Indian Monuments

UNESCO World heritage monuments in India: http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/in

So here is a list of all the world heritage monuments and I have knocked out the ones I have been to. Please consider this as a tag and list all those that you have been to. And if you feel some other monument deserves to be on this list but is not there, let me know that. I will probably add them to my must-visit places list.

When I saw this list on UNESCO’s site, I was so happy. Because when I compared heritage monuments of different countries listed there, India was one of the very few countries with so many monuments on the list (others being France, Germany, Spain, Italy etc). Countries like US just had 8 entries there and we have 23. Our country is rich in heritage and this is a proof for that.

I recently visited some places in North India, so now I am done with visiting more than one-half of the world heritage monuments in India.

I need to catch up on so many blogs 😦 I have been happily roaming around the country. I also have to finish some pending tags. Hope to be back to blogging very soon !! Annnnddd need to change this boring template, to start with 🙂

Cultural [14/23]

1. Agra Fort (1983)
   
   Agra fort is supposedly bigger than Red Fort, since Red Fort was built after getting inspired from this. It is very huge and was built by Mughals. Shah Jahan was imprisoned here by his son, Aurangazeb. He used to look at Taj Mahal from this fort. Taj Mahal looks beautiful from here.
2. Ajanta Caves (1983)
3. Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (1989)
   
   I had been to Sanchi when I was very small so do not remember much. I did not have a digital photo of this place since we only had roll cameras back then. But looking back at the pics, they are beautiful. I want to visit them again sometime.
4. Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (2004)
5. Elephanta Caves (1987)
6. Ellora Caves (1983)
7. Fatehpur Sikri (1986)
   
   This was the capital city of one of the greatest emperors, Akbar and thankfully, most of the palaces and buildings in the fort have survived. The gate “Buland Darwaza” is sooo huge. We humans looks like ants in front of it. I loved the palace of “Jodha Bai”. It was very beautiful and biggest of all the palaces there, even though Akbar had two more wives – one Turkish and the other Christian. There is a white mosque too inside where it seems everything you pray for, comes true. Akbar built it when he did not have kids and prayed there. As a result, Jahangir was born, who happens to be Jodha’s son.
8. Group of Monuments at Hampi (1986) – Refer to this post of mine for more details on these places : Here
9. Group of Monuments at Pattadakal (1987)  – Refer to this post of mine for more details on these places : Here
10. Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi (1993)– Humayun died in 1556, and his widow Hamida Banu Begam, also known as Haji Begam, commenced the construction of his tomb in 1569, fourteen years after his death. It seems Shah Jahan kind of kept this tomb as a model for constructing Taj Mahal, for his wife. They both are very similar in structure. This has many tombs, not just Humayun’s. There are 100s of tombs inside and all around this building.
    
11. Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986)
12. Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi (1993)
    
    Very tall and majestic looking. I wanted to get inside this building and have a look from the top, which of course they do not allow us to do anymore 😦
13. Red Fort Complex (2007) [Delhi]– Shah Jahan built this fort, when he shifted his capital from Agra to Delhi.
    
14. Sun Temple, Konârak (1984)
    
    This temple is probably the best one I have ever been to. It is broken and the deity of Sun God itself has been disfigured by cutting hands and legs. Only the torso is left of what was once the only temple (Chariot) built for Sun God. But the architecture is amazing! I don’t remember much since I was pretty young when I saw this place but pics and the model of the wheel that I have tell me how beautiful this place is. I really really want to visit this place again.
15. Great Living Chola Temples (1987)  [Thanjavur]  – The site includes three great 11th- and 12th-century Temples: the Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram.   – I hardly remember anything about Thanjavur, even though I have been there in the past.
16. Taj Mahal (1983)
    
    What can I say about this wonder of the world?! It’s beautiful. In fact, there is no word good enough to describe its beauty. You can see tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal inside. It seems Shah Jahan asked his daughter to bury him next to his wife, after his death. So when Aurangazeb was not in Agra and was in some battle, Shah Jahan’s daughter smuggled his body and buried both the bodies in an underground chamber. What you see outside is a fake tomb, the real bodies were buried inside. This was the case in Humayun’s tomb too, probably to safeguard the bodies from body-snatchers and thieves.
17. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (2004)  [Mumbai]
18. Churches and Convents of Goa (1986)
19. Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (1984)
20. Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya (2002)
    
    This is the place where Lord Buddha got enlightenment. Again, I visited it when I was pretty young, so I do not remember much. But I remember the Bodh Gaya tree which still stood there. The same tree under which Buddha sat. Want to visit this again!
21. Mountain Railways of India (1999)  [Darjeeling, Shimla, Nilgiri – TN]
22. Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (2003)
23. The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur (2010) –  King Sawai Jai Singh II built them at Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain and Mathura. Check here.
    
    Other than these, I feel the temples of Belur and Halebidu deserve to be on the list, for the beautiful architecture in those temples.

Natural

1. Kaziranga National Park (1985)
2. Keoladeo National Park (1985)
3. Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (1985)
4. Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks (1988)
5. Sundarbans National Park (1987) [Calcutta]