Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 June 8

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June 8

Which temple image this might be?

The temple of Ramnad, South India (XV, August 1858, p.84) - Copy

This 1858 image of a temple in Ramanathapuram district Tamil Nadu India. seems to be from book The Wesleyan juvenile offering. United Kingdom, n.p, 1858. Page 84. (Google books link). Page 85 seem to criticize temple idolatry but does not mention name of the temple.

I am working on a draft of the Ramanathapuram museum palace of 17-18 century, which has a temple too. Hence looking for information, Which temple (pictured above) this might be? Bookku (talk) 11:06, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that the original attribution of the picture by the Wesleyan juvenile offering editors was adequate. The nearest similar hill shape as in the background which I could find is in the Virudhunagar district: Azhagiya Shanta Manavaalan Temple to Vishnu. The temple is of a different architecture. At virudhunagar-districts, virudhunagar-districts there is a more recent temple of the correct structure. Here an older type. An other nearest mountainous area would be the Vellore district. --Askedonty (talk) 14:48, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

This seems to be better guess. Many thanks for helpful inputs. Bookku (talk) 07:34, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

If it helps for the identification, the accompanying text in the Wesleyan Juvenile Offering reads, "Cape Comorin is the most southern point of India, separated from Ceylon by a narrow strait. The Temple of Ramnad is situated among the mountains on this southern coast."^[1] As there are multiple temples in Ramnad (some 200 kilometres (120 mi) away from Cape Comorin!), referring to this one as "the Temple" is strange; apparently, the author of the text did not understand the term Ramnad and assumed it was the name of a deity. I bet the artist who did the "embellishment" also never laid eyes on the building; it seems to be based on either an inadequate verbal description or a very poor sketching.  --Lambiam 16:12, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

Dropshot

Our article on Operation Dropshot says: Dropshot included mission profiles that would have used 300 nuclear bombs and 29,000 high-explosive bombs on 200 targets in 100 cities and towns to wipe out 85 percent of the Soviet Union's industrial potential at a single stroke. Is there a list of those targets? Thank you! 195.62.160.60 (talk) 14:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Emergency War Plan: The American Doomsday Machine, 1945-1960 - Appendix A says that the actual plans are "not available at this time", but has a target list which is a "close approximation". Some pages are missing from the Google Books preview, so you may need to acquire a copy for the full text. Alansplodge (talk) 15:39, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Here's a pretty scathing review of Anthony Cave Brown's Operation World War III: Secret American Plan (Dropshot) for War with the Soviet Union in 1957. If the link given in the article is really to "...Outline Plan for Use in the Event of War in 1957" then 4. Conduct an Air Offensive Against the Soviet Powers is probably the extent of the "target list". I don't think the "Appendix A." above is actually 'Dropshot', but if you are interested in any target lists, National Security Archive's Nuclear Valut has done some work. fiveby(zero) 16:20, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Ah yes, the "Appendix A" list seems to be an amalgam of the plans for 1949 and 1951. Alansplodge (talk) 17:06, 8 June 2023 (UTC)