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Dharma Chakra Centre or Rumtek Monastery is one of the most important seats of the Kagyu lineage outside Tibet. In the early 1960's, His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa, founded this seat. The Centre has become the International Kagyu Headquarters during the life of His Holiness, and was the place from which lineage activities have manifested throughout the world. Here, the younger generation of Kagyu masters are being trained in the traditional study and meditation practices which have continuously been taught and practiced for the last 800 years.
The establishment of the Dharma Chakra Centre, Rumtek, Sikkim, India, includes:
1. The Rumtek Monastery: The beautifully structured main shrine temple and monastery surrounded by monks' quarters, where monks and Tulkus are trained in traditional tantric ritualistic arts and sadhana practices. His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa resided on the top floor and the most of the important relics are enshrined there. More
2. Drupdra Yiwong Samten Ling: A three-year retreat center built in the late 1970's by His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa, where traditional three-year retreat training is given, in accordance with the tradition of the Kagyu lineage. More
3. Karma Shri Nalanda Institute: The Shedra, or monastic college, affiliated with the Sampurnnant Sanskrit University in Varanasi, was founded by His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa. The young monks and Tulkus are trained in traditional buddhist education with a touch of modern educational systems. At the top of the old Shedra building, the relic of the Sixteenth Karmapa is enshrined. More
4. Karme Dechen Chökhor: A nunnery founded by His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa, were the nuns receive full training in the tantric ritual arts and sadhana practices.
When we got back to the Ghat there were people at the water’s edge praying and giving thanks. This river is life, purity, and a goddess to the people of India. The river is Ganga Ma, "Mother Ganges." Anyone who touches these purifying waters even today are said to be cleansed of all sins.
One summer while at Dubai Men's College, we chose to spend about 6 weeks of the summer in India. We first flew into New Delhi and were on a private escorted tour of Agra and Jaipur. We continued for the next five weeks travelling by ourselves. We took the train to Bihar for the Buddhist things, and Varanasi. We continued down to Calcutta and then Bhubaneswar. After we flew to Madras and went to a Jain temple in the Bangalore area. We flew to Goa for a short stay. Finally, we travelled overland to Bombay (called at the time) and returned to the UAE from there.
Squirrel running around in the palace area of the Red Fort.
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The largest of Old Delhi's monuments is Lal Quila or Red Fort whose thick red sandstone walls, bulging with turrets and bastions, have withstood the vagaries of time and nature.
Mughal Emperor Shahjahan started construction of the massive fort in 1638 and work was completed in 1648. The fort contains all the expected trappings of the centre of Mughal government: halls of public and private audience, domed and arched marble palaces, plush private apartments, a mosque and elaborately designed gardens. Even today, the fort remains an impressive testimony to Mughal grandeur, despite being attacked by the Persian Emperor Nadir Shah in 1739 and by the British soldiers during the war of independence in 1857. Delhi, India
Varanasi - Ganges - Chhath festival.
The Chhath festival is a very unique festival of the Hindu religion dedicated to the Sun, God of energy, also known as Lord Surya.
Ramappa Temple.
Palampet is located at a distance of 77 km from Warangal, the ancient capital of the Kakatiyas. It is home to brilliant Kakatiya art as seen in the Ramappa temple. The Ramalingeswara Temple is popularly known as the Ramappa temple because the chief sculptor was Ramappa. It is probably the only temple in India to be known by the name of the sculptor who builds it. It was built under the patronage of the King Kakati Ganapathi Deva by his Chief Commander Rudra Samani at Ranakude in the province of Atukuru. The temple has been described as the "brightest star in the galaxy of medieval temples in the Deccan". The temple is approached thorough a royal garden, now just a lawn with tree lined path. The temple is situated in a valley and is built with bricks so light that they can float on water. Yet the temple is so strong that it is still intact after numerous wars, invasions and natural calamities.
