HISTORICALAVINASH: 2010

Tirupati Balaji Temple

Tirupathi Balaji Temple is the holiest place and one of the largest ancient shrines in the world. It is located in the Eastern Ghat in Chittoor district. This temple dedicated to the Hindu God Venkateshwara (Vishnu). The temple of Shri Venkateswara has acquired unique sanctity in Indian religious lore. It is believed that in this Kalyuga, one can attain Mukti only by worshipping Shri Vendateswara.

The ancient and sacred temple of Shri Venkateswara is located on the seventh peak, and lies on the southern banks of Shri Swami Pushkarini. It is by the Lord’s presidency over Venkatachala, that He has received the appellation, Venkateswara (Lord of the Venkata Hill). He is also called the Lord of the Seven Hills.

History of the templeThere is ample literary and epigraphic testimony to the antiquity of the temple of Lord Shri Venkateswara. All the great dynasties of rulers of the southern peninsula have paid homage to Lord Shri Venkateswara in this ancient shrine. The Pallavas of Kancheepuram (9th century AD), the Cholas of Thanjavur (a century later), the Pandyas of Madurai, and the kings and chieftains of Vijayanagar (14th-15th century AD) were devotees of the Lord and they completed with one another in endowing the temple with rich offerings and contributions. It was during the rule of the Vijaranagar dynasty that the contributions to the temple increased. Shri Krishnadeva Raya had statues of him and his consorts installed at the portals of the temple, and these statues can be seen to this day. There is also a statue of Venkatapati Raya in the main temple.

Pilgrimage at Tirupati1) Padi Kavali Maha Dwara

2) Sampangi Pradakshinam

3) Ranga Madapam

4) Tirumala Raya Mandapam

5) Tirumala Raya Mandapam

6) The Aina Mahal

Photo Gallery for Tirupati

Night View at Tirupati

Main temple at tirupati

Lord Venkateswara photo

Visitors at Tirupati

Tirupati temples picture

Tirupati temples images

Tirupati Balaji Temples

Tirupati Balaji temple wallpaper

Tirupati Balaji Temple photo

Victoria Memorial - Kolkatta

Victoria memorial is one of the most beautiful monuments of India’s Built entirely of white marble. On the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, Lord Curzon, who was then Viceroy of India, placed before the public the question of setting up a fitting memorial to the Queen. He suggested that the most suitable memorial would be a ‘stately’, spacious, monumental and grand building surrounded by an exquisite garden. This was to be a historical museum where people could see before them pictures and statues of men who played a prominent part in the history of this country, so could develop a pride in their past.

Cost of Construction
The Prices and people of India responded generously to his appeal for funds and the total cost of construction of this monument amounting to One Crore, Five Lakhs Rupees, was entirely derived from their voluntary subscriptions. Sir Willian Emerson, President of the British Institute of Architects, designed and drew up the plan of this building, while the work of construction was entrusted to Messrs Martin and Co. of Calcutta. Vincent J. Esch was the superintending architect. King George V. then the Prince of Wales laid the foundation stone on January 4, 1906. It was formally opened to the public in 1921.

Architecture
The Building represents a unique combination of classical European architecture and Mughal motifs. The domed and white marble museum sprawls over 64 acres and is set in a landscaped garden at the southern side of the Kolkata’s maidan (ground) near Jawaharlal Nehru Road. The building is 184 ft high up to the base of the figure of Victory which is another 16 ft high. The groups of figures above the north porch represent motherhood, Prudence and Learning. Surrounding the main dome are figures of Art, Architecture, Justice, Charity etc. The Memorial is situated on 64 acres of land with the building covering 338 ft by 228 ft.

Megnificent Collections
In the Royal Gallery there are oil paintings depicting scenes of Queen Victoria receiving the sacrament at her coronation in the Westminster Abbey in June 1838, her marriage with price Albert (1840) in the Chaper Royal at St. James Palace. The christening of the Prince of Wales in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle (1842), Marriage of the Prince of Wales (Edward VII ) with princess Alexandra (1863) Queen Victoria at the first Jubilee service in Westminster Abbey in 1887, and the second Jubilee service of Queen Victoria at St. Paul’s Cathedral, June 1897. These are copies of paintings by well-known artists in the collection of the British royalty. The pianoforte on which Queen Victoria received tuition in her childhood and the writing desk and chair constantly used by her for her daily correspondence at the Windsor Castle occupy the centre of the room. King Edward VII presented these to the Victoria Memorial. On the south wall hangs the Russian artist Verestchagins masterpiece depicting in oils the state entry of King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, into Jaipur in 1876. Portraits of Edward VII, as Prince of Wales, Painted in 1863 by Jansen and those of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are place in the hall. Renowned painter of the period, Winter-halter painted these when both of them were young.

