The haka is a ceremonial Māori dance of welcome, celebration and mourning, not a war dance

world cultures & travelWikipedia

The haka is a ceremonial Māori dance of welcome, celebration and mourning, not a war dance

the gist

The haka is a group performance art from Māori and wider Polynesian culture, made of vigorous movements, foot stamping and rhythmic shouting. Traditionally, men and women both performed it to welcome distinguished guests, to honour great achievements and at funerals. In New Zealand, kapa haka groups are common in schools, and the Te Matatini competition for Māori performing arts takes place every two years. The dance became famous worldwide through the All Blacks, whose pre-match haka dates to the 1880s. Its popular image as a battle dance is one that Māori scholars consider a misconception.

so what

The haka shows how a living tradition can travel far beyond its home without losing its meaning, though the wider world often sees only the sporting version. Understanding its purposes, from welcome to mourning, changes how people read it when they see it before a rugby match. It is one of the most widely recognised Indigenous performance arts on Earth.

fun fact

The first recorded performance of a group haka outside New Zealand took place in Sydney in 1884, during a rugby tour.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