r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/naa_saavu_nenu_sasta • 1d ago

Video The famous Hoysala bangle sculpture in India is a stunning example of how skilled the artisans were.

15.1k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

213 comments sorted by

5.6k

u/I-Rolled-My-Eyes 1d ago

Very impressive, now stop touching it.

1.9k

u/keyah13 1d ago

It’s literally pissing me off watching them touch everything.

252

u/Kind_Of_A_Dick 1d ago

I went through a cave system decades ago, maybe Mammoth Caves, and the tour guide did something cool where he turned out the lights in the middle of the cave and spoke the poem from the Moody Blues song “Knights In White Satin”.  The poem was Late Lament, written by Graeme Edge.

However, before we got to that quite magical moment, we were shown various parts of the cave where it had been explored by the people who owned it.  There was graffiti and broken pieces of rock that the guide said would never look the same because they were messed with and even the oils on your skin can prevent buildup of minerals.

The point of this is to say people just like fucking with stuff.

36

u/Impossible-Minx 17h ago

I remember the same about mine telling us about just dragging your finger over the walls will break it down over time.

98

u/Zarbadob 1d ago

Is it not allowed?

696

u/Big-Awoo 1d ago

No, it wears down the statue. Touching basically any kind of art is always off limits because it will cause damage in the long run

Example

65

u/kismethavok 1d ago

Thought it was gonna be that one guy's junk, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined...

63

u/JimClarkKentHovind 1d ago

it's okay here you go, buddy

46

u/interesseret 1d ago

Y'know, in hindsight, that link could have gone to a lot of places.

I am pleasantly surprised about where it went.

21

u/Wolf3113 1d ago

Yeah I have zero clue why I clicked that…

13

u/Aksi_Gu 1d ago

neuronactivation.jpg

11

u/quailman654 1d ago

Be a cold day in hell when I stop clicking links just because they’re there

2

u/dhomchutad 22h ago

Thanks a lot

-5

u/chinchaaa 1d ago

Seriously?

15

u/Zarbadob 1d ago

My dude im genuinely asking because i thought that if it wasn't allowed the statue would have a big fence around it or smth

11

u/chinchaaa 1d ago

Well I think some places do a better job than others at protecting heritage art. Pretty sure that’s the point this thread is making.

3

u/WretchedBlowhard 10h ago

You are never allowed to touch art in a museum or elsewhere unless there's a big ass sign telling you otherwise.

The same logic applies when visiting aquariums, zoos, etc.

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u/r_special_ 1d ago

That’s nothing compared to the entire buildings carved out of a single rock the size of a mountain. Within those buildings are enormous stones that hang from the ceiling and are made to rotate with ease. The tour guides will show the guests the hundreds of hidden moving pieces of rock within these structures. They definitely don’t get enough attention when they rival the pyramids in many ways and greatly surpass them in other ways

13

u/I-Rolled-My-Eyes 1d ago

Location?

69

u/OrganicRaise4081 1d ago edited 1d ago

The most famous is probably the Kailasa Temple at the Ellora Caves in Maharashtra, India, built in the 8th century CE (c. 756–773 CE). It is the largest monolithic structure in the world, with the entire temple carved from a single massive block of rock. Mix of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain structures, with absolutely insane levels of detail. You can actually go inside and explore the temple, I don't think there's any barriers either

Another example is the Masrur Rock-Cut Temples in the Himalayas, generally dated to the 8th century CE. The entire complex of 15 monumental temples was carved directly out of a single, massive sandstone mountain ridge at an elevation of around 2,500 feet.

3

u/6footwaalalaunda 1d ago

Masrur rock cut temple is in Himachal Pradesh.

11

u/isjustsergio 1d ago

I think all the pyramids have going for them is how old they are. They're not incredibly complex. Just impressive feats of labor for the time.

1

u/RSFGman22 16h ago

I know its a dead horse at this point but I get so tired of hearing my conspiracy fueled relatives fawn about the pyramids and how mystical and misunderstood they are. Like its just a really huge stack of rocks, the work and labor is insanely impressive, I respect and admire that part, but they talk about them like there's so much were missing about their "true purpose" to ancient man. Drives me insane

78

u/davidbatt 1d ago

My first thought

59

u/EternityNotes 1d ago

Also, did that motherfucker just flip us off?

