Category Archives: HISTORY

~ Royal & Romantic : Udaipur Lake Palace

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Feel Royal, Feel Romantic!!…. Make you feel like a like a Royal Guest not a Visitor, like a Traveller not a Tourist!! This beautiful palace was build in 1746 by Mewar dynasty King Maharaja Jagat Singh as his summer (lake) palace in the middle of lake Pichola at ancient Udaipur City in North-West part of India called State of Rajasthan. After restoration in 1971 by Tata group’s Taj Resorts and Palaces    , it is now preserved as prestigious 5 star “Taj Lake Palace Udaipur”. Palace is most iconic hotel in the world which also received international awards.

Some Hollywood and Bollywood movies were also posturized here. The visitors includes many international celebrities, Kings, Queens and other eminent guests.

Watch this incredible experience from some guests!

  • Royal and Romantic – Udaipur Lake Palace Hotel

(Background music: Beautiful local folk song “Kesaria Balam, Padharoni Mharo des” from Movie Dor)

  •  Lake Palace tour (Kuoni Advt.)

  • Palace view from Dusk till Dawn

  • Inside Lake Palace (Clips from visitors)

  • Welcome to Rajasthan- Rajansthan Tourism

Off course visit to palace comes with heavy price! As per some comments from visitors, suite cost ranges from about ~ $800 – $5000+ depending upon season and type of suite! For more details visit official website of Taj Hotels : here. 

Also, see official Rajasthan Tourism website: here

Namaste _/\_ “Padhaaro Mhare Dess”  🙂 

(Welcome to my place!)

Image credit: :”en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udaipur”

Sources: Taj group of hotels, Lake Palace, Rajasthan Tourism, Incredible India, Wikipedia, Google search, Youtube, and other hyper-links mentioned in the post.

~ UNESCO World Heritage Sites In India

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See all 31 Beautiful and MUST VISIT UNESCO World heritage Sites in India. Full list of UNESCO (United Nations Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage site as per country is given here.

  • NORTH India

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Park

  • Brief: Its an Ecosystem full of Alpine forest and flowers
  • Location : Chamoli, Uttaranchal State.
  • UNESCO info

Mountain Railways (Total 3 routes)

  • Location: Kalka-Shimla, Nilgiri Railways,and Darjeeling Himalayan Railways
  • UNESCO information

Qutub Minar Complex

Humayun’s Tomb

The Red Fort

Fatehpur Sikri

Agra Fort

Taj Mahal

Keoladeo National Park

  • Brief: Wetlands Wintering ground for migratory birds
  • Location: Bharatpur, Rajasthan
  • UNESCO info

Jantar Mantar

  • CENTRAL India

Khajuraho Temples

Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka

Sanchi Stupa – Buddhist Monuments

Bodh Gaya ( Mahabodhi complex) – Buddhist Temple

Konark Sun Temple

Sundarbans National Park

  • Brief: Mangrove Forests and Tiger habitat
  • Location: West Bengal
  • UNESCO info

Darjeeling Mountain Railways

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary

Kaziranga National Park

  • Brief: Tropical Forests and Grassland and home for Indian Rhinoceros.
  • Location: Assam State
  • UNESCO info

  • WEST India

Champaner- Pavagarh Archaeological Park

Ajanta Caves

Ellora – Stone Temple

Elephanta Caves

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus ( formally Victoria Terminus)

Churches and Convents of Goa

The Western Ghats (Valleys)

  • Location: Spread across west coast, around Mumbai
  • UNESCO info

  • SOUTH India

Pattadakal Monuments

Hampi Monuments/Temples/Ancient City

Nilgiri Mountain Railways

Mahabalipuram Monuments/Temples

  • Location: Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu State
  • UNESCO info

Great Living Chola Temples

A Youtube user (unknown) has provided this great video. Just for information, Music in above clip is by Oscar winner musician Mr. A.R. Rahman from hindi Album/Movie Jodha-Akbar  and song is “Jashn-E-Bahaara”.

