PLACE'S TO VISIT IN INDIA
Taj mahal
Taj mahal is an
ivory-white marble mausoleum on the southern bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was
commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned from 1628 to 1658) to house the tomb of his
favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan
himself.
The Taj Mahal was
designated as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of
Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the
world's heritage". It is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal
architecture and a
symbol of India's rich history.
The Taj Mahal was
commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1631, to be built in the memory of his wife
Mumtaz Mahal, who died on 17 June that year, while giving birth to their 14th
child, Gauhara Begum. Construction started in 1632 and
the mausoleum was completed in 1648, while the surrounding buildings and garden
were finished five years later. The imperial court documenting Shah
Jahan's grief after the death of Mumtaz Mahal illustrates the love story held
as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal.
The exterior decorations
of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface
area changes, the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative
elements were created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against
the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into
either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs.
Throughout the complex are passages from
the Qur'an that comprise some of the decorative elements. Recent scholarship
suggests that Amanat Khan chose the passages.
Red port
The Red Fort is a historic fort in
the city of Delhi in India that
served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah
Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May
1638, when he decided to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi. Originally red
and white, Shah Jahan's favourite colours, its design is credited to
architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori,
who also constructed the Taj Mahal. It was
constructed between May 1639 and April 1648.
On 15 August 1947, the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal
Nehru, raised the Indian
national flag above the Lahori Gate.Every
year on India's Independence Day (15 August), the prime minister hoists the Indian
"tricolour flag" at the fort's main gate and delivers a nationally
broadcast speech from its ramparts.
Constructed in 1639 by the
fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as the palace of his fortified capital Shahjahanabad, the Red Fort is named for its massive enclosing walls of
red sandstone. The imperial apartments consist of a row of pavilions,
connected by a water channel known as the Stream of Paradise (Nahr-i-Bihisht).
The fort complex is "considered to represent the zenith of Mughal
creativity under Shah Jahan" and although the palace was planned
according to Islamic prototypes, each pavilion contains architectural elements
typical of Mughal buildings that reflect a fusion of Persian, Timurid and Hindu traditions.
Every year on India's
Independence Day (15
August), the prime minister of India hoists the national flag at the Red Fort
and delivers a nationally broadcast speech from its ramparts. The Red Fort, the largest monument in Delhi, is
one of its most popular tourist destinations and attracts thousands of
visitors every year.
India gate
The India Gate (originally
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. It stands as a memorial to
70,000 soldiers of the British Indian
Army who died in between 1914–1921 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. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the gate evokes the architectural style of the triumphal arch such as the Arch of
Constantine, in Rome, and is often
compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the Gateway of India in Mumbai.
The India Gate was part of
the work of the Imperial
War Graves Commission (I.W.G.C),
which came into existence in December 1917 for building war graves and memorials
to soldiers who were killed in the First World War The foundation stone of
the gate, then called the All India War Memorial, was laid on 10 February 1921,
at 16:30, by the visiting Duke of Connaught in a ceremony attended by Officers and Men of the British Indian
Army, Imperial
Service Troops, the
Commander in Chief, and Chelmsford, the viceroy.[
Qutub minar
Khwaja Qutbuddin
Bakhtiar Kaki was a
sufi saint after whom this minaret was named. Qutubuddin Aibak, at that time a deputy of Muhammad of Ghor, but after his death founder of the Delhi Sultanate, started construction of the Qutb Minar's first storey in 1199. This
level has inscriptions praising Muhammad of Ghor. Aibak's successor and
son-in-law Shamsuddin
Iltutmish completed a further
three storeys.
Varanasi , also known as Benares,
or Kashi, is a
city on the banks of the river Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, India, 320 kilometres (200 mi) south-east of the state capital, Lucknow, and 121 kilometres (75 mi) east of Allahabad. A major religious hub in India, it is
the holiest of the seven sacred cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism and Jainism, and played an important role in the development of Buddhism and Ravidassia. Varanasi lies along National Highway 2 and
is served by Varanasi Junction railway station and Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport.
In the 16th century,
Varanasi experienced a cultural revival under the Mughal emperor Akbar who
patronised the city, and built two large temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu, though much of modern Varanasi was built during the 18th century, by
the Maratha and Bhumihar Brahmin kings. According to Hindu mythology,
Varanasi was founded by Shiva, one
of three principal deities along with Brahma and Vishnu. During a fight between Brahma and Shiva, one of Brahma's five heads
was torn off by Shiva. As was the custom, the victor carried the slain
adversary's head in his hand and let it hang down from his hand as an act of
ignominy, and a sign of his own bravery.
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