Skip to main content

Posts

Top 5 Christian Pilgrimage Destinations In India You Should Visit

Christianity has quite a good presence in India. Ever since its early years, Christianity has had its roots in India. If we are to rely on a tradition, India came in contact with Christianity very early. In fact tradition credits the Disciple Thomas himself with evangelizing India.  Christian tradition has it that India’s first brush with Christianity took place during the reign of  Gondophares (founder of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom) by the efforts of the Christian apostle St. Thomas who is said to have visited his empire. According to Roman Catholics, tomb of St. Thomas was buried in the cathedral at Mailapur or Mylapore in the southern part of Chennai. If we have to put aside the legend, the first definite historical evidence to the Christian activity can be found in the Topografia Christiana (Christian Topography) of Cosmas Indicopleustes, an adventurous Alexendrian monk of the 6th century AD. Cosmas Indicopleustes, literally meaning who sailed to India, left a voluminous ac...
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

The Tomb of Itmad- ud- Daulah, Agra

Built by Nur Jahan, wife of fourth Mughal emperor Jahangir, for her father, Itmad- ud- Daulah’s tomb in Agra in Uttar Pradesh is one of the earliest buildings in which pietra dura, a method of decorating the walls with floral designs studded with semi-precious stones, was used.   Also known as mini Taj, the structure is the first Mughal buildings built entirely from marble. Built between 1622 and 1628 it is also the first tomb to be built on the banks of the Yamuna. Nur Jahan’s father Mirza Ghiyas Beg was given the title of Itmad- ud- Daulah (pillar of the state). He was the wazir (chief minister) of the Mughal empire under Jehangir.  Itmad- ud- Daulah’s tomb was built by Nur Jahan ,  Pietra dura is also used on a large scale in the Taj Mahal.
Post a Comment
Read more

Five Buddhist Destinations in Odisha You should visit in 2026

When it comes to the concentration of Buddhist sites in Indian states, the eastern state of Odisha does not lag far behind the likes of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. With over two millennia of history in Buddhism, Odisha is what one would call a heaven of the Buddhist. Visit the below mentioned predominant places of Buddhist pilgrimage in the state in 2026.  Ratnagiri  Ratnagiri, Odisha The excavations at Ratnagiri have unearthed important Buddhist sites and artifacts including two large Buddhist monasteries, 10 meter high stupa surrounded by small votive stupas and a statue of Buddha. According to the Chinese monk and scholar Hieun Tsang who visited the site in the 7th century AD, Ratnagiri was an important entre of Buddhism. The Ratnagiri museum under the Archeological Survey of India is an invaluable introduction to the history of Buddhism in the area and the galleries have some interesting finds including sculptures found in the area. Lalitgiri Complete view of the chaityagri...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hawa Mahal: Marvel at the Architecture

Hawa Mahal Jaipur Your lasting impression of Jaipur will be of the impressive the Palace of Winds or Hawa Mahal. One of the most written-about and photographed of the monuments in the world, the Hawa Mahal was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, grandson of Maharaj Sawai Jai Singh (the founder of Jaipur). Made of sandstone plastered pink encrusted with fine trelliswork and elaborate balconies, this iconic landmark is a five-storey ornamental facade of 953 niches and windows latticed-stone screened windows. Behind these windows the women could view the city street below without being seen. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Today in Indian History (1st March)

1572   - Maharana Pratap ascended the throne of Mewar kingdom on 1 March, 1572.  Maharana Pratap is known for his valiant and spirited defence against the Mughal Empire under Akbar.  Maharana Pratap died at Chavand on 19th January in 1597.    Maharana Pratap was the ruler of Mewar kingdom in present day Rajasthan, from 1572 until his death in 1597. He is notable for leading the Rajput resistance against the Mughals in the legendary battle of  Haldighati  in 1576. 1776  - The Treaty of Purandar was a doctrine signed on 1 March 1776 by the Peshwa of the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company's Supreme Council of Bengal in Calcutta. Earlier another Treaty of Purandar was signed between Maratha leader  Shivaji  and  Jai Singh,  Mughal viceroy of Deccan, on 11 June 1665.
Post a Comment
Read more

Today in Indian History (26th February)

320 –  Chandragupta I is officially crowned as the first Gupta Emperor on 26 February in 320 AD.   1966  - Death of  Vinayak Damodar Savarka r on 26 February 1966. Popularly known as Veer Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was a great revolutionary and later on a leader of the Hindu Mahasabha.  Savarkar was born on 28 May 1883 to a Marathi Hindu Chitpavan Brahmin family to Damodar and Radhabai Savarkar in  Bhagur  in the  Nashik  district in Maharashtra. He had three other siblings: two brothers, Ganesh and Narayan, and a sister named Mainabai.  In 1899 he established the first revolutionary society the  Mitra Mela (Friends Association) , which was named as the Abhinav Bharat Society (New India Society) in 1904.  In 1906  Savarka r  went to England and became a member of the revolutionary group led by  Shyamji Krishna Varma . On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Revolt of 1857, he wrote a famous book in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Data Ganj Bakhsh Khwaja Ali Hujjwiri

Tomb of Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh /  Image source Also known as Data Ganj Baksh (Distributor of Unlimited Power), Khwaja Ali Hujjwiri lived in 11th century AD and is considered to be the earliest Sufi Saint of repute who made India his home.  Born in Ghazni in Afghanistan, he died in Lahore and his tomb, known popularly as Data Darbar, is an important place of pilgrimage in the city. Also called Shaykh al-Hujwiri, Khwaja Ali Hujjwiri was a scholar and is known for compiling Kashf-ul-Mahjoob or Kashf al-Mahjub (Revelation of Mystery), a Persian treatise on Sufism, which was translated into English by British Orientalist and scholar Reynold Alleyne Nicholson. The work gives the biographies of Sufis from Prophet Muhammad's days to his own time.  Hujwiri died in 1073 and was buried in Lahore. His shrine was visited by famous Chisti saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti who paid his homage to him by hailing him as 'Ganj Baksh' , the perfect pir.  The grandson of Sultan Mahmud of Gha...
Post a Comment
Read more