Arthur Gugick, 1960-2019

Hi all, I know this blog has been dormant for a long time, but I just saw a notice on Facebook that Arthur Gugick died in a car crash a few days ago. Arthur was a father and math teacher and, the reason I'm noting him here, an AFOL. You may remember him primarily for microscale recreations of world architectural landmarks, also amazing mosaics, along with other MOCs that you can see in his Flickr stream. I've featured his work here on multiple occasions, and indeed some of his last creations were ones that would have gone here as well. For instance, he said his Siem Reap was not a specific replica, but rather a general impression based on his memories. Siem Reap is the home to Angkor Wat, and many other temples and other ruins from the Khmer empire - this MOC is a microscale .

Vesak Day

Today (or tomorrow - the date varies a little by country) is Vesak Day, when Buddhists celebrate the birth of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha). Artisan Bricks notes the day with this Buddhist Flag. The flag has vertical stripes representing loving kindess (blue), the Middle Path (yellow), various blessings (red), purity (white), and the wisdom of the Buddha's teachings (orange). A sixth stripe is made up of all of the other colors, representing the essenced of light, since the spectrum of light is made up of all of the colors. There are variations in different countries where one or more of the colors is changed.

Thingyan

In addition to Passover in Judaism and Holy Week in Christianity, this week also notes Thingyan, the Burmese New Year Festival (and variants in nearby countries), running from today until Sunday. Buddhists practice a number of rituals ushering in the new year, including fasting, ritual washing, and offerings at shrines. The more solemn rites then turn to fun with feasting and ultimately a very wet water festival, closely related to the Songkran Festival in nearby countries, depicted here in LEGO form. Xin Yaw wishes everyone a Happy Myanmar New Year!!!.

Dharma Bhakti Buddhist Temple

The Dharma Bhakti Buddhist Temple (here in LEGO by Kosmas Santosa) was originally built in Jakarta Indonesia in 1650 to honor Buddhist priest Guan Yin. The building has gone through renovations and name changes over the years, and sadly was largely destroyed by fire earlier this year.

Songkran Festival

In Thailand they celebrate the new year, or the Songkran Festival (here in LEGO by Jared Chan), from April 13-15. Traditions include spending time with your parents, grandparents, and other elders; throwing out what is old to look forward to the new; sprinkling with water in a form of ritual purification; and a tradition called 'bathing the Buddha'. A statue of the Buddha is brought through the streets and splashed with water, again a symbol of cleansing the soul of inner impurity. This tradition of splashing with water has evolved into a party-like atmosphere, with people taking to the streets with buckets, hoses, and super-soaker water guns in a city-wide water-fight, as shown in Jared's MOC.

The structure in this MOC is also of note. Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram is one of the most well-known Buddhist temples in Bangkok. The temple, a little over a hundred years old, houses a statue of the Buddha known as Phra Buddhajinaraja in the inner hall, other statues of the Buddha found throughout the structure, and the remains of King Chulalongkorn, who reigned in Thailand from 1868-1910 and is the one who ordered the temple's construction. Today the temple is a symbol of the nation, a popular destination for tourists and is depicted on a Thai coin.

Buddhist temple

I've been waiting to post this as it was built, and I think it's now finished. Timofey_tkachev has built this really amazing Buddhist temple. I do not know if this is patterned on a specific existing temple or simply built in the style of a Buddhist temple.


He also included some interior details.

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm (here in LEGO by Toltomeja) is a Buddhist temple in Cambodia located just west of Angkor Wat and a little south of Angkor Thom. This was built in the late 12th century as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university, and it its day the complex was home to over 12,500 people. After it was abandoned four centuries ago when the Khmer Empire collapsed, the temple was slowly taken over by the jungle.

Tian Tan Buddha

Hi all,
First up, I just wanted to apologize for my six month hiatus. I've been blogging about LEGO for nine years now, and from time to time I've just gotten a bit run down and distracted from my family of blogs. However, in the meantime, I'm constantly going through Flickr, Brickshelf, and other sites, and probably every day I bookmark a few more things that I keep meaning to post. I've gotten a couple of nice notes asking where I've been, and I guess it's time to come back. Also, during the year I save up LEGO books to review as people are getting ready for Christmas, and want to get those posted. And so, back to blogging. Hopefully I won't have too many interruptions in the near future. I've certainly got a backlog of great creations to feature.

The Tian Tan Buddha (here by Alan Boar) is a 34 meter tall statue of the Buddha seated atop a hill near the Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong. The rooms under the statue include a relic said to include some of the remains of Gautama Buddha. Earlier this year French artist Paulo Grangeon created 1600 paper mache pandas which he then displayed and photographed around Hong Kong, including at the Tian Tan Buddha, as reproduced here in Alan Boar's MOC.

