Forts

A visit to Taragarh Fort, Ajmer

By Uday Baxi

Hakim requested me to park the car in his locality where a local lad would be taking care of the car. But, it was not easy to believe a total stranger and so I did not heed to his request and parked the car in the official parking lot which was very congested. It required great skill to park and more to retrieve the vehicle. Somehow I did it. After parking the car, we went to see the dargah along with Syed Abdul Hakim. He introduced us to the nearest structure as Karbala built in memory of the Mohammed Ali, who was the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed and who was martyred by the Khalifa. Every year they mourn his killing in the Karbala. It was a settlement of Shia Muslims. According to Hakim, the population of that place was about 5000 for which a separate polling booth is arranged during election time.

From Karbala, Hakim took us to his shop-cum-office, where his relatives were selling the Chadar (Shawl), Flowers and incense sticks etc. and persuaded me into purchasing the items from their family shop. Though his shop was not cheap by any means, we had no option but to purchase from there itself. So, we purchased the items from Hakim and his relatives carefully choosing the items that were being sold at the lowest rates and proceeded towards the dargah. My son, Ruchir looked good when he walked upto the Akbar gate carrying the chadar on his head. After entering the premises, we saw a massive silver sword at the top of a building. Hakim told us that it was Jafarani sword given to the Dargah by Mughal Emperor, Akbar.

Kolkata to Kumaon – Patal Bhubaneswar and Mukteswar

By Debjit Chakraborty

Apart from mythology the limestone creation is thrill fully unique, the cave is still building from crystallization. The many forms resembles the tail of Gods, one unique formation described as the spine of “Sesh Nag” and one ice like formation is called “Jyota” of Mahadeva, a mushroom like formation holds four stalactites called the four ‘Yug”. It is said that when a specific stalagmite would touch the stalactite hence the “Satya with Kali”, the earth may end. For both the believers and non-believers the place gives a life time experience.

In the lap of reclusive Choukry

By Debjit Chakraborty

As we had to cover less than 100 kms, so we started little late after breakfast at 0900 hrs. Though I had to face the same huddled road of Munsiyari but the situation was little different then as most of the patches were there while we climbed the road so keeping in mind that those would be on the slope I feel little relaxed and we started again from Munsiyari.

My jaunt to the Brighton of the East from Kolkata

By wondergirl89

We drove past Vidyasagar Setu aka Second Hooghly Bridge that connects the City of Joy with Howrah and stands at the banks of the River Hooghly. One can get a magnificent view of the entire city from this bridge. Well it is a toll bridge with superfine smooth finish. Then took the Kona Express way and sped all through the National Highway crossing Kolaghat Thermal Power Station and then Nandakumar More. From here we encountered small towns and villages on a single lane carriage path that snakes its way through them.

Siri – Third City of Delhi

By Nirdesh Singh

Legend has it that Alauddin beheaded 8000 Mongols living in the settlement now called Mongolpuri and built the foundation of his City on these heads. Thus the first Muslim city of Delhi was built in 1303 and called Siri (‘Sir’ is Hindi for head) as a homage to all the severed heads. In fact, Khilji chased the Mongols and pushed them north of Kabul that ensured the Mongols would not attack India again for some time.

होल्कर साम्राज्य के भग्नावशेष – राजवाड़ा और छतरियां

By Sushant Singhal

इन्दौर राज्य में तीन-तीन तुकोजीराव हुए हैं, इनमें से किसके नाम पर तुकोजीगंज नामकरण हुआ है, यह तो मुझे नहीं मालूम पर हां, रंगीनमिजाज़ तुकोजीराव तृतीय के रंगीन किस्से इन्दौर वासियों की जुबान पर अब भी रहते हैं। उन्होंने तीन शादियां की थीं – सीनियर मोस्ट महारानी का नाम था – चन्द्रावती बाई। जूनियर महारानी थीं – इन्दिरा बाई । तीसरी वाली अमेरिकन युवती – नैंसी अन्ना मिलर थीं जिनके साथ 12 मार्च, 1928 को तुकोजीराव तृतीय ने विवाह रचाया। विवाह के बाद वह पूरी तरह भारतीय रंग-ढंग में ढल गई थीं और उनका विवाह भी शर्मिष्ठादेवी के रूप में नामकरण के बाद शुद्ध हिन्दू रीति-रिवाज़ के मुताबिक हुआ था। 1907 में अमेरिका के सियेटल शहर में जन्मी नैंसी ने तुकोजीराव होलकर को पांच संतानें दीं, चार पुत्रियां और एक पुत्र। शर्मिष्ठाबाई का देहान्त अभी 1995 में हुआ है। कहा जाता है कि तीन पत्नियों के बावजूद तुकोजीराव अमृतसर के एक कार्यक्रम में मुमताज़ बेगम का डांस देखकर उस पर आशिक हो गये और उसे इंदौर ले आये। वह तुकोजीराव के प्रेम को घास भी नहीं डालती थी और राजवाड़े से भागने के कई बार प्रयत्न किये और अन्ततः एक बार इन्दौर से मसूरी जाते हुए रास्ते में दिल्ली में निगाह बचा कर भागने में सफल भी होगई। बस, तुकोजी राव को बहुत बुरा लगा, एक तो प्रेम की दीवानगी और ऊपर से राजसी अहं को ठेस जो लग गई थी। उनके चेले-चपाटे अपने राजा को खुश करने के चक्कर में मुमताज़ बेगम की खोज खबर लेते रहे और अन्ततः पता लगा ही लिया कि वह मुंबई में किसी के साथ रहती है। बस जी, तुकोजी राव के कर्मचारी मुंबई के हैंगिंग गार्डन में पहुंच गये और वहां जो मारकाट मची उसमें उस व्यक्ति की गोली लगने से मौत हो गई जिसके साथ मुमताज़ बेगम मुंबई में रहती थी और हैंगिंग गार्डन में घूम रही थी। अंग्रेज़ अधिकारियों ने इस कांड का पूरा फायदा उठाया और तुकोजीराव के दो कर्मचारियों को फांसी की सजा सुनाई गई और तुकोजीराव तृतीय को राज्य छोड़ना पड़ा। तुकोजीराव तृतीय की मृत्यु 1978 में पेरिस में हुई। उस समय वह 88 वर्ष के थे।

