title: Bathala

text: The Moors [i.e. the Tagalogs from Manila] of the Philippines have that the world, earth, and sky, and all other things that are in them, were created and made by only one god, whom they calls in their language Bachtala, napal nanca, calgna salahat, which means "God, creator and preserver of all things", and by another name they call him Mulayri. They said that this god of theirs was in the atmosphere before there was heaven or earth or anything else, that he was "ab eterno" (from eternity) and not made or created by anybody from anything, and that he alone made and created all that we have mentioned simply by his own volition because he wanted to make something so beautiful as the heaven and earth, and that he made and created one man and one woman out of the earth, from whom have come and descended all the men and their generations that are in the world.


title: Bathala

text: these people feared and revered a god, maker of all things, who some call him Bathala, others Molaiari, others Dioata and, although they confess this god as the maker of all things, they do not even know nor do they know when or how he did or what for, and that his dwelling place is in heaven.


title: Bathala

text: Every time the chiefs eat, they put a little of everything they eat or drink in small plates on the table as an offering to the anitos and the Molayare or Batala, creator of all things.


title: Bathala

text: According to the religion formerly observed by these Moros, they worshiped a deity called among them Batala, which properly means "God." They said that they adored this "Batala" because he was the Lord of all, and had created human beings and villages. They said that this "Batala" had many agents under him, whom he sent to this world to produce, in behalf of men, what is yielded here. These beings were called anitos, and each "anito" had a special office. Some of them were for the fields, and some for those who journey by sea; some for those who went to war, and some for diseases.


title: Bathala

text: Because there were many Bornean people in Manila when the Spaniards first arrived, the Spaniards called the people of Manila Moro, the Spanish name for the Muslims of the Maghreb, Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta. It was something that the friars who arrived later on repudiated, as the religion of the people of Manila was so different from what they recognized as Islamic that they could not possibly identify it as Islam, all the more so as pigs (often called "unclean animals" by Spanish chroniclers, possibly crypto-Jews) were listed among the chief holocausts to their deities, and, other than the rooster ("manok na kalakyan"), no other animal was listed. There was no feast without at least one pig being killed and roasted. This pig was always a holocaust, and consuming its flesh as a group was certainly regarded as a form of communion wth the deity to whom it had been sacrificed. The water buffalo ("anwang"), which is the greatest holocaust among Malays, was never used as such by the Tagalogs. Despite all of this, the Spaniards continued to call the people of Manila Moros for a very long time, as it served as a reason or justification for the Spaniards to seize and enslave them. The English translation of the Boxer Codex (1590) by Souza and Turley renders ""Bachtala, napalnanca, calgna salahat"" as ""Bathala na may kapangyarihan sa lahat"" which is translated into English as "God who has power over everything". The exact translation of "God, creator and preserver of all things" in Tagalog is ""Bathala na kumapal at nangangalaga sa lahat"".


title: Bathala

text: The chief deity of the Tagalas is called Bathala mei Capal, and also Diuata; and their principal idolatry consists in adoring those of their ancestors who signalised themselves for courage or abilities; calling them "Humalagar", i.e. "manes".


title: Bathala

text: "Anitería" (literally meaning worship of anitos) was the term coined by some Spanish chroniclers to denote the Tagalogs' religion, as they observed that, despite the people's belief and respect to the omnipotent Bathala, they also offered sacrifices to ancestral spirits called anitos. Miguel de Loarca (Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas, 1582) asked Tagalogs why holocausts were offered to anitos and not to Bathala. The Tagalogs answered that Bathala was a great lord, and no one could speak to him directly because he lived in heaven ("Kaluwálhatian"), so he sent down the anitos to provide for them.


title: Bathala

text: They placed their ancestors, the invocation of whom was the first thing in all their work and dangers, among these anitos.


title: Bathala

text: The function of the anitos, therefore, was similar to that of liminal deities in polytheistic religions who serve as intermediaries between mortals and the divine, such as Agni (Hindu) and Janus (Roman) who hold the access to divine realms, hence the reason why they are invoked first and are the first to receive offerings, regardless of the deity that one wants to pray to. The anitos—just like the loa of Haitian Vodou—are not considered gods and goddesses but merely messengers, intermediaries, and advocates ("abogado") of the people to the Supreme Being. This is similar in concept to Neoplatonism wherein spiritual beings called daimones carry divine things to mortals and mortal things to the Divine: requests and sacrifices from below and commandments and answers from above.


title: Bathala

text: They are the assistants, the ministers of Batala, who sends them on earth to help men. These helpers are called: Anitos. The nature of the Anito is such that he comes on earth, deals with men and speaks in his behalf to Batala.


title: Bathala

text: Some chroniclers, such as the anonymous author of Boxer Codex, do not call these agents of Bathala "anitos", but instead have referred to them as "dioses", rendered in translation by Quirino and Garcia as "gods". The American-Filipino historian William Henry Scott supports the opinion of these chroniclers (some of whom might be Crypto-Jews) that the ancient Tagalogs worshipped the anitos as gods and goddesses ("aniteria"), arguing that "in actual prayers, they were petitioned directly, not as intermediaries". Scott cites the example of a farmer's prayer to the "anito" named "Lakapati", where a child would be held over a field, and the farmer would pray: ""Lakapati, pakanin mo yaring alipin mo; huwag mong gutumin" [Lakapati feed this thy slave; let him not hunger]". However, Scott—who himself was an appointed lay missionary in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America—may be using the Protestant definition or idea of intercession and worship in contrast to that of the Catholic explorers and missionaries, who described the role of the anitos as an advocate ("abogado") or intercessor. Most chronicles (and isolated descriptions by explorers and missionaries) present one supreme deity analogous to the Christian God, evoking the impression that the Tagalog religion was monotheistic. Only a few sources include the names of other deities. Also, the missionaries who described the Tagalog religion in the early modern period did emphasize (with only a few exceptions) that the Tagalogs believed in one supreme god as the creator of all things. Their intention was mainly to find an equivalent for the Christian god in order to help them explain Catholic doctrines. Mostly, the titles of their chapters on the Tagalog religion suggest that they intended to portray the religion as a "false religion" or "superstition", despite their constant wondering whether or not the "new peoples" they claimed to have discovered already had some knowledge of the Gospel.


title: Bathala

text: Although Bathala can only be reached through the agency of the anitos, he is not a distant deity too mighty to be bothered with the concerns of mortal men. The early Tagalogs believed that, on the birth of every child, the god "Bathala" appointed a lesser spirit, whom they also called "Bathala", as guardian or "Bathala Catotobo" ("Katutubo"), identified by Father Noceda as a guardian angel. The god Bathala also guided people through omens and prophetic dreams. The souls of those who perished by the sword, were devoured by crocodiles, or killed by lightning immediately would ascend to "Kaluwálhatian" (glory) by means of the rainbow ("balangaw").


title: Bathala

text: Bathala is the subject of sacred songs such as "Diona" and "Tulingdao", wherein performers invoke him to prevent flood, drought, and pests and to grant them plentiful harvest and a beautiful field. The people of Indang and Alfonso, Cavite conducted "Sanghiyang" rituals as an offering to Bathala for a bountiful harvest, healing, a recovery from illness, or deliverance from death. The ritual is believed to have started from Naic long before the arrival of the Spaniards and the friars led to the suppression of its observance. This ritual is always done in preparation for other rituals such as ""Sayaw sa Apoy"" (Fire Dancing), ""Basang-Gilagid"" (House Blessing), Ancestral Offering, or Mediumistic Healing. It is also performed before searching for a lost item, such as jewelry and other valuables. After it, the "Magsasanghiyang" dialogues with the Superpower through her "Timbangan" (pendulum).


title: Bathala

text: Some believed that the term "Sanghiyang" is coined from two Tagalog words: isa (one), and hiyang (compatible), together meaning "compatible whole" (""nagkakaisang kabuuan""). It is more likely, however, that said ritual is related to the sacred Balinese dance ceremony Sanghyang, which is also the title for a deified spirit and means "The Revered One" or "Holiness". Hyang, or personified as "Sang Hyang", (Kawi, Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese) is an unseen spiritual entity that has supernatural power in ancient Nusantara mythology. This spirit can be either divine or ancestral. In modern Nusantara, this term tends to be associated with gods, which are each known as a "dewata" or God. Currently, the term is widely associated with Indonesian Dharmism which developed in ancient Java and Bali more than a millennium ago. However, the term actually has an older origin: it has its root in indigenous animistic and dynamistic beliefs of the Austronesian people inhabiting the Nusantara archipelago. The "Hyang" concept is indigenously developed in the archipelago and is not considered to have originated from Indian dharmic religions.


title: Bathala

text: The early Tagalogs believed that Bathala revealed his will through omens by sending the bird "tigmamanukin" ("tigmamanuquin") to which they also attributed the name Bathala. Plasencia (1589), Chirino (1604), and Colin (1663) described this bird as blue in color and as large as a thrush or turtledove. Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson identified this bird as the Philippine fairy-bluebird ("Irena cyanogastra"). Although the Boxer Codex described it as "reddish blue and black", Antonio de Morga spoke of the bird as "yellow colored", which was the color of beauty for the early Tagalogs and had religious significance to them. According to Morga, the bird "tigmamanukin"—as described by Chirino and Colin—could be either inexistent or extinct, since there is no known blue bird of the same size as a thrush; however, there is a similar yellow (though not completely so) bird called "kuliawan" ("golden oriole"). The name Bathala was also attributed to comets and other heavenly bodies which the Tagalog people believed predicted events.


