Rajgir

Located at the distance of 102 km from Patna, Rajgir happened to be the capital of Magadha state before the establishment of Patliputra or Patna. Rajgir is a well-known pilgrimage destination of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Some major tourist destinations in Rajgir are the Swarna Gufa, Griddhakuta Parvat, hot springs, and the Vishwa Shanti Stupa. 

Dhamnar Caves, Madhya Pradesh

Dhamnar Caves are located in Dhamnar village of Mandsaur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. This rock cut site has 51 caves stupas, Chaityas, passages and compact dwellings, were carved in 7th century AD. The site includes the colossal status of Gautama Buddha in sitting and Nirvana mudra.

Fourteen caves on northern side are historically significant among which Bari Kacheri (big courthouse) and Bhima Bazar are the magnificent. The Bari Kacheri cave measure 20 feet square includes stupa and chaitya. The porch includes stone railing with the wooden architecture. Bhima Bazar cave is the largest among the group, measuring 115 feet by 8o includes vzhara and chaityagruha. It consists of stupa, the roof is in poor condition with support of wooden architecture. ‪#‎india‬ ‪#‎caves‬ ‪#‎buddhism‬‪#‎tourism‬ ‪#‎madhyapradesh‬

Badami Cave Temples

The first ruler of the Early Chalukya dynasty, Pulakesi I established a new capital for his kingdom sometime around 540 AD. This city was located at the mouth of steep ravine and initially was named Vatapi. Nowadays it is known as Badami.

Great kingdom needed outstanding sanctuaries. Badami Chalukyas built Badami Cave Temples – some of the most exquisite Indian rock-cut temples. The water flowing from the ravine in Badami is gathered in an ancient artificial lake – Agastya tirtha reservoir. High above the water there are towering cliffs of comparatively soft sandstone. 4 Royal shrines were made in these cliffs with grand view opening over the former capital city.‪#‎badami‬ ‪#‎tourism‬ ‪#‎india‬ ‪#‎karnataka‬

उज्जैन सिंहस्थ कुम्भ 2016

मध्य प्रदेश में इंदौर से 55 किमी दूर शिप्रा नदी के तट पर ‘उज्जैन’ (विजय की नगरी) स्थित है. यह भारत के पवित्रतम शहरों तथा मोक्ष प्राप्त करने के लिए पौराणिक मान्यता प्राप्त सात पवित्र या सप्त पुरियों (मोक्ष की नगरी) में से एक माना जाता है. मोक्ष दायिनी अन्य पुरियां (नगर) हैं : अयोध्या, मथुरा, हरिद्वार, काशी (वाराणसी), कांचीपुरम, और द्वारका. पौराणिक मान्यता है कि भगवान शिव ने उज्जैन में ही दानव त्रिपुर का वध किया था. 22 अप्रैल से 21 मई 2016 के बीच उज्जैन के प्राचीन और ऐतिहासिक शहर में कुम्भ आयोजन शुरू होंगे.सिंहस्थ कुम्भ उज्जैन का महान स्नान पर्व है। यह पर्व बारह वर्षों के अंतराल से मनाया जाता है। जब बृहस्पति सिंह राशि में होता है, उस समय सिंहस्थ कुम्भ का पर्व मनाया जाता है।

पवित्र क्षिप्रा नदी में पुण्य स्नान का महात्यम चैत्र मास की पूर्णिमा से प्रारंभ हो जाता हैं और वैशाख मास की पूर्णिमा के अंतिम स्नान तक भिन्न-भिन्न तिथियों में सम्पन्न होता है। उज्जैन के प्रसिद्ध कुम्भ महापर्व के लिए पारम्परिक रूप से दस योग महत्त्वपूर्ण माने जाते हैं।

पूरे देश में चार स्थानों पर कुम्भ का आयोजन किया जाता है। प्रयाग, नासिक, हरिद्वार और उज्जैन। उज्जैन में लगने वाले कुम्भ मेलों को सिंहस्थ के नाम से पुकारा जाता है। जब मेष राशि में सूर्य और सिंह राशि में गुरु आ जाता है तब उस समय उज्जैन में महाकुंभ मेले का आयोजन किया जाता है, जिसे सिंहस्थ के नाम से देश भर में कहा जाता है।

