Cities and towns in India

"Bangalore is known especially for its beautiful parks, wide avenues, busy bazaars, and pleasant climate. It’s a thousand meters above sea level and usually feels somewhat cooler than most South Indian cities, even in midsummer. Most of the city is rather modern, especially around Kumpegowda Circle and along Gandhi Nagar and Chickpet streets. In fact, it’s the second most westernized city in India, next to Mumbai, with a population of more than 4,000,000. But not far away is the old part of town around Sri Narsimharaja Road, and farther south is where you can get a feel for the earlier culture of the area. The streets there are narrow and winding, and the older temples and cottage industries and historical landmarks are also there."

"It was somewhere between the interview with the Indian entrepreneur who wanted to do my taxes from Bangalore and the one who wanted to write my software from Bangalore, and the one who wanted to read my x-rays from Bangalore, and the one who wanted to trace my lost luggage from Bangalore...I was realizing that, while I had been sleeping, while I had been off covering the 9/11 wars, I had missed something really fundamental in this globalization story. I had lost the thread, and I found it in Bangalore."

"Bangalore is a brand the world identifies India with. It is also the single biggest reason why India has become such a hot investment destination."

"The city's main activity is Information technology and information technology-enabled services. Being the leading contributor to India's IT industry, it has been dubbed the Silicon Valley of India."

"A recent study also revealed that the rupee millionaire club in Karnataka's capital is the largest in India."

"Bengaluru also boasts of having the largest number of households with an annual income of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) or more."

"jal, juochuri, mithye katha ei tin niye kalikata."

"The red lights did not forbid, Yet the city of Calcutta stopped suddenly in its tempestuous rush; taxis and private cars; vans and tiger-crested double decker buses stopped precariously in their tracks. Those who came running and screaming from both sides of the road – porters, vendors, shopkeepers and clients – even they are now like still life on the artist’s canvas. Stunned they watch crossing from one side of the road to the other, with uncertain steps, a child, completely naked. It had rained in Chowringhee a short while ago."

"The tradition is one of iconic crossings across the river Hooghly in the stretch of the river falling within the enlarged Kolkata metro area – Vivekananda Bridge (Bally Bridge), Rabindar Setu, (Howrah Bridge) and Vidyasagar Setu (Second Hooghly Bridge). While the mighty river forms the backdrop of the development of the region over centuries, it had also posed a challenge as regards connection to the rest of the country. It is this challenge that the continuing tradition addresses, and addresses a new with a state-of-the art, recently opened and the newly christened Nivedita Bridge."

"‘Kali’ means “Kalichun” (a kind of lime produced from local snail shells) and ‘kata’ implies heaps of burnt shells. Thus, Kolkata has got its name from the manufacture of shell lime or Kalichun."

"When Calcutta was attacked by Siraj ud-Daulah in 1756, the city was too valuable to abandon and a few months later Robert Clive retook Calcutta and defeated Siraj-ud-daulah at the Battle of Plassey."

"Bullock carts formed the eight - thirteenths of the vehicular traffic (as observed on 27th of August 1906, the heaviest day's traffic observed in the port of Commissioners" 16 day's Census of the vehicular traffic across the existing bridge). The road way on the existing bridge is 48 feet wide except at the shore spans where it is only 43 feet in road ways, each 21 feet 6 inches wide. The roadway on the new bridge would be wide enough to take at least two lines of vehicular traffic and one line of trams in each direction and two roadways each 30 feet wide, giving a total width of 60 feet of road way which are quite sufficient for this purpose.... The traffic across the existing floating bridge Calcutta & Howrah is very heavy and it is obvious if the new bridge is to be on the same site as the existing bridge, then unless a temporary bridge is provided, there will be serious interruptions to the traffic while existing bridge is being moved to one side to allow the new bridge to be erected on the same site as the present bridge."

"The New Howrah Bridge was re-christened as the Rabindra Setu in the year 1965, in the honour of the country's first Nobel laureate Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore."

