title: Bill Medley

text: In 1988, Medley received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for his duet with Jennifer Warnes on "(I've Had) The Time of My Life".


title: Girl in Red

text: Marie Ulven Ringheim (born 16 February 1999) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and record producer, known for her indie pop project Girl in Red. Her early EPs "Chapter 1" (2018) and "Chapter 2" (2019) were recorded in her bedroom and feature songs about romance and mental health. Released through AWAL, her debut studio album "If I Could Make It Go Quiet" (2021), was a critical and commercial success, and won three Norwegian Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.


title: Girl in Red

text: Girl in Red has been cited as a queer icon by "Paper", and "one of the most astute and exciting singer-songwriters working in the world of guitar music" by "The New York Times". In January 2021, her singles "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" (2017) and "We Fell in Love in October" (2018) were certified gold in the US.


title: Girl in Red

text: Marie Ulven Ringheim was born in the town of Horten, Norway on 16 February 1999. She grew up with her sisters and her divorced parents, and described Horten as "quiet and kinda boring" in an interview with Triple J in October 2019. Her mother worked with technology and her father worked as a policeman. Her grandfather could play the guitar and piano; however, she grew up without instruments in the home. While in high school, Ulven was curious about becoming a teacher before she was introduced to the guitar and songwriting at the age of 14. Ulven received her first guitar as a Christmas gift from her grandfather in 2012, but didn't start playing it until 2013 after losing interest in fingerboarding. She credits her grandfather for sparking her interest in music. Ulven had taught herself piano, guitar and music production from the comfort of her bedroom. She began by writing and releasing Norwegian music and planned to study music, but never concluded that she was going to become a musician.


title: Girl in Red

text: After getting a Blue Yeti microphone from her father in 2015, Ulven began writing and releasing Norwegian music to SoundCloud under the moniker of "Lydia X". She stopped attending guitar lessons after six months once her teacher refused to acknowledge her interest in songwriting and producing. Ulven coined the stagename "Girl in Red" after attempting to identify herself in a crowd to a friend via text. Using the new moniker, she published her debut single "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" on SoundCloud in November 2016, where it got about 5 thousand streams within five months. Following the single's feature on the Norwegian music website "NRK Urørt", "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" amassed thousands of streams and gained Ulven a large online following.


title: Girl in Red

text: Ulven's 2018 singles "Summer Depression" and "Girls" gained millions of views and streams online. In early 2019, she won her first award when she was presented with "Norwegian Newcomer of the Year" at the 2018 GAFFA Awards.


title: Girl in Red

text: Ulven released "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" on Apple Music in March 2018. "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" was listed at number 9 on "The New York Times" list of "The 68 Best Songs of 2018" and won "Untouched of the Year" ("") at the 2018 P3 Gull awards. Ulven opened for Clairo in Dublin and Paris in September 2018. Ulven released her debut EP, "Chapter 1", on 14 September 2018. Ulven released the standalone single "We Fell in Love in October" in November 2018, which would peak at number 14 on the US Rock Charts in October 2019.


title: Girl in Red

text: Ulven embarked on her first North American tour supporting Conan Gray in March 2019. She released "Chapter 2", her second EP, as well as "Beginnings", a compilation of her entire single catalogue into one exclusively vinyl album, on 6 September 2019 through the music distributor AWAL. She embarked on her first international headlining "World in Red" tour in October 2019, performing in cities such as Dublin and San Francisco. Ulven was nominated for "Newcomer of the Year" at the 2019 P3 Gull awards.


title: Girl in Red

text: In December 2019, Ulven signed a worldwide recording contract with British music distribution company AWAL. In a rare phenomenon for most new label signees, her entire existing discography, which had all originally been self-released, was subsequently registered under this label on all digital music platforms. Ulven appeared on the front cover of both "Gay Times" and "Dork" in December 2019, as well as the cover of "NME" in January 2020. She provided the single "Kate's Not Here" for the original soundtrack of the 2020 supernatural horror film "The Turning". Ulven was nominated for the "Newcomer of the Year" award and, as a result, the Gramo scholarship at the 2020 Spellemannprisen, also known elsewhere as the Norwegian Grammy Awards. In May 2020, Ulven was included in the annual "Dazed" 100 list after her single "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" passed 150 million streams.


title: Girl in Red

text: In mid 2020, Girl in Red became a popular symbol of queer identification on the online platform TikTok, where users would adopt the common phrase, "Do you listen to Girl in Red?" as a way of discreetly asking if someone is a lesbian. In November, she released the standalone holiday single "Two Queens in a King Sized Bed", shortly before she was awarded "Artist of the Year" at the 2020 P3 Gull Awards.


title: Girl in Red

text: Ulven released her debut studio album, titled "If I Could Make It Go Quiet", on 30 April 2021. The album has thus far been supported by four singles: "Midnight Love", in April 2020, "Rue" in August 2020, "Serotonin" in March 2021, and "You Stupid Bitch" in April 2021. The cover artwork for the album, made by Norwegian painter and artist Fredrik Wiig Sørensen, was originally an oil painting on a 80x80 cm canvas titled "The Antizero." In 2022, Ulven signed to Irving Azoff's PRO, Global Music Rights (GMR).


title: Girl in Red

text: On 14 October 2022, she released her latest single, "October Passed Me By", which is a sequel to "We Fell in Love in October".


title: Girl in Red

text: Girl In Red will be an opening act on multiple shows of the US leg of Taylor Swift's upcoming The Eras Tour.


title: Girl in Red

text: The subject matters of Ulven's music range from romance and heartbreak to mental illness and the experience of being queer. She named Taylor Swift as one of her biggest musical influences.


title: Girl in Red

text: Ulven now resides in the Grünerløkka district of Oslo. She identifies as gay and queer. She studied music production and songwriting at Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology. Ulven revealed in 2021 that she has been diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.


title: Mahesh Manjrekar

text: Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar (Marathi pronunciation: ]; born 16 August 1958) is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, alongside Marathi, Telugu and Bhojpuri films. He is credited with directing the critically acclaimed films "" (1999), "Astitva" (2000) and "Viruddh... Family Comes First" (2005). He has won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi for Astitva and two Star Screen Awards. He is also known as host of the reality show, "Bigg Boss Marathi" since 2018.


title: Mahesh Manjrekar

text: Mahesh Manjrekar was born on 16 August 1958 in Mumbai, Maharashtra (erstwhile Bombay state). He was brought up in a Marathi Karhade Brahmin family.


title: Mahesh Manjrekar

text: Manjrekar has acted in several films, including some of his own productions. He was first seen in the Door darshan Marathi series named Kshitij, in which he played a leprosy patient. He first gained acclaim as an actor for his performance in the 2002 film "Kaante", and later played negative roles in the Tamil film "Arrambam" (2013), Telugu film "Okkadunnadu" (2007) and as the gangster Javed in the film "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008). He played Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Marathi film "Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy". He also played the role of Harpeez Dongara in the "Aakhri Chunauti" series of episodes in the Indian TV series "C.I.D.". Manjrekar was acclaimed for the role as inspector D.R. Talpade in the movie "Wanted".


title: Mahesh Manjrekar

text: He was a MNS candidate from Mumbai North West in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections but lost to Gajanan Kirtikar of Shiv Sena.


title: Mahesh Manjrekar

text: In 2011, he launched his own production company with Aniruddha Deshpande called Great Maratha Entertainment LLP Productions.


title: Mahesh Manjrekar

text: The first film made under the banner was the "Fakta Ladh Mhana" which is one of the most expensive Marathi films.


title: Mahesh Manjrekar

text: Manjrekar was married to Deepa Mehta, a costume designer but they were divorced with whom he has two children. Later, he married Medha Manjrekar. They have a daughter, Saiee Manjrekar, who is an actress. He has a stepdaughter from his wife Medha Manjrekar's first husband.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: Minesweeper is a logic puzzle video game genre generally played on personal computers. The game features a grid of clickable squares, with hidden "mines" scattered throughout the board. The objective is to clear the board without detonating any mines, with help from clues about the number of neighboring mines in each field. Variants of Minesweeper have been made that expand on the basic concepts, such as "Minesweeper X", "Crossmines", and "Minehunt". Minesweeper has been incorporated as a minigame in other games, such as "RuneScape" and "Minecraft" April Fools Update.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: The origin of Minesweeper is unclear. According to "TechRadar", the first version of the game was 1990's "Microsoft Minesweeper", but "Eurogamer" says "Mined-Out" by Ian Andrew (1983) was the first Minesweeper game. Curt Johnson, the creator of "Microsoft Minesweeper", acknowledges that his game's design was borrowed from another game, but it was not "Mined-Out", and he does not remember which game it is.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: Minesweeper is a puzzle video game. In the game, mines (that resemble naval mines in the classic theme) are scattered throughout a board, which is divided into cells. Cells have three states: unopened, opened and flagged. An unopened cell is blank and clickable, while an opened cell is exposed. Flagged cells are unopened cells marked by the player to indicate a potential mine location; some implementations make flagged cells unopenable to reduce the risk of uncovering a suspected mine.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: A player selects a cell to open it. If a player opens a mined cell, the game ends in a loss. Otherwise, the opened cell displays either a number, indicating the number of mines diagonally and/or adjacent to it, or a blank tile (or "0"), and all adjacent non-mined cells will automatically be opened. Players can also flag a cell, visualised by a flag being put on the location, to denote that they believe a mine to be in that place. Flagged cells are still considered unopened, and may be unflagged. In some versions of the game when the number of adjacent mines is equal to the number of adjacent flagged cells, all adjacent non-flagged unopened cells will be opened, a process known as chording.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: A game of Minesweeper begins when the player first selects a cell on a board. In some versions of the game the first click is guaranteed to be safe; whilst some other variants further guaranteeing that all adjacent cells are safe as well. During the game, the player uses information given from the opened cells to deduce further cells that are safe to open, iteratively gaining more information to solve the board. The player is also given the number of remaining mines in the board, known as the "minecount", which is calculated as the total number of mines subtracted by the number of flagged cells (thus the minecount can be negative if too many flags have been placed).


