WESTERN GHATS
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| WESTERN GHATS |
Western Ghats (also referred to as Sahyadri that means The Benevolent Mountains) may be a mountain chain that runs parallel to the western coast of the Indian earth, placed entirely in Bharat. it's a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage website and is one amongst the eight "hottest hot-spots" of biological diversity within the world. it's generally referred to as the nice Escarpment of Bharat. The vary runs north to south on the western fringe of the Deccan highland, and separates the highland from a slim ground, referred to as Konkan, on the Arabian Sea. a complete of ixl properties together with national parks, life sanctuaries and reserve forests were selected as world heritage sites - twenty in Kerala, 10 in state, 5 in province and 4 in geographical area. The vary starts close to the border of Gujarat and geographical area, south of the Tapti stream, and runs around one,600 kilometer (990 mi) through the states of geographical area, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and province ending at Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of India. These hills cover 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi) and form the catchment area for complex riverine drainage systems that drain almost 40% of India.
The Western Ghats block southwest monsoon winds from reaching the Deccan Plateau. The average elevation is around 1,200 m (3,900 ft). The area is one of the world's ten "Hottest biodiversity hotspots" and has over 7,402 species of flowering plants, 1,814 species of non-flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species, 179 amphibian species, 6,000 insects species and 290 freshwater fish species; it is likely that many undiscovered species live in the Western Ghats. At least 325 globally threatened species occur in the Western Ghats.The Western Ghats are the mountainous faulted and eroded edge of the Deccan Plateau. Geologic evidence indicates that they were formed during the break-up of the supercontinent of Gondwana some 150 million years ago. Geophysical evidence indicates that the west coast of India came into being somewhere around 100 to 80 mya after it broke away from Madagascar.
After the break-up, the western coast of Bharat would have appeared as associate degree abrupt formation some one,000 m (3,300 ft) in elevation. volcanic rock is that the predominant rock found within the hills reaching a thickness of three kilometer (2 mi). alternative rock varieties found ar charnockites, granite metamorphic rock, khondalites, leptynites, metamorphic gneisses with detached occurrences of crystalline sedimentary rock, iron ore, dolerites and anorthosites. Residual soil and mineral ores also are found within the southern hills.The Western Ghats extend from the Satpura direct the north, stretching from Gujarat to province. It traverses south past the states of geographical area, Goa, state and Kerala. Major gaps within the vary ar the province Gap, between the geographical area and state sections, and therefore the Palghat Gap on the province and Kerala border between the Nilgiri Hills and therefore the Anaimalai Hills.
The mountains intercept the rain-bearing westerly monsoon winds, and are consequently an area of high rainfall, particularly on their western side. The dense forests also contribute to the precipitation of the area by acting as a substrate for condensation of moist rising orographic winds from the sea, and releasing much of the moisture back into the air via transpiration, allowing it to later condense and fall again as rain.The northern portion of the narrow coastal plain between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea is known as the Konkan, the central portion is called Kanara and the southern portion is called Malabar. The foothill region east of the Ghats in Maharashtra is known as Desh, while the eastern foothills of the central Karnataka state is known as Malenadu. The range is known as Sahyadri in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Western Ghats meets the Eastern Ghats at Nilgiris in northwestern Tamil Nadu. Nilgiris connects Biligiriranga Hills in southeastern Karnataka with the Shevaroys and Tirumala hills. South of the Palghat Gap are the Anamala Hills, located in western Tamil Nadu and Kerala with smaller ranges further south, including the Cardamom Hills, then Aryankavu pass, Aralvaimozhi pass near Kanyakumari. In the southern part of the range is Anamudi (2,695 metres (8,842 ft)), the very best peak in Western Ghats.