"The great thoroughfare, which commencing in the extreme south, assumes the various names of Russa Road, Chowringhee Road, Bentick Street, Chitpore Road, and Barrackpore Trunk Road, forms a continuation of the Dum Dum Road and was the old line of communication between Morshedabad and Kalighat. It is said to occupy the site of the old road made by the Sabarna Roy Choudhurys, the old zemindars of Calcutta, from Barisha, where the junior branch resided, to Halisahar, beyond Barrackpore, which was the seat of the senior branch."

"Even their enemies admit their courtesy, and a generous Britisher sums up his long experience by ascribing to the higher classes in Calcutta “polished manners, clearness and comprehensiveness of understanding, liberality of feeling, and independence of principle, that would have stamped them gentlemen in any country in the world.”"

"Kolkata is a great city, has great food and great people. We had some problems finding the kind of old buildings we were looking for, and even handling the crowds, but on the whole it was fun shooting there."

"The pleasant surprise that awaits the visitor to Calcutta is this: it is poor and crowded and dirty, in ways which are hard to exaggerate, but it is anything but abject. Its people are neither inert nor cringing. They work and they struggle, and as a general rule (especially as compared with ostensibly richer cities such as Bombay) they do not beg. This is the city of Tagore, of Ray and Bose and Mrinal Sen, and of a great flowering of culture and nationalism. There are films, theaters, university departments and magazines, all of a high quality. The photographs of Raghubir Singh are a testament to the vitality of the people, as well as to the beauty and variety of the architecture. Secular-leftist politics predominate, with a very strong internationalist temper: hardly unwelcome in a region so poisoned by brute religion. When I paid my own visit to the city some years ago, I immediately felt rather cheated by the anti-Calcutta propaganda put out by the Muggeridges of the world."

"Thus the midday halt of Charnock – more’s the pity! - Grew a City As the fungus sprouts chaotic from its bed So it spread Chance-directed, chance-erected, laid and built On the silt Palace, byre, hovel – poverty and pride Side by side And above the packed and pestilential town Death looked down."

"The vicissitudes of destiny had not completely obliterated so prestigious a heritage. Calcutta was still India’s artistic and intellectual beacon and its culture continued to be as alive and creative as ever, The hundreds of bookstalls of College Street were still laden with books – originl editions, pamphlets, great literary works, publications of every kind, in every English, as well as in the numerous Indian languages. Though the Bengalis now costituted barely half of the city’s working population, there was no doubt that Calcutta produced more writers than Paris and Rome combined, more literary reviews than London and New York, more cinemas than New Delhi, and more publishers than the rest of the country, Every evening its theatres put on several theatrical productions, countless classical concerts and recitals at which everyone, from a universally renowned sitarist like Ravi Shankar to the humblest of flute or tabla players, was united with the popular audiences before whom they performed in the same love of music."

"The richer natives in Calcutta are imitating European manners, equipages, and buildings.…It is the universal feeling that in Calcutta, where the wealthier natives mix a good deal with Europeans, their Hindoo prejudices are fast giving way, not, I fear, to the Gospel but to English science and literature. Good however must be done by the extension of knowledge, and by a breach being made in the seven fold shield of dustoor (custom) which has so long defied improvement. We were struck when reading the observations in Saturday Evening on the Grecianising Jews how much they applied to the Anglicised Hindoos of Calcutta. European female teachers are employed as day governesses of some rich natives and I heard a very intelligent Englishman, who had been long in the country, notice the great change when respectable native ladies were seen taking a drive in an open carriage. Some Hindoo gentlemen even eat with Europeans, and at the Hindu College the youths are instructed in the English language and literature. Though they nominally continue Hindoos, they are in fact Deists. Government seminaries for the diffusion of education without any direct attempt at proselytising are established in all large stations. One lad who had been brought up at the college used frequently to come to Major Hutchinson. He was a fine, intelligent looking fellow, who seemed thirsty after information. He had a pretty correct idea of the outline of Christianity and spoke of the absurdities of Hindooism but seemed untouched at heart by either “the sinfulness of sin”, or the beauty of holiness. This lad spoke English very well, and one day brought us a composition of his own in that language, rambling essay on the advantage of science. In the Indian papers and journals there are frequent contributions from the students, generally correct as to grammar, and shewing a considerable knowledge of our standard authors, but the questions are elaborately brought in and the style is universally bad, inflated, full of false metaphor and frequently a mere caricature of Gibbon’s inversions and circumlocutions. The sensuality of Hindoo faith and practice is so gross that to them the self denying doctrines of Christianity must be peculiarly distasteful, and the daily habits of falsehood and licentiousness must almost incapacitate their minds from comprehending the Christian standard of morals."