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: To win a game of Minesweeper, all non-mine cells must be opened without opening a mine. There is no score, however there is a timer recording the time taken to finish the game. Difficulty can be increased by adding mines or starting with a larger grid. "Microsoft Minesweeper" offers three default board configurations, usually known as beginner, intermediate and expert, in order of increasing difficulty. Beginner is usually on an 8x8 or 9x9 board containing 10 mines, Intermediate is usually on a 16x16 board with 40 mines and expert is usually on a 30x16 board with 99 mines, however this is usually customisable.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: According to "TechRadar, Minesweeper" was created by Microsoft in the 1990s, but "Eurogamer" commented that Minesweeper gained a lot of inspiration from a "lesser known, tightly designed game", "Mined-Out" by Ian Andrew for the ZX Spectrum in 1983. According to Andrew, Microsoft copied "Mined-Out" for "Microsoft Minesweeper". The Microsoft version made its first appearance in 1990, in Windows Entertainment Pack, which was given as part of Windows 3.11. The game was written by Robert Donner and Curt Johnson."" Johnson stated that "Microsoft Minesweeper"'s design was borrowed from another game, but it was not "Mined-Out", and he does not remember which game it was."" In 2001, a group called the International Campaign to Ban Winmine campaigned for the game's topic to be changed from landmines. The group commented that the game "is an offence against the victims of the mines". A later version, found present in Windows Vista's Minesweeper offered a tileset with flowers replacing mines as a response.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: The game is frequently bundled with operating systems and GUIs, including Minesweeper for IBM's OS/2, Microsoft Windows, KDE, GNOME and Palm OS. "Microsoft Minesweeper" was included by default in Windows until Windows 8 (2012). Microsoft replaced this with a free-to-play version of the game, downloadable from the Microsoft Store, which is "riddled with ads", according to "How-To Geek".


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: Variants of Minesweeper have been made that expand on the basic concepts and add new game design elements. "Minesweeper X" is a clone of the Microsoft version with improved randomization and more statistics, and is popular with players of the game intending to reach a fast time. "Arbiter" and "Viennasweeper" are also clones, and are used similarly to "Minesweeper X". "Crossmines" is a more complex version of the game's base idea, adding linked mines and irregular blocks. "BeTrapped" transposes the game into a mystery game setting. There are several direct clones of "Microsoft Minesweeper" available online.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: Minesweeper was made part of RuneScape through a minigame called "Vinesweeper". The non-Japanese releases of "Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver" contained a variation of both Minesweeper and Picross. The video game "Minecraft" released a version of Minesweeper in its 2015 April Fool's update. The HP-48G graphing calculator includes a variant called "Minehunt", where the player has to move safely from one corner of the playfield to the other. The only clues given are how many mines are in the squares surrounding the player's current position. Google search includes a version of Minesweeper as an easter egg, available by searching the game's name.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: A logic puzzle variant of minesweeper, suitable for playing on paper, starts with some squares already revealed. The player cannot reveal any more squares, but must instead mark the remaining mines correctly. Unlike the usual form of minesweeper, these puzzles usually have a unique solution. These puzzles appeared under the name "tentaizu" (天体図), Japanese for a star map, in Southwest Airlines' magazine "Spirit" in 2008–2009.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: Competitive Minesweeper players aim to complete the game as fast as possible. The players memorize patterns to reduce times. Some players use a technique called the "1.5 click", which aids in revealing mines, while other players do not flag mines at all. The game is played competitively in tournaments. A community of dedicated players has emerged; this community was centralized on websites such as "Minesweeper.info"."" As of 2015, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the fastest time to complete all three difficulties of Minesweeper is 38.65 seconds by Kamil Murański in 2014.


title: Minesweeper (video game)

text: In 2000, Richard Kaye published a proof that it is NP-complete to determine whether a given grid of uncovered, correctly flagged, and unknown squares, the labels of the foremost also given, has an arrangement of mines for which it is possible within the rules of the game. The argument is constructive, a method to quickly convert any Boolean circuit into such a grid that is possible if and only if the circuit is satisfiable; membership in NP is established by using the arrangement of mines as a certificate. If, however, a minesweeper board is already guaranteed to be consistent, solving it is not known to be NP-complete, but it has been proven to be co-NP-complete. In the latter case, however, minesweeper exhibits a phase transition analogous to -SAT: when more than 25% squares are mined, solving a board requires guessing an exponentially-unlikely set of mines. Kaye also proved that infinite Minesweeper is Turing-complete.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Kindergarten Cop is a 1990 American action comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and distributed by Universal Pictures. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as John Kimble, a tough police detective working undercover as a kindergarten teacher to apprehend drug dealer Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson) before he can get to his former wife and son. While undercover, Kimble discovers a passion for teaching he never knew he had, and considers changing his profession to become an educator. Pamela Reed plays his partner, Phoebe O'Hara, and Penelope Ann Miller plays Joyce, the teacher who becomes his love interest. The original music score was composed by Randy Edelman. The film was released in the United States on December 21, 1990, and grossed $202 million worldwide. A direct-to-video sequel, "Kindergarten Cop 2", was released in 2016.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: After years of pursuing Cullen Crisp, an infamous drug dealer, LAPD detective John Kimble arrests him for murder; a witness saw Crisp murder an informant after getting information regarding the whereabouts of his former wife, Rachel, who he claims stole millions of dollars from him before fleeing with his son, Cullen, Jr.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Partnered with former teacher-turned-detective Phoebe O'Hara, Kimble goes undercover in Astoria, Oregon, to find Rachel and offer her immunity in exchange for testifying against Crisp in court. O'Hara is tasked with finding Rachel through her son by acting as a substitute teacher in a kindergarten class at Astoria Elementary School. However, she is incapacitated by a severe stomach flu, so Kimble takes her place.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: The suspicious school principal, Miss Schlowski, is convinced Kimble will not last long before quitting. Though initially overwhelmed, he adapts to his new status quickly, despite not having any formal teaching experience. With the use of his pet ferret as a class mascot, positive reinforcement, his police training as a model for structure in class, and his experience as a father, he becomes a much admired and cherished figure to the students.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Kimble begins to enjoy his undercover role. At one point, he deals with a case of child abuse by assaulting and threatening the father of the abused child, winning Miss Schlowski's favor. She assures him that even though she does not agree with his methods, she can see that he is a good teacher. Kimble also becomes fond of Joyce, a fellow teacher whose son Dominic is one of his students. She is estranged from her husband and will not speak of him, telling Dominic that he lives in France.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Conversing with the gradually more trusting Joyce, Kimble deduces that she is Rachel and that Dominic is Cullen, Jr. Back in California, the case holding Crisp in jail is closed after the witness dies from using tainted cocaine provided by Crisp's mother, Eleanor. He is subsequently released from prison, and quickly travels to Astoria with Eleanor to search for Dominic.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: When Kimble learns Crisp has been released, he confronts Rachel about her identity, saying he can protect her if she cooperates. She is outraged that he misled her, but she tells him that Crisp lied about her stealing money from him, to convince drug dealers to help him find her. Crisp's real reason for searching for her was to find his son, as he was irritated that Rachel disappeared with him.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Crisp starts a fire in the library as a distraction to kidnap his son, then uses the boy as a hostage when Kimble arrives. Just as Crisp declares his intention to take his son away and prepares to shoot Kimble, Kimble's ferret, which was hiding in Dominic's sweater, bites Crisp in the neck, allowing Dominic to escape. In pain, Crisp wildly shoots at Kimble, hitting him in the leg; Kimble then fatally shoots Crisp.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Outside, Eleanor injures O'Hara with her car before going inside and discovering Crisp dead. She shoots Kimble in the shoulder and demands he tell her where Dominic is, but O'Hara appears and knocks Eleanor unconscious with a baseball bat. Eleanor is then arrested and the unconscious Kimble is hospitalized with O'Hara, with both of them making a full recovery.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: O'Hara returns to the police force in Los Angeles while Kimble decides to resign, staying in Astoria to become a kindergarten teacher at the school full time. Joyce joins him and they share a kiss while everyone cheers.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Bill Murray and Patrick Swayze were approached to play the role of Kimble. Danny DeVito was also considered for the role, but Ivan Reitman nixed the idea due to the actor's height.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Director Ivan Reitman and casting director Michael Chinich auditioned more than 2,000 children for the roles of the students. Elijah Wood unsuccessfully auditioned for a role.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Exterior scenes at Astoria Elementary School were filmed at John Jacob Astor Elementary School, located at 3550 Franklin Avenue in Astoria, Oregon.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Universal Studios hired local artists Judith Niland and Carl Lyle Jenkins to paint murals on the walls at Astoria, and provided new playground equipment, a fenced playground, and a new lawn and hedges around the school. Most of the filming was completed after school was out in June 1990, allowing many of the students and faculty to be extras in the film. Students' artwork was also used. While on location, Schwarzenegger insisted a private studio for daily workouts and weightlifting be assembled for his use.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Other locations used in or near Astoria include the Bayview Motel, Commercial Street in downtown Astoria, and exteriors outside the Seafare Restaurant on Industry Street. The school picnic was filmed at Ecola State Park near Cannon Beach, Oregon, twenty five miles south of Astoria. Scenes at Joyce and Dominic's house were filmed at a private residence located at 414 Exchange Street and highway scenes were filmed on U.S. 26 east of Seaside, Oregon, twenty miles from Astoria.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Interior school scenes were shot at Universal Studios in Hollywood. The film's opening scene was filmed at the Westfield MainPlace in Santa Ana, California, and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: "Kindergarten Cop" grossed $91.4 million in North America, $110.5 in other territories, and $202 million worldwide. It was released in the United Kingdom on February 1, 1991, and topped the country's box office that weekend.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 53% based on 38 reviews, and an average rating of 5.50/10. The site's consensus reads, "Arnold Schwarzenegger substitutes his action brio with some refreshingly adept comedic timing, but "Kindergarten Cop" is too grim for children and too cloying for adults." On Metacritic, it has a score of 61 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Reviewer Caryn James of "The New York Times" said, "Like "Twins", which was also directed by Ivan Reitman, nothing in the film is as funny as the idea of it."


