Category: A2Z Challenge

  • Palitana Temples – Glorious Pilgrimage of Jainism

    Palitana Temples – Glorious Pilgrimage of Jainism

    India is a birthplace of religions like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Even though Jainism started way back in ancient India, Buddhism and Jainism took root in India around the same time. Mahavira, the twenty fourth and the last tirthankar of this age, gave the present day form to Jainism. Over the period, Jainism spread through central and westen parts of India forming a vibrant community. Then, this community created marvelous temples and shrines of tirthankars across the country. Our today’s destination is one of the holiest temples of Jainism. Palitana Temples, Shatrunjay Hills, Palitana.

    From the history book of Palitana

    During the reign of King Kumarapala of Solanki Dynasty, original construction of Palitana temples started in the 11th century and took 900 years for completion. During 14th century Turkish Muslim invasions, these temples were destroyed. Even though rebuilding started soon after the raid, most of the temples which we see today are from the 16th century. In 1593, Tapa Gaccha, the largest monastic clan of Jainism, organized a major pilgrimage on the occasion of consecration ceremony of the temple dedicated to Rishabhnath built by a merchant named Tej Pal Soni. As a result, momentum of the construction shifted.

    During the reign of Shah Jahan, Murad Baksh granted a Palitana village to Jain merchant Shantidas Jhaveri, and a complete tax exemption to this temple town. This helped the town to prosper further. Shantidas Jhaveri founded the Anandji Kalyanji Trust to manage the temples. Leadership of the trust is with the same family even today.

    • Palitana Temples in 1860
    • Shetrunjay Palitana Jain Temples From Archieves of The Bitish Library 1866
    • Palitana Jain Temples 1913

    Splendour of Palitana Temples

    Spread on the Shatrunjay Hill in Palitana, the temple complex has 863 temples forming nice clusters. Wealthy merchants from the community constructed many of the temples. Temples are known by the names of merchants. All temples are constructed with marbles. Large temples have marble halls supported by columns and many openings. Many of the smaller temples are only 3 square feet with Jain emblems. 

    Main temple sitting on the apex of the northern ridge of the hill. This temple venerates Adinath or Rishabhnath who was the first tirthankar of Jainism. Because it’s a main temple, it is made as the grandest of the complex. Temple has ornate architectural motifs of marble. Ornamental friezes of dragons adorn prayer halls of this temple. There are three ‘Pradakshina’ routes for this temple. India Post has also issued a postal stamp in 1949 with depiction of the Adinath Temple.

    • Sheth Motisha Tonk – Photo by Bernard Gagnon – Copyrights CC BY-SA 3.0
    • Carved walls of Palitana Temples – Photo by – Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Adinath temple depicted on 1949 Indian postage stamp
    • Panorama of Palitana temples Photo by Pratap Tur Copyrights CC BY-SA 3.0

    Other than the main temple, there are many important notable temples in the complex like Adishvara temple, Chaumukh temple, Vimal Shah temple, Saraswati devi temple, Narsinh Kesharji temple, and the Samavasaran temple. Recently in 2016, they installed a 108 feet idol of Adinath in the complex.

    Do not miss this architectural marvel carved in marble when you plan to visit Bhavnagar District of Gujarat. 

    I am participating in the A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on the ‘P’ challenge. “P is for the Palitana Temple Complex, Palitana, Gujarat”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.

  • Orchha Fort Complex – All about royalty in one place

    Orchha Fort Complex – All about royalty in one place

    Before our independence, India was dotted with hundreds of small and big princely states. 565 of them to be precise. Current state of Madhya Pradesh has quite a few of them. We all are aware of big names like Indore, Gwalior and Bhopal. However, today’s destination is from a different princely state of Orchha. We are visiting Orchha Fort Complex from the capital city of Orchha Princely State. Town of Orchha is on the banks of River Betwa and in today’s Niwari District of Madhya Pradesh. 

