Indian Heritage and Monuments

Champa was the capital of the Anga Mahajanapada, located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, near present-day Bihar.

Many Mughal Emperors patronised highly skilled painters. With the decline of the Mughal Empire, many painters moved out to the courts of the emerging regional states. As a result Mughal artistic tastes influenced the regional courts of the Deccan and the Rajput courts of Rajasthan. At the same time, they retained and developed their distinctive characteristics. Portraits of rulers and court scenes came to be painted, following the Mughal example. Besides, themes from mythology and poetry were depicted at centres such as Mewar, Jodhpur, Bundi, Kota and Kishangarh.

The Sun Temple at Konark, Odisha, is famously known as the Black Pagoda due to its dark appearance and its use as a navigational landmark by sailors.

• Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan. 
• Jaipur was built in 18th century by Raja Sawai Jai Singh and was the first planned city of India.
  
• It is referred to as “The pink city” because of its pink colored buildings. 

Kalibanga is one of the sites of Indus valley civilisation located in Rajasthan. It is located in Hanumangarh district. Kalibangan as a pre-historic site was discovered by Luigi Pio Tessitori, an Italian archaeologist. Kalibangan is distinguished by its unique fire altars and ploughed lands of earliest times.

Traditional food habits are generally based on locally available items of food. Bengal is a riverine plain which produces plenty of rice and fish. Understandably, these two items figure prominently in the menu of even poor Bengalis. Fishing has always been an important occupation and Bengali literature contains several references to fish. What is more, terracotta plaques on the walls of temples and viharas (Buddhist monasteries) depict scenes of fish beingdressed and taken to the market in baskets.

From the 16th century onwards, when local deities, once worshipped in thatched huts in villages, gained the recognition of the Brahmanas, their images began to be housed in temples. The temples began to copy the double-roofed (dochala) or four-roofed (chauchala) structure of the thatched huts.  This led to the evolution of the typical Bengali style in temple architecture.

The Stupas of Sanchi were constructed on the orders of Emperor Ashoka to preserve and spread the Buddhist philosophy. This stupa was originally a low structure of brick, half the diameter of the present edifice hemispherical in shape with raised terraces at the base. It was enclosed by a wooden railing and a stone umbrella at the top. This Great Stupa served as a nucleus to the large Buddhist establishment during the later period.

Amaravati Stupa in Guntur district is the most famous one in Andhra Pradesh. This was built during the rule of Satavahanas about 1900 years ago. The stupa was covered with panels of sculptures depicting the Buddha and his teachings. These panels were found by the British and were taken away by them to London. Some of the panels that could not be transported were kept  in Madras Museum.

Excavation undertaken in the year 1870 at Bhattiprolu stupa unearthed three mounds while the one carried out in 1892 led to the discovery of three inscribed stone relic caskets containing crystal caskets, relics of Buddha and jewels. The diameter of the stupa measures around 40 m with an additional basement of 2.4 m wide running all around. The most important discovery is the crystal relic casket of sarira dhatu of the Buddha from the central mass of the stupas.

Chaitya was a rectangular prayer hall with a stupa placed in the centre. The purpose of Chaityas was prayer. The Chaitya was divided into three parts, and had an apsidal ending, i.e, a semicircular rear end. The central part of the hall (also called the nave) was separated from the two aisles by two rows of pillars, The Chaityas also had polished interior walls, semicircular roofs and horse-shoe shaped windows called the Chaitya windows.

Nalanda, a large Buddhist monastery, now in ruins, was one of the most publicly acknowledged Mahaviharas of ancient India located in ancient Magadha kingdom (modern Bihar). It remained a learning centre from 7th century BCE through c. 1200 CE and is many a time categorised as one of the early universities of India along with other institutions like Vikramashila and Taxila. Pilgrims like Hu-en-Tsang, and others spent time studying in Nalanda (Bihar) the most famous Buddhist monastery of the period.

Amaravati Stupa in Guntur district is the most famous one in Andhra Pradesh. This was built during the rule of Satavahanas about 1900 years ago. The stupa was covered with panels of sculptures depicting the Buddha and his teachings. Today, the Amaravathi stupa is just a mound of rubble. 

Viharas were the monasteries or living places of Buddhist monks where religious education was imparted. A Vihara usually had small rooms around an open courtyard and had a small shrine containing a stupa or an image of the Buddha at one end.