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: In Kim Newman's review for "Empire", he wrote, "with a heart of purest mush, the film still manages to be generally entertaining" and gave it 3 stars out of 5. An "Entertainment Weekly" review at the time of release notes that: "the movie never quite gels and it is not going to generate quite the mega hit business their producers are counting on", giving it a "C" grade.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Roger Ebert said the film: "is made up of two parts that shouldn't fit, but somehow they do, making a slick entertainment out of the improbable, the impossible and Arnold Schwarzenegger" and awarded it three stars.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: On April Fool's Day 2012, as a prank, the film was announced to be selected for a release on DVD and Blu-ray Disc as part of the Criterion Collection, a video distribution company dedicated to the release of "important classic and contemporary films". It was said to be selected as important in part because of its genre revisionist use of both the policier and family comedy genres in the same film. It was officially released on Blu-ray, though not by Criterion, on July 1, 2014.


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: For the video game "Silent Hill", parts of Astoria Elementary School from the film were used as reference for the location Midwich Elementary School. Several of Schwarzenegger's memorable lines from the film were used in sound boards for prank phone calls that became popular in the early 2000s. During an April 2021 interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", Schwarzenegger stated that the idea behind the making of "Superhero Kindergarten" came from his desire "to do a sequel to "Kindergarten Cop"".


title: Kindergarten Cop

text: Dolph Lundgren was seen shooting scenes for the film. The sequel, "Kindergarten Cop 2", was released direct to DVD in May 2016.


title: Jessica Caban

text: Jessica Caban (born June 13, 1982) is an American model, actress and fashion designer. She was a contestant on "Model Latina", where she was crowned the first ever Model Latina champion.


title: Jessica Caban

text: She began her career in 2002, after being chosen to represent Jennifer Lopez's line "J-LO" as a runner-up in a nationwide search. She was later featured in many commercials, magazines and landed the main role in Proyecto Uno's music video "Holla".


title: Jessica Caban

text: In 2008, Caban auditioned for Sí TV's new reality competition show, "Model Latina", in which aspiring models compete against each other in fashion and cultural challenges; it was filmed in Los Angeles. Caban and Darlenis Duran competed in the season finale, where Caban has crowned Sí TV's first Model Latina. She was awarded a $10,000 contract with Q Management and was featured in spreads of magazines.


title: Jessica Caban

text: She created and designed the swimwear line J.Marie Swim, that actively operated until 2020, releasing several pieces and campaigns.


title: Jessica Caban

text: Caban also works as a content creator, focusing on fashion, lifestyle and wellness on her Instagram page.


title: Radha

text: Radha (, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also described as the chief of the "Gopis" (milkmaids). During Krishna's youth, she appears as his lover and companion. Many traditions and scriptures accord Radha the status of the eternal consort and wife of Krishna. Radha, as a supreme goddess, is considered as the female counterpart and the internal potency ("hladini shakti") of Krishna, who resides in Goloka, the celestial abode of Radha Krishna. Radha is said to accompany Krishna in all his incarnations.


title: Radha

text: In Radha Vallabh Sampradaya and Haridasi Sampradaya, only Radha is worshiped as the supreme deity. Elsewhere, she is venerated with Krishna as his principal consort in Nimbarka Sampradaya, Pushtimarg, Mahanam Sampraday, Swaminarayan Sampradaya, Vaishnava-Sahajiya and Gaudiya Vaishnavism movements linked to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Radha is also described as the feminine form of Krishna himself. Radha's birthday is celebrated annually as Radhashtami.


title: Radha

text: She has inspired numerous literary works and her Raslila dance with Krishna has inspired many types of performance arts.


title: Radha

text: The Sanskrit term () means "prosperity, success, perfection and wealth". It is a common word and name found in various contexts in the ancient and medieval texts of India. The word appears in the Vedic literature as well as the Hindu epics, but is elusive. The name also appears for a character in the epic "Mahabharata".


title: Radha

text: The fifth chapter of Sanskrit scripture Narada Pancharatra mentioned more than 1000 names of Radha under the title "Shri Radha Saharsnama Strotam." Some of the significant names are -


title: Radha

text: Radha's other names include - Madan mohini, Srimati, Apurva, Pavitra, Ananda, Subhangi, Subha, Vaishnavi, Rasika, Hare, Radharani, Ishvari, Venu-vadya, Mahalakshmi, Vrinda, Kalindi, Hrdaya, Gopa-kanya, Gopika, Yashodanandan-vallabha, Krishnangvasini, Abhistada, Devi, Vishnu-priya, Vishnu-kanta, Jaya, Jiva, Veda-priya, Veda-garbha, Subhankari, Deva-mata, Bharati, Kamalā, Annuttara, Dhriti, Jagannatha-priya, Laadli, Amoha, Srida, Sri-hara, Sri-garbha, Vilasini, Janani, Kamala-padma, Gati-prada, Mati, Vrindavan-viharini, Brajeshvari, Nikunjeshvari, Niraloka, Yogeśī, Govinda-rāja-gṛhinī, Vimala, Ekanga, Achyuta-priya, Vrishbhanu-suta, Nandnandan-patni, Gopīnātheśvarī, and Sarvanga.


title: Radha

text: Radha is an important goddess in the Vaishnavite traditions of Hinduism. Her traits, manifestations, descriptions, and roles vary by region. Radha is intrinsic with Krishna. In early Indian literature, mentions of her are elusive. The traditions that venerate her explain this is because she is the secret treasure hidden within the sacred scriptures. During the Bhakti movement era in the sixteenth century, she became more well known as her extraordinary love for Krishna was highlighted.


title: Radha

text: Radha's first major appearance in the 12th-century "Gita Govinda" in Sanskrit by Jayadeva, as well as Nimbarkacharya's philosophical works. Thus in the "Gita Govinda" Krishna speaks to Radha:


title: Radha

text: However, the source of Jayadeva's heroine in his poem remains a puzzle of the Sanskrit literature. A possible explanation is Jayadeva's friendship with Nimbarkacharya, the first acharya to establish the worship of Radha-Krishna. Nimbarka, in accordance with the Sahitya Akademi's Encyclopaedia, more than any other acharyas gave Radha a place as a deity.


title: Radha

text: Prior to Gita Govinda, Radha was also mentioned in text "Gatha Saptasati" which is a collection of 700 verses composed in Prakrit language by King Hāla. The text was written around first or second century AD. Gatha Saptasati mentioned Radha explicitly in its verse -


title: Radha

text: Radha also appears in the Puranas namely the "Padma Purana" (as an avatar of Lakshmi), the "Devi-Bhagavata Purana" (as a form of Mahadevi), the "Brahma Vaivarta Purana" (as Radha-Krishna supreme deity), the "Matsya Purana" (as form of Devi), the "Linga Purana" (as form of Lakshmi), the "Varaha Purana" (as consort of Krishna), the Narada Purana (as goddess of love), the "Skanda Purana" and the "Shiva Purana". The 15th and 16th century Krishnaite Bhakti poet-saints Vidyapati, Chandidas, Meera Bai, Surdas, Swami Haridas, as well as Narsinh Mehta (1350–1450), who preceded all of them, wrote about the romance of Krishna and Radha too. Thus, Chandidas in his Bengali-language "Shri Krishna Kirtana", a poem of Bhakti, depicts Radha and Krishna as divine, but in human love. Though not named in the "Bhagavata Purana", Visvanatha Chakravarti (c. 1626–1708) interprets an unnamed favourite gopi in the scripture as Radha. She makes appearances in "Venisamhara" by Bhatta Narayana (c. 800 CE), "Dhvanyaloka" by Anandavardhana (c. 820–890 CE) and its commentary "Dhvanyalokalocana" by Abhinavagupta (c. 950 – 1016 CE), Rajasekhara's (late ninth-early tenth century) Kāvyamīmāṃsā, "Dashavatara-charita" (1066 CE) by Kshemendra and "Siddhahemasabdanusana" by Hemachandra (c. 1088–1172). In most of these, Radha is depicted as someone who is deeply in love with Krishna and is deeply saddened when Krishna leaves her. But, on contrary, Radha of the "Rādhātantram" is portrayed as audacious, sassy, confident, omniscient and divine personality who is in full control at all times. In "Rādhātantram," Radha is not merely the consort but is treated as the independent goddess. Here, Krishna is portrayed as her disciple and Radha as his guru.


title: Radha

text: Charlotte Vaudeville theorizes that Radha may have inspired by the pairing of the goddess Ekanamsha (associated with Durga) with Jagannatha (who is identified with Krishna) of Puri in Eastern India. Though Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (15th century, the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism) is not known to have worshiped the deity couple of Radha-Krishna, his disciples around the Vrindavan region, affirmed Radha as the "hladini shakti" ("energy of bliss") of Krishna, associating her with the Primordial Divine Mother. While the poetry of Jayadeva and Vidyapati from Bengal treat Radha as Krishna's "mistress", the Gaudiya poetry elevates her to a divine consort. In Western India, Vallabhacharya's Krishna-centric sampradaya Pushtimarg, Radha is revered as the "Swamini" of Krishna, who is worthy of devotion.


title: Radha

text: According to Jaya Chemburkar, there are at least two significant and different aspects of Radha in the literature associated with her, such as "Sri Radhika namasahasram". One aspect is she is a milkmaid (gopi), another as a female deity similar to those found in the Hindu goddess traditions. She also appears in Hindu arts as "Ardhanari" with Krishna, that is an iconography where half of the image is Radha and the other half is Krishna. This is found in sculpture such as those discovered in Maharashtra, and in texts such as "Shiva Purana" and "Brahma Vaivarta Purana". In these texts, this "Ardha Nari" is sometimes referred to as "Ardharadhavenudhara murti", and it symbolizes the complete union and inseparability of Radha and Krishna.


title: Radha

text: D.M. Wulff demonstrates through a close study of her Sanskrit and Bengali sources that Radha is both the "consort" and "conqueror" of Krishna and that "metaphysically Radha is understood as co-substantial and co-eternal with Krishna." Indeed, the more popular vernacular traditions prefer to worship the couple and often tilt the balance of power towards Radha.


title: Radha

text: Graham M. Schweig in his work ""The divine feminine theology of Krishna"" in context with Radha Krishna stated that, "The divine couple, Radha and Krishna, comprise the essence of godhead. Radha is therefore acknowledged by Chaitanyaite Vaishnavas to be part of very center of their theological doctrine. Sacred images of the forms of Radha Krishna, standing together side by side, are elaborately worshiped in the Indian temples. Through her image, her divine character and her amorous and passionate relations with Krishna, Radha is the constant meditation of practitioners.


