Charminar, India

Charminar

• Destination: Hyderabad

Charminar is a famous landmark in Hyderabad. This monument has Historical and Social significance and is a beautiful and impressive square monument. The style of the Charminar is in Islamic architecture. Charminar is signature of Hyderabad as the china wall for china or the Eiffel Tower for Paris
Charminar means four (Persian/Hindi char = four) minarets (Minar (Arabic manara) = spire/tower) combinedly called as “Four Towers”. The Charminar lies on the east bank of Musi River, Laad Bazaar on its northeast and in the west end lays the granite-made richly ornamented Makkah Masjid.

History of Charminar

Charminar was built by Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty in 1591 AD, when he had shifted his capital from Golkonda to what is now known as Hyderabad. There are varying talks for constructing this monument; one reason says that sultan built it in honour of his wife, Bhagyamathi (or Baghmati). Another and most popular reason is that there was promise to Allah made by sultan for praying to end of a plague that ravaged the new city.

Structure of Charminar

Charminar is having a square structure with four towers at each corner with each side measuring 20 meters in length. Each corner of the square has a towering domed minaret. The minarets are 48.7 meters in height. Each of the four minarets is four stored. There is also a well-known mosque near Charminar known as Makkah Masjid. Charminar has139 winding steps lead to the top-most floor of the Charminar. The monument offers extraordinary view of the city. It is made of granite, limestone, mortar and pulverised marble.

Surroundings of Charminar

Thousands of families leads life based on the surroundigs of Charminar, there are about 15000 shops here. Famous markets like Laad Baazar and Pather Gatti are there near the Charminar, many tourists and local people come here for jewellery, exquisite bangles and pearls, etc. which are very cheap in Hyderabad. When Sankranthi (Hindu’s festival) comes, the area will be completely crowded with people who sell and purchase the kites.
Hyderabadi Muslims leading life in Pakistan constructed a small-scaled quasi replica of the Charminar at the main crossing of the Bahadurabad neighbourhood in Karachi, in the year 2007.

Timings of Charminar

Timings: Timings: 9.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m.

Salarjung Museum

• Destination: Hyderabad

About Salarjung Museum

Salarjung Museum is situated on the southern bank of the Musi River. It is the biggest one-man collections of antiques in the world and ranking as the third largest museum in India. It has the collection of different civilizations starting from the first century and is well known throughout India. The seventh Prime Minister of the Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Salar Jung III (1889-1949) has spent thirty five years of his income on collections which made a priceless collection, of his life’s passion. At first, the collection was placed in the ‘Diwan Deodi’ the ancestral palace, and was open as a private museum which was inaugurated by the first prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru in the year 1951. The museum then was shifted to Afzalgunj in the year 1968 and then governed by Governor of Andhra Pradesh as ex-officio chairperson and Board of Trustees under the act of Salar Jung Museum Act of 1961.
The Salarjung Museum is a divine of knowledge with a collection of manuscripts, 43000 art objects and 50000 books. The collections include Indian Art, Middle Eastern Art, Far Eastern Art, European Art, Children Art along with a Founders gallery and a rare manuscript section. Indian Art includes stone sculptures, bronze images, jade carvings, painted textiles, wood carvings, miniature paintings, modern art, ivory carvings, textiles, metal-ware, manuscript, arms & armour etc. Middle Eastern Art contains the collection of carpets, paper (manuscripts), glass, metal-ware, furniture, lacquer etc. from Persia, Arabia, Syria, and Egypt. Collection of Far Eastern Art exhibit porcelain, bronze, enamel, lacquer ware, embroidery, painting, wood & inlay work from China, Japan, Tibet, Nepal and Thailand etc. Oil and watercolour paintings form an important part of the European Collection.
Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, Salar Jung III has made this museum as one of the biggest one-man collections of antiques of the world. The objects include Persian carpets, Moghal miniatures, Chinese porcelain, Japanese lacquer ware, famous statues including the Veiled Rebecca and Marguerite and Mephistopheles, a superb collection of jade, daggers belonging to Queen Noor Jahan and the Emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb’s sword and many other fabulous items.
Coming to the discussion of the museum building, it has a semi-circular shape with 38 galleries spread on two floors displays only a part of the original collections. The ground floor includes 20 galleries and the first floor includes 18 galleries. Different subjects are shown in different galleries.

