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Temple of the Sun
A hundred and five kilometres away from Ahmedabad lies Modhera, home to an exquisitely crafted Sun Temple that delights the aesthetic senses, stimulates historical curiosity and inspires feelings for the divine.
The craft of Bidar
An ancient art, using techniques that still baffle scientists, Bidriware has emerged as a distinctive craft that is famed for its intricacy and exclusiveness.
I am a Muslim and profoundly conscious of the fact that I have inherited Islam’s glorious traditions of the last thirteen hundred years. I am not prepared to lose even a small part of that legacy…I am equally proud of the fact that I am an Indian, an essential part of the invisible unity of Indian nationhood, a vital factor in its total make-up without which its noble edifice will remain incomplete. I can never give up this sincere claim. It was India’s historic destiny that its soil should become the destination of many different caravans of races, cultures and religions. Even before the dawn of history’s morning, they started their trek into India and the process has continued since.
Maulana Azad
Heritage India – Inter School Quiz Competition 2011
Heritage India will be holding an inter-school quiz competition on the 11th of February. With 21 teams participating, there will be lots of excitement and prizes to win!
ASTITVA – Celebrating Indian Heritage
1. DRISHTIKON – Photography competition.2. MELANGE – Fusion music event
3. GLIMPSES OF INDIA – Attire of India
4. C’RAFFITTI – Graffiti competition
5. E-MOTIONS – Short film
The event focused on the culture and heritage of India with the aim of making the younger generations aware of the rich legacy they have inherited. The events saw an overwhelming response from college students. Over 210 students participated in the event. All participants were presented with a copy of the magazine – Heritage India.
Heritage India at KALA GHODA FESTIVAL
Heritage India magazine will participate in the Festival of India held by the Kala Ghoda Association in October. The three day event attracts people from all walks of life and also foreign tourists. The backdrop of the Jahangir Art Gallery and the Asiatic Library serve as a perfect venue for this festival that showcases the art and craft of India. Stalls of handcrafted goods and food items along with live dance and music shows are the unique feature of this festival. We invite you to come and take a look at some of our exciting publications and offers!
TEACHERS WORKSHOP – 26 NOVEMBER 2010
Heritage India Magazine has been involved in making our children, who are the guardians of the rich legacy of India, aware of our culture and heritage. Keeping this in mind, we organized the HERITAGE INDIA Quiz 2010.The response boosted our morale and we have decided to conduct a workshop for teachers to orient them to understand Indian History. Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth will assist us in this venture.
Aimed at school teachers, the workshop will explain history right from Stone age man to the British in India. The objective of the workshop being to help teachers make History easy and fun to learn for the children. The sessions will be conducted by academicians well versed in the field of Archaeology and History.
The Vohrawaads of Sidhpur
Heritage India publishes another coffee table book “The Vohrawaads of Sidhpur” by Zoyab Kadi & Tahaer Kadi Once the exotic abodes of a community in change, plush with ornate interiors and lavish embellishments, the Vohravaads of Sidhpur are today a pale spectre of their former selves. We present to you our latest publication – a coffee table book dedicated to this unique architectural style.
The heritage houses of Najampura, Sidhpur in North Gujarat, have been a subject of many scholarly studies over the last several decades and, although many inconsistent theories have been put forward regarding the evolution of their vernacular architectural style, all of them have uniformly concluded that the underlying grammar is certainly of European origin.
- Built during the early 20th century when trade and commerce were flourishing on the high seas off Gujarat, the builders of these houses – the affluent Dawoodi Bohra Community – left them vulnerably exposed for nearly three decades, to a series of self destructive forces, some of which have kept coming back in different guises. On the other hand, the exotic interiors, presented with stunning visuals in the book, are a constant source of temptation to drooling antique dealers. many sturdy houses have gone under the crowbar. Fortunately with a vigorous resurgence of interest within the Community the survival of the remaining stock, though not fully assured, is constantly being monitored by ever increasing groups of vigilant people.
The book endeavours to project the image of this amazing vernacular architectural style to a Global audience and to create an awareness amongst people to increase and enchance its longetivity.
For detailed queries about the book, please write to info@heritage-india.com or call 020 30285058
Old City Heritage Walk
After the recent success of our very first Heritage walk, Heritage India Magazine are conducting the next Old City Heritage Walk in Pune on Sunday, the 20th of December, 2009. The walk aims at understanding the history of evolution of the city while exploring places of historical, religious and architectural importance.The walk, commencing from Shaniwar Wada at 8.00 a.m., would cover – Kasba Ganpati – Lal Mahal – Nana Wada – Faraskhana – Dagdusheth – Tulshibaug Shopping Complex and Tulshibaug Temple (with rest and snacks) -Vishrambaug Wada (1st and 3rd Chowk ) – Shopping & Window shopping at “Smile” outlet – Mahatma Phule Mandai (Ray Market) and end at Burud Ali around noon.