title: Radha

text: According to William Archer and David Kinsley, a professor of Religious Studies known for his studies on Hindu goddesses, the Radha-Krishna love story is a metaphor for a divine-human relationship, where Radha is the human devotee or soul who is frustrated with the past, obligations to social expectations, and the ideas she inherited, who then longs for real meaning, the true love, the divine (Krishna). This metaphoric Radha (soul) finds new liberation in learning more about Krishna, bonding in devotion, and with passion.


title: Radha

text: An image of Radha has inspired numerous literary works. For modern instance, the "Shri Radhacharita Mahakavyam"—the 1980s epic poem of Dr. Kalika Prasad Shukla that focuses on Radha's devotion to Krishna as the universal lover—"one of the rare, high-quality works in Sanskrit in the twentieth century."


title: Radha

text: The Radha-Krishna and Sita-Rama pairs represent two different personality sets, two perspectives on dharma and lifestyles, both cherished in the way of life called Hinduism. Sita is traditionally wedded: the dedicated and virtuous wife of Rama, an introspective temperate paragon of a serious, virtuous man. Radha is a power potency of Krishna, who is a playful adventurer.


title: Radha

text: Radha and Sita offer two templates within the Hindu tradition. If "Sita is a queen, aware of her social responsibilities", states Pauwels, then "Radha is exclusively focused on her romantic relationship with her lover", giving two contrasting role models from two ends of the moral universe. Yet they share common elements as well. Both face life challenges and are committed to their true love. They are both influential, adored and beloved goddesses in the Hindu culture.


title: Radha

text: In worship of Rama, Sita is represented as a dutiful and loving wife. She holds a position entirely subordinate to Rama while in worship of Radha Krishna, Radha is often preferred over to Krishna and in certain traditions, her name is also elevated to a higher position compared to the name of Krishna.


title: Radha

text: Radha in Hinduism is revered as the goddess of love. She is mostly depicted along with Krishna or gopis in the land of Braj. Various art forms based on Radha Krishna are majorly inspired by "Gita Govinda" and "Rasikapriya". In Rajput paintings, Radha represents an ideal of beauty, wearing the traditional sari decorated extensively with patterns and ornamented in jewelry with lighter skin tone and emphasized facial features. In Kishangarh paintings, Radha is represented as beautifully dressed woman in "ghagra choli" with pearl jewelry and a dark diaphanous veil over her head. The famous Bani Thani portrait by artist Nihâl Chand was inspired by Radha's physical features which includes sharp eyebrows, lotus-like elongated eyes, thin lips and a pointed nose and chin.


title: Radha

text: In religious art forms, Radha also appears as "Ardhanari" with Krishna, that is an iconography where half of the image is Radha and the other half is Krishna forming the combined masculine and feminine form of Ardhanarishvara.


title: Radha

text: In Radha Krishna temples, the idol of Radha always stands next to Krishna on his left with a garland in her hand. She is often dressed in traditional sari or "ghagra-choli" along with a veil. Her jewelry from top to bottom is either made of metals, pearls or flowers.


title: Radha

text: The Sanskrit scripture "Brahma Vaivarta Purana" describes Radha as the beautiful and youthful goddess having the molten golden complexion and wearing the garlands of gems and flowers.


title: Radha

text: Radha in her human form is revered as the milkmaid (gopi) of Vrindavan who became the beloved of Krishna. One of the basic traits of Radha is her unconditional love for Krishna and her sufferings that forms the basis for Radha's exaltation as a model of devotion.


title: Radha

text: Radha was born to Vrishbhanu, a Yadava ruler of Barsana and to his wife Kirtida. Her birthplace is Raval which is a small town near Gokul in Uttar pradesh, but is often said to be Barsana where she grew up. According to the popular legend, Radha was discovered by Vrishbhanu on an effulgent lotus floating in Yamuna river. She didn't open her eyes until Krishna himself in his child form appeared in front of her.


title: Radha

text: "Ashtasakhis" (translated to eight friends) are the integral part of Radha's childhood and youth. It is believed that all the "Ashtasakhis" are the intimate friends of Radha Krishna and also have descended from Goloka in Braj region. Out of all the eight sakhis - Lalita Sakhi and Vishakha sakhis are the prominent ones. According to Caitanya Charitamrita's Antya Lila (2:6:116), Radha also received a boon from sage Durvasa in her childhood that whatever she cooked would be better than nectar.


title: Radha

text: Youth phase of Radha's life is filled with her divine pastimes with Krishna. Some of the popular pastimes of Radha Krishna includes :- "Raslila", pastimes of "Radha kund", "Gopashtami lila", "Lathmar Holi", "Seva Kunj lila" in which Krishna did sringara of Radha, "Maan lila" ( A special stage in divine love in which the devotee develops so much love for God as to even attain the right of getting angry with him), "Mor Kutir lila" in which Krishna performed a dance lila by dressing himself as a peacock to please Radha, "Gopadevi lila" (Krishna took form of female to meet Radha) and "Lilahava" in which Radha Krishna dressed in each other clothes.


title: Radha

text: Radha and Krishna share two kinds of relationships, Parakiya (Love without any social limitation) and Svakiya (married relationship). Radha asked Krishna why he can't marry her, the reply came "Marriage is a union of two souls. You and I are one soul, how can I marry myself?" Several Hindu texts allude to these circumstances.


title: Radha

text: Some traditions state that Radha was married to another gopa named Rayan (also called Abhimanyu or Ayan), but she still used to love Krishna. Many interpreted it as a person's love and devotion towards god which is not bounded by social limitations.


title: Radha

text: Contradictory to the above versions, the Sanskrit texts, "Brahma Vaivarta Purana" and the "Garga Samhita" mention that Krishna secretly married Radha in the presence of Lord Brahma in the "Bhandirvan" forest, long before any of their other marriages. The place where Radha Krishna's marriage was conducted is still present in the outskirts of Vrindavan, called Radha Krishna Vivah Sthali, Bhandirvan. The story mentioned in Braham Vaivarta Purana indicates that Radha has always been Krishna's divine consort. It was not Radha but her shadow who later married Rayan. But to give importance to Parakiya relationship (love without any social foundation) over Svakiya's (married relationship), Radha Krishna's marriage was never publicized and kept hidden.


title: Radha

text: There is limited information about the life of Radha and gopis after Krishna left Vrindavan. According to "Garga Samhita" and "Brahma Vaivarta Purana", Radha also left her home post Krishna's departure and went to Kadli vann (forest) leaving behind her illusionary form (also called "Chaya Radha," her shadow) in Barsana. Radha with her friends also met Uddhava in this forest who delivered them Krishna's message.


title: Radha

text: It is mentioned in Braham Vaivarta Purana ("Krishnajanam khand, chapter 125") and Garga Samhita ("Ashwamedh Khand, chapter 41") that after the curse of 100 years of separation got over, Krishna revisited Braj and met Radha and gopis. After performing the divine pastimes for sometime, Krishna called a huge divine chariot which took the residents of Braj along with Radha and gopis back to their celestial abode Goloka where the final reunion of Radha Krishna was happened.


title: Radha

text: In "Brahma Vaivarta Purana", Radha (or Rādhikā), who is inseparable from Krishna, appears as the main goddess. She is mentioned as the personification of the Mūlaprakriti, the "Root nature", that original seed from which all material forms evolved. In the company of the Purusha ("Man", "Spirit", "Universal soul") Krishna, she is said to inhabit the Goloka, which is a world of cows and cowherds far above the Vishnu's Vaikuntha. In this divine world, Krishna and Radha relate to one another in the way body relates to the soul. (4.6.216)


title: Radha

text: According to Krishnaism, Radha is the chief female deity and is associated with Krishna's maya (material energy) and prakriti (feminine energy). At highest level Goloka, Radha is said to be united with Krishna and abiding with him in the same body. The relationship between Radha Krishna is that of substance and attribute: they are as inseparable as Milk and its whiteness or Earth and its smell. This level of Radha's identity transcends her material nature as prakriti and exits in the form of pure consciousness (Narada Purana, Uttara Khana - 59.8). While Radha is identical to Krishna at this highest level, this merger of identities seems to end when she separates from him. After separation she manifest herself as the goddess Primordial prakriti (Mūlaprakriti) who is called the "Maker of Universe" or "Mother of All" (Narada Purana, Purva-Khanda, 83.10-11, 83.44, 82.214).


title: Radha

text: In the hymnal "Hita-Caurasi" of Hith Harivansh Mahaprabhu, the 16th-century bhakti poet-saint, founder of Radha Vallabh Sampradaya, Radharani is exalted to the status of the only ultimate deity, while her consort Krishna is just her most intimate subordinate. As a precursor to this view can be understand Jayadeva, in whose "Gita Govinda" (10.9) Krishna is beneath Radha.


title: Radha

text: Radha is also considered as the personification of Krishna's love. According to doctrines attributed to Vaishnavite saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, It is said that, Krishna has three powers: the internal which is intelligence, the external which generates appearances and the differentiated which forms the individual soul. His chief power is that which creates dilatation of the heart or joy. This appears to be the power of love. When this love becomes settled in the heart of the devotee, it constitutes "Mahabhava", or the best feeling. When love attains to the highest pitch, it constitutes itself into Radha, who is the most lovable of all and full of all qualities. She was the object of the highest love of Krishna and being idealized as love, some of the agreeable feelings of the heart are considered her ornaments.


title: Radha

text: In Narada Pancharatra Samhita, Radha is mentioned as the feminine form of Krishna. It is described that, the one single lord is represented to have become two - one a woman and the other a man. Krishna retained his form of man while the female form became Radha. Radha is said to have come out from primordial body of Krishna, forming his left side, and is eternally associated with him in his amorous sports in this world as well as the world of cows (Goloka).


title: Radha

text: Radha is often identified with the "sweet" aspect of goddess Lakshmi's essence and thus also worshiped as an avatara of Lakshmi. In "Shri Daivakrita Lakshmi Strotam", Lakshmi is praised and glorified in her form of Radha -


title: Radha

text: According to the "Garga Samhita" (Canto 2, chapter 22, verse 26–29), during the rasa pastime, on the request of gopis, Radha and Krishna showed them their eight armed forms and turned into their Lakshmi Narayan forms. (2.22.26)


title: Radha

text: Radha is admired as an ideal of perfect lover. In Gita Govinda, it is not certain whether Radha was married or if she was an unmarried maiden. But, the relationship between Radha Krishna was unfolded in the secrecy of Vrindavan forest hinting at the "Parakiya rasa." This can be understood from the verse where Nanda, the father of Krishna, who represents social authority and ideal of dharma ordered Radha Krishna to go home as storm was approaching Vrindavan but the order was defied by the couple. The translation of first verse of Gita Govinda is as follows :-


title: Radha

text: In the Gita govinda, Radha stands in relation to Krishna as his consort. She is neither a wife nor a devoted rustic playmate. She is an intense, solitary, proud figure who is addressed as "Sri, Candi, Manini, Bhamini" and "Kaamini". She is portrayed as Krishna's partner in a mature and exclusive love.


