Luther's Rose

Legozilla made this mosaic of Martin Luther's seal. The cross in a heart symbolizes Christ's sacrifice and a belief in this 'from the heart'. The white rose symbolizes joy, comfort and peace. The blue field is for a heavenly future surrounded by a golden ring symbolizing eternity.

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?

You put the lime in the coke, you nut

In ancient times, the chewing of coca leaves was part of certain religious ceremonies in different cultures in the Andes of South America. The stimulant properties of the leaves are enhanced by adding a little bit of quicklime, as this helps neutralize stomach acid and increase the absorption of the alkaloids into the bloodstream. This lime was kept in ceremonial vessels known as poporos. Pablo Ramirez built this rendition of the Poporo Quimbaya, a gold artifact of the Quimbaya civilization dated to about 1700 years ago. This container has become somewhat of a symbol of pre-Columbian culture in Columbia, and appears on some of their currency.



*While the practice of chewing coca leaves was restricted to upper classes in certain ceremonial uses in earlier times, in recent centuries it has become very common in some Andean regions. This has become a source of contention, as the US and international organizations wanting to stop the production of cocaine have come up against poor farmers who defend the production and chewing of the leaves (with a small amount of lime) as an indigenous practice. I've read conflicting reports from people on both sides of this, with some referring to the practice as essentially a low grade cocaine addiction, and others saying it is a folk remedy for altitude sickness and less of a kick than a cup of coffee.

**BTW, despite my title, the mineral lime used in the chewing of coca leaves has no relation to the citrus fruit lime. The word for the mineral comes from the Old English lim, which refers to a sticky substance, as lime was used in making mortar. The word for the fruit comes from the Arabic limah, referring to a citrus fruit. It's ironic that these two different meanings ended up with the same word in modern English, since the mineral is basic and the fruit is acidic. On the other hand, coca leaves are used in the production of Coca Cola, though ever since 1904 the leaves have first been processed to remove any cocaine.

Pura Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot means 'Land in the Sea' - this rocky outcrop on the coast of Bali is cut off from the main land at high tide, and accessible by foot at low tide. During the 15th century, the traveling Hindu priest Nirartha rested at this spot, and was inspired by the beautiful location to found a shrine to worship the local sea gods. This recreation of Pura Tanah Lot is found in Legoland Malaysia.

Deir el Bahari

I've previously described, Deir el Bahari, a temple dedicated to the Pharoah Hatshepsut, honored as a god after her death. FifthPixel built this great rendition of this Egyptian site, illustrated here as if it were an official Architecture set.

Eid al-Fitr

I missed posting that a couple of days ago was Eid al-Fitr, holiday marking the end of Ramadan. A traditional greeting on this day is "Eid Mubarak", which translates as "Blessed feast". Last year Zam and Nadia wished their families and friends "Eid Mubarak" (which translates as "Blessed Feast") with this greeting card.

Hagia Sophia

Pablo Ramirez brought this version of the Hagia Sophia to the recent BrickFair gathering.

Roskilde Adventist Church

Lasse Vestergård and Anne Mette Vestergård built this great rendition of the Adventist Church in Roskilde, Denmark, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

Lift up Thine Eyes

Paul Romano built a rendition of the Rockwell painting Lift up Thine Eyes .

Machu Picchu

The Incan city of Machu Picchu (here from the Piece of Peace exhibit) isn't completely understood, but many feel that it was a sacred place, that the buildings were used to trace astronomical events in relation to religious rituals.

Buddha

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

Sagrada Familia

Lluisgib made this rendition of Sagrada Familia.

Imagine a Bible Story

Kristi McWii invites you to Imagine a Bible Story.

Christ Church, Malacca

Christ Church (here in LEGO by BricksBen) in Malacca is the oldest functioning Protestant church in Malaysia. The church was built in 1753 as a Dutch Reformed Church and was later reconsecrated in 1838 for an Anglican congregation.

Lantern Festival

This is a LEGO take on the Taiwan tourism agency's logo for the Lantern Festival. This is a Chinese festival during February (on the first full moon of the lunar year, to be precise) that is now more cultural, but may have religious origins. This celebration, which has gone on for over a thousand years, involves colorful lanterns, including sky lanterns, traditional foods, and also fireworks. There are various legends about the origin of the festival, and some of them involve folk religion. In one legend, the festival started out as a sacrifice to Taiyi, the God of Heaven. Another story says that the festival was to entertain the Taoist god Tianguan and pray for good fortune in the new year. Still another had the festival start when villagers lit red lanterns and set off fireworks to trick the Jade Emperor in heaven into believing that the village was in flames, so that he would not destroy them for killing his sacred crane. Other non-religious origin stories involve commemorating a heroic warrior and a girl who was reunited with her parents when they came to watch the flying lanterns (hmm, Tangled anyone?).

Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-MichelMont Saint-Michel (here in the Piece of Peace exhibit) is a fortified tidal island just off the coast of France between Brittany and Normandy. It has been the site of a monastery since the eighth century; the abbey on the summit was built between the tenth and sixteenth centuries.

Catedral Metropolitana Nossa Senhora Aparecida

More simply known as the Cathedral of Brasilia, this Roman Catholic cathedral was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and completed in 1970 in Brasilia. It is dedicated to 'Our Lady of Conception who Appeared.' This LEGO rendition is from the Piece of Peace exhibit.

Nikkō Tōshō-gū

Here is the Nikkō Tōshō-gū from the Piece of Peace exhibition. This is a Shinto shrine in Nikkō, Japan, dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, whose remains are entombed there.

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Here's another creation from the Piece of Peace exhibit, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque from Istanbul, also called the Blue Mosque. The mosque was built between 1609 and 1616 and continues as an active mosque today.

Ramadan

Last night was the start of Ramadan, the month in which Muslims celebrate the revelation of the Quran to Muhammad. The main practices during this time are fasting during the daytime and an emphasis on prayer and reading the Quran. To note the day, here is Mecca by Mezba Mahtab. Let us hope that this month we see peace return to Egypt and Syria.