title: Bathala

text: Other animals that were observed for omens include the "balatiti" or "balantikis", "uwak" (crow/raven), "kuwago" (owl), "bahaw" (mountain owl), "butiki" (lizard), "malimakan" snail, and the "tigmamanok" (white-collared kingfisher, also known as salaksak among the Ilocanos). These birds, crocodiles and lizards were so sacred to the ancient Tagalogs that killing one was considered taboo. When a crocodile died, they anointed it with sesame oil, enshrouded it in a mat and buried it. This is also reported about the "tuko" (gecko), a venomous lizard. San Buenaventura questioned the Tagalogs for tolerating monitor lizards ("bayawak"), saurians fond of eggs and chicken and therefore dangerous to poultry: ""Ano’t di ninyo siluin itong bayawak?"" (How is it that you haven't noosed this monitor lizard?) The while-collared kingfishers ("tigmamanok") were considered very sacred because they were permitted to pick a crocodile's teeth without harm. According to Chirino (1595–1602) and Colin (1663), the ancient Tagalogs held the crocodiles in the greatest veneration, and when they saw one in the water, they cried out in all subjection ""Nono"" ("Nuno"), meaning "grandfather". They asked it pleasantly and tenderly not to harm them and, for that purpose, offered it a portion of the fish they carried in their boat by throwing it into the water. Also, the river of Manila (now called Pasig River) once had a large rock ("Buayang Bato"/Stone Crocodile) that served as an idol for many years. The ancient Tagalogs left offerings to it whenever they passed by until the fathers of St. Augustine broke it into small bits and set up a cross in its place. Soon, a small shrine or chapel, with an image of St. Nicolas of Tolentino, was constructed in that location.


title: Bathala

text: Their notions of the creation of the world, and formation of mankind, had something ridiculously extravagant. They believed that the world at first consisted only of sky and water, and between these two, a glede; which, weary with flying about, and finding no place to rest, set the water at variance with the sky, which, in order to keep it in bounds, and that it should not get uppermost, loaded the water with a number of islands, in which the glede might settle and leave them at peace. Mankind they said, sprang out of a large cane with two joints, that, floating about in the water, was at length thrown by the waves against the feet of the glede, as it stood on shore, which opened it with its bill, and the man came out of one joint, and the woman out of the other. These were soon after married by consent of their god, Bathala Meycapal, which caused the first trembling of the earth; and from thence are descended the different nations of the world.


title: Bathala

text: When the world first began there was no land, but only the sea and the sky, and between them was a kite (a bird something like a hawk). One day the bird which had nowhere to light grew tired of flying about, so she stirred up the sea until it threw its waters against the sky. The sky, in order to restrain the sea, showered upon it many islands until it could no longer rise, but ran back and forth. Then the sky ordered the kite to light on one of the islands to build her nest, and to leave the sea and the sky in peace. Now at this time the land breeze and the sea breeze were married, and they had a child which was a bamboo. One day when this bamboo was floating about on the water, it struck the feet of the kite which was on the beach. The bird, angry that anything should strike it, pecked at the bamboo, and out of one section came a man and from the other a woman. Then the earthquake called on all the birds and fish to see what should be done with these two, and it was decided that they should marry. Many children were born to the couple, and from them came all the different races of people. After a while the parents grew very tired of having so many idle and useless children around, and they wished to be rid of them, but they knew of no place to send them to. Time went on and the children became so numerous that the parents enjoyed no peace. One day, in desperation, the father seized a stick and began beating them on all sides. This so frightened the children that they fled in different directions, seeking hidden rooms in the house—some concealed themselves in the walls, some ran outside, while others hid in the fireplace, and several fled to the sea. Now it happened that those who went into the hidden rooms of the house later became the chiefs of the islands; and those who concealed themselves in the walls became slaves. Those who ran outside were free men; and those who hid in the fireplace became negroes; while those who fled to the sea were gone many years, and when their children came back they were the white people.


title: Bathala

text: These creation myths refer to what is known by theologians as a "second creation". This conception presupposes a pre-existing matter or substratum out of which the Earth was made. In Philippine mythologies, struggle between two hostile forces is a common theme in the formation of the earth; hence, the existence of the Land Breeze. It is always subsequently followed by the creation or appearance of the first man and woman in contrast to the animals that precede them. According to Andres San Nicolas (1624), the Sambal people, an ethnic group closely related to the Tagalogs, particularly those in Tanay, Rizal, "did not doubt the fact of there having been in its time a creation of man, but they believed that the first one had emerged from a bamboo joint and his wife out of another, under very ridiculous and stupid circumstances." According to William Marsden (1784), the ancient Tagalogs believed that the first man and woman were produced from a bamboo pole which burst in the island of Sumatra, an they quarreled about their marriage. A paper by Catalina Villaruz, written in about 1920 and now in the H. Otley Beyer manuscript collection, reports that the Southern Luzon Tagalogs believed that the first man started his life inside a bamboo pole. He grew, the bamboo cracked, and out he came. The same story is told of the first woman, and once out of the cane they looked at each other, fell in love, and married. A Tagalog euphemism for a child born out of wedlock is ""putok sa buho"" ("one who burst out of a bamboo") – an evident carryover from the times when the myth was held as gospel of truth. According to Nick Joaquin [Alamanac for Manileño (1979)] "The man wooed the woman but the woman was shy, illusive, and stubbornly coy. Becoming impatient, God [i.e. Bathala] started violent earthquake, which flung the woman into the man’s arm. Only thus were they married and the earth populated".


title: Bathala

text: Francisco Colin identified the "earthquake" in the creation myth as a god. Based on the version of the creation myth provided by William Marsden (1784), the ancient Tagalogs viewed the "earthquake" as a manifestation of "Bathala Maykapal". However, Pedro Chirino in his writings did not speak of the "earthquake", nor did he believe that it was considered as God, as, according to the Tagalogs and the Mandayas of Mindanao who informed him, the "earthquake" was nothing more than the effect of the movement of a huge animal in the entrails of the earth. According to some, this animal was an alligator; to others, a boar which scratched his body against the trunk of the earth. This is also the belief of the mountain people of Palawan and Camarines. San Buenaventura (1663:76) threatened his congregation with the "manunungab na buwaya sa impierno" (the devouring crocodile of hell). Some documented curses in old Tagalog include "Kainin ka nang buaya!" (May a crocodile eat you!) and "Lamunin ka nang lindol!" (May the earthquake swallow you up!). The low-frequency vibrations produced by male crocodiles just before bellowing, which could vibrate the ground and result in water appearing to "dance", is more likely where the ancient Tagalogs got the idea of the origin of earthquakes. In modern Tagalog mythology, earthquakes are caused by a messianic figure named Bernardo Carpio, the King of the Tagalogs, who was trapped between the boulders in the mountains of Montalban. In contrast to the gigantic subterranean crocodile, the ancient Tagalogs also believed in the existence of a gigantic celestial bird which made its nest in the clouds. It is not clear, however, whether this bird is associated with the primordial kite/glede that initiated the series of events which led to the creation of the world and humankind. According to Colin, the Tagalogs believed that the first man and woman sprang from a bamboo pole pecked by a bird they called "Tigmamanokin" to which they applied the name of their god Bathala.


title: Bathala

text: According to Father San Agustin, the Tirurays worshipped "Linog", meaning "earthquake", who, as the god of marriage, advised the first man and woman to mate and populate the earth. "Bathala Meycapal", therefore, is identified with the Tiruray's god of marriage, linking him to another Tagalog deity named "Dian Masalanta". "Dian Masalanta" is an idol who was mentioned by Juan de Plasencia in "Relacion de las Costumbres de Los Tagalos" (1589) as the patron of lovers and procreation. "Dian Masalanta" is also correlated by some scholars to an unnamed Tagalog deity, referred to by the contemporary of Plasencia as "Alpriapo". This deity is often misidentified as the goddess of childbirth by modern writers, despite the fact that Plasencia used the masculine "patron" instead of the feminine "patrona" (patroness). The true anito of childbirth is actually "La Campinay" ("Lakang Pinay" or "Lakampinay") [Pardo inquisition report (1686-1688)], who is said to be "the first midwife in the world" [Boxer Codex (1590)].


title: Bathala

text: The meaning of the name "Dian Masalanta" is not provided, but according to Jean-Paul G. Potet (Ancient Beliefs and Customs of the Tagalogs, 2018), the meaning could be "the blind deity" [dian "deity", ma – "adj. prefic" + salanta "blindness"]. However, the name could also mean "the blinding light" (Sun?) assuming that the original spelling of the name in Tagalog was Diyang Masalanta, from Sanskrit Dia or Diya meaning "lamp or light"/ In the Malay language, "Dian" means candle. "Dia" is also the name of the supreme god of the early Visayans according to Blumentritt, which some scholars believed was derived from Sanskrit Dyu "bright shining sky", one of the first names ever given to god, which developed into the "Dewas" and "Diwatas" of all the Malayan nations. "Masalanta" (devastating) comes from the root word "salanta", which is listeded in the "Noceda and Sanlucar Vocabulario de la lengua Tagala (1754)" and the "San Buenaventura dictionary (1613)" as meaning "poor, needy, crippled, and blind". Generally, the words "magsalanta" and "nasalanta", which mean "is destroyed/devastated", are used to refer to a calamity, such as a typhoon, flood, or earthquake.


title: Bathala

text: Professor of Anthropology Fay-Cooper Cole identified the Mandayan supreme gods—the father and son "Mansilatan" (The Creator) and "Batla"/"Badla" (The Preserver/Protector)—with the Tagalog deities "Dian Masalanta" and "Bathala"/"Badhala", respectively. He also noted that "Todlai", the god of marriage of the Bagobo people, is sometimes addressed as "Maniládan". Mansilatan, the father of Batla, is the source of the omnipotent virtue called "Busao", which takes possession of the "Baylans" (Priestesses) and the "Baganis" (Warriors) while they are in a trance, making them strong and valiant above other men. In other ethnolinguistic groups of the Philippines, the term "Busao" refers to demons, monsters, and/or the spirit or god of calamity. In the Mandayan language, the prefix "man" indicates paternity, being or dominion, while the word "silatan" means 'east', the direction of the rising sun.


title: Bathala

text: Among the ancient Tagalogs, there existed a doctrine—which, according to Chirino (1601-1604), was sown by the Devil—that a woman who did not have a lover, whether married or single, could not be saved. They said that this man, in the other world, would hasten to offer the woman his hand at the passage of a very perilous stream which had no other bridge than a very narrow beam, which was traversed to reach the repose that they call "Kaluwálhatian" i.e. Bathala's abode. Hence, virginity was not recognized or esteemed among them; rather, they considered it a misfortune and a humiliation. This doctrine explains why most religious ministers ("catalonas") among the ancient Tagalogs were women. Some minority tribes in the Philippines who still have some priestesses serving them, such as the Mandayas, offer an explanation. They assert that, as opposed to men, women are more appealing and persuasive toward gods and evil spirits, who are mostly males. Other places in the afterlife besides "Kaluwálhatian" include "Maca" or ""kasanáan ng tuwa"" ("a thousand joys"), where good souls temporarily stay pending reincarnation, and ""kasanáan ng hírap"" ("a thousand pains"), where bad souls go. Whether or not "Dian Masalanta" is identified with "Bathala Meycapal" is impossible to know, as the former has only been mentioned—and rather briefly—in "Relacion de las Costumbres de Los Tagalos" (1589) by Juan de Plasencia.