सिंहस्थ महाकुम्भ के आयोजन की प्राचीन परम्परा है। इसके आयोजन के विषय में अनेक कथाएँ प्रचलित है। समुद्र मंथन में प्राप्त अमृत की बूंदें छलकते समय जिन राशियों में सूर्य, चन्द्र, गुरु की स्थिति के विशिष्ट योग होते हैं, वहीं कुंभ पर्व का इन राशियों में गृहों के संयोग पर ही आयोजन किया जाता है। अमृत कलश की रक्षा में सूर्य, गुरु और चन्द्रमा के विशेष प्रयत्न रहे थे। इसी कारण इन ग्रहों का विशेष महत्त्व रहता है और इन्हीं गृहों की उन विशिष्ट स्थितियों में कुंभ का पर्व मनाने की परम्परा चली आ रही है।

प्रत्येक स्थान पर बारह वर्षों का क्रम एक समान हैं अमृत-कुंभ के लिए स्वर्ग की गणना से बारह दिन तक संघर्ष हुआ था जो धरती के लोगों के लिए बारह वर्ष होते हैं। प्रत्येक स्थान पर कुंभ पर्व कोफ्लिए भिन्न-भिन्न ग्रह सिषाति निश्चित है। उज्जैन के पर्व को लिए सिंह राशि पर बृहस्पति, मेष में सूर्य, तुला राशि का चंद्र आदि ग्रह-योग माने जाते हैं।

महान सांस्कृतिक परम्पराओं के साथ-साथ उज्जैन की गणना पवित्र सप्तपुरियों में की जाती है। महाकालेश्वर मंदिर और पावन क्षिप्रा ने युगों-युगों से असंख्य लोगों को उज्जैन यात्रा के लिए आकर्षित किया। सिंहस्थ महापर्व पर लाखों की संख्या में तीर्थ यात्री और भिन्न-भिन्न सम्प्रदायों के साधु-संत पूरे भारत का एक संक्षिप्त रूप उज्जैन में स्थापित कर देते हैं, जिसे देख कर सहज ही यह जाना जा सकता है कि यह महान राष्ट्र किन अदृश्य प्रेरणाओं की शक्ति से एक सूत्र में बंधा हुआ है। ‪#‎india‬ ‪#‎archives‬ ‪#‎ujjain‬ ‪#‎bharat‬‪#‎kumbh‬

Pataleshwar Caves (Pune)

Pataleshwar Caves on Jungli Maharaj Road are 8th century cave temples dedicated to Lord Pataleshwar, God of the Underworld. Believed to have been cut out from a single rock, the place has massive pillars, which are the grandeur of the temple caves. The shrine out there is dedicated to Shiva and the Nandi. This religious shrine on Jungli Maharaj Road, housed in caves, that dates back to 700-800 AD has rather grand statues of Nandi, Sita, Ram, Lakshman, Lakshmi, Ganesh and an over-sized shivalingam under its roof.

 The attached museum is dim, dank and dusty and not worth wasting time over, apart from an exhibit that has made the Guinness Book of World Records - a grain of rice engraved with some 5000 characters 

Getting there: Open daily from 08.00 to 17.30, this is located in the middle of the busy thorughfare of Jangli Maharaj Road. Gettting there with most rickshaws willing to ply there! #india #pune #indiantourism #bharat

