Tuesday 28 August 2012

Voyage Through Our Heritage I

Ganapati
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Uttar Pradesh - INDIA
Formerly known as the United Provinces, is a state located in northern India. It is India's fifth largest state in terms of area and shares an international boundary with Nepal. The administrative capital is Lucknow.
Taj Mahal

is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.


The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."


While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar component, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, and employed 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 Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

Delhi to Taj Mahal Agra - 211km  (Taj Express Highway/Yamuna Expy)

Agra Fort

is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Agra, India. The fort is also known as Lal Qila, Fort Rouge and Red Fort of Agra. It is about 2.5 km northwest of its much more famous sister monument, the Taj Mahal. The fort can be more accurately described as a walled palatial city.


It is the most important fort in India. The great Mughals Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb lived here, and the country was governed from here. It contained the largest state treasury and mint. It was visited by foreign ambassadors, travelers and the highest dignitaries who participated in the making of history in India.


Delhi to Agra Fort - 209Km (Taj Express Highway/Yamuna Expy)
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Delhi INDIA

Officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi that includes the Indian capital, is the second largest metropolis of India after Mumbai and 8th most populous metropolis in the world.


Qutb Minar

a tower in Delhi, India, is at 72.5 meters the world's tallest brick minaret. It is situated in the Qutb complex, amidst the ruins of ancient Hindu & Jain temples which were destroyed and their stones used to build the Qutb complex and minar. 


Construction commenced in 1193 under the orders of India's first Muslim ruler Qutb-ud-din Aibak, and the topmost storey of the minaret was completed in 1386 by Firuz Shah Tughluq. The Qutb Minar is notable for being one of the earliest and most prominent examples of Indo-Islamic architecture

Delhi to  Qutb Minar 14Km



India Gate

Is the national monument of India and one of the largest war memorials in India. India Gate,situated in the heart of New Delhi,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 erstwhile British Indian Army who lost their lives fighting for the Indian Empire, or more correctly British Empire in India British Raj in World War I and the Afghan Wars.


Originally, a Statue of King George V had stood under the now-vacant canopy in front of the India Gate, and was removed to Coronation Park with other statues. Following India's independence, India Gate became the site of the Indian Army's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, known as the Amar Jawan Jyoti (Immortal Soldier)


The surface of the India Gate is engraved with the names of 90,000 Indian soldiers who died in World War I and the Afghan wars fighting for the British India.


Delhi  janapth road to India Gate  2Km
Humayun's tomb


Humayun ka Maqbara is a complex of buildings built as the Mughal Emperor Humayun's tomb, commissioned by Humayun's wife Hamida Banu Begum 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.



Delhi connat place  to  Humayun's tomb  6Km













Gyarah Murti Sculpture
This massive black sculpture is sheer poetry in stone. You’ll spot it on the T-junction on Sardar Patel Marg from where roads lead to Willingdon Crescent and Teen Murti House Delhi. The sculpture, by Devi Prasad Roy Choudhary, depicts the famous Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 against oppressive salt taxes imposed by the British regime.

Delhi connat place  to   Sardar Patel Marg (Gyarah Murti Sculpture)  9Km
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Orissa INDIA

Orissa, officially spelled Odisha, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient kingdom of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 261 BCE.




Konark Sun Temple

is a 13th-century Sun Temple (also known as the Black Pagoda), at Konark, in Orissa. It was constructed from oxidizing and weathered ferruginous sandstone by King Narasimhadeva I (1236-1264 CE) of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty. 


The temple is one of the most well renowned temples in India and is a World Heritage Site. It is one of the Seven Wonders of India.

Orissa Cuttack to Konark Sun Temple 81Km
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Bihar INDIA

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size and 3rd largest by population. 




Bodh Gaya or Bodhgaya
Bodhgaya-Mahabodhi Temple

City in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar.It is famous for being the place of Gautama Buddha's attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment).

Bihar Patna to Bodhgaya 109Km
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Andhra Pradesh INDIA

Andhra Pradesh, situated on the country's southeastern coast, is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Hyderabad.


Golkonda Fort

a ruined city of south-central India and capital of ancient Kingdom of Golkonda (c.1518–1687), is situated 11 km west of Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh
Golconda fort was first constructed during the reign of qutub shah emperor Mohammed Iqbal Ali and his son Mohammed Touseef Ali.

Hyderabad to Golconda Fort 12Km



Charminar

meaning "Mosque of the Four Minarets" and "Four Towers" is the most famous mosque and monument in the city of Hyderabad, capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh.


Hyderabad to Charminar  4Km
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Karnnadaka INDIA
Karnataka is a state in South West India, was created on 1 November 1956.



Bidar Fort

is situated in North Karnataka in Bidar district of the northern plateau of Karanataka, India.
Sultan Alla-Ud-Din Bahman of the Bahmanid Dynasty shifted his capital from Gulbarga to Bidar in 1427 and built his fort along with a number of Islamic monuments

Hyderabad to Bidar Fort  138Km
Bangalore to (116Km Gulbarga Via) Bidar Fort  689Km 
(573km Gulbarga to Bidar)

Gol Gumbaz 


Gol Gumbaz or Gol Gumbad,Bijapur Karnadaka.
 Gol Gonbadh meaning "rose dome", (a reference to the flower/rose/lotus petals that surround the dome at its base, making it appear as a budding rose) is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur. The tomb, located in Bijapur, Karnataka in India, was completed in 1656 by the architect Yaqut of Dabul. Although "impressively simple in design", it is the "structural triumph of Deccan architecture".

museum

Hyderabad to (389Km) Bijapur
Bangalore to (593Km) Bijapur



Hampi

പാ-സുപാരി ബസാഅമ്പലത്തിനു മുന്നിലായിക്കാണുന്ന ചെറിയൊരു ബസാറാണ്. കല്ലിന്മേ കല്ല് ശേഷിക്കാതെ തകർന്നടിഞ്ഞ കുറേ സ്തൂപങ്ങളും മണ്ഡപങ്ങളും മാത്രമേ അവിടെ കാണാനുള്ളൂ. അമ്പലത്തിലേക്കുള്ള വഴിയുടെ രണ്ടു ഭാഗങ്ങളിലുമായി ഇവ ചിതറിക്കിടക്കുന്നു

Hampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, The ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Hampi formed one of the core areas of the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565, when it was finally laid siege to by the Deccan Muslim confederacy. Hampi was chosen because of its strategic location, bounded by the torrential Tungabhadra river on one side and surrounded by defensible hills on the other three sides.


The site is significant historically and architecturally. The topography abounds with large stones which have been used to make statues of Hindu deities. The Archaeological Survey of India continues to conduct excavations in the area, to discover additional artifacts and temples.



Hampi is situated on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. It is 364 km from Bangalore and 74 km away from Bellary. Hosapete (Hospet), 13 km away, is the nearest railway head. Mantralayam, which is also on the banks of Tunghabhadra.
Twin Stone

Bangalore to Hampi 364Km