UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India

UNESCO had declared a list of World Heritage Sites that includes 922 sites of cultural and natural importance. Spread over 152 member countries of UNESCO, these 922 sites include 711 cultural sites, 183 natural sites and 28 sites of mixed importance. There are 28 sites in India that have been listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List, among which 23 sites are of historical importance while 5 sites are of natural importance.

Let us now take a detailed tour of all the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India

Agra Fort

Not very far from Taj Mahal, Agra Fort is one of the many marvels of Mughal architecture built during the 16th century. Totally made of red sandstone, Agra Fort is often referred to as the Red Fort of Agra. The Fort has a 2.5 km long wall that surrounds the city from which the Mughal emperors used to rule. Within the Agra Fort there are several palaces like the Khas Mahal and Jahangir Palace. Not only that, the fort also houses a couple of mosques and the audience hall famously known as Diwan-i-Khas.

Agra-Fort

Ajanta Caves

The caves at Ajanta have sculptures and paintings dedicated to Lord Buddha and his teachings. The natural colours used in those religious paintings are very rich in their texture and still appear almost as new with no signs of fading. The style of the paintings and sculpture reflect artistic expertise. The original Ajanta caves date back to 1st and 2nd century BC while the ones added by the Gupta rulers date back to 5th and 6th century AD.

Ajanta-Caves

Ellora Caves

This is a temple complex consisting of 34 monasteries and temples dedicated to various religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The Ellora Caves are rock monuments built in the wall of a high cliff and cover an area of almost 2 km. Built near Aurangabad, between the period of 600 AD to 1000 AD, Ellora caves reflect architectural brilliance along with religious tolerance.

Ellora-Caves-Aurangabad

Taj Mahal

Situated in Agra, Taj Mahal is an architectural wonder made totally of white marble by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz. Built between the period of 1631 and 1648, this mausoleum houses the tomb of Shah Jahan’s wife Mumtaz.

Taj-Mahal-Symbol-of-Love

Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram

These are a group of rock monuments and temples made by the kings of the Pallava dynasty during the 7th and 8th centuries. Built along the South Indian Coromandel coast, this group of monuments include rock temples depicting chariots and they are known as rathas. Along with that, there are mandapas and giant sculptures such as the temple of Rivage and Descent of the Ganges. Most of the temples here are dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Mamallapuram–Temples galore

Sun Temple, Konark

Depicting the chariot of sun god Surya, the Sun Temple at Konark from the 13th century is considered as one of the architectural masterpieces of Orissa. Situated along the shore of Bay of Bengal, this chariot representation of Surya consists of 24 wheels adorned with various forms of design and the chariot is shown to be pulled by 6 horses.

Sun-Temple-Konark

Churches and Convents of Goa

The churches and convents of Goa reflect the Portuguese style of architecture as Goa was the Portuguese capital of India. There are several famous churches in Goa that showcases the influence of Christianity on India through its Manueline, Baroque and Mannerist forms of art. Among all these churches and convents, the most renowned one is the Church of Bom Jesus and it houses the tomb of St. Francis Xavier.

Church-in-Goa

Fatehpur Sikri

Fatehpur Sikri was the capital of the Mughal Empire during the rule of Emperor Akbar. This city of victory was founded by Akbarduring the latter half of the 16th century. Housing several palaces like Jodha Bai Palace, audience halls like Diwan-i-Aam and Diwan-i-Khas and monuments like Buland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri showcases the Mughal form of architecture.

Fatehpur-sikri

Group of Monuments at Hampi

The monuments and temples at Hampi were built by the last Hindu rulers of Vijayanagar. The temples and palaces reflect Dravidian form of architecture and highly attracted travellers during the period of 14th and 16th century.

Hampi-Karnataka

Khajuraho Group of Monuments

Built by the rulers of the Chandella dynasty, Khajuraho group of temples and monuments are an architectural as well as sculptural masterpiece. The temples that remain have been divided into 3 groups and are dedicated to Hinduism and Jainism. The Temple of Kandariya had been adorned with numerous sculptures that reflect the rich artistic face of Indian art and sculpture.

Khajuraho-Temple

Elephanta Caves

Often referred to as the ‘City of Caves’, Elephanta Caves are rock sculptures and architectures dedicated to the cult of Shiva. Situated on an island near Bombay, these caves are famous for their high sculptural reliefs inside the monuments.