title: Bathala

text: Another possible name for Bathala, although unconfirmed, is Hari, which is the old Tagalog name for the sun ('king’ in modern Tagalog), hence the Tagalog words "tanghali" (noon) and "halimaw" (lion or tiger, an animal associated with the sun in Vedic religion). The ancient Tagalogs believed that the rainbow ("balangaw") was either Bathala's bridge ("balaghari") or loincloth ("bahaghari"). The rainbow was regarded as a divine sign, and it was considered blasphemy to point one's finger at it. The Tagalogs today still use the expression "harinawa", which means "God willing" or "may God wills it". In an article written by Lorenz Lasco in Dalumat Ejournal, he cited that, in Philippine mythologies, the sky-world's own "anito" (deity) is the Sun which is symbolized by a bird. However, there is no evidence or documentations directly referring to or describing Bathala as a solar deity. The Hiligaynon anthropologist F. Landa Jocano mentioned "Apolaki" as the solar and war god of the ancient Tagalogs, who is actually the supreme god of the ancient Pangasinans, alternatively addressed by them as Anagaoley or Ama-Gaoley (Supreme Father). According to Jean-Paul G. Potet (Ancient Beliefs and Customs of the Tagalogs, 2018), no sun deity allegedly worshipped or venerated by the ancient Tagalogs was mentioned in Spanish chronicles.


title: Bathala

text: The ancient Indian ["Indio" i.e. the Tagalogs] name for God was Bathala, to whom they attributed the creation of the world. Remnants of the old idolatry remain among the people, and the names of some of the idols are preserved. A few phrases are still retained, especially in the remoter parts, as for example, "Magpabathala ca" (Let the will of Bathala be done), and the priest have been generally willing to recognize the name as not objectionable in substitution for "Dios". The Tagal word adopted for Idolatry is Pagaanito, but to the worship of images they give the term Anito.


title: Bathala

text: During the conversion of the Tagalogs to Christianity, the "katalonan" (shamans) were condemned by Spaniard missionaries as witches and were forced to convert. Ancestral and nature spirits were demonised, sometimes conflated with Biblical demons. The dictionary of Fray Domingo de los Santos gives Bathala as the Tagalog name for God the Creator in contrast with idols, to which the dictionary gives the collective names "anito" and "lic-ha", or statues. The friars believed that the anitos were demons who led the Tagalogs away from the worship of God, but Bathala was the exception to this as he was similar to the Christian concept of the Creator. The people learned to incorporate Catholic elements into some of their traditional rituals such as the "Sanghiyang" wherein the majority of the spirits invoked are presumed Christian saints. As noted by Alejandro Roces, "In Alfonso, Cavite, there is a Barrio called Marahan where there lives an exclusive sect that perform a cultic ritual known as "Sanghiyang". This ritual used to be a pagan rite of ancestral worship but was later imbued with Christian connotations and biblical justification". Presently, "Sanghiyang" is being practiced not only as a form of ancestral worship but also as preparation for mediumistic healing and as a preliminary rite for a more colorful ritual called ""Sayaw sa Apoy"" (Dance on Fire). In the course of the 19th century, the term Bathala fell out of use, as it was replaced by "Panginoon" (Lord) and "Diyos" (God).


title: Bathala

text: "Bathalismo" is a religious movement in the Philippines whose mythology is partly borrowed from Christianity. Bathala is a name in this movement, hence its case markers in Tagalog are "si", "ni", and "kay". In classical Tagalog, Bathala, being a title, not a name, has the markers of common nouns – ang/ng/sa – e.g. "ngunit ang Bathala’y dapat nating sundin" (but God we must obey). The same rule applies to Diyos – ang Diyos/ng Diyos/sa Diyos. Regarding the word “Bathala” in Baybayin, with the characters written from top to bottom, Pedro Paterno (1915 in Pambid 2000:108) considers that the “ba” character stands for ‘’babae’’ (woman/female), the “la” character for "lalaki" (man/male), and the “ha” character for the rays of spiritual light beaming from heaven, or the Holy Spirit of God. According to him, this was the concept of the Holy Trinity before the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines. Paterno was a self-styled renaissance man. He was educated in philosophy and theology, and he held a doctorate in law. He also wrote several books on Filipino ethnology, including "La antigua civilización tagalog", the book in which he first imagined the Bathala-baybayin connection which some people today misconstrue as a proven part of ancient Filipino spirituality. Jose Rizal, no less, wrote the following in a letter to his friend, the ethnologist Ferdinand Blumentritt:


title: Bathala

text: In regard to the work of my countryman P.A. Paterno on Bathalà, I tell you, pay no attention to it; P.A. Paterno is like this: [here Rizal drew a line with a series of loops]. I can find no word for it, but only a sign like this: [more loops].


title: Bathala

text: In Anting-anting—a post-colonial esoteric belief system and traditional occult practices of the Tagalogs—Bathala, also known as the "Infinito Dios" or "Nuno", is identified with the magical power ("bertud" or "galing") residing in amulets and talismans.


title: Bathala

text: It can be said that the "Infinito Dios" or "Nuno" (native Bathala of the Tagalogs) is the genius or "galing" of Filipinos who entered the stone or "anting-anting", that even though they were not able to blossom and won because of poverty and lack of power


title: Bathala

text: In this belief system the "Nuno" or "Infinito Dios" is the highest God and the oldest being from whom everything emanated. One of these emanations is the "Santisima Trinidad" (Holy Trinity) to whom the "Infinito Dios" gave authority to create the world and its inhabitants. "Maria" (which should not be confused with the Virgin Mary) or the "Infinita Dios" (i.e. the female aspect of the Divine) is said to be the first emanation of the "Infinito Dios" who sprang forth from his mind (Holy Wisdom/Divine Logos?). The sum of all these powers is the "Cinco Vocales" i.e. the five vowels of the Filipino alphabet: AEIOU. 'A’ for the "Infinito Dios"/"Nuno", ’E’ for the "Infinita Dios"/"Maria", 'I’ for God the Father, 'O’ for God the Son, and 'U’ for the Holy Spirit. The "Cinco Vocales", also known as the fragment ("Basag") of the supreme deity, is said to be the secret names of God that gives power. The "antiñgeros" (initiates of anting-anting) simplified the complexity of one god in five personas. For them, the "Cinco Vocales" ranked as the highest deity because it is the complete composition of the five highest gods ("Kadeusan"). The "Infinito Dios"/"Nuno", the "Infinita Dios"/"Maria", and the "Santisima Trinidad" all share in the equality of their divinity. No one is more or less than the other. The "Infinito Dios" is also referred to as "Animasola" (Lonely Soul), "Waksim" (As water deity), and "Atardar" (His warrior or protective aspect). While the "Infinita Dios" is also referred to as "Gumamela Celis" (Flower of Heaven), "Rosa Mundi" (Flower of the World), and "Dios Ina" (God the Mother); she is also identified with the" Inang Pilipinas" (Mother Philippines) or "Inang Bayan" (Motherland) celebrated in the writings of the revolutionary Andres Bonifacio (Tapunan ng Lingap; Katapusang Hibik ng Pilipinas). Although it is widely believed that this esoteric belief system preceded Spanish colonization and Catholicism, the Tagalog term "antíng-antíng" "talisman" is not recorded by lexicographers until the second half of the 19th century. The same can be said of its synonyms: "agímat", "búti", "dúpil", and "galíng" (Laktaw 1914:236: dúpil).


title: Bathala

text: In the beginning, there was a bright light that covered the entire universe. This light was called the "Infinito Dios". There is no God other than the "Infinito Dios". He was the "Animasola" (Lonely Soul), a winged eye wrapped in a shawl, forever changing his form while floating in space. Soon the "Infinito Dios" decided to create the world. He pulled the light in order to give way to the darkness. His light receded until it became a small ball of light. The ball of light suddenly had a gash on the lower portion that became a mouth. On top of the mouth a line appeared that became the nose. On top of the nose emerged two holes that became eyes. From these eyes came forth bursts of flame. Parallel to the eyes, on the sides, two holes appeared that became the ears. In short, the "Infinito Dios", the ball of light, became a figure resembling a man's head.


title: Bathala

text: Before the "Infinito Dios" created the universe, he decided to have someone help him in his task of creation. While thinking, five shining letters sprang forth from His mind that became the five petals of a beautiful flower ("mayuming bulaklak"). This flower is called the "Gumamela Celis" (Flower of Heaven) or "Rosa Mundi" (Flower of the Earth). The five letters are none other than the beautiful name M-A-R-I-A, which in Syrian language is Miriam, which means the highest. The original name of Maria before God created the universe was "Bulaklak" (Flower).


title: Bathala

text: The "Infinito Dios" decided to create beings to assist him in his task of creation. While thinking, the "Infinito Dios" suddenly had perspiration on his right side. When he wiped his right side, the droplets became 16 spirits. Two of these spirits became "Uph Madac" and "Abo Natac", the two elders who reside in the two corners of the Earth and are the guardians of the Sun and the Moon. The next six spirits became the beings who reside outside the earth. They did not want to receive any blessings from the "Infinito Dios". Their names are "Elim", "Borim", "Morim", "Bicairim", "Persulatim" and "Mitim". The next seven spirits became the unbaptized Archangels named "Amaley", "Alpacor", "Amacor", "Apalco", "Alco", "Arago", and "Azaragoe". The last spirit was called "Luzbel", a spirit whose name means light of heaven. His name is "Becca", the being who will later rebel against the "Infinito Dios". His other name is Lucifer.


