The Taj Mahal, built between 1632 and 1653, is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture.
Agra :
In an interesting discovery following excavations carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India recently, remains of a summer palace, presumably a baradari, a pavilion designed to allow free flow of air – have been reportedly found at the centuries-old Mughal-era garden Mehtab Bagh located opposite the Taj Mahal.
The garden was reputedly Shah Jahan’s favourite spot which he used to visit to get a view of the Taj at night, hence it’s name (Mehtab means moonlight in Urdu).
“The remains of the baradari-like structure have been found just opposite the Taj Mahal which strengthens our belief that the Mughal emperor must have built this place to enjoy the view of the Taj sitting near the bank of river.
The place seems to have sunk beneath the surface either due to floods or because of the presence of hollow space under the structure,” said a senior ASI official.
The excavated remains of the walls at the garden complex, situated on the opposite bank of the Taj Mahal in Agra. (PTI photo)
Incidentally, Mehtab Bagh has been associated with the myth of the black Taj which is believed to have been spun by guides to fascinate foreign tourists. According to the story, Shah Jahan wanted to build another Taj in black marble across the Yamuna and connect the two by a bridge. Mehtab Bagh is pointed out by some as the possible site where the black Taj would have come up.
“There has never been any historical evidence to prove the existence of a black Taj,” said the official.
During excavation work carried out between 1997 and 1999 at Mehtab Bagh, the ASI had found remains of a huge octagonal tank furnished with 25 fountains, a small central tank and a baradari in the east of the garden. “The present work is going in the south direction of the garden in the straight alignment of the Taj Mahal which makes the discovery an interesting one,” added the official.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / by Adithya Dev, TNN / July 02nd, 2014
From an ancient temple of Lord Jagannath in Chinhat bearing Awadhi Muslim architecture to a Muslim putting up water kiosks during the yatra, tales of religious amity dot the cultural landscape of the city.
Historian Yogesh Praveen, said, “The temple was built by a devotee of Lord Jagannath, but given a facelift by the then-Nawab of Oudh Asaf-ud-Daullah in 1785. The temple’s uniqueness can be spotted on its dome. Instead of the traditional chakra or trishul, there is a crescent.”
In Aishbagh, Rafiq ‘bhai’ for the past decade has been putting up water kiosks at Tikaitganj, the first halt of the yatra by Shri Bhagwan Jagannath Seva Samiti, to help the hundreds of chariot pullers quench their thirst.
“It gives me immense satisfaction that I am able to help hundreds of devotees,” said Rafiq.
Thanking him, office bearer of the Samiti Saket Sharma said, “We hope the practice continues”.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / June 29th, 2014
What gives late 19th century photographer Raja Deen Dayal’s work the acclaim it has received? An exhibition showcasing arguably India’s first professional photographer’s works tries to dissect.
LISTENING TO THE PHONOGRAPH: DEEN DAYAL, GHALIB JUNG AND FRIENDS AT HYDERABAD 22ND MAY 1891The palpable excitement of Nawab Ghalib Jung and his friends whilelistening to the first phonograph in Hyderabad is visible. Such naturalexuberance is seldom seen in 19th century photography
Lala Deen Dayal was to Indian photography what his peer Raja Ravi Varma was to painting. As a 20-something civil engineer, Deen Dayal was working at the draughtsman office at the Indore Public Works Department when he heard an ominous rumour — all draughtsmen were to be replaced by photographers. It was 1866. Dayal decided to brush up his photography skills; a subject that he had learnt during his final year in college. A decision that paved the way for Deen Dayal to eke out a successful career in professional photography.
Vikram Sampath, Executive Director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), says: “The heavy Bellow cameras of the 19th century would have been cumbersome. But his photographs are so extensive that they can be the starting point for fleshing out the socio-cultural aspect of that period.” IGNCA is presenting the exhibition Raja Deen Dayal Photographs, a collection of 150 rare period photographs which will be shown in the city for the first time.