title: Radha

text: In Vidyapati's work, Radha is depicted as a young girl barely twelve years old, while Krishna is depicted slightly older than her and as an aggressive lover. In the work of poet Chandidas, Radha is depicted as a bold woman who is unafraid of social consequences. Radha abandons all social propriety in the name of her love for Krishna. Excerpts of Chandidas's work showing Radha's boldness :-


title: Radha

text: In loving Krishna, Radha violates the basis of caste, showing no care for the realities of social structures. Love consumed her to extent that once having fair complexion, Radha turned herself into Krishna's dark color. Chandidas used the word "fire" as synonym for Radha's love towards Krishna. The Radha of Chandidas is favored by Gaudiya Vaishnavas.


title: Radha

text: "Rasikapriya", a Braj text on poetics depicts Radha as the married consort of Krishna. It is a frequently illustrated text that deals with the Radha Krishna's romance and is written by one of the most prominent writers of the "Riti kavya" tradition, Kesavdas. Changes in the portrayal of Radha, as articulated in the Rasikapriya, have significant implications for later literary traditions. In the "Riti kavya" literature, especially the "Rasikapriya", Radha is depicted as the archetypal heroine and is used to exemplify the ideal form of connection to Krishna. Rather than depicting her as a "parakiya" heroine, Kesavdas, on the whole, presents her as a "svakiya" heroine, the one to whom Krishna belongs wholeheartedly. If she is separated from him, it is only temporarily, for as archetypal lovers they are connected forever. The suggestion that Radha is Krishna's rightful wife is clearly articulated in the first chapter in the exemplary verse for the manifest form of union. Here, Kesavdas compares the union of Radha and Krishna with that of Sita and Rama :-


title: Radha

text: In this verse, Kesavdas connects Radha with Krishna as his legitimate wife not only in this lifetime but even in the previous one. Chapter 3 and verse 34 of "Rasikapriya", depicted Radha as "Madhya arudhayovana nayika" and is described as a beautiful woman who looks like a heavenly damsel, with perfect features (forehead like the half moon, arches like a perfect bow, etc.), golden body, and a beautiful body fragrance. In chapter 3, verse 38, one attendant talks to another :-


title: Radha

text: Here, Radha is very specifically described as the wife of Krishna. In most of the verses, whenever she is mentioned by name, she is usually seen as a virtuous court lady with utmost beauty and charm. Her husband Krishna is said to be in control of her love. The poet mentioned that while it is common to see women devoted to their husbands but it is not as common to see a husband as Krishna who is so devoted to his wife Radha and considering her as goddess. (VII, 6) In Sanskrit scripture "Brahma Vaivarta Purana" also, Radha and Krishna are understood to be eternally related to each other as husband and wife (or as god and goddess) validating their Svakiya relationship. The celebrated poets of Radha Vallabh Sampradaya, Dhruva Dasa and Rupalji composed ""Vyahulau Utsav ke Pad"" or "Marriage Festival songs" which describe the eternal wedding of Radha and Krishna with praise and adulation. In the Indian state of Maharashtra, Radha is often identified as Rahi, a regional form of Radha who is worshiped as the married consort of Vithoba, a regional form of Krishna.


title: Radha

text: Friedhelm Hardy singles out such an offshoot of Krishnaism as Radha-centered stream Radhaism. The main representative of which is the Radha Vallabh Sampradaya (lit. "consort of Radha"), where goddess Radha is worshiped as the supreme deity, and Krishna is in a subordinate position.


title: Radha

text: During the 18th century at Kolkata existed the Sakhībhāvakas community, whose members used to wear female dresses in order to identify themselves with the gopis, companions of Radha.


title: Radha

text: In some devotional (bhakti) Krishnaite traditions of Vaishnavism that focus on Krishna, Radha represents "the feeling of love towards Krishna". For some of the adherents of these traditions, her importance approaches or even exceeds that of Krishna. Radha is worshipped along with Krishna in Nepal and many Indian states including West Bengal, Manipur, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Elsewhere, she is a revered deity. In Maharashtra region, Radha is often worshipped in her regional form as Rahi. Radha is considered as Krishna's original shakti, the supreme goddess in both the Nimbarka Sampradaya and following the advent of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also within the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. Nimbarka was the first well known Vaishnava scholar whose theology centered on goddess Radha.


title: Radha

text: Since 15th century in Bengal and Assam flourished Tantric Vaishnava-Sahajiya tradition with related to it Bauls, where Krishna is the inner divine aspect of man and Radha is the aspect of woman, what incorporated into their specific sexual Maithuna ritual.


title: Radha

text: "Radha Chalisa" mentions that Krishna accompanies one who chants "Radha" with a pure heart. Other gopis are usually considered to be self-willing maidservants (Sevika) of Radha. Radharani's superiority is seen in Krishna's flute, which repeats the name Radha.


title: Radha

text: Radha's connection to Krishna is of two types: "svakiya-rasa" (married relationship) and "parakiya-rasa" (a relationship signified with eternal mental "love"). The Gaudiya tradition focuses upon "parakiya-rasa" as the highest form of love, wherein Radha and Krishna share thoughts even through separation. The love the gopis feel for Krishna is also described in this esoteric manner as the highest platform of spontaneous love of God, and not of a sexual nature.


title: Radha

text: Radha is one of the major and celebrated goddess in Hinduism. Following is the list of festivals associated with her -


title: Radha

text: Radhashtami, also called Radha Jayanti is celebrated as the appearance anniversary of Radha. In the Hindu calendar, Radhashtami is observed annually in the month of the Bhadra, 15 days after Krishna Janmashtami, the birth anniversary of Krishna, which suggests that Radha is very much an aspect of the cultural-religious faith system governing social life. The festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm and fervor especially in the Braj region. The festivities include fasting till afternoon (12 pm), abhishek and aarti of Radharani, offering her flowers, sweets and food items, singing songs, dancing and prayers dedicated to Radha. The Radha Rani Temple in Barsana host this festival in a grand manner as Basana is also considered as the birthplace of Radha. Apart from Barsana, this festival is celebrated in nearly all the temples of Vrindavan and ISKCON temples across the world as it is one of the major festival for many Vaishnavism sections.


title: Radha

text: Holi, one of the major Hindu festival, also called "festival of love" and "festival of colors" also celebrates the divine and eternal love of Radha and Krishna. Mathura and Vrindavan are known for their Holi celebrations. According to popular legend associated with Radha Krishna, as a child, Krishna would cry to his mother Yashoda about Radha being fair while he had a dark complexion. His mother then advised him to smear colour of his choice on Radha's face, thus giving birth to Braj ki Holi. It is said that every year, Lord Krishna would travel from his village Nandgaon to Goddess Radha's village Barsana, where Radha and the gopis would playfully beat him with sticks. In present times, Holi celebrations in Barsana begin one week before the actual date of the festival, moving to Nandgaon the next day. In Mathura and Vrindavan, the festival is celebrated in different forms like Lathmar Holi in Barsana and Nandgaon, where sticks are used to create playful beats, to which young men and women dance; Phoolon wali Holi in Gulaal Kund near the Govardhan Hill, during which Ras Leela is performed and Holi is played with colourful flowers and Widow's Holi in Vrindavan.


title: Radha

text: Sharad Purnima refers to the full moon of the autumn season. On this day, devotees celebrate Krishna performing a beautiful dance called "rasa lila" with Radha and the gopis - the cowherd damsels of Vrindavan. On this day, Radha Krishna in temples are dressed in white outfits and are adorned with flower garlands and glittering ornaments.


title: Radha

text: In Vaishnavism, the occasion of Kartik Purnima is considered as the most auspicious day to worship goddess Radha. According to Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Krishna also worshiped Radha on this day. In Radha Krishna temples, sacred vow is observed throughout the Karthik month and performances of Raslila are organized to celebrate this festival.


title: Radha

text: Radha and Krishna have inspired many forms of performance arts and literary works. Over the centuries, their love has been portrayed in thousands of exquisite paintings which depicts the lover in separation and union, longing and abandonment.


title: Radha

text: Patta chitra, is one of the typical regional arts of the coastal state of Orissa. In this type of painting, Krishna is depicted in blue or black color and is usually accompanied by his fiancée Radha. Rajasthani art emerged as an amalgamation of folk art with conventional and canonical ethos. Krishna and Radha have been the pivotal characters in Rajasthani miniature paintings. Their love has been delineated aesthetically in this composition. In Pahari paintings, often the nayaka (hero) is depicted as Krishna and the nayika (heroine) is depicted as Radha. The legend of Krishna and Radha and their love provided rich material to Pahari painters in general and to the artists of Garhwal in particular. The central theme of Kangra painting is love inspired by "Rasikapriya," popular poetic work of Keshavdasa. A closely related theme of this art is lover looking at his beloved who is unaware of his presence. Thus, Krishna is shown watching Radha who is unaware of his presence. In Radha and Krishna, Kangra artists discovered highest model of loving couple. The Radha-Krishna theme also served their devotional purpose and provided an inherent symbolism. Madhubani paintings are charismatic art of Bihar. Madhubani paintings are mostly based on religion and mythology. In the paintings, Hindu Gods like Radha-Krishna and Shiva-Parvati are in center. Krishna and Radha are one of the favorite subject in Rajput paintings because they portrayed a theme that symbolized the desire of the soul to be united by god. In Rajput paintings, Radha is always dressed in more elegant way. She was adorned with ornaments and is often depicted holding a white garland when enthroned next to Krishna. The Chamba paintings of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab often depicts romantic ambiances of rainy season with Radha Krishna as the lead couple.