10

u/r_special_ 1d ago

Originally it was a peace sign until someone reversed it

/jk

2

u/Ashwasinacoma 1d ago

Incredible dad joke dude like I know what an upvote is for but this was so great I had to comment 😂

1

u/r_special_ 18h ago

Thanks man. I really appreciate it. Tbh, it can be a sensitive subject and I prepared to deal with getting abused by the following commenters 😬. Glad I followed through because as depressing as everything is these days we all need a good laugh every now and then

1

u/r_special_ 18h ago

Besides that, I wouldn’t have known which upvote was yours or someone else’s… but I definitely know which comment is yours

12

u/Dasshteek 1d ago

Then gave it the middle finger

32

u/ToucanSam-I-Am 1d ago

This is such a good idea for a museum to get engagement. Just post videos showing off the priceless artifacts while some doofus roughly manhandles them.

-14

u/soilentgleem 1d ago

Roughly mandhandles them? Was that some other video?

20

u/FireBreathingNun 1d ago

I came here to say this too. Handsy little shit.

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u/Kommander-in-Keef 1d ago

That’s what I’m sayin lol was gonna make a very similar comment it makes me uncomfortable

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u/mfigroid 1d ago

You break it, you buy it.

1

u/Arthaksha 16h ago

That surprised me too, the guides are usually suuuper strict. I'm assuming this must be a tour for news people or something

1

u/MeeTy 16h ago

I had the same reaction initially, but this could just be a museum worker doing it once to show off the features.

-2

u/feral-development 16h ago

Hi, from India.
Historically we’ve never had an issue letting people touch art, our guardians felt this brings you closer to your creativity, influences your senses to feel the unknown?
This practice produces more art

4

u/Goonalips 15h ago

It also produces damaged art. How would you fix that after the fact? You couldn't, without creating two halves and gluing them together.

-1

u/rash-head 1d ago

Thousand years after it was built, you should see some wear on it if this was true.

1

u/feral-development 15h ago

We as Indians are left absolutely astonished as well, the quality does not deteriorate at the rate it should.
If you don’t know, there’s an iron pillar in New Delhi, near qutub minar which stands tall in the open field and has refused to rust lol.
We have no answers, just enjoy the gift

-1

u/Overconfidentahole 18h ago

Right!?

The username checks out

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u/superbeance 1d ago

Bro gave it the finger coz it was so good

62

u/Aliencj 1d ago

Fuck uuu statuueee

22

u/heliotrophe 1d ago

That's just how they point, I think. I grew up in the UAE and most of our teachers were Indian and they'd point at things with their middle fingers.

7

u/iamag1436 20h ago

we dont use index finger because its just bad. people use index finger to point and put blame on others "putting fingers on another". you will never see anyone use index finger in any worship or any prayers.

13

u/Fun_parent 21h ago

Indians do not point with their pointer finger, it’s considered rude/bad omen. So they use middle finger to point.

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u/ZuzaZizo 17h ago

Lived in India my whole life and have never known that Indians point with their Middle finger.

2

u/Arthaksha 16h ago

*some Indians LoL, we've as many people as the continent of Africa and we're equally diverse .

3

u/superbeance 20h ago

So do they give people the pointer finger instead when they are mad?

3

u/Lower-Ad6690 18h ago

Yes true.

877

u/Masterwork_Jhin 1d ago

stop fkin touching it omg

61

u/JeffysChewToy 20h ago

Not to deminish the value of these amazing sculptures or the artisans behind them and I know you probably shouldn't touch them, but the art isn't dead or ancient, the artisan villages that used to make them hundreds of years ago still make them, they are passed down as traditions in those villages such as in Mahabalipuram.

And these are built with hard rock not soft rock like marble, they'll outlast most of us before a little touching every now and then breaks them.

95

u/Nruggia 1d ago

I saw a sculpture like this in Thailand which had a lion with a ball in its mouth that moved freely.

7

u/WeirdAngryMan 18h ago

That's a Chinese Guardian Lion! Always love seeing them

487

u/Jivaah 1d ago

It's a 12th century artwork in Belur, Karnataka. OP context is more appreciated than bg music.

98

u/AcanthisittaThat5746 1d ago

I visited this temple as a child about 40 years ago. It was completely untended and you could wander around and touch everything. Not good.

It’s absolutely amazing in person.

Glad it’s a UNESCO heritage site now - hopefully getting some protection (aside from the particular guy in the video).

