This afternoon Ranjan drove me around Melbourne and we stopped at the Shrine of Remembrance. The Shrine was built in late 1920's in remembrance of the 114,000 'diggers' (veterans) of Victoria who died in the Great War of 1914-1918 - 89,100 of them served overseas and 19,000 did not return.
The outside is rather imposing and the eternal flame that stands at the bottom of the imposing steps of the Shrine actually gave me pause. That is when it hit me again about September 11th. It was nice after my busy week to take a few moments to think of those 'diggers' that honored America (as well as Australia) with their lives. (I cannot believe I did not get a picture of the front of it!!)
I was extremely lucky in that the Shrine itself was still open when I got to the top. (10 minutes later and I would have missed it.) There is a skylight high in the top of the Shrine. Each year on the winter solstice, a ray of sunlight passes through the box to light up the main chamber. This occurs at sunrise and lasts for only 17 minutes. The phenomenon occurs from December 19-23. A lottery is conducted each year allowing 20 people to see the shaft of light each morning. I can only imagine the chills this would bring witnessing this ray of light shine down on the Shrine. The picture below is the bottom of the shrine and the light would shine directly on it.
And this is the view from the very top of the Shrine looking out St. Kilda Road towards downtown Melbourne. You can barely see the eternal flame in the left hand side of the picture. Hopefully this gives you some idea of how large the Shrine is.
And finally, here is a one of several statues outside the Shrine. You can see the Shrine to the left of the statue.
This was a truly peaceful moment for me today. If Ranjan had not been waiting on me I think I could have stayed here for quite some time. There are certainly some magical aspects of this city. I witnessed a few today. :)
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