Our Architectural Heritage covers a gamut of structural developments across Palaces, Forts, Stupas, caves, Pillars, Temples, Tombs, Mosques and off late, the Public buildings. This featured story offers explainers, cheat sheets and fun facts around most of these.
Context: China is engaged in a major international effort to digitally accumulate information on the priceless cultural treasures of the Buddhist caves in Dunhuang
What? It will digitise the info on the murals, statues and manuscripts that were taken away by Western expeditions
Where? Most of the artworks, controversially removed from the iconic Mogao caves, found their way in the British Museum in London, the National Museum in New Delhi and The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg
News: Minister of Finance inaugurated the months long cultural spectacle The Everlasting Flame International Programme
Context: Zoroastrianism and Rig Vedic Hinduism are sister cultures that share linguistic and cultural commonalities
Relevance: Celebrates Multicultural Ethos of the Parsi-Zoroastrian Community
Exhibition: Programme will present exhibitions that takes the visitor on a journey from earliest days of Zoroastrianism to its emergence as the foremost religion of imperial Iran
Objective: Exhibition examines their growth as an immigrant community under British rule in India and the later expansions
Context: It is a spring festival celebrated every year in month of March with great fervour and gaiety by Mizos after completion of their Jhum cultivation
Jhum: Shifting agriculture by clearing jungle by burning and cultivating in remnants of burning
Celebration: by dressing in their traditional attire and dancers danced to the tune of typical music and songs
Popular Mizo dances: Cheraw, Chheihlam, Sarlamkai and Khuallam are performed by various cultural groups
History: Chapchar Kut Festival is estimated to have started in 1450-1700 A.D. in a village called Suaipui
Context: Muziris was a key port and the centre of trade between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean regions
When? Focal point of commerce for over 2500 years
Reference: Mentioned in the 1st century travelogues, ancient Sangam texts and Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder’s encyclopaedic work, Natural History
Trade: Pepper, precious stones, silk, beads, ivory and pottery were exported from here to West Asia and Rome in exchange for gold coins, glass, wine and wheat
Significance: For centuries, the land of Kerala mesmerised Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Arabs, Chinese, Romans and Greeks, welcoming them to come and trade and even settle there
Organiser: Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) and Ministry of Culture
Context: Showcase the inherent economic, social and cultural strength of the North East Region (NER) at the national level
Themes: Three-day mega event include theme specific Business Summit consisting of sectors like Tourism, Agriculture, IT, Handloom & Handicrafts, and Start ups etc.
Cultural events: The event will also have cultural programmes to showcase the rich culture and folk dances of North East India
Destination North East will enable various Central Ministries to showcase their initiatives in North East India
The Indian Heritage Cities Network was founded as a programme byUNESCO’s New Delhi office, at an international conference on Indian Cities of Living Heritage in 2006 at Jaipur
Importance – Established with the endorsement of the Ministry of Urban Development
Objective – It was created in order to raise awareness among professionalsand policy makers
Mission – To highlight the Indian city as a living cultural resource
The Chettinad cotton saree has won the ‘India Handloom’ tag for its unique designs and identity.
The Textiles Committee, Union Ministry of Handlooms and Textiles, Mumbai, has registered the Chettinad cotton saree under the Indian Handloom Brand Scheme
The Chettinad saree inherits the intricacies of now out-of-vogue and over acentury-old‘ Kandangi’ pure silk sarees
The sarees are already popular in few North Indian states in the country
Also popular in other countries such as Malaysia and Singapore
With 32 UNESCO recognized natural and cultural heritage sites, ranking second in Asia and fifth in the world
The National Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) aims to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country.
It seeks to promote an integrated, inclusive and sustainable development ofheritage sites
This will focusing not just on maintenance of monuments but on advancement of the entire ecosystem including its citizens, tourists and local businesses
The tourism potential of the country is still to be fully harnessed and this scheme will help in this regard
The 12 cities selected for the scheme are Ajmer, Amritsar, Amravati, Badami, Dwarka, Gaya, Warangal, Puri, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Varanasi and Velankanni
The approval in this regard was given by an inter-Ministerial HRIDAY National Empowered Committee
For improving tourist infrastructure in heritage places of Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh and Warangal in Telangana
The funds sanctioned will be used for developmental works at 1000 Pillar Temple and Kazipet Durgah and rejuvenation of pond at Padmakshi Templein Warangal city
Amaravati and Warangal are among the 12 cities included in the Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) for improving the social, cultural and economic ecosystems
By augmenting necessary infrastructure with the objective of conserving the rich cultural heritage and enabling better facilities for tourists and pilgrims
Seers have appealed to Prime Minister to take steps to declare Kumbakonam aheritage town.
