Digital Magazine

1. Digital magazine
Historical Monuments of India
3/10/2015
Presented by
Smitha Surendran
Social Science
Reg.No: 16914367018

2. Akshardham
Akshardham or Swaminarayan Akshardham complex is a Hindu temple, and a spiritual-cultural campus in New
Delhi, India.[1][2]
Also referred to as Delhi Akshardham or Swaminarayan Akshardham, the complex
displays millennia of traditional Hindu and Indian culture, spirituality, and architecture. It is the
largest Hindu temple after the Akshardham in Gandhinagar both inspired and developed by Pramukh
Swami Maharaj, the spiritual head of the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan
Sanstha, whose 3,000 volunteers helped 7,000 artisans construct the temple.[3][4]
The temple, which attracts approximately 70 percent of all tourists who visit Delhi,[5][6]
was officially opened
on 6 November 2005 by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.[3]
It sits near the banks of the Yamuna adjacent to
the 2010Commonwealth Games village in eastern New Delhi.[7]
The temple, at the center of the complex,
was built according to the Vastu shastra and Pancharatra shastra.

3. Red Fort
In 1638 Shahjahan transferred his capital from Agra to Delhi and laid the foundations of
Shahjahanabad, the seventh city of Delhi. It is enclosed by a rubble stone wall, with bastions,
gates and wickets at intervals. Of its fourteen gates, the important ones are the Mori, Lahori,
Ajmeri, Turkman, Kashmiri and Delhi gates, some of which have already been demolished. His
famous citadel, the Lal-Qila, or the Red Fort, lying at the town's northern end on the right bank
or the Yamuna and south of Salimgarh, was begun in 1639 and completed after nine years. The
Red Fort is different from the Agra fort and is better planned, because at its back lies the
experience gained by Shahjahan at Agra, and because it was the work of one hand. It is an
irregular octagon, with two long sides on the east and west, and with two main gates, one on the
west and the other on the south, called Lahori and Delhi gates respectively. While the walls,
gates and a few other structures in the fort are constructed of red sandstone, marble has been
largely used in the palaces.

4. Golden Temple
The Golden Temple, located in the city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab,is a place of great
beauty and sublime peacefulness. Originally a small lake in the midst of a quiet forest, the site
has been a meditation retreat for wandering mendicants and sages since deep antiquity. The
Buddha is known to have spent time at this place in contemplation.Two thousand years after
Buddha's time, another philosopher-saint came to live and meditate by the peaceful lake. This
was Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of the Sikh religion. After the passing away of Guru
Nanak, his disciples continued to frequent the site; over the centuries it became the primary
sacred shrine of the Sikhs. The lake was enlarged and structurally contained during the
leadership of the fourth Sikh Guru (Ram Dass, 1574-1581), and during the leadership of the fifth
Guru (Arjan, 1581-1606), the Hari Mandir, or Temple of God was built. From the early 1600s to
the mid 1700s the sixth through tenth Sikh Gurus were constantly involved in defending both
their religion and their temple against Muslim armies. On numerous occasions the temple was
destroyed by the Muslims, and each time was rebuilt more beautifully by the Sikhs. From 1767
onwards, the Sikhs became strong enough militarily to repulse invaders. Peace returned to the
Hari Mandir.

5. Mysore Palace
Mysore Palace or the Mysore Maharaja Palace is located in the heart of the city. Mysore
Palace is one of the most visited monuments in India. And its one of the largest palaces in the
country, also known asAmba Vilas Palace, was the residence of the Wodeyar Maharaja's of
the Mysore state.The original palacebuilt of wood, got burnt down in 1897, during the wedding
of Jayalakshammanni, the eldest daughter of Chamaraja Wodeyar and was rebuilt in 1912 at the
cost of Rs. 42 lakhs. The present Palace built in Indo-Saracenic style and blends together Hindu,
Muslim, Rajput, and Gothic styles of architecture. It is a three-storied stone structure, with
marble domes and a 145 ft five-storied tower. Above the central arch is an impressive sculpture
of Gajalakshmi, the goddess of wealth, prosperity, good luck, and abundance with her elephants.

6. Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a vast Mughal garden that
encompasses nearly 17 hectares, in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh. It was built by Mughal
Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal with construction starting in 1632 AD
and completed in 1648 AD, with the mosque, the guest house and the main gateway on the
south, the outer courtyard and its cloisters were added subsequently and completed in 1653
AD. The existence of several historical and Quaranic inscriptions in Arabic script have facilitated
setting the chronology of Taj Mahal. For its construction, masons, stone-cutters, inlayers,
carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the
whole of the empire and also from the Central Asia and Iran. Ustad-Ahmad Lahori was the main
architect of the Taj Mahal.
The Taj Mahal is considered to be the greatest architectural achievement in the whole range of
Indo-Islamic architecture. Its recognised architectonic beauty has a rhythmic combination of
solids and voids, concave and convex and light shadow; such as arches and domes further
increases the aesthetic aspect. The colour combination of lush green scape reddish pathway
and blue sky over it show cases the monument in ever changing tints and moods. The relief
work in marble and inlay with precious and semi precious stones make it a monument apart.

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