Category Archives: Travel

Prez lays foundation of world’s tallest Krishna temple

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Agra:

The holy town of Vrindavan should strive to become the world centre for spiritual enlightenment, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday after performing the “ananta shesha sthapana” puja for the construction of the world’s tallest Shri Krishna temple here.

The “Chandrodaya Mandir”, an architectural marvel seeking to restore the glory and the times of Lord Shri Krishna, is planned to be three-times the height of the 72.5m Qutub Minar in Delhi.

Mukherjee praised the temple architect and congratulated the authorities of ISKCON who are building the shrine. UP governor Ram Naik and BJP MP from Mathura and yesteryear actor Hema Malini were also present.

“I am glad to know that Government of India and the Government of Uttar Pradesh have taken various initiatives towards making Vrindavan a hub of religious tourism. The present project adds a new dimension to these initiatives and shall hopefully generate positive spin-offs both for local society and the economy,” Mukherjee said.

He hoped that ‘Vrindavan’ strives to become a world renowned centre for spiritual enlightenment, from where the message of divinity and peace resonates across all humanity.

Mukherjee said as the country is undergoing a change from being a developing to a developed economy, there will be immense pressures on our socio-economic and moral fabric.”It is, therefore, imperative that we reconnect to our spiritual dimensions. There can be no better way of doing this than spreading the Bhagvad Gita’s message of universal love and humanity.

The Chandrodaya Temple site is strategically located on Bhaktivedanta Swami Marg, which was formerly called Chhatikara road. The temple has main access to Vrindavan on the Delhi-Agra highway.

The skyscraper temple project will be spread across 5 acres, surrounded by the recreated forests of Braj, conceived by the devotees of ISKCON-Bengaluru.

The temple will be 210 meters or 700 ft in height (70 storeys). A capsule elevator will takes visitors from the ground level to the 700-foot tall viewing gallery giving an immersive 3D sound and light experience of the different planetary systems described in the Vedic literatures.

The temple authorities have also planned to create forests of Vrindavan around the temple based on descriptions in the Srimad Bhagavatam. A sprawling 26 acres will consist of the 12 forests (dvadashakanana) of Braj.

There will be a Krishna Lila theme park whose main attractions will include themed story telling areas, musical fountains, lawn and water features, a Yamuna creek for boating experience, a Braj heritage village and a goshala to recreate the atmosphere of Vrindavan of Lord Krishna. Krishna Heritage museum, Bhagvad Gita Expo, lecture halls and a centre for Krishna heritage studies.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / TNN & Agencies / November 16th, 2014

How Begum Hazrat Mahal got her share of fame

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Lucknow :

Begum Hazrat Mahal’s wouldn’t have been an inspiring tale of patriotism had it not been for Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The Royal Family of Avadh is in possession of testimony written by Begum’s descendant Prince Anjum Qader.

Great grandson of Begum Hazrat Mahal, Kaukab Qader was present at function to honour martyrs of 1857 revolution in Lucknow and was saddened that the contribution of his ancestor was second to none, yet she was ignored. He and his younger brother Anjum decided to meet Pandit Nehru. In Anjum’s own confession written two years after Pandit Nehru’s death, “I prepared a memorandum and, picking up our youngest brother Nayyer from Aligarh Muslim University, we arrived in New Delhi on August 15, 1957.”

Their claim to the 1857 legacy made news and attracted the PM’s attention. Anjum was bowled over by Nehru’s ‘disarming charm’. All praises for the Queen of Oudh, he inquired about her grave so that something to perpetuate her memory there could be done. In response, Anjum said it was government’s duty to search for it and honour the Begum’s final resting place. Jawaharlal Nehru frankly admitted the lapse and promised to do the needful.”

The 10-minute appointment lasted for an hour and ended with the family providing the PM some reference material. Two months later, Indian government informed the family that the Begum’s grave was found in Kathmandu city and Indian Embassy in Nepal was taking care of it.

On May 9, 1958, Indian government announced state recognition for 1857 Freedom Struggle leaders including Begum Hazrat Mahal. UP government too promised a memorial. “Although we are not aware of the happenings behind the scenes, Mr. Nehru’s hand could easily be felt in the changed attitude,” Anjum writes. Soon after, the famous Victoria Park in Lucknow was renamed after the nawab begum who never gave in to British. Months later, Nehru held his public meeting in the same park.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Shailvee Sharda, TNN / November 13th, 2014

Meet Tabassum Bano – the first female e-rickshaw driver of Allahabad

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Tortured by her in-laws for dowry, Tabassum was thrown out of the house with her six months old son, she decided to not give up.

