Saturday, October 3, 2015

Hajj 2015: Millions gather in Mecca to worship, in stunning photos









Every Muslim with the means to do so must travel to Mecca at least once during their lifetime.

Although Muslims are welcome to travel to the Saudi city at any time during the year, the official pilgrimage, or Hajj, occurs over a five-day period from the ninth through the 13th of the 12th month of the Muslim lunar calendar. This year, it takes place between from Sept. 22 to 26, and over 3 million people are expected to make the journey.

(Reuters/Ahmad Masood)

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Reuters/Ahmad Masood(Reuters/Ahmad Masood)
Much has changed since the Prophet Mohammed led the first Hajj in 630 AD.


The tradition, once fraught with danger along the road to Mecca, is now plagued by deaths closer to holy sites as millions of pilgrims attempt to worship at the same place at once. In 1990, 1,426 people were crushed when a tunnel connecting to worship sites collapsed. This morning, over 700 people were killed in a stampede in the nearby city of Mina.

By Day Its a Unique Sculpture While At Night It Comes Alive












Meet Przemek Krawczynski from Lodz, Poland. He started creating gourd lamps back in 2009 when he discovered the gourd fruit, the first lamp he ever made was for his own room and from that point on it became his passion. Przemek was a building engineering student and worked in an architectural studio, but in 2010 he decided to quit school and job and devote all of his time to his passion!
Floor lamp I - Florescence - D1 (1)
Most of his lamps are made out of the raw material called calabashes that can be found in Senegal, Africa. Przemek is a self-taught artist and he aims for constant progress in his skills and creativity and he says ” Self-fulfillment and satisfaction from my work are more important for me than the number of lamps I can create within a certain time span ” Creating one lamp can take between 2 -4 months and in some lamps each hole has been designed and marked before the work actually started. Every lamp is unique, you won’t find two that are the same, the artist never repeats his patterns on his lamps and he draws his inspiration from geometry, complex and complicated patterns.
Floor lamp I - Florescence - D2 (1)
” By day my lamp is a unique sculpture while at night it comes alive by the light seeping through intricate carved wood and passing through thousands of holes. Flowing shadow fills the space and casts the patterns on the surrounding walls, making it possible to enjoy the light not only in just pragmatic terms” Please visit these social links for more info and work: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr
Floor lamp I - Florescence - D3 (1)
Floor lamp I - Florescence - N1 (1)
Floor lamp I - Florescence - N2 (1)
Floor lamp II - Affirma - D1 (1)
Floor lamp II - Affirma - N1 (1)
Table lamp XII - N1 (1)
Table lamp XII - N2 (1)
Table lamp XIV Globe II - D1 (1)
Table lamp XIV Globe II - N1 (1)
Table lamp XVI - N1 (1)
Table lamp XVII - D1 (1)
Table lamp XVII - N1 (1)
Table lamp XVIII - N1 (1)
Table lamp XX Butterfly - D1 (1)
Table lamp XX Butterfly - D2 (1)
Table lamp XX Butterfly - N1 (1)
Table lamp XX Butterfly - N2 (1)
Table lamp XXI Questa - D1 (1)
Table lamp XXI Questa - D2 (1)
Table lamp XXI Questa - N1 (1)
Table lamp XXI Questa - N2 (1)
Table lamp XXII Rivia - D1 (1)
Table lamp XXII Rivia - N1 (1)
Table lamp XXII Rivia - N3 (1)
Wall lamp VII - N1 (1)