Timings of Salarjung Museum

Entry Fee: 10/- for Indians
150/- for Foreigners
Timing: 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

Largest Masjid-Mecca masjid in world is in India

Mecca Masjid

• Destination: Hyderabad

Mecca Masjid is located in Hyderabad and is known to be one of the largest mosques in the world, bearing about 10000 people inside the mosque. In 1614 the construction of the mosque was started by Quli Qutab Shah and later on Aurangzeb has conquered the Golconda kingdom and finished the construction of the mosque in the year 1687 which has become the most popular and beautiful mosque in the world. It is listed as the heritage building in Hyderabad.

About Mecca Masjid

The Mecca Masjid is known to be an architectural marvel, a majestic and imposing structure in Hyderabad. The hall is measured about 67 meters of length and 54 meters of width with a height of about 23 meters, with a single piece of granite the octagonal columns on either side are built and there is also an arched library lies above it. 15 beautiful arches support the roof of masjid. It has Mughal look with its grand structure, granite finishing and huge courtyard. There is also a qibla wall in mecca masjid. It has a large pond in the courtyard with slab seats on both sides and there was a hearing that a person who sits on these seats will return back to the masjid again in his life time.
Mecca masjid is one of the places that get connected to the god for Muslim’s. It is only 100 yards away and lies in southwest direction of the famous monument Charminar.

Timings of mecca masjid

Golkunda Fort,India

• 

Golconda Fort

• Destination: Hyderabad

Golconda Fort is also called as Golla Konda . It is one of the magnificent fortress complexes in India and built on a granite hill that is 400 feet high with some walls of 60 feet height and normally other walls ranging from 17 to 34 feet height. The region is universally famous for the most coveted gems like Koh-i-noor, Hope Diamond, Idols Eye and Darya-i-noor which were produced in Golconda mines.
History
Golconda fort was constructed by the Kakatiya kings in the year 1143 based on an interesting story behind it. There was a day in the history that a shepherd boy came across an idol on the rocky hill, which was called Mangalavaram and the news about the boy has come to known to the Kakatiya king by his informers. Then the king ordered to construct a mud fort around the holy spot and latterly the people started calling the hill as “Shepherd’s Hill” or “Golla Konda”, which was popularly known in Telugu.
As the decades are passing away In AD1363 it was ceded to the Baihmanis. After their downfall in the Qutb Shahi kings (AD 1518-1687) started ruling Telangana region made Golconda as its seat of power and extended the mud fort into a massive and expansive fort of granite with the area extended to 5 kilometres .later on Hyderabad was made as capital in 1590 and the fort outer wall was extended to10 kilometres.
Prestige of the Fort Today
The age of the fort until today is almost 800 years but still stands as a Hyderabad’s greatest architectural wonders. This fort is having greatest engineering marvel with fantastic acoustic effects, when we clap at the entrance dome at a certain point we can hear sound at the highest point of the fort which is almost 1 kilometre away. This acts like a warning call for the royals if there is any attack.
Timings and entry fee structure

• Timings: 09.00 am – 5.00 pm (Closed on Monday)
• Entry Fee: Rs. 10 for Indian Nationals, Rs. 100 for Foreign Nationals
• Video: Rs. 25
• Contact: +91 40 23512401
• Sound & Light Show (Organised by APTDC):
• Timings: All days 1st Show 7.00 pm to 8.00 pm (Nov to Feb); All days 2nd Show 8:15pm to 9:15 pm (Mon, Wed, Fri – Telugu Show; Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun – Hindi Show)
• All days 1st Show 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm (March to October)
• Entry Fee: VIP Class Rs. 100 (Adult) Rs.75 (Child) Non Executive: Rs.50 (Adult) Rs.30 (Child

BIRLA TEMPLE Hyderabad,India

• 

Birla Mandir

• Destination: Hyderabad

Birla Mandir is a temple of Lord Venkateswara, known as Balaji. It is one of the famous tourist attractions in Hyderabad. The temple is open for every religious people. There is a brass memorial welcoming for everyone at the very entrance of the temple.