title: Bathala

text: Meanwhile, the "Infinito Dios" decided to create other beings. While thinking, he suddenly perspired on his left side. Wiping the perspiration, the droplets became eight spirit beings. Five of them became the beings who went to Jesus Christ while he was nailed to the cross to ask for his blessing. But before he could give his blessing to these five spirits, Jesus expired. The five spirits never received their blessings and therefore retained their original names of "Istac", "Inatac", "Isnatac", "Tartaraw", and "Sarapao". The last three spirit beings became known as the "Tres Personas", or the "Santisima Trinidad". The "Infinito Dios" gave them the task to create the world and its inhabitants. On each of the eyes of the "Tres Personas" can be seen the letter M, which is the initial of their names: "Magob", "Mariagob", and "Magogab".


title: Bathala

text: Before the name "Maria" was used, God only called the first fruit of his thought "Bulaklak" (Flower). The first thing God prepared for the beginning of his creation was "Impierno" (Hell) or "Averni" which is below and in the abbys. He said to "Bulaklak": "I will leave you for a while, guard my Ark of the Covenant and do not dare to open it, if you do not obey my command you will go down to the land that I will create and will suffer to gather the scattered and lost "virtudes". When God said that he went down to the abyss to prepare a sad home for his chosen Archangels who would be created and would rebel against him. When God left, "Bulaklak" opened the said Ark of the Covenant in the desire to know the truth and the fulfillment of his words. When the ark was opened, three letters "B" with wings suddenly appeared and flew away. The three letters mentioned are "BAM BAU BIM" also known as "Tres Virtudes" which are very miraculous and wonderful. "Bulaklak" immediately closed the box, but the three "B" has been released already and she could not find them. When God returned from the abyss, he said to "Bulaklak": "Now, what I said to you will be fulfilled, that you will descend to the earth and will suffer."


title: Bathala

text: God has already made the plan or the form of his works and creations: water, fire, earth, heaven, trees and plants, sun, moon, stars, and, above all, the holy spirits that would help him in his works and creations. God showed it to his consultant "Bulaklak". She said the spiritual creations are perfect and good, but the material things should be changed. Because in God's plan, the huge and tall trees are to bear large fruits and the small and low trees are to bear tiny fruits. "Bulaklak" said if those trees were to be placed on the ground, people and animals will seek shelter to the huge and tall trees when exposed to the heat of the sun, and if the large fruits of the trees are ripe and cannot withstand the stalk and fall, it may cause injury or death to said people and animals.


title: Bathala

text: God changed the plan in accordance with "Bulaklak’s" advice. The huge and tall trees are the one to bear tiny fruits, while the small and low trees are the one to bear large fruits. When everything was ready God thought to create his helpers, he was suddenly sweaty, and when he shed it away on his right and left side, the sixteen droplets of sweat on his right side became the sixteen spirits while the eight droplets of sweat on his left side became the eight spirits. In these twenty-four he drew three to carry out his plan of creation. These are the so-called three powerful "AVELATOR AVETEMET AVETILLO". These are the "Tres Persona" or "Santisima Trinidad" who spoke from the beginning of creation.


title: Bathala

text: The "Nuno" or "Infinito Dios", the first and most powerful of all, created the twenty four holy spirits and among them he chose the three who are known under the names: "Tres Persona Solo Dios", the "Sagrada Familia", and the "Santisima Trinidad". The three were the helpers and executioners of the creative plans made by the "Nuno" and "Maria" or "Gumamela Celis".


title: Bathala

text: When the "Tres Persona" talked – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – about the things they created, suddenly the "Nuno" joined and hid from the Three. The Three thought that they are the first and have the right to plan creations. They are not aware that everything was planned before they were created. The "Tres Persona" was deeply confused by the mysterious voice they heard and what they saw: a winged eye, light, and an old man. As the Three chase the mysterious voice, they exchanged "oraciones" or words of power until they reach the heaven's gate. In this phase, the "Tres Persona" will be called "Sagrada Familia".


title: Bathala

text: The "Tres Persona" did not know that they come from One God – The "Nuno", that God the Father is the son of the "Nuno", and that God the Son is the grandchild. Because they do not know this, they desire to seize and baptize whom they thought was the god of the heathens in order to be saved. The chase ended when the "Nuno" entered the mount "Bood". After the battle and exchange of "oraciones", with persuasion, the "Nuno" agreed to be baptized but would do so by his own power. The "Nuno" took out his finger from the rock to be baptized, as depicted in the "anting-anting" of the "Infinito Dios". However, it was said that for some mysterious reason the "Nuno" was not really baptized.


title: Bathala

text: The twenty-four "Ancianos" are the holy spirits created by the "Infinito Dios" (from his sweat) as helpers in his works; they are identified by the "antiñgeros" with the Twenty-Four Elders mentioned in Revelation 11: 16. The twenty-four "Ancianos" have been given by the "Infinito Dios" roles and names which wield magical powers. One of the duties of the twenty-four "Ancianos" is to keep track of the hours of each day, the first of them is to keep track of the time of 1 o’clock in the morning, and so on in succession until the end of the exact 24 hours according to their respective numbers. They are also the observers of everything that people do or work on earth, be it right or wrong, so man's sins are not safe from the Lord because of it.


title: Bathala

text: The first two elders ("nuno") who reside in the two corners of the Earth and are the guardians of the Sun and the Moon:


title: Bathala

text: 1. UPH MADAC - She is the first spirit of the twenty-four "Ancianos", except for guarding the first hour after midnight. She designed the Sun in accordance with the task given to her by the "Infinito Dios". She made many designs and presented them to her companions and to the Lord, and they chose and all agreed on the shape or appearance of the sun which gives light to the world from then until now and into the future.


title: Bathala

text: 2. ABO NATAC - He is the second spirit who designed the Moon which gives us light during the night. He did the same, many were also created and these were presented to his companions and to the "Infinito Dios", and they agreed on the shape of the moon that is present today.


title: Bathala

text: The following six spirits do not receive any other office. What they did was just wander out into the world, and be God's watchmen:


title: Bathala

text: 9. AMALEY - He is the president and first minister of the archangel warriors. He is "San Miguel Arcanghel", on his shoulders rests the fight against the wicked to have security on earth and in heaven. "San Miguel" is assigned as the watchman from 9:00 AM to 9:59 AM on each day, he is also the watchman on the first day of each week, which is Sunday, so he is the one to call on these days to avoid any disasters or events that do not occur. He is also the spirit messenger and messenger of the "Infinito Dios" throughout the heavens.


title: Bathala

text: 10. ALPACOR – He is the one made secretary by the "Siete Arkanghelis" of the whole universe, he is "San Gabriel" who is the recorder of all the hidden wonders in the whole universe and galaxy. "San Gabriel" is the watchman from 10:00 AM to 10:59 AM of each day, He is also the watchman every Monday, therefore it is good to call him on this day to be saved from all disasters .


title: Bathala

text: 11. AMACOR - He is the prince of the angelic justice and also the giver of heavenly grace for which he is also the Butler of the Infinite God. This angel is well known by the name "San Rafael", he is the watchman at 11:00 AM of each day and of Tuesdays. He is the one to be called on these days for salvation from calamities.


title: Bathala

text: 12. APALCO - He is the angel who was made Justicia mayor in heaven. Chief Ruler of heavenly things and recommender to God of the punishment to be inflicted, he is also the giver of wisdom to be used by the soul and earthly body of man. This angel is identified as "San Uriel" who is assigned to watch at 12 noon and he is also the watchman on Wednesdays, so he must be called on this day to be saved from any disaster.


title: Bathala

text: 13. ALCO - This is the spirit that offers or prays to God of any good work of man, he is also the receiver and informer of human needs, regarding God. This angel is "San Seatiel" who is the watchman on Thursdays and the time of the first hour of the afternoon of each day, so he should be the one to be called on these days:


title: Bathala

text: 14. ARACO - This is the spirit who was made the keeper of treasures and graces. He holds the key to giving the riches and glory of God. This angel is "San Judiel", the benefactor and giver of God's mercy. He is also the assigned watchman on Fridays, so he should be the one to be called on these days.


title: Bathala

text: 15. AZARAGUE - This is the guardian spirit of Heaven and Earth, and he is the helper and protector of all spirits under the Infinito Dios. He is "San Baraquiel" the watchman at 3 pm of each day and is also assigned as the watchman of every Saturdays, so he is the one to be called on these days. "San Baraquiel" is the last of the Seven Archangels to be known as the seven warriors of God the Father.


title: Bathala

text: 16. LUXBEL – He is the youngest ("bunso") of the 16 spirits first created by the "Infinito Dios". His name means "Light of Heaven" because he is the closest to God. When God began his creation, he was baptized with the name BECCA, but he disobeyed the Infinito Dios so he renamed him "LUXQUER" or "LUCIFER". The history of "Luxbel" can be found in a book entitled "DIEZ MUNDOS" (Ten Planets). In this book you will find various types of illicit wisdom such as hexes ("kulam"), glamour ("malik mata"), philters ("gayuma") and many more. Anyone is discouraged to have a copy of this book because it is the cause of unforgivable sin to the Lord.


title: Bathala

text: The following five spirits were not baptized and did not accept the calling. When the Lord Jesus Christ was currently hanging on the cross, they came to be baptized, but it did not happen because at that time our Lord Jesus breathed his last. They are:


title: Bathala

text: 22. MAGUGAB - This spirit presents himself as "Dios Ama" (God the Father), who some say is the first person of the "Santisima Trinidad". But as "Dios Ama", he is not the "Infinito Dios", but only given him the right and duty to identify himself as God the Father. He was given the design of the world and all its contents such as the various types of flying creatures in the air or those crawling on the ground, especially man. He is the watchman from 9:00 PM to 9:59 PM.


title: Bathala

text: 23. MARIAGUB - This spirit is the second person in the "Santisima Trinidad", he has the fullness of "Dios Anak" (God the Son) and the power to fulfill the mysteries wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the spirit who incarnates in order to save those who receive and believe in him. This spirit is the one who, in every age, enters the body of the people commanded by God, which was then called the "Lamb of God." He is the watchman from 10:00 PM to 10:59 PM.


title: Bathala

text: 24. MAGUB - This is the third person of the "Santisima Trinidad" as the "Espiritu Santo" (Holy Spirit), he is the one who acts to accomplish the thing that must happen in the present. Through his power the promises of the "Infinito Dios" to the People are formed and fulfilled. He is watchman from 11:00 PM to midnight or 12: 00MN.