ELEPHANTA CAVES
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| ELEPHANTA CAVES |
Elephanta Caves area unit a network of carved caves placed on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri (literally "the town of caves") in Mumbai Harbour, ten kilometres (6.2 mi) to the east of the town of Mumbai within the Indian state of geographic region. The island, placed on AN arm of the Arabian Sea, consists of 2 teams of caves—the 1st may be a massive cluster of 5 Hindu caves, the second, a smaller cluster of 2 Buddhist caves. The Hindu caves contain rock cut stone sculptures, representing the Shaiva Hindu sect, dedicated to the Lord Shiva.The rock cut design of the caves has been dated to between the fifth and eighth centuries, though the identity of the initial builders continues to be an issue of dialogue. The caves area unit hewn from solid volcanic rock rock. All the caves were conjointly originally painted within the past, however currently solely traces stay.The main cave (Cave one, or the nice Cave) was a Hindu place of worship till Portuguese rule began in 1534, when that the caves suffered severe injury. This cave was restored within the Seventies when years of neglect, and was selected a UNESCO World Heritage web site in 1987 to preserve the design. it's presently maintained by the anthropology Survey of India (ASI).Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri, is regarding eleven klick (6.8 mi) east of the Phoebus Apollo Bunder (Bunder in Sanskritic language suggests that a "pier for going and disembarkment of passengers and goods") on the Mumbai Harbour and ten klick (6.2 mi) south of Pir Pal in Trombay. The island covers regarding ten km2 (3.9 sq mi) at high water and regarding sixteen km2 (6.2 sq mi) at tide.Gharapuri is little village on the side of the island. The Elephanta Caves is reached by a ferry from the entry of India, Mumbai, that has the closest flying field and depot.The cave is closed on weekday.The island is two.4 km (1.5 mi) long with 2 hills that rise to a height of regarding a hundred and fifty m (490 ft). A deep valley cuts through the center of the island from north to south.
On the west, the Hill rises gently from the ocean and stretches east across the valley and rises step by step to the intense east to a height of 173 m (568 ft). This hill is thought because the Stupa hill. Forest growth with clusters of mango, tamarind, and karanj trees cowl the hills with scattered palm trees. Rice fields area unit seen within the natural depression. The fore shore is formed of sand and dust with flowering tree bushes on the perimeter. Landing quays sit close to 3 tiny hamlets referred to as Set Bunder within the north-west, Mora Bunder within the northeast, and Gharapuri or rule Bunder within the south.The two hills of the island, the western and also the japanese, have 5 rock-cut caves within the western half and a brick stupa on the japanese hill on its prime composed of 2 caves with a number of rock-cut cisterns. one among the caves on the japanese hill is unfinished. it's a protected island with a buffer zone in line with a Notification issued in 1985, that conjointly includes "a prohibited area" that stretches one klick (0.62 mi) from the bound.Since no inscriptions on any of the island are discovered, the traditional history of the island is divinatory, at best. Pandavas, the heroes of the Indian epic religious writing, and Banasura, the demon lover of Shiva, area unit each attributable with building temples or cut caves to measure. native tradition holds that the caves don't seem to be synthetic.The Elephanta caves area unit "of unknown date and attribution".Art historians have dated the caves within the vary recently fifth to late eighth century AD. anthropology excavations have unearthed a number of Kshatrapa coins dated to fourth century AD. The notable history is derived solely to the defeat of Mauryan rulers of Konkan by the Badami Chalukyas emperor Pulakesi II (609–642) during a battle, in 635 AD. Elephanta was then known as Puri or Purika, and served because the capital of the Konkan Mauryas. Some historians attribute the caves to the Konkan Mauryas, geological dating them to the mid-6th century, tho' others refute this claim locution a comparatively tiny kingdom just like the Konkan Mauryas couldn't undertake "an nearly powerful excavation effort," that was required to carve the rock temples from solid rock and will not have the skillful labor to supply such "high quality" sculpture.Some other historians attribute the development to the Kalachuris (late fifth to sixth century), WHO might have had a social organisation relationship with the Konkan Mauryas.
In AN era wherever theism was rife, the Elephanta main cave dedicates the theism of the Pashupata Shaivism sect, a sect to that Kalachuris likewise as Konkan Mauryas belonged.The Chalukyas, WHO defeated the Kalachuris likewise because the Konkan Mauryas, also are believed by some to be creators of the most cave, within the mid-7th century. The Rashtrakutas area unit the last claimants to the creation of the most cave, approximated to the first seventh to late eighth century. The Elephanta Shiva cave resembles in some aspects the 8th-century Rashtrakuta rock-temple Kailash at Ellora. The triplet of Elephanta showing the 3 faces of Shiva is like the triplet of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiva), that was the royal badge of the Rashtrakutas. The Nataraja and Ardhanarishvara sculptures also are attributed to the Rashtrakutas.Later, Elephanta was dominated by another Chalukyan phratry, then by Gujarat land, WHO given it to the Portuguese in 1534. By then, Elephanta was known as Gharapuri, that denotes a hill settlement. The name continues to be employed in the native Sanskritic language language. The Portuguese named the island "Elephanta Island" in honour of a large rock-cut black stone sculpture of AN elephant that was then put in on a mound, a brief distance east of Gharapuri village. The elephant currently sits within the Jijamata Udyaan zoological garden in Mumbai.Portuguese rule saw a decline within the Hindu population on the island and also the abandonment of the Shiva cave (main cave) as a daily Hindu place of worship, tho' worship on Mahashivratri, the competition of Shiva, continued and still will. The Portuguese did significant injury to the sanctuaries.