    From the pages of history of Orchha

    In 1501 CE, Bundela Rajput Rudra Pratap Singh sensed political instability and carved his own kingdom with his fortress at Garh Kundar as power center. In 1531, he moved his capital to the town of Orchha. He died in the same year. His successors in 1570s agreed to become a tributary state of Mughal empire. Later when British raj came, Orchha became a part of a Bundelkhand Agency of the Raj. In the year of 1950, Orchha state merged into the Union of India as a part of Vindhya Pradesh state. Subsequently, Vindhya Pradesh state was merged into the state of Madhya Pradesh in 1956. Orchha fort complex took today’s shape with the building of various palaces over the period of century since its foundation as a capital.

    • Jahangir Mahal, Orchha – Photo by Vadaykeviv – Copyrights CC BY-SA 3.0
    • Paintings in Raja Mahal – Photo by Arun Sagar – Copyrights CC BY 2.0
    • Orchha Fort and Bridge – Photo by Mandy – Copyrights – CC BY 2.0
    • Palaces in the Orchha Fort complex – Photo by Pavek Suprun – Copyrights CC BY-SA 3.0

    Within the Orchha fort complex

    As you enter the complex through an arched causeway, you land in a quadrangular open space. This place is surrounded by various palaces, gardens and pavilions. Out of the numerous palaces in the complex, Raja Mahal was the first to be built during the reign of Madhukar Shah (1554 to 1591) and Jahangir Mahal and Sawan Bhado Mahal were built during the times of Vir Singh Deo. 

    Phool bagh is the royal garden in the fort complex with an underground summer retreat. This summer retreat has a unique cooling system with a water ventilation system. It showers droplets through the roof creating rainfall. Buildings in the complex have a particular style of architecture with projected balconies, windows with intricate jali work and big open terraces.

    Once you visit Madhya Pradesh, don’t forget to include Orchha in your itinerary. Other than Fort Complex, it has many other attractions like Royal Chatris, a number of temples and a beautiful Betwa River.

    This brings to the I am participating in A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on the ‘O’ challenge. “O is for the Orchha Fort Complex, Orchha, Madhya Pradesh”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.

  • Nandi Hills – Perfect Weekend Getaway from Bangalore

    Nandi Hills – Perfect Weekend Getaway from Bangalore

    All young Indians dream about high-paying jobs and life in metro cities. As you start slogging in the industry during the whole week, you crave for a perfect weekend getaway. Thankfully, Incredible India has gifted such sites to every metro city. Our today’s destination is one such weekend getaway from Bangalore, Nandi Hills. Today, it is a favorite destination for tourists to watch the sunrise. However, once it used to be an impregnable fortress.

    Story Time

    Nandi Hills are at today’s Chikkaballapur Distict of Karnataka. In medieval India, Rulers of the Western Ganga Dynasty recognized the importance of this hill and built a fortress on it. During the subsequent time of Chola period this place was recognized as the Hill of Happiness with the name of ‘Anandagiri’. In later period, Tipu Sultan of Mysore enlarged and strengthened the fortress. During the first war against Tipu Sultan of Mysore, army of General Cornwallis had to take the fortress by storm. This became the place of retreat for officers of the British Raj. Sir Mark Cubbon, British Commissioner of Mysore even built his summer residence on the hill.

    • Overlooking Tipu’s Drop – Photo by Andreas Metz – Copyrights CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
    • Nandi Hills Trekking Path – Photo by Wise Droid – Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0
    • View from Nandi Hills Photo by Koshy Koshy Copyrights CC BY 2.0
    • Sunrise at Nandi Hills Photo by JzG Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Bhoganandishvara temple Photo by – Dineshkannambadi Copyrights CC BY-SA-3.0

    When you visit Nandi Hills – 

    Trails and trekking paths of the Hills are famous amongst hikers and trekkers. There are various points and sites to visit once you reach the top of the fortress. Tipu’s summer residence, a small two story building with pond and park is one of the main attractions along with “Amrit Sarovar” a rectangular water storage pond. If you are able to reach before time, the sight of sunrise from the top of the Hills is completely captivating. There’s a cliff known as Tipu’s Drop. Back in the days, Prisoners punished with the death penalty were pushed from the cliff. There is a garden with a play area for kids and families to play and relax. A very ornate and sculpted temple of Bhoganandishvara at a nearby village Nandigram and a temple of Yoganandishvara on top of hills.