Elephanta-Caves

Great Living Chola Temples

These are a group of temples built by the South Indian rulers of the Chola dynasty during the 11th and 12th centuries. The most notable temples among this group include the Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikondacholisvaram and Thanjavur and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram. The architecture of these temples reflects the achievements of the Chola kings and that has been neatly portrayed through artistic brilliance in sculptures, bronze casting and paintings.

Brihadeeswarar-Temple

Group of Monuments at Pattadakal

The temple complex at Pattadakal in Karnataka was built by the Chalukya rulers during the 7th and 8th centuries. There are 9 Hindu temples and 1 Jain temple in this complex and their architectural style showcases a wonderful blend of North Indian and South Indian forms of architecture. The most notable temple among this group is the Temple of Virupaksha.

Pattadakal-Temples

Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi

Situated just 40 km away from Bhopal, Sanchi is one of the most ancient sites of religious importance for the Buddhists and consists of several Buddhist monasteries, sanctuaries, monolithic pillars and palaces from the 1st and 2nd centuries BC.

Sanchi-Stupa

Humayun’s Tomb

Built by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1570, Humayun’s Tomb is Indian subcontinent’s first garden-tomb.

Humayun-Tomb

Qutab Complex, Delhi

This complex of monuments in South Delhi was built in the 13th century. The most renowned monument is the Qutb Minar, the 72.5 m high red sandstone tower built by Qutb-uddin Aibak. The other notable monuments in this complex include the Ala-i-Darwaza and Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque. All these monuments portray Indo-Muslim form of architecture.

Qutab-complex

Mountain Railways of India

Mountain Railways of India include 3 hill passenger railway sites that are the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway and Kalka Shimla Railway.

Nilgiri-Toy-Train

Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya

This site is one of the four holy sites for the Buddhists as Lord Buddha attained his enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. This site contains several temples and monasteries dedicated to Lord Buddha and the first temple of the complex dates back to 3rd century BC.

Mahabodhi-Temple–Bodhgaya

Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka

Located in the foothills of the Vindhyan Mountains, there is a cluster of 5 natural rock shelters. These rock shelters date back to the Mesolithic period and features several rock paintings depicting the lifestyle of the people who used to live in these shelters.

Bhimbetka

Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park

This site in Gujarat consists of several unexcavated archaeological and historic heritage monuments from the pre-historic period and also a hill fortress, palaces, agricultural structures, religious buildings and residential buildings from the period of 8th to 14th centuries.

Champaner & Pavagadh, Gujarat

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai

This heritage site depicts the successful blending of traditional Indian architectural themes with Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. Featuring a stone dome, pointed arches and turrets, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus witnessed the fusion of Indian and British cultures as the British architects worked with the Indian craftsmen.

Chhatrapati-Shivaji-Terminus-Mumbai

Red Fort Complex

Built as the fort of the Mughal Empire’s capital city Shahjahanabad, Red Fort is an example of Mughal architecture which reached its peak during the rule of Shah Jahan. Although the palace fort’s planning is of Islamic prototype, the architecture of several buildings in the complex reflects a strong blend of Timurid, Hindu and Persian styles.

Red-Fort

Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

Jantar Mantar is an astronomical observatory that was built during the 18th century. Featuring about 20 fixed instruments, Jantar Mantar was built for the purpose of observing astronomical positions with the naked eye.

Jantar-Mantar

Kaziranga National Park

The Kaziranga National Park is home to the largest number of one-horned rhinoceros, in the whole world. Located in Assam, this national park provides a natural habitat to several animals such as panthers, elephants, bears, tigers and a large number of birds. This park is considered as one of the very few sites in India that have not been disturbed by human presence.

Kaziranga-National-Park

Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur

This national park once used to be the site of duck-hunting for the Maharajas. The Keoladeo National Park now acts as a wintering area for several exotic aquatic birds from various countries such as Siberia, Afghanistan, China and Turkmenistan. Among the 364 bird species that have been recorded in this park, the Siberian crane is the most notable bird to have visited this park during winters.