Sampath says he can imagine how hard it must have been for Deen Dayal to get people to be photographed, considering the superstitions around the act. “People believed that if photographed, their life span would be reduced.” It was not uncommon for him to break the glass-plate negative in front of the subject after giving them their photographs, probably to assure them that it wouldn’t be used again. But he would have stealthily kept another copy in the archive.
Grand old man
Here was an Indian photographer appreciated by Indian maharajas (the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, in fact, wrote a verse in praise of him) and British Viceroys. His photographs were exhibited to great reviews in international exhibitions. He was appointed the court photographer for Hyderabad (1885); Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, the Nizam of Hyderabad, conferred on him the title Musawwir Jung Bahadur (the Bold Warrior Photographer) and referred to him as Raja Deen Dayal. In 1897, Queen Victoria granted him the Royal Warrant, which meant he could cover the Delhi Dubar (1903). He had flourishing studios in Secunderabad, Indore and Bombay that were operated by his firm Deen Dayal & Sons. And even after his death (1905), his fifth generation has photo studios in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Not bad for a man who was born (1844) in a small town near Meerut.
Luck and talent
In 1870, when Deen Dayal was hired by the Archeological Survey of India, his brief was to capture 78 monuments of Central India. The technique used was refreshingly different. The monuments stood out against the sky as he captured them from a low angle, making them imposing and grand. Some, like the Gwalior Fort, had an extraordinary view of the sharp precipice below the steep path leading up to the main entrance. The portraits of the monuments form an extensive collection of places across India.
Deen Dayal quit his government job to pursue photography when he realised that the albums prepared by him on Indian monuments were a hit with the British officers returning to Britain. Sir Henry Daly appointed him the official photographer for the Prince of Wales’s tour of India in 1875. He started accompanying the Viceroys, Lord Dufferin and Lord Elgin, on their tours. His interactions with Indian royalty gave him unmatched access to their world. By being the court photographer of the Nizam, Deen Dayal secured a generous patron and an easy access to British officers in the cantonment. He was probably the first Indian photographer to have a Zanana (ladies only) studio at Hyderabad which was run by a specially-appointed employee, Kenny Levick.
From glass plates to digital
Deen Dayal’s family had preserved the glass-plate negatives with history recorded on them. Those negatives required long exposures and hours of work. Each comes with documentation of the place and year, apart from the name of the royals or nobles. The commoners were categorised broadly with captions such as ‘Maratha’ and ‘Brahmin’. IGNCA has reproduced the originals after the entire collection of about 3,000 negatives were handed to them by the family in 1989. These were then digitised and the first exhibition took place in New Delhi in 2010. For all aficionados of photography, this show remains the best place to know how it all began for one photographer, arguably the first Indian professional photographer.
Raja Deen Dayal Photographs, 10 am to 5 pm till July 20, NGMA
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Entertainment> Lounge / by Jayanthi Madhukar, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / June 23rd, 2014
Taj Mahal of India is widely recognized as “the jewel of art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage”. It’s a unique monument built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and one of the best examples of Islamic architecture.
Millions visit India to get glimpses of this unique architectural beauty and this includes a large number from Middle East. How about seeing the beauty of Taj Mahal here itself in Kuwait?
Inspired by the architecture of Taj Mahal, Kuwait has designed a mosque exactly like Taj Mahal, a replica. The mosque is a bigger version of India’s Taj Mahal. It’s 3 times bigger.
Sadeeqa Fatimatul Zahra Mosque, a prayer place for the Kuwaitis, looks similar to India’s Taj Mahal from the outside. Located at Block 6, Abdullah Al-Mubarak area, West of Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, the mosque is already gaining a reputation as one of Kuwait’s most distinctive buildings and is called the “Taj Mahal of Kuwait”.
It’s learned that Hassan Johar, a Member of Parliament, who was behind this unique project here, received the blessing of the Indian embassy before building the mosque.
Internal design of the mosque differs from the original. It consists of carvings of verses from the Quran. The four minarets and central dome of the mosque are adorned with brass crescents. The main prayer area is at the ground floor with library and utilities. It has a separate prayer hall for the women in the first floor. The Mosque was officially opened for the public in 2011.