History of Birla Mandir

Raja Baldev Birla had built the Birla Mandir in the year 1938; the temple was inaugurated by father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. There is a very interesting story based on inauguration of temple, at that point of time, there was a social evil of Untouchability in the society and was in a peak level, so there is a need of eliminating it. Permissions are not given to anybody for entering into the premises of the temples. Gandhiji had passed a condition that if everyone in the society is allowed into the temple and offer their prayers then he would inaugurate the temple. Then onward everyone in the society was allowed into the temple.

About Birla Mandir

Birla Mandir is located on top of the “kala pahad”, which is one of the Naubat Pahad twins and the integration Oriya and South Indian style makes it unique from other temples in India. Speaking about the South Indian style, there is a Rajagopuram at the entrance to greet you as soon as you enter the temple. Lord Venkateshwara is main God in the temple; the tower over this main God reaches a height of 165 feet whereas the towers over the Venkateshwara’s consorts, Padmavati and Andal reach a height of 116 feet. The sculptures resembling scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata are awesome.
Lord Shiva and Durga, Lord Buddha are also placed in this temple. Beautiful Fresco paintings on the walls of this temple make temple more attractive. An artificial landscape with mountains and waterfalls has been the memorisable beauty spot which is at the end of the temple.
Being located near assembly, the temple offers an additional attraction as it shows great views of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. When temple is lighted in the night, that particular scene will never ever be forgetted in your life.

Timings of Birla Mandir

Timings: Timings: 7.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon (Morning) /
3.00 p.m. – 9.00 p.m. (Evening)
Open on all days

A temple in India-Yaganti -where Altar of Nandi grows slowly in Andhra Pradesh,India

Yaganti Uma Maheswara Temple

Yaganti is famous for the Sri Yaganti Uma Maheswara Swamy Temple. It was constructed by the first Vijayanagara Sangama King Harihara Bukka Rayalu in the 15th century.

The temple is in Kurnool District in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The devotees here believe that the Nandi idol in front of the temple is continuously increasing its size.

 

• Destination: Kurnool

Location
Yaganti Temple, popularly known as Sri Yaganti Uma MaheshwaraTemple, is located in the Banaganapalle mandal of Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. It is situated 77 km away from its district headquarters. It is one of the ancient temples and people from all over the country come to this place to feel the scenic and divine beauty of the temple. Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati and sacred bull, Nandi, are the presiding deities of this temple.

About the Temple
According to a legend, Sage Agastya found this beautiful place called Yaganti during his Dakshin Desha Yatra. He wanted to build a temple for Lord Venkateswara on this holy site. He roamed around the caves and found a very old idol of Lord Vishnu. He performed Yagna and pooja before installing the idol. But during this process, he found out that the toe nail on the foot thumb finger of the idol is broken. On seeing this, the sage got upset and did a penance for Lord Shiva. Due to his pure devotion, Lord Shiva appeared and told him that this place contains natural springs, which resemble Kailash, so here only I can be worshipped. The sage then requested Lord Shiva to reside in this holy abode with his consort Goddess Parvati and, therefore, Lord obliged to his request. The main shrine contains Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati engraved on a single stone. Hence, this temple came to be known as Uma Maheshwara Temple.
This temple is believed to be constructed during 15th century under the reign of King Harihara Bukka Rayalu of Sangama Dynasty of Vijayanagara Empire.
The most amazing feature of this temple is its Pushkarini. It is a small pond inside the temple premises. The water comes from the nearby hills and reaches the pond all year around. It is considered highly sacred to take a dip in this holy pond before paying tribute to Lord Shiva.

Yaganti Caves
Yaganti Caves are situated in very close vicinity to the temple and are three in number. The first one is the Agastya Cave, where Sage Agastya did penance to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva. You have to climb 120 steep steps to enter the cave. There is also an idol of Goddess here which is also equally worshipped. The next one is the Venkateswara Cave, where you can still have a glimpse of damaged idol of Lord Venkateswara. The idol is not worshipped because of that damaged portion. This idol is said to be existed even before the Tirupati Temple came into existence. Though the steps are very sharp, it is easier to reach here in comparison to the Agastya Cave. And the third one is the VeeraBrahmam Cave. It is at this place where Sri Potuluri Veera Brahmendra Swamy wrote Kala Gnaanam, his prophecy. While entering, one needs to bend very short as the height of this cave is very short.

Other Interesting Facts
Devotees and the locals believe that the Stone idol of Nandi is continuously increasing in size. According to Archaeological Survey of India, the idol is growing at a rate of 1 inch per 20 years. It is also believed that this stone Nandi will come alive and shout when Kali Yuga ends.

