Posts tagged Hawa Mahal
GOLDEN TOUR (DELHI AGRA – RAJASTHAN)
The nation is known for its diversity, heritage, history, and hospitality and people ready to share the rich culture of their nation with visitors. India has many monuments and must visits and one such is India golden tour. This tour has three destinations Jaipur in the state Rajasthan, Agra in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Delhi, which is the capital of the country.
Rajasthan is the sole state in the ation where one can encounter desserts and hot noon and chilly nights. UP shares borders with both Delhi as well as Rajasthan so the tour starts either from Jaipur or from Delhi. Although every place in the nation is worthy of a visit but visiting every place is next to impossible for a person with a mainstream job or business so golden tour makes the best utilization of the short trip which ensures memories and experiences which one can cherish for a lifetime.
If the tour starts at Delhi the visitors will get a pickup on arrival at the airport and sightseeing are done on the day or the next day of arrival according to the comfort of the visitor .Major tourist attraction in the capital are India gate, Lotus temple, Qutub Minar , Jama musjid (mosque), president house, parliament house and some famous local bazzars(markets). Lotus temple is about 113 feet high and is made to shape like a white lotus due to use of white marble from Penteli mountains in Greece and awarded by CNN the most visited building in the world in 2001. India gate is a arch which has names of all the martyr of Indo-pak war of 1971 carved and a Amar Jawan Jyoti which is a fire lit up in there remembrance.
Qutub minar is worlds highest minaret which is 239 feet high and was constructed in 1192 by Qutub-Ub-Din-Aibak the founder of Delhi Sultanate. Jama Masjid is a mosque where muslim devotees offer their prayers completed in 1656 AD with 3 great gates,4 towers and 40 minarets .It can accommodate upto 25000 people at once. Although it is a mosque but people of all other religious believes visit Jama masjid .
Next destination is city of Agra which has Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonder in the world. Delhi to Agra is about 4 hour drive journey via the Delhi-Agra expressway. Taj Mahal is a mausoleum made of ivory white marble stone made by king Shah Jahan the fifth ruler of the Mughal dynasty which ruled the state of India for little over three centuries in memory of his twentieth wife Mumtaz Mahal .The main monument is about 240 feet high and the upper tomb like structure resembles a onion due to which it is also called onion dome. Constructed by about 22000 laborers for more than two decade is the live proof of richness of medieval time India in the area of architecture and planning ,the boundaries of Taj are spread over 17 yards and has well maintained garden and a mosque in the enclosed area. The mosque is known as the Kau Ban mosque which is the place of worship for Muslims.
Taj Mahal is closed for normal visitor on Fridays as muslim devotees offer prayer called Jumma on Fridays. People generally from within or outside the country visit city of Agra predominantly to see the Taj but unlike normal belief of people Agra can be explored through street walk ,market exploration and other unusual activities if time is no constraint .For people planning longer tours visiting the city of Fatehpur Sikri about twenty miles from Agra is recommended .Built by emporer Akbar the third ruler of Mughal dynasty and was initially the capital which was later shifted to Agra due to scarcity in Fatehpur. Although it is a small city but offers a good sight seen experience as it has the bigger Jama mosque same as the one in Delhi and other fort and palaces which belonged to officials of that time as it was once the capital . Day trip to Agra from New Delhi is best way to see the places in case you have time constraints
Finally visitor reach Jaipur which justifies its name the pink city as majority of the old buildings have various shades of pink on the exterior which cannot get unnoticed upon arriving in the city. Like other cities it also has many places which deserve a visit like City palace, Hawa Mahal, observatory, Amber fort and Water palace .City palace was built between 1729 to 1732 by Jai Singh II the ruler of Amber .It has astonishing designs which demonstrate the variation in architecture within a short distance between buildings of same era. Hawa Mahal or Wind Palace has a design such that it has many small windows which leads to strong cool winds inside the monument even if the pace of wind is not very strong outside .Observatory or the Jantar Mantar is a structure which was used to determine time in the era when there were no watches and one such identical structure is in Delhi also. Amber fort is situated in city of Amber about seven miles from Jaipur and is declared as a world heritage sight by UNESCO .Constructed by red sandstone it has a Sukh Niwas which has a technology of creating artificial coolness through winds which can be compared to modern day centralized temperature regulators in buildings which is the proof of advancement of the science in medieval India and it also houses Sheesh Mahal or mirror palace.