Ellora Caves (Via 7wondersofindia on NDTV)

Khajuraho Temples

Watch some other YouTube clips:

Sanchi Buddhist Temples

Hampi Monuments/Ancient City/Temples (Via diaryindia)

Pattadakal,Badami,Aihole Temples (Via Diaryindia)

Sources: Youtube, Wikipedia, UNESCO, and other hyper-links mentioned in the post.

~ World Heritage: Ancient Temples Outside India

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This is a collection of some famous and ancient temples at outside India locations (e.g Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal,etc.). Full list of Hindu Temples listed in UNESCO World heritage Sites with photos can be found here . Find list of all famous temples in India & Abroad at – Link-1 and  Link-2. For beautiful photos of various temples visit this.

CAMBODIA

  • Angkor Wat Vishnu Temple , Cambodia

Angkor Wat- Lord Vishnu temple   dedicated to Hindu God , Lord Vishnu, by mighty Khmer Empire Hindu King Suryavarman II in 12th century at Combodia. Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu Temple and largest religious monuments in the world! UNESCO description about this temple is given here Angkor wat is also considered as one of the Wonders of the world and also finalised in list of New 7 Wonders of The wrold.

Another Clip . More detail and good documentaries , inside temple views here : Angkor Wat 3D documentary  and The face of Cambodia-Documentory

INDONESIA:

Hinduism in Indonesia is also called as Agama Hindu Dharma  or Javanese Hinduism  in Indonesia.  A role of Hinduism in modern Indonesia is described in the article  . Main religion practiced in Bali  is Agama Hindu Dharma or Hinduism.   Bali region has Balinese culture ome Indonesian native language sites on Hinduism. More on this can be found in local language here . Find more information see List of hindu temples in Indonesia . Below is some of the popular temples in Indonesia.

  • Prambanan Temple , Indonesia

Prambanan Hindu Temple , is also one of the largest Hindu Temple outside India. Temple is dedicated to three basic Hindu Gods ( Trimurti)  Lord Brahma (The Creator), Lord Vishnu (The Preserver) and Lord Shiva ( The Transformer). There are about 237 small temples in same campus apart from main big temple. This old historical temple is included in World heritage site by UNESCO. See UNESCO description and other details about Prambanan HinDu Temple here . More details in news about temple here See this nice documentary on Prambanan from world guide sites below:

Another clip of Prambanan Temple here

  • New 1000 years Old Hindu Temple Found in Jakarta-Indonesia

Watch Clip

  • Mother Temple of Besakih, Bali, Indonesia

This is believed to be 14th century temple and important / holiest religious place for Bali Island people. There are series of Balinese temples at Bali.  More details and history about Mother Temple of Basakih is here

Watch Clip. Another clip for Besakih  temple here

  • Tahan Lot Temple – Bali, Indonesia

Tanah Lot Temple is one of 7 Balinese sea temples in Bali which were founded during 15th – 16th century by Hindu religious figure and traveller Danghyang Nirartha

Watch Clip . Another beautiful clip and mythological play (Ramayana, i guess) from devotees for visitors see here and Tahan Lot Festival event here

  • Tampak Siring -Holy Water Temple Indonesia

Tirta Empul – Tampak Siring Temple has history way back in year 882. Pilgrims take holy dip at water resources inside temple, see clip

  • Bali lost hindu temple in Rainforest

See clip for this neglected temple in rainforest here

  • Sukuh Hindu Temple – Indonesia

Details about Sukuh Hindu Temple in Indonesia here

MALAYSIA

  • Batu Caves Lord Murugan Temple , Gombak, Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia  

Batu Caves  are situated in lime stone hills and temple is dedicated to Hindu God Lord Murugan. Famous festival called Thaipusam is celebrated there in Malaysia.

