The India Pictures | Best of INDIA
1. Hawa Mahal
Hawa Mahal stands upright as the entrance to the City Palace, Jaipur. An important landmark in the city, Hawa Mahal is an epitome of the Rajputana architecture. The splendid five-storey “Palace of the Winds” is a blend of beauty and splendor much close to Rajasthan’s culture. Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh built Hawa Mahal in 1779. The pyramid shape of this ancient monument is a tourist attraction having 953 small windows.
2. Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal, the pinnacle of Mughal architecture, was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1658), grandson of Akbar the great, in the memory of his queen Arjumand Bano Begum, entitled ‘Mumtaz Mahal’. Mumtaz Mahal was a niece of empress Nur Jahan and granddaughter of Mirza Ghias Beg I’timad-ud-Daula, wazir of emperor Jehangir. She was born in 1593 and died in 1631, during the birth of her fourteenth child at Burhanpur. Her mortal remains were temporarily buried in the Zainabad garden. Six months later, her body was transferred to Agra to be finally enshrined in the crypt of the main tomb of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is the mausoleum of both Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan.
3. Mysore Palace
The Mysore Palace, Karnataka is popularly known as the the Maharajah’s Palace, situated at the city center at Mirza Road. Mysore Palace is one of the most fascinating monument of Mysore city. The other name of the Mysore Palace is Amba Vilas and is the largest palaces of India. Mysore’s Wodeyar Mahararajas resided in the Mysore Palace of Karnataka.
The Mysore Palace is a three storied edifice with a length of 245 feet and breadth of 156 feet. The Mysore Palace at Karnataka comprises of a sequence of arched square towers enclosed by domes. The original palace of Mysore was carved out of wood which was accidentally burnt in 1897. The 24th Wodeyar Raja rebuilt the Mysore Palace of Karnataka in 1912. The Mysore Palace followed the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture.
4. Victoria Memorial
Victoria Memorial, one of India’s most beautiful monuments, represent a unique combination of classical European architecture and Mughal motifs. The domed and white marble museum sprawls over 64 acres and is set in a landscaped garden at the southern side of the Kolkata’s maidan (ground) near Jawaharlal Nehru Road.
5. Charminar
The charminar Hyderabad’s best known landmark was built 1591 by Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah to appease the force of evil savaging his new city with epidemic and plague. Standing in the heart of the old walled city and surround by lively bazaars, the charminar (‘four tower’) is a 56m high triumphal arch. The arch is notable for its elegant balconies, stucco decorations and the small mosque, Hyderabad’s oldest, on the 2nd floor. An image of the grace every packet of charminar cigarettes, one of India’s most popular brand.
6. Sanchi Stupa
Sanchi is situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. It lies at a distance of approximately 52 km from the capital city of Bhopal and 10 km from Vidisha. The major attractions of Sanchi include a number of Buddhist stupas, monasteries, temples and pillars. All these structures date back to somewhere between 3rd century BC and 12th century AD. The Mauryan emperor Ashoka founded all the stupas at Sanchi in the honor of Lord Buddha. They have the distinction of being included by UNESCO in its list of World Heritage Sites.
7. Qutab Minar
Qutub-ud-din Aibak laid the foundation for Qutub Minar in 1199 AD and his successor and son-in-law Shamsu’d-Din- Iitutmish completed the structure by adding three more stories. Standing at 72.5 meters, it is the highest stone tower in India. Its base diameter is 14.3 meters and its top diameter is 2.7 meters. It has 379 steps leading to its top story. The lower three stories are made using red sand stone and the top two with marble and sand stone.
8. Cellular Jail
The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (Hindi: काला पानी क़ैद ख़ाना, literally ‘black water’, in the sense of deep sea and hence exile), was a colonial prison situated in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. The prison was used by the British especially to exile political prisoners to the remote archipelago. Many notable freedom fighters such as Batukeshwar Dutt and Veer Savarkar, among others, were imprisoned here during the struggle for India’s independence. Today, the complex serves as a national memorial monument.
9. Gateway
The majestic Gateway of India is a glorious historical memorial built during British rule. This magnificent monument has been built in Indo-Sarcenic style to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay. Gateway of India is one of the finest example of colonial architectural heritage in India. This grand structure stands at the Apollo Bunder, a popular meeting place in Mumbai. The gateway of India was designed by the British architect George Wittet and was opened for general public in the year 1924.
10. Vidhana Soudha
Vidhana Soudha counts amongst the most impressive as well as the most magnificent buildings in the Bangalore city of India. It is mainly famous for housing the Legislative Chambers of the state government. The three hundred rooms of Vidhan Soudha accommodate approximately twenty-two departments of the state government. The building rises to a height of almost 46 m, making it one of the most imposing structures in the city of Bangalore.
Built in the year 1956, Vidhana Soudha of Bangalore boasts of exquisite Dravidian architecture. It was built under the then chief minister of Karnataka, Mr. Kengal Hanumanthaiah, as a tribute to Indian temple architecture. The chief engineer of Vidhan Soudha, B.R. Manickam mainly made use of granite to get the edifice constructed. In the following lines, we have provided more information on the architecture of the Vidhan Soudha of Bangalore, India.
Top Ten Cities to live in INDIA
Bangalore: India has developed a lot over the years. However, development and urbanization also come with a cost, in the form of pollution, population, etc. There are just a few cities that make for a dream location and draw the crowds for reasons like job opportunities, better living standards, and good infrastructure. The Janaagraha Annual Survey of India's City Systems (ASICS) ranked Indian cities based on factors like mobility system, clean water, cleanliness, public amenities, pollution/greenery, crime and safety, bureaucracy. While, in terms of quality of city systems, cities were ranked on urban planning and design, urban capacities and resources, political representation, and citizen participation. Here are the 10 best Indian cities to live in, as listed by rediff.