Portuguese troopers used the reliefs of Shiva within the main cave for practice, stinting solely the triplet sculpture. They conjointly removed AN inscription associated with the creation of the caves. whereas some historians exclusively blame the Portuguese for the destruction of the caves, others conjointly cite water-logging and dripping rain as further damaging factors. The Portuguese left in 1661 as per the wedding accord of Charles II of England and Catherine of Braganza, girl of John IV of Portuguese Republic. This wedding shifted possession of the islands to the British Empire, as a part of Catherine's dower to Charles. tho' the most cave was rebuilt within the Seventies, alternative caves, together with 3 consisting of necessary sculptures, area unit still badly broken. The caves were selected a UNESCO World Heritage web site in 1987 as per the cultural criteria of UNESCO: the caves "represent a masterpiece of human artistic genius" and "bear a singular or a minimum of exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation that resides or that has disappeared".
LODHI GARDEN
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| LODHI GARDENS |
Lodhi Gardens (Hindi: लोधी बाग़, Urdu: لودھی باغ) may be a town park set in Indian capital, India. cover ninety acres (360,000 m2), it contains, Mohammed Shah's grave, grave of Sikandar Lodi, hookah Gumbad and Bara Gumbad, branch of knowledge works of the fifteenth century by Lodhis- World Health Organization dominated elements of northern Republic of India and geographic area and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of modern West Pakistan, from 1451 to 1526. the positioning is currently protected by the anthropology Survey of Republic of India (ASI). The gardens square measure set between Khan Market and Safdarjung's grave on Lodhi Road and may be a hotspot for morning walks for the Delhiites.The grave of Mohammed monarch, the last of the Sayyid kinfolk rulers, the earliest of the tombs within the garden, was in-built 1444 by Ala-ud-din Alam monarch as a tribute to Mohammed monarch.As there's very little design from these 2 periods remaining in Republic of India, Lodhi Gardens is a very important place of preservation. The grave of Mohammed monarch is visible from the road, and is that the earliest structure within the gardens. The design is defined by the octangular chamber, with stone chhajjas on the roof and guldastas on the corners.Another grave inside the gardens is that of Sikander Lodi, that is comparable to Mohammed Shah's grave, although while not the chhatris, it absolutely was engineered by his son patriarch Lodi in 1517, the last of grand Turk of Delhi from Lodi kinfolk, as he was defeated by Babur, initial battle of battle of Panipat in 1526, this egg laying the muse of the Mughal Empire. His grave is commonly mistaken to be the hookah Gumbad, and is really set in close to the tehsil workplace in battle of Panipat, near the Dargah of Sufi saint Bu Ali monarch Qalandar. it's an easy rectangular structure on a high platform approached by a flight of steps.
The grave was restored by Brits, Associate in Nursingd an inscription mentioning patriarch Lodi's defeat at the hands of Babur and also the renovation was enclosed in 1866. underneath the Mughals major renovations would usually happen betting on what occasions they'd use the gardens for, underneath Akbar the good the garden was used as Associate in Nursing observatory and to stay records in a very purpose engineered library.Inside read of 3 vaulted house of worship, adjacent to Bada Gumbad, Lodhi Gardens.In the centuries, when the fifteenth century Sayyid and Lodi dynasties, 2 villages grew round the monuments, however the villagers were settled in 1936 so as to make the gardens. throughout British rule, it absolutely was improved by girl Willingdon, mate of Governor-General of Republic of India, Marquess of Willingdon, and thus named the 'Lady Willingdon Park' upon its inauguration on nine Apr 1936, and 1947, when Independence, it absolutely was given its gift name, Lodi Gardens.Later, it absolutely was re-landscaped in 1968 by J A Stein, World Health Organization additionally designed the adjacent Republic of India International Centre, in conjunction with Garrett Eckbo, throughout the time Stein additionally created a building inside the park. A British-period entranceway, continues to be getting used as Associate in Nursing entrance that when welcome guests to 'Lady Willingdon Park'.Since 2005, INTACH and anthropology Survey of Republic of India (ASI) organize heritage walks for college kids and general public inside the park space, that has become a favourite with morning walkers and yoga enthusiasts. it's additionally a well-liked picnic spot for the residents of latest Delhi.