Another clip to batu cave temple :  Clip-1  ,   Clip-2

NEPAL

  • Kathmandu Valle ( Hindu Temples) Nepal

Nepal has very ole history and rich heritage. Kathmandu Valley has various Hindu and Buddhist temples. UNESCO description about Kathmandu Valley can be found here

Watch Clip

Other famous Temple in former India region:

Katasraj Shiva Temple built somewhere around 600 AD is dedicated to Hindu God Lord Shiva It is believed that Pandavas (5 brothers) from Hindu epic Mahabharata   have spent 4 years here.List of other Hindu Temples in former India region can be found here

Good clips and documentaries of Katasraj temples : Clip-1   Clip-2    Clip3    Clip-4    Clip-5    Clip-6

Photo links : Link-1 , Link-2 , Link-3

Brief Introduction to Hinduism

For detail introduction to Hinduism see : Part 1/ 5 , Part 2/5, Part 3/ 5. Part 4/5,  Part 5/5

Other related news coverage:

Image Credit: “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Angkor_Wat.jpg”

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia, google search and other hyperlinks mentioned in the post.

~ India’s Jurassic Parks: Dinosaur Eggs and Fossils Found At Various Sites

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Till date there are 4 different sites are discovered in India which could trace presence of Dinosaurs about 45-70 million years ago.

1. Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park , Gandhinagar , State of Gujarat, at Western Part of India, is believed to be world’s second largest hatchery of Dinosaur Eggs. There is huge tourism potential at this site. Rocks with Dinosaur footprints are also found along with Eggs.  .More on this can be found at DNA News  and TOI News  reports. See some photos from visitors.

2. Ariyalur, Pariyar, Tamilnadu, at Southern part of India : Geologist from Periyar University , Salem ,Tamilnadu State in India found Dinosaur’s eggs which is estimated to be 65 million years old. Each egg is 13 to 20 cm in diameter and was found in Cauvery river basin region  at Ariyalur district near Tiruchirapalli.  Scientist believe this finding  could hold clues to dinosaur extinction  mystery .                                                                     See Times Now reports and video clips at  : Inside India’s Jurassic Park , Find will unravel dinosaurs evaluation,  and  Spl: huge Jurassic nest found in Tamil Nadu  . More news here  , see collection of related articles   and  India’s Jurassic Nest Dug Up In Tamil nadu

3. Padlya, Dhar-Mandla Belt, Near Indore City, Madhya Pradesh, at Central part of India : Asmadha-Fossil Park at Mandu, State of Madhya Pradesh, India will be dedicated to Dinosaur Eggs and fossil museum as per Dhar District Administration . Proper protection of these sites should be top priority.  Photo of tourist with Dinosaur Eggs .

4. West Khasi Hills, Shillong, North-East part of India: Geological Survey of India (GSI)  team found fossils at West Khasi Hills , 165 Km from Shillong , State of Meghalaya. Check full GSI case study and photographs from their findings – here. For news paper coverage see- here and here. Visit official Meghalaya Tourism site for travelling details.

To know more about other Excavation, Preservation and Archaeological studies from Government of India departments visit:  Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) website – http://asi.nic.in/ and Geological Survey of India (GSI) website – http://www.portal.gsi.gov.in/

Related NEWS Clips:

The National News:  Jurassic Park of India (Indroda Dinasaur and Fossil Park – Gujarat)

NTDTV News:  Dinosaur Eggs Found In India (Pariyar-Tamil Nadu)

Reuters:  Huge Dinosaur Eggs Found In India (Pariyar-Tamil Nadu)

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Indian bloggers voted this post as “Top post on IndiBlogger” Site! thank you 🙂

Image credit: “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indroda_eggs.JPG”

Sources: Google search, YouTube, Wikipedia, Times of India, NTDTV, The National , NDTV, BBC, DNA news, and others links mentioned in the post.

~ SANSKRIT Language: Scientific Base, Computer Programming Usage and Free Online Resources

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Sanskrit ( means ‘Refined Speech”) is one of the oldest languages on the earth. Sanskrit  is mother of many languages in India and outside (Ref). Sanskrit learning and speaking also helps to improve pronunciation and broaden one’s linguistic skills. Sanskrit is also studied in UK , Irland, Harvard-USA and New Zealand and some other countries in the world apart from Indians. A New Zealand school teacher says Sanskrit helped their kids to learn English! See an discussion on benefits of learning sankrit, a western perspectives.

Hollywood Movie Matrix and Sanskrit Connection!

Sanskrit at British Schools (NDTV report): Kids say Sanskrit is helping them to pronounce difficult words and understanding the world better!

