Essay, Paragraph or Speech on “India: Land of Monuments, Pilgrimages & Buildings” Complete Essay, Speech for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

India: Land of Monuments, Pilgrimages & Buildings

Agra Fort—Agra was the capital of the Great Mughals. The Agra Fort lies on a bank of the river Yamuna. The fortress was built by the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1566.

Char Minar —It was built in 1591 which dominates Hyderabad sky line even today.

Golden Temple—Located in Amritsar in the Punjab, the Golden Temple serves as the most important place of worship of the Sikhs. Originally built in 1604 the temple sustained repeated damage from attacks by Afghan invaders. The temple was built in late 16th century by the guru Ramdas and Arjun, but it was later sacked and had to be substantially rebuilt in the 1760s. During the early 19th century reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh the temple was rebuilt using marble, copper, and over lay of gold foil. The temple houses the Guru Granth Sahib the holy book, left by the last of the gurus Govind Singh, and the Akal Takht, or the seat of Sikh religious authority.

Jama Masjid (Delhi) —It was built by Shahjahan within a period of six years (1650-56) at a cost of rupee 10 lakhs. It was constructed after the trans-fer of capital from Agra to Delhi. The magnificent mosque is ranked as the largest and the most eminent of the buildings of its class in India.

Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) —The Moti Masjid is known as Pearl Mosque. It is situated in Agra (U.P.). It was built during the period of Shahjahan (1627-58). A splendid style was adopted in this period in the construction work.

Nalanda Vihar —50 kilometers southeast of Patna lies the largest Buddhist monastery complex of Nalanda in Bihar, which was a center of Mahayana Buddhism from the fifth to the twelfth century founded by a king of the Gupta dynasty in later medieval times when Buddhism in other parts of India was already declining Hsuan Tsang sing wrote enthusiastically about it in the seventh century.

Qutub Minar —To the south of city Delhi lies, the towering triumphal, column of the Qutub Minar erected by Qutbuddin Aibak, the first (Sultan of Delhi, makes the site of Indians earliest Islamic capital. Qutbuddin died in 1210 when the column had but four stories. His successors added more until the column reached its present height of about 72 meters. About Eight kilometers further east stands the huge fortress of Tughlaquabad built around 1320. At its gate stands, the impressive mausoleum of Ghiyasuddin Tuglaq which also contains the tomb of his and successor Muhammad bin Tuglaq. It is a compact octagonal by beautiful white marble dome.

The Jagannath Temple—The temple in purl is dedicated to Vishnu in his incarnations as Jagannath (lord of the world) and is likewise a monument of majestic proportions. Puri lies in the sea coast some 50 kilometers of Bhubaneshwar. The shrine in Puri is ancient, the idols worshiped there Jagannath his brother Balram and sister Subhadra are wooden figures, originally tribal gods that have since been inducted into the Hindu pantheon. It was built towards the end of the 12th century by the Kings of Kalinga.

Ajanta Caves—Ajanta in Maharashtra has no less than 29 caves many feet deep the rock. They were excavated and found in the horse shoe curve of a hill side. The earliest caves date from 2nd century B.C. while others are as late as A. D. 7th century. The Ajanta mural paintings are world famous. The paintings of Cave No. 10 date from the beginning of the Christian era while those of Cave No. 1 and Cave No. 16 are perhaps from six centuries later. The figure seem to stand out from the flat wall as though coming to meet the observer. Though painted for religious purpose message. we see a whole life of ancient India in a panorama. It includes princes, beggars, peasants, ascetics, beasts. birds, flowers etc. The tribangha posture of young men is a master-piece of Ajanta paintings. Another one shows Buddha begging for his daily bread with wife Yashodhra and Rahul. Other famous painting are of the dying princes and the mother and child. Most of the caves belongs to the Gupta period.

Ellora Caves—Ellora Caves are situated near Aurangabad some 30 miles from Ajanta. There no less than 34 caves constructed from the 5th to the 8th centuries A.D. Most of them Hindu but some Buddhist and Jaina. The caves generally resemble those of Nasik and Kerala but the facade of the Buddhist Visvkarma cave shows a pleasing modification. Caves no. 14 and 15 are famous and are known as Ravan Ki Khai and Dasavatar Caves respectively. The Jaina caves include Indra Sabha and Jagannath Sabha. These caves are at a short distance from the Kailashnath temple built by Rashtrakuta king Krishna.

The Palace of Winds (Hawa Mahal)—The Palace of winds was built to provide the women of the harem of the maharayar of Jaipur with a window on the wind. The five stories building is made of pink marble and has almost 600 windows from which the harem could look unobserved.

Sanchi Stupa—This is the one of the most striking architecture remains of ancient India. It contains three big stupas. The big stupa originally built by Ashoka was enlarged to twice its original size in the 2nd century B.C. The old wooden ruling were replaced by stones ones and towards the end of the century four glorious gateways (Toranas) were added at the cardinal points. Although the railings are quite plain, the gateways are full of sculpture illustrating the jataks stories and various episodes in the life of Gautam Budhha.

Sarnath Stupa—Sarnath near Varanasi was the place of Buddhas sermon. A once inspiring stupa, today only its inner core remains. It had beautifully patterned brick work with a highly cylindrical upper dome rising from a lower hemispherical one, with large images of Buddha set in gable ends at the cardinal points. In its final form it dates from the Gupta period.

Nalanda Stupta—The stupa at Nalanda was successively enlarged seven times. In its present ruined condition it gives the impression of a brick pyramid with steps leading to its terraces. It was originally a tall stupa raised on a high base with a smaller stupa at each corner. It was successively altered during Gupta and Pala times. It was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khilji.