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Konark is famous for its 13th-century Sun Temple (a World Heritage Site).
The Sun Temple of Konark often called as the Black Pagoda was constructed in mid thirteenth century by Raja Narasinghs Deva-I of the Ganga Dynasty. Conceived in form of a huge chariot drawn by seven spirited horses on twelve pairs of exquisitely decorated wheels, after the mythical seven horse chariot of Sun God, the temple was a unique in its architecture and implementation.
Intricate carvings on the walls of the main temple and the Natya Mandap (a separate structure just in front of the temple) are a sight to behold. It is often considered to be the most artistically superior among the other temples of Orissa. Sun Temple has lost its many of its original structures to time and disrepair but the remaining structures and the remainder of the structures confirm till today the infinite imaginative power of the artistes of the time and their inspiring contribution to Vaisnav Culture.
Dundlod.
Dundlod if situated in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. It is famous for his fort and havelis.
Visits:
- Chhatri of Ram Dutt Goenka which has an adjacent well.
-The Bhugirah Mal Goenka haveli is a fine example mirror work on the windows of the upper walls of the inner courtyard.
-Goenka Temple. On the walls of the temple is a huge fresco with modern trappings showing British men and women on bicycles and cars, it also shows a long train and has a backdrop of telegraph wires.
The largest Terracotta fountain in the world, made in 1887 for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee and how it started its life at the Glasgow International Exhibition in 1888 and how it was restored in 2003 after vandalism and weather.
It is surrounded by four life-size statues of water-carriers representing Australasia, Canada, India and South Africa.
Agra Fort.
Agra fort is a historical fort in the city of Agra in India. It was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal Dynasty in 1638, when the capital was shifted from Agra to Delhi.The Agra fort is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The fort can be accurately described as a walled city.
Silicon valley!
SARE JAHAAN SE ACCHA...... HINDUSTAN HAMARA !
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There is still lepra in India. A sponsored aid program to cure and prevent it is working at Doraguda.
Dhaneta Jat woman.
The Jats who live in Kutch are particularly conscious of their identity as a group and their sense of unity comes from a perception of shared historical traditions and a belief in common ancestry.
Originally the Jats were herders who lived in an area called Half in Iran. Five hundred years ago these shepherds migrated from Half and came to Sindh and Kutch to search for new grazing lands. They crossed the Rann of Kutch and settled there taking up farming, they became known as Dhaneta Jats. Some have devted themselves to the study of the Koran and are known as the Fakirani Jats. All the Jats in Kutch are Muslims and have similar marriage and dowry customs.
The Dhanetas are the largest of the Jat Communities. They live throughtout north western Kutch. The Dhanetas live in the Banni, herd cattle. The men care for the animals and women remain in camp looking after their families.
Burning of rice residues in SE Punjab, India, prior to the wheat season.
Credit: ©2011CIAT/NeilPalmer
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USC Leadership Delegation to India 2011, Day 7 (Feb. 26, Bangalore): The delegation's marathon tour through India concluded with a special USC Forum on Globalization and Innovation, arranged by the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, examining issues surrounding globalization and innovation in the 21st century from the India perspective. (photo by Paul Peterson/Embark LLC)
This is the entrance to the Dargah Sharif. The shrine has the grave (Maqbara) of the saint, Moinuddin Chisti.
Amber Fort (Hindi: आमेर क़िला, also known as Amer Fort) is located in Amber, 11 km from Jaipur, Rajasthan state, India. It was the ancient citadel of the ruling Kachhawa clan of Amber, before the capital was shifted to present day Jaipur. Amber Fort is known for its unique artistic style, blending both Hindu and Muslim (Mughal) elements, and its ornate and breathtaking artistic mastery. The fort borders the Maota Lake, and is a major tourist attraction in Rajasthan.
Amber was originally built by the Meenas in the town they consecrated to Amba, the Mother Goddess, whom they knew as `Gatta Rani' or `Queen of the Pass' [ Tod.II.282 ]. Built over the remnants of an earlier structure, the palace complex which stands today was commenced under the reign of Raja Man Singh, Commander in Chief of Akbar’s army and a member of the Emperor's inner circle of nine courtiers, in 1592. The initial structure of the fort was entirely completed by his descendant, Jai Singh I.[ Amber was modified by successive rulers over the next 150 years, until the Kachwahas shifted their capital to Jaipur during the time of Sawai Jai Singh II.
The structure which is known today as "Amber Fort" was initially a palace complex within the original fort of Amber that is today known as Jaigarh Fort. Connected to Amber via fortified passages, Jaigarh Fort is located on a hill above the Amber complex, and is constructed of red sandstone and white marble. It overlooks Maotha Lake, and was reputed to be the treasure vault of the Kacchwaha rulers.