Buddha's Birthday

Two days ago many around the world celebrated the birthday of Prince Siddhartha Gautama about 2500 years ago in Nepal. Andybear and Aki made this mosaic. They include a lotus flower in the picture; in Buddhism this is a symbol of enlightenment. The lotus grows in murky, muddy water, which is symbolic of the natural state of the person, but then the flower struggles and grows and rises above, and eventually opens up into a beautiful bloom, symbolizing the enlightened soul.

Tiger's Nest

Taktsang Palphug Monastery (translated as "Tiger's Nest") sits precariously on a cliffside overlooking the Paro Valley in Bhutan. This monastery was built three hundred years ago, on the site of a cave in the cliff face where where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours in the 8th century. This figure was key in bringing Bhuddhism to Bhutan, and is revered throughout the country. Anu Pehrson built this beautiful LEGO rendition of the Tiger's Nest.

Taiwanese Temple

I'm not sure if BLACKWHITE's Taiwan street temple is based on a specific temple or not. It certainly reflects the structural style of a lot of buildings like the Longshan Temple or the Confucious Temple, but it doesn't exactly match any that I can find. It might just be a combination of details from many different sites. Of course, since the builder is (I'm pretty sure) from Taipei, this doesn't have to be a particularly famous structure, it could just be a small temple down the street that he goes past every day. Can someone translate the text in the first picture for me?

Buddha

Nathan Sawaya built this Buddha as part of his Art of the Brick exhibit.

Dunhuang Caves

Also known as the Mogao Grottoes, this series of 492 Buddhist temples was carved out of the hills around an oasis along the Silk Road in northwest China. The first caves were carved around 366, and construction continued on the site over a thousand years. Cave 96, called the Nine Storey Building (here from the Piece of Peace exhibition)houses the Northern Giant Buddha, at 35 meters the second largest stone Buddha on Earth (it was fourth largest before the two Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed in 2001). The statue depicts the Buddha Maitreya, who is foretold to appear at a future point after the teachings of the Buddha have been forgotten and mankind has degraded into lawlessness.

Buddha's birthday

Yesterday many Buddhists around the world celebrated the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. Andybear, a LEGO builder from Hong Kong, made this mosaic (via the Brothers-Brick).

Buddha

I'm not sure who made this Buddha picture - I think it's by Brickstagram, but they also post pictures by other people on their blog without attribution, so it may be by someone else.

Hwang Ryong Sa

During the sixth century, the kingdom of Silla (covering much of the Korean peninsula) began to adopt Buddhism, which was imported from China. King Jinheung commissioned a new temple in the city of Gyeongju. He had originally intended the site for a palace, but his plans changed when a dragon was seen landing at the site. The temple Hwang Ryong Sa, which translates as 'Golden Dragon Temple' or 'Imperial Dragon Temple', became the center for the newly state-sponsored religion of Buddhism. The nine story pagoda was built about a century later than the rest of the complex. During the thirteenth century the temple was destroyed by Mongolian invaders, but here OliveSeon constructs a LEGO version as it would appear today if it were still standing.

Dambulla Cave Temple

The Dambulla Cave Temple, or Golden Temple of Dambulla, is a network of caves in a huge rock that towers above the surrounding area of Sri Lanka. The five caves have been a holy site for over two thousand years, and include many statues of the Buddha, including a reclining Buddha over 15 meters long, as well as a couple of statues of Hindu deities. Jackie Britton made this LEGO rendition.

Tiny little ecumenical town

Jennifer Heaton and Nathan Stohlmann recently put on a micropolis display at a local library. The reason to note it here is that they included several religious structures. My favorite is Jennifer's Hindu temple, with the riot of color reflective of many real temples, but we also see a mosque, a Buddhist temple, a traditional cathedral, and a synagogue. Thanks, Peter, for the tip, and for the correction.

Chinese New Year

I know, this is a week late. I've been busy, and also this past week has been pretty full of things to note here, with the news about the Pope and then a series of holidays with more or less connection to religious themes. A week ago yesterday was Chinese New Year, and first I need to note that this is not a religious holiday. Instead it is a cultural holiday, but Buddhist, Taoist and folk religious traditions have been tied in to this day over the years. For instance, household altars are cleaned and redecorated for the new year. Taoists will burn an effigy of the kitchen god so that he can go to the Jade Emperor to report on the family in the previous year. Buddhists will refrain from eating meat on certain days around this celebration. The Chinese zodiac is a fold tradition, but also gets tied to religious stories, for instance with Buddha picking the twelve animals. This year is the year of the snake, and LEGO celebrated by producing a limited release an official set. This set seems to be only available in Asia.

Pop-up Tōdai-ji

You may recall the amazing pop-up Kinkaku-ji I posted a couple of year. Well, the builder Talpaz has done it again, with a Pop-up Tōdai-ji. The temple complex has existed in Nara, Japan since the eighth century, housing the world's largest bronze Buddha, or Daibutsu. The current Great Buddha Hall was rebuilt in 1709 after the earlier structure was damaged by fire.