The Language of Dance: India

Did You Know? During the 19th century, Indian dance was suppressed in Victorian-era, colonized India. With independence in the mid-20th century, came a revival of the tradition in classical and new age form. Read more about Indian dance here, and explore more of India here. 

Zen Den Friday

Community Voices: Sunsets from your backyard

Hi! greetings from India!
Attached is a beautiful sunset picture taken from the balcony of my room at Colombo swimming club, Sri Lanka - Mohamed

Thanks Mohamed! Catch a little zen and a live sunset on one of our live cams tonight: Santa Monica, Tahoe or Turtle Bay West in Hawaii. 

When I bought my farm,
I did not know what a bargain I had
in the bluebirds, daffodils and thrushes;
as little did I know what sublime mornings and sunsets I was buying.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Cat Fact Wednesday

Tigers are one of the main animals included in the list of “Big Cats” (usually tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards, cougars, cheetahs, snow leopards, clouded leopards, bobcats, mountain lions, ocelots and lynx). 

Here are some fantastic Big Cat Facts from NatGeo:

• The cheetah is the world’s fastest land mammal. It can run at speeds of up to 70 miles an hour (113 kilometers an hour).
• An adult lion’s roar can be heard up to five miles (eight kilometers) away.
• Long, muscular hind legs enable snow leopards to leap seven times their own body length in a single bound.
• A tiger’s stripes are like fingerprints—no two animals have the same pattern.
• The strongest climber among the big cats, a leopard can carry prey twice its weight up a tree.
• The Amur leopard is one of the most endangered animals in the world.
• In one stride, a cheetah can cover 23 to 26 feet (7 to 8 meters).
• The name “jaguar” comes from a Native American word meaning “he who kills with one leap.”
• In the wild, lions live for an average of 12 years and up to 16 years. They live up to 25 years in captivity.
• The mountain lion and the cheetah share an ancestor.
• Cheetahs do not roar, as the other big cats do. Instead, they purr.
• Tigers are excellent swimmers and do not avoid water.
• A female Amur leopard gives birth to one to four cubs in each litter.
• Fossil records from two million years ago show evidence of jaguars.
• Lions are the only cats that live in groups, called prides. Every female within the pride is usually related.
• The leopard is the most widespread of all big cats.
• Mountain lions are strong jumpers, thanks to muscular hind legs that are longer than their front legs.
• Tigers have been hunted for their skin, bones, and other body parts, used in traditional Chinese medicine.
• Unlike other cats, lions have a tuft of hair at the end of their tails.
• After humans, mountain lions have the largest range of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere.

African vs. Asian Elephants

You can tell by height, weight, wrinkles and ears! 

• The African elephant is significantly larger, with bulls growing up to 13 ft tall. The biggest Asian males reach no more than 11m 
• Adult Asian males weigh between 6,600-13,000lbs. The smallest African elephant weighs more than the largest Asian elephants and they can get up to 16,500lbs.  
• African elephants have more wrinkles than Asian elephants.
• It is said that you can tell where an elephant comes from by looking at the size of his ears. African ears are like a map of Africa and Asian ears smaller like the shape of India. African ears are much bigger and reach up and over the neck. (Read more.)

Explore Asian elephants in India.

Take the spice route and disappear into India this Sunday. 

Holy Cow

Since the religion first evolved near Asia’s Indus River more than 3,000 years ago, respect for animal life has been a central theme in Hindu life… “If someone were to ask me what the most important outward manifestation of Hinduism was, I would suggest that it was the idea of cow protection,” Mahatma Gandhi, India’s legendary nonviolent leader, once wrote.

Explore more photos of India and read more at PBS.com.