title: Radha

text: The most famous Indian classical dance Manipuri Raas Leela was first introduced by King Bhagyachandra around 1779. Inspired by Radha Krishna's raslila, the king introduced three forms of rasa dance — Maha rasa, Kunj rasa and Basant rasa. Later two more forms of rasa — Nitya rasa and Deba rasa was added by successive kings in the art and culture of Manipur. In these dance forms, the dancers portray the role of Radha, Krishna and gopis. The dance forms are still prevalent in the state of Manipur and are performed on stage as well as on the auspicious occasions like Kartik Purnima and Sharad Purnima (full moon nights).


title: Radha

text: Another Indian classical dance form, Kathakali was also influenced by Vaishnavism and Radha Krishna based Gita Govinda tradition which along with other factors contributed in the evolution of this dance form. The predominant theme of North Indian Kathak dancing lies in the fleeting appearances and longer stories of Radha and Krishna. The sacred love of Krishna and his beloved Radha, are woven into all aspects of the Kathak dance and is clearly visible during the discussions of the music, costumes and finally the role of the Kathak dancer.


title: Radha

text: Ashtapadis of Gita Govinda are also enacted in contemporary classical Odissi dance form. This dance form was originated in the temples. It is centered on the celestial love of Krishna and Radha. At one time, it was performed by the Devadasis but now it has spread out to the homes and cultural institutions.


title: Radha

text: "Rasiya" is a popular genre of Indian folk music from Braj region, Uttar Pradesh. It is commonly played and performed during the festivities in the villages and temples of Braj area. The traditional songs of "Rasiya" are based on the divine portrayal and love of Radha and Krishna. They are frequently written from the female perspective of Radha and portray Krishna and his flirtation with her.


title: Radha

text: The residents of Braj region still greet each other with salutations like ""Radhe Radhe", "Jai Shri Radhe"" and ""Radhe Shyam"", directing their mind to Radha and ultimate relationship she shares with Krishna. The image of Krishna rarely appears without Radha by his side in the temples of Vrindavan. It is not the Krishna who is worshiped, but Radha and Krishna together are worshiped.


title: Radha

text: In culture of Odisha, Krishna is the cultural hero and his form Jagannath, is the symbol of Oriya pride. His consort Radha is celebrated as the energy of Krishna and symbolically the energy of the cosmos. She is considered as the power of joy, the hladini shakti of Krishna and is often identified with both Durga and Mahakali, the bright and dark forms of the cosmic energy. Krishna and Radha have entered the Oriya psyche and have inspired the mythic imagination of the Oriya poets in a big way. For the conscious and the informed, Krishna and Radha are the Universe and its harmony, the Energy and its joyful articulation, the cosmic dance and its rhythmic balance.


title: Radha

text: In Indian culture, Radha serve as an exemplary model of female-neutral subjectivity for all persons—an active, non-substantial, shared and strong self that rationally embrace their (religious) passions.


title: Radha

text: Radha and Krishna are the focus of temples in the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Vallabhacharya, Chandidas, and other traditions of Vaishnavism. Radha is typically shown standing immediately next to Krishna. Some of the important Radha Krishna temples are :-


title: Radha

text: Guru Gobind Singh, in his "Dasam Grantha," describes Radha the, "sukl bhis rika", thus : "Radhika went out in the light of the white soft moon, wearing a white robe to meet her Lord. It was white everywhere and hidden in it, she appeared like the light itself in search of Him".


title: Radha

text: Radha is mentioned in many Jain commentaries including the popular "Venisamhara" by Narayana Bhatta and "Dhvanyaloka" by Anandavardhana written in 7th century. Jain scholars like Somadeva Suri and Vikram Bhatta continued mentioning Radha between 9th-12th century in their literary works.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: The hammerhead sharks are a group of sharks that form the family Sphyrnidae, so named for the unusual and distinctive structure of their heads, which are flattened and laterally extended into a "hammer" shape called a cephalofoil. Most hammerhead species are placed in the genus "Sphyrna", while the winghead shark is placed in its own genus, "Eusphyra". Many different, but not necessarily mutually exclusive, functions have been postulated for the cephalofoil, including sensory reception, manoeuvering, and prey manipulation. The cephalofoil gives the shark superior binocular vision and depth perception.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: Hammerheads are found worldwide in warmer waters along coastlines and continental shelves. Unlike most sharks, some hammerhead species usually swim in schools during the day, becoming solitary hunters at night.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: The known species range from in length and weigh from . One specimen caught off the Florida coast in 1906 weighed over . They are usually light gray and have a greenish tint. Their bellies are white, which allows them to blend into the background when viewed from below and sneak up to their prey. Their heads have lateral projections that give them a hammer-like shape. While overall similar, this shape differs somewhat between species; examples are: a distinct T-shape in the great hammerhead, a rounded head with a central notch in the scalloped hammerhead, and an unnotched rounded head in the smooth hammerhead.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: Hammerheads have disproportionately small mouths compared to other shark species. They are also known to form schools during the day, sometimes in groups over 100. In the evening, like other sharks, they become solitary hunters. "National Geographic" explains that hammerheads can be found in warm, tropical waters, but during the summer, they participate in a mass migration to search for cooler waters.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: Since sharks do not have mineralized bones and rarely fossilize, only their teeth are commonly found as fossils. Their closest relatives are the requiem sharks (Carcharinidae). Based on DNA studies and fossils, the ancestor of the hammerheads probably lived in the Early Miocene epoch about 20 million years ago.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: Using mitochondrial DNA, a phylogenetic tree of the hammerhead sharks showed the winghead shark as its most basal member. As the winghead shark has proportionately the largest "hammer" of the hammerhead sharks, this suggests that the first ancestral hammerhead sharks also had large hammers.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: The hammer-like shape of the head may have evolved at least in part to enhance the animal's vision. The positioning of the eyes, mounted on the sides of the shark's distinctive hammer head, allows 360° of vision in the vertical plane, meaning the animals can see above and below them at all times. They also have an increased binocular vision and depth of visual field as a result of the cephalofoil. The shape of the head was previously thought to help the shark find food, aiding in close-quarters maneuverability, and allowing sharp turning movement without losing stability. The unusual structure of its vertebrae, though, has been found to be instrumental in making the turns correctly, more often than the shape of its head, though it would also shift and provide lift. From what is known about the winghead shark, the shape of the hammerhead apparently has to do with an evolved sensory function. Like all sharks, hammerheads have electroreceptory sensory pores called ampullae of Lorenzini. The pores on the shark's head lead to sensory tubes, which detect electric fields generated by other living creatures. By distributing the receptors over a wider area, like a larger radio antenna, hammerheads can sweep for prey more effectively.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: Reproduction occurs only once a year for hammerhead sharks, and usually occurs with the male shark biting the female shark violently until she agrees to mate with him. The hammerhead sharks exhibit a viviparous mode of reproduction with females giving birth to live young. Like other sharks, fertilization is internal, with the male transferring sperm to the female through one of two intromittent organs called claspers. The developing embryos are at first sustained by a yolk sac. When the supply of yolk is exhausted, the depleted yolk sac transforms into a structure analogous to a mammalian placenta (called a "yolk sac placenta" or "pseudoplacenta"), through which the mother delivers sustenance until birth. Once the baby sharks are born, they are not taken care of by the parents in any way. Usually, a litter consists of 12 to 15 pups, except for the great hammerhead, which gives birth to litters of 20 to 40 pups. These baby sharks huddle together and swim toward warmer water until they are old enough and large enough to survive on their own.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: In 2007, the bonnethead shark was found to be capable of asexual reproduction via automictic parthenogenesis, in which a female's ovum fuses with a polar body to form a zygote without the need for a male. This was the first shark known to do this.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: Hammerhead sharks eat a large range of prey such as fish (including other sharks), squid, octopus, and crustaceans. Stingrays are a particular favorite. These sharks are often found swimming along the bottom of the ocean, stalking their prey. Their unique heads are used as a weapon when hunting down prey. The hammerhead shark uses its head to pin down stingrays and eats the ray when the ray is weak and in shock. The great hammerhead, tending to be larger and more aggressive than most hammerheads, occasionally engages in cannibalism, eating other hammerhead sharks, including its own young. In addition to the typical animal prey, bonnetheads have been found to feed on seagrass, which sometimes makes up as much as half their stomach contents. They may swallow it unintentionally, but they are able to partially digest it. This is the only known case of a potentially omnivorous species of shark.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: According to the International Shark Attack File, humans have been subjects of 17 documented, unprovoked attacks by hammerhead sharks within the genus "Sphyrna" since AD 1580. No human fatalities have been recorded.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: The great and the scalloped hammerheads are listed on the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) 2008 Red List as endangered, whereas the smalleye hammerhead is listed as vulnerable. The status given to these sharks is as a result of overfishing and demand for their fins, an expensive delicacy. Among others, scientists expressed their concern about the plight of the scalloped hammerhead at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Boston. The young swim mostly in shallow waters along shores all over the world to avoid predators.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: Shark fins are prized as a delicacy in certain countries in Asia (such as China), and overfishing is putting many hammerhead sharks at risk of extinction. Fishermen who harvest the animals typically cut off the fins and toss the remainder of the fish, which is often still alive, back into the sea. This practice, known as finning, is lethal to the shark.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: In native Hawaiian culture, sharks are considered to be gods of the sea, protectors of humans, and cleaners of excessive ocean life. Some of these sharks are believed to be family members who died and have been reincarnated into shark form, but others are considered man-eaters, also known as "niuhi". These sharks include great white sharks, tiger sharks, and bull sharks. The hammerhead shark, also known as "mano kihikihi", is not considered a man-eater or "niuhi"; it is considered to be one of the most respected sharks of the ocean, an "aumakua". Many Hawaiian families believe that they have an "aumakua" watching over them and protecting them from the "niuhi". The hammerhead shark is thought to be the birth animal of some children. Hawaiian children who are born with the hammerhead shark as an animal sign are believed to be warriors and are meant to sail the oceans. Hammerhead sharks rarely pass through the waters of Maui, but many Maui natives believe that their swimming by is a sign that the gods are watching over the families, and the oceans are clean and balanced.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: The relatively small bonnethead is regular at public aquariums, as it has proven easier to keep in captivity than the larger hammerhead species, and it has been bred at a handful of facilities. Nevertheless, at up to in length and with highly specialized requirements, very few private aquarists have the experience and resources necessary to maintain a bonnethead in captivity. The larger hammerhead species can reach more than twice that size and are considered difficult, even compared to most other similar-sized sharks (such as "Carcharhinus" species, lemon shark, and sand tiger shark) regularly kept by public aquariums. They are particularly vulnerable during transport between facilities, may rub on surfaces in tanks, and may collide with rocks, causing injuries to their heads, so they require very large, specially adapted tanks. As a consequence, relatively few public aquaria have kept them for long periods. The scalloped hammerhead is the most frequently maintained large species, and it has been kept long term at public aquaria in most continents, but primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia. In 2014, fewer than 15 public aquaria in the world kept scalloped hammerheads. Great hammerheads have been kept at a few facilities in North America, including Atlantis Paradise Island Resort (Bahamas), Adventure Aquarium (New Jersey), Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta), Mote Marine Laboratory (Florida), and the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay (Las Vegas). Smooth hammerheads have also been kept in the past.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: Humans are the number one threat to hammerhead sharks. Although they are not usually the primary target, hammerhead sharks are caught in fisheries all over the world. Tropical fisheries are the most common place for hammerheads to be caught because of their preference to reside in warm waters. The total number of hammerheads caught in fisheries is recorded in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Global Capture Production dataset. The number steadily increased from 75 metric tons in 1990, to 6,313 metric tons by 2010.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: Shark fin traders say that hammerheads have some of the best quality fin needles which makes them good to eat when prepared properly. Hong Kong is the world's largest fin trade market and accounts for about 1.5% of the total annual amount of fins traded. It is estimated that around 375,000 great hammerhead sharks alone are traded per year which is equivalent to 21,000 metric tons of biomass. However, it is important to note that most sharks that are caught are only used for their fins and then discarded. The actual meat of hammerheads is generally unwanted. Consumption of regular hammerhead meat has been recorded in countries such as Trinidad, Tobago, Eastern Venezuela, Kenya, and Japan.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: In March 2013, three endangered, commercially valuable sharks, the hammerheads, the oceanic whitetip, and porbeagle, were added to Appendix II of CITES, bringing shark fishing and commerce of these species under licensing and regulation.