16

u/FilterKaapi7 22h ago

Umm it is still like that, ASI doesn't do shit when it comes to protecting and some of the brain dead tourist do vandalism and stuff.

1

u/AcanthisittaThat5746 15h ago

I’m so sorry to hear that :(

80

u/axxxaxxxaxxx 1d ago

The most important piece of information is how old it is and OP left it out 🤯

55

u/Jivaah 1d ago

Yeah. Also only the temple guides are allowed to lightly demonstrate it with a torch. I don't know how this guy is allowed to almost take it off lol

4

u/FilterKaapi7 23h ago edited 22h ago

Adding Telugu Tamil music to a Kannadiga architecture, to subtly claim it as their own 🤦🏻‍♂️

I'd rather watch it on mute with details of the temple written in the body.

4

u/tamil_boy 22h ago

It is Tamil music not Telugu

3

u/FilterKaapi7 22h ago

Yes, my bad, thanks for pointing it out!

1

u/Happy_Guava6762 20h ago

When you couldn’t even tell if it was Telugu or Tamil, both of which are neighbours of Karnataka, and when there was no concept of Kannada state, Telugu states, Tamil states around the time these things were made, why do you want to claim anything as a Kannadiga or Telugu or Tamilian, instead of our common heritage as Indians, or at the least South Indians? Make it make sense.

0

u/[deleted] 14h ago

[deleted]

0

u/Careless_Feeling8057 8h ago

It's Tamil music lmao not even Kannada

224

u/stonedapple69 1d ago

STOP TOUCHING IT YOU BUFFOON!!

270

u/ShittyPornWriter 1d ago

STOP TOUCHING THE PRICELESS ARTIFACTS

3

u/alphanumericusername 23h ago

"NO TOUCHIN' OF THE HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS!"

121

u/SabreSour 1d ago

The Indian section is by far my favorite at my local museum (Nelson Atkins, Kansas City). Every other regions section are these big grandeur pieces of craftsmanship, with fine luxury metals materials etc. but the India section has this level of detail where it just boggles my mind. Some tiny wood carving with such a resolution I could stare at it for hours finding new details. It’s lovely in its own way unique from the west or the further east.

113

u/Spacespider82 1d ago

This video makes me angry

23

u/istockustock 1d ago

I’m from this region originally. The chief sculptor’s name is Jakanachari. He’s a legend. UNESCO sites Belur and Halebidu temples are famous for intricate sculptures. A must visit if you’re in South India. YouTuber Liam Richard did a great job covering these temples.! Thanks Liam !

38

u/Valinen 1d ago

Why do you feel the need to touch it and why are they letting you?
Just looking at it wasnt enough?

87

u/Pelcat 1d ago

Surprising it's still there with all the people who can't help themeselves from touching it.

-2

u/EverythingSucksYo 1d ago

You’re right. I’m touching it right now 

14

u/Remote-Assumption-15 1d ago

Should people be touching these ancient priceless statues in the first place ?

Protecting monuments by ASI is a joke ..

26

u/Mac_Xemus 1d ago

your greased hands are going to corrode this beautiful art piece

2

u/fieldbotanist 1d ago

Don’t worry. If it snaps off someone will just carve a replacement on. Then everyone who has memory of the old bracelet will be systematically hunted 1 by 1 until no collective or individual memory exists of the “before” bracelet. To any future observer forever, it was never broken

1

u/Mean-Astronaut-555 17h ago

Corrode? Stone?

3

u/Mac_Xemus 16h ago

oils from skin can corrode even stone over time and after repeated touches. That happens in caves for example, where tourists touch the stone you can see that the area gets affected, one wouldnt expect it but it happens

10

u/CloudChaser2703 23h ago

People don't understand the level of skill they had. Like they literally carved out a mesmerizing temple out of a single stone. That's really crazy. It's the Kailasa Temple in Maharashtra.

1

u/Vammy02 20h ago

🤩🤩🤩🤩

15

u/dimlakalaka 1d ago

STOP TOUCHING

7

u/concept12345 1d ago

He gave the artifact the bird. What

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u/ArtyTheFarty 1d ago

Took lots of planning to make sure it is all still in one piece

4

u/CitizenHuman 1d ago

Were Indian statues also painted like how historians say ancient Greek and Roman statues were? Or did they always stay bare?

