Showing posts with label heritage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heritage. Show all posts

LOKARANG SAMAROH @ BHOPAL


Lokrang Samaroh, organised by Madhya Pradesh Adivasi Lok Kala Academy is celebrated annually on 26th January, during the auspicious day of Republic day. This five day cultural festival, based on the rich tribal and folk tradition of India, is celebrated every year with a definite motive. Sometimes the festival focuses on the West Indian cultural, explaining the heritage of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and sometimes on the North Indian cultures, explaining the heritage of Jammu Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Whatever it is, Lokrang Samaroh is mainly focused on a single geographical and Geo-cultural unit of the country.



The real motive of the festival is to remove the Geo-political differentiation and make India a wholly integrated country. The main highlights of the festival are classical dances, tribal folk dances, performing arts, exhibition of art and craft etc.

SOFIA MASJID, BHOPAL


One of the old masjid in Bhopal established by Mughal Empire in 16th century.



Location- Near Koh-e-Fiza, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.

TAJ MAHAL, BHOPAL

Taj Mahal (Palace) of Bhopal was built by Shah Jahan Begum in (1868 – 1901) the daughter of Nawab Jehangir Mohammad Khan and Sikandar Jahan Begum of Bhopal. Taj Mahal is situated near the famous Taj ul Masajid of Bhopal.















Shah Jehan Begum wanted the same glory for herself as Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. So, she named this palace the ‘Taj Mahal’. Its construction was started in 1871 and was completed in thirteen years in 1874 for a cost of Three million Rupees. Interestingly, in 1949, this palace served as a shelter to thousands of riot victims and migrants of India Pakistan partition from Sindh and Punjab for many years.
































The palace has 120 rooms and eight large halls. The large entrance of this six storied building and the main lobby are huge and spacious in order to accommodated horse driven carriages inside the palace. The ‘Sawan Bhado’ pavilion in the main courtyard of the palace is an attempted remake of a similar pavilion in the Shalimar Bagh in Kashmir. Here, artificial nozzles with underground water supply were mounted inside walls for spraying cold water in hot summer afternoons.

BHIMBETKA CAVES (BHIMBETKA ROCK SHELTERS), BHOPAL


The Bhimbetka Caves are situated just 46 km from Bhopal. This is archaeological World Heritage site located in Raisen District in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and they are surrounded by the northern limits of Vindhya mountain Range. As the legend goes, these hills got their name after Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers. The name 'Bhim-bet-ka' means 'where Bhim sat down'. The name Bhimbetka is associated with Bhima, a hero-deity renowned for his immense strength, from the epic Mahabharata. The word Bhimbetka is said to derive from Bhimbaithka, meaning "sitting place of Bhima".  

There are more than 600 caves that have the collection of oldest prehistoric paintings in India. These caves were found by Dr. V.S Wakankar, the famous Indian archaeologists in the year 1958. It took around 16 years to excavate the entire area covered by these caves. Although there are more than 600 caves, only 12 are open for tourists at the moment, but they show you the best paintings that are there in all other caves. And out of the 24 world heritage sites that have been recognized by UNESCO in India, Bhimbetka caves are the oldest one.

There are many interesting facts about these caves. These caves had been used as a shelter by people from the earliest of periods. Thus, you will find paintings of all periods starting from Paleolithic era to medieval era. The paintings turn out to be a mirror showing evolution of humanity through time. The style of the paintings of separate periods is so different that you can easily differentiate between them. The paintings of Paleolithic age are huge linear figures of animals like tigers, bears and rhinoceroses. As the time passed, the paintings became smaller, shapely and more precise. The paintings now depicted the daily chores of people like hunting and dancing. Slowly the artistry from raw art turned into religious images showing the change in the mindset. The oldest painting here is said to be around 12,000 years old, whereas the most recent is around 1000 years old. The colors used by the cave dwellers, were prepared by combining manganese, hematite, soft red stone and wooden coal. The paintings over the years have stayed unharmed by nature due to the reaction between the chemicals present in rocks and the color. Even animal fat and plant leaves were used in the mixture.

These caves have now become one of the most popular attractions in Bhopal. You can plan a day’s excursion to experience the relics on the walls of the caves, admire the solitude and spend a day in wonderment exploring the fascinating history of the ancient times.