July 2013

THE BINDI

Today, from our luxurious 5* Hotel Asia Gardens in Spain; we want you to know a bit more about the Indian culture. We are going to tell you about the bindi, a decorative element that has a great meaning, religious and esthetical.

The word bindi comes from the Sanskrit “bindu”, which means “drop, little particle or point”. Usually, the bindi is a little red point placed in the centre of the forehead between the eyebrows, although it is becoming more usual to wear a little jewellery piece.

According to religion and tradition, the bindi is the chakra or third eye, which is considered “an energy point that helps find inner peace through meditation”. They say that God gives us two eyes to see the physical world and the chakra to see the spiritual one. The bindi keeps the energy and improves the concentration.

Another theory says that the bindi is the symbol from the Goddess Pavarti that provides feminine energy and protects the woman who wears it and her husband.

But the bindi’s tradition has much more history than that. In the past, when a couple got married, the groom would dip his finger in his own blood and paint with it a point on his wife’s forehead and a line on her head root, so that everyone would know she was married. After some time, blood has been left aside and they started using paint and decorative elements.

The wise Hindu men claim that the red lead powder sindhoo and the spearmint plaster have refreshing properties. By being between the eyebrows, that zone relaxes and the mind calms down.

Depending on the religion they belong to, the bindi can have different forms. The ones that believe in God Vishnu apply the bindi in a yellow, red or saffron U-form. On the other hand, the ones that believe in Shiva paint three horizontal lines with ash.

The bindi is a very important element for Indian brides. Every bride should wear the classical red bindi, but depending on where they live, they can put more red and white points around the original one. The Maharastrian brides usually wear bindis like quarter moon.

Every day, more single Indian women use the bindi as a decorative element. They come in lots of colours, forms and with inlaid precious gems, so that they match their sarees.

BUDDHA

“Peace comes from inside, don’t look for it outside”

Today, from our blog at Asian Gardens 5 star luxury hotel in Spain, we are going to tell you about one of the most important symbols of the Asian culture: Buddha.

The word Buddha comes from the Sanskrit and means intelligent or enlightened.

This word derives from the verb budh, which means “waking up, realizing, understanding”. Therefore, Buddhism brings together the ones that have woken up.

The founder of this religion is commonly known as Buddha, although his real name was Siddhartha Gautama. There isn’t an exact record of when he was born or when he died, but the approximate data sets him between 563 B.C. till 483 B.C., so he lived for 80 years.

“Do not stop in the past; do not dream of the future, focus the mind on the present”.

The original name of Buddha, Siddhartha, means “the perfect goal” or “the goal of the perfect ones”.

His father, who was King then, kept him far away from the real life during the 29 first years of Buddha’s life. When he finally made it out of the palace, he saw the elderly, sickness and death, and realised that that was his destiny, too.

Buddha wanted to live a happy life knowing what was ahead of him and decided to adopt the monk’s life. Buddha left his family, shaved his head and put on an orange costume in order to sit down and meditate.

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“The one that has plenty isn’t richer, but the one that needs less”.

After some time meditating, he woke up as a Buddha, enlightened and knowing much more about freeing. He then began to talk about nirvana and ended up founding what in the East is known as Buddha-Dharma, here called Buddhism.

Buddhism consists of a spiritual search. After Buddha, enlightenment can be achieved after reincarnation. Buddhism also teaches about self-fulfilment and about “a liberating union with divinity/nirvana”.

There are two very well known terms that come from Buddhism: karma and obon. “Our good and bad actions follow us like shadows”. This is how Buddha defines karma, an energy that can’t be seen or measured which derives from people’s actions. Hence, everything we did in past lives has consequences in the next ones.

On the other hand, the obon is a Buddhist tradition that honours the dead and prays for their spiritual rest. They put little paper lights on boats on a river to guide the spirits back.

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“Take care of the outside as much as of the inside, because they are all one” 

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The Buddhist philosophy is very relevant in today’s world, just like in Asia Gardens 5 star luxury hotel in Spain. We invite you to discover it with us and let yourself get carried away with the peace that surrounds us.

