historical-places-of-india

Taj Mahal

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 17:46:17 +0100

The Taj Mahal is a mausolium located in Agra, India. It is one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is widely considered as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and stands as a symbol of eternal love.

Taj Mahal is the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish and Indian architectural styles.
In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO world heritage site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen.The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmed Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal Empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14th child,Gauhara Begam. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory.

The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian architecture and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including; the Gur-E-Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand),Humayun's tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daula (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semiprecious stones, and buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.

Pushkar Lake

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 17:25:47 +0100

Pushkar Lake or Pushkar Sarovar is located in the town of Pushkar in Ajmer District of the Rajasthan state of western India. Pushkar Lake is a sacred lake of the Hindus. The Hindu scriptures describe as it as "Tirtha-Raj" – the king of pilgrimage sites related to a water-body and relate it to the mythology of the creator-god Bhrama, whose most-prominent temple stands in Pushkar. The Pushkar Lake finds mention on coins as early as the 4th century BC.

Pushkar Lake is surrounded by 52 bathing ghats (a series of steps leading to the lake), where pilgrims throng in large numbers to take a sacred bath, especially around Kartik Poornima (October–November) when the Pushkar fair is held. A dip in the sacred lake is believed to cleanse sins and cure skin diseases. Over 500 Hindu tempels are situated around the lake precincts.

Tourism and deforestation in the surroundings have taken a heavy toll on the lake, adversely affecting its water quality, reducing the water levels and destroying the fish population. As part of conservation measures, the government is undertaking de-silting, de-weeding, water treatment, and afforestation as well as mass awareness programme.

Jaipur-Amber Fort

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 17:13:31 +0100

Amber Fort is located in Amber (a town with an area of 4 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi)), 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Jaipur, Rajasthan state, India. It is one of the principal tourist attractions in the Jaipur area, located high on a hill. The ancient citadel, the capital of the ruling Kachhawa clan of Amber from 1037 to 1727 AD, was shifted to present day Jaipur in 1727. Amber Fort is known for its artistic style, blending both Hindu and Mughal elements. The fort with its large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled paths, overlooks the Maota lake, at its forefront.

The aesthetic ambiance of this formidable fort is seen within its walls on a four level (each with a courtyard) layout plan in well turned out opulent palace complex built with red sandstone and marble consisting of the Diwan-e-Aam or the "Hall of Public Audience", the Diwan-e-Khas or the "Hall of Private Audience", the Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace) or Jai Mandir, and the Sukh Niwas where a cool climate is artificially created by winds that blow over the water cascade within the palace. Hence, the Amer Fort is also popularly known as the Amer Palace.The palace was lived in by the Rajput Maharajas and their families. At the entrance to the palace near the fort’s Ganesh Gate, there is also a temple dedicated to Sila Devi, a goddess of the Chaitanya cult which was gifted to Raja Mansingh when he had defeated the Raja of Jessore in Bengal (Jessore is now in Bangladesh) in 1604.

This fort along with Jaighar Fort located immediately above on the Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) of same Aravalli range of hills, is considered as one complex, as the two are well connected by subterranean passage. This passage was meant as an escape route in times of war for the royal family members and others in the Amer Fort to shift to the more redoubtable Jaigarh Fort.

Annual tourist visitation to the Amer Palace in Amer town was reported by the Superintendent of Department of Archaeology and Museums to the Amber Palace as 5000 visitors a day, and 1.4 million visitors were reported during 2007.

India Gate

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 16:56:59 +0100

The India Gate is the national monument of India. Situated in the heart of New Delhi, India Gate was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Originally known as All India War Memorial, it is a prominent landmark in Delhi and commemorates the 90,000 soldiers of the British Indian Army who lost their lives while fighting for the British Indian Empire, or more correctly the British Raj in World War I and the Third Anglo Afghan war. It is composed of red sand stone and granite.
Originally, a Statue of King George V had stood under the now-vacant canopy in front of the India Gate, and was removed to Coordination park with other statues. Following India's independence, India Gate became the site of the Indian army's tomb of the unknone soldier, known as the Amar Jawan Jyoti (The flame of the immortal soldier).
The 42-metre tall India Gate is situated such that many important roads spread out from it. Traffic passing around India Gate used to be continuous until the roads were closed to the public due to terrorist threats.