Tabassum Bano riding the e-riskshaw - Mohammad Anas
Tabassum Bano riding the e-riskshaw – Mohammad Anas

Tabassum Bano decided to fight and not surrender despite facing so many hardships some years back. She had been tortured physically and mentally by her in-laws for dowry, she was thrown out of the house with her six months old son, but Bano didn’t give up. She braved all the difficulties and challenges of her life. Confident and self dependent, Bano has set an example of courage as the first female e-rickshaw driver of Allahabad.

“I came to Allahabad in the year 2005. My family lives in a small village Narsimhagarh in Pratapgarh. One year after marriage, my in-laws started torturing me for more dowry. My son was just six months old at that time. One day they even took my clothes off and threw me out of the house. Tired of their torture, I had even thought of committing suicide, but my child gave me the reason to live and fight,” Bano broke into tears as she narrated her life story to iamin.

“Finally, I decided to get divorce from my husband and made up my mind to come to Allahabad and start a new life. With just two rupees in hand and my son in my arms, I began my journey from Pratapgarh by foot and reached Allahabad after walking 50 kilometres. Once when I wa at new Yamuna bridge, out of hunger, my son started crying uncontrollably and I became restless and helpless in this unknown city. An old man saw us and brought us to Sister Sheeba Jones. My life changed since that day,” said Bano who lives in a rented room at Teliyarganj colony in Allahabad with her son.

Bano gives the credit to Sister Sheeba for changing her life. “Sister Sheeba first taught me how to ride a scooty and then four-wheelers.” Besides riding the e-rickshaw, Bano also works as a maid in houses to bear her expenses of her family members.

Yes, apart from her own son, Bano is taking care of six other members of the family. “After my brother-in-law’s death, I took care of my sister and her three children. My brother died in the year 2011 and his daughter is also my responsibility. There is no male member in our family. I take care of my old mother too,” said Bano.

Besides work, Bano who was an illiterate before coming to Allahabad started studying and cleared class X examination. Her son Abdullah studies in a reputed English school in the city. “I want a better life for my son so, I work hard to send him in a good English medium school.”

Sharing her experience as a female e-rickshaw driver, Bano asserted, “I want to change people’s attitude towards women. There are different types of people in our society. Some people stare at me awkwardly while some praise and encourage me. I want to show that women are strong and can face challenges.”

Bano also uses her scooty to carry people. She sometimes drops school children to their homes free of cost in her e-rickshaw. Tabassum is surely an inspiration for women in the country.

source: http://www.iamin.in / I am in DNA of Allahabad / Home> Allahabad> Trending News / by Mohammad Anas, Edited by : Longjam Dineshwori/ Tuesday – October 21st, 2014

Vintage treasures wheel across city

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Lucknow :

A cool Sunday afternoon was made colourful by history cruising on Lucknow roads in deep red, yellow, olive green and dark gray. Seventy cars from the bygone era took part in a vintage car run organized by the Vintage Car & Motorcycle Club of Lucknow and State Bank of India.

His clothes in colour coordination with his yellow and blue 1947 MG TC, Dr Tarun Sehgal said he had heard words of awe and amazement for his vintage possession.

The caravan passed through Hazratganj and towards Gomtinagar through Lohia Park, crossing GPO and back to SBI head office from where it had taken off.

“Obtaining original parts is next to impossible. The mechanics too are not much adept with vintage engines and styles to be dealing effectively with them,” says Ravi Shankar Rajput, whose three generations have been into vintage cars. He now owns a 1935 Fiat Balilla.

Seldom taking out the 1934 Dodge owned by the police force, DGP Anand Lal Bannerji has to take another car for safety reasons. “It is a Dodge that dodges everyone and I need advice from experts for maintaining it,” he said.

“My father owned a two-seater Austin that he had to sell off, so when in 1944, I got hold of this second-hand four-seater Austin 7, I bought it and have been maintaining it ever since,” said Dr Sadiq about his deep red ‘baby Austin’.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Yusra Husain, TNN / October 20th, 2014

Waqf board spanner in film shoot at Old City haveli

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel

Lucknow :

A majestic pre-Independence era haveli in Old City is caught in a controversy with the UP Sunni Waqf Board asking district administration to halt shooting schedule of a Hindi film in it.

Tucked away in the congested Akbari Gate area on Abdul Aziz Road, Ahmad Manzil was built in 1922 and belonged to tobacco merchants Ahmad Ali and Sons of global fame. In the 1940’s, owner Khan Bahadur Syed Ahmad Husain Rizvi declared it wakf property and laid out conditions under which the property was to be utilised by his descendants. The current mutawalli (caretaker) Iqbal Rizvi allegedly granted permission to the makers of ‘Tanu Weds Manu-2’ to shoot inside the building.