Illuminating the Memorial Hall

The Victoria Memorial Hall was illuminated in January 1988 by an extraordinary initiative of the then Governor of West Bengal, Prof. S. Nurul Hassan, Mr. Russi Mody, and Hiren Chakraborty, the then Secretary and Curator, of the Victoria memorial. A large number of valuable manuscripts are in the collection of this memorial, some of which are on display at the Portrait Gallery. Among these are the manuscripts of Ain-e-Akbari by abdul Fazal, the court historian of the Emperor of Akbar, a manuscript of Diwan Hafiz, or the Gazals of Hafiz. The note book of Tipu Sultan in his own hand writing, a volume of copies of Tipu Sultan’s letters. Akbar Namah is in two volumes. A manuscripts of Shah Namah, the famous epic containing the history of the ancient kings of Persia written by Firdausi (999 AD ), the Persian translation of Nala Damayanti by Abdul Fazal. Beside these, there are many manuscripts stored in the High Court room.

The Victoria Memorial has a large number of statues and sculptures in its collection. Many of these are in the garden. Though initially, personalities from the British period were housed inside the memorial and garden, later many statues of Indian personalities were also put on display. The memorial is the largest repository in India for a Visual history of Calcutta. It also has a major collection of paintings, sculptures and manuscripts from the British period. The Victoria memorial has a vast collection of Indian Paintings, which were painted using purely old Indian techniques or using western style.

A Repository of History
The Victoria memorial has large collection of paintings, in oil, watercolours, and aquatints by the Eropean painters like Charles D’oyly, Johann Zoffany, William Hadges, William Simpson, Tilly Kettle, Thomas Hickey, Emily Eden and others, besides the largest collection in the world of the paintings by the Daniells. The Victoria memorial has a good number of Mughal miniatures in its collection. There are some rare books in the library, which dates back to the 1870s.

Some of the books worth mentioning are the collection of plays by William Shakespeare, the Arabian Nights, Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, etc. All these books are exotically illustrated. Costume designers consult and refer these books while designing for Shakespearian plays in Calcutta. The Victoria memorial has a large number of postage stamps in its collection. Only a few are on display at the Calcutta gallery. There are hundreds of original important documents of historical importance in the archive of the memorial. Historians and research scholars often refer to these documents.

Photo Gallery

Victoria Memorial, Kolkatta, India

Victoria Memorial wallpaper

Victoria Memorial Pictures

Victoria Memorial Photo

Victoria Memorial Palace

Victoria Memorial Images

Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata

Night View of Victoria Memorial, Colkatta

Queen Victoria's statue inside the memorial

Rashtrapati Bhavan-The ministry of India

Rashtrapati Bhavan is an eminent monument of British empire which is situated at the west end of the 2.5km long Rajpath (Kingsway), a tree-lined avenue flanked by lawns with orderly flowerbeds and lipped hedges, with the India gate at the opposite end. It is the house of the President of India. It is a real masterpiece that was built in the British period. It was designed by the great architect Edwin Lutyens, along with Herbert Baker, and completed in 1929. Previously it was known as “Viceroy's House" till 1950.

In 1947, when India became independent, the Vicefroy’s house was re-named Government House and when the country became a republic in 1952 it was re-christened as Rashtrapati Bhavan (President Quarters). The total cost of constructing the Rashtrapati Bhavan crossed £12, 53,000 in British India.
Visitors require official permission from Government of India Tourist Office to visit Rashtrapati Bhavan. To the west of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, there is a wonderful Mughal garden which is open to the public every spring. The timings are from 9.30 am to 2.30 pm on all days except Mondays. Every Saturday at 10.30 am, mounted and un-mounted troops parade in full uniform, at the front of gates of the secretariat and the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which is worth attending.

Photo Gallery

The Rashtrapati Bhawan at night

The ministry at President house

Rastrapati Bhavan Photo

Rashtrapati Bhawan enterance gate

Rashtrapati Bhavan Wallpaper

Rashtrapati Bhavan Tower

Rashtrapati Bhavan Picture

Rashtrapati Bhavan night Photo

Indian President House Photo

Garden at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Elephants on the outer wall.

Rashtrapati Bhawan outer View

Safdarjang’s Tomb (1753-54)

Safdarjung's Tomb is a beautiful mausoleum, situated at Lodi road, in the city of Delhi, India. The tomb was built in 1753-54 by Shuja-ud-Daula, in the style of late Mughal architecture. Shuja-ud-Daula was the son of Safdarjung. Safdarjang was the viceroy of Awadh under Mohammed Shah. Later he became his prime minister too. Safdarjung's tomb represents the last phase of the Mughal style of architecture.

Description of the Tomb :-
The Tomb is built with red sandstone and buff stone. It spreads over an area of 300 sq m. The garden of Safdarjung's tomb is laid down on the pattern of the Mughal Charbagh style. The Safdarjung tomb was erected roughly on the pattern of Humayun's tomb. There are two graves here, Safdarjung and the other apparently his wife's. There are polygonal towers at the corners of the mausoleum. Kiosks cover these. In the center of the underground chamber lie the graves of Safdarjang and his wife. The ceilings of the whole tomb are decorated with painted plasterwork. The marble and sandstone used in the construction have been removed from the mausoleum of Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana. Just at the frontage of the Safdarjung's Tomb, there is a beautiful Mughal garden which is properly maintained. It is also known as “Charbag” The garden is spread over an area of 300 square meters. It is divided into four squares by wide pathways and tanks. It is further divided into smaller squares. It resembles the Mughal style of garden or Charbagh.

