lives there. Beco de Batman is a cobblestone alleyway filled with vibrant street art in a Vila Madalena neighbourhood. São Paulo has a lot of beautiful street art, but the largest concentration of it is found here and every bit of wall space is covered.
It was given the name Batman’s alley when a single drawing appeared, of Batman, in the 1980s. Afterwards, art students and artists filled the walls. Though the original Batman piece no longer appears on one of the walls, a Batman logo appears in a window of a building near the small parking area.
You can find this alley around Rua Gonçalo Afonso and Rua Medeiros de Albuquerque. It’s about a 15-20 minute taxi ride from Avenida Paulista, the area I stayed in. There are many restaurants and shops in Vila Madalena so spending a day in this area is well worth your time. The work changes so frequently that it is considered an open-air gallery and some local residents visit on multiple occasions a year.
Some of my favourite pieces:
