Tiwanaku

                                                                       Tiwanaku, Bolivia
                                                                             June 2014
 
Most of the tourists to Peru, visit the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Cusco, the symbols of the great Inca culture. Just to the south of Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia,  there is an equally important archaeological site at Tiwanaku. Before the Incas, the Tiwanaku empire had dominated Peru, Bolivia and parts of northern Chile.  While the Incas are world famous, the fact that the Tiwanaku civilization had a significant influence on the Incas is not well known. In fact, it is believed that the Incas adopted lot of elements from the Tiwanaku mythology and construction methods in to their own. The Tiwanaku culture never developed a written language and it is a mystery why they perished. Tiwanaku is a UNESCO World Heritage site.   

Somehow, this welcome arch of Tiwanaku town reminded me of the numerous welcome arches I am used to, in India :)

A stone monolith (aka Stela) in the Tiwanaku museum. This statue is called the "Bennet Monolith", named after Wendell C. Bennet who found it in 1932 at the Tiwanaku archaeological site. This Stela is 24 feet tall and weighs 20 tons. It is interesting to note that the lower part of the Stela is covered in fish-scales, similar to the "Matsya Avatar" of the Indian God, Vishnu !!!

An architectural model showing the the 3 major attractions at the Tiwanaku archaeological site: 1) The Akapana (stepped pyramid), 2) The Kalasasaya temple complex just north of the Akapana and 3) the subterranean temple to the right of the Kalasasaaya complex.

Akapana Pyramid
The Akapana pyramid is the largest man-made structure at Tiwanaku. It had 7 large platforms with stone retaining walls. As shown in the model, the top platform had a large water reservoir shaped like the Andean cross. One of the explanations is that during the winter solstice, the water reflected the Southern Cross constellation right overhead. The Tiwanaku culture preceded the Incas in following the "As Above, So Below" concept.

After centuries of looting by the Spanish to build churches and by the locals to build houses,
the original retaining walls have been stripped off the stones. This is what is left of the Akapana pyramid. 

Subterranean Temple:

View of the Subterranean temple form the top of Akapana pyramid.

Subterranean temple with 3 statues in the middle.

Archaeologists believe these statues must be representing the Tiwanaku ancestors.

An interesting feature of the subterranean temple is the heads sticking out of the wall.

One of the explanations is, these heads represent the heads of the enemies killed by the the Tiwanaku empire. 
It was a custom of the Tiwanaku culture to display the severed heads of their enemies.

Kalasasaya Temple:
"Kala" means rock and "Saya" means standing up. Kalasasaya is a temple of standing rocks. The two majors highlights of the Kalasasaya temple are the "Ponce Monolith" and the "Sun Gate". It is believed that the Kalasasaya temple was build to track and identify the movement of the Sun and the changing seasons. 

View of the Kalasasaya temple complex from the top of the Akapana pyramid.

Entrance of the Kalasasaya Temple.

The Ponce monolith, believed to be the representation of stone giants
of the first populated the world, according to the Andean mythology.

Intricate carvings of the Ponce monolith.

Sun Gate:
From the time I first read about the Sun Gate at Tiwanaku, i was very keen on visiting it. I thought, the top horizontal portion is the original work and it had been placed on 2 smooth concrete pillars. Our guide, Rodrigo very politely pointed out that the Sun Gate was made of a single stone. 

The Sun Gate.

The central figure is believed to be Lord Viracocha. On either side, a total of 48 "bird-like" characters have been carved, 32 with human heads and 16 with condor heads.
The Sun Gate is facing straight East and is believed to be an astronomical calendar.

The central figure of the Sun Gate, wearing an elaborate head dress is believed to be the Inca God of creation, Viracocha.

"Sun"dar trying to imitate the "Sun" God !!!

View of the Ponce Stela and the Kalasasaya temple from the Subterranean temple.