title: Bathala

text: In ancient Bicol, "bathala" was a minor divinity, represented by a small image which Bicolanos always carried for good luck; according to the Bicol grammar of Mark of Lisbon (1628, 61), "they say it was an anito that brought good luck to one it accompanied". Thus, if a man was never hit by objects thrown at him, he was said to be "batalaan". According to Ferdinand Blumentritt, the ancient Bicolano "bathala" is a kind of guardian angel. Its counterpart in the Tagalog culture, according to Isabelo de los Reyes, is the "badhala katutubo".


title: Bathala

text: According to Andrés de San Nicolás (1664, 420), "Bathala mey kapal" is also among the deities of the Sambal people, whose false genealogies and fabulous deeds they celebrated in certain tunes and verses like hymns, which William Henry Scott wrote may have been due to the influences of the Tagalogs in their culture or beliefs.


title: Bathala

text: Diccionario Pampango del P. Beiv gaño, 1860 defined "batala" as "a bird to whom the Pampangos have their omens".


title: Bathala

text: According to Ferdinand Blumentritt (1895) the term "bathala" among the ancient Visayans referred to the images of "diwatas" (gods).


title: Bathala

text: Note: The bird Adarna is the eponymous character of a 16th-century Filipino tale in verse ""Corrido" and Life Lived by the Three Princes, children of King Fernando and Queen Valeriana in the Kingdom of Berbania", which is believed by some researchers to have been based on similar European stories. The tale is also known as "The Aderna Bird".


title: Eared seal

text: An eared seal or otariid or otary is any member of the marine mammal family Otariidae, one of three groupings of pinnipeds. They comprise 15 extant species in seven genera (another species became extinct in the 1950s) and are commonly known either as sea lions or fur seals, distinct from true seals (phocids) and the walrus (odobenids). Otariids are adapted to a semiaquatic lifestyle, feeding and migrating in the water, but breeding and resting on land or ice. They reside in subpolar, temperate, and equatorial waters throughout the Pacific and Southern Oceans and the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans. They are conspicuously absent in the north Atlantic.


title: Eared seal

text: The words 'otariid' and 'otary' come from the Greek "" meaning "little ear", referring to the small but visible external ear flaps (pinnae), which distinguishes them from the phocids.


title: Eared seal

text: Morphological and molecular evidence supports a monophyetic origin of pinnipeds, sharing a common ancestor with Musteloidea, though an earlier hypothesis suggested that Otаriidae are descended from a common ancestor most closely related to modern bears. Debate remains as to whether the phocids diverged from the otariids before or after the walrus.


title: Eared seal

text: Otariids arose in the Miocene (15–17 million years ago) in the North Pacific, diversifying rapidly into the Southern Hemisphere, where most species now live. The earliest known fossil otariid is "Eotaria crypta" from southern California, while the genus "Callorhinus" (northern fur seal) has the oldest fossil record of any living otariid, extending to the middle Pliocene. It probably arose from the extinct fur seal genus "Thalassoleon".


title: Eared seal

text: Traditionally, otariids had been subdivided into the fur seal (Arctocephalinae) and sea lion (Otariinae) subfamilies, with the major distinction between them being the presence of a thick underfur layer in the former. Under this categorization, the fur seals comprised two genera: "Callorhinus" in the North Pacific with a single representative, the northern fur seal ("C. ursinus"), and eight species in the Southern Hemisphere under the genus "Arctocephalus"; while the sea lions comprise five species under five genera. Recent analyses of the genetic evidence suggests that "Callorhinus ursinus" is in fact more closely related to several sea lion species. Furthermore, many of the Otariinae appear to be more phylogenetically distinct than previously assumed; for example, the Japanese sea lion ("Zalophus japonicus") is now considered a separate species, rather than a subspecies of the California sea lion ("Zalophus californius"). In light of this evidence, the subfamily separation has been removed entirely and the family Otariidae has been organized into seven genera with 16 species and two subspecies.


title: Eared seal

text: Nonetheless, because of morphological and behavioral similarities among the "fur seals" and "sea lions", these remain useful categories when discussing differences between groups of species. Compared to sea lions, fur seals are generally smaller, exhibit greater sexual dimorphism, eat smaller prey and go on longer foraging trips; and, of course, there is the contrast between the coarse short sea lion hair and the fur seal's fur.


title: Eared seal

text: Otariids have proportionately much larger foreflippers and pectoral muscles than phocids, and have the ability to turn their hind limbs forward and walk on all fours, making them far more maneuverable on land. They are generally considered to be less adapted to an aquatic lifestyle, since they breed primarily on land and haul out more frequently than true seals. However, they can attain higher bursts of speed and have greater maneuverability in the water. Their swimming power derives from the use of flippers more so than the sinuous whole-body movements typical of phocids and walruses.


title: Eared seal

text: Otariids are further distinguished by a more dog-like head, sharp, well-developed canines, and the aforementioned visible external pinnae. Their postcanine teeth are generally simple and conical in shape. The dental formula for eared seals is: . Sea lions are covered with coarse guard hairs, while fur seals have a thick underfur, which has historically made them the objects of commercial exploitation.


title: Eared seal

text: Male otariids range in size from the 70-kg (150-lb) Galápagos fur seal, smallest of all otariids, to the over 1,000-kg (2,200-lb) Steller sea lion. Mature male otariids weigh two to six times as much as females, with proportionately larger heads, necks, and chests, making them the most sexually dimorphic of all mammals.


title: Eared seal

text: All otariids breed on land during well-defined breeding seasons. Except for the Australian sea lion, which has an atypical 17.5 month breeding cycle, they form strictly annual aggregations on beaches or rocky substrates, often on islands. All species are polygynous; i.e. successful males breed with several females. In most species, males arrive at breeding sites first and establish and maintain territories through vocal and visual displays and occasional fighting. Females typically arrive on shore a day or so before giving birth. While considered social animals, no permanent hierarchies or statuses are established on the colonies. The extent to which males control females or territories varies between species. Thus, the northern fur seal and the South American sea lion tend to herd specific harem-associated females, occasionally injuring them, while the Steller sea lion and the New Zealand sea lion control spatial territories, but do not generally interfere with the movement of the females. Female New Zealand sea lions are the only otrariids that move up to into forests to protect their pups during the breeding season.


title: Eared seal

text: Otariids are carnivorous, feeding on fish, squid and krill. Sea lions tend to feed closer to shore in upwelling zones, feeding on larger fish, while the smaller fur seals tend to take longer, offshore foraging trips and can subsist on large numbers of smaller prey items. They are visual feeders. Some females are capable of dives of up to 400 m (1,300 ft).


title: Eared seal

text: Although the two subfamilies of otariids, the Otariinae (sea lions) and Arctocephalinae (fur seals), are still widely used, recent molecular studies have demonstrated that they may be invalid. Instead, they suggest three clades within the family; one consisting of the northern sea lions ("Eumetopias" and "Zalophus"), one of the northern fur seal ("Callorhinus") and its extinct relatives, and the third of all the remaining Southern Hemisphere species.


title: Cell Block Tango

text: "Cell Block Tango" is a song from the 1975 musical "Chicago", with music composed by John Kander and lyrics written by Fred Ebb.


title: Cell Block Tango

text: At the Cook County Jail women's annex, six women explain their presence in the jail, all of whom stand accused of killing their significant others. "He had it coming" is a refrain throughout the number, as each think their crime was justified. Each murder suspect is identified with a particular word that punctuates the song: "Pop! Six! Squish! Uh-uh! Cicero! Lipschitz!"


title: Cell Block Tango

text: On Broadway, the song was originally performed by Chita Rivera, with Candy Brown, Cheryl Clark, Graciela Daniele, Michon Peacock and Pamela Sousa. In the 2002 film, this musical number is performed by Catherine Zeta-Jones (as Velma Kelly), Susan Misner (as Liz), Denise Faye (as Annie), Deidre Goodwin (as June), Ekaterina Chtchelkanova (as Katalin Helinszki nicknamed the Hunyak), and Mýa (as Mona).


title: Cell Block Tango

text: In the "Glee" episode "Choke", the song was covered by main characters Santana, Brittany, Mercedes, Sugar, and Tina.


title: Cell Block Tango

text: Girls Generation's Hyoyeon popularized the song in South Korea after performing in the dance reality show "Hit the stage".


title: Cell Block Tango

text: Child actors in the Broadway production of "The Secret Garden" performed the number as part of a 1992 AIDS benefit in New York City.


title: Cell Block Tango

text: Todrick Hall has parodied the song to make "Spell Block Tango" using Disney villains Captain Hook (as the master of ceremonies), Cruella De Vil, The Evil Queen, Ursula, Queen of Hearts, Scar (which he portrayed), and Maleficent. Hall also parodied the song as "Cell Black Django" using celebrities NeNe Leakes (as the master of ceremonies), Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Solange Knowles, Beyoncé, internet meme "Sharkeisha" (which he portrayed), and Mariah Carey.


title: Cell Block Tango

text: In the "Gotham" episode "Let Them Eat Pie," Professor Pyg does his rendition of the song called the "Meat Pie Tango" at Sofia Falcone's charity event at the Falcone Home and School for Orphans.


title: Cell Block Tango

text: In the "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" episode "I Want to be Here," Rebecca Bunch attempts to lead a homage to the song in prison, but is unnerved by how depressing her fellow inmates stories are.


title: Farmhouse

text: A farmhouse is a building that serves as the primary quarters in a rural or agricultural setting. Historically, farmhouses were often combined with space for animals called a housebarn. Other farmhouses may be connected to one or more barns, built to form a courtyard, or with each farm building separate from each other.


title: Farmhouse

text: A Bresse house () is a type of farmhouse found in the Bresse region and characterized by its long length, brick walls and wooden roof.


title: Farmhouse

text: Historically there were three main types of German farmhouses, many of which survive today. The Low German house or "Niedersachsenhaus" (Lower Saxony house) is found mainly on the North German Plain, but also in large parts of the Netherlands. It is a large structure with a sweeping roof supported by two to four rows of internal posts. The large barn door at the gable end opens into a spacious hall, or "Deele", with cattle stalls and barns on either side and living accommodation at the end. The Middle German house may also be a single unit, but access is from the side, and the roof is supported by the outside walls. Later this type of "mitteldeutsches Haus" was expanded to two or more buildings around a rectangular farmyard, often with a second story. The South German house is found in southern Germany and has two main variants, the Swabian or Black Forest house and the Bavarian farmstead.