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“Wealth consists much more in pleasure than in possession”.

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JAPANESE TRADITIONAL DANCES

At Asia Gardens, we always invite you to know more about the Asian culture. Today, we would like to talk about the traditional Japanese dances, which have been practiced for more than 300 years.

The origins of these dances go back to the ceremonial dances that were presented for the Court, the ones danced in popular parties and the Ennen, which come from the Buddhism. Besides, the Japanese theatre Kabuki is very connected to these dances, because both of them forget about the shallow things in life and follow the Buddhist philosophy of “bringing the soul closer to heaven”.

The Japanese traditional dances consist of slow moves from dancers that keep steady and solid on the ground, taking very short steps on bending knees.

How the dancers move their heads also plays a big role, because this way, they transmit the energy and the expression of the Japanese spirit. The audience sees the dancers moving really slowly, but these moves require a great discipline in order to be able to do some unique postures.

There are three different oriental dancing styles that depend on the kind of moves the dancers make. There is the Mai, where they make slow and majestic moves; the Odori, a very fast and joyful dance, and the Shosa, where the dancers express their feelings and emotions.

As we already told you some weeks ago (https://asiagardens.es/blog/blog/2013/04/05/the-traditional-kimono/?lang=en), the kimono is the traditional costume in Japan, and of course, they wear it for these dances. Depending on how old the dancer is, where he/she is dancing and what time of the year it is, the dancer wears a type of kimono that suits these elements. For example, if it is spring, the kimono is pink, in autumn, it is brown, etc. Where they are dancing also influences the way they dress: if the show is outdoors, the dancers wear wood sandals, but if the show is indoors, they wear tabi socks.

Regarding the make-up and hairdos of the dancers, the Japanese are very traditional: they paint their faces with white powder and highlight brows, eyes and lips, so that their skin looks like porcelain. On top of it, they wear Japanese medieval wigs called katsura that are usually short and black (http://www.telva.com/albumes/2013/04/26/mono_japo_peinado_moda_celebrities_pasarela/, http://japonismo.com/blog/el-maquillaje-de-maikos-y-geishas ).

The main element in the traditional Japanese dances is the fan, called osensu. The dancers use it to represent different objects, such as swords, trees, or even meteorological situations like snow or wind. But they also use sunshades or cherry tree branch.

The most famous Japanese dancing festival is the Awa Odori, which has been taking place in the city of Tokushima during summer for 400 years and brings together almost 100.000 dancers from all around the country.

Just as in the Japanese traditional dances, at Asia Gardens 5 star luxury hotel in Spain we are also searching for peace and tranquillity of our souls.

We are waiting for you.

ASIAN BAMBOO

Today, from our 5-star luxury resort in the Mediterranean, we would like to tell you about a true gift of nature, bamboo. Its properties and benefits are limitless, and we are about to tell you about some of them….

The bamboo plant (Bambusa arundinacea) is a cane (gramineae).

Its name comes from India and there are 1300 different types, some species are more woody and herbaceous.

This plant is mainly found in tropical and subtropical climates, although sometimes it can live in areas where the temperatures are lower than 25Cº. This is why it can also be found in the wild, in the coldest areas of China.

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth. Some types of bamboo are even 30 metres tall in two months, and 20 centimetres wide.

Would you like to know some more about this fantastic plant?

Bamboo has been used ever since the beginning of human life. It is extremely resistant and very light, so much so that in the East it has even been used to build bridges.

It is applied in more and more different ways every time, from manufacturing furniture, resin, vegetal carbon, paper and textile fibre, to making baskets and many other objects.

It also helps avoid desertification, as its roots prevent the rain from taking the earth away.

This plant is a true wonder with numerous healthy and culinary properties.

Did you know that?

This plant feeds humans as well as animals. Soft bamboo shoots have become quite popular in Chinese restaurants due to their filling quality. It is also a basic part of the diet of Panda bears and Asian bears.

The bamboo plant symbolises serenity, longevity, peace, humbleness, perseverance, determination and elegance. It therefore represents good omens. Its straight stem symbolises the determination of meditation, and the hollowness inside makes reference to open spirits.