Kumbakonam is the temple city of South India situated in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu.
Historical Importance – In the 7th Century, it was the Capital of Chola Kings and a culturally rich place where music and art flourished
Cultural Importance – It has several shrines which are centuries old, including the globally famed Darasuram Temple along with ancient muttsand Veda Patasalas
This 4-day festival of thanksgiving to nature takes its name from the Tamil word meaning “to boil” and is held in the month of Thai (January-February).
During the season when rice and other cereals, sugar-cane, and turmeric (an essential ingredient in Tamil cooking) are harvested.
First day is celebrated as Bhogi festival in honor of Lord Indra, the supreme ruler of clouds that give rains.
Second day is puja performed when rice is boiled in milk outdoors in a earthenware pot and is then symbolically offered to the sun-god along with other oblations.
Third day is the Mattu Pongal when bulls and cows are bathed and their horns painted and worshipped as they play an important role in farms.
Fourth day is the Kannum Pongal — the day to go out and meet relatives and friends, and go site seeing.
It is held every year in the month of January-February, on the Ganga Sagar Island, at the mouth of the river Hooghly in Bengal.
A dip in the water at this place, during Gangasagar Mela, is considered to be extremely sacred.
On the day of Makar Sankranti (January 14), when the sun makes a transition to Capricorn from Sagittarius, it is said that the bath becomes a holy source of salvation.
The Ganga Sagar Mela, one of the biggest religious events of the country that witnesses the gathering of lakhs of pilgrims, is set for a revamp this year.
Pilgrims attending the annual fair at the Sagar Island, one among the cluster of islands at South 24 Parganas district.
The state government is also planning to declare Ganga Sagar Mela as Green Mela this year.
It is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) founded in 1945.
To contribute to building of peace, eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.
It is the heir of the League of Nations’ International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.
It has 195 member states and nine associate members.
The UNESCO has established an ‘official relationship’ with the Ramakrishna Mission in the areas of intercultural dialogue, social cohesion and for promoting peace and non-violence.
The bonding between UNESCO and the over 100-year old Ramakrishna Mission started in 2002 with the former funding certain projects.
In 2012, the UNESCO set up a chair on Inclusive Adapted Physical Education and Yoga at the Coimbatore campus of Vivekananda University.
The UNESCO has found common features with the Ramakrishna Mission in many respects.
A unique feature of the Buddhist heritage sites in north coastal Andhra Pradesh is that the objects found at the site indicate the presence of various architectural styles.
It has distinguished south and north Indian styles and also styles fromoverseas.
Other famous buddhist sites are Amravathi, Nagarjunakonda, Chandavarametc.
Retrieved objects indicate that the site flourished between 3 century BC and 8 century AD.
A treasure trove of historical evidence of immense heritage value has been found at the Vommili village, Visakhapatnam district.
The objects retrieved from a trial excavation on the surface include a standing image of the Vajrayana deity ‘Heruka’.
Heruka is terracotta elephant head, conical mud bowls, thumb and finger print designs on polished black ware, dull chocolate-coloured slipware and herringbone patterns.
Site was used for cultivation for a long time, causing damage to some of the historical evidence.
The idol of ‘Heruka’ was found by the villagers and placed under a tree and was being worshipped.
Channapatna handcraft can be traced to the reign of Tipu Sultan who invited artisans from Persia to train local artisans in the making of the wooden toys.
The traditional wooden toy-and-doll craft, with perfected lacquer-ware of Channapatna (on the Bangalore-Mysore highway).
It is protected by a geographical indication (GI) tag but today a crisis stares the industry in the face.
The art is known for its mix of vegetable dye and food grade pigments, with natural shellac insect residue.
It obtained from the trees of Amaltaas and Kusum in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa.
Although Channapatna’s toy industry survives, what pains is the near-absence of lacquering that attaches a heritage value to it.