title: Hammerhead shark

text: Among Torres Strait Islanders, the hammerhead shark, known as the "beizam", is a common family totem and often represented in cultural artefacts such as the elaborate headdresses worn for ceremonial dances, known as dhari (dari). They are associated with law and order. Renowned artist Ken Thaiday Snr is known for his representations of" beizam" in his sculptural "dari" and other works.


title: Amusement park

text: An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often featuring multiple areas with different themes. Unlike temporary and mobile funfairs and carnivals, amusement parks are stationary and built for long-lasting operation. They are more elaborate than city parks and playgrounds, usually providing attractions that cater to a variety of age groups. While amusement parks often contain themed areas, theme parks place a heavier focus with more intricately-designed themes that revolve around a particular subject or group of subjects.


title: Amusement park

text: Amusement parks evolved from European fairs, pleasure gardens, and large picnic areas, which were created for people's recreation. World's fairs and other types of international expositions also influenced the emergence of the amusement park industry. Lake Compounce opened in 1846 and is considered the oldest, continuously-operating amusement park in North America.


title: Amusement park

text: The amusement park evolved from three earlier traditions: traveling or periodic fairs, pleasure gardens, and exhibitions such as world fairs. The oldest influence was the periodic fair of the Middle Ages - one of the earliest was the Bartholomew Fair in England from 1133. By the 18th and 19th centuries, they had evolved into places of entertainment for the masses, where the public could view freak shows, acrobatics, conjuring and juggling, take part in competitions and walk through menageries.


title: Amusement park

text: A wave of innovation in the 1860s and 1870s created mechanical rides, such as the steam-powered carousel (built by Thomas Bradshaw, at the Aylsham Fair), and its derivatives, notably from Frederick Savage of King's Lynn, Norfolk whose fairground machinery was exported all over the world; his "galloping horses" innovation is seen in carousels today. This inaugurated the era of the modern funfair ride, as the working classes were increasingly able to spend their surplus wages on entertainment.


title: Amusement park

text: The second influence was the pleasure garden. An example of this is the world's oldest amusement park, Bakken ("The Hill"), which opened in mainland Europe in 1583. It is located north of Copenhagen in Klampenborg, Denmark.


title: Amusement park

text: Another early garden was the Vauxhall Gardens, founded in 1661 in London. By the late 18th century, the site had an admission fee for its many attractions. It regularly drew enormous crowds, with its paths often noted for romantic assignations; tightrope walkers, hot air balloon ascents, concerts and fireworks providing amusement. Although the gardens were originally designed for the elites, they soon became places of great social diversity. Public firework displays were put on at Marylebone Gardens, and Cremorne Gardens offered music, dancing, and animal acrobatics displays.


title: Amusement park

text: Prater in Vienna, Austria, began as a royal hunting ground which was opened in 1766 for public enjoyment. There followed coffee-houses and cafés, which led to the beginnings of the Wurstelprater as an amusement park.


title: Amusement park

text: The concept of a fixed park for amusement was further developed with the beginning of the world's fairs. The first World fair began in 1851 with the construction of the landmark Crystal Palace in London, England. The purpose of the exposition was to celebrate the industrial achievement of the nations of the world and it was designed to educate and entertain the visitors.


title: Amusement park

text: American cities and businesses also saw the world's fair as a way of demonstrating economic and industrial success. The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, Illinois was an early precursor to the modern amusement park. The fair was an enclosed site, that merged entertainment, engineering and education to entertain the masses. It set out to bedazzle the visitors, and successfully did so with a blaze of lights from the "White City." To make sure that the fair was a financial success, the planners included a dedicated amusement concessions area called the Midway Plaisance. Rides from this fair captured the imagination of the visitors and of amusement parks around the world, such as the first steel Ferris wheel, which was found in many other amusement areas, such as the Prater by 1896. Also, the experience of the enclosed ideal city with wonder, rides, culture and progress (electricity), was based on the creation of an illusory place.


title: Amusement park

text: The "midway" introduced at the Columbian Exposition would become a standard part of most amusement parks, fairs, carnivals, and circuses. The midway contained not only the rides, but other concessions and entertainments such as shooting galleries, penny arcades, games of chance, and shows.


title: Amusement park

text: Many modern amusement parks evolved from earlier pleasure resorts that had become popular with the public for day-trips or weekend holidays, for example, seaside areas such as Blackpool, United Kingdom and Coney Island, United States. In the United States, some amusement parks grew from picnic groves established along rivers and lakes that provided bathing and water sports, such as Lake Compounce in Connecticut, first established as a picturesque picnic park in 1846, and Riverside Park in Massachusetts, founded in the 1870s along the Connecticut River.


title: Amusement park

text: The trick was getting the public to the seaside or resort location. For Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, on the Atlantic Ocean, a horse-drawn streetcar line brought pleasure seekers to the beach beginning in 1829. In 1875, a million passengers rode the Coney Island Railroad, and in 1876 two million visited Coney Island. Hotels and amusements were built to accommodate both the upper classes and the working class at the beach. The first carousel was installed in the 1870s, the first roller coaster, the "Switchback Railway", in 1884.


title: Amusement park

text: In England, Blackpool was a popular beachside location beginning in the 1700s. It rose to prominence as a seaside resort with the completion in 1846 of a branch line to Blackpool from Poulton on the main Preston and Wyre Joint Railway line. A sudden influx of visitors, arriving by rail, provided the motivation for entrepreneurs to build accommodation and create new attractions, leading to more visitors and a rapid cycle of growth throughout the 1850s and 1860s.


title: Amusement park

text: In 1879, large parts of the promenade at Blackpool were wired. The lighting and its accompanying pageants reinforced Blackpool's status as the North of England's most prominent holiday resort, and its specifically working class character. It was the forerunner of the present-day Blackpool Illuminations. By the 1890s, the town had a population of 35,000, and could accommodate 250,000 holidaymakers. The number of annual visitors, many staying for a week, was estimated at three million.


title: Amusement park

text: In the final decade of the 19th century, electric trolley lines were developed in many large American cities. Companies that established the trolley lines also developed trolley parks as destinations of these lines. Trolley parks such as Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Park, or Reading's Carsonia Park were initially popular natural leisure spots before local streetcar companies purchased the sites, expanding them from picnic groves to include regular entertainments, mechanical amusements, dance halls, sports fields, boat rides, restaurants and other resort facilities.


title: Amusement park

text: Some of these parks were developed in resort locations, such as bathing resorts at the seaside in New Jersey and New York. A premiere example in New Jersey was Atlantic City, a famous vacation resort. Entrepreneurs erected amusement parks on piers that extended from the boardwalk out over the ocean. The first of several was the Ocean Pier in 1891, followed later by the Steel Pier in 1898, both of which boasted rides and attractions typical of that time, such as Midway-style games and electric trolley rides. The boardwalk also had the first Roundabout installed in 1892 by William Somers, a wooden predecessor to the Ferris Wheel. Somers installed two others in Asbury Park, New Jersey and Coney Island, New York.


title: Amusement park

text: Another early park was the Eldorado Amusement Park that opened in 1891 on the banks of the Hudson River, overlooking New York City. It consisted of 25 acres.


title: Amusement park

text: The first permanent enclosed entertainment area, regulated by a single company, was founded in Coney Island in 1895: Sea Lion Park at Coney Island in Brooklyn. This park was one of the first to charge admission fee to get into the park in addition to sell tickets for rides within the park.


title: Amusement park

text: In 1897, Sea Lion Park was joined by Steeplechase Park, the first of three major amusement parks that would open in the Coney Island area. George Tilyou designed the park to provide thrills and entertainment. The combination of the nearby population center of New York City and the ease of access to the area made Coney Island the embodiment of the American amusement park. Coney Island also featured Luna Park (1903) and Dreamland (1904). Coney Island was a huge success and by the year 1910 attendance on days could reach a million people. Fueled by the efforts of Frederick Ingersoll who borrowed the name, other "Luna Parks" were quickly erected worldwide and opened to rave reviews.


title: Amusement park

text: The first amusement park in England was opened in 1896 - the Blackpool Pleasure Beach by W. G. Bean. In 1904, Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machine was introduced; he had designed an early aircraft powered by steam engines that had been unsuccessful and instead opened up a pleasure ride of flying carriages that revolved around a central pylon. Other rides included the 'Grotto' (a fantasy ride), 'River Caves' (a scenic railway), water chutes and a tobogganing tower.