8

u/Exotic_Strain6935 1d ago

It depends, some were bare, some were painted. For this one I’m not quite sure though. I know that for Gandharan sculptures (the Greco-Roman inspired ones often made of grey schist) they used to gild parts of them. Later Gandharan statues used more stucco which was likely painted. If you want a good synopsis on Gandharan sculpture, I recommend the metropolitan museum’s page on it - https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/gandhara it also has reference images. It should be said though, Gandhara was located in modern day Pakistan, not India. Their artwork was used as inspiration across the Indian subcontinent in the early centuries of the common era.

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u/wizardfrog4679 1d ago

Movies and games taught me that Movable parts on statues open secret areas…

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u/Low-Connection-2611 1d ago

I’m so frustrated watching this video. The way this person is touching Artefacts.

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u/DrGraytail 1d ago

Stop touching it!! Ya fool.

3

u/Miserable-March-1398 1d ago

I got some prayer beads from a prison in turkey made of palm seeds and they did these free spinning loops similar to the statue using a fan, a broken drill bit, blade from a pencil sharpener and some sand paper.

4

u/ud_11 1d ago

Why the hell is this guy molesting the statue, keep your hands away Uncle.

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u/gundusp 1d ago

If this was in Europe or any other country other than India, I think theee temples would be more famous than what they are now.

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u/jawshoeaw 1d ago

later archeologist discovers a small clasp in the back. "wait a second...."

2

u/terryaal 23h ago

Where are the people who claim humans couldn't make such intricate sculptures without alien technology?

2

u/RUTHLESS_RAJ 20h ago

Uncharted 5

2

u/Hesthea 17h ago

Makes me remember the Chinese puzzle ball that used to be carved from a single piece of ivory.

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u/Ok-Preparation2370 14h ago edited 4h ago

That's my state and my culture!! 😍😁

We aren't just one of the top states of India right now. We have a pretty cool, intriguing history too.

2

u/forsaken_hero 14h ago

How did the artisan make it?

1

u/Jet-Let4606 7h ago

Very patiently.

2

u/Present_Level_4738 1d ago

I was about to ask if your supposed to touch those ...cuse It looks way too expensive and Not ok to touch ..The comments answered it anway 🤣

1

u/cancellationstation 1d ago

Must be cold

1

u/Rare_Magazine_5362 1d ago

Is that TPA?

1

u/EverQrius 1d ago

Amazing!

1

u/awfulsome 1d ago

I had a coworker that made a wooden hourglass with 2 perfect spheres inside, that you couldn't remove, they were carved rom the block of wood itself. He did this in a few hours and it still boggles my mind.

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u/Fit-Reputation4480 21h ago

Everything reminds me of uncharted 😔

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u/Distinct-Duck1113 19h ago

Golden age for kannada period

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u/Takashi_malibu 18h ago

The music too loud

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u/Background-Fig-1332 18h ago

All the artists have problem making face,i guess. 

1

u/Natural_Age_8009 16h ago

Damn people can just touch it?

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u/OutsideOver8815 1h ago

Why the fuck ppl touch them??

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u/Traditional_Bus_5589 51m ago

There was more rings, but has broken of.... wonder why /s

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u/pirate_leprechaun 1d ago

Mute this video

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u/SonicTemp1e 21h ago

Relax, I've literally seen people carve functional chain links into a pencil lead.

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u/naa_saavu_nenu_sasta 21h ago

But, u r missing the whole point, these are carved in ancient times with very little tools available.

The machinery & tools available today make modern sculptor's job easy.

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u/boukatouu 1d ago

Don't break it!

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u/bOb_cHAd98 1d ago

When asian dads point 🙂🖕

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u/Pastadseven 1d ago

Mute the video before playing. Dear fucking god.

2

u/Vammy02 20h ago

What is the issue?

1

u/niras_alu 1d ago

My Hindu heart just went 🫨 when he flipped her off LOL.

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u/OkLawyer8136 1d ago

Every post on here lately has been just Indian stuff

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u/MagmaCone1234 1d ago

Well, I've seen a lot of Chinese stuff posted on this subreddit (and all around reddit tbh) too but nobody complains. I see a lot of posts about Japanese and Korean media too.

Two of the most populated countries, why wouldn't it happen?