In our luxury hotel & Thai Spa Asia Gardens, we are fond of the aesthetic and symbolic properties of the bamboo plant, and our hotel would not be complete if we did not offer this side of Asia by displaying different types of bamboo around our tropical gardens.

Come to our Asian corner in the Mediterranean, there is nothing Asian we do not have here.

We look forward to seeing you

ASIAN LUXURY

The East sets the pace, and today we are going to tell you a little bit more about the rise of the Asian continent and its upper and middle classes.

When China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO), this marked a crucial moment in its fast take off on the way to conquer world economic hegemony.

Currently, the Asian giant is the largest luxury consumer in the planet, even larger than Japan, the US and Europe. Market studies carried out by prestigious labels predict that in just three years, 45% of luxury consumption shall be in the hands of the Chinese… this is the reason why the top managers of companies such as Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Chanel, L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, Mercedes Benz and BMW, among others, already know what it takes to get a spot in the highly-valued Nanjing Road in Shanghai, the busiest shopping street in the world.

The latest report by the World Luxury Association foresees that designs are going to change and adapt to Asian consumers, tailor made for the Asian market, as Asian people have smaller feet with broader insteps and ankles.

The beauty standards established are also being taken over by the Asian giant, the model Liu Wen emerged from Peking to first-class catwalks in 2008, guided by Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld.  In 2010, she became the first Eastern woman to take part in the famous Victoria’s Secret fashion show and she also became one of the faces of Estée Lauder known worldwide. “Liu Wen is a contemporary beauty”. Things are looking up for China.

There is no turning back. The next queues to enrol in language courses will no longer be to enrol in English but in Chinese.

On the other hand, South East Asia is another one of the region’s leading the growth of luxury in the continent. Singapore keeps on being a local icon in premium markets, placed within the ten top luxury destinations to visit in the world. We must also add the increasing familiarisation with luxury of Malayan and Indonesian consumers, who are becoming more and more acquainted with this type of market.

Would you like to join the fashion of Asian luxury?

We are right in the centre of Costa Blanca, very near you, and we have true luxury to offer you, wonderful tropical gardens, large cascades, seven exuberant pools, exquisite Eastern cuisine and all sorts of commodities at your reach.

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Come to our dream paradise, a true Eastern delight.

We look forward to seeing you.

THE FACES OF ANGKOR AT THE ASIA GARDENS

 

At our fantastic 5-star luxury hotel, we would like you to feel as if you were in Asia and that is why we have brought straight from there a 4-metre-long and 9-metre-wide duplicate of the faces of Angkor .… one of the most emblematic images of the Asia Gardens Hotel.

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The main pool, in our swimming pool area, is the Faces of Angkor pool, which will remind you of the most traditional Cambodian architecture. You cannot miss out on it; it is heated all year round to help you enjoy it whenever you feel like it.

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Do you know where these famous faces come from?

The smiling faces of Angkor can be found near de Cambodian city of Siem Reap, in the Bayon temple. The enigmatic Bayon is located in the centre of Angkor Thom, one of the largest cities in the world in the 12th Century.

Many Eastern legends are based on Angkor, as it once was a great empire and one of the most glorious civilizations in Asia.  Even nowadays, its ruins are regarded as some of the top architectural sites of all times.

This is a unique monument in the world which does not only represent a transition period between Hinduism and Buddhism, but it also consists of bas-reliefs which illustrate everyday life scenes in mythology of the Khmer (or Jemer) civilization.

The magnificent face towers of this site are considered UNESCO humanity heritage. There are approximately 54 towers with smiling faces which face the four compass points, and none of them show the same facial expression.

Who do you think these sculptures depict?

Some historians say they depict King Jayavarman VII, others think that they represent an enlightened being (Boddhisatva), some even think that a combination of both hypothesis is possible, stating that the monarch wanted to reinforce his divine condition.

At the Asia Gardens, 5-star luxury hotel, we would like you to come and see our copy of this Asian wonder at one of our pools, and also to learn about its tradition and fascinating history.

We look forward to seeing you…

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