Chiang Mai’s Three Traditional Handicrafts
Thailand's northern city of Thailand was once the center of knowledge, architecture and commerce. Traders and travellers alike brought with them handicrafts like silverware, parasols and woodcarvings, all of which are still made today.
Spiritual Skin
For centuries, indigenous tattooists working across Asia have marked human skin with powerful designs and symbols in their quest to signal ethnic identity and render the body sacred. Carried through life and onwards into death, these marks of humanity testify to an ancestral legacy that is in danger of gradually fading away.
Tribal Wedding Customs Across Asia
Text by Simon Koh, Joan Koh, Selina Tan Illustration by Richard Cagomoc
Mention weddings and what comes to mind is the father of the...
Thailand’s Hill Tribes See Their Last Days
As elders pass on and youth surrender to the tide of modernisation, the once-proud villages who lived off the land are surrendering their diligently preserved traditions for basic food and healthcare
Back From The Dead
Eternal rest is a lifelong task for the indigenous people of South Sulawesi, who reunite to serve their dead relatives once every few years
Gawai Dayak
For the Dayak tribes, the harvest festival is a time to give thanks, get rid of bad luck and mingle over traditional feasts.
“Bura na mano, Holi hai,” or, “Do not mind, it’s Holi!”
Holi is one of the major festivals of India and is celebrated on different dates every year. This Indian festival is observed at the...
The Road to Independence: Malaya’s Battle Against Communism [1948-1960]
by Asian Geographic Editorial Team
The Malayan Emergency
Following the establishment of the Federation of Malaya, looming uncertainty befell the Chinese majority, who felt excluded from...
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Island Nations of Asia
What is an Island Nation?
An island country is a nation that is made up of one or more islands or land that is surrounded completely by water. Around one-fifth of Asia is made up of island nations, and while island countries are typically small with low populations, some, like...
The Pyramid of Gunung Padang
Megalithic site in Indonesia could be the oldest in the world
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PeruGunung Padang is once again making headlines as the first pyramid in Southeast Asia and the oldest megalithic site in the world.Recent discoveries as deep as 90 feet found the hill-pyramid to contain...
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
(Photo: Graphicaartis/Corbis)
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon has captured the imagination of historians worldwide for centuries. Yet, its existence remains a debate as years of digging have turned up nothing about the lost Gardens.First described in a book called Babyloniaca by a Chaldean priest named Berossus in 280 BC, the...