INTACH has created obtainable alittle book, giving data regarding park's history, and also the monuments, birds and trees inside the advanced. In 2009, anthropology Survey of Republic of India (ASI) awarded the restoration project of 5 monuments with the garden in phases to and INTACH Delhi Chapter, beginning with the Bara Gumbad, Shish Gumbad and Mohammed Shah's grave, when conservation report for the sites were being ready since 2007. The MoU of the Rs one large integer, initial part of the project funded by Steel Authority of Republic of India Ltd. (SAIL) was signed in 2005, initiating the method of conservation during which structural work began in 2009.In the middle of the gardens is that the Bara Gumbad ("Big Dome"), it consists of an outsized rubble-construct dome, it's not a tomb[citation needed] however a entranceway to Associate in Nursing connected a 3 vaulted house of God (mosque), each in-built 1494 throughout the reign of Sikander Lodi, there's additionally a residence encompassing a central yard, wherever the remains of a tank may be seen. Opposite the Bara Gumbad is that the hookah Gumbad ("Glass dome") for the glazed tiles employed in its construction, that contains the remains of Associate in Nursing unknown family, this was additionally engineered throughout the reign of Sikander Lodi.Further into the gardens, square measure remains of a watercourse that connects the Yamuna watercourse to grave of Sikandar Lodi. This grave still has the battlements inclosure it. near to Sikander's grave is that the Athpula ("Eight Piered") Bridge, the last of the buildings in Delhi, engineered throughout the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar, it contains seven arches, amongst that the central one being the biggest.
The grave of Mohammed monarch, the last of the Sayyid kinfolk rulers, the earliest of the tombs within the garden, was in-built 1444 by Ala-ud-din Alam monarch as a tribute to Mohammed monarch. The grave is form} in shape, with various decorative Hindu-style chhatris round the central dome, various arches, verandahs and sloping buttresses. There square measure turrets at every corner.The main grave is supported by a 16-sided drum. it's of a planar kind and is enclosed by chhatris, that build it look diminutive compared to its considerably larger base. many years later, the grave of Sikandar Lodi appears to possess been derived from this Sayyid grave. As there's very little design from these 2 periods remaining in Republic of India, Lodi Gardens is a very important place of preservation.The grave of Mohammed monarch is visible from the road, and is that the earliest structure within the gardens. it's an honest example of a mixture of the Hindu and Muslim kinds of design. The Hindu options embody eight chhatris, every of them capped by a lotus ornament with {a decorative|an decorative} band round the base; corner ornamental pinnacles (guldastas)and chhajja.
GWALIOR FORT
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| GWALIOR FORT |
Gwalior Fort (Hindi: ग्वालियर क़िला Gwalior Qila) is associate degree 8th-century hill fort close to Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, central India. The fort consists of a structure and 2 main palaces, Gujari Mahal and Man Mandir, engineered by Man Singh Tomar. The fort has been controlled by variety of various rulers in its history. The Gujari Mahal palace was engineered for Queen Mrignayani. it's currently associate degree archeologic repository. The oldest record of "zero" within the world was found in an exceedingly little temple, that is found on the thanks to the highest. The inscription is around 1500 years previous.The word Gwalior comes from one in every of the Hindu words for saint, Gwalipa.The fort is constructed on associate degree outcrop of Vindhyan arenaceous rock on a solitary rocky hill known as Gopachal. This feature is long, thin, and steep. The geology of the Gwalior range rock formations is ochre coloured sandstone covered with basalt. There is a horizontal stratum, 342 feet (104 m) at its highest point (length 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and average width 1,000 yards (910 m)). The stratum forms a near-perpendicular precipice.
A small river, the Swarnrekha, flows close to the palace.The exact period of Gwalior Fort's construction is not certain. According a local legend, the fort was built by a local king named Suraj Sen in 3 CE. He was cured of leprosy, when a sage named Gwalipa offered him the water from a sacred pond, which now lies within the fort. The grateful king constructed a fort, and named it once the sage. The sage given the title Pal ("protector") upon the king, and told him that the fort would stay in his family's possession, as long as they bear this title. eighty three descendants of Suraj subunit Pal controlled the fort, however the 84th, named Tej Karan, lost it.Historical records prove that the fort positively existed within the tenth century. The inscriptions and monuments found inside what's currently the fort field indicate that it's going to have existed as early because the starting of the sixth century. A Gwalior inscription describes a sun temple engineered throughout the reign of the Huna emperor Mihirakula in sixth century. The Teli Hindu deity Mandir, currently placed inside the fort, was engineered by the Gurjara-Pratiharas within the ninth century.The Kachchhapaghatas controlled the fort in tenth century, likely as feudatories of the Chandelas.