Keoladeo-national-park-Bharatpur

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary

Situated in the Himalayan foothills, the grasslands and tropical forests of Manas Wildlife Sanctuary serve as the home to several rare animal species such as the pygmy hog, Indian elephant, tigers and the Indian rhinoceros.

Manas-Wildlife-Sanctuary

Sundarbans National Park

Home to the endangered Royal Bengal Tigers, the Sundarbans National Park is shared by India and Bangladesh. Covering an area of almost 10000 km2 including land and water, Sundarbans is the world’s largest mangrove forest and lies in the Ganges delta. Other than the tigers, crocodiles, aquatic mammals, birds and several other animals are also found here.

Sunderbans

Nanda Devi/Valley of Flowers National Parks

Valley of Flowers National Park offer awesome picturesque view and meadows of alpine flowers besides acting as home to several rare wild animals such as snow leopard, blue sheep, brown bear and the Asiatic black bear. Situated in the West Himalayas, this national park serves as a zone of transition between the Great Himalayas and the Zanskar ranges.

Valley-of-flowers

India is truly remarkable and list of heritage sites will keep increasing over the period of time. Start your journey today to see all historical monuments in this lifetime.

Best places to take a boat trip in India

The oceans, numerous lakes and rivers offer plenty of opportunities to take a boat ride in India. Just watch life go by as you lazily float along or take a raft to enjoy wildlife spotting, snorkelling or even to discover submerged temples. Here are our top five interesting boat trips you can do in India.


1. Shikara on the ‘Dal’ Lake – The Bollywood endorsed ‘Dal’ Lake in Kashmir has been a legendary spot for travellers. The thin Shikaras (boats) traverse through the water carrying tourists, vegetables, supplies and locals. The whole life system on the lake is supported by these unassuming boats, whether it’s supporting full-fledged markets or serving as a school bus for children. The rides on shikaras are extremely fascinating and help understand the local life better.

Boat-Trips-in-Kashmir

2. From the Himalayan foothills, it’s down to the tropical weather of Kerala. Alleppey, also known as the ‘Venice of the East’ is by far one of the best destinations to experience the tranquil backwaters of Kerala. Well equipped houseboats add to the charm of getting to know the vast network of backwater in and around the town. Recently, the house boats had come under the scanner for lack of a proper system to dispose waste from the boats. Now there are mandatory treatment methods without which these boats do not get permissions. Watch the local life pass on the banks of the waters, while you glide past in luxury. Off season rates for fully furnished house boats are quite affordable. Between October and March, it can cost anywhere between Rs 7500 to Rs 20,000/- depending on the number of hours on the boat.

Boat-Trips-in-Alleppey-Kerala

3. There are some very unique experiences with respect to boats in India. The famous rock temples of Mahabalipuram near Chennai have always garnered the interest of travellers. Two of the seven temples are said to be submerged in the sea. Few know that some fishermen take eager visitors out to sea, where one you have a look at the submerged temples. An experience which comes with serious caution, as there are no life jackets on these boats, it’s not for the faint hearted. A mere Rs. 100-200 for an adventure of a life time – try it!

Boat-trips-in-Mahabalipuram-Chennai

4. The Periyar Wildlife sanctuary in the Idduki District of Kerala is one of the most unassuming wildlife destinations of India. Without fanfare but with plenty of exciting experiences in store, there are a number of ways to see the jungle. One unique way, is wildlife watching on a huge bamboo raft, with a forest guide and copious amount of sunscreen. The Periyar Lake is flanked by thick forests and animals often come for a drink of water. The raft ride starts early in the morning and goes on till about 4.00 p.m with breakfast and lunch by the edge of the jungle. This trip needs to be booked in advance. You can also take a more conventional wildlife spotting boat trip here

Boat-Trips-in-Periyar-Lake

5. While Goa has always been on top of the list for many, its Southern neighbour Karwar in Karnataka is fairly unknown. Serene and relatively untouched by tourism, Karwar has several water based activities. One of them includes snorkelling off the quiet coastline. Trips go out on speed boats with trained instructors to help novices.

Boat-Trips-in-Karwar-Karnataka

Vastu Shastra - ancient and medieval canons on city planning and architecture

Adherence to Vastu Shastra, the ancient and medieval canons on city planning and architecture, has suddenly assumed tremendous significance, particularly among the well-educated and affluent in urban India. It may be difficult to predict if this is just a fad or if it will be a way of building dwellings, offices, and factories etc. for many years to come.