The Ramappa temple stands on a 6 ft high platform on a cruciform plan. The sanctum is crowned with a shikhara and is surrounded by a pradakshinapatha. Rich and intricate carvings adorn the walls, pillars and ceilings of this wonderful building. The hall in front of the sanctum has numerous beautifully carved pillars that have been placed to create an effect that combines light and space wonderfully. There are many votive shrines within the temple. There are two subsidiary shrines on either side of the main temple, which are in a good condition.
The entire temple complex is enclosed with a compound wall. At the entrance to the temple is a ruined Nandi mandapam, with an imposing 9 ft high Nandi, which is still intact. The Shivalingam in the sanctum also rises to a height of 9 ft. The east-facing sanctum is surrounded with pilasters crowned with Dravidian and Nagara shikharas in an alternating fashion.
The temple signifies many facets of Shiva, his royal residence, the Himalaya Mountains and his inhabiting a sacred space beyond the mortal realm. The temple is built upon the classical pattern of being first raised upon a platform that separates its sacred functions from the taint of the everyday. This 'sacred mountain' mindset was characteristic of the temple builders in all the cultures. It represented a powerful symbolic representation of a perfect building, an intersection in midair of the spheres of heaven and earth. The platform lifts it above the normal, transcends the profane, declaring with uncompromising firmness that it is a place for un-common activities dedicated to a god.
Guntur Hospital Chapel Preachers, 1922.
Back row (L-R): Dr. Victor McCauley; Mr. V. Ch. John, M.A.; Mr. N.V. Raghavachari; Pastor M. Satyanandam; Mr. P.B. Paul; Dr. John Aberly.
Front row: Pastor P. Philip Leisenring; Mr. S. Bhushanam; Pastor K. Luke; Dr. L.L. Uhl; Mr. Chegudi Joshua; Pastor R.P.D. Augustus; Pastor Murari David.
Used in Guntur Mission Hospital by Anna S. Kugler, p.40.
LCA 16.6.3 box 6 f. 15 India - Missionaries.
ELCA Archives image.
The Kerala backwaters are a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast (known as the Malabar Coast) of Kerala state in southern India. The network includes five large lakes linked by canals, both manmade and natural, fed by 38 rivers, and extending virtually half the length of Kerala state. The backwaters were formed by the action of waves and shore currents creating low barrier islands across the mouths of the many rivers flowing down from the Western Ghats range.
The Kerala Backwaters are a network of interconnected canals, rivers, lakes and inlets, a labyrinthine system formed by more than 900 km of waterways, and sometimes compared to the American Bayou. In the midst of this landscape there are a number of towns and cities, which serve as the starting and end points of backwater cruises. National Waterway No. 3 from Kollam to Kottapuram, covers a distance of 205 km and runs almost parallel to the coast line of southern Kerala facilitating both cargo movement and backwater tourism.
The backwaters have a unique ecosystem - freshwater from the rivers meets the seawater from the Arabian Sea. In certain areas, such as the Vembanad Kayal, where a barrage has been built near Kumarakom, salt water from the sea is prevented from entering the deep inside, keeping the fresh water intact. Such fresh water is extensively used for irrigation purposes.
Many unique species of aquatic life including crabs, frogs and mudskippers, water birds such as terns, kingfishers, darters and cormorants, and animals such as otters and turtles live in and alongside the backwaters. Palm trees, pandanus shrubs, various leafy plants and bushes grow alongside the backwaters, providing a green hue to the surrounding landscape.
Vembanad Kayal is the largest of the lakes, covering an area of 200 km², and bordered by Alappuzha (Alleppey), Kottayam, and Ernakulam districts. The port of Kochi (Cochin) is located at the lake's outlet to the Arabian Sea. Alleppey, "Venice of the East", has a large network of canals that meander through the town. Vembanad is India’s longest lake.
HOUSE BOATS
The kettuvallams (Kerala houseboats) in the backwaters are one of the prominent tourist attractions in Kerala. More than 2000 kettuvallams ply the backwaters, 120 of them in Alappuzha. Kerala government has classified the tourist houseboats as Platinum, Gold and silver.
