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Stonehenge
Location : Stonehenge
One of the 7 wonders : Stonehenge, Salisbury, UK
Construction : 3001 BC
Height & Weight : 30 feet (9 meters) tall and weigh 25 tons (22.6 metric tons) on average
Material : Blue stone and Sarsen sandstone
Imagine what it feels like to stand in the middle of Stonehenge at winter and summer solstice
Trip on : July, 2011
Angkor Wat
After a nice lunch we went to Angkor Wat temple . We entered through different entrance and started our trip in reverse direction. According to our guide, visitors will be at lunch at this time and if we do reverse route, we can avoid the crowd.
Some facts about Angkor Wat :
Angkor Wat is located about four miles north of Siem Reap and south of Angkor Thom. Entry and exit to Angkor Wat can only be access through west gate. Angkor Wat (Wat means temple) was built between A.D. 1113 and 1150. It is spread across 500 acres. Angkor Wat is one of the largest religious monuments ever constructed. Its name means “temple city.” Originally built as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu, it was converted into a Buddhist temple in the 14th century.
The city where the Angkor Wat was built, Angkor, is located in modern-day Cambodia and was once the capital of the Khmer Empire. This city contains hundreds of temples. Angkor Wat has 213-foot-tall (65 meters) central tower surrounded by four smaller towers and a series of enclosure walls, a layout that recreates the image of Mount Meru, a legendary place in Hindu mythology that is said to lie beyond the Himalayas and be the home of the gods.
There is 5 million tons of sandstone used to build Angkor Wat. These are transported from quarries from 50 kms away from this place.
Location : Siem Reap,Cambodia
Material : Sandstone
Fact : Biggest temple for Lord Vishnu
Total Area : 208 hectares
Our first look of the Angkor Wat.
“Ksheera sagara mathanam (Churing the Ocean of milk)” with Devas taking the tail side and Asuras (Daemons) taking the Vasuki (Snake) head side…
People getting punishments in Yama lokam…
Lord Yama on his vahanam “Buffalo”
Ramayan : Lord Rama killing Vali from behind the tree
Mahabharat :
- Guru Dronacharya in the war.
- Bhishma on ampasayya
Lord Vishnu.. it is his temple…
There was so much wind, shadows were not coming in the water…
Trip Date : July, 2018
Great Pyramid of Giza
Unbelievable to see the Pyramid from BC with some much secrets and treasures. There are no answers how they built the Pyramids. 95% of the life is around the Nile. They got the stones from Aswan Quarry to build the Pyramid. Granite stones are shipped on the small rafts from Aswan to Giza along the Nile using the rain floods.
Location : Giza, Egypt
Complex: 8 Pyramids in one location in Giza.
One of the 7 wonders : Pyramid of Giza (Pyramid of Khufu)
Construction : 2500 BC
Height : 481 ft
Material : Limestone and Granite
Still unknown : Lot of facts
The large limestone blocks weighted 6.5 – 10 tons and the smaller ones about 1.3 tons. An average weight of 2.5 tons for stones.
Sphinx and Great Pyramid Complex
Inside tour of Great Pyramid…
Our family at Great Pyramid of Giza.
Trip on : Feb, 2018
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Tower of Pisa is a bell tower for the Cathedral in the Pisa. Initially the tower was angled at 5.5 degrees, but after restoration work in 2001 they adjusted and made it stable with angle of 3.99 degrees now. With this restoration this tower has another 200 years of life.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the seven wonders of the medieval world in Italy.
We took a tour from Florence to reach here.
Location : Pisa, Italy
Specialty : leaning at an angle of 5.5 degrees and now to 3.99 degrees.
Material : Line stone and Marble Facade
Current height : 56.67m – highest side, 55,86m – lowest side
Age limit : min 8 years to go top (Book tickets in advance)
Trip on : August, 2011
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is the world’s longest wall. It goes through different mountains and rugged country path across. Major portion of the wall is built during the Ming Dynasty. There is no worlds when you are walking on the Great wall. It is seen as far as you can see from any point.
We went to less crowded portion of the wall, Badaling section.
Location : Beijing, China
Length of the Wall : 21,196.18 km (13,170.7 mi)
Years : more than 2300 years old
Trip on : July 2012
Chichen Itza
Chichén Itzá is a complex of Mayan ruins on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. A massive step pyramid, known as El Castillo or Temple of Kukulcan, dominates the ancient city, which thrived from around 600 A.D. to the 1200s.
We booked a guided “Day Trip to Chichen Itza with Cenote Swim and Lunch ” from Cancun. This includes a stop at cenote ik kil, Lunch and Chichen Itza. A 3 hour drive from Cancun to Chitchen Itza.
Sun God is the main God for Mayans. There is lot of history in this place. Main places to see are…
- The serpent effect
- The Great Ball Court.
- Skull Platform
- The Sacred Cenote
- Temple of the Warriors
- The Osario staircase.