Palace in Rajasthan

Interestingly, practically none of the practitioners of Vastu Shastra has an academic background. So there is a lot of genuine practice as well as hearsay going around. In this brief introduction, the intention is to give a broad overall picture of the Vastu Shastra with some examples.

Vastu Shastras are canons dealing with the subject of vastu which means the environment. Put differently, one may regard them as codification of good practices of design of buildings and cities, which will provide settings for the conduct of human life in harmony with physical as well as metaphysical forces. These Vastu Shastra canons provide guidelines for design of buildings and planning of cities such that they will bring health, wealth and peace to the inhabitants.

Mythological beliefs are certainty at the root of the origins of these canonical texts and their discourse. The first of these relates to Vastupurusha, which appears to be the first step in ordering a part of the vast cosmic space, the brahmanda, for human habitation. According to myth, long ago there existed an unnamed, unknown and formless being which blocked the sky and the earth. The Gods forced it down on earth and pressed it face down. To ensure that it did not escape again, Lord Brahma, the supreme creator, along with other gods weighted it down and called it vastupurusha.

Lord Brahma, of course, occupied the central portion and in a hierarchic distribution along concentric rings assigned different quarters to different major and minor gods. Thus emerged a geometric configuration, which is called mandala. From one basic square, the canons have listed up to 1024 divisions of a square and given each one a name. The most popular among those have 64 and 81 divisions known as Manduka Mandala and Param Sayika Mandala, respectively, which are widely used for temple and dwelling plans.

Vashtupurushamandala

The mandala is also given an orientation with Surya, the sun-god, occupying the central point of periphery to east; Varuna, the Lord of winds, to the west; Kubera, the Lord of Wealth, to the north; and Yama, the Lord of Death, to the south. The rest of the squares are occupied by the other minor gods. With the positions thus assigned and the beneficial or otherwise attributes of gods established through other myths, it is possible to assign the activities of living, working and support facilities over the mandala and therefore the layout of a city or a building.

The mandala is, of course, the most popular aspect of the vastushastras as it is constantly referred to for the location of the various activities in a building. The proper texts themselves, however, deal with a wide range of topics relating to built-environment. These include site selection, soil testing, building materials and techniques, design of temples separately by number of floors, palaces, dwellings, gates, image of the deity, their vehicles and seats even including the making of image of a linga for Shiva temples. All these are treated in different chapters of the canonical texts.

As an example, one may mention the matter of site selection, which is dealt with in both scientific and religious terms. The method of digging a pit and refilling it with excavated earth is given scientific treatment. If a lot of earth is left out, then the soil is compact with good load-bearing capacity.

A similar test checks the seepage of water in the soil. It if is quick, the soil is obviously not good. The religious prescription suggest that if the soil is white with ghee-like smell, it is good for Brahmins, if red with blood-like smell it is good for Kashtriyas, yellow with smell like sesamum oil, it is good for Vaishyas and black with the smell of rotten fish, it is good for Shudras. While the first two suggestions would still find the approval of a modern engineer, the third more likely betrays the caste-ridden nature of some of the Shastra's recommendations.

The Shastras also deal at length with town planning and form of towns suitable for different purposes such as administrative towns, hill towns, coastal towns or religious towns built at a sacred place. Among the most famous examples of a town planned according to these standards is the example of Old Jaipur which is based on a Prastar type town described in several texts. Built in 1727 AD, the final form and structure of the town shows a skillful manipulation, according to the Shastra's prescriptions, of the square mandala right from the whole to the smallest of the plots, the location of activities, and distribution of the caste groups.

City Palace Jaipur- Rajasthan

Based on the studies carried out by scholars it is suggested that these texts were written down largely between the 7th century AD to 13th century AD following the Gupta period. They are found in all the major languages of medieval India. Of course, the earliest references are also found in the Vedas, which deal with carpentry among other subjects.

Vastusastras can be said to be companion texts to Shilpasastras and Chitrasastras dealing with sculpture, icons and painting respectively. Strangely, among all these texts, those devoted exclusively to one of the areas. i.e. vastu, chitra or shilpa are rare. This is because in the Indian artistic traditions, each was an important and integral part of the creative endeavor largely because all of these, including performing arts such as the dance and music, were based at the temple.