This has irked other residents of the haveli who allege that shooting of the film in the building is against the will of the wakif Khan Bahadur Syed Ahmad Husain Rizvi. “Shooting cannot be allowed since no such activity can take place on the haveli compound without unanimous consent of all beneficiaries of the property. Also, nothing that’s against the ‘Shariah’ (Islamic jurisprudence) can be allowed,” says Fareed Rizvi whose letter to the Waqf Board prompted the latter’s letter to the district magistrate.

Incidentally, the Waqf Board had written a similar letter to the DM during the shooting of ‘Dabangg-2’ but by the time a district administration inspection team reached the venue, shooting for the film had already concluded.

When contacted, the haveli’s caretaker Iqbal Rizvi remained tight-lipped on the issue. DM Raj Shekhar said the Wakf Board letter could not be tabled for discussion due to holidays but appropriate action will be taken after studying the facts of the case.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City>Lucknow / by Ali Rizvi, TNN / October 08th, 2014

Revitalising city monuments

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Lucknow:

The city just might have the pride of an underground museum corridor from Darshanbilas to Farhat Baksh via Lal Baradari connecting it to river Gomti.

Teachers at faculty of architecture (affiliated to UPTU) have come up with a proposal to revitalise the Chhatar Manzil complex, a relic of the Nawabi era. The proposed connection of Farhat Bakhsh (earlier part of Chhatar Manzil) can be restored with an underground museum corridor from Lal Baradari and the pavilion bridge can be reconstructed as pedestrian connection across the river. The objective is to revive glory of Chhatar Manzil’s historic manifestation and its connection with the river.

“Chhatar Manzil and Farhat Baksh are isolated monuments on the banks of Gomti. Chhatar Manzil comprises the Lucknow skyline but the royal building does not enjoy the glory it deserves,” said Vandana Sehgal and Ritu Gulati, experts who’ve made the proposal.

As per the proposed design, Farhat Baksh and Bada Chhatarmanzil can be live museums of handicraft and live performance of traditional Lucknowi dance and drama (dastaangoi). The landscaped court of the Bada Chhatarmanzil and the Chhota Chhatarmanzil footprint can be an open sculpture court and area for live fine art demonstration.

The riverside can be developed as a promenade with kiosks for food, drinks and curios, which will also direct movement towards the Gomti, where it will connect the complex to the erstwhile Bridge of Pavilions that needs to be reconstructed to go across the river to the esplanade on the other side, said Vandana. This perspective weaves all the fragmented parts of the complex physically and metaphorically with the river and the city.

During Ghazi-ud-din Haider’s time, the Chhatarmanzil Kalan badaa (next to Farhat Baksh) and the Chhatarmanzil Khurd chhota were connected through a court. The latter was flanked by Darshanbilas and Chaulakhikothi. These two monuments can be connected through a court as a foreground for performances in the backdrop, said Ritu.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / October 01st, 2014

Historian’s guide through the Constantia

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Lucknow :

The grand construction of General Claude Martin, the Constantia, served as a lodge for Freemasons, a secret society, as many of the English officers including Martin were Freemasons.

Many such lesser known facets pertaining to the life and times of Claude Martin were brought to light by celebrated British historian, Dr Rosie Llewellyn Jones at La Martiniere College on Sunday. The talk was organised by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural heritage (INTACH), Lucknow Chapter.

After being attacked by the Raja of Banaras invading Lucknow through Farhat Baksh Kothi, General Claude Martin began residing in the Constantia which he built as a fort. Constructed with four spiral columns that go right up to the terrace, cleverly with a lone staircase, Gen Martin made sure the building he liked to show off to his fellow Englishmen was secure with iron doors made from imported English iron. These doors could then be shut once a single man defending the building from the top took position upstairs.

Constantia was safeguarded by cannons on the first floor of the building next to lion statues with lamps within them. “Its construction as a defensive structure to frighten people, basically its attackers, is one of the least known features of the Constantia, which prior to being an educational institution, was a fort,” shared Dr Jones.

INTACH’s convenor Vipul Varshney talked about the axial symmetry and architectural genius of the gigantic structure with pioneering ventilation. Dr Jones also spoke about many paintings of Claude Martin.

Iron girders in the basement of the Constantia go deep down to its foundation. Dr Jones denied presence of any such tunnels opening into the Gomti against a popular myth.

Convernor Vipul Varshney talking about the architectural skyline of Lucknow said, “the heterogeneity of cultural conceptions and artistic styles triumphed to strike a harmony between the many buildings of Lucknow getting along the Nawabi and English architecture successfully in Lucknow’s skyline, and so in that order we decided to educate and inform Lucknowites about one such magnificent structure, the Constantia.”