title: Farmhouse

text: A Cascina a corte is a courtyard building whose arrangement is based on the Roman villa found in the Po Valley of northern Italy.


title: Farmhouse

text: A house called in Italy is a type of farmhouse where the residents work the land but do not own the farm.


title: Farmhouse

text: Ta' Tabibu farmhouse and Ta' Xindi Farmhouse are two typical Maltese farmhouses built with the use of Limestone material. In Maltese a farmhouse is called "Razzett". Other examples of Maltese farmhouses are the Ta' Cisju Farmhouse and The Devil's Farmhouse.


title: Farmhouse

text: Norwegian farmhouses used timber or logs and were built using Scandinavian vernacular architecture. The first examples are traced back to the 13th century. In some cases farmhouses are built on steep hillsides of the fjords, such as the Me-Åkernes farmland.


title: Farmhouse

text: Alqueria is the name given to farmhouses in Valencia. The Baserri is found in the Basque Country in Northern Spain and Southwestern France. The Cabaña pasiega is a two-level dwelling for farmers and livestock found in Cantabria. The Masia originates from Catalonia, and the Palloza is a primitive, circular dwelling with a conical roof. Cortijos also called Caserías when related to large rural estates are found Andalusia, Extremadura, Murcia, Ciudad Real and Albacete. Hacienda also occasionally functioned as a farmhouse.


title: Farmhouse

text: Canadian farmhouses were influenced by European settlers. In Quebec, the style varied from Gothic to Swiss, with the kitchen being the most important room in the house. In Ontario, the farmhouses of the late 19th century were of Victorian influence. Earlier ones used clapboard and later variations had brick. Many had front porches. In the west, dwellings varied from single-story wooden homesteads to straw huts. Wooden houses were built later as railroads brought wood from the Rockies (Alberta, British Columbia). By the early 1900s houses could be purchased as kits from several Canadian and American companies. Canadian homes often differ from their American counterparts in that the porch was often enclosed.


title: Farmhouse

text: From 1850 onward many featured vernacular interpretations of the more formal architectural styles, such as Greek Revival, Italianate, Carpenter Gothic, and Queen Anne.


title: Farmhouse

text: American farmhouses had a straightforward construction designed to function amidst a working farm in a rural setting. They had a simple rectangular floor plan, usually built with local materials, and included a dominant centrally-located fireplace for cooking and heating.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: As early as the 1920s, the Soviet Union, through its GRU, OGPU, NKVD, and KGB intelligence agencies, used Russian and foreign-born nationals (resident spies), as well as Communists of American origin, to perform espionage activities in the United States, forming various spy rings. Particularly during the 1940s, some of these espionage networks had contact with various U.S. government agencies. These Soviet espionage networks illegally transmitted confidential information to Moscow, such as information on the development of the atomic bomb (see atomic spies). Soviet spies also participated in propaganda and disinformation operations, known as active measures, and attempted to sabotage diplomatic relationships between the U.S. and its allies.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: During the 1920s Soviet intelligence focused on military and industrial espionage in Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, specifically in the aircraft and munitions industries, in order to industrialize and compete with Western powers, as well as strengthening the Soviet armed forces. The United States opened diplomatic ties to the Soviet Union in 1933, normalizing relations, but also opening the door to a number of spies which initially focused on technological espionage. One early Soviet spy was Jones Orin York who was recruited by the KGB's predecessors in 1935. The Soviets' Amtorg Trading Corporation established in 1924 would become a nexus of espionage.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Historian Harvey Klehr describes that the American businessman Armand Hammer "met Lenin in 1921 and, in return for a concession to manufacture pencils, agreed to launder Soviet money to benefit communist parties in Europe and America." Historian Edward Jay Epstein noted that "Hammer received extraordinary treatment from Moscow in many ways. He was permitted by the Soviet Government to take millions of dollars worth of czarist art out of the country when he returned to the United States in 1932." According to journalist Alan Farnham, "Over the decades Hammer continued traveling to Russia, hobnobbing with its leaders to the point that both the CIA and the FBI suspected him of being a full-fledged agent."


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Earl Browder, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA), served as an agent recruiter himself on behalf of Soviet intelligence. Browder later stated that "by the mid-thirties, the Party was not putting its principal emphasis on recruiting members." Left unstated was his intent to use party members for espionage work, where suitable. Browder advocated the use of a "United Front" involving other members of the left, both to strengthen advocacy of pro-Soviet policy and to enlarge the pool of potential recruits for espionage work. The illegal residency of NKVD in the US was established in 1934 by the former Berlin resident Boris Bazarov. In 1935, NKVD agent Iskhak Akhmerov entered the US with false identity papers to assist Bazarov in the collection of useful intelligence, and operated without interruption until 1939, when he left the US. Akhmerov's wife, an American who worked for Soviet intelligence, was Helen Lowry (Elza Akhmerova), the niece of CPUSA General Secretary Earl Browder. Recent information from Soviet archives has revealed that Browder's younger sister Marguerite worked until 1938 as an NKVD operative in Europe. She discontinued this work only when Browder himself requested her release from duty, fearful that her work would compromise his position as General Secretary.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: In the 1930s, the chief Soviet espionage organization operating in the U.S. became the GRU. J. Peters headed the secret apparatus that supplied internal government documents from the Ware group to the GRU. Browder assisted Peters in building a network of operatives in the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This group allegedly included Alger Hiss, John Abt, and Lee Pressman (Pressman admitted participation in the group, but denied it was involved in espionage). Courier for the group at the time was Whittaker Chambers. Browder oversaw the efforts of Jacob Golos and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Bentley, whose network of agents and sources included two key figures at the Department of Treasury, Nathan Gregory Silvermaster and Harry Dexter White.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: One early Soviet spy ring was headed by Jacob Golos. Jake Golos (birth name Jacob Golosenko, Tasin, Rasin or Raisen) was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet secret police (NKVD) operative in the USSR. He was also a longtime senior official of the CPUSA involved in covert work and cooperation with Soviet intelligence agencies. He took over an existing network of agents and intelligence sources from Earl Browder. Golos' controller was the head of the NKVD's American desk, Gaik Ovakimian, also known as "The Puppetmaster", who would later serve a key role in the assassination of Leon Trotsky. Golos was the "main pillar" of the NKVD intelligence network. He had worked with Soviet intelligence from the mid-1930s, and probably earlier. He was not merely a CPUSA official assisting the NKVD (an agent or "probationer" in Soviet intelligence parlance) but held official rank in the NKVD, and claimed to be an oldtime Chekist.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Golos established a company called "World Tourists" with money from Earl Browder, the General Secretary. The firm, which posed as a travel agency, was used to facilitate international travel to and from the United States by Soviet agents and CPUSA members. World Tourists was also involved in manufacturing fake passports, as Browder used such a false passport on covert trips to the Soviet Union in 1936. At World Tourist, Golos frequently met Bernard Schuster, an NKVD agent (code name "ECHO" and "DICK") and Communist Party functionary who carried out background investigations for Golos as part of the vetting process of agent candidates. In March 1940, Golos pleaded guilty to being an unregistered foreign agent, paid a $500 fine (equivalent to $ today), and served probation in lieu of a four-month prison sentence.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Soviet intelligence did not like Golos' refusal to allow Soviet contact with his sources (a measure implemented by Golos to protect himself and to ensure his continued retention by the NKVD). The NKVD suspected Golos of Trotskyism and tried to lure him to Moscow, where he could be arrested, but the US government got to him first. But even then, he did not reveal his agent network. After Browder went to prison in 1940, Golos took over running Browder's agents. In 1941, Golos set up a commercial forwarding enterprise, called the US Shipping and Service Corporation, with Elizabeth Bentley, his lover, as one of its officers.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Sometime in November 1943, Golos met in New York City with key figures of the Perlo group, a group working in several government departments and agencies in Washington, D.C. The group was already in the service of Browder. Later that same month, after a series of heart attacks over the previous two years, Golos died in bed in Bentley's arms. Bentley then took over his operations (thus the reference in the decrypts to him as a "former" colleague).


