Monday’s Marauder
>April Fools' Day —> >Angkor Wat
April Fools’ Day
April Fools' Day is celebrated worldwide on April 1. On this day, people play jokes and harmless pranks on each other as a tradition. The custom is thought to have originated when the Gregorian Christian Calendar was adopted in 1582, shifting New Years' Day from April 1 to January 1. Those who continued to celebrate April 1 as New Years' Day since were called fools. However, there are other claims, too. In The Canterbury Tales, published in 1392, the story of a rooster named Chauntecleer who is fooled by a fox in April 1 is another possible origin, among others.
Rooster
A rooster is a male chicken and a gallinaceous bird, which means it prefers running over flying. They are popular for crowing before the break of dawn with a "cock-a-doodle-doo". Roosters are polygamous, and find place in history among many religions and folk traditions. One of them is cockfighting, where two cocks (the colloquial name for roosters) are aggravated and placed in a ring to fight each other. Such 'games' are common in Southeast Asia, where people often place bets on the outcomes of this bestial practice..
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is a region in Asia that comprises Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore.
Its population is around 618 million, and is an economically valuable area, especially because a lot of sea trade passes through seas around these countries. SE Asia is also culturally rich, diverse and influential, with major religions being Islam, Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity. Thus, tourism is a major source of income, with important historical sites like the Angkor Wat seeing up to a million visitors every year.
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument on the planet, located in Cambodia. It was originally a Hindu temple built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II, and is an example of Khmer architecture. Since the late 13th century, it has been used for Buddhist worship.
It represents Mount Meru, the home of the gods in Hindu mythology. The temple complex is a World Heritage Site.
It measures 1.5 km by around 1.3 km, and underwent a major restoration in 1986-1992 by the Archaeological Survey of India. Last week, Google Maps finished mapping its insides completely, taking more than 1 million 360-degree photos to compose a mosaic that lets users explore the temple through their computers.
So the path that we have traversed today is:
April Fools’ Day —> Rooster —> Southeast Asia —> Angkor Wat
Three clicks! Hop over. It’s time for the next question:
Tuesday’s Traveller
>Kenenisa Bekele —> >Monopoly (game)
Send in your paths for the above to school@thehindu.co.in with the subject “Qwikipedia”. Do include your name, class and school!