@Night: Isla Del Sol, Bolivia

                                                                       Isla Del Sol, Bolivia
                                                                             June 2014

Milky Way rising over Lake Titicaca. The yellow light pollution near the horizon is from La Paz, Bolivia.
June 22, 2014; 7:23:48 PM

We spent just 1 day there and this is my 4th post about Isla Del Sol. This is an awesome place for the body, mind and soul.  While arriving there was an adventure, the Sunset was spectacular and the island was beautiful, the night sky was out of this world, literally :)

The large bright object to the right of the tree trunk is the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). 
June 23, 2014; 5:11:08 AM

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is the small blotch to the right and top of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).
Both the LMC and SMC are considered as satellite galaxies to our Milk Way galaxy and are not visible
from Northern hemisphere locations. You can view them from India. 
June 23, 2014; 5:46:06 AM

The southern part of the Milky Way, visible only from the southern hemisphere.
The dark clouds visible in this shot were worshiped by Incas and associated with Inca's mythology.
The 2 bright stars at the center are the Alpha and Beta Centauri, referred to as the "eyes of the Llama" by the Incas.
To their right is the dark cloud called "Coalsack" and to its right is the Southern Cross. 
June 22, 2014; 7:32:07 PM

Early in the morning. Due to the motion of the earth around the Sun, the Milky Way appears to be setting.
As a reference, what ever is towards the top in the first photo is towards the bottom in this photo :) 
June 23, 2014; 4:42:31 AM

Moon over the Sun island. Venus is rising just above the mountain peak. 
June 23, 2014; 4:53:09 AM

Moon, Venus and Pleiades (7 sisters, Krithika) to the left of Venus.
 June 23, 2014; 5:21:40 AM

Moon, Venus, Pleiades and Taurus just rising above the mountain peak. 
June 23, 2014; 5:31:39 AM

Taurus ( the inverted "V" ) is below Venus and above the mountain peaks.
Even with the moon shining, so many stars were visible clear and bright, thanks to the 13,000 feel elevation. 
June 23, 2014; 5:48:49 AM

What a place to enjoy the day time views as well as the night skies !!! Our guide, Rodrigo, showed us the piece of land he had bought in Isla Del Sol. He is planning to build a house and retire here :). Lucky Guy !!!

Exploring Isla Del Sol !!!

                                                                                       Isla Del Sol, Bolivia
                                                                      June 2014

Lobby area of the eco lodge, La Posada Del Inca.

Living up to the designation "eco lodge", the buildings and rooms were decorated with mostly  natural materials.

Blue skies and Blue water. Perfect place to relax and ...

... catch some Sun :)

The most beautiful corner of La Posada Del Inca.
I spent many hours at this corner, to watch the Southern Milky Way, the Sunrise and the serene blue, Lake Titicaca.

With our guide, Rodrigo. Going for a walk around Isla Del Sol.

No paved roads, no cars but yes Internet :)

Church.

The water fountain built by the Incas was believed to be the fountain of youth :)

206 steps leading from the fountain to the lake.

For anyone considering the standard,  "Sacred Valley - Machu Picchu - Cusco" trip, I would absolutely recommend extending the trip around Lake Titicaca and staying overnight at Isla Del Sol, Bolivia. I had never felt so close to nature in any other place I had visited.

My Own Private Hubble !!!

Almost 3 years ago, i had just then bought and assembled my new toy ( link ).  After mostly using it for visual astronomy, now, i have been connecting my camera to the telescope and taking deep sky astro photos. After months of trying and doing lot of mistakes, I can now say that I have started feeling very comfortable with my telescope.

Light Year:
Definitely, i am not going to bug you with complex astronomy terms. But, if you prefer to learn only one thing, it should be the "Light Year".  It is a very funny word. Because it has "year", you may think it denotes "time". Actually, it indicates the distance. It is the distance someone would travel if they travel at the speed of light for an year.
1 Light Year = 6 trillion miles or 10 trillion kilo meters (1 trillion has 12 0s ).

In a very different way, it denotes time also. Through my telescope, when I look at a star or galaxy 2 million light years away, that means light has traveled 2 million years before reaching my telescope and hitting my retina !!! It also means, I am looking at the galaxy how it was 2 million years ago. There is no guarantee it is still there today !!! Basically, I am looking back in time. Mind boggling fact !!! :)

Presenting, photos taken with my own private Hubble.

Open Cluster in the constellation, Perseus.
There are 2 "Open Clusters" in Perseus, known as the Double Cluster. This is one of them.
Clusters are groups of stars that are gravitationally bound to each other.
Distance: 7500 Light Years. f/8, 10 secs, ISO 3200.

