TAJ MAHAL (" The Symbol of The Love....")

This marble marvel remains one of the most loved tourist spots in the world.

Some Interesting History On Taj

The Taj Mahal, located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, was actually built as a tomb by Mogul ruler Shah Jehan for his wife, Arjuman Banu. She was born in April, 1593 in Agra, India.
Shah Jahan ascended the peacock throne of India in 1628, at the age of 36. By that time, he had been married to his second Persian wife for 16 years. Formally named Arjuman BanuMumtaz Mahal, or "beloved ornament of the palace". Not only was the Shah deeply in love with her, one of his many wives and concubines, so were the people, who knew her as generous, compassionate, and one of the most beautiful women in India. Begum, she was more familiarly known as

Within three years, their love story had ended. Mumtaz Mahal died on June 17, 1631 while accompanying the Shah during a battle campaign in Burhanpur in the Deccan (now in Madhya Pradesh) giving birth to her fourteenth child, a daughter named Gauhara Begum. So grief stricken was the Shah, that he withdrew from the public eye for an year, and when he emerged at the end of that time, although still a youthful 40, his hair had turned white and he appeared as an old man.
Whether it is true that Arjuman asked on her deathbed for a symbol of their love, nobody seems to know. But the Shah went ahead and erected an immortal tribute in the form of the most magnificent tomb in the world. It would take 23 years to be completed.

Details of the marble work

Far more than a simple burial place, the Taj Mahalwife's nickname, Mumtaz Mahal. Her cenotaph, a word taken from the Greek for "empty tomb", rests in the exact middle of the main chamber, keeping the symmetrical design of the entire structure. actually contains many separate areas inside, as well as outer buildings and extensive gardens. The name is said to have been derived from his
Four years after the tomb was completed, the Shah was deposed and imprisoned by his son. When he died in 1866, his son had a cenotaph created beside that of his wife, upsetting the balance of the chamber. The actual bodies, in true Muslim tradition, are buried in plain graves in the basement, wrapped in white shrouds, with faces turned towards Mecca.

Some Interesting Trivia

The Taj Mahal was scheduled to be torn down in the 1830s so that its marble facing could be shipped to London and auctioned to the landed English gentry. Wrecking machines were moved into the garden grounds and work was about to begin when word came from London that another auction of marble facades from Indian monuments and edifices had been a failure and it would not be worth proceeding.

In 1631, the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan's favorite wife (Mumtaz Mahal) died while giving birth to their fourteenth child. As Jahan rushed to her side, she uttered a dying wish: that he build a monument to commemorate their love.(Supposed to be myth)

The result? The Taj Mahal, a building which took 23 years to complete. According to legend, Jahan took drastic measures to ensure that his master carvers would never produce anything more beautiful.

Jahan died with his eyes open - facing the Taj Mahal.

Stones to build the Taj were brought from as far away as Tibet and Sri Lanka.

Shah Jahan wanted to build another Taj Mahal…one with black marble!

It is white marble and semi-precious stones on the dome of the Taj that make Taj Mahal change colour during the day and on moonlit nights.

Ustad Ahmad Lahori is believed to be the architect of Taj Mahal.

The garden walls, rest house, mosque and the entry arch are made of red sandstone.

Some people believe an Italian named Geronimo Veroneo designed the Taj Mahal.

It took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport the construction material to the site of the Taj.

TOP 10 THINGS TO DO IN INDIA

1- Taj Mahal is one of the world’s greatest buildings. You shouldn’t miss it. 2- Madurai is one of the oldest cities in South Asia. It is also known as the temple city because of its many temple complexes. You should see Madurai. 3- If you like beach, Goa is a must. Stay at Bagha beach and drink, eat and enjoy your day!. 4- If you're visiting around in winter time visit Gangtok, check out the frozen lake, and travel up to the China Border too. The place has great monasteries also. 5- India is famous with its festivals and you can catch a festival during your stay no matter which season you visit. 6- Ruins of the city of victory “Vijayanagar” better known as “Hampi” is worth to visit. 7- You can enjoy boating on the backwaters of Kerala through the lush tropical waterways of India’s Deep South. 8- If you like to see magnificent boulder friezes, shrines and the sea battered Shore Temple, Mamallapuram is the best fishing and stone carving village to visit. 9- Camel trekking at the Great Indian Desert can be very romantic touristic experience or ride an elephant bareback, Jaipur has plenty. 10- Amritsar is a city in the Punjab, in northwest India. It is a holy place for members of the Sikh religion, and worth visiting for its famous Golden Temple. Mamallapuram India Camel trekking Amritsar Temple India

South India Temples

Lavishly built and aesthetically designed, the temples of South India are unmatched in architectural brilliance. But more than being mere symbols of architectural genius these temples are living emodiments of rich tradition and culture that has made India proud.

