Showing posts with label Honolulu History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Honolulu History. Show all posts

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Happened In Thomas Square

A  L  O  H  A !

"In February 1843 British Lord George Paulet on HMS Carysfort seized and occupied the Kingdom of Hawaii.

On July 26 Admiral Richard Darton Thomas sailed into Honolulu harbor on his flagship HMS Dublin. He became Local Representative of the British Commission by out-ranking Paulet. His intention was to end the occupation." 










"On July 31, he held the Hawaiian flag in his hands as he officially transferred the islands back to King Kamehameha III who said the words Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono in a speech during a ceremony to mark his restoration. Roughly translated from the Hawaiian language it means "The sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness" and has become the state motto of Hawaii, incorporated into the Seal of Hawaii." 










"The British flag set was pulled down and the Hawaiian flag was raised, followed by a series of 21 gun salutes from the Fort, the British ships Carysfort, Dublin, Hazzard, the American ship Constellation, and lastly by guns at the park."









"Kamehameha III later named the place where the ceremony was held in Downtown Honolulu "Thomas Square" in Admiral Thomas's honor and dedicated it as a public park."








Mahalo For Visiting
Honolulu Today!
         Warmly, cloudia






Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Hawaii's Royal Palace

A  L  O  H  A !
IOLANI  PALACE, Honolulu
Named for the soaring Hawaiian Hawk [Io] 
of Heaven [Lani]

My friend kindly stopped at the palace.
No way I could be in Honolulu
without paying my respects
to those whose guest
-or returning subject of the heart-
I was for 30 years.








"Built in 1882 by King Kalakaua, 
Iolani Palace was the home of 
Hawaii's last reigning monarchs 
and served as the official royal 
residence." Link 







Just to be where they were,
to stand where they stood
forges a bond of rich Aloha
with the magic and soul
of these islands and people.







Throne Room, note Kahili flanking the thrones. Link

Having been fortunate enough to visit 
inside this restored treasure before,
our objective was simply to be on
this last piece of sovereign ground.
As I said: to contemplate Hawaii's
essence, and to pay due respect.










Royal Regalia:
From Chiefs to Constitutional Monarchs.
From Kahili to Crowns


So what are we doing inside?
Visiting the gift shop on the grounds
I was exclaiming and explaining
much of what we saw to my friend.









Blue Room


The young Hawaiian man
operating the gift shop told us:
"It's Kama`aina Sunday!"

"Kama'aina (Hawaiian: kamaʻāina, lit "child of the land") is a word describing Hawaiʻi residents born on Hawai'i regardless of their racial background, as opposed to "kanaka" which means a person of Native Hawaiian ancestry." Link

In this case, it meant that the Palace 
is free to locals today,
that he was kindly recognizing 
our local status and [shared]
reverence  for the soul of Hawaii,
and that we were being
invited into the palace!

[He did NOT ask to see ID before
giving us the sticker badges to wear.]

Mahalo Bruddah! Link

Just one of many examples of
how beautifully I was treated
by everyone, friend and stranger,
while home in the islands!









State Dining Room



Iolani Palace had electricity and telephones 
years before the White House.
The lights came on, thrilling the assembled
masses, on the evening of July 26, 1886










Hinge Detail



“In October, 1819—six months before the first Christian missionaries arrived on the islands—Liholiho, under the inspiration of Kaahumanu, one of the widows of his father, suddenly, and in the presence of a large concourse of horrified natives, broke the most sacred of the tabus of his religion by partaking of food from vessels from which women were feasting, and the same day decreed the destruction of every temple and idol in the kingdom.”  *
HRH King David Kalakaua, 
The Legends and Myths of Hawaii












“In 1840 the first written constitution was given to the people, guaranteeing to them a representative government. In February, 1843, Lord Paulet, of the English navy, took formal possession of the islands, but in the July following their sovereignty was restored through the action of Admiral Thomas. In November of the same year France and England mutually agreed to refrain from seizure or occupation of the islands, or any portion of them, and the United States, while declining to become a party to the agreement, promptly acknowledged the independence of the group.” 
HRH King David Kalakaua










There are no back stairs at Iolani Palace.
Those who served and worked there
used this same stair as the Royals.












Their immediate predecessors had been 
hereditary Ali`i - High Chiefs - wielding the power of life and death. But these gracious, 
modern monarchs had a deep concern for the conditions and future of their Hawaiian Kanaka. They maintained their independence and standing in the international system until losing it to treacherous local business
interests a few years later. 
           AUWE! Link



ሱሱሱሱሱሱሱሱበ፷

Thank YOU
Friend!
              Fondly, cloudia




E Nihi Ka Hele
Written by King David Kalakaua 
in honor of his Queen Kapiolani  
upon her visit to Queen Victoria
on the occasion of that Royal's
Jubilee:



“On the 30th of March, 1820—some months after this strange religious revolution—the first party of Christian missionaries arrived at the islands from Massachusetts. They were well received. They found a people without a religion, and their work was easy. Other missionary parties followed from time to time, and found the field alike profitable to the cause in which they labored and to themselves individually. They acquired substantial possessions in their new home, controlled the government for the fifty or more years following, and their children are to-day among the most prosperous residents of the group. This is not said with a view to undervalue the services of the early missionaries to Hawaii, but to show that all missionary fields have not been financially unfruitful to zealous and provident workers.” 
 HRH King David Kalakaua

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

3 Signs

A  L  O  H  A !