From eleventh century ahead, the Muslim dynasties attacked the fort several times. In 1022 CE, Mahmud of Ghazni besieged the fort for four days. According to Tabaqat-i-Akbari, he lifted the siege after in return for a tribute of 35 elephants. The Ghurid general Qutb al-Din Aibak, who later became a ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, captured the fort in 1196 after a long siege. The Delhi Sultanate lost the fort for a short period, before it was recaptured by Iltumish in 1232 CE.In 1398, the fort came under the control of the Tomar Rajputs. The most distinguished of the Tomar rulers was Maan Singh, who commissioned several monuments within the fort. The Delhi Sultan Sikander Lodi tried to capture the fort in 1505, but was unsuccessful. Another attack, by his son Ibrahim Lodi in 1516, resulted in Maan Singh's death. The Tomars ultimately surrendered the fort to the Delhi Sultanate after a year-long siege.Within a decade, the Mughal emperor Babur captured the fort from the Delhi Sultanate. The Mughals lost the fort to Sher Shah Suri in 1542, but Babur's grandson Akbar recaptured it in 1558. Akbar made the fort a prison for political prisoners. For example, Kamran, Akbar's cousin was held and executed at the fort. Aurangzeb's brother, Murad and nephews Suleman and Sepher Shikoh were also executed at the fort.
The killings took place in the Man Madir palace.After the death of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, the Rana chieftains of Gohad held the Gwalior Fort. The Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde (Scindia) captured the fort from the Gohad Rana Chhatar Singh, but soon lost it to the British East India Company. On August 3, 1780, a Company force under Captains Popham and Bruce captured the fort in a daring nighttime raid, scaling the walls with 12 grenadiers and 30 sepoys. either side suffered fewer than twenty wounded total.(p69) In 1780, a people governor Warren Hastings rehabilitated the fort to the Ranas of Gohad. The Marathas recaptured the fort four years later, and this point a people failed to intervene as a result of the Ranas of Gohad had become hostile to them. Daulat Rao Sindhia lost the fort to a people throughout the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
The Western Ghats block southwest monsoon winds from reaching the Deccan Plateau. The average elevation is around 1,200 m (3,900 ft). The area is one of the world's ten "Hottest biodiversity hotspots" and has over 7,402 species of flowering plants, 1,814 species of non-flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species, 179 amphibian species, 6,000 insects species and 290 freshwater fish species; it is likely that many undiscovered species live in the Western Ghats. At least 325 globally threatened species occur in the Western Ghats.The Western Ghats are the mountainous faulted and eroded edge of the Deccan Plateau. Geologic evidence indicates that they were formed during the break-up of the supercontinent of Gondwana some 150 million years ago. Geophysical evidence indicates that the west coast of India came into being somewhere around 100 to 80 mya after it broke away from Madagascar.
After the break-up, the western coast of Bharat would have appeared as associate degree abrupt formation some one,000 m (3,300 ft) in elevation. volcanic rock is that the predominant rock found within the hills reaching a thickness of three kilometer (2 mi). alternative rock varieties found ar charnockites, granite metamorphic rock, khondalites, leptynites, metamorphic gneisses with detached occurrences of crystalline sedimentary rock, iron ore, dolerites and anorthosites. Residual soil and mineral ores also are found within the southern hills.The Western Ghats extend from the Satpura direct the north, stretching from Gujarat to province. It traverses south past the states of geographical area, Goa, state and Kerala. Major gaps within the vary ar the province Gap, between the geographical area and state sections, and therefore the Palghat Gap on the province and Kerala border between the Nilgiri Hills and therefore the Anaimalai Hills.
The mountains intercept the rain-bearing westerly monsoon winds, and are consequently an area of high rainfall, particularly on their western side. The dense forests also contribute to the precipitation of the area by acting as a substrate for condensation of moist rising orographic winds from the sea, and releasing much of the moisture back into the air via transpiration, allowing it to later condense and fall again as rain.The northern portion of the narrow coastal plain between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea is known as the Konkan, the central portion is called Kanara and the southern portion is called Malabar. The foothill region east of the Ghats in Maharashtra is known as Desh, while the eastern foothills of the central Karnataka state is known as Malenadu. The range is known as Sahyadri in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Western Ghats meets the Eastern Ghats at Nilgiris in northwestern Tamil Nadu. Nilgiris connects Biligiriranga Hills in southeastern Karnataka with the Shevaroys and Tirumala hills. South of the Palghat Gap are the Anamala Hills, located in western Tamil Nadu and Kerala with smaller ranges further south, including the Cardamom Hills, then Aryankavu pass, Aralvaimozhi pass near Kanyakumari. In the southern part of the range is Anamudi (2,695 metres (8,842 ft)), the very best peak in Western Ghats.