    So, if you are looking for a perfect weekend getaway from your hectic life of Bangalore or you are planning for a trip in the region, don’t forget to think about Nandi Hills.

    This brings to the I am participating in A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on ‘N‘ challenge. “N is for Nandi Hills, Chikkaballapur District, Karnataka”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.

  • Marina Beach: Longest Sandy Heaven of India

    Marina Beach: Longest Sandy Heaven of India

    Arebian Sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal surround our country by three sides. As a result, we are blessed with more than 7500 km of coastline. Out of this vast coastline, almost half of it is sandy beaches. However, they are scattered all over the coastline. But on the coast of Bay of Bengal, in the city of Chennai, there lies a  longest strip of sandy heaven. Marina Beach. We all have seen many of its aerial shots during the past week as Chepauk Stadium is hosting few matches in the current IPL season. As this COVID is keeping us away from actually being in the stadium and enjoying the beach before the match, let’s visit it virtually through our A2Z bucket-list journey.

    Birth of “Marina”

    Marina Beach is the longest natural beach of about 13 km length. Before construction of the Madras Harbour in 1881, the beach was just a strip of mud. Mudskippers used to be in abundance. As a result of a construction wavebreakers of harbour, the coast witnessed a transformation from muddy strip to the longest sandy heaven of India. The beach fascinated Sir M. E. Grant Duff, then Governor of Madras. He built the promenade along it and named the beach as “Madras Marina” in 1884.

    • A catamaran on the beach
    • Chennai lighthouse, Photo by Amos777eligius Copyright CC BY 4.0
    • View of the beach from the lighthouse, Photo by KARTY JazZ Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Marina Beach as seen from the Chennai Lighthouse, Photo by SlowPhoton Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Promenade leading to the lighthouse, Photo by Rasnaboy , Copyright CC BY-SA 3.0

    Glory of Marina

    All across the length of Marina, there are many things other than gorgeous sand and roaring sea which attract visitors. Since the independence of India several statues have been placed on the beach. You can see statues of national or local legends like Mahatma Gandhi, Vivekanand, Netaji Subhash, Annie Besent, Thiruvalluvar, Veerama Munivar, Avvaiyar, Kamraj etc. Along with these, there are statues of symbolic importance like the Triumph of Labour statue, Golden Jubilee of Independence memorial pillar and Fishermen at the Buckingham Canal statue etc. 

    At the northern end of the promenade, there are memorials of four former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu,  C. N. Annadurai, M. G. Ramachandran, J. Jayalalithaa and M. Karunanidhi. This part of the promenade is called Anna Square. Just along the Anna memorial, there’s Lilliputian Children’s Traffic Park. There are a couple of swimming pools along the beach. Even the opposite side of the road is interesting to look at. There are buildings and institutions like the Chepauk Cricket Stadium,Dr. Annie Besant Park, the University of Madras, Queen Mary’s College, the Presidency College, Vivekananda House, All India Radio—Chennai, Inspector General of Police Headquarters, etc.

    So, if you plan to go on a walk along Marina, don’t forget to checkout all the things which it has to offer. 

    This brings to the I am participating in A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on ‘M‘ challenge. “M is for Marina Beach, Chennai”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.

  • Loktak lake: Freshwater Paradise of Manipur

    Loktak lake: Freshwater Paradise of Manipur

    Today, we are visiting a very gorgeous place in one of our North Eastern states, Manipur. No, we are not visiting another jungle. Neither we are climbing a hill or a mountain even though Manipur is blessed with all of these fascinating natural beauties. From a wide variety of geography of India, I present to you Loktak Lake – the largest freshwater lake of North-Eastern India.