Location : Yucatan, Mexico
Also known as : Kukulkan Mayan Pyramid
Height : 98 ft
This step pyramid stands about 30 metres (98 ft) high and consists of a series of nine square terraces, each approximately 2.57 metres (8.4 ft) high, with a 6-metre (20 ft) high temple upon the summit.
At the base of the balustrades of the northeastern staircase are carved heads of a serpent. Around the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, in the late afternoon, the northwest corner of the pyramid casts a series of triangular shadows against the western balustrade on the north side that evokes the appearance of a serpent wriggling down the staircase, which some scholars have suggested is a representation of the feathered-serpent god Kukulcan.
It is said to be there are religious rites done in this temple on top to get good agricultural results.
We remembered the Movie “Apocalypto ” when we were in this place. According to Mayan culture they sacrifice people to worship the sun god on top of this temple and push the bodies down on these steps. There is a similar scene in that movie.
I sacrifice my name to make my name… “I am Kukulcan”
The Colosseum
Italian name: Colosseo
The Colosseum is the main symbol of Rome. It is located just east of the Roman Forum and was built to a practical design, with its 80 arched entrances allowing easy access to 55,000 spectators, who were seated according to rank. The Coliseum is huge, an ellipse 188m long and 156 wide. Originally 240 masts were attached to stone corbels on the 4th level.
Remember the movie Gladiators..
Roman gladiators were usually slaves, prisoners of war or condemned criminals. Most were men, but there were a few female gladiators. These combats were attended by the poor, the rich, and frequently the emperor himself. As gladiators fought, vicious cries and curses were heard from the audience around the Roman Colosseum. One contest after another was staged in the course of a single day. Should the ground become too soaked with blood, it was covered over with a fresh layer of sand and the performance went on. The gladiatorial games continued until Christianity progressively put an end to those parts of them which included the death of humans.
The Colosseum was damaged by lightning and earthquakes in medieval times and, even more severely, by vandalism. All the marble seats and decorative materials disappeared, as the site was treated as little more than a quarry for more than 1,000 years. Preservation of the Colosseum began in earnest in the 19th century.
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal — A Symbol of Love. Love of a man to his wife. An ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. Taj Mahal is built in 17th century by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal. It took more than 20 years to build this. It costed around 32 million rupees at that time. Imagine how much that will be now.
As we are growing up everyone always talk about Taj Mahal as India’s Pride. We learned history about this place. Teenage kids talk about this as symbol of Love. Always proud to be part of country’s representation in the Seven wonders of the world.
In 2008, Jan, we planned a day trip to Agra from New Delhi. We started early in the morning. Unfortunately, our taxi tire got punctured and it delayed our trip to reach Agra on time. We took a camel cart from parking lot to the entrance of the Taj Mahal.
First views of the Taj Mahal.
“The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. It is believed over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty-eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.”
An amazing view of the Taj Mahal as walking close it it, we are in awwwwhhhhh…
The structure was made of sandstone and then covered in marble and embedded different precious stones on the marble for ornamental look. These precious stones seems to be jasper and jade. The finials were made of solid gold (Read some where that , British Imperialists later replaced these with brass).
Exterior Decorations
Each minaret is about 130 ft tall and the whole building is symmetrical with arch shaped large door way. Plinth area is a huge square and the amazing dome structure at the top. The top is like a lotus design.
Decorations
You will see so much of delicate work in the marble, flowers were hand crafted in the marble. There is so much effort went in to the details every where. This Marble art is still carried by few people in Agra even now.
When the Taj was completed, Mumtaz Mahal was entombed here, just as she wished. Shah Jahan became ill for sometime and his third son Aurangzeb, took his throne. Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb in Agra Fort, across the Yamuna River, for 18 years. You can see the Taj Mahal from Agra fort. When the Shah Jahan died in prison, he had one last request. Shah Jahan wanted to spend eternity with the woman he loved. He wanted to be buried at the Taj Mahal with Mumtaz. His family honored his dying wish and Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal now lay side by side at the Taj Mahal, the most iconic tribute to love.
Some of the pictures people take at Taj Mahal , holding the top or trying to fit in the fingers..:)
My Family @TajMahal
Things to avoid
- Avoid Shopping : Avoid shopping near the tourist places. That’s what we learned after the visit here. Our Camel cart person cheated us saying entrance is closed until 12PM or so and took us to a shop. That shop owner was not letting us go and we end up buying some saris (After showing to my mom realizes there are not good quality ) and some Marble souvenir ( Taj Mahal and Ganesha) . Same story for Marble stuff, they are made out of powder marble not actual stone. We also lost lot of time there.
- Don’t listen : Do your research and don’t listen to any local people there.
- Crowd : Go early in the morning first thing to avoid crowd and to get good pictures.
Note: If possible go with Guide.
Thank You for reading.