The kettuvallams were traditionally used as grain barges, to transport the rice harvested in the fertile fields alongside the backwaters. Thatched roof covers over wooden hulls, 30 m in length, provided protection from the elements. At some point in time the boats were used as living quarters by the royalty. Converted to accommodate tourists, the houseboats have become floating cottages having a sleeping area, with western-style toilets, a dining area and a sit out on the deck. Most tourists spend the night on a house boat. Food is cooked on board by the accompanying staff – mostly having a flavour of Kerala. The houseboats are of various patterns and can be hired as per the size of the family or visiting group. The living-dining room is usually open on at least three sides providing a grand view of the surroundings, including other boats, throughout the day when it is on the move. It is brought to a standstill at times of taking food and at night. After sunset, the boat crew provide burning coils to drive away mosquitoes. Ketuvallams are motorised but generally proceed at a slow speed for smooth travel. All ketuvallams have a generator and most bedrooms are air-conditioned. At times, as per demand of customers, electricity is switched off and lanterns are provided to create a rural setting.
While many ketuvalloms take tourists from a particular point and bring them back to around the same point next morning there are some specific cruises mostly in the Alappuzha area, such as the one night cruise from Alappuzha to Thotapally via Punnamada Lake two nights cruise from Alappuzha to Alumkavadi,[8] one night cruise from Alappuzha to Kidangara, and one night cruise from Alappuzha to Mankotta. There are numerous such cruises.
Beypore, located 10 km south of Kozhikode at the mouth of the Chaliyar River, is a famous fishing harbour, port and boat building centre. Beypore has a 1,500 year-tradition of boatbuilding. The skill of the local shipwrights and boat builders are widely sought after. There is a houseboat-building yard at Alumkadavu, in Ashtamudi Kayal near Kollam.
FERRY SERVICES
Regular ferry services connect most locations on both banks of the backwaters. The Kerala State Water Transport Department operates ferries for passengers as well as tourists. It is the cheapest mode of transport through the backwaters.
ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE
Connected by artificial canals, the backwaters form an economical means of transport, and a large local trade is carried on by inland navigation. Fishing, along with fish curing is an important industry.
Kerala backwaters have been used for centuries by the local people for transportation, fishing and agriculture. It has supported the efforts of the local people to earn a livelihood. In more recent times, agricultural efforts have been strengthened with reclamation of some backwater lands for rice growing, particularly in the Kuttanad area. Boat making has been a traditional craft, so has been the coir industry.
Kuttanad is crisscrossed with waterways that run alongside extensive paddy fields, as well as fields of cassava, banana and yam. A unique feature of Kuttanad is that many of these fields are below sea level and are surrounded by earthen embankments. The crops are grown on the low-lying ground and irrigated with fresh water from canal and waterways connected to Vembanad lake. The area is similar to the dikes of the Netherlands where land has been reclaimed from the sea and crops are grown.
WIKIPEDIA
Cold chain handlers are at the frontline of India’s efforts of improving the vaccination coverage of the country’s infants. Currently, 65 percent of children are fully immunized in the country and India aims to immunize 27 million new children each year. [Photo: Prashanth Vishwanathan/UNDP India]
Victory Tower in Ahmedabad (detail).
Ahmedabad is the largest city in Gujarat and the sixth largest city in India with a population of almost 5 million. The city is also sometimes called Karnavati , an older name and as Amdavad in colloquial Gujarati .
Ahmedabad is the administrative center of Ahmedabad District , and was the former capital of Gujarat State from 1960 to 1970 , when Gandhinagar replaced it.
The city was founded in the 15th century by Sultan Ahmed Shah on the Sabarmati river , and served as capital of the Sultanate of Gujarat. The historic center of Ahmedabad is presently a thriving business district.
In this miniature city, dhobi denizens (laundrymen ) scurry between rows of concrete wash pens where clothes soak in sudsy water. The dirt is then thrashed out on flogging stones before the garments are tossed into huge vats of boiling starch. Mumbai, India
When dry, the dhobis use charcoal irons, then pile the neatly pressed items into bundles. Somehow, the clothes are separated and delivered to the customer's door that same evening, all for a pittance.
Likir Gompa (Monastery in Ladakh).