Like the entire fort complex, Amber Fort is also constructed of white and red sandstone. The Fort is unique in that its outside, an imposing and rugged defensive structure, is markedly different from its inside, an ornate, lavish interior influenced by both Hindu and Muslim (Mughal) styles of ornamentation. The walls of the interior of the fort are covered with murals, frescoes, and paintings depicting various scenes from daily life. Other walls are covered with intricate carvings, mosaic, and minute mirror work.
Amber Fort is divided into four sections. Each is accessible via large staircases from a central location, or from a broad pathway leading to each of the sections. The pathways are currently used to transport tourists via an elephant ride. The main entrance of Amber Fort, Surajpol, leads to the Jaleb chowk, the main courtyard of the Fort where the staircase to the palace is located. In ancient times, Jaleb Chowk was the area where returning armies were paraded back home.
Just prior to the palace entrance is a narrow staircase leading to the Kali Temple, also known as the Shila Devi Temple, made popular for its enormous silver lions. The origins and purpose of these large lions is still unknown. The Kali Temple is known for its silver doors with raised reliefs. According to legends, Maharaja Man Singh I had worshiped Kali for a victory over the rulers of Bengal. The legend says that Kali appeared in the Maharaja's dream and ordered him to recover her statue from the Jessore seabed (now in Bangladesh) and place it in an appropriate temple. The accuracy of the legend has not been verified. However, it is said that the Maharaja recovered the statue from the bed of the sea and created the temple. A tourist curiosity is an image of Ganesha at the temple entrance, carved entirely from a single piece of coral.
The India Gate, originally called the All India War Memorial, is a war memorial located astride the Rajpath, on the eastern edge of the ‘ceremonial axis’ of New Delhi, formerly called Kingsway. India gate is a memorial to 82,000 soldiers of the undivided Indian Army who died in the period 1914–21 in the First World War, in France, Flanders, Mesopotamia, Persia, East Africa, Gallipoli and elsewhere in the Near and the Far East, and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. 13,300 servicemen's names, including some soldiers and officers from the United Kingdom, are inscribed on the gate. The India Gate, even though a war memorial, evokes the architectural style of the triumphal arch like the Arch of Constantine, outside the Colosseum in Rome, and is often compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the Gateway of India in Bombay. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
In 1971, following the Bangladesh Liberation war, a small simple structure, consisting of a black marble plinth, with reversed rifle, capped by war helmet, bounded by four eternal flames, was built beneath the soaring Memorial Archway. This structure, called Amar Jawan Jyoti, or the Flame of the Immortal Soldier, since 1971 has served as India’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
HISTORY
The India Gate in New Delhi, was part of the work of the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC), which came into existence in May 1917 for building war graves and memorials to soldiers killed in the First World War The foundation stone of the All-India War Memorial was laid on 10 February 1921, at 4:30 PM, by the visiting Duke of Connaught in a solemn soldierly ceremony attended by Officers and Men of the Indian Army, Imperial Service Troops, the Commander in Chief, and Chelmsford, the Viceroy.[4] On the occasion, the viceroy said, "The stirring tales of individual heroism, will live for ever in the annals of this country", and that the memorial which was a tribute to the memory of heroes, "known and unknown” would inspire, future generations to endure hardships with similar fortitude and "no less valour".
The King, in his message, read out by the Duke said "On this spot, in the central vista of the Capital of India, there will stand a Memorial Archway, designed to keep" in the thoughts of future generations "the glorious sacrifice of the officers and men of the Indian Army who fought and fell". During the ceremony, the Deccan Horse, 3rd Sappers and Miners, 6th Jat Light Infantry, 34th Sikh Pioneers, 39th Garhwal Rifles, 59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force), 117th Mahrattas, and 5th Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force), were honored with title of " Royal " in recognition of the distinguished services and gallantry of the Indian Army during the Great War".
Ten years after the foundation stone laying ceremony, on February 12, 1931, the All India War Memorial was inaugurated by Viceroy Lord Irwin, who on the occasion said “ those who after us shall look upon this monument may learn in pondering its purpose something of that sacrifice and service which the names upon its walls record.”
In the decade between the laying of foundation stone of the War memorial and its inauguration, the rail-line was shifted to run along the Yamuna river, and the New Delhi Railway Station was opened in 1926.
The India gate, which is illuminated every evening, from 19:00 to 21:30, is a major tourist attraction. Motor cars, moved through India Gate, till it was closed to traffic. The Republic Day Parade starts from Rashtrapati Bhavan and passes around the India Gate.