Andhra Pradesh

Tamil Nadu

Karnataka

Kerala

Andaman & Nicobar

Lakshadweep

Pondicherry

Classical Dances of India

Kathakali and Mohini Attam from Kerala.

Kathakali literally means story-play and is an elaborate dance depicting the victory of truth over falsehood.
A Striking feature of Kathakali is the use of elaborate make-up and colourful costumes. This is to emphasize that the characters are superbeings from another world, and their make-up is easily recognisable to the trained eye as satvik or godlike, rajasik or heroic, and tamasik or demonic.

Mohini Attam
Some poses of Mohini Attam
The theme of Mohini attam dance is love and devotion to god. Vishnu or Krishna is most often the hero. The spectators can feel His invisible presence when the heroine or her maid details dreams and ambitions through circular movements, delicate footsteps and subtle expressions. Through slow and medium tempos, the dancer is able to find adequate space for improvisations and suggestive bhavas or emotions.
The basic dance steps are the Adavus which are of four kinds: Taganam, Jaganam, Dhaganam and Sammisram. These names are derived from the nomenclature called vaittari.
The Mohini attam dancer maintains realistic make-up and adorns a simple costume, in comparison to costumes of other dances, such as Kathakali. The dancer is attired in a beautiful white with gold border Kasavu saree of Kerala, with the distinctive white jasmin flowers around a French bun at the side of her head.

Bharata Natyam from Tamil Nadu.

Bharata Natyam
A typical nritya pose of Bharata Natyam dance with abhinaya.
Bharata Natyam dance has been handed down through the centuries by dance teachers (or gurus) called nattuwanars and the temple dancers, called devadasis. In the sacred environment of the temple these familes developed and propagated their heritage. The training traditionally took around seven years under the direction of the nattuwanar who were scholars and persons of great learning. The four great nattuwanars of Tanjore were known as the Tanjore Quartet and were brothers named Chinnaiah, Ponnaiah, Vadivelu and Shivanandam. The Bharata Natyam repertiore as we know it today was constructed by this talented Tanjore Quartet.

Kuchipudi from Andhra Pradesh Kuchipudi
Raja and Radha Reddy in a striking pose of Kuchipudi dance.
The dance drama that stil exists today and can most closely be associated with the Sanskrit theatrical tradition is Kuchipudi which is also known as Bhagavata Mela Natakam. The actors sing and dance, and the style is a blend of folk and classical. Arguably this is why this technique has greater freedom and fluidity than other dance styles.
Bhagavata mela natakam was always performed as an offering to the temples of either Merratur, Soolamangalam, Oothkadu, Nallur or Theperumanallur.

Odissi from Orissa Odissi Gorgeous Odissi pose. Picture courtesy of the Odissi Kala Kendra.
Odissi is based on the popular devotion to Lord Krishna and the verses of the Sanskrit play Geet Govinda are used to depict the love and devotion to God. The Odissi dancers use their head, bust and torso in soft flowing movements to express specific moods and emotions.
The form is curvaceous, concentrating on the tribhang or the division of the body into three parts, head, bust and torso; the mudras and the expressions are similar to those of Bharatnatyam. Odissi performances are replete with lores of the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, Lord Krishna. It is a soft, lyrical classical dance which depicts the ambience of Orissa and the philosophy of its most popular deity, Lord Jagannath, whose temple is in Puri. On the temple walls of Bhubaneshwar, Puri and Konark the dance sculptures of Odissi are clearly visible.

Kathak from Uttar Pradesh Kathak The legendary exponent of Kathak, Birju Maharaj.
This north Indian dance form is inextricably bound with classical Hindustani music, and the rhythmic nimbleness of the feet is accompanied by the table or pakhawaj. Traditionally the stories were of Radha and Krishna, in the Natwari style (as it was then called) but the Moghul invasion of North India had a serious impact on the dance. The dance was taken to Muslim courts and thus it became more entertaining and less religious in content. More emphasis was laid on nritta, the pure dance aspect and less on abhinaya (expression and emotion).

Manipuri from Manipur Manipuri
Singhajit Singh and Charu Siya Mathur.
This dance style was originally called jogai which means circular movement. In ancient texts it has been compared to the movement of the planets around the sun.
It is said that when Krishna, Radha and the gopis danced the Ras Leela, Shiva made sure that no one disturbed the beauty of the dancing. Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva also wished to see this dance, so to please her he chose the beautiful area of manipur and re-enacted the Ras Leela. Hundreds of centuries later, in the 11th century, during the reign of Raja Loyamba, prince Khamba of the Khomal dynasty and Princess Thaibi of the Mairang dynasty re-enacted the dance and it became known as Lai-Haraoba, the most ancient dance of Manipur.

The Indian States
Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh are in the South; Orissa lies along the the mid-eastern coast; Manipur is in the far East and Uttar Pradesh is in the northern regions.