The beauty of the mosque in middle of the desert is mesmerizing. It’s a proud feeling for all Indians here in Kuwait to witness a replica of the Taj Mahal in Kuwait. Those who have not seen the Taj Mahal in India, they can now see it in Kuwait.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> NRI> Contributions> Contributors / by Deepika Nambiar, TOI Contributor / April 30th, 2014
The Royal Family of Avadh, a body of descendents of erstwhile Nawabs of Avadh, wants the Modi government to revise the amount of wasiqa, the royal pension scheme initiated by Bahu Begum, the mother of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah for the eternal benefit of her relatives, descendants and close servants. The scheme was continued by the East India Company and then the British rulers. After independence, it became responsibility of ministry of home affairs, government of India. Given in the form of silver coins, the pension was converted into currency notes which reduced its value.
The allowance lost its value further owing to division among beneficiaries. “In the 1850s, different wasiqas in the form of silver coin worth Rs 10 lakh were distributed among 168 persons,” said Ravi Bhatt, who has authored books on Lucknow’s history. “Today the number of beneficiaries is 1,800 and conversion from silver coins to currency has reduced the total value of all wasiqas to about Rs 22,000. This means less money and more claimants. As a result, the pension of more than 500 wasiqa holders is less than Rs 10,” he added.
General secretary of Royal Family of Avadh, Shikoh Azad says “changeover from silver coins to currency notes defeated the purpose of the scheme. No effort was made to revise the amount. In the interest of the community, we now want the wasiqa amount to be increased 100 times,” said Azad.
He added that Rajnath Singh had promised to revise wasiqa. The senior BJP leader and Lucknow MP is now also Union home minister. “Rajnath Singh assured to take up the matter. Our delegation will meet him next week with draft of the proposal,” claimed Azad, whose father is a wasiqedaar.
The delegation would also be talking about what the government did with loans and saving certificates given by nawabs of Avadh to East India Company. “The cumulative worth of these loans and certificates 200 years ago was Rs 198.33 crore and Rs 88.9 lakh, respectively. We want to know what the government has done with that money over the past 66 years,” asked Safdar Nawab, a royal descendent.
The royal family wants the interest accrued over this amount to be passed on to the descendents as royalty. “That’s our money and we have a right to it. But, we are as generous as our ancestors and will not mind a portion of it to be contributed to India’s defence services or for internal security,” said Nawab Jahangir Agha.
Royal family of Avadh wants Modi government to appoint a commission with representation of the descendents to “study all aspects of this tradition and recommend accordingly,” said Nawab Ibrahim Ali Khan, president.
Revision of wasiqa will change the fate of many holders living in penury. Begum Sabiha Kazmi, for example, who is a royal descendent, work as zardozi artisan to meet ends. The 60-year-old wants her granddaughters to study buthas no means. “A few thousand rupees can help us lead a better life,” she said.
For the well-to-do wasiqa holders, pension is an attestation of their royalty. “Money is not the issue for me and I use the wasiqa amount for charity. But wasiqa as an emblem of royalty and will help us keep the legacy of Lakhnavi tradition alive,” said Naseema Raza.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Shailvee Sharda ,TNN / June 18th, 2014
The 359th annual Urs of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan will begin at the Taj Mahal from May 25 to 27. Agra :
The 359th annual Urs of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan will begin at the Taj Mahal from May 25 to 27 and entry will be free for visitors during the three-day celebrations.
“There would be free entry to the monument from 2pm until sunset on May 25 and 26, and on May 27 no entree fee will be charged throughout the day,” N K Pathak, chief superintending archaeologist, ASI, Agra zone said here today.
Khudddam-e-Rauza Committee, the traditional caretaker of the Taj, would put a 735-meter-long chadar on the cenotaph of Shah Jahan, he said.
Committee president Tahiruddin Tahir said that the length of the chadar to be placed on the tomb had been increased by 70-metres from the 635-meters length of last year.
Besides, a chadar made of 359 garlands would also be offered by the Shahi mosque Fatehpuri to mark the Urs on May 27, Saeed Khan, the mutawalli of the mosque said.