DESIGN
The All-India War Memorial in New Delhi was designed by Edwin Lutyens, who was not only the main architects of New Delhi, but a leading designer of war memorials. He was a member of the IWGC, and one of Europe’s foremost designers of war graves and memorials. He designed sixty-five war memorials in Europe, including the highly regarded Cenotaph, in London, in 1919, the first national war memorial erected after World War I, for which he was commissioned by David Lloyd George, the British prime minister. All-India War Memorial in New Delhi, like the Cenotaph, in London, is secular memorial, free of religious and "culturally-specific iconography such as crosses". Lutyens according to his biographer, Christopher Hussey, relied on "elemental Mode", a style of commemoration based on "universal architectural style free of religious ornamentation". The India Gate, which has been called a "creative reworking of the Arc de Triomphe" has a span of 30 feet, and lies on the eastern axial end of Kingsway,
present day Rajpath, the central vista and main ceremonial procession route in New Delhi.
The 42-metre tall India Gate, stands on a low base of red Bharatpur stone and rises in stages to a huge moulding. The shallow domed bowl at the top was intended to be filled with burning oil on anniversaries but this is rarely done. The India Gate hexagon complex, with a diameter of about 625 metres, covers approximately 306,000m² in area.
INSCRIPTIONS
The cornice is inscribed with the Imperial suns while both sides of the arch have INDIA, flanked by the dates MCMXIV (1914 left) and MCMXIX (1919 right). Below the word INDIA, is inscribed, in capital letters:
TO THE DEAD OF THE INDIAN ARMIES WHO FELL HONOURED IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS MESOPOTAMIA AND PERSIA EAST AFRICA GALLIPOLI AND ELSEWHERE IN THE NEAR AND THE FAR-EAST AND IN SACRED MEMORY ALSO OF THOSE WHOSE NAMES ARE RECORDED AND WHO FELL IN INDIA OR THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER AND DURING THE THIRD AFGHAN WAR
SOLDIERS NAMES ON THE INDIA GATE
13218 war dead are commemorated by name on the India Gate. Due to security reasons access to read the names on the memorial is restricted. The names can be however be seen on the DELHI MEMORIAL (INDIA GATE) web site, which list the names with date of death, unit, regiment, place on gate where name is inscribed, location, etc. The names on the gate includes that of a female staff nurse from the Territorial Force, killed in action in 1917.
CANOPY
About 150 metres East of the India Gate war memorial, at a junction of six roads, is a 73-foot cupola, inspired by a sixth-century pavilion from Mahabalipuram. Lutyens used four Delhi Order columns to support the domed canopy and its chhajja. Under the canopy on a pedestal with the Royal Coat of Arms and the inscription GEORGE V R I ('Rex Imperator', or 'King Emperor') there was a 15.2 m tall marble statue by Charles Sargeant Jagger of King George V, in his coronation robes, Imperial State Crown, British globus cruciger and sceptre, which sometime during or after the statue's removal broke off. Since the shifting of the old statue in the 1960s to Coronation Park to join other British Raj-era statues, it was often suggested that a statue of Mahatma Gandhi be placed under the cupola, where the king's statue once stood. The suggestion was even discussed in the Indian Parliament. In 1981, the Government in response to a question in parliament confirmed that it was considering the installation of Mahatma K Gandhi statue under the empty canopy, but nothing came of it.
AMAR JAWAN JYOTI
Amar Jawan Jyoti, or the flame of the immortal soldier, is a structure consisting of black marble plinth, with reversed rifle, capped by war helmet, bound by four urns, each with the permanent light (jyoti) from (CNG) flames,[11] erected under the India Gate in the wake Liberation of Bangladesh in December 1971 to commemorate Indian soldiers killed in the defense of their country. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 26 January 1972, the 23rd Republic Day. Since the installation of the Amar Jawan Jyoti, in 1972, it has served as India’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Amar Jawan Jyoti is manned round the clock by soldiers drawn from the three services of the Indian armed forces. Wreaths are placed at the Amar Jawan Jyoti on Vijay Diwas, and on 26 January, by the Prime Minister of India, Chiefs of Armed Forces, and other dignitaries.
NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL
In July 2014 the Government announced plans to construct a National War Memorial around the canopy, and a National War Museum in adjoining Princes Park. The War Memorial and Museum are expected to cost Rupees 400 crores or about US Dollars 66 Million.
WIKIPEDIA
Konark is famous for its 13th-century Sun Temple (a World Heritage Site).
The Sun Temple of Konark often called as the Black Pagoda was constructed in mid thirteenth century by Raja Narasinghs Deva-I of the Ganga Dynasty. Conceived in form of a huge chariot drawn by seven spirited horses on twelve pairs of exquisitely decorated wheels, after the mythical seven horse chariot of Sun God, the temple was a unique in its architecture and implementation.
Intricate carvings on the walls of the main temple and the Natya Mandap (a separate structure just in front of the temple) are a sight to behold. It is often considered to be the most artistically superior among the other temples of Orissa. Sun Temple has lost its many of its original structures to time and disrepair but the remaining structures and the remainder of the structures confirm till today the infinite imaginative power of the artistes of the time and their inspiring contribution to Vaisnav Culture.