Tag: A2Z2021

  • Ziro Valley – A Heaven from North-East

    Ziro Valley – A Heaven from North-East

    North-Eastern India is blessed with the sheer beauty of nature. Small towns and villages snuggled in valleys of Himalaya are little heavens on earth. Today we are visiting one such heaven in Arunachal Pradesh. Ziro Valley, a heavenly town in Lower Subansiri District.

    About Ziro Valley

    Ziro is a district headquarters of Lower Subansiri District. It is one of the oldest towns of Arunachal Pradesh. Rice fields surround this small yet beautiful hill station. The town of Ziro is nestled between a cluster of beautiful pine trees. This plateau is at an altitude of 1500 m above sea level. As a result, Ziro is full of a distinguished and rich flora and fauna and its biodiversity. This makes it an ideal destination for nature lovers. Thick forest covers this entire region and is a home to tribal people.

    The ApaTani tribe which calls these lands as their home is not a nomadic tribe, practicing permanent wetland agriculture. This is very different from the prevalent jhoom farming. Other than wetland farming, they earn their livelihood by making handicrafts and handloom products. They worship nature gods. The tribe is known for their colorful culture with various festivals. Apa Tani people have vibrant traditional village councils called bulyañ. This has made Ziro Valley a good example of a living cultural landscape where man and environment have harmoniously existed together in a state of interdependence even through changing times, such co-existence being nurtured by the traditional customs and spiritual belief systems.

    Gallery
    • Ziro Valley Festival Photo by Sandro Lacarbona Copyrights CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
    • Paddy fields at Ziro – Photo by Ashwani Kumar – Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Ziro valley in summer season Photo by Arunachal2007 Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0

    Tourist attractions

    The major tourist attractions of Ziro are the green serene Talley Valley, the hillock Ziro Putu, Tarin fish farm, the tall idol of Shiva Lingam at Kardo. ApaTani people celebrte several festivals namely the Myoko Festival in March, the Murung Festival in January and the Dree Festival in July.

    Ziro is also known for its outdoor music festival. First festival happened in the year 2012. Members of the ApaTani tribe host this festival. Festival celebrates the independent music scene of India. Festival is celebrated on two stages, Donyi(Sun) and Polo(Moon), constructed by local artisans and made almost completely of bamboo. As a result, it is noted to be one of the most eco-friendly festivals in India employing locally sourced material for the infrastructure. The festival has a zero plastic policy and encourages attendees to be responsible for leaving behind no waste.

    I am participating in the A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on the ‘Z’ challenge. “Z is for the Ziro Valley, Lower Subansiri, Arunachal Pradesh”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.

  • Thiksey Monastery – A Lighthouse of Buddhism in Ladakh

    Thiksey Monastery – A Lighthouse of Buddhism in Ladakh

    Ladakh is one of the beautiful regions of India. And Buddhism is an integral part of Ladakhi life. There are many Gompas (monasteries) scattered all across the region. Today we are visiting one of the glorious and important Gompa of Ladakh. Thiksey Gompa, situated on top of the hill in Thiksey near Leh. This monastery is attached to the Gelug sect of Tibatian Buddhism.

    Something from the history of Thiksey

    Founder of Gelug sect tasked one of his students, Jangsem Sherab Zangpo, with seeking permission of the King of Ladakh to spread the teachings of Gelug Buddhism in Ladakh. Soon he reached the King with the message and gifts from the founder of Gelug sect. King was pleased with the gifts. He directed his minister to help to set up a monastery of Gelug sect in Ladakh. This is how the first monastery was built in Stagmo village. 

    Legend of the Thiksey tells a story of start of Thiksey Monastery. Once Sherab with his disciple Palden Zangpo was performing sacred rituals of torma offerings. Suddenly, two crows appeared from somewhere and took away the offerings. Palden and other disciples went on the lookout for torma offerings. Soon after, they reached Thiksey. As soon as they reached Thiksey, they found out that crows had put the tormas on a rocky outcrop in perfect orders and in an undisturbed condition. Considering this as a divine direction, Palden decided to build the monastery at this place. And this is how Thiksey monastery came in existance.