Surat:
Surat takes the first place on the list and is ranked as India's best city to live in. It scored 1 on both - quality of life and quality of city systems. Known as the diamond capital of the world, Surat is a well-developed metropolis in Gujarat. It is one of the fastest growing cities of the world. It was also recently conferred with "Best Urban City of India" award. Surat gained prominence and recognition for being the '2nd Cleanest City in India' awarded by INTACH during 1995-1996, and was once again declared the '3rd Cleanest City' in India in 2011.
Pune:
Pune is the second best Indian city to live in. The city ranked 2nd in quality of life and sixth for quality of city systems. Pune is the ninth largest metropolis in India. These days, the city is known for its high educational facilities and relative prosperity. It is the cultural capital of Maharashtra and has also had manufacturing, glass, sugar, and forging industries since the 1950-60s. It has a growing industrial vicinity, with IT and automotive companies setting up factories. The cultural activities and job opportunities attract migrants and students from all over India and abroad.
Ahmedabad:
Ahmedabad ranks third on the list. While the score for quality of life is 3, the quality of city systems is 2. Ahmedabad is the fifth largest city and seventh largest metropolitan area in the country. The city established itself as the home of a developing textile industry, and earned the nickname ‘Manchester of the East’. The Times of India had also chosen Ahmedabad as the best city to live in India.
Mumbai:
Mumbai is the fourth best city in India to live in. It scores 4 each, on quality of life and quality of city systems. It is the most populous Indian city, and the fourth most populous city in the world. It is also known to be the wealthiest city in India, and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West or Central Asia. Business opportunities in Mumbai, as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living, attracts migrants from all over India and also makes the city a melting pot of many cultures.
Chennai:
Chennai takes the fifth place on the list. It scores 5 and 3 respectively for quality of life and quality of city systems. It is a chief commercial, cultural, economic and educational center in South India and is also known as the "Cultural Capital of South India". Chennai was also declared as the most livable city in India by the Institute of Competitiveness.
It is the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the country and its economy has a broad industrial base in the automobile, computer, technology, hardware manufacturing and healthcare sectors. The city is India's second largest exporter of information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) services as of 2012. It is also called "Detroit of India" as a major part of the country's automobile industry is based in and around the city. Further, Chennai has the 3rd largest Expatriate population in India after Mumbai and Delhi.
Kolkata:
Kolkata is the sixth best city to live in India. It scores 6 and 10 respectively on quality of life
and quality of city systems. It is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the country. Though Kolkata faces substantial urban pollution, traffic congestion, poverty, overpopulation, and other logistic and socioeconomic problems, it still fares well on the list.
Jaipur:
Jaipur ranks seventh on the list. It scores 7 and 8 respectively, on quality of life and quality of city systems. The Pink City is also known to be an extremely popular tourist destination. Jaipur district is a centre for both traditional and modern industries and is famous as a large exporter of gold, diamond and stone jewellery in Asia. In 2008, it was ranked 31 among the 50 Emerging Global Outsourcing cities.
Hyderabad:
Hyderabad is the eighth best Indian city to live in. It has a score of 8 on quality of life and 5 on quality of city systems. Hyderabad is also known to be a tourist destination. The formation of IT Special Economic Zone (SEZ) by the state agencies attracted global and Indian companies to set up operations in the city. The emergence of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries from the 1990s gave it the title of "India's pharmaceutical capital."
Bangalore:
Bangalore takes the ninth place on the list. The Silicon Valley of India scores 9 each on quality of life and quality of city systems. The city is well known as a hub for India's information technology sector. It is also among the top 10 preferred entrepreneurial locations in the world. With a GDP of $83 billion, Bangalore is listed 4th among the top 15 cities contributing to India's overall GDP.
New Delhi:
New Delhi round off the tenth place on the list. It scores 10 and 7 respectively on quality of life and quality of city systems. New Delhi is leading world’s top global cities with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and much more. Mercer named New Delhi as the most expensive city in India for expatriates in terms of cost of living.
Further, Kanpur was ranked the eleventh best Indian city to live in.
Top ten tourist places in INDIA
10 Top Tourist Attractions in India
Conform its size and population, India has an almost endless variety of cultures, landscapes, monuments and places to explore. From the ancient ruins, fascinating religious structures, exotic cities and diverse landscape there is an endless collection of tourist attractions in India that will never cease to awe and fascinate the visitor.
10Kerala backwaters
flickr/-RejiK
Virupaksha Temple
flickr/Marina & Enrique
Palolem
flickr/abmiller99
Kanha National Park
flickr/Vagabond on move...
Kanha National Park is among the most beautiful wildlife reserves in
Asia and one of best places to catch a glimpse of a tiger in India. The
lush sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha
provided inspiration to Rudyard Kipling for his famous novel “Jungle
Book” and make this one of the top attractions in India.
Harmandir Sahib
flickr/Gurumustuk Singh
Jaisalmer
flickr/Carlo_it
Ajanta Caves
The Ajanta Caves
are rock-cut cave monuments dating from the 2th century BC. The
magnificent Ajanta caves were abandoned around 650 AD and forgotten
until 1819, when a British hunting party stumbled upon them. Their
isolation contributed to the fine state of preservation in which some of
their paintings remain to this day. The well preserved murals depict
everything from battlefields to sailing ships, city streets and teeming
animal-filled forests to snow-capped mountains. The city of Aurangabad
is the gateway to the Ajanta Caves as well as the equally spectacular
Ellora Caves.
Varanasi
flickr/dirk huijssoon
Taj Mahal
flickr/ironmanixs
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