Pandavara Batti (leaf burns like the wick), India & Sri lanka

Pandavara Batti is a species of beautyberry plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is found in Western Ghats of India and Sri Lanka and in India, found in Konkan, North Kanara, Western Ghats, Dakshina and Uttara Kannada. It is a small tree with about 5m tall. Leaves simple, opposite; elliptic to broadly elliptic; apex acute or acuminate. Purplish flowers show branched axillary cymes. Fruit is 3-4 seeded globose drupe. Fruits provide food for wildlife. They are sometimes used to make herbal medicine. The leaves are also food for wildlife.

Scientific name is Callicarpa Tomentosa, its family is verbenaceae. Pandavara Batti is considered a medicinal plant since ancient times and in the scriptures, maharishi charak called it “urine bleaching” (Purifying urine and decolorizing its color and “purish collectable” and Facilitating the flow of stool and increasing it). It is a group of herbs. Various masters of ayurveda have also classified it in different classes as herbs in their texts.

Pandavara Batti is a large shrub or small tree about 5 m tall. Bark grey, smooth. Branchlets are quadrangular, densely velvety. Leaves are simple, opposite, carried on stalks 2.5-7.5 cm long, densely white velvety. Leaf blade is 10.5-25 x 5.5-15 cm, elliptic to broadly elliptic or ovate, tip pointed to long-pointed, base narrow, thinly leathery, glaucous, densely white velvety beneath. Secondary nerves and reticulation are impressed above, midrib raised above. Secondary nerves are 6-9 pairs. Inflorescence consists of branched cymes in leaf axils. Flowers are purple, stalkless. Fruit is a round drupe, black, shining, 4 pyrenes; seeds 3-4. Velvety Beauty Berry is found in open disturbed evergreen to semi-evergreen forests in Peninsular India and Sri Lanka, and throughout Western Ghats, up to 1400 m.

It is such a plant that when a little oil is applied on the leaf, that leaf burns like the wick of a lamp and starts giving light. It is said in the legends that when the pandavas went to exile, they lit the tree by applying oil to the leaves and burning them. Due to which the name of this plant was given as pandava batti or “Pandavara Batti” which means torch or torch of the pandavas.

Decoction of the bark used in fever, hepatic obstruction and skin diseases; leaves boiled in milk and used as wash for aphthae of mouth; flower and fruit used in epilepsy, diseases of nervous system, haemorrhage, oedema, cardiac diseases and dysuria.

A paste of its bark is applied on the forehead for the treatment of headache. Priyangu bark powder is also used to rub on gums in inflammation and irritation of gums and to be used in face packs to improve the complexion of the face.

Medicinal use of Pandavara Batti or Pandava Batti:-

• Its fruits are somewhat astringent in taste, somewhat like berries, but they are used in making wine and jellies.
• A paste of its bark is applied on the forehead for the treatment of headache.
• Priyangu bark powder is also used to rub on gums in inflammation and irritation of gums and to be used in face packs to improve the complexion of the face.
• Priyangu bark powder is used as a dusting powder to control bleeding from wounds.
• A decoction of the bark of priyangu (callicarpa macrophylla) is given in a dosage form of 30-40 ml to stop internal bleeding in cases of peptic ulcer, internal hemorrhoids.

Coober Pedy (Opal Capital of The World) Underground City, Australia

Coober Pedy is a town in northern South Australia, 846 km (526 mi) north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The  town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its below-ground dwellings, called "dugouts", which are built in this fashion due to the scorching daytime heat.

The name "Coober Pedy" is thought to derive from the Kokatha-Parnkalla term kupa-piti, which means "whitefellas' hole",but in 1975 the local Aboriginal people of the town adopted the name Umoona, which means "long life" and is also their name for the mulga tree.

In the 2021 Australian census, there were 1,566  people in  Coober Pedy. Aboriginal peoples have a long-standing connection  with the area. Coober Pedy is considered by the senior Western Desert people to be the traditional land of the Arabana people country, but  Kokatha and Yankunytjatjara people are also closely attached to some ceremonial sites in the area. The origin of the name of the town (decided in 1920) is thought to derive from the words in the Kokatha language, kupa piti, usually translated as "whitefella – hole in the ground", or guba bidi, "white man’s holes", relating to white people's mining activities. Further investigation into the words by linguists shows that kupa may have originated from the Parnkalla language and that piti may be the Kokatha word specifically created for "quarry".