    Glory of the Thiksey monastery

    Situated at an altitude of 3600 meters in the Indus valley, Thiksey Gompa is a huge twelve storey complex. It houses many buddhis items like stupas, wall paintings, thangkas (fabric paintings), weapons, sculptures, etc. Buildings in the complex are in ascending order on a hill slope and have a good spacing between them. This monastery shows an architectural resemblance with the Potala Palace in Lhasa. As a result, Thiksey Gompa has title of “Mini Potala”. This house of 60 lamas is red, ochre and white in color. This is a fort monastery of a Central Tibatian Pattern. 

    Maitreya buddha Thikse Photo by Redtigerxyz Copyrights CC BY-SA 3.0

    The monastery has a temple erected to commemorate the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama to the Thiskey Gompa. The temple houses a 15 meter high statue of Maitreya Buddha. This is the largest statue of Maitreya Buddha in Ladakh. Generally, we find Maitreya Buddha in a standing position or seated on a high throne. However, the statue in Thiksey is an unusual depiction of Maitreya seating in a lotus position. Shilp Guru Nawang Tsering of the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (Leh) guided the local artists to make this statue in clay, copper and gold paint. In addition to this temple, there are temples of goddess Tara and several guardian divinities including Cham-spring – the protector deity of Thiksey.

    Recently, the Archeological Survey of India completed the activities of restoration the monastery. However, it created some controversies. Hence, they achieved a balance to the restoration and renovation works to retain the old order in consonance with the new works.

    Glimpse of Thiksey
    • Front of the Thiksey Monastery Photo by Caesardeka Copyrights CC BY-SA 3.0
    • Shakyamuni Buddha in inner sanctum of the assembly hall Photo by Redtigerxyz Copyrights CC BY-SA 3.0
    • Thiksey Monastery Gompas Photo by Anilsh59 Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0

    Festivals

    Monastery celebrates its annual festival from the 17th to 19th day of the ninth month of the Tibetan calendar (October–November). People perform sacred mask dances as a part of the rituals. Villagers from all over the Ladakh gather at the base of Thiksey monastery and trade their goods during this festival.

    I am participating in the A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on the ‘T’ challenge. “T is for the Thiksey Monastery, Ladakh”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.

  • Sun Temple – Homage to an Ancient Indian God

    Sun Temple – Homage to an Ancient Indian God

    In the Vedic tradition of Hinduism, people worshiped forces of nature in the form of various deities. The Sun god Surya was one of the important deities of the era. However, Indians built many temples to worship this god. Today we are visiting the most prominent sun temple out of many in India. We are going to Konark to see the ruins of one of the oldest Sun temples of India which once was a magnificent temple complex.

    • Watercolour drawing of the north side of Surya Temple Konark (1820)
    • A lithography plate from James Fergusson’s Ancient Architecture in Hindoostan (1847)
    • Konark sun temple Photo by Chaitali Chowdhury Copyrights CC BY SA 3.0

    From the pages of history of Sun temple

    Though sun god is a Vedic deity, we have built its temples since the 7th century. Narasimhadve I of Eastern Ganga Dynasty built this particular temple around 1250 CE. The historic documentations of the planning and construction of this temple is written in Sanskrit with Odia script. This writing is in a form of preserved palm leaves manuscripts. These scripts surfaced during an excavation in a nearby village during the 1960s. The king sponsored the construction of the temple on which Siva Samantaraya Mahapatra was the overseer. This new temple site was near the old one. They re-consecrated sculpture of deity from old temple and established in this new larger temple complex. Many copper plates describe the development of the complex and address the temple as “great cottage”.

    “Here the language of stone surpasses the language of human”

    Rabindranath Tagore about Sun temple Konark.

    What can we see at Sun Temple today

    Temple had two parts, one mandapa and one inner sanctum called Deul. However, today only mandapa survives the tests of time and stands there with very intricate carvings and sculptures. Old documents suggest that shikhara of deul was around 225 ft high. It is enough to give us an idea about the glorious temple which once stood these grounds. The shape of the temple was that of a giant stone ornamented chariot pulled by 7 horses with 24 huge stone wheels. Wheels are very elaborately carved. If one looks at the temple at dawn from inland, it looks like the chariot is emerging from the ocean. Last standing part of Deul succumbed to the neglect and forces of nature around late 1800. 

