Badami, Aihole, and Pattadkal
Almost 1,500 hundred years ago the Chalukyas of Badami, a dynasty ruling over modern Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, launched an experiment in architecture. Selected artisans combined elements of the northern Indo - Aryan and southern Dravidian styles to develop an unique style of their own. Hundreds of specimens of Chalukyan architecture have survived, scattered along the Malaprabha river in Bagalkot district of Karnataka. The most remarkable monuments can be seen in three towns - Aihole which served as a laboratory for the artisan's workshops, Badami where the artisan's executed the techniques they developed at Aihole, and Pattadkal where this building activity culminated.
Coconut
Acclaimed as Kalpavriksha , the all giving tree, along the coastal areas of India, the coconut palm is a versatile tree crop. Its usefulness is many-fold and all parts of the palm are used in some way or another in the daily life of the people in the traditional coconut growing areas. Coconut water is drunk out of the unripe coconut as a refreshing and nutritious drink, the grated white kernel is used in many different ways in Indian a well as several other cuisines, and the oil pressed from it has manyfold uses. The sweet juice obtained by cutting young stems is used to make palm sugar and also when fermented it makes toddy, the alcoholic drink. Besides the nuts, the timber, leaves, coconut shells, and the fiber covering the nut are all used in myriad ways.
Sidi Sayyed mosque
The Sidi Sayyed mosque in Ahamedabad is considered as a milestone in the Gujarati Style. It was built in the 16th century CE. The prayer hall was entirely built with sandstone and the structure is decorated with intricate carvings. Read more about this architectural wonder in the next issue.
Zardozi embroidery in Uluberia
On the banks of the famous River Hooghly stands the small town of Uluberia. This place nurtures the tradition of Zardozi and Arri - the beautiful gold and silver metal embroidery, which once used to be the pride of the royals - descended from the Mughal era. This art in its traditional form still sees the light of the day, thanks to the artisan's who have acquired the proficiency from their forefathers.
Essence of India
The longest night seems to be passing away, the sorest trouble seems to be coming to an end at last, the seeming corpse appears to be awaking and a voice is coming to us - away back where history and even tradition fails to peep into the gloom of the past, coming down from there, reflected as, it were from peak to peak of the infinite Himalaya of knowledge, and of love and of work, India, this motherland of ours - a voice is coming unto us, gentle, firm, and yet unmistakable in its utterances, and is gaining volume as days pass by, and behold, the sleeper is awakening! Like a breeze from Himalayas, it is bringing life into the almost dead bones and muscles, the lethargy is passing away, and only the blind cannot see, or the perverted will not see, that she is awakening, this motherland of ours, from her deep long sleep. None can resist her any more; never is she going to sleep any more; no outward powers can hold her back any more.
India that is to be, the future India, must be much greater than ancient India.
- Swami Vivekananda
Heritage India at KALA GHODA FESTIVAL
Heritage India magazine will participate in the Festival of India held by the Kala Ghoda Association in October. The three day event attracts people from all walks of life and also foreign tourists. The backdrop of the Jahangir Art Gallery and the Asiatic Library serve as a perfect venue for this festival that showcases the art and craft of India. Stalls of handcrafted goods and food items along with live dance and music shows are the unique feature of this festival. We invite you to come and take a look at some of our exciting publications and offers!
TEACHERS WORKSHOP - 26 NOVEMBER 2010
Heritage India Magazine has been involved in making our children, who are the guardians of the rich legacy of India, aware of our culture and heritage. Keeping this in mind, we organized the HERITAGE INDIA Quiz 2010.The response boosted our morale and we have decided to conduct a workshop for teachers to orient them to understand Indian History. Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth will assist us in this venture.
Aimed at school teachers, the workshop will explain history right from Stone age man to the British in India. The objective of the workshop being to help teachers make History easy and fun to learn for the children. The sessions will be conducted by academicians well versed in the field of Archaeology and History.
Heritage News
Buddhist Rock - cut Caves found near Shirapur, Dist. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra
Two Buddhist rock - cut caves have been discovered in the hills of Garbhagiri situated 6 kms from the village Shirapur, Dist. Ahmednagar, by Dr. Shreekant Jadhav, Deccan College, Pune. They consist of an unfinished chaityagriha (prayer hall containing a stupa) and an unfinished vihara (residential quarter). The chaityagriha is apsidal on plan, measuring 36ft. x16 ft. and 21 ft. high. The stupa measuring 8ft. stands in the apse, with a round hole at the top for the wooden shaft of the umbrella (which is missing today). The important feature of this particular cave is that there are two octagonal hanging pillars on the left; the third pillar was in the process i.e. just trimmed in a square vertical block. There are few stone beams on the ceiling above the stupa as well as on the outer face of the chaitya arch. All these features suggest an early date i.e. circa 1st - 2nd. Century C.E. About 100 meters to the west of the chaityagriha is an unfinished vihara measuring 40ft.x 35 ft. The ceiling of this vihara is almost finished, and all the three walls show remains of cells.
Dr. Shreekant Jadhav studied the caves in detail. He is of the opinion that though the parent rock is basalt, it is of a poor quality. It comprises of close jointing, chlorophaeite enriched zones and phalgonites in both the chaityagriha and vihara respectively. A huge band of the red bole traverses horizontally in the vihara, at the rear end where the excavation had stopped.
Even though the caves remained unfinished due to the bad quality of the rock, they are immensely important. The beginning of the excavation of these caves points to the existence of the Buddhist samgha in this region, which was almost unknown till date. Other than these remains, scholars have hardly found any Buddhist rock - cut activity in this part of the state. Most of the rock - cut caves are located in the Sahyadri mountain ranges. Hence this finding is of special importance.
Cannonballs unearthed on a large number in Pune
On Thursday, 24th December 2009, some workers were digging a trench to lay a water pipeline in the Khadakmal Aali area near Swargate in Pune, Maharashtra. Soon they started getting the cannonballs. At the end of the day more than eight hundred cannonballs were recovered, each weighing about 700-800 gm. Many more were also found on the following days and finally the number went to nearly two thousand nine hundred and seventy seven.
It is understood that Nanasaheb Peshwa had established an artillery workshop in Khadakmal area of the city under the supervision of Sardar Bheevrao Panse, who was heading the Peshwa's artillery. Available references show that a British officer, Captain Gordon had visited the workshop in June 1739. He later wrote to his seniors about the Marathas having acquired the technique of making and using cannons and cannon balls. Later on, the British closed down the workshop in around 1824 and the place was converted into a prison. A few cannonballs had been recovered from this area about 15 years ago. But is difficult to tell who had collected so many cannonballs at this place.
Bamiyan like sculptures of the Buddha found in Ladakh
Officials of the archives, archaeology and museums department of Jammu and Kashmir have discovered ancient rock - cut sculptures of the Buddha in the Zanskar area in Ladakh region. These sculptures resemble the huge sculptures at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. These sculptures were probably made in c. 5th - 6th century C.E. These findings are being studied by the scholars in the field.
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