experience, stay overnight in Hokianga and join the night tour. Photo
credit: Mitsuro Aoyagi
From Te Kore (the great void where nothing existed) and Te Pō (the
perpetual night of darkness) comes the Māori story of creation.
In this darkness, imprisoned between their parents who were locked in
a never-ending embrace, lived the children of the gods - Ranginui 'sky
father' and Papatuanuku 'earth mother'.
The love between Ranginui and Papatuanuku was so immense that they
could not bear to be apart. Yet, by clinging to each other,the parents
were also keeping their six childrenfrom the light.
That was until one day when, as Ranginui stirred, a single beam of
light shone from Papatuanuku's armpit onto her children. Amazed by
this radiance, the children yearned to free themselves and enter the
world of light. So the children began to work on breaking the embrace
that had kept their universe dark for solong. But their parents' love
was strong and theirefforts were fruitless.
Then the mighty Tāne Mahuta (god of the forest) lay on his back and
dug his shoulders deep into his mother's body. With his legs, Tāne
pushed against his fatherand, with all the strengthhe could summon,
attempted to let light into the world.
Ignoring his mother's cries to stop, Tāne pushed even harder and the
bond between his parents began to tear. Drawing on his very last
reserves, Tāne fully extended his powerful legs, forcing Ranginui to
the heavens and floodingthe world with bright light. Today, when
Ranginui's tears fall from the sky as rain onto his beloved
Papatuanuku, it is a reminder of his grief and longing for her.
Papatuanuku's pain is visible in the red ochre clays of the earth,
still stained by the blood drawn during the separation.
Tāne Mahuta - lord of theforest
The greatest legacy of this legend is the mighty 'lord of the forest'
Tāne Mahuta standing victorious in Waipoua forest, with his shoulders
still pushed hard against his 'mother earth' and hisfeet stretched
high towards the heavens of his 'sky father'. Tāne Mahuta, one of the
oldestand largest trees in the world at 51m high and with a girth of
13.8 metres, stands in the great Waipoua kauri forest that is home to
three quarters of New Zealand's kauri trees.
Waipoua forest is in the Hokianga region on Northland's west coast.
Tāne Mahuta is a short walk from the Waipoua forest carpark on State
Highway 12.
Local tourism operator Footprints Waipoua offers guided evening tours
interpreting the forest and Māori legends under cover of darkness.
Tāne Mahuta is a giant kauri tree (Agathis australis) in the Waipoua
Forest of Northland Region, New Zealand. Its age is unknown but is
estimated to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years old. It is the largest
kauri known to stand today. ItsMāori name means "Lord of the Forest"
(see Tāne), from the name of a god in the Māori pantheon.
The tree is a remnant of the ancient subtropical rainforest that once
grewon the North Auckland Peninsula. Other giant kauri are found
nearby, notably Te Matua Ngahere. Tāne Mahuta is the most famous tree
in New Zealand, along with Te Matua Ngahere. It is thought it was
discovered (by Westerners, as it was already known to Maori) and
identified in the 1920s when contractors surveyed the present State
Highway 12 route through the forest. In 1928 Nicholas Yakas and other
bushmen, who were building the road, also identified the tree.
--
- - - - -
And Allah Knows the Best!
- - - - -
Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA
- - - - - - -
No comments:
Post a Comment