One interesting thing you will notice here is the absence of crows. It is said that when Sage Agastya was doing intense meditation, crows disturbed him. Therefore, he cursed the crows and banished them from coming anywhere near Yaganti.

Address
Sri Uma Maheshwara Temple/Yaganti Temple
Yaganti, Dist. Kurnool
Andhra Pradesh

Details
Taluka: Banganapalle Area: Kurnool
Timings: 7 AM- 11 AM and 5 PM- 8 PM (On All Days)

Fast Facts
State: Andhra Pradesh District: Kurnool Languages: Telugu, English
Best Time to Visit: October-March Weather: 22 C-45 C
STD Code: 08515 Pin Code: 518124

How to Reach
By Air
Hyderabad airport is the nearest one, 290 km away from the temple and is well connected to the major cities of India and abroad.
By Rail
The nearest railway station is at Nandyal, 48 km away and is well linked with major cities of India. It lies on Vijayawada-Guntakal rail route.
By Road
APSRTC operates regular bus services that ply to Yaganti from Kurnool, Banaganapalle and other major towns nearby. The best way to reach here is by your own means of transport like car or a private taxi.

Distance from Nearby Cities
Tirupati – 282 km
Hyderabad – 300 km
Bangalore – 335 km
Chennai – 415 km
 journey planner

indiatvnews 

Jagannath Temple

Puri is one of the four holy dhamas of India (The others are Dvaraka, Badarinath and Rameshvaram). It is located 60km from Bhubaneshwar, on the coast of the Bay Of Bengal.

Puri is called Sri Purushottama Dhama, the abode of the Lord Vishnu on earth. Other names are Sri Kshetra, Nilachala-dhama, Jagannatha-dhama, Yamanika-tirtha, Martya Vaikuntha, Nilagiri, Shankha-kshetra, Dasha-avatara-kshetra and Narasimha-kshetra. Puri is about 2 km wide and 4 km long.

 The name Jagannath literally means the Lord of the Universe. King Indradyumna first established the temple of Lord Jagannath here on the Nilachala hill with the Deity being installed by Lord Brahma himself.

The present temple was begun by King Chora Ganga deva and finised by his descendant Ananga Bhima Deva during 12th century. The temple complex comprises an area of 10.7 acres and is enclosed by 2 rectangular walls. The outer enclosure is called Meghanada Prachira. The walls are 20ft high. The inner wall is called Kurma bheda. The walls were built during 15th or 16th century.

This temple has the largest kitchen in the world, and feeds thousands of devotees daily. The kitchen can prepare food for 1,00,000 people on a festival day and 25,000 is not unusual on a normal day.

There are 36 traditional communities who render a specific hereditary service to the Deities. The temple has as many as 6000 priests. There is a wheel on the top of the Jagannath temple made of an alloy of 8 metals. It is called Nila-Chakra (blue wheel). Everyday a different flag is tied to a mast attached to the Nila-Chakra. Every Ekadashi a lamp is lit on the top of the temple near the wheel.

Thirty different smaller temples surround the main temple. The Lord Narasimha temple adjacent to western side of the Mukti-Mandapa, was constructed before the present temple. In front of the main gate is an 11 m pillar known as Aruna Sthambha. This pillar was once in front of the Sun Temple in Konark. It was bought to puri during 18th Century. The figure on the pillar is Aruna, the Sun god's charioteer. 

In the passage room of this gate is a Deity of Lord Jagannath known as Patita Pavana (Savior of the Fallen). This deity is visible from the road, so non-Hindus may take His Darshan.

There are 4 gates:

• The Eastern Simhadwara (Lion Gate).
• The Southern Ashwadwara (House Gate).
• The Western Vyaghradwara (The Tiger Gate).
• The Northern Hastidwara (Elephant Gate).

There is a carving of each form by the entrance of each gate. The Lion gate, which is the main gate, is located on the Grand side of the road.

The main Deities in the temple are Lord Jagannath, His brother Lord Baladeva, and his sister Subhadra. Some of the other temples within the walls of the temple house Deities of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Rama Chandra, Sakshi Gopal, Hanuman, Lord Narasimha, Lord Varaha and others.

Jagannath