During the Urs, prince Yakub Habeebuddin Tusi of Hyderabad, who claims to be the great grandson of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, makes an annual pilgrimage to the monument and offers prayers there.
Shahjahan was the fifth Mughal emperor who ruled the empire for 30 years from 1628 to 1658 before he was deposed by his son Aurangzeb. He died in 1666.
He had erected the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / PTI / May 22nd, 2014
A reading of letters that offer snapshots of life in the city from 1903
The letters look at both mundane and political exchanges
Lucknow, the administrative and cultural hub of the nawabs of Awadh at the time of the British Raj, is today an amalgamation of the medieval and the modern. The centuries-old city and its past will be brought to life by Saman Habib and Sanjay Muttoo through an illustrated reading session of handwritten letters written to, or by, people living in Lucknow, in the Capital on Sunday and Tuesday.
Habib is a research scientist at the Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow, and Muttoo is a freelance media professional.
Their performance, titled “Lucknow In Letters: Endeavours, Achievements, And Tragedies”, is structured around a historical timeline, with a commentary that contextualizes the letters. It is accompanied by photographs of the people who wrote and received them, images of original manuscripts, and a minimal soundtrack to enhance the sensory experience.
Drawn from far and near in India and abroad, each letter provides an authentic narrative of events as they happened—from M.K. Gandhi appreciating Jawaharlal Nehru’s role in the protests against the Simon Commission, appointed by the British in 1927 to look at governance reform, in Lucknow, to Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi’s letters to his close friend S.M. Mehdi; from sundry exchanges between cousins about the kitchen being repaired, to ones that talk about how secular Lucknow was till the mid-1950s. Among these, a few published and publicly available letters—the exchange between Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan, involved in the Kakori Conspiracy, a train robbery during the independence movement, for instance—will be featured too.
A letter written in 1903, by Hilda Seebohm from Lucknow to her home in London, describing the plague in the city, is the oldest of the lot.
This reading is one of Habib and Muttoo’s many endeavours to trace their cultural roots to Lucknow. “At the Mahindra Sanatkada Festival in February, our session on ‘Feminists Of Awadh’ elicited huge response. I read out pages from Ismat Chughtai’s autobiography Kaghazi Hai Pairahan and Sanjay read about Begum Akhtar. The crowd’s appreciation of the language and content got us thinking, and hence began our search for letters,” says Habib.
A host of humorous and poignant letters within her family served as starting material but a much larger and diverse set was needed for a more real representation of Lucknow. More letters from Habib’s cousins in Pakistan, and scanned published material, came in. “The most poignant line in the entire collection is in a letter from a person in Pakistan writing to his cousin in Lucknow saying, ‘My body may be in Pakistan but my soul lives on in Lucknow’,” says Muttoo.
“Lucknow In Letters: Endeavours, Achievements, And Tragedies” will be held on 25 May, 7pm, at Studio Safdar, 2254/2A, New Ranjit Nagar, Shadipur, New Delhi; and on 27 May, 4pm, at the National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi. For details, call 25709456/26717121.
source: http://www.livemint.com / Live Mint & The Wall Street Journal / Home> Leisure / by Arunima Mazumdar / Thursday – May 22nd, 2014
What was the course of river Ganga thousands of years ago? Was there a communication link between the Indus Valley Civilisation and Gangetic belt? In an attempt to find answers to questions like these, Allahabad Museum would carry out exploration at the 20-kilometre tract of land between Allahabad-Varanasi after the monsoon.
Earlier, discovery of fossils and tools at the Gangetic plain had revealed existence of habitat prevalent in the neolithic age. Experts claimed that the exploration is expected to detect the deposits that the shrinking river left thousands of years ago. This in turn would help find places where early civilization used to live at the banks of the river.
Several scholars and archaeologists would be participating in the exploration which is expected to be conducted with the help of satellite mapping and coordination from India Space Research Organization (ISRO).
“The stretch of land covering the two civilizations has been a subject of curiosity for excavators and archaeologists as the cultural resemblance between the two societies has till now not been identified. We would be focusing on exploring whether there existed any communication link between the two cultures,” said Allahabad Museum director Rajesh Purohit.