The UNESCO seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage , adopted by UNESCO in 1972.
It encourage countries to sign the World Heritage Convention and to ensure the protection of their natural and cultural heritage.
Conference is a unique platform which will bring best scholars from world, to discuss the present state of Indology, its relevance and challenges faced by them.
A 3-day World Indology Conference organised in collaboration with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
Around 21 eminent Indologists from world and 8 senior scholars from India deliberate on Indian culture and philosophy.
Discussions on topics such as ‘Indological Studies in Historical Perspective’, ‘Sanskrit Literature’, ‘Indian Art and Architecture’ and so on.
Scholars participating in it are those who have devoted their life-time to the interpretation and reinterpretation of Indian knowledge system.
Their effort lead to putting proper focus on areas that need better attention so that contribution of India is better appreciated by global community.
One of India’s biggest food festival, bringing in cuisine of indigenous tribes from nearly 60 countries.
Theme is The Future We Want: Indigenous Perspectives and Actions.
Organised as collaboration between Slow Food, North East Slow Food and Agro biodiversity Society & Indigenous Partnership for Agro biodiversity and Food Sovereignty.
The 5-day international fiesta will celebrate the biological and cultural diversity of indigenous communities.
Expressed in their songs, folklores, dance and food systems have passed on from generation to generation in close interaction with nature.
Tera Madre is a network of Indigenous food communities involved in promotion of Indigenous culture as well as conservation of biodiversity.
A 2000-year-old lost stupa, one of the 19 built with Lord Buddha’s relics sent by Emperor Ashoka to China, has been renovated and restored with religious rites, making it a symbol of the advent of Buddhism from India to China.
The renovated stupa and Ashoka pillar along with a huge golden statue of Buddha was consecrated by Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of Drukpa lineage of Buddhism based in Ladakh.
According to Buddhist records, Emperor Ashoka collected all of Sakyamuni’s sarira, stored them in pagoda-shaped shrines before sending them to different parts of the world.
The Nangchen stupa is the first to be discovered in the Tibetan region. The fate of the other 15 sent by Ashoka to China is unknown.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has recognized the Indian Kalarippayattu Federation as Regional Sports Federation with immediate effect.
This recognition means granting a major role to the Indian Kalarippayattu Federation (IKF) for promotion and development of Kalarippayattu sport in India.
About Kalaripayattu
Kalaripayattu sport is a Martial art performed in Southern state of Kerala and in contiguous parts of Tamil Nadu.
It is considered to be one of the oldest fighting system in existence and each warrior in the Sangam era received regular military training of it.
The word kalari has been derived from Sangam literature which describes both a battlefield and combat arena.
A Hero-stone at Peruntholvu hamlet in the district, though remaining little known to the outside world, has rich tales to tell from the 17th century.
Some villagers in the area are still worshipping the stone mistaking the hero’s picture carved out on the stone as Hanuman (Anjaneyar) due to vague resemblance and because of the fact that the memorial had been lying near a Perumal temple.
People who got killed while displaying valour to protect the cattle in the villages from leopard/ tiger in whose memory hero stones are usually kept.
“The hamlet has its existence dated back to 3,000 years and it was the capital of one of the 24 divisions in Kongunadu”.
India has won the top UNESCO prize ‘Award of Excellence’ for theconservation efforts of the ‘Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple’ in Kerala.
The award recognises the remarkable conservation effort undertaken at the sacred site which employed age-old rituals and conservation techniques drawn from VastuSastra focussing on architecture and construction.
Xieng Thong Temple in Luang Prabang (LAOS)won the Award of Merit-1st site to bag the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award.
UNESCO identifies World Heritage Sites as places that belong to all the people of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located. This means, these places are considered to be of immense cultural and natural importance in the world.
With the latest entry of The Great Himalayan National Park and Rani ki Vav, India now has 32 of these!
25 are of Cultural Importance
7 are of Natural Importance [Can you list these 7 Natural ones?]
You might know most of them but we have a hunch that you might not know these 4!
Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, Karnataka:
Pattadakal is famous for its Chalukya style of architecture that originated in Aihole and blended with Nagara and Dravidian styles.
