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India @ a glance ... Quick Reference |
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Discounted Hotel rates for many hotels and resorts all over India,
not only to book brand name hotels but also lesser known and
hard to find hotels. Great savings & reliable customer service [more]
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HOUSE BOATS, KERALA
(Star Rating - Deluxe)
Houseboats are traditionally
called 'Kettuvallam'. The modern houseboat has a long history dating
back hundred of years. These boats were used by merchants to transport
rice and coir from town to town. During those days roads were a few.
With the emergence of road transportation, these boats were forgotten.
Today, thanks to tourism, they have been modified into luxurious
single and double bedroom houseboats with attached bathrooms, kitchen,
verandah and much more.
Click here to make a Reservation
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Harmony of body, mind
and soul Ayurveda
evolved around 600 BC
in India. Today, it's a
unique, indispensable
branch of medicine. [more]
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Information Zone - Travel |
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Int'l Air Travel
:
Just about all major international airlines fly into India. Major international
airports include Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), (Trivandrum)
Tiruvananthapuram , Bangalore and Cochin ...
Domestic Air Travel :
This is also well organised. Apart from the govt. owned Airlines many private
airlines and low cost carriers operate to
various destinations all over the country. All state capitals and major towns
are connected by air.
Train Travel : The Indian
Railways have the fourth largest rail network in the world. Just about every
Indian city, town and village is connected by train and it is one of the best
ways to get into the interiors of the country.
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THE
TAJMAHAL - AGRA |
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TAJ MAHAL has made AGRA the most sought after destination in
the world. Described as the most extravagant monument ever built for love, this
poignant Mughal burial tomb had become the tourist emblem of India. TAJ MAHAL is
undoubtedly one of the most spectacular buildings of the world. Renowned for its
architectural magnificence and aesthetic beauty, it counts among man's proudest
creations and is invariably included in the list of the world's foremost
wonders. As a tomb, it has no match upon earth, for mortal remains have never
been housed in greater grandeur. | |
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HISTORY OF TAJ MAHAL | |
In 1612,
Arjumand Banu Begam, better known by her other name , Mumtaz Mahal was
married to Shah Jehan (then Prince Khurram), the fifth mughal emperor.
This marriage, although the emperor's second, was a real love-match, and
Mumtaz was her husband's inseparable companion on all his journeys and
military expeditions. She was his comrade, his counsellor, and inspired him to
acts of charity and benevolence towards the weak and the needy. She bore him
fourteen children, and died in childbed in 1630 (only three years after his
accession to the throne) in Burhanpur in the Deccan where she had accompanied
him on a military campaign. Overpowered by grief, Shah Jehan was determined to
perpetuate her memory for immortality and decided to build his beloved wife
the finest sepulchre ever - a monument of eternal love. It was Shah Jehan's
everlasting love for Mumtaz that led to the genesis of the Taj Mahal. The sad
circumstances which attended the early death of the empress who had endeared
herself to the people inspired all his subjects to join in the emperor's pious
intentions. After twenty-two laborious years, and the combined effort of over
twenty thousand workmen and master craftsmen, the complex was finally
completed in 1648 on the banks on the river Yamuna in Agra, the capital
of mughal monarchs.
The origin of the name the "Taj Mahal" is not clear. Court histories from Shah
Jehan's reign only call it the rauza (tomb) of Mumtaz Mahal. It is
generally believed that "Taj Mahal" (usually translated as either "Crown
Palace" or "Crown of the Palace") is an abbreviated version of her name,
Mumtaz Mahal (Exalted One of the Palace).
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CHANGING COLOURS OF TAJ | |
TAJ MAHAL acquires a different hue at different time of the day. You might
have seen Taj 15 times but when you return back to see it 16th times, you will
find it something different from the earlier visit. The Taj at noon, the Taj
at sunset, under the full moon, against the setting sun, and against the
rising ball of fire, each time the mausoleum acquires a different accent and
tells a different story. It was a reminder of the love of a king for his queen
Mumtaz Mahal who could inspire such a monument and also of the king himself
who could sign his love across the horizon.
Whichever story it tells, there is a certain vulnerability, a softness about
Taj Mahal that always touches the visitor. The white structure, actually
nothing but a grave and yet so much more, stands unassumingly in spite of the
yellowing pollution retaining a certain charm that takes the breath away.
The glory of Taj Mahal as seen today is considerably reduced. Historians and
travelers have recorded a spectacle of grandeur and extravaganza when
Shahjahan had built it. The beautifully laid out gardens holding out the Taj
almost a thousand feet away from the entrance gate are said to have been
beyond description. It is said that the gardens are modeled along the Persian
Char Bagh style. Paved inroads divide the patches of green and little
fountains and mark the two halves of the garden.
The Taj stands on a raised platform. At the entrance there are two sets of
stairs, one leading to the real sarcophagus and the other to cenotaph
counterparts. Rising on all four sides are minarets and in the center lies the
magnificent dome over the central hall. The dome is crucial to Islamic
architecture, cosmologically uniting heaven and earth. The square edifice
represents the material universe while the dome symbolizes the vault of
heaven. The Taj itself is octagonal and the base is said to represent the
transitional phase. The finial, the golden needle at the top is indicative of
the region of transcendence.
On the grave itself 99 names of Allah are inscribed and it is said to have
lain inside a gem-encrusted balustrade. On it were placed bowls of jewelry,
all of which together could still not match the beauty of the one who lay
interred there. Persian carpets and sheets of silver for the door keep the
silence in the mausoleum in splendorous solemnity. From the ceiling hung a
glittering golden globe with convex mirror. While there were other chandeliers
too, this was the most beautiful one and had come from Aleppo and it
constantly wove patterns in the room.
The Taj is known for its excellent work of embedding precious stones in floral
pattern on the wall, the art known as pietra dura. It is said that one single
bloom has as many as 35 different precious stones, be it agate, lapis lazuli,
coral, or onyx. The favorite flowers were lilies and honeysuckles. Today much
is left to the imagination for all of it has been plundered and destroyed in
periods of turbulence.
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