title: Amusement park

text: Fire was a constant threat in those days, as much of the construction within the amusement parks of the era was wooden. In 1911, Dreamland was the first Coney Island amusement park to completely burn down; in 1944, Luna Park also burned to the ground. Most of Ingersoll's Luna Parks were similarly destroyed, usually by arson, before his death in 1927.


title: Amusement park

text: During the Gilded Age, many Americans began working fewer hours and had more disposable income. With new-found money and time to spend on leisure activities, Americans sought new venues for entertainment. Amusement parks, set up outside major cities and in rural areas, emerged to meet this new economic opportunity. These parks served as a source of fantasy and escape from real life. By the early 1900s, hundreds of amusement parks were operating in the United States and Canada. Trolley parks stood outside many cities. Parks like Atlanta's Ponce de Leon and Idora Park, near Youngstown, OH, took passengers to traditionally popular picnic grounds, which by the late 1890s also often included rides like the Giant Swing, Carousel, and Shoot-the-Chutes. These amusement parks were often based on nationally known parks or world's fairs: they had names like Coney Island, White City, Luna Park, or Dreamland. The American Gilded Age was, in fact, amusement parks' Golden Age that reigned until the late 1920s.


title: Amusement park

text: The Golden Age of amusement parks also included the advent of the kiddie park. Founded in 1925, the original Kiddie Park is located in San Antonio, Texas and is still in operation . The kiddie parks became popular all over America after World War II.


title: Amusement park

text: This era saw the development of new innovations in roller coasters that included extreme drops and speeds to thrill the riders. By the end of the First World War, people seemed to want an even more exciting entertainment, a need met by roller coasters. Although the development of the automobile provided people with more options for satisfying their entertainment needs, the amusement parks after the war continued to be successful, while urban amusement parks saw declining attendance. The 1920s is more properly known as the Golden Age of roller coasters, being the decade of frenetic building for these rides.


title: Amusement park

text: In England, Dreamland Margate opened in 1880 with Frederick Savage's carousel the first amusement ride installed. In 1920 the Scenic Railway rollercoaster opened to the public with great success, carrying half a million passengers in its first year. The park also installed other rides common to the time including a smaller roller coaster, the Joy Wheel, Miniature Railway, The Whip and the River Caves. A ballroom was constructed on the site of the Skating Rink in 1920 and in 1923 a Variety Cinema was built on the site. Between 1920 and 1935 over £500,000 was invested in the site, constantly adding new rides and facilities and culminating in the construction of the Dreamland Cinema complex in 1934 which stands to this day.


title: Amusement park

text: Meanwhile, the Blackpool Pleasure Beach was also being developed. Frequent large-scale investments were responsible for the construction of many new rides, including the Virginia Reel, Whip, Noah's Ark, Big Dipper and Dodgems. In the 1920s the "Casino Building" was built, which remains to this day. In 1923, land was reclaimed from the sea front. It was at this period that the park moved to its 44-acre (180,000 m2) current location above what became Watson Road, which was built under the Pleasure Beach in 1932. During this time Joseph Emberton, an architect famous for his work in the amusement trade was brought in to redesign the architectural style of the Pleasure Beach rides, working on the "Grand National" roller coaster, "Noah's Ark" and the Casino building to name a few.


title: Amusement park

text: The Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II during the 1940s saw the decline of the amusement park industry. War caused the affluent urban population to move to the suburbs, television became a source of entertainment, and families went to amusement parks less often.


title: Amusement park

text: By the 1950s, factors such as urban decay, crime, and even desegregation in the ghettos led to changing patterns in how people chose to spend their free time. Many of the older, traditional amusement parks closed or burned to the ground. Many would be taken out by the wrecking ball to make way for suburb and housing and development. In 1964, Steeplechase Park, once the king of all amusement parks, closed down for good. The traditional amusement parks which survived, for example, Kennywood, in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, and Cedar Point, in Sandusky, Ohio, did so in spite of the odds.


title: Amusement park

text: Today, there are over 475 amusement parks in the United States, ranging from mega-parks and those that are operated by Warner Bros., Disney, Six Flags and Universal.


title: Amusement park

text: The amusement park industry's offerings range from immersive theme parks such as Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, the Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort to thrilling coaster parks such as the Six Flags parks and Cedar Fair parks. Countless smaller ventures exist across the United States and around the world. Simpler theme parks directly aimed at smaller children have also emerged, such as Legoland.


title: Amusement park

text: Examples of amusement parks in shopping malls exist in West Edmonton Mall, Pier 39 and Mall of America.


title: Amusement park

text: Family fun parks starting as miniature golf courses have begun to grow to include batting cages, go-karts, bumper cars, bumper boats and water slides. Some of these parks have grown to include even roller coasters, and traditional amusement parks now also have these competition areas in addition to their thrill rides.


title: Amusement park

text: In 2015, theme parks in the United States had a revenue of and theme parks in China had a revenue of , with China expected to overtake the United States by 2020.


title: Amusement park

text: Some parks use rides and attractions for educational purposes. There are also Holy Land USA and the Holy Land Experience, which are theme parks built to inspire Christian piety. Dinosaur World entertains families with dinosaurs in natural settings, while the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks also offer educational experiences, with each of the parks housing several thousand animals, fish and other sea life in dozens of attractions and exhibits focusing on animal education.


title: Amusement park

text: Created in 1977, the Puy du Fou is a much-celebrated theme park in Vendée, France. It is centered around European, French and local history. It received several international prizes.


title: Amusement park

text: Some theme parks did evolve from more traditional amusement park enterprises, such as Knott's Berry Farm. In the 1920s, Walter Knott and his family sold berries from a roadside stand, which grew to include a restaurant serving fried chicken dinners. Within a few years, lines outside the restaurant were often several hours long. To entertain the waiting crowds, Walter Knott built a Ghost Town in 1940, using buildings relocated from real old west towns such as the Calico, California ghost town and Prescott, Arizona. In 1968, the Knott family fenced the farm, charged admission for the first time, and Knott's Berry Farm officially became a theme park. Because of its long history, Knott's Berry Farm currently claims to be "America's First Theme Park." Knott's Berry Farm is now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut may be the true oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States, open since 1846. Santa Claus Town, which opened in Santa Claus, Indiana in 1935 and included Santa's Candy Castle and other Santa Claus-themed attractions is considered the first themed attraction in the United States: a precursor to the modern day theme park. Santa Claus Land (renamed Holiday World in 1984) opened in 1946 in Santa Claus, Indiana and many people will argue that it was the first true Theme Park despite Knott's history. In the 1950s the Herschend family took over operation of the tourist attraction, Marvel Cave near Branson, Missouri. Over the next decade they modernized the cave, which led to large numbers of people waiting to take the tour. The Herschend family opened a recreation of the old mining town that once existed atop Marvel Cave. The small village eventually became the theme park, Silver Dollar City. The park is still owned and operated by the Herschends and the family has several other parks including Dollywood, Kentucky Kingdom and Wild Adventures.


title: Amusement park

text: The first regional amusement park, as well as the first Six Flags park, Six Flags Over Texas was officially opened in 1961 in Arlington, Texas. The first Six Flags amusement park was the vision of Angus Wynne, Jr. and helped create the modern, competitive amusement park industry. In the late 1950s, Wynne visited Disneyland and was inspired to create an affordable, closer, and larger amusement park that would be filled with fantasy. He followed in the steps of Disney and had subdivisions within the park that reflected different lands. The subdivisions included the Old South and other sections that referenced Wynne's background. By 1968, the second Six Flags park, Six Flags Over Georgia, opened, and in 1971, Six Flags Over Mid-America (now Six Flags St. Louis) opened near St. Louis, Missouri. Also in 1971 was the opening of the Walt Disney World resort complex in Florida. In 1991 Warner Bros. in partnership with Village Roadshow, opened their own Warner Bros. Movie World. It is the only Movie-Related theme park in Australia. Warner Bros. continued their theme park ventures and opened Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi in UAE and Parque Warner Madrid in Spain.


title: Amusement park

text: Amusement parks collect much of their revenue from admission fees paid by guests attending the park. Other revenue sources include parking fees, food and beverage sales and souvenirs.


title: Amusement park

text: In amusement parks using the pay-as-you-go scheme, a guest enters the park at little or no charge. The guest must then purchase rides individually, either at the attraction's entrance or by purchasing ride tickets (or a similar exchange method, like a token). The cost of the attraction is often based on its complexity or popularity. For example, a guest might pay one ticket to ride a carousel but four tickets to ride a roller coaster.


title: Amusement park

text: The park may allow guests to purchase a pass providing unlimited admissions to all attractions within the park for a specified duration of time. A wristband or pass is then shown at the attraction entrance to gain admission.


title: Amusement park

text: Disneyland opened in 1955 using the pay-as-you-go format. Initially, guests paid the ride admission fees at the attractions. Within a short time, the problems of handling such large amounts of coins led to the development of a ticket system that, while now out of use, is still part of the amusement-park lexicon. In this new format, guests purchased ticket books that contained a number of tickets, labeled "A," "B" and "C." Rides and attractions using an "A-ticket" were generally simple, with "B-tickets" and "C-tickets" used for the larger, more popular rides. Later, the "D-ticket" was added, then finally the "E-ticket", which was used on the biggest and most elaborate rides, like Space Mountain. Smaller tickets could be traded up for use on larger rides so that for example two or three A-tickets would equal a single B-ticket. Disneyland, as well as the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, abandoned this practice in 1982.


title: Amusement park

text: An amusement park using the pay-one-price scheme will charge guests a single admission fee. The guest is then entitled to use most of the attractions (usually including flagship roller coasters) in the park as often as they wish during their visit. A daily admission pass (daypass) is the most basic fare on sale, also sold are season tickets which offer holders admission for the entire operating year (plus special privileges for the newest attractions), and express passes which gives holders priority in bypassing lineup queues for popular attractions.


title: Amusement park

text: Pay-one-price format parks also have attractions that are not included in the admission charge; these are called "up-charge attractions" and can include Skycoasters or go-kart tracks, or games of skill where prizes are won.


title: Amusement park

text: All Warner Bros. Theme Parks (Warner Bros. Movie World, Warner Bros. World, Parque Warner Madrid) follow this scheme.