INDIA

Meenakshi Amman temple

Meenakshi Amman temple is in the city Madurai in Tamil Nadu. This is the most beautiful temple in India. In the early B.C, this city was visited by Romans and Greeks for trading with the Pandya Kings. This temple was originally built by the King Kulasekara Pandyan in the early A.D . After its destruction by Islamic conqueror Malik kapur in 13th century, the temple was reconstructed by the King Thirumalai Nayak in 16th century. This temple has 12 towers plus 2 golden towers. The tallest four towers are the entrances for the temple in every direction-north,south,west and east. The tallest tower measures 160.9 feet in height.


Meenakshi Thirukalyanam

The towers or the gopurams have stone carvings or figures of Gods and Goddesses. The following is a picture of one of them.


Brahadeeswara Temple

Sri Brihadeswara temple, a masterpiece of Chola architecture is in Thanjavur. It was built by Raja Raja Cholan around 10the century. The dome of the temple rests on a single monolithic rock of granite, weighing 81 tons. Similarly, the Nandi, the bull statue weigh about 25 tons has been made from a single granite rock. The temple stands 216 ft. tall but it has been built in such a manner that throughout the day its shadow never falls on the ground! This Temple was declared by UNESCO as a world heritage site in 1987.


Arunachaleswara Temple

Arunachaleswara temple is in the city Thiruvanamalai in Tamil Nadu. The temple was built by several kings-Pandya, Chola and Hoysala between 12th and 13th century. This temple had 9 towers. The east tower stands at 217 feet.


Chennakeshava Temple

Chennakeshava temple is in Belur, Karnataka. It was built between 10th and 12th century by the Hoysala rulers. The platform of the temple illustrates the general Hoysala preference for star-shaped or Lotus shaped foundations. The pyramidal objects are model shrines, which flank the steps leading up to the temple. I have mentioned more about the Hoysala architecture later in this section of blog.


Bhagandeswara temple

Bhagandeswara temple is in Bhagamandala, Karnataka. This temple is situated on the place where the three rivers Kaveri, Kanike and Sujyothi meet. This is an example of Kerala architecture.


Siva Temple

This Siva temple in Bangalore, Karnataka is an example of modern architecture. Behind the 65 feet, meditating, Siva statue is the cave. And inside this cave, is kept Jyothir Sivalingams. One can enter into the cave through one side and exit the other side. This picture was taken by my brother Pari. I had taken my family and friends to this temple, and everyone appreciated its beauty.


Lotus temple

The Lotus temple in New Delhi is an another example of modern architecture. It is made of marble. It was designed by Fariburz Sabha, a Canadian citizen and a Bahá'í of Iranian descent. The Bahá'í is one of the most widespread world’s independent religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh.


Taj Mahal

Everyone knows this one-Taj mahal of Agra. Taj Mahal was declared by UNESCO as a world heritage site in 1983.
Please go to the following website to read about two different stories on this masterpiece of architecture.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A5220


Qutb Minar

Qutb Minar near Delhi is a 72.5m red sandstone tower with five storeys. It was built in 12th century and is an example of Islamic architecture in India. And its surrounding mosques, are built of materials reused from some 20 Brahman temples.


Musical Pillar

In this picture, you see the musical stone pillar. It got ruined now, since it was open to the public to play with for the last several centuries.
Inside the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple is the “ayiramkal mandapam”( Hall of thousand pillars). When viewed from an angle, these pillars appear in a straight line which is an architectural masterpiece. These pillars cannot be compared with the few pillars which you see in the St.Peter's Basilica!


Rotating statue pillar

This beautiful carved pillar is in the Chennakeshava temple, Belur, Karnataka. This was carved in 11th century. It is an example of Hoysala architecture. These are carved in a dark-green steatite or soapstone, and shimmers even to this today. In 13th century, the Muslims damaged this sculpture and many other Hindu religious monuments.


Gajacharmabara

This statue of Gajacharmabara is in the Hoysaleswara temple, Halebid, Karnataka. This was built in 12th century. This was also damaged by the Muslim invaders.


SivaSakthi

This is the statue of Lord Siva and his consort Sakthi. You can see the ornaments beautifully carved on them. You can also see the destructions made by the Muslim invaders.


Gommateswara

This is the statue of Gommateswara(a jain prince) in Sravanabelagola, Karantaka. It is 17m tall and was carved out of granite stone in 10th century.The statue is on a small granite hill which has 614 steps. This is a pilgrimage site for the the Jains.


Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery

This monastery is in Bailukuppa, Karnataka. The height of the statue of Buddha is 60 feet where as the the statues of Padmasambhava and Amitayus are 58 feet. They are made of copper, plated with gold. Inside the statues are scriptures, relics of great beings, small clay mould stupas, and small statues, which symbolize the body, speech and mind of the Buddhas.


The Buland Darwaza Gate

This is the gate to Jama Masjid in Fatehpur Sikri. The gate was erected in 1602 AD to commemorate Akbar’s victory over Deccan. It is an example of Mughal architecture. It is 40m in height and it ranks among the biggest in the world.


India Gate

India gate in the capital city New Delhi is 42m in height. It was built as a memorial to commemorate the 70,000 India soldiers killed in World War I. It was erected in 1931. Beneath it burns an eternal flame(Amar Jawan Jyoti). The shallow domed bowl at the top was intended to be filled with burning oil on anniversaries. From the base of the arch, the President’s House (Rashtrapati Bhavan) can be viewed.