The exploration which was conceptualized last year is slated to start after the rainy season when the upper crust of the land softens, making it easy for explorers to execute the job.
The teams which would be taking part in the explorations include assistant curators and archaeologists Dr Sunil Gupta, Arun Wankhade and Dr Sriranjan Shukla along with the director.
“The stretch between Uttar Pradesh and Balochistan has always drawn the curiosity of archaeologists who are still studying about the root cause of differences between the two societies,” added Purohit. At present, paper work to seek permission from Archaeological Survey of India is being completed.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / by Vinod Khanal, TNN / June 04th, 2014
The two-storied hospice ‘Kashi Labh Mukti Bhawan’ hosts the elderly who wish to spend their last days in the search for spiritual liberation.
Shanti Devi, 85, lies wrapped in bed sheet in one of the 10 rooms of the temple-cum-building. Her corner room, lit with incense sticks, is next to a small temple inside the premises, which is most active at the time of dusk and dawn.
Devi, who travelled all the way from Newada in Bihar, mostly chants mantras near her room’s window. A priest, one appointed for every patient, comes regularly in her room to check in on her.
Barely able to speak with her tooth-less mouth, Devi says, “I become restless with the passing of every hour. My family is here who are helping me gain Moksha and I do not want to disappoint them. I know Kashi will take me inside her peacefully.”
Established by the Dalmiya Charitable Trust in 1958, the Bhawan does not charge anything from the people who come here for a purpose.
The trust bears all the expenses from the stay in the house, to all the rituals of the day, to the cremation after “the soul leaves the body.”
“This is a holy place, and charging money means we are into a business. We do not want to be labelled that way. Our Trust bears all the expenses from food to rituals because we believe in providing spiritual satisfaction,” says 60-year-old Bhairava Nath Shukla, says the Bhawan’s manager.
“Not only India, but devotees from England, Japan and Mauritius have spent time in our shelter to understand the concept of Moksha, life and death,” adds Shukla.
Varanasi is famously known for being the ‘religious capital of India’ where thousands come for various spiritual purposes. Some come for the last rites, some to conduct their new born’s’ birth ceremony and some, to die peacefully.
“People who are about to die or are on death bed, and believe in ‘Moksha’ come to this house for spiritual satisfaction. And Kashi is one such place where attaining Moksha is easy,” says Sukhla.
“This spiritual house had been serving the old for the last 45 years,” he says.
Before being given a room, the priests assess the health and life expectancy of patients.
If the patient fails to die within 15-20 days or so even after days of ‘Yagya’ and ‘Tapasya’, the stay is extended for few days.
“In most of our cases, the patient attains moksha. Till now there have not been a single case where the patient had to go back,” says the manager.
For Shanti Devi “it will be unfortunate if at this age” she fails to attain Moksha. She still has 15 days left with her.
Her family members feel that it is not the matter of “life or death, but that she must attain what she came for.”
“I want my mother to attain what she came for. I want her to end her journey peacefully no matter how much time she takes,” says Devi’s son.
Nearly a half kilometre from the Bhawan, on the banks of river Ganga, falls the primary and most sacred cremation ghat in Varanasi, Manikarnika Ghat.
When the soul leaves the material body, it is tightly wrapped in a white cloth on a slim bamboo cot, as per Hindu tradition says a priest at the Ghat.
About 32,000 bodies are cremated here every year, he points out.
“Earlier women were not allowed here to see or participate in the cremation. But nowadays women are seen here,” he says.
Shukla feels that there is nothing “horrific” about the place. The house, instead, must be seen as “a road to heaven”.
“Most of the tourist come here because of the nature of the place. Because the uniqueness attracts them,” he says.
He feels that the process of ‘Moksha’ must be seen as “immortal soul changing bodies, similar to us changing clothes.”
(Agencies)
source: http://www.post.jagran.com / Post.Jagran.com / Post / Home> States News / by Jagran Post News – Jagran Post Editorial / June 02nd, 2014