The lawns around Rajpath throng with people during the evening, when the India Gate is lit up. Ice cream and street food vendors come out during this time and it becomes a popular picnic venue for families.

The India Gate hexagon complex covers approximately 306000m² in area with a diameter of about 625m.

The Republic day Parade starts from Rashtrapati Bhavan and passes through India Gate to reach Red Fort.

Fatehpur Sikri

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 16:41:55 +0100

Fatehpur Sikri is a city and a municipal board in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Built near the much older Sikri, the historical city of Fatehabad, as it was first named, was constructed by Mughal emperor Akbar beginning in 1570. It was built in honour of Sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chisti, who lived in a cavern on the ridge at Sikri, and foretold the birth of his son, who was named Prince Salim after the saint. He later succeeded Akbar to the throne of the Mughal Empire, as Emperor Jahangir. Fatehabad later acquired the name Fatehpur, and gave rise to present name Fatehpur Sikri. It was the first planned city of the Mughals and also the first one designed in Mughal architecture an amalgamation of Indian architecture, Persian and Islamic architecture. It served as the Mughal empire's capital from 1571 until 1585. Though the court took 15 years to build, it was abandoned after only 14 years because the water supply was unable to sustain the growing population. and unrest in the North-West. Today, the complex of buildings, including the extant royal palaces, courts and the Jama masjid is a popular tourist attraction, and was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1986. The site itself is a ghost town, though the city has a population of 28804 as per 2001 census.
Sikri is built upon a rocky ridge, an extension of the upper Vindhya ranges, which are older rounded mountains and hills. It is situated on the bank of a large natural lake, now mostly dried, and abundance of water, forest and raw material, made it suitable for habitation, in the pre-historic period, evident by the existence of rock shelters with paintings found on the periphery of the lake. Stone age tools have been found in this area, apart from pottery and other items suggesting the habitation of the Ochre Coloured pottery culture, dating c. 2nd millennium B.C. and the Painted Grey ware culture,Iron age culture of the Indo-Gangetic plane, dating around 1200-800 B.C.

It is mentioned in the epic Mahabrat as Saik, defined in the lexicons as a region surrounded by water. After an archaeological excavation in December 1999, at the Bir Chhabili ki teela, a mound about 200 metres from the Fatehpur Sikri complex, further suggestions of continuous habitation in the region after the prehistoric period were found. Remains amongst of an ancient Jain temple was a Jain Saraswati stone sculpture, dated 1067 Vikram Samvat i.e. 1010 AD, with an inscription mentioning the place as Sekrikya, which has a similar meaning to one mentioned in the Mahabharat. Plus, most of the Jain tirtankara icons also found in the same pit were dated 977 - 1044 AD.

During the Mughal Era, the founder of Mughal Empire, Babur in his memoir Baburnama mentioned it as ‘Sikri’, when he visited it on the eve of battle of Khanwa on March 16, 1527, at Khanwa a few miles away. After he defeated Rana Sanga of Mewar in the battle, which gave him control of North India, he subsequently built a garden, a Jal-Mahal (Lake Palace), and a Baoli (step-well) commemorate his victory. Akbar had inherited the Mughal Empire from his father Humayun and grandfather Babur. During the 1560s he rebuilt the Agra fort and established it as his capital. He had a son and then twins, but the twins died. He then consulted the Sufi saint, Salim Chisti, who lived in a cavern on the ridge at Sikri. Salim predicted that Akbar would have another son, and indeed one was born in 1569 at Sikri and survived. He was named Salim to honour the saint and would later rule the empire as Emperor Jahangir. Here after the second birthday of Jahangir in 1571, Akbar then 28 years old, decided to shift his capital from Agra to the Sikri ridge, to honor Salim Chishti, and commenced the construction of a planned walled city which took the next fifteen years in planning and construction of a series royal palaces, harem, courts, a mosque, private quarters and other utility buildings. He named the city, Fatehabad, with Fateh, a word of Arabic origin in Persian, meaning "victory", it was later called Fatehpur Sikri. It is at Fatehpur Sikri that the legends of Akbar and his famed courtiers, the nine jewels or Navaratnas, were born . One of them, musician and singer Tansen is said to have performed on an island in the middle of the pool Anup Talao.

