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Young World
Lighting the fire of harmony
MURALI N. KRISHNASWAMY
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The Olympic torch relay hopes to be a journey of harmony, bringing the message of peace to people of different nationalities, cultures and creeds.
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The torch will cover five continents and be taken through 21 cities around the world before reaching China
This is about the real Olympic torch, and relay, and not about the computer virus that goes by the same name! On March 24, 2008, an old ritual was carried out. The Olympic torch was ignited, months before the (Beijing) Olympic Games start, at the ruins of the Temple of Hera, in Olympia, southern Greece, site of the ancient Olympics. Actresses dressed as priestesses used the sun and a parabolic (curved) mirror to light the flame.
Programme highlights
A priestess then got into the ancient Olympic stadium and handed over the torch to the first runner of the Beijing 2008 torch relay, Olympic taekwondo silver medalist Alexandros Nikolaidis. (He will be participating in the Olympic Games for the third time.)
The torch will cover five continents and be taken through 21 cities around the world before reaching China, where it will stop in over 100 places. It is scheduled to be in New Delhi on April 17. On August 8, it is to enter the Olympic Stadium in Beijing, during the opening ceremony, to light the Olympic cauldron. (The highlights have been — March 24: Lighting ceremony at Olympia, March 24-29: the relay travelling across Greece, ending at the Panathinaiko Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, March 30: Hand-over ceremony, March 31: Welcome ceremony in Beijing, April 1: To Almaty, August 6-8: Final leg in Beijing.)
The International Olympic President, Jacques Rogge, in the presence of the President of the Organising Committee for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Liu Qi, said, “The 2008 Olympic Torch Relay wants to be a journey of harmony, bringing the message of peace to people of different nationalities, cultures and creeds.” Rogge went on to pay tribute to the firemen who helped save Olympia from a fire last autumn. He also thanked the partners Coca-Cola, Samsung and Lenovo.
After the flame arrives in Beijing on March 31, a second torch will be lit from it and brought to Tibet. From there, Chinese climbers will attempt to take it to the top of Mount Everest sometime in May.
But the torch relay, which stands for peace and fraternity, has also been marked by controversy. Let’s hope this does not overshadow the Olympic Games.
Phoenix rises
Torch relay races started in ancient Greece as religious rituals held at night. Soon they turned into a team athletic event. Fire meant inspiration and flames lit by the rays of the sun always burned in Olympia, in an altar dedicated to Hestia. The torch relay has preceded every Olympic Summer Games. The theme of the Beijing torch relay is a “Journey of Harmony”. The logo for Beijing draws its inspiration from the traditional concept of the “fire phoenix”. According to Chinese legend, the phoenix stands for good fortune, eternity, nobility and happiness.
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