The first European explorer to pass near the site of Coober Pedy was Scottish-born John McDouall Stuart in 1858. The town was not established until after 1915, when the first opal was discovered by Wille Hutchison on 1 February of that year. Opal miners started moving in around 1916. The name of Coober Pedy was decided upon at a meeting in 1920, when a post office was established. In July 1975, the local Aboriginal people of Coober Pedy adopted the name Umoona, which means "long life" and is also their name for the Acacia aneura, or mulga tree, which is plentiful in the area. The name has since been used for various establishments in the town

Coober Pedy is a small town about halfway between Adelaide and Alice Springs. It is situated on the edge of the erosional scarp of the Stuart Ranges, on beds of sandstone and siltstone 30 metres (98 ft) deep and topped with a stony, treeless desert. Very little plant life exists in town due to the region's low rainfall, high cost of water, and lack of topsoil.

The harsh summer desert temperatures mean that many residents prefer to live in caves bored into the hillsides. A standard three-bedroom cave home with lounge, kitchen, and bathroom can be excavated out of the rock in the hillside for a similar price to building a house on the surface. However, dugouts remain at a constant temperature, while surface buildings need air conditioning, especially during the summer months, when temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F). The relative humidity rarely gets over 20% on these hot days, and the skies are usually cloud-free. The average maximum temperature is 30–32 °C (86–90 °F), but it can get quite cool in the winter.

The town's water supply, managed by the District Council which operates a bore and associated treatment plant, comes from the Great Artesian Basin. Problems with ageing pipes, high water losses, and lack of subsidies contribute to consumer water charges being the highest in South Australia

In May 2009, South Australian Premier Mike Rann opened the $1.15 billion Prominent Hill Mine, 130 kilometres (81 mi) southeast of Coober Pedy. The copper-gold mine is operated by OZ Minerals. In August 2010, Rann opened the Cairn Hill iron ore/copper/gold mine operated by IMX Resources near Coober Pedy. It was the first new iron ore mining area opened in South Australia since the 19th century. Due to low iron ore prices, the Cairn Hill mine was closed in June 2014. It was sold to Cu-River Mining who reopened the mine in 2016. In 2013, a potentially significant tight oil resource was found near the outskirts of Coober Pedy in the Arckaringa Basin. This resource was estimated to hold between 3.5 and 223 billion barrels (560×106 and 35,450×106 m3) of oil, providing the potential for Australia to become a net oil exporter.

The town has become a popular stopover point and tourist destination, especially since 1987, when the sealing of the Stuart Highway was completed. Entrance to an underground motel. Coober Pedy underground motel room, 2007. The inverted umbrella in the ceiling catches loose dirt that falls down the ventilation shaft from the surface.

Coober Pedy today relies as much on tourism as the opal mining industry to provide the community with employment and sustainability. Visitors' attractions in Coober Pedy include the mines, the graveyard and the underground churches (the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church). There are several motels offering underground accommodation, ranging from a few rooms to the entire motel being a dug-out. The hybrid Coober Pedy Solar Power Station supplies power to the off-grid area. Coober Pedy has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:13 Hutchison Street: Three-Roomed Dugout and 9 Hutchison Street: Coober Pedy Catholic Church and Presbytery.

The Umoona Opal Mine and Museum is a popular attraction and The annual Coober Pedy Opal Festival takes place in June, with the 34th edition occurring in 2023.

The local golf course mostly played at night with glowing balls, to avoid daytime heat is completely free of grass, and golfers take a small piece of "turf" around to use for teeing off. As a result of correspondence between the two clubs, the Coober Pedy golf club is the only club in the world to enjoy reciprocal rights at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The town also has an Australian rules football club, the Coober Pedy Saints, established in 2004, which competes in the Far North Football League. Due to the town's isolation, to play matches the Saints must make round trips of over 900 kilometres (560 mi) to Roxby Downs, where the rest of the league's teams are located.

The town is served by daily coach services from Adelaide by Greyhound Australia. The Ghan train serves the town through the Manguri Siding, 42 kilometres (26 mi) from Coober Pedy, which is served by trains once weekly in each direction. Passengers on The Ghan are not usually allowed to disembark at Manguri unless they have prearranged transport, due to the siding's isolation and the extremely cold temperatures at night.

Coober Pedy is a gateway to the outback communities of Oodnadatta and William Creek, which are both located on the Oodnadatta Track. There is a twice-a-week mail run from Coober Pedy to these communities and other outback homesteads. It carries the mail, general freight and passengers. Regional Express also has direct flights to Adelaide, from Coober Pedy Airport.  

The Umoona Tjutagku Health Service Aboriginal Corporation (UTHSAC) was established in 2005 to provide health services for local Aboriginal people.