Madhubani Paintings

Madhubani Paintings - Mithila painting, as a domestic ritual activity, was unknown to the outside world until the massive Bihar earthquake of 1934. House walls had tumbled down, and the British colonial officer in Madhubani District, William G. Archer, inspecting the damage "discovered" the paintings on the newly exposed interior walls of homes. Archer - later to become the South Asia Curator at London's Victoria and Albert Museum - was stunned by the beauty of the paintings and similarities to the work of modern Western artists like Klee, Miro, and Picasso. During the 1930s he took black and white photos of some of these paintings, the earliest images we have of them. Then in a 1949 article in the Indian art journal, Marg, he brought the wall paintings to public attention. Then a second natural disaster, a severe draught in the late 1960s, prompted the All India Handicrafts Board to encourage a few upper caste women in villages around Madhubani town to transfer their ritual wall paintings to paper as an income generating project. Drawing on the region's rich visual culture, contrasting "line painting" and "color painting" traditions, and their individual talents, several of these women turned out to be superb artists. Four of them were soon representing India in cultural fairs in Europe, Russia, and the USA. Their national and international recognition prompted many other women from many other castes - including harijans or dalits, the ex-"untouchables" - to begin painting on paper as well.

By the late 1970s, the popular success of the paintings - aesthetically distinct from other Indian painting traditions - was drawing dealers from New Delhi offering minimal prices for mass produced paintings of the most popular divinities and three familiar scenes from the Ramayana. Out of poverty, many painters complied with the dealers' demands, and produced the rapid and repetitious images known as "Madhubani paintings." Nevertheless, with the encouragement of a number of outsiders - both Indian and foreign - other artists working within the same aesthetic traditions continued to produce the highly crafted, deeply individual and increasingly diverse work, now known as "Mithila Painting."

Mithila had long been famous in India for its rich culture and numerous poets, scholars, and theologians - all men. For women, it has been a deeply conservative society, and until painting on paper began 40+ years ago, most women were confined to their homes and limited to household chores, child rearing, managing family rituals, and ritual wall painting.

Painting on paper for sale has changed this dramatically. Aside from generating important new family income, individual women have gained local, national, and even international recognition. Artists are being invited to exhibitions across India, and to Europe, the United States, and Japan - no longer as "folk artists," but now as "contemporary artists." Where once their paintings were "anonymous," now they are proudly signed. Along with economic success, opportunities for travel, education, radio, and now television are expanding women's consciousness and engagement with the multiple worlds around them. Gender relations are shifting. A few men continue to paint within what is still defined as "a women's tradition," but their work tends to be personal and anodyne. In contrast, the women's paintings are increasingly socially charged, critical, and edgy.

These changes have provoked an argument in Mithila and beyond between cultural conservatives who claim that commercialization and the loss of its ritual functions has debased Mithila painting, versus those who see Mithila Painting as a contemporary art form rooted in the expanding experience, concerns, and freedoms of Mithila's women. Viewers of Mithila Painting: The Evolution of an Art Form are encouraged to form their own judgments. #art #india #madhubani #indianart #paintings

Naimisharanya

Naimisharanya is renowned from the time of Satya Yug or Kritha Yug, the most ancient times. It is the holy place where many sages have performed their penance. It is believed that on visiting this sacred place, people are rid of their sins. Upon visiting Naimisharanya, man attains Moksh (liberation) and attains immense powers (the eight powers that are talked about in Hindu philosophy). These words and their importance are mentioned in various ancient scriptures of India. Naimisharanya is also referred to as Naimish or Neemsaar or Neemshaar. There are innumerable Theerth (holy places) in India among which Chakra Theerth, the Pushkar in Naimisharanya ranks first. Naimisharanya is the birthplace of many puraanas. Here, many sages have gathered Knowledge for realizing self. The Universally known Satyanarayan Katha was told by Suth to Shounak and other sages in Naimisharanya. Description of this holy place is found in the first sloka of the story.

It is stated in Devi Bhaagavatham that Naimisharanya is among the nine prominent Aranyas (forest) of the earth. Naimisharanya is the abode of all of the holy places on earth and visiting this place equals visiting all the holy places at once. This evidence is found in Mahaabhaarath. The renowned saint Goswami Tulasi Das wrote about the prominence of Naimisharanya in Raamcharith Maanas. Naimisharanya is the stomach of our deceased elders. Paying homage to our elders at naimisharanya satisfies them and any sins aquried by us will be quenched and it is beneficial to our family. ‪#‎bharat_archives‬ ‪#‎Naimisharanya‬ ‪#‎india‬‪#‎freelance_talents‬ ‪#‎mohitness‬