Among the vasthusastra texts are Mansar, Maymata, Vishwakarma and Samrangana Sutradhara which is credited to Raja Bhoja. The others are believed to have been authored by ancient saints and sages. These include Lord Vishwakarma who is architect to the gods in the Nagara or northern traditions, and Maya who is architect to the gods in the Dravida or Southern tradition. In the northern tradition Maya is regarded as architect to the danavas or demons. To give some idea about the size of the text, Masar comprises 5400 verses organized in a total of 70 chapters.

Bhrigu Rishi

However, the nature, content and format of the texts as discussed above is in total contrast to the books that have recently been published and gone through, in some cases, half a dozen reprints in a span of one year. They share very little in common. As to what are the origins of the practitioners' texts recently published, I can only suggest that these would he more ritualistic practices broadly interpreted by the various puranic texts such as Agni Purana, Matsya Purana and their Agmic versions in the Dravidian traditions. The parallel I can draw upon is of Brigusamhita used by the palmists, which by itself has no serious pretensions to astronomy. The practitioners themselves are silent and unresponsive when questioned about these aspects.

One of the more recent texts goes so far as to suggest the location of two weighing scales in different parts of the plot in a factory. One was for weighing raw materials which would in that location weigh less than actual, and the other one of weighing finished goods which would register more weight than actual. Very neat, one may say, and very tempting for the factory owner.

As to the beneficial aspects of following these suggestions, the available experience is equally divided. There seems to be an equal number of success stories as well as failures. Here, I believe, the analogy of the typical palmist is best. Perhaps there are genuine jyotish shastris as well as frauds. Is it that human beings want to be able to put blame on some unknown forces for failures? Or that they would want to appease the unknown to ensure a success? These are more a matter of faith rather than belief.

Fortunately, Indians are not alone in this in recent times. Across Asia there is a resurgence of these beliefs and practices. Feng-shui, the Chinese version of Vastusastras, is practiced all over the Far East and South-east Asia. There, too, the situation is one of either you believe and practice or you don't believe and don't practice. Does this mean that one cannot explain this on a rational basis?

These texts (i.e. the genuine ancient and medieval canons) dealt with the classical manner of arts and architecture. This meant that irrespective of who was doing what and where, a certain quality, content and perfection would always be achieved just by following the texts. To paraphrase Einstein's observation for a similar work, "it makes good easy and bad difficult". This means that a temple made on the banks of Ganga would be as perfect as one made on shipra though patronised and designed by different persons.

Even those uninitiated can learn and practice the entire range of connected activities right from the selection of a site to the execution of all the elemental details. Then there is some reason to believe that some of the suggestions may indeed reflect more real concerns such as climatic suitability of locating the human activities in a building. An entrance front north ensures that it will always be in cool shade in India, besides allowing the wealth to flow in as it is the direction of Lord Kubera. The next alternative of entrance from east certainly brightens up the morning environment with the first rays of sun to start a great new day on a cheerful note.

Tirumala

Then there is a metaphysical aspect to it all. This one concerns the fears of the unknown on one hand, and attempts to intellectually grasp the nature of the world on the other hand. And between these two is the human desire to do things right, in conformity and in harmony with the unknown world and its forces. This is where particularly the mandala diagrams become very useful. These, in abstract terms, manifest or represent the cosmological conception of the world, albeit the world as conceived or interpreted by the ancient and the medieval scholars.

It is therefore natural that buildings and cities which represent a significant alteration of the terrestrial world be based on the mandala to make them harmonize with the unknown world. In other words, it, is undertaking a human act in tune with the nature as well as the unknown in the belief that these will not clash but work harmoniously to bring peace and prosperity to the builder and the inhabitants.

Architecture is a human act. It requires carving out a segment of that omnipotent, universal space of the brahmanda, the cosmic space, for the use of the human beings. It is not often that architecture truly rises to the challenges of capturing the divine character of the brahmanda in its folds. When it does happen the architectural experience exalts generations of people to come. Is this not true of Mahabalipuram, Khajuraho, Kailashnath? Or the city of Jaipur, its havelis as well those of Samod and Shekhavati region? Let us remember that these are all based on the Vasthusastras.