Jaisalmer – Top 10 things to see and do

By Pamela

Located 18 km away from Jaisalmer, the way to desert Kuldhara village is known as the ghost village. Lying abandoned from the past few centuries, this village has no signs of human life and is also known as one of the haunted places in Rajasthan. A clan of eighty-five villages, Kuldhara was once inhabited by the Paliwal Brahmins, but due to some adverse happenings, the natives evacuated the village within a night. It is also said that while leaving the village, the villagers put a curse on it.

Neemrana to Bundi: In search of Indian step wells – Part 1

By Jatin Chhabra

But leaving the roads apart, when I entered Chand Baori, a WOW just came out from my mouth. I mean Neemrana Stepwell was massive, but this one is like some aliens came to build it. This stepwell is enormous and mind-blowing & now I understand that why a scene of Batman 2008 was filmed here. There is no parallel of such structure in India.

Ruins Of Alamparai Fort on East Coast Highway

By Prasad Np

We were not ready for the pathetic state the Alamparai fort was in. As per Archaeological survey of India board it was built some time in 17^th century and was a trading post during the Mughal period and changed hands many times between various powers till India got independence. What appears is that after independence the fort totally lost its significance as a trading outpost as more modern Chennai and other ports in South India gained prominence.

The fort though in a very scenic location, near a natural lagoon and the adjoining village is inhabited by fishermen. But the fort is an example of the pathetic attitude we have towards our historical monuments. Full of sand in a very bad shape the fort is more of ruins and a source of bricks for the locals than anything else. There was not a single guard or tourist beside us, though we saw some bikes parked near the entrance which instead of a magnificent gate like most forts was just a big gaping hole in the wall. The parapet was broken at many places and one portion of the wall was lying on the ground. The whole wall had hundreds of bushes growing on it and at many places bricks were missing. It appeared they were being regularly removed by locals to construct their homes.

Jovial Jaipur…

By Ankit Saxena

As we came out of the hotel, It started raining but we were prepared for this. We took out our Rain-coats and started our exploration. In the market we bargained with an Auto wala and for Rs 600 he agreed to took us to various places including Hawa Mahal, City Palace, Amer Fort and Chokhi Dhani. First of all we went to check out the famous Hawa Mahal of Jaipur. Hawa Mahal is a palace built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, so named because it was essentially a high screen wall built so the women of the royal household could observe street festivals while unseen from the outside.

गंगऊ बाँध और रनगवां बाँध – सौ साल पुराना छुपा खजाना

By GHOOMAKKAR PANKAJ

एल टाइप सी अजीब सी शेप लिए हुए विसाल डैम आपने आप में एक सुरंग सा था आर पार जो उसके मेंटेनेंस के लिए होगी शायद। जिसमे सैकड़ो खिड़किया थी जिनसे रोशनी ऐसे आ रही थी मानो हम कई शीशो में एक के गहराते से माहोल में अपने अक्ष देख रहे हों। वहां जगह जगह विदेशो से लायी गयी मशीने और उपकरण आज भी ज्यों के त्यों

The Emerald Islands of Andaman and Nicobar

By Sishir Mohammed

The view from underwater is breathtaking. Corals, oysters, sea weeds, colored fish and the surrounding blue water is mesmerizing. Touching endangered species such as corals are not allowed. The best part of the sea walk actually came when we fed pieces of bread to the fish. As soon as you hold up the bread pieces, fish of different colors gather around you and it does get a bit ticklish but it is definitely a wonderful experience. After 20 minutes of “seawalking”, the divers escorted us back up to the pontoon. When you climb up, one is likely to experience the pressure factor again . At the end of it, the whole experience leaves you spellbound and the sparkling blue water always tantalizes you to go back underwater.

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Really enjoyed reading this Dalhousie journey. The way you described the last moments there and the return journey made it feel like I was travelling along with you. Beautiful memories.
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Hi Nitesh I m planning to trip to Agra ,fathe pur ,Sikri AND I WILL BE GUIDED BY UR ABOVE INPUT.
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I am wondering how I might be notified when a new post has been made.
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great article keep it guys
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Fun things about explained nicely, must read it article.
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Bundelkhand avashya hi bharatvarsh ka hriday
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