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: By the end of 1936 at least four mid-level State Department officials were delivering information to Soviet intelligence: Alger Hiss, assistant to Assistant Secretary of State Francis Sayre; Julian Wadleigh, economist in the Trade Agreements Section; Laurence Duggan, Latin American division; and Noel Field, West European division. Whittaker Chambers later testified that the plans for a tank design with a revolutionary new suspension invented by J. Walter Christie (then being tested in the U.S.A.) were procured and put into production in the Soviet Union as the Mark BT, later developed into the famous Soviet T-34 tank.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: In 1993, experts from the Library of Congress traveled to Moscow to copy previously secret archives of Communist Party USA (CPUSA) records, sent to the Soviet Union for safekeeping by party organizers. The records provide an irrefutable record of Soviet intelligence and cooperation provided by those in the radical left in the United States from the 1920s through the 1940s. Some documents revealed that the CPUSA was actively involved in secretly recruiting party members from African-American groups and rural farm workers. The records contained further evidence that Soviet sympathizers had indeed infiltrated the State Department, beginning in the 1930s. Included were letters from two U.S. ambassadors in Europe to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a senior State Department official. Thanks to an official in the State department sympathetic to the Party, the confidential correspondence, concerning political and economic matters in Europe, ended up in the hands of Soviet intelligence.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: In the late 1930s and 1940, Soviet intelligence had multiple staging areas for plots to murder exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, then living in Mexico City. Josef Grigulevich, an NKVD agent who had direct orders from Stalin to kill Trotsky, had a safe house in Zook's Drugstore in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Soviets had two plans to assassinate Trotsky, one involving the Mexican Stalinist David Siqueiros, and the other the Spanish Ramón Mercader. One account of the first, failed raid on Trotsky's home states that Grigulevich tricked Robert Sheldon Harte, an American Communist who was Trotsky's bodyguard, into opening the gate. The Soviets failed to kill Trotsky during this attempt, but betrayed Harte, and they killed him for being a witness. Siqueiros then escaped to Chile with the help of Pablo Neruda. Grigulevich likely then crossed the border north and took refuge at Zook's Pharmacy. The second later attempt by Mercader was successful and Trotsky was murdered in Mexico.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Jacob Albam and the Sobles (Jack and Myra) were indicted on espionage charges by the FBI in 1957; all three were later convicted and served prison terms. Alleged members of their spy ring, the Zlatovskis, remained in Paris, France, where the laws did not allow their extradition to the United States for espionage. Robert Soblen was sentenced to life in prison for his espionage work at Sandia National Laboratories, but jumped bail and escaped to Israel. After being expelled from that country, he later committed suicide in Great Britain while awaiting extradition back to the United States.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: During the Second World War, Soviet espionage agents obtained classified reports on electronic advances in radio-beacon artillery fuses by Emerson Radio, including a complete proximity fuse (reportedly the same fuse design that was later installed on Soviet anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down Francis Gary Powers's U-2 in 1960). Thousands of documents from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) were photocopied or stolen, including a complete set of design and production drawings for Lockheed Aircraft's new P-80 Shooting Star fighter jet.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: According to Soviet agent Pavel Sudoplatov, five spy rings for the Soviet Union were targeting the United States during World War II: one was based in Amtorg in New York City, another spy ring was based in the Soviet Embassy in the United States at Washington, D.C., another was based in the Soviet Consulate General in San Francisco, another was based out of Mexico City and ran by Vasilevsky, and the fifth was the Akhmerov led ring which targeted United States Communist Party members for the Kremlin's needs.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Joseph Stalin directed Soviet intelligence officers to collect information in four main areas. Pavel Fitin, the 34-year-old chief of the KGB First Directorate, was directed to seek American intelligence concerning Hitler's plans for the war in Russia; secret war aims of London and Washington, particularly with regard to planning for Operation Overlord, the second front in Europe; any indications the Western Allies might be willing to make a separate peace with Hitler; and American scientific and technological progress, particularly in the development of an atomic weapon. Pavel Sudoplatov claimed to have led the efforts to obtain information about the Manhattan Project in an alleged "Department S" but this has been questioned because Sudoplatov placed false accusations on Oppenheimer and others.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: A well-known Soviet case was of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the first US citizens convicted and executed for espionage during peacetime. The married couple lived in New York City and were accused of spying for the Soviet Union and sending information regarding radar, sonar, jet propulsion engines, and sending nuclear weapon designs. Following the Moynihan Commission, the declassification of the Venona project in 1995 revealed more information about the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg case, and confirmed that a widespread Soviet spy network did exist during the Cold War. However, many agents were never prosecuted or publicly implicated, for instance Theodore Hall, because much Venona evidence was withheld until 1995.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: During this time, George Koval who infiltrated the Manhattan Project as a member of the GRU, also passed stolen atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Harry Gold and Klaus Fuchs were also Soviet spies. Harry Gold was a courier for other Soviet spies such as Klaus Fuchs.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: The United States Treasury Department was successfully penetrated by nearly a dozen Soviet agents or information sources, including Harold Glasser and his superior, Harry Dexter White, assistant secretary of the treasury and the second most influential official in the department. In late May 1941, Vitali Pavlov, a 25-year-old NKVD officer, approached White and attempted to secure his assistance to influence U.S. policy towards Japan. Pavlov's memoirs after decades of being in the KGB, alleged that White agreed to assist Soviet intelligence in any way he could. According to Whittaker Chambers, the principal function of White was to aid in the infiltration and placement of Soviet operatives within the government, and protecting sources. When security concerns arose around Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, White protected him in his sensitive position at the Board of Economic Warfare. White likewise was a purveyor of information and resources to assist Soviet aims, and agreed to press for the release of German occupation currency plates to the Soviet Union. The Soviets later used the plates to print unrestricted sums of money to exchange for U.S. and Allied hard goods.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: In August 1945, Elizabeth Bentley, fearful of assassination by the Soviet MGB, turned herself in to the government. She implicated many agents and sources in the Golos and Silvermaster spy networks, and was the first to accuse Harry Dexter White of acting on behalf of Soviet interests in releasing occupation plates to Moscow, later confirmed by Soviet archives and former KGB officers. U.S. counterintelligence archives in the Venona project contain "damning evidence" against White—showing evidence for his inappropriate contacts with Soviet agents.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: In a twist of history, Harry Dexter White would participate in the Bretton Woods Conference, which created the American-led, post-war financial and economic order. Although White was sympathetic to the Soviet Union, he was still capitalist in his economic thinking, and there was only so much he could do to benefit the Soviet Union at a conference for liberal internationalism, an idea the Soviets opposed. Ultimately, the main result was that President Truman would nominate a European to Managing Director of the IMF instead of Harry Dexter White. Dr. James C. Van Hook, joint historian of the U.S. Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency., says "It is difficult to understand how White's detractors could characterize Bretton Woods, a fundamental institution of liberal capitalism, as inherently pro-Soviet."


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: President Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9835 of 22 March 1947 tightened protections against subversive infiltration of the US Government, defining disloyalty as membership on a list of subversive organizations maintained by the Attorney General. Truman, however, was opposed to the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950, calling it a "Mockery of the Bill of Rights" and a "long step towards totalitarianism".


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Soviet espionage operations continued during the Cold War. The Venona project, declassified in 1995 by the Moynihan Commission, contained extensive evidence of the activities of Soviet spy networks in America.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: The Mitrokhin Archive showed that the Soviets did not just perform espionage in terms of gathering intelligence, but also used its intelligence agencies for "active measures" a form of political warfare involving forgeries and disinformation.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: During the Second World War, the Communist Party USA was a center of Soviet espionage in the United States. After the war, this continued. Espionage historian John Earl Haynes states that the CPUSA was essentially a Soviet "fifth column", though "dried up as a base for Soviet espionage once the administration got serious about internal security".


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: The Communist Party USA received a substantial subsidy from the USSR from 1959 until 1989. Because the CPUSA consistently maintained a pro-Moscow line, many members left over time dissatisfied with events of Soviet repression, such as in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Soviet funding ended in 1989 when Gus Hall condemned the initiatives taken by Mikhail Gorbachev.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: In 1952, Jack and Morris Childs—both American-born ex-Soviet spies—became FBI double agents, and informed on the CPUSA for the rest of the Cold War, monitoring the Soviet funding and communications with Moscow.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: According to longtime CIA officer Frederick Wettering, many turncoats to the Soviets were not ideologically communist, such as Aldrich Ames and John Walker who "did it strictly for the money." Wettering summarized the motivations as "MIRE -- money, ideology, revenge and ego."


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: According to Russian investigative writer, Andrei Soldatov:In Soviet times, intelligence and counterintelligence branches of the KGB were closely interconnected. In addition to its espionage abroad, the KGB was always busy collecting “intelligence from the territory,” a euphemism for recruiting foreign nationals in the Soviet Union, with an eye to subsequently running them as agents in their home countries. Regional departments of the KGB were tasked with recruiting foreigners traveling throughout the country.Former KGB defector Jack Barsky stated, "Many a right-wing radical had given information to the Soviets under a 'false flag', thinking they were working with a Western ally, such as Israel, when in fact their contact was a KGB operative."


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Notable cases of Cold War Soviet espionage included Kim Philby, a Soviet double agent and British intelligence liaison to American intelligence, who was revealed to be a member of the "Cambridge Five" spy ring in 1963. The other four members of the "Cambridge Five" spy ring included Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross, although Michael Straight was also involved with the Soviet spy ring and there were possibly other alleged members. The Cambridge Spy Ring focused on serving the Soviet Union in the Cold War by infiltrating British intelligence and providing secret information to the Soviet top leaders, and causing mistrust in British intelligence in the United States.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Kim Philby, along with Bill Weisband, would end up betraying the existence of the Venona project to the Soviets, between 1945 and 1948.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Active measures () are a form of political warfare that was conducted by the Soviet Union. These ranged from simple propaganda and forgery of documents, to assassination, terrorist acts and planned sabotage operations. In the US the KGB's main active measures were disinformation and the spread of conspiracy theories.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Retired KGB Major General Oleg Kalugin, former Head of Foreign Counter Intelligence for the KGB (1973–1979), described active measures as "the heart and soul of Soviet intelligence":


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: The doctrine of active measures was taught in the Andropov Institute of the KGB situated at Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) headquarters in Yasenevo District of Moscow. The head of the "active measures department" was Yuri Modin, former controller of the Cambridge Five spy ring.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: One example of active measures by the KGB was Operation "Denver" (also nicknamed Operation INFEKTION), a propaganda campaign which fabricated and spread the idea HIV/AIDS was invented by the US as a biological weapon from Fort Detrick, Maryland. As part of the disinformation campaign the KGB, through affiliated Soviet press and Soviet bloc intelligence agencies, disseminated publications that claimed to be independent investigative work, such as the "Segal report" by Jakob Segal. Part of the goal was to shift attention away from the Soviets' own biological weapons program. In 1992, SVR head Yevgeny Primakov admitted that the KGB had instigated and perpetuated the myth of a manmade AIDS. The conspiracy theories fed into AIDS denialism and may have led to preventable deaths across the United States, and South Africa. According to the U.S. State Department, the Soviet Union used the campaign to undermine the United States' credibility, foster anti-Americanism, isolate America abroad, and create tensions between host countries and the U.S. over the presence of American military bases. A cycle of misinformation and disinformation revolved between Kremlin-based and U.S.-based conspiracy theorists (such as Lyndon LaRouche).


