Friday, December 9, 2011

The lost symbol


Here’s a mid week update; it’s about time, I guess. Right now, perched in a middle seat somewhere above the Atlantic, I can finally start penning this post after a week of insane workload. Hopefully, I’ll be able to come up with at least two updates per week for the next month.

I had written about the Virginia part of the Thanksgiving road trip in my last post. After this trip I learnt one thing; and, you have to give this to the US - they have preserved their relatively short history very well. What’s more; go to any historical town and one can find many symbolisms around, some intended and others not. This makes these places a haven for conspiracy theorists and Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” has renewed the appeal of these conspiracies. This post I’ll be talking about an unintended symbolism; no harm in adding one more conspiracy theory to the mix.

Being the center of the free world, as some politicians and journalists like to call it, it is not surprising that Washington DC is awash with Freemason symbolism.

What I like about the city’s design is how the Washington monument is at the center with the entrances to the Lincoln memorial, Jefferson memorial, the White House and the Capitol building all facing the Washington monument. At the same time, the statues of Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Franklin D. Roosevelt all face the Washington monument.

However, there is one memorial that stands out in being different - the Martin Luther King memorial. Here’s a photo.


Martin Luther King does not face the Washington monument. In fact, it looks like  he is standing hand folded scoffing at the Washington monument. Take what you will from that. To be honest, it was hardly intended but when you add one more fact into the mix, things get a little interesting. The memorial was designed and sculpted by Chinese architect Lei Yixin, and according to the incomparable Sandeep ‘Morgan’ Ram Mohan, MLK may be facing a Mao statue in China.

Cheers, and please, I am hardly serious in this post.

2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this story very much. The symbolism that is explained in Dan Brown's books is so fascinating. Though this is a good plot/story, the end was a bit anticlimatic. Even so, I will be reading it again because the historical facts and symbolism are so engrossing.

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    1. Thanks for the visit. Virginia and DC are indeed great places to search for hidden meanings.

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