Limited participants would be enrolled for the walk on a first-come basis. A small fee would be chargeable.
The walk would be conducted by Saili Palande-Datar, who is a Diploma holder in Indology and is pursuing a graduate program in Ancient Culture and Archaeology. She presently works as Visiting Faculty, Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth & Symbiosis International Studies Programme, and as a Freelance Heritage and Nature Interpreter.
Participants can register for this very interesting Heritage Walk on the following phone numbers: Saili Palande – Datar +91 9881009826, Heritage Office – Tel: +91 20 65003251
Heritage India magazine at ARAHE India 2009, Pune
Pune: The Heritage India magazine team are going to set up a stall at the ARAHE (Asian Regional Association for Home Economics) 15th Biennial International Congress at the VITS hotel Balewadi, Pune (adjacent to Chhatrapati Shivaji Sports Complex) on the 13th and 14th of December from 9.00 am to 9.00 pm. A wonderful opportunity for all to grab a copy of their favourite magazine at discounted prices. You can also avail the previous issues and take a look at our latest publication -Wari-The Pilgrimage of Joy.Please write to us at info@heritage-india.com for furthur details.
Buddhist Rock-cut Caves found near Shirapur, Dist. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra
Two Buddhist rock – cut caves have been discovered in the hills of Garbhagiri situated 6 kms from the village Shirapur, Dist. Ahmednagar, by Dr. Shreekant Jadhav, Deccan College, Pune. They consist of an unfinished chaityagriha (prayer hall containing a stupa) and an unfinished vihara (residential quarter). The chaityagriha is apsidal on plan, measuring 36ft. x16 ft. and 21 ft. high. The stupa measuring 8ft. stands in the apse, with a round hole at the top for the wooden shaft of the umbrella (which is missing today). The important feature of this particular cave is that there are two octagonal hanging pillars on the left; the third pillar was in the process i.e. just trimmed in a square vertical block. There are few stone beams on the ceiling above the stupa as well as on the outer face of the chaitya arch. All these features suggest an early date i.e. circa 1st – 2nd. Century C.E. About 100 meters to the west of the chaityagriha is an unfinished vihara measuring 40ft.x 35 ft. The ceiling of this vihara is almost finished, and all the three walls show remains of cells.
Dr. Shreekant Jadhav studied the caves in detail. He is of the opinion that though the parent rock is basalt, it is of a poor quality. It comprises of close jointing, chlorophaeite enriched zones and phalgonites in both the chaityagriha and vihara respectively. A huge band of the red bole traverses horizontally in the vihara, at the rear end where the excavation had stopped. Even though the caves remained unfinished due to the bad quality of the rock, they are immensely important. The beginning of the excavation of these caves points to the existence of the Buddhist samgha in this region, which was almost unknown till date. Other than these remains, scholars have hardly found any Buddhist rock – cut activity in this part of the state. Most of the rock – cut caves are located in the Sahyadri mountain ranges. Hence this finding is of special importance.
Cannonballs unearthed on a large number in Pune
On Thursday, 24th December 2009, some workers were digging a trench to lay a water pipeline in the Khadakmal Aali area near Swargate in Pune, Maharashtra. Soon they started getting the cannonballs. At the end of the day more than eight hundred cannonballs were recovered, each weighing about 700-800 gm. Many more were also found on the following days and finally the number went to nearly two thousand nine hundred and seventy seven.
It is understood that Nanasaheb Peshwa had established an artillery workshop in Khadakmal area of the city under the supervision of Sardar Bheevrao Panse, who was heading the Peshwa’s artillery. Available references show that a British officer, Captain Gordon had visited the workshop in June 1739. He later wrote to his seniors about the Marathas having acquired the technique of making and using cannons and cannon balls. Later on, the British closed down the workshop in around 1824 and the place was converted into a prison. A few cannonballs had been recovered from this area about 15 years ago. But is difficult to tell who had collected so many cannonballs at this place.
Bamiyan like sculptures of the Buddha found in Ladakh
Officials of the archives, archaeology and museums department of Jammu and Kashmir have discovered ancient rock – cut sculptures of the Buddha in the Zanskar area in Ladakh region. These sculptures resemble the huge sculptures at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. These sculptures were probably made in c. 5th – 6th century C.E. These findings are being studied by the scholars in the field.
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