Visitor’s information :-
You can visit this monument by paying a minimum entry fee. It remains open for all days from sunrise to sunset. If you want to take photos then you have to pay additional fee for that. You can reach here by taking local buses and auto rickshaw from any parts of the city. The Nizamuddin Railway is the nearest railway station to this tomb and Indira Gandhi International Airport is the closest airport.

Safdarjang’s Tomb wallpaper

Safdarjang’s Tomb Pictures

Safdarjang’s Tomb Photo

Safdarjang’s Tomb Paintings

Safdarjang’s Tomb Images

Safdarjang’s Photo

Safdarjang’s Grave

Reflection in water of Safdarjang’s Tomb

Safdarjang’s Tomb

A beautiful images of Safdarjang’s Tomb

Purana Qila

The second Mughal Emperor, Humayun has constructed the Fort in 1538. After Babur arrived in India, he did nothing in his lifetime, but fight. Apart from that, his entire concentration was on building mosques. He considered them to be the centers from where Islam would take off. When Humayun decided to make a city of his own, he decided on the site of the ancient city of his own, he decided on the site ancient city of Indraprastha (Delhi). Humayun was quite a scholar with a fine grasp on such matters. Therefore, it is quite certain that the site was chosen deliberately. When Sher Shah Suri overthrew him, he destroyed most of Dinpanah (refuge of the faithful) as the city of Humayun was called, to make way for his own Dilli Sher Shani or Shergarh. Incidentally, Humayun was probably the only emperor in history who built a city in Delhi and did not give it his own name -this was typical of Humayun’s rather sophisticated and dreamy character.

The Design :-
The plan of Old Fort, now simply called "Purana Qila" by Delhites, is irregularly orbital. The walls of the immense Qila (Palace) tower down on the road that takes one to Pragati Maidan from the height of 18m, and run on for about 2km. It has three main gates - the Humayun Darwaza, Talaqi darwaza and Bara darwaza (which one used to enter the fort today). The double -storeyed gates are quite huge and built with red sandstone. The entry to the Qila was from Talaqi (forbidden) darwaza, the northern gate. It is not clear why this was so. Sher Shah Suri and his successor could not complete the city. When Humayun defeated Sher Shah’s son to take back his city, he did not deal with Dilli Sher Shani as the latter had done with Dinpanah. In fact the Mughal emperor very handsomely completed the city and even used several of the buildings like the Sher Mandal, a rather two stroreyed octagonal building. Humayun used this as his library and, then tripped to his death from its steps.

Excavations :-
Several excavations have taken place in the Purana Qila in an attempt to prove, or disprove as the case may be, whether it is indeed the site of Indraprastha or not. Diggings have yielded painted grey ware pottery, which has been dated to 1000 BC. Similar stuff has been noticed in other sites associated with the epic Mahabharata as well. These seem to conclusively prove that this indeed was the place, where Indraprastha once flourished. These excavations have also thrown up coins, associated with the Gupta (about 4-5th century AD) and post-Gupta ages (700-800 AD ) of Indian History as well.

Qila-i-Kuhna Masjid :-
One of the most fascinating buildings, and also one of the few that still survive, in the Purana Qila (Old Fort) is the Qila-i-Kuhna Masjid. Sher Shah Suri built it in 1541. He was obviously out to make a definite style statement. The mosque is quite a place; its prayer hall measures 168 ft. by 48.8 ft. It has five doorways with the true horseshoe-shaped arches. Apparently, the idea was to build the whole mosque in marble. During construction, the supply of marble ran out and red sandstone had to be used instead. Those were the days when due to constant strife, materials from far of places could not be procured easily. The builder used the material at hand very skillfully. The result is quite spectacular - the red sandstone and the marble contrast beautifully with each other to give the mosque a very distinctive air. The mihrabs (Prayer niches) inside the mosque are richly decorated with concentric arches. From the prayer hall, staircases lead one to the second storey where a narrow passage runs along the rectangular hall. A beautifully worked dome tops the central alcove. In the courtyard at one time, there was a shallow tank, which had a fountain. The mosque has an inscription, which says ‘as long as there are people on this earth, may this edifice be frequented, and people are happy in it. A noble thought - amen (confirm or agreed) to it.

How To Reach :-
The Purana quila is situated to the south-east of India gate and to the north of Humayun's tomb on mathura Road in New Delhi. There is an entry fee, Rs. 5/- for citizen of India and Rs. 100/- for foreigners. It is open from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm everyday. Visitors can take local buses, auto-rickshaws, taxis or metro train from various points of the city to reach this monuments. The boats are available for a nominal price per hour rate. Since it is situated at a stone's throw from India Gate, reaching to this ancient fort is a matter of joke for every tourist.

Photo Gallery of the Fort