The important monuments are – Virupaksha Temple, Sangameshwara Temple, Jain Temple…
Unfortunately, the nearby temples at Badami usually overshadow the fancy of tourists and the bad state of approach roads doesn’t help either.
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka:
The Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka is the place were the earliest traces of human life on Indian subcontinent was discovered.
The name breaks down to – Bhim + Bhet (The place where someone met Bheem)
The caves provide a rare glimpse at a sequence of cultural development from early nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled cultivators to expressions of spirituality.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus / Victoria Terminus:
Hardly anyone pauses to consider the significance of this beautiful monument originally built to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
The entrance of the Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus is flanked by figures of a lion and a tiger representing the two countries-great Britain and India.
The change of name from Victoria to Shivaji is often dubbed as the most significant sex change operation in modern times!
Kumbhalgarh fort:
With a 36km wall second only to the Great Wall in China, the Kumbhalgarh fort is one of those rare forts which was never attacked!
It is also knwon for the Shooting of The Dark Knight Rises and a few movies of Satyajit Ray like ‘Shonar Kella’.
What are we looking for here? The picture in the middle is of a famous temple which witnessed an infamous stampede in 2008. You know the gentlemen on the either side, already!
Identify the temple and identify the architectural marvel which connects all 3 of them.
The Mehrangarh Fort
Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises” showed the underground chambers of a dark dingy prison. That was shot here at Mehrangarh Fort.
Chamunda Mata temple had a stampede in 2008 because a bomb scare (@mehrangarh) had set people off. Rao Jodha – the founder of Jodhpur.
Link the images on the poster above. The answer is a part of a recent controversy around a film which won several national awards.
The answer will also give you a glimpse into a marvellous piece of architecture from Kashmir.
We are looking for a marvellous temple here – what are we talking about?
Working out the Clues
Shahid Kapoor – Actor in the movie Haider Anupam Kher – Kashmiri Pandit (They collectively agitated) Konark Temple – The only other Sun temple in India (Odissa)
The Martand Sun Temple.
1. The Sun Temple, build in 370 AD, has historic and religious significance for the Hindu community as it is one of the only two Sun Temples in India, with the other one in Konark in Odisha. 2. The Sun Temple in Kashmir is facing West which attains greater significance in the Hindu scriptures. Why? 3. It can be said it was an excellent specimen of Kashmiri architecture, which had blended the Gandhara, Gupta, Chinese, Roman, Syrian-Byzantine and Greek forms of architecture.
PS: The temple appears in the list of centrally protected monuments as Kartanda.
Shore Temple comprises three shrines, mainly dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu resting on the Sheshnaga.
Shore Temple is also acknowledged for being the first stone structure made by Pallavas.
The Shore Temple overlooks the Bay of Bengal (Mamallapuram was the port city of Kanchipuram, the Pallava capital).
The temple was designed to grasp the first rays of the rising sun and to spotlight the waters after sunset. In the words of Percy Brown, Shore Temple served as “a landmark by day and a beacon by night”.
Located on the south bank of the river Tungabadra – devoted to Lord Shiva (Virupaksha).
The Ministry of Culture has chosen Hampi and 24 other monuments to be granted ‘Adarsha Smaraks’.
The ‘Adarsh Smarak’ tag is given to the monuments which have highest number of tourists visiting besides giving them special attention in order to boost international tourism.
The Durga temple, a former Hindu temple, is located in Aihole in the state of Karnataka, India.
The temple was built between the 7th and the 8th century by the dynasty of the Chalukyas.
The architecture of the temple is predominantly Dravida with Nagara style also is used in certain areas.
The Apsidal Durga temple: If it’s not dedicated to the goddess Durga, then who is it dedicated to?
PS: The temple also breaks an interesting myth that the ‘apsidal’ architecture was buddhist in its origin. It was prevalent in Ajivikas, Jains & Hindus.
Kushinagar has a gilded statue of Buddha. That signifies his Parinirvana.
It is the completion of nirvana, usually understood to be within reach only upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening (bodhi).
Kushinagar also finds a mention in epic Ramayan as the city of Kusha the son of Ram, the famous king of Ayodhya.
The parinirvana of the Buddha is described in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta.
The Mahabodhi Temple (Literally: “Great Awakening Temple”), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, marking the location where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, is said to have attained enlightenment.
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