    Specialities of Loktak

    Loktak, which literally means ‘end of streams’ derives its name as it’s end of many streams and rivers from a huge catchment of 980 sq. km. Lake itself is spread over an area of 236.21 sq. km. Majority of the population of Manipur directly or indirectly depends on Loktak Lake. It is a crucial source of livelihood in the form of fishing, foraging etc. Most unique feature of this marvelous lake is floating islands called ‘phumdis’. Largest of these phumdis is spread over an area of 40 sq. km. It houses the world’s only floating national park. Keibul Lamjao National Park is the house of the state animal of Manipur, Sagai. Sangai is one of three endangered subspecies of Eld’s deer.

    In and around Loktak

    Loktak is just 39 km from the capital city Imphal and offers a wonderful experience to tourists with a wide range of attractions. First of all, the lake itself is a beautiful site and completely instagram worthy. View of phumdis of different shapes floating on the lake is gorgeous in itself. There are about 55 hamlets and settlements in and around the lake with a population of about 100,000. There are few floating islands which attract tourists. An important attraction as I mentioned earlier is Keibul Lamjao National Park. One of its kind. Moirang city on the banks of this lake has a historical significance.

    History around Loktak

    At Moirang, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose unfurled the Indian flag on Indian soil in 1944. Later, a INA memorial was created at Moirang in honour of valour exhibited by Indian National Army which exhibits badges, letters, uniforms and several other items used by the INA.

    There’s also a memorial made by Japan in honour of fallen Japanese soilders not far from here in town of Nambol. Site of Maibam Lokpa Ching which popularly known as Red Hills is a small hillock where British and Japanese soilders fought eachother. There’s a small Japanese cemetery of Japanese soilders who fell in the war.

    There are many more things to know about this place, but they are best to be kept for your visit for this amazing Lake Loktak

    This brings to the I am participating in A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on ‘L‘ challenge. “L is for the Loktak Lake, Moirang, Manipur”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.

  • Kesariya Stupa: Tallest Lighthouse of Enlightenment

    Kesariya Stupa: Tallest Lighthouse of Enlightenment

    India is the birthplace of one of the major religions of the world. Especially the state of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have many important pilgrimage sites which are very important to Buddhist people around the world. Today, we are visiting one of such important pilgrimage sites in the state of Bihar. World’s tallest stupa, Kesariya Stupa.

    Story time:

    On his last journey, Lord Buddha, spent the night at the mound of Kesariya. Here he made a few announcements. He also said that in his last births he ruled as Raja Chakravarti. Later, people weaved stories around these announcements. We can find these stories in Jataka Tales. 

    At this place, people believe that Lord Buddha gave alms bowls to Licchavis of Vaishali. Later, he guided Licchavis to go back to Vaishali and spread the word of the Enlightened there. Licchavis built the first stupa at Kesariya before Buddha attained Nirvana. It was also known to people as “Raja Ben ka Deora”. People used to know it as ‘Raja Ben ka Deora’.

    This stupa has a connection with Ashoka. The Archeological Survey of India discovered the remains of the capital of Ashoka’s Pillar. The stupa which we can see today is dates back to the Gupta Dynasty between 200 CE and 750 CE. Both of the famous Chinese Travellers, Fa Hien and Hiuen Tsang, visited Kesariya and recorded their experiences in their diaries.

    Rediscovering the Kesariya Stupa:

    First exploration of this protected monument of national importance dates back to 1814. Colonel Mackenzie led that exploration. Later in 1861–62 General Cunningham conducted the first proper excavation. Most recently, A.S.I. conducted the excavation under leadership of archeologist K K Muhammad in 1998. 

    Today Kesariya Stupa is spread with a circumference of about 400 feet. It is the tallest Stupa with a height of 104 feet. This makes Kesariya Stupa the world’s tallest Stupa. The World Heritage site of Sanchi Stupa is just 77.5 feet. However, before the 1934 earthquake of Bihar, A.S.I. reports tell the height of the Stupa to be 123 feet and during flourishing times of Buddhism, Stupa was 150 feet tall.

    This brings to the I am participating in A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on ‘K‘ challenge. “K is for the Kesariya Stupa, Kesariya, Bihar”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.