"To countless Indians, and for most people familiar with India, the singularly unique name Chowringhee immediately identifies with Calcutta. It represents the nearest equation in India to what Piccadilly is to London, Fifth Avenue to New York and the Champs Elysees to Paris. Nostalgic Londoners like to regard their Circus as the centre of the universe. Calcuttans are more reserved in their acclaim, although the fervour they display for their city is perhaps unmatched."

"Calcutta is by far the richest city in India, even though its various problems have started to turn its richness into a collapsing wealth. It is possibly the richest city anywhere between Rome and Tokyo in terms of the money that is accumulated and represented here."

"Calcutta, more than New Delhi, is the British-built city of India...In the building of Calcutta, known first as the city of palaces, and later as the second city of the British Empire, the British worked with immense confidence, not adopting the styles of Indian rulers, but setting down in India adaptations of the European classical styles as emblems of a conquering civilisation. But the imperial city, over 200 years of its development also became an Indian city…To me at the end of 1962, after some months of Indian small-town and district life, Calcutta gave me the immediate feel of the metropolis, with all the visual excitement of a metropolis… Twenty-six years later the grandeur of the British-built city… could still be seen in a ghostly way, because so little had been added since independence, so little had been added since 1962… The British had built Calcutta and given it their mark. And though the circumstances were fortuitous – when the British ceased to rule, the city began to die."

"In 1946 there were the Hindu-Muslim massacres. They marked the beginning of the end for the city. The next year India was independent, but partitioned. Bengal was divided. A large Hindu refugee population came and camped in Calcutta; and Calcutta, without a hundredth part of the resilience of Europe, never really recovered. Certain important things were in the future – the cinema of Satyajit Ray, especially – but the great days of the city, all its intellectual life, were over. And it could appear that the British-built city – its grandeur still ghostly at night – began to die when the British went away."

"For years and years, even during the time of my first visit in 1962, it has been said that Calcutta was dying, that its port was silting up, its antiquated industry declining, but Calcutta hadn't died. It hadn't done much, but it had gone on; and it had begun to appear that the prophecy has been excessive. Now it occurred to me that perhaps this was what happened when cities died. They don't die with a bang; they didn't die only when they were abandoned. Perhaps, they died like this: when everybody was suffering, when transport was so hard that working people gave up jobs they needed because the fear the suffering of the travel; When no one had clean water or air; No one could go walking. Perhaps city died when they lost amenities that cities provided, the visual excitement, the heightened sense of human possibility, and became simply places where there were too many people, and people suffered.”"

"Calcutta's the only city I know where you are actively encouraged to stop strangers at random for a quick chat."

"Where does one go in a tremendous city like Calcutta to find insider information? I recalled India's golden rule: do the opposite of what would be normal anywhere else.”"

"There is nothing quite as unpleasant as wearing a pair of briefs which have been trailed through a Calcutta courtyard. Nothing, that is, except having one's elbows and knees lacerated by unseen slivers of glass and discarded razor blades.”"