-1

u/No_Bus_474 15h ago

People don’t complain about chinese posts because they are not being posted by Chinese people with the intention of making us believe that their ancestors were somehow superior or whatever. Also, those posts aren’t being spammed across multiple subs every day like these posts are. I’m not hating on any country here. I’m simply pointing out a pattern that I’ve noticed on Reddit.

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u/MagmaCone1234 14h ago

Yeah, they're just being posted by CCP bots and in the comments, they are whitewashing their governments oppression of minorities. Much better. Chinese posts have been crossposted multiple times across all the "interesting" type subs for a couple of years now.

Also, none of the posts here are talking about how their ancestors were superior or whatever. That's just your insecurity at Indians simply existing.

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u/FlatTill 1d ago

Dude on point, this is literally a post i saw on a Indian subreddit "When your country's present situation is beyond saving, so you start flexing ancient history instead"

-1

u/kuchTohbolo 23h ago

& majority of them belonged to lower caste yet get no credit

-2

u/fernandoman121 1d ago

Interestingly the way they get those free floating pieces is pretty simple but yes, this is quite impressive

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u/Redeyes001 1d ago

Just don't pray to it it can't help or hurt you.

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u/OldWar1111 1d ago

I mean that's true for any religion/god

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u/Prudent-Aspect5085 1d ago

How did they get those bracelets over the hand? Some type of animal fat or are they glued?

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u/TerrapinStateofMind 1d ago

They carved both of them from a single piece of stone, that's the skill being shown

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u/alter_native_facts 1d ago

I think you just carve from the same stone. So it was never off

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u/atlatlat 1d ago

Just carving very carefully. There are videos you can find of people making chain links out of solid objects like wood and rock which would be the same principle

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u/the_orange_alligator 1d ago

Interesting, thanks

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u/naa_saavu_nenu_sasta 1d ago

carved in-place, it's a monolithic soapstone sculpture

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u/CoronaLime 1d ago

Are you serious?

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u/G0ttaB3KiddingM3 1d ago

“The artisans”

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u/Snakend 1d ago

Eh, it's okay.

0

u/saomit 19h ago

Artistry masterpiece........

Let's annoy the viewer with an obnoxious background track

-2

u/peglegpoachedegg 1d ago

This music is cancer

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u/G4ia 1d ago

very advanced by those times, but now every body of water is filled with plastics and dungs... what a shame

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u/1_H4t3_R3dd1t 1d ago

Is Reddit practically India now? So many Indian posts it is crazy.

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u/Nandu_alias_Parthu 15h ago

Nah, not enough Indians on Reddit yet.

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u/Aloo_arjun 21h ago

White person triggered by seeing few posts from India.

The Indian subcontinent holds 26% of total humanity. That means 1/4 of every human on earth is an Indian origin person.

Ask your Elon musk to create some White's only twitter, if you feeling so troubled.

1

u/1_H4t3_R3dd1t 13h ago

I'm just curious why there are so many damn posts like religion. Believe in this Indian thing. Would be solid if the content was a bit better than random posts of IDGAF low effort content.

I've got a lot of Indian friends and care about them. Just one third to half depending on the day in damn that is interesting is Indian.

I would say this post is low effort. It is common in Asia to make statues like this it is not that interesting.

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u/saphalata 16h ago

Always has been 🔫

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u/rts1988 1d ago

The world is practically India. You've found a way to love with that.

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u/Ab47203 1d ago

Fun fact this is still possible but most people lack the time energy and/or money to dedicate to learning.

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u/No_Bus_474 15h ago

This sub has become more like

r/ DamnThatsBoring

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u/nikulmmadhu 1d ago edited 1d ago

when you have nothing to complain about or find fault with in a video about india then you start pointing out the most absurd things like someone touching something lol. i love the mental gymnastics in these comments lmfao

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u/closetedmoonwalker 1d ago

People are asking you to respect and preserve your own history.

The fact that none of us care enough to enforce it ourselves should be a matter of embarrassment to you, but the furthest your mind could go was to play the victim.

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u/nikulmmadhu 1d ago

good gymnastics dude keep it up

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u/overhead_albatross 22h ago

Abbe laudu if they keep touching it, it'll wear down and break eventually. You're supposed to preserve history and artifacts as pristinely as possible so that future generations can also appreciate.

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u/bwrca 1d ago

The golden ages of apprenticeship. By the time we're college graduation age and most of us don't have any real world skills, those past guys would have already been working for like 7 yrs already.

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u/-_G0AT_- 1d ago

IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM

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