The name Likir means "The Naga - Encircled". The reason behind this naming of Likir Gompa of Ladakh is that it stands surrounded by the bodies of the two great serpent spirits, the Naga-rajas, Nanda and Taksako. The monastery is situated at a distance of approximately 62 km to the west of Leh town. Lhachen Gyalpo, the fifth king of Ladakh, offered the site where the monastery now stands, to Lama Duwang Chosje. The Lama, a great champion of meditation, blessed the site offered to him, after which the construction on the monastery was undertaken.
The Likir Monastery belongs to the Yellow Hat Sect, founded by Tsongkhapa. It consists of a number of shrines inside its complex. Presently, it serves as the residence of approximately 120 Buddhist monks. The monastery also has a school, in which almost thirty students study. In the 15th century, Likir Gompa came under the influence of Lodos Sangphu. A disciple of Khasdubje, he made efforts to see that the monastery flourished and prospered.
From that time onwards and till today, the monastery continues to be under the Tsongkhapa order. The ritual of the three basic Pratimoksa disciplines, the basic Buddhist teachings, are observed at the Likir Monastery, even in the present times. The Gompa also serves as the venue of an annual event Dosmochey, the assembly of votive offerings. This event takes place from 27th day to 29th day of the 12th month of the Tibetan calendar. During Dosmochey, sacred dances are also performed at the monastery.
The Likir Gompa Ladakh has been served by the succeeding reincarnations of Naris Rinpoche, since quite a long time and continues to do so. The monastery also houses a protective deity, which stands inside, wearing a golden armor. There are two Dukhangs (assembly halls) inside the monastery, one of them relatively new. The older one is on the right of the central courtyard of the monastery and comprises of six rows of seats for the lamas.
Inside this Dukhang are the statues of Bodhisattva (Lord of All He Surveys), Amitabha (Buddha of the West), Sakyamuni (the Historical Buddha), Maitreya (the Future Buddha or Buddha of Compassion) and Tsong-kha-pa (Founder of the yellow-hat sect). After you exit from this Dukhang, you will see the new Dukhang, diagonally across from the courtyard's entrance. The main image in the new Dukhang is that of Avalokitesvara, with 1000 arms and 11 heads.
Village Baram, Block Namkum, District Ranchi, Jharkhand, India..A pregnant woman prepares to measure her weight during the counseling on health and nutrition at Anganwadi centre in Namkum. Anganwadi worker in every targeted village teams up with a small group of local resource people who are then given a basic training in nutrition, childcare and hygiene. Once trained, the team visits pregnant women and mothers of newborns in their homes to educate them about safe delivery, breastfeeding, immunisation, and other essential care practices during pregnancy and early childhood UNICEF is prioritizing reducing the high malnutrition and child mortality rates, and reaching out to millions of families in Jharkhand to address these concerns. The Dular strategy, which trains village women to counsel new mothers about breastfeeding and proper nutrition, is a successful approach that is already expected to prevent about one quarter of newborn deaths and save the lives of thousands of older babies and children. The Dular initiative is of particular importance to tribal children who are most vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and education disparities, as prejudice, isolation and misunderstanding make it difficult for these families to access services. UNICEF India/2012/Dhiraj Singh.
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Indian below poverty line people residing slums fetching tab water for the drinking purpose as the locality gets water once in fortnight, in the Northern Indian city of Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir on 25 June 2008. In a sign of growing entrepreneurship and an expanding corporate sector, India created millionaires at the fastest pace in the world in 2007, according to a new report.India added 23,000 millionaires in dollar terms last year to its 2006 total of 100,000, according to an annual Merrill Lynch Capgemini report that compiles such financial data for its wealth and asset management purposes.However, 220 million people in India are still waiting to be lifted out of poverty, although the proportion of population below poverty line has declined considerably from 44 percent in 1983 to 22 percent in 2005.
The Jat - one of the hidden tribes in Gujarat (India).
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.
Worker secures a valve inside a power plant. India is the third largest electricity consumer in Asia and demand has grown at an average of 8% a year since 1995. However, supply falls well below demand, leading to regular blackouts and chronic shortages which undermine the country's economic and social development.
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