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: A series of Soviet active measures focused on exacerbating racial divisions in the United States. According to intelligence historian Christopher Andrew, "Martin Luther King was probably the only prominent American to be the target of active measures by both the FBI and the KGB." The FBI surveilled King and also tried to publicize adultery accusations against him, while posing as a former supporter. Meanwhile, the KGB tried but failed to influence MLK, Jr. through the CPUSA. Finding King not radical enough, the KGB sought to discredit him by portraying him as a supposed "Uncle Tom". After King's assassination, the KGB spread conspiracy theories about the government being involved in his murder. Following this, Yuri Andropov approved the forgery of anti-black pamphlets claiming to be from the Jewish Defense League. A more extensive sabotage plot was planned as "Operation PANDORA" but never implemented. The KGB later penned racist letters to appear as a Ku Klux Klan campaign against Olympic athletes from African and Asian countries to scare them from participating, ahead of the Soviets' 1984 Summer Olympics boycott.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: According to Yuri Bezmenov, a defector from the Soviet KGB, psychological warfare activities accounted for 85% of all KGB efforts (the other 15% being direct espionage and intelligence gathering). Bezmenov put the process into the four stages "destabilize, demoralize, crisis, normalization" where an enemy country would be undermined over several decades, and pointed out that once the Soviet Union took control of a country, such as Czechoslovakia, they disposed of actual revolution and radicalism.


title: Soviet espionage in the United States

text: Major spy discoveries occurred in the 1980s despite the looming end of the Cold War. The press dubbed 1985 the "Year of the Spy" due to the discovery of multiple spies and spy rings, many of them passing information to the Soviet Union, such as John Anthony Walker and Ronald Pelton. "The New York Times" reported in 1987 that the Walker spy ring was "described as the most damaging Soviet spy ring in history." During his time as a Soviet spy (1967-1985), Walker stole and sold codes that assisted the Soviets in deciphering encrypted Navy messages, which allowed them to monitor American naval assets. The Walker spy ring also compromised information about weapons, sensor data, and related naval tactics. Other 1980s spies included Aldrich Ames a KGB mole, investigation of Ames activities led to the 1995 CIA disinformation controversy revealing that false reports were fed to the United States through Soviet double agents.


title: INS Khukri (F149)

text: INS "Khukri" was a Type 14 ("Blackwood"-class) frigate of the Indian Navy. She was sunk off the coast of Diu, Gujarat, India by the Pakistan Navy submarine on 9 December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. This was the first warship sunk in action by a submarine since World War II. It remains the post-Independence Indian navy's only warship to be lost in war.


title: INS Khukri (F149)

text: After the beginning of hostilities on 3 December 1971, Indian Naval radio detection equipment identified a submarine lurking about south-west of Diu harbour. The 14th Frigate Squadron of the Western Fleet was dispatched to destroy the submarine. It normally consisted of five ships, "Khukri", , "Kalveti, Krishna" and "Kuthar," but at the time of the incident "Kuthar"s boiler room was being repaired in Bombay. One reason that may have prompted the decision to deploy two obsolete "Blackwood"-class frigates against a modern "Daphne"-class submarine was that the Indian Navy lacked sufficient numbers of anti-submarine aircraft.


title: INS Khukri (F149)

text: The submarine sighted the squadron on the evening of 9 December. "Khukri" was still not aware of the submarine's presence and continued slowly on a steady course because she was testing an improved version of the 170/174 sonar, which required a low speed to increase detection, despite the fact that moving on low speed was against Indian anti-submarine doctrine. At 19:57 "Hangor" fired a homing torpedo on a sonar approach at "Kirpan". The torpedo did not explode and was detected by "Kirpan" which turned away and fired anti-submarine mortars. "Khukri" increased its speed and turned towards the submarine, which then fired a second torpedo directed at "Khukri". The torpedo struck "Khukri" and exploded under its oil tanks. According to the Pakistani submarine captain, Commander Ahmed Tasnim, the ship sank within two minutes. Other sources claim that "Khukri" was struck by three torpedoes before going down.


title: INS Khukri (F149)

text: After a few minutes, "Kirpan" attacked "Hangor" with depth charges, as her anti-submarine mortars were no long functional. "Hangor" then fired a final torpedo at "Kirpan" before leaving the area. "Hangor" patrolled the region for the next four days before returning safely to her berth.


title: INS Khukri (F149)

text: "Khukri" is the only ship lost in combat in the history of the Indian Navy. Eighteen officers and 176 other sailors were killed. The captain, Mahendra Nath Mulla, was among the casualties and is the only Indian captain to go down with a vessel as INS Khukri is the only warship of Indian navy lost in combat. He was posthumously awarded India's second-highest military honour, the Maha Vir Chakra.


title: INS Khukri (F149)

text: There is a memorial to the sailors in Diu. The memorial consists of a scale model of "Khukri" encased in a glass house, placed atop a hillock facing the sea. The memorial was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh as the flag officer commanding-in-chief.


title: INS Khukri (F149)

text: Responsibility for errors by Indian naval officers related to the sinking has caused some controversy. The naval officer who led the inquiry into the sinking, Benoy Bhushan, has claimed that India's official naval history invented fictional accounts to cover up bungling and a surviving sailor from the frigate, Chanchal Singh Gill, has called for an investigation and withdrawal of gallantry awards to negligent officers in the squadron.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: Anniston is the county seat of Calhoun County in Alabama and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 23,106. According to 2019 Census estimates, the city had a population of 21,287.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: Named "The Model City" by Atlanta newspaperman Henry W. Grady for its careful planning in the late 19th century, the city is situated on the slope of Blue Mountain.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: Though the surrounding area was settled much earlier, the mineral resources in the area of Anniston were not exploited until the Civil War. The Confederate States of America then operated an iron furnace near present-day downtown Anniston, until it was finally destroyed by raiding Union cavalry in early 1865. Later, cast iron for sewer systems became the focus of Anniston's industrial output. Cast iron pipe, also called soil pipe, was popular until the advent of plastic pipe in the 1960s.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: In 1872, the Woodstock Iron Company, organized by Samuel Noble and Union Gen. Daniel Tyler, rebuilt the furnace on a much larger scale, and started a planned community named Woodstock, soon renamed "Annie's Town" for Annie Scott Tyler, Daniel's daughter-in-law and wife of railroad president Alfred L. Tyler. Anniston was chartered as a town in 1873.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: Though the roots of the town's economy were in iron, steel, and clay pipe, planners touted it as a health resort, and several hotels began operating. Schools also appeared, including the Noble Institute, a school for girls established in 1886, and the Alabama Presbyterian College for Men, founded in 1905. Careful planning and easy access to rail transportation helped grow Anniston. In 1882, Anniston was the first city in Alabama to be lit by electricity. By 1941, Anniston was Alabama's fifth largest city.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: In 1917, at the start of World War I, the United States Army established a training camp at Fort McClellan. On the other side of town, the Anniston Army Depot opened during World War II as a major weapons storage and maintenance site, a role it continues to serve as munitions-incineration progresses. Most of the site of Fort McClellan was incorporated into Anniston in the late 1990s, and the Army closed the fort in 1999 following the Base Realignment and Closure round of 1995.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: Anniston was the center of national controversy in 1961 when a mob bombed a bus filled with civilian Freedom Riders during the American Civil Rights Movement. As two Freedom buses were setting out to travel the south in protest of their civil rights following the Supreme Court case saying bus segregation was unconstitutional, one headed to Anniston, and one to Birmingham, Alabama, before finishing in New Orleans. The Freedom Riders were riding an integrated bus to protest Alabama's Jim Crow segregation laws that denied African Americans their civil rights. One of the buses was attacked and firebombed by a mob outside Anniston on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 14, 1961. Prior to the bus being firebombed, attackers broke windows, and slashed tires, using metal pipes, clubs, chains and crowbars, before the police came to escort the bus away. The bus was forced to a stop just outside of Anniston, in front of Forsyth and Sons grocery, by more mob members. As more windows were broken, rocks and eventually a firebomb were thrown into the bus. As the bus burned, the mob held the doors shut, intent on burning the riders to death. An exploding fuel tank caused the mob to retreat, allowing the riders to escape the bus. The riders were viciously beaten as they tried to flee, where warning shots fired into the air by highway patrolmen prevented the riders from being lynched on the spot. A 12-year-old girl, Janie Forsyth, set out against the mob with a bucket of water and cups to help the Riders, first tending to the one who had looked like her own nanny. Forsyth and Son grocery is located along Alabama Highway 202 about west of downtown. The site today is home to a historic marker and was designated Freedom Riders National Monument by President Barack Obama in January 2017.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: In response to the violence, the city formed a bi-racial Human Relations Council (HRC) made up of prominent white business and religious leaders, but when they attempted to integrate the "whites-only" public library on Sunday afternoon, September 15, 1963 (the same day as the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham), further violence ensued and two black ministers, N.Q. Reynolds and Bob McClain, were severely beaten by a mob. The HRC chairman, white Presbyterian minister Rev. Phil Noble, worked with an elder of his church, Anniston City Commissioner Miller Sproull, to avoid KKK mob domination of the city. In a telephone conference with President John F. Kennedy, the President informed the HRC that after the Birmingham church bombing he had stationed additional federal troops at Fort McClellan. On September 16, 1963, with city police present, Noble and Sproull escorted black ministers into the library. In February 1964, Anniston Hardware, owned by the Sproull family, was bombed, presumably in retaliation for Commissioner Sproull's integration efforts.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: On the night of July 15, 1965, a white racist rally was held in Anniston, after which Willie Brewster, a black foundry worker, was shot and killed while driving home from work. A $20,000 reward was raised by Anniston civic leaders, and resulted in the apprehension, trial and conviction of the accused killer, Damon Strange, who worked for a leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Historian Taylor Branch called the conviction of Damon Strange a "breakthrough verdict" on p. 391 of his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "At Canaan's Edge". Strange was convicted by an all-white Calhoun County jury to the surprise of many people, including civil rights leaders who had planned to protest an acquittal. This was the first conviction of a white person for killing a black person in civil rights era Alabama.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: PCBs were produced in Anniston from 1929 to 1971, initially as the Swann Chemical Company. In 1935 Monsanto Industrial Chemicals Co. bought the plant and took over production. In 1969, the plant was discharging about 250 pounds of the chemicals into Snow Creek per day, according to internal company documents.


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: In 2002, an investigation by "60 Minutes" revealed Anniston had been among the most toxic cities in the country. The primary source of local contamination was a Monsanto chemical factory, which had already been closed. The EPA description of the site reads in part:


title: Anniston, Alabama

text: The Anniston PCB site consists of residential, commercial, and public properties located in and around Anniston, Calhoun County, Alabama, that contain or may contain hazardous substances, including polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) impacted media. The Site is not listed on the NPL, but is considered to be a NPL-caliber site. Solutia Inc.'s Anniston plant encompasses approximately of land and is located about 1 mile west of downtown Anniston, Alabama. The plant is bounded to the north by the Norfolk Southern and Erie railroads, to the east by Clydesdale Avenue, to the west by First Avenue, and to the south by Highway 202. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were produced at the plant from 1929 until 1971.