Andromeda Galaxy.
The closest neighbor to our own MilkWay galaxy. Astronomers have confirmed that Andromeda and
MilkyWay are rushing towards each other. In about 4 billion years from now, both the galaxies are expected to
merge and become a single galaxy. No clue on what will happen to our Solar System but the merged galaxy
may be called "Milkomeda Galaxy" :)
Distance: 2.5 Million Light Years. f/8, 15 secs, ISO 3200.

The great "Orion Nebula", in the constellation, Orion.
Distance: 1,344 Light Years. f/8, 30 secs, ISO 800.

Globular Cluster, M3 in the constellation, Canes Venatici.
Distance: 33,900 Light Years. f/8, 20 secs, ISO 800.

M 81 Galaxy in the constellation, Ursa Major.
Distance: 11.8 Million Light Years. f/8, 30 secs, ISO 800.

M82 Galaxy (aka Cigar Galaxy) in the constellation, Ursa Major.
From our perspective on earth, we are looking at the this galaxy edge-on, hence the Cigar look.
Distance: 12.4 million Light Years. f/8, 30 secs, ISO 800.

Stars, Mizar and Alcor in the constellation, Ursa Major.
In Indian mythology, the constellation Ursa Major is known as "Subtha Rishi" (seven saints).
Mizar (bigger & brighter in the foto) and Alcor (second brightest) are the saint "Vashishta" and his wife "Arundhathi". 
During Indian weddings, the bride and the groom are asked to look in the direction of these 2 stars and blessed
to be as close as Vashishta and Arundhathi. Astronomers have confirmed that Alcor is a binary
(2 stars) system. I think, the 3rd star is Vashista's second wife ;)
Distance: Mizar - 82.8 Light years, Alcor - 81.7 Ligh Years. f/8, 20 secs, ISO 1600.

With these photos, I am giving myself a grade of C-. I have a long way to go in improving the quality of these photos. I am not worried. I have a lifetime ahead :) I bought my first telescope (no tracking, completely manual) in 2002. In the last 13 years the amateur astronomy hobby has made multiple "giant leaps", thanks to the advances in technology and the innovations of the telescope manufacturers. I took all these photos during a single night (a span of 1.5 hours) on March 7. It was simply not possible for an amateur to do this in 2002. 

Here is my Hubble.

This is my visual setup. Do you see a small "camera like" thingy attached to the top of the telescope? That thingy does an amazing job of aligning the telescope. It moves the telescope to point to 3 different areas of the sky and takes a photo of each area. It knows the time zone i am in and the latitude of San Diego. Practically, it knows what stars should be up there in the San Diego night sky on that day at that time. Based on this information and the location of the stars in the photos it took, it creates a model of the night sky for the telescope. When i select to view the Andromeda Galaxy, the telescope knows where it is in the sky and simply moves the telescope and positions Andromeda at the center of the eyepiece.

Once i am done with the visual observations, i remove the eyepiece and connect my camera to the telescope. The telescope moves on its own and compensates for the earth's rotation, keeping the deep sky object at the center. This allows me to take long exposure shots. My telescope's focal length is 1625 mm.
Another way to look at this is, I have a 1625 mm lens to attach to my camera ;)

Sunset & Sunrise at Sun Island !!!

Isla Del Sol, Bolivia
June 2014

After a nice, freshly cooked lunch at the eco lodge (La Posada Del Inca), we rested a while. Our guide Rodrigo asked us to be ready in the evening to go watch the Sunset from a vantage point. Definitely not willing to miss watching Sunset at Sun Island, we all went for it. It was a 45 minute walk from La Posada Del Inca. 

Some segments are paved with stones like these while most of the roads are mud paths.
We walked through many eating places catering to the tourists.
The villagers were returning from their work with Donkeys/Mules, Llamas carrying the load.

After a long walk, we reached the base of a hill. Rodrigo and I hiked up the hill for another 10 minutes.
It was getting cold and the breathing was difficult due to the altitude. But it was worth all the trouble. :)
The setting Sun cast its golden rays on the snow capped peaks of the Andes.

As the Sun set, the intensity of the light reduced and created a stunning view!

On this evening, there was a wall of clouds at the horizon and I couldn't see the Sun but
the Sun made its presence in may colorful ways !!!

Having missed the Sun during the Sunset, I got up very early the next day and watched the Sun rising over lake Titicaca !