"We do not know why Mr. Ghulam Mohammad thought it his duty to anticipate the verdict of history regarding the responsibility of Lord Mountbatten for the tragedy of the Punjab. He is reported to have stated at a Press Conference in London that when the history of the events of this dark chapter comes to be written ‘a part of the blame-would rest on Lord Mountbatten.’ He has made two specific charges. The last British Viceroy was aware of a deep laid conspiracy by the Sikhs and Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh “to throttle Pakistan by eliminating Muslim” and refused to take action. The other charge is that Lord Mountbatten forced partition too quickly. The British Commonwealth Relations Office has repudiated both charges. It has pointed out that it was the then Governor of Punjab who had proved himself to be an avowed partisan of Muslim League, and had looked on impotently while sanguinary riots organized by the Muslim League and the Muslim National Guards took place in North Punjab in March and April 1947. It may be convenient for Mr. Ghulam Mohammed to forget that what happened in August 1947, was a mere continuation of the bloody chain of reaction which was set in motion by the Muslim League at Calcutta in August 1946. In March and April 1947, Sikhs had been brutally massacred and looted and they were abused as cowards because they had not reacted at once with violence. As a matter of fact Lord Mountbatten yielded to his pro-Muslim advisers and stationed the major portion of the Punjab Boundary Force in East Punjab with the result that there was no force to check or control the terrible massacres of Hindus and Sikhs that occurred in Sheikhupura and other places. We should certainly like an impartial investigation into the events of those days and we have no doubt it will be found that while, on the Indian side, it was the spontaneous outburst of a people indignant at what they considered the weakness and the appeasement policy of their leadership, on the Muslim side, the League, the bureaucracy, the police and the army worked like Hitler’s team with the tacit if not open approval of those in charge of the Pakistan Government."

"But the systematic manner in which Pakistan leaders are attempting to paint the people of this country as demons out to destroy innocent Muslims, while hiding, it not defending, the horrible outrages perpetrated by members of their own community from Calcutta to Sheikhupura is nothing but an attempt to defame this country and throw dust in the eyes of the outside world regarding the crimes committed by their co-religionists. They also know, as does everyone in this country, that the Punjab disaster was but the culminating act of the tragedy which began with the unprincipled campaign of communal hated and violence which they and their party leaders had been preaching for years as the only means of securing the ambition of their heart, namely, the separation of a part of this country where they could play the role of rulers, even though at the cost of unexampled suffering and misery to their own co-religionists both in Pakistan and India."

"Take your map of India, and find, if you can, a more uninviting spot than Calcutta. Placed in the burning plain of Bengal, on the largest delta of the world, amidst a network of sluggish, muddy streams, in the neighbourhood of the jungles and marshes of the Sunderbands, and yet so distant from the open sea as to miss the benefits of the breeze… it unites every condition of a perfectly unhealthy situation. The place is so bad by nature that human efforts could do little to make it worse."

"Those places where sadness and misery abound are favoured settings for stories of ghosts and apparitions. Calcutta has countless such stories hidden in its darkness, stories that nobody wants to admit they believe but which nevertheless survive in the memory of generations as the only chronicle of the past. It is as if the people who inhabit the streets, inspired by some mysterious wisdom, relalise that the true history of Calcutta has always been written in the invisible tales of its spirits and unspoken curses.”"

"Hisar has always been a strategic location right from the time of Firoz Shah and now political outfits want to win this parliamentary constituency to gain an upper edge in the state."

"My home was the Dome of Islam. It was the qibla for kings of the seven climes. Delhi is the twin of pure paradise, a prototype of the heavenly throne on an earthly scroll."

"With evidence of continuous settlement dating back to the 6th Century BC, Delhi is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. The legendary city of Indraprastha from the epic Mahabharata is said to have been situated where Delhi now lies. Thought to have been built and destroyed 11 times, evidence of at least eight distinct settlements can still be seen in Delhi."

"Thus, I once heard a Hindu nationalist pleading for renaming Delhi as Indraprastha, the city founded right here by Mahabharata hero Yudhishthira. This ancient-new name would constitute a statement heard loud and clear around the world. (Ch. 9)"

"Indraprastha was the town founded by the Pandava brothers of Mahabharata fame as their capital. Here, the eldest among them, Yudhishthira, became the “ruler of righteousness” (dharma-râja). ... The new town was dedicated to Indra. ... Indraprastha was founded as the capital of the Pandavas’ small-time kingdom but the area was destined by fate to become the capital of the Delhi Sultanate, the Moghul Empire, Samrat Hemachandra’s short-lived Empire, British India spanning the whole Subcontinent, and now the Indian Republic. It is a source of pride, and worth celebrating, that here, the “righteous ruler” once chose to highlight the great universal ideas personified in Indra. Therefore, the open-minded Delhiites all agree: Indraprastha amar rahe!"