According to contemporary historians, Akbar took a great interest in the building of Fatehpur Sikri and probably also dictated its architectural style. Seeking to revive the splendours of Persian court ceremonial made famous by his ancestor Timur, Akbar planned the complex on Persian principles. But the influences of his adopted land came through in the typically Indian embellishments. The Easy availability of sandstone in the neighbouring areas of Fatehpur Sikri, also meant that all the buildings here were made of the red stone. The imperial Palace complex consists of a number of independent pavilions arranged in formal geometry on a piece of level ground, a pattern derived from Arab and central Asian tent encampments. In its entirety, the monuments at Fatehpur Sikri thus reflect the genius of Akbar in assimilating diverse regional architectural influences within a holistic style that was uniquely his own.

The Imperial complex was abandoned in 1585, shortly after its completion, due to paucity of water and its proximity with the Rajputana areas in the North-West, which were increasingly in turmoil. Thus the capital was shifted to Lahore so that Akbar could have a base in the less stable part of the empire, before moving back Agra in 1598, where he had begun his reign as he shifted his focus to Deccan. In fact, he never returned to the city except for a brief period in 1601. In later Mughal history it was occupied for a short while by Mughal emperor, Muhammad Shah (1719 -1748), and his regent, Sayyid Hussain Ali Khan Barha, one of the Sayed Brothers, was murdered here in 1720. Today much of the imperial complex which spread over nearly two mile long and one mile wide area is largely intact and resembles a ghost town. It is still surrounded by a five mile long wall built during its original construction, on three sides. However apart from the imperial buildings complex few other buildings stand in the area, which is mostly barren, except of ruins of the bazzars of the old city near the Naubat Khan, the 'drum-house' entrance at Agra Road. The modern town lies at the western end of the complex, which was a municipality from 1865 to 1904, and later made a "notified area", and in 1901 had a population of 7,147. For a long time it was still known for its masons and stone carvers, though in Akbar time it was known and 'fabrics of hair' and 'silk-spinning'. The village of Sikri still exists nearby.

Humayan's Tomb

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 15:15:11 +0100

Humayun's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun . The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's wife Hamida Banu Begam in 1562 CE, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect. It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent, and is located in Nizamuddin East, Delhi, India, , close to the Dina-panah citadel also known as Purana quila, that Humayun founded in 1533. It was also the first structure to use red sandstone at such a scale.  The tomb was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1993, and since then has undergone extensive restoration work, which is still underway. Besides the main tomb enclosure of Humayun, several smaller monuments dot the pathway leading up to it, from the main entrance in the West, including one that even pre-dates the main tomb itself, by twenty years; it is the tomb complex of Isa Khan Niyazi, an Afgan noble in Sher Shah Suri's court of the Suri dynasty, who fought against the Mughals, constructed in 1547 CE.
The complex encompasses the main tomb of the Emperor Humayun, which houses the graves of his wife, Hamida Begum, and also Dara Shiko, son of the later Emperor Shah Jahan, as well as numerous other subsequent Mughals, including Emperor Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi-Ul-Darjat, Rafi-Ud-Daulat And Alamgir II. It represented a leap in Mughal Architecture, and together with its accomplished Charbagh garden, typical of Persian gardens,  but never seen before in India, it set a precedent for subsequent Mughal architecture. It is seen as a clear departure from the fairly modest mausoleum of his father, the first Mughal Emperor, Babur, called Bagh-E-Babur (Gardens of Babur) in Kabul (Afghanistan). Though the latter was the first Emperor to start the tradition of being buried in a paradise garden. Modelled on Gur-E-Amer, the tomb of his ancestor and Asia's conqueror Timur in Samarkand, it created a precedent for future Mughal architecture of royal mausolea, which reached its zenith with the Taj Mahal, at Agra.
The site was chosen on the banks of Yamuna river, due to its proximity to Nizamuddin Durga  , the mausoleum of the celebrated Sufi saint of Delhi, Nizamuddin Aulia, who was much revered by the rulers of Delhi, and whose residence, Chilla Nizamuddin Auliya lies just north-east of the tomb. In later Mughal history, the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Sher Zafar took refuge here, during the indian rebillion of 1857, along with three princes, and was captured by Captain Hudson before being exiled to Rangoon. At the time of the Slave dynasty this land was under the 'KiloKheri Fort' which was capital of Sultan Kequbad, son of Nasiruddin.