Hawaii still loves LONGS,
still remembers our
ancient land divisions:
names things in 
Hawaiian Language:

Linking to


(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_('')
Thank You!
                             cloudia


Sunday, August 16, 2015

At The Natatorium

A  L  O  H  A !

In 1921
 Hawaii’s Territorial Legislature
appropriated $250,000. 
for the  construction of
 " A Living Memorial"











  It was built to honor 101 who died, 
 the 10,000 others from Hawaii, 
who served in World War I.














It was a living memorial
 because through this arch was* 
a 100 X 40 meter saltwater
 swimming pool!

Opening day, Aug. 24, 1927, was 
a major event for Honolulu.

Favorite son, Duke Kahanamoku,
 [Olympic Gold Medalist & 
godfather of modern surfing] 
made the first ceremonial 
swim before a capacity crowd
 of over 7,000 excited people.

It was also Duke's Birthday!









Kapiolani Park
named for a queen
is a popular place!


*The pool is a sorry mess 
of broken cement.
"Repair it!" says one faction.

"It's environmentally passe`
let's restore the beach,
and make a beach volleyball
venue before the bleachers!"
Say others.

Everybody wanted the 
Arch restored, 
and so it was.










 If this little angel could talk!

More about the
Natatorium


Have A Lovely Week!
          Fondly, cloudia
THANKS


Sunday, April 19, 2015

Soft Sunday Whispers

A   L   O   H   A     from   Honolulu!
“ Be the ghost of 
the empty streets! 
You shall be crowned
 with the touch of
great inspirations! ” 
                         Mehmet Murat ildan










Shell Ginger Spilling
" It is not easy 
to walk alone
 in the country 
without 
musing upon 
something. "
                  Charles Dickens

Linking to











Kawaiahaʻo Church
" constructed between 1836 and 1842 
of some 14,000 thousand-pound 
slabs of coral rock 
quarried from an offshore reef.
 Hawaiian divers with hand tools 
dived 3 to 6 metres 
below sea-level to 
chisel out each coral block, 
which had then to be transported 
from the reef and onto shore. "
Wikipedia

Linking to 













Light Overcoming Stone
“ The softest things 
in the world 
overcome the 
hardest things 
in the world. "
                               Lao-Tzu


Linking to



^
/|\
V
Lovely to
See YOU
Again, My Friend!
                                             cloudia


Sunday, March 15, 2015

Shingon Shu Hawaii

A  L  O  H  A   from   Honolulu!
Shingon Shu Temple, Honolulu
click on photos!

Built in 1917-1918 by Nakagawa Katsutaro, 
a master builder of Japanese-style temples.
 Renovated in 1929 by Hego Fuchino,
  first person of Japanese ancestry 
to become a licensed architect 
in Hawaii. 

Note the steep, hipped-gable  
"Irimoya" roof.




Placed on the 
National Register of Historic Places 
 26 April 2002.







Just inside the gate, 
one may relax and prepare
to commune with the eternal verities.
Click on photo to see the taps (right)
where one may wash and make clean.

[yes, that is a lotus pool]









Statue of Kūkai 

 Known posthumously as Kōbō-Daishi
"The Grand Master 
Who Propagated the Buddhist Teaching"
[in Japan] 774–835 B.C.E
Monk, civil servant, scholar, poet, artist
engineer & founder of 
the Shingon or "True Word" 
school of Buddhism. 

Kūkai is famous as a calligrapher  
and inventor of the kana, 
the characters with which, in combination 
with Chinese characters kanji, 
the Japanese language 
is written to this day!









As you climb the stairs,

you must pass Füjin,

 Shintö god of wind 

to your left.

[See his bag of winds?]













On your right,

Raijin, god of thunder.

[Look at all his percussion!]



[ This IS a Buddhist temple,
but it is also very Japanese
to mix faith traditions.
This was a piece of 'Home'
to hardworking immigrants! ]










"The bell of mindfulness
 is the voice of the Buddha 
calling us back
 to ourselves. -
















- We have to respect 
each sound of the bell, 
stop our thinking and talking,
 and get in touch 
with ourselves, 
breathing and smiling. 
This is not a Buddha 
from the outside.
 It is our own Buddha 
calling us home."
                            Thich Nhat Hanh













Shall We Enter?












Click Photos!















Ceiling Detail

Like Being in a Jewel Box









Many of These Appointments

Were Brought from Japan




















The glittering altar 

 Anthuriums = Hawaii
















Imbued With 

Lessons & Meaning











Side View: Altar

Note Tibetan Singing Bowl











Turning to Leave

I feel suffused by light













 View From McDonald's Parking
















Oh My!


Linking to


Thank You
for visiting
one of my favorite
Honolulu buildings!
                        Warmly, cloudia