Grave sites
So, it was the 28th of May on Sunday. Mayis kssanout! The day that the Armenian Nation, after hundreds of years of living under the tyrannical yoke of foreign powers... weelll, we kinda did invite the Russians in, but that's another story... FINALLY took matters into their own hands and declared themselves a SOVEREIGN people, willing and able to determine their own... weeeelll, quite frankly, there was this whole Trans-Caucasian Federation thing, the Sejm in Tbilisi, and the Georgians pulled out (with German support), and the Azeris pulled out (with Ottoman support) and we were... umm... "mechdeghe mnatsink", kind of stranded... :-D
History's funny. But don't let's dwell on it.
Back to the present, on Sunday, I took part in a little ceremony at the grave of Aram Manoukyan. He was a great leader, not just for the Tashnagtsoutiun, but for the Armenians and the Armenia at the time, which was really on the brink of destruction, no doubt about it. HOW we survived the late 1910s and early 1920s, the Lord alone knows, and that is TRULY a miracle, something to be proud about. Survive we did, and it was indeed in part thanks to some great leaders, such as Aram Manoukyan. He has a little grave, and there were just a handful of people honouring and remembering him that day. Maybe that will change in future.
It was an interesting excursion, but the major interesting bit for me was being in that graveyard. This is "Yerevani getronagan kerezmanadoun", near the "Tokhmakh" lake, in the Erebuni district. Oh my God, such graves, such tombstones, entire mausoleums...! I mean, the effort, time and money put into not just carving the pictures of the deceased onto marble slabs, but - this is not an exaggeration - whole life-size statues of the dead...! To say nothing of gorgeous khachkars, beautiful angels, even abstract designs... I mean, I'm all upset that we lost Hin Jugha and its khachkars. I'm glad Noraduz is still in Armenian territory, but the "Tokhmakh" graveyard might actually come in third...
Apparently, it pays to be dead. Well, they pay a lot for the dead, at any rate...
Onto more happier, livelier thoughts.
A new website was launched a couple of weeks ago. Based in Montréal, MediaScrape (www.mediascrape.com) takes local news stories from around the world, in video, and shows them with English sub-titles. It's all free, but you have to provide some personal information when registering, which will tailor advertisements suited to you. Right now, besides a few major news agencies, MediaScrape has local partners in Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and, yes, Armenia, from where they show stuff from "Yerkir Media". Please do check it out. And tell your friends.
Wish you all faaaar away funerals and a sight at the website. ;-)
History's funny. But don't let's dwell on it.
Back to the present, on Sunday, I took part in a little ceremony at the grave of Aram Manoukyan. He was a great leader, not just for the Tashnagtsoutiun, but for the Armenians and the Armenia at the time, which was really on the brink of destruction, no doubt about it. HOW we survived the late 1910s and early 1920s, the Lord alone knows, and that is TRULY a miracle, something to be proud about. Survive we did, and it was indeed in part thanks to some great leaders, such as Aram Manoukyan. He has a little grave, and there were just a handful of people honouring and remembering him that day. Maybe that will change in future.
It was an interesting excursion, but the major interesting bit for me was being in that graveyard. This is "Yerevani getronagan kerezmanadoun", near the "Tokhmakh" lake, in the Erebuni district. Oh my God, such graves, such tombstones, entire mausoleums...! I mean, the effort, time and money put into not just carving the pictures of the deceased onto marble slabs, but - this is not an exaggeration - whole life-size statues of the dead...! To say nothing of gorgeous khachkars, beautiful angels, even abstract designs... I mean, I'm all upset that we lost Hin Jugha and its khachkars. I'm glad Noraduz is still in Armenian territory, but the "Tokhmakh" graveyard might actually come in third...
Apparently, it pays to be dead. Well, they pay a lot for the dead, at any rate...
Onto more happier, livelier thoughts.
A new website was launched a couple of weeks ago. Based in Montréal, MediaScrape (www.mediascrape.com) takes local news stories from around the world, in video, and shows them with English sub-titles. It's all free, but you have to provide some personal information when registering, which will tailor advertisements suited to you. Right now, besides a few major news agencies, MediaScrape has local partners in Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and, yes, Armenia, from where they show stuff from "Yerkir Media". Please do check it out. And tell your friends.
Wish you all faaaar away funerals and a sight at the website. ;-)
posted by Nareg at 8:38 AM
1 Comments:
I found Aram Manoogian's grave so inspiring. It seems hidden and so humble compared to it's surroundings. For someone who played such an integral part in our history I'm surprised his grave hasn't been moved or exaggerated.... I find the humility refreshing. (Wonder if it was due to Soviet presence that it ended up being where and the way it is)
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