[HN Gopher] Vietnam's ancient whale temples
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       Vietnam's ancient whale temples
        
       Author : Petiver
       Score  : 86 points
       Date   : 2022-09-20 04:48 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.atlasobscura.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.atlasobscura.com)
        
       | latchkey wrote:
       | I spent two years driving a motorbike all over Vietnam. Totally
       | missed this goodness! Will definitely have to check it out when I
       | go back again.
        
       | brutusborn wrote:
       | I usually dislike the gonzo writing style at the start, but I
       | think it fits well with Ancient temples, it's a good way to
       | describe visiting them.
        
         | daniel-cussen wrote:
         | Most accounts of religion are kind of sterile. Like want to
         | dissect it.
        
       | enviclash wrote:
       | I wonder what an algorithm like DALL.E would come up with if
       | given a caption about a whale temple. I doubt it would be more
       | beautiful than some of the pictures in this article. The reason
       | is the lack of general reference to other cases, because there is
       | none or they are very infrequent.
        
         | jerf wrote:
         | Why wonder? https://www.craiyon.com/
         | 
         | At least on my pass, that is definitely two concepts that
         | Craiyon does not think go together at all. YMMV.
        
           | bergenty wrote:
           | Well that's craiyon, what does DALLE do with it though
        
       | webdoodle wrote:
       | Several South East Asian cultures also create temples on the spot
       | a meteorite impacts. I visited one in Thailand that even had the
       | iron meteorites on display that impacted. The visitors to the
       | temple would put money and incense on the meteorites, and then
       | touch it and ask for good favor.
        
       | scop wrote:
       | I read Moby Dick two years ago and that book literally shook me
       | to the core. Since then, I cannot help but see any whale
       | reference as imbued with great philosophical and metaphysical
       | meaning. However one of the most interesting aspects of the novel
       | was that even as the White Whale took on mythological
       | proportions, the descriptions of whaling and of whales were
       | discussed in precise, scientific terms. Melville kept everything
       | grounded, even as he reached for the heights.
       | 
       | I like that this team of scientists is, in a way, doing the same
       | blending (rigorous science + religious belief).
        
         | mistrial9 wrote:
         | but the whaling ship of Captain Ahab is an anti-temple.. the
         | book as I recall it, is a journey through pain, danger and
         | injustice.. building to the journey of dealing with the mental
         | decline of pure authority. It is a psychological tale, but not
         | with anything Divine in it all .. (I read it a long while ago)
        
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       (page generated 2022-09-21 23:01 UTC)