Baku

Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı, IPA: [bɑˈcɯ]) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located 28 metres (92 ft) below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and also the largest city in the world located below sea level. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal parts: the downtown area and the old Inner City (21.5 ha). At the beginning of 2009, Baku's urban population was estimated at just over two million people. Officially, about 25 percent of all inhabitants of the country live in Baku's metropolitan area.

Baku is divided into eleven administrative districts (raions) and 48 townships. Among these are the townships on islands in the Baku Bay and the town of Oil Rocks built on stilts in the Caspian Sea, 60 km (37 mi) away from Baku. The Inner City of Baku along with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. According to the Lonely Planet's ranking, Baku is also among the world's top ten destinations for urban nightlife.

Ōbaku

The Ōbaku-shū (黄檗宗) is one of several schools of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, in addition to Sōtō and Rinzai.

History

Often termed the third sect of Zen Buddhism in Japan, it was established in 1661 by a small faction of masters from China and their Japanese students at Manpuku-ji in Uji, Japan.

Today Manpuku-ji serves as the Ōbaku's head temple, with 420 subtemples spread throughout Japan as of 2006. In addition to their contribution to the culture of Zen in Japan, the Ōbaku also "disseminated many aspects of Ming-period culture" in the country. Many of the monks who came from China were accomplished calligraphers, and Obaku's founder Yinyuan Longqi and two other Ōbaku masters, Mokuan Shōtō and Sokuhi Nyoitsu, became known as the Ōbaku no Sanpitsu (or, the "Three Brushes of Ōbaku"). Author Steven Heine writes, "Areas where the influence of — or the reaction to — Ōbaku left an imprint on Japanese Buddhism is manifold, and its impact even reached the fields of Japanese cultural techniques, such as printing and painting.Chinese medicine and architecture were also introduced, as was the practice of "spirit writing", the latter practiced by Ōbaku monks who were said to communicate with Chen Tuan.

Soviet destroyer leader Baku

Baku (Russian: "Баку") was a Soviet Red Banner destroyer leader of the Leningrad class (she was reclassfied as a destroyer in 1949). She was built by Dalzavod in Komsomolsk na Amure. The ship was laid down on 15 January 1935 as Kiev. On 27 December 1939, the vessel was renamed Sergo Ordzhonikidze and on 25 September 1940, Baku. The ship was launched on 25 July 1938 and attached to the 1st Division of destroyers of the Pacific Fleet. In 1942 Baku was transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet via the Arctic Ocean.

During World War II Baku travelled over 42,000 miles. On 6 March 1945 her crew was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

References