Coober Pedy is home to the Coober Pedy Regional Times, a free community publication released fortnightly since 15 March 2001. Under a previous name, it had begun as a newsletter called the Coober Pedy Times, which was first issued in August 1982, itself continuing from a publication known as "Opal Chips".After some financial difficulties, the Times was bought by its editor, Margaret McKay, in 2006 and now includes online versions.

The town has a drive-in theatre. It opened in 1965, but became less popular after 1980 with the arrival of television to the town, and ceased regular operation in 1984. It was re-opened in 1996, and with the closure of the Mainline Drive-in at Gepps Cross in February 2022,became the last drive-in in the state.

A board for the Umoona Community Art Centre was established in 2021, but needs government funding to establish a permanent location in the town. A group of highly talented artists has joined the APY Art Centre Collective, which helps to create employment opportunities for Indigenous artists in the region. An exhibition in the Adelaide gallery of the collective in September 2021 featured the work of 24 of these artists.

A rare exhibition cachet, signed by Coober Pedy postmaster Alfred P. North, was discovered in Memphis, Tennessee by philatelist David Saks on 3 February 2016. To date, it is the only known example of this cachet in the world.

Both the town and its hinterland, for different reasons, are photogenic and have attracted film makers. The town itself is the setting for several films, and its environment has also attracted movie producers. These include:

•     Fire in the Stone (1984)
•      Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
•      Ground Zero (1987)
•      The Blood of Heroes (1989)
•      Until the End of the World (1991)
•      Stark (1993), a TV miniseries
•      The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
•      Siam Sunset (1999)
•      Pitch Black (2000)
•      Red Planet (2000)
•      Kangaroo Jack (2003)
•      Opal Dream (2006)
•      The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One (2016)
•      Instant Hotel Season 2 (2018)
•      Mortal Kombat (2021)
•      Stars on Mars (2023)
•      Limbo (2023)

The town is also featured in the 2016 racing game.

The Begich Towers (Town Under One Roof), Whittier, Alaska

The Begich Towers Condominium is a building in the small city of Whittier, Alaska. The structure is notable for being the residence for nearly the entire population of the city as well as containing many of its public facilities. This has earned Whittier the nickname of a "town under one roof"

The area where modern-day Whittier sits was developed during World War II, when it was chosen as the place to build a military harbor and a logistics base for the US Army. After the war, the military planned to develop a large complex in the area. What is now the Begich Towers was part of that plan.

The building was designed in 1953 to host the headquarters of the US Army Corps of Engineers. It was named the Hodge Building in memory of Colonel William Walter Hodge, commander of the 93rd Engineer Regiment on the Alcan Highway. The Hodge Building was part of a larger project meant to include the construction of ten other similar buildings for military use. Construction started with the Hodge Building, along with the Buckner Building 660 yards (600 m) to the northeast, with both opening in 1957. Despite the ambitious plan, these buildings were the only two to be built, and they were used by the US Army until the early 1960s; the Buckner Building has been abandoned since 1966.

In 1964, the area was hit by a tsunami caused by the Good Friday earthquake, but the damage was not extensive. The Hodge Building was transformed into a public building with several units, including the headquarters of the major institutions and commercial services of Whittier.

In 1972, the building was renamed Begich Towers Condominium, in memory of Nick Begich, a Congressman from Alaska who disappeared in the area and is presumed to have died in a plane crash. In 1974, the Begich Towers Condominium Association of Apartment Owners Inc. became the official manager of the entire structure.

With most of the community and its services either inside of or connected to the building, residents are able to remain inside the building for long periods of time if the weather is inclement, or if they simply do not want to leave.

Completed in 1957, the building has a rectangular plan and a flat roof. It is 14 floors high and is made up of three modules connected together. The north side has two protruding modules that form two square towers. Inside, sets of branched corridors and elevators allow residents access to all areas of the complex. The school is connected to the towers via a tunnel.

In addition to the residential areas, the building contains the basic services for condo owners and guests: a post office, a general store and a laundromat. There is also a small Baptist church, two floors of bed and breakfast daily rentals, a conference room, and an indoor playground at the school.

During the U.S. military's tenure in Whittier, all Whittier buildings had their hydronic heating needs fulfilled by a single heating plant. Following the Army's departure, each building had to get its own system, including the Begich Towers, which had a pair of boilers in a side building.

As of 2015, only one of the two boilers serving Begich Towers was functional, but it experienced major maintenance-related issues almost daily. The problems were traced back to the hydronic loop using water, which was susceptible to freezing, instead of a mixture of domestic water and glycol, which lowers the freezing point and prevents pipes from bursting due to ambient temperature drops below zero degrees Celsius.

As of 2016, funding for repairs relating to maintaining mechanical systems and renovating the façade came with a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.