    • Chariot Wheels illustrative intricate carving, Photo by Andrew Moore Copyrights CC BY-SA 2.0
    • Sculpture of a young woman on sun temple konark Photo by H. Grobe Copyright CC BY 3.0
    • Bansuri player and ghana player at Photo by Mike Prince Copyrights CC BY 2.0
    • Konark Temple Panorama Photo by Alok Prasad, Copyrights CC BY 3.0

    Carvings

    Walls are full of carved intricate motifs. There are many sculptures of male and female musicians holding various musical instruments including the vina, mardala, gini, sculptures of Hindu deities, apsaras. You can also see images from the daily life and culture of the people (artha and dharma scenes), various animals, aquatic creatures, birds, legendary creatures, and friezes narrating the Hindu texts. Along with these Konark temple is also famous for its erotic sculptures of maithunas. There are large statues of lions subduing elephants, elephants subduing demons, a warrior and a horse, etc. There was an intricately carved pillar dedicated to Aruna, a chariot marshal of Surya. This piller was in front of eastern stairs of the poarch. But today, the pillar stands in front of the Jagannath temple in Puri.

    In popular culture

    If you happen to visit this glorious place, don’t forget to check the chariot wheel which appears on the reverse side of our 10 rupees currency note. This signifies the importance of this temple to Indian heritage and culture.

    Stone wheel at Konark Sun Temple Photo by Subhrajyoti Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0

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

  • Rashtrapati Bhavan – Palace of the President of India

    Rashtrapati Bhavan – Palace of the President of India

    In 1950, India took democracy and formed a republic after adopting the constitution written by our constitutional assembly. Dr. Rajendra Prasad took over as the first president of the Union of India. Today, we are visiting the residence of the President, Rashtrapati Bhavan, in our journey of Incredible India. 

    The history of the Rashtrapati Bhavan

    The Delhi Durbar of 1911 decided to shift the capital of British India to Delhi from Calcutta. After Delhi Darbar, they decided to build the new capital in the south of Old Delhi near Raisina and Malcha. The British Raj commissioned Architect Lutyens to design the viceregal palace. His design of the palace was grand, classical with colours and details inspired from Indian architecture. Lord Hardinge imposed budget restrictions during construction of the palace. As a result, the reduction of construction size by one third took place. Even after reduction, the completed viceroy palace was very similar to his designs. It took around two decades to complete this palatial residence. 

    When Chakravarti Rajagopalachari took over as India’s last but only Indian Governor-General and started residing in the Viceroy’s palace, he swapped the living quarters with a guest wing. This arrangement continues to be the same even now and the old Guest Wing is now the official residence of the President. Rashtrapati Bhavan hosts visiting heads of states and state receptions in this new guest wing which was original residence wing. As Dr. Rajendra Prasad took charge of the residence as the first President of India, they renamed Viceroy Palace as Rashtrapati Bhavan.

    • Rashtrapati Bhavan at evening Photo by Vinay Copyright CC BY-SA 3.0
    • Mughal gardens fountain Photo by India1277 Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavab Photo by Ronak Shah Copyrights CC BY-SA 4.0

    What can we see there?

    This huge palace is spread over hundred and thirty hectares and has 340 rooms. We get a glimpse of many rooms like Ashoka hall  if we watch the footage of various ceremonies held in the presidential palace. Rashtrapati Bhavan has a gorgeous garden in the backyard. It draws the name of Mughal Gardens from their original design based on the gardens of Mughal era. Later during times of various presidents, landscape changed and today we see the blend of various landscaping styles. Mughal gardens are open to the public during the event of Udyanotsav every year during the months of February and March. 

    Rashtrapati Bhavan has a Museum Complex of three buildings, Clock tower, the Stables and the Garages. It helps visitors to get an inside view of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, its art, architecture and get educated about the lives of past presidents. Tourists can also witness the Change of Guards ceremony which is held on every Saturday. The bookings for any of the visits have to be done online via official websites only. Please plan your visits accordingly.

    Main Façade of the Rashtrapati Bhavan

    I am participating in the A2Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on the ‘R’ challenge. “R is for the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi”. You can find my other posts from this challenge here.

  • 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.

  • 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.