See another clip here : British School Kids Chanting Sanskrit Mantras

Sanskrit ( Indian Language) and European languages have common root. Even many English words actually have Sanskrit origin. Watch this ThinkingallowedTV discussion about Sanskrit – The most Scientific, ancient , Spiritual Language

How To Use Sanskrit In Daily life: Surprised to see a foreigner in love with Sanskrit. I found this Youtube play list .Also find more videos here and his interpretation.

Sanskrit as Computer Programming Language and for Artificial Intelligenece:

Recent reserch shows that Sanskrit is useful for computer software programming. NASA research paper demonstrates how Sanskrit can be used for computer in publication – Knowledge representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence. Also, see interesting fact that NASA to use Sanskrit as computer language Article discussed that using Sanskrit message can be sent by the computer in least number of words! More similar views on this by a scribed user here. Sanskrit usage is also published in a scientific paper where they used it in Computer simulation concept . Find various articles on Sanskrit usage as programming language for computer :

Learn Sanskrit Online in English (Free):

Stephen Thomson Introduces the Sanskrit Alphabet (Learn more about Sankrit courses in UK )

Learn Sanskrit Alphabets from an American Teacher (Also visit American Sanskrit Institute-US )

See how: Sanskrit Calligraphy explained by American Professor

Learn and Read Sanskrit in English (Part 1/6)

Part 2/6  , Part 3/6 , Part 4/6 , Part 5/6 ,  Part 6/6

Free Sanskrit Resources:

Online Sanskrit Certification Programme:

Buy Books and CDS :

Image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit

Sources: Google, YouTube, Wikipedia and other links mentioned in the post.

~ Colourful and Incredible India

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Indian tourism department “Incredible India”  showcased colourful side of India in its videos with various innovative and creative ways.See such colourful and incredible videos which exhibited the shades of India in Globalization.

1. Incredible India 2013:

Clip shows the Incredible India 2013 promo where a foreign lady traveller try to ‘find what she seek’ from her journey to India. She also learned famous Indian ‘head shake’ (sign of agree/nice/satisfied/ Okay/happy) and how to reserve seat in  crowded bus!! 😀

2. I AM INDIA :

Famous ‘I am India’ campaign is a part of various other inspiring projects of Bharatbala productions   on India, an organization founded by Ganapathy Bharat commonly known as Bharatbala and music given by famous Indian musician Ram Sampath . “I am India” video chants a beautiful Sanskrit verse from Bhagavad Gita –

//Karmanye Vadikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kada Chana, Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurma Tey Sangostava Akarmani //

English transition: Line 1–“You have right to perform your Karma/Action/Deeds, but you don’t have right over Fruits (end result) of the Actions/Deeds” . Line 2 – “Don’t let the Fruit (outcome) be the purpose of your actions/deeds and never be associated /attached to not doing your duty”.

Here in this clip they are showing how India is rising through collective (good) Karma /Action.  It is starts with quote “A man’s Karma is to forever turn the wheel of life towards a better future for all” and concludes with beautiful message – Let good Karma of all citizens becomes their Dharma (Religion) then “the wheel of dharma is the unstoppable energy of life”

Another interesting thing in I am India clip is about workers/citizens are holding a Wheel (which is actually wheel from Indian flag ). This wheel is Ashoka chakra (spinning wheel) from famous Ashoka pillar  built by mighty  king Ashoka Maurya or Ashoka the Great (304 BCE – 232 BCE) and represents India’s glory and prosperity in his era. It was one of the golden eras in Indian history. The lion capital of Ashoka was adopted as National Emblem of India in 1950 after India’s independence from British rule. India ( Bharat  or Hindustan  called at that time)  was a great country with prosperity, power , wealth, knowledge and wisdom, trade  and happiness. Clip showcases India’s vision and journey  to acquire same status, glory and prosperity in this new millennium.

3. COLOURS OF INDIA

See colourful shades of India below.

A. India in Pink

B.India in Blue

C.India in Green

D.India in Golden/Yellow

E.India in Red

Watch more videos and TV commercials at Bharatbala Productions and India YouTube channel

Sources: Youtube, Wikipedia, google search and other links mentioned in post.