Gen Martin a self taught man had as many as 5000 books and the presence of certain books on creating electricity have made historians like Dr Jones believe that he might have attempted to create electricity as well in the lower rooms of the Constantia. The result of his trial and error techniques on it though are yet to be studied further.

Heritage conservationist and lawyer by profession, Mohammad Haider stating the building as an unprotected monument applauded the efforts of Principal Carlyle McFarland, the staff and students of the college, ” the unique feature of this building stands in the fact that it has been well maintained within the precincts of its original form and the monument an architectural masterpiece is devoid of any uncalled for scribbling on the walls of the campus unlike the state of most protected monuments in the country.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Yusra Husain, TNN / September 29th, 2014

Sarnath awaits World Heritage site status

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Varanasi :

The Buddhist marvel in Sarnath, where Buddha preached his first sermons, is yet to be declared World Heritage. Sarnath and Kushinagar in UP are the main Buddhist destinations, but unfortunately, none of them finds a place in the UNESCO World Heritage List, while the Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodhgaya in neighbouring Bihar and Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi in MP are in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

However, the ancient Buddhist site of Sarnath had been included in the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage in 1998 in cultural category. In the tentative list, it was submitted that the monuments in Sarnath are divided into two groups- Chaukhandi Stupa under Group ‘A’ and all other monuments at the sites like Stupas, monasteries, and temples under Group ‘B’.

Chaukhandi Stupa is a lofty brick structure crowned with an octagonal tower. The octagonal tower is a Mughal monument built by Goverdhan, the son of Raja Todarmal in 1588 AD to commemorate the visit of Humayun to this place.

The second group, which contains remains of several stupas, monasteries and Ashoka column are built in brick and stone and datable from the 3rd century BC to 12th century AD, forms the major and important segment of the site. The Ashoka column, Dharamrajika stupa, Dhameka stupa, the remains of the temple and a series of monasteries and stupas are the most important remains of the site.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / September 20th, 2014

Tunday Kebabs in Rs 50 crore law suit over trade infringement

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The world famous ‘Tunday Kebab’ of Lucknow has been caught in Rs 50 crore lawsuit over trade infringement.

Mohammad Muslim, who runs the ‘Lucknow Wale Tunday Kebabi’ chain of restaurants in Lucknow and beyond and is maternal grandson of the legendary one armed chef, late Haji Murad Ali ‘Tunday’, has sued the food chain’s current owner Mohammad Usman for trade infringement staking claim over the popular brand.

The Civil Judge (Senior Division) Ashok Kumar has asked Usman who runs restaurants in the name of ‘Tunday Kababi’ to come with his reply into the matter. The next hearing is on September 27.

Muslim has alleged that Usman has created the controversy over the inheritance of the chain of restaurants famous for melt-in-the-mouth Kebabs and other non-vegetarian delicacies. He said being the relative of the late Haji Murad Ali Tunday, he had every right to be part of the business.

TundayLUCKNOW22sept2014

“I am the real kin of Haji Murad Ali. We are running Lucknow Wale Tundey in Lucknow and outside for quite some time now,” Muslim said.

Contradicting Muslim’s claim, Usman said that the former was not directly related to Lucknow Wale Tunday. He said he came from Saudi Arabia and fraudulently used the brand name of Tunday Kebabs in Lucknow with his partner.

“He has no blood relation with use. I will fight it in court,” he added.

What started with a small shop in the old Lucknow city, Tunday is now a huge business empire with outlets in several parts of the city and outside.

source: http://www.news18.com / News18 / Home> English> News> Uttar Pradesh / by Gulam Jeelani / Monday – September 22nd, 2014

India, Japan sign MoU to develop Varanasi into ‘smart city’

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Kyoto :

Varanasi, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents in the Lok Sabha, will be developed into a ‘smart city’ by using the experience of Kyoto, the ‘smart city’ of Japan, under a pact signed here on Saturday.

A partner city MoU was signed by Indian ambassador Deepa Wadhwa and Kyoto mayor Daisaka Kadokawa at a ceremony witnessed by Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
japanvaranasiLUCKNOW31aug2014
The MoU, which was signed soon after Modi’s arrival here on a five-day visit, provides for cooperation in heritage conservation, city modernization and cooperation in the fields of art, culture and academics, external affairs ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told reporters.

This will serve as framework for smart heritage city programme between the two countries, he added.

Kyoto, which is a he​ritage city with Buddhist culture, provides special symbolism to the visit as the Prime Minister has the vision of “rejuvenating” Indian cities.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / PTI / August 30th, 2014