"Delhi, also known as Dilli or Dehli, and in earlier incarnation as Indraprastha and Yoginipura, has an ancient past."

"Much of Delhi’s regional importance came from the location in the watershed between the Ganga and the Indus river systems...In the sixth century BC, Delhi formed part of the Kuru kingdom, one of the Mahajanapadas or ‘great states.’ In the Buddhist documents of that period, Indapatta (identified with Indraprastha) is mentioned as the capital of the Kuru state."

"One evidence of the continuing importance of Delhi, as a location in the third century BC, is the inscription (edict) engraved here on the instruction of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka... the edict is to be found on a rock in the area in modern Kalkaji."

"Although constructed of destroyed Hindu temples, the Mosques at Old Delhi and Ajmer once and for all set the fashion to be followed by later mosques in Muslim India…"

"I asked my soul: What is Delhi? She replied:The world is the body and Delhi is life."

"A Paradise, that's Delhi Humpty Dumpty, hocus pocus, hurly burly If there is a paradise on earth, it is Delhi Full of people, overflowing Markets onto the road going Full of fumes, full of gases Full of ultra modern asses Full of shining, made-up faces Full of heart and cancer cases Car and truck and motorcycle Full of vehicle on the vehicle Full of jolting, full of stoking Full of lanes and bylanes choking Full of housing haywire going Full of sewage into Jamuna flowing Full of callous indifference breeding Full of pastures fast receding Full of power, and still power crisis Full of smoothly rising prices Full of girth and grime and mirth Our Delhi is a paradise on earth."

"The Delhi area has an incredibly long and eventful ancient past, beginning thousands of years ago in the stone age and merging at the other end into the medieval period when the Rajputs made way for Delhi Sultans in the twelfth century."

"Delhi--created at the end of the 12th Century from the ruins of seven ancient cities--is a microcosm of all India. The city of 13 million people is the nation's capital and cultural heart. New Delhi is home to grand hotels, fashionable homes, spacious parks and broad promenades. Old Delhi is compact, crowded and chaotic."

"In its long history Delhi has been on several occasions the victim of military occupation accompanied by pillage and rapine, and these occasions have sometimes altered the course of the city’s fortunes, both materially and culturally. One such occasion was its capture by Qutubuddin Aibak on behalf of Sultan Muizud-Din Muhammad-ibn-Sam of Ghur in 1192 or 1193. Others, much later, were Nader Shah’s capture of the city in 1739, followed by its occupation by Ahamd Shah Durrani, the British in 1803, and the destruction which accompanied the uprising of 1857 and its suppression."

"The period from 1724, to Nadir Shah’s invasion in 1739 was one of rapid internal decay of the empire, but one of outer brilliance for Delhi as far as its cultural life was concerned. The phase of 1740 to 1760 was period of growing anarchy."

"Modern Delhi began with the slow revival of the city under British domination. During the ‘Delhi Renaissance’, approximately 1830 to the outbreak of uprising of 1857, Delhi exhibited the beginnings of a cultural ferment; Western technology and idea entered the city and supported each other."

"Lord Lytton (1876-80) organised the Delhi Durbar in 1877 to entitle Queen Victoria Kaiser-i-Hind ...Delhi was made capital in place of Calcutta in 1912; Coronation Durbar of King George (V) and Queen Marry was held at Delhi in 1911."

"Chandni Chowk is the street--an imperial avenue under Shah Jahan's reign--extends from the Red Fort. The name often is applied to connecting alleys and streets. It's jammed with makeshift shops, markets, rickshaws, carts drawn by horses and oxen, cows, goats and pedestrians."

"Partition was a total catastrophe for Delhi. Those who were left behind are in misery. Those who were uprooted are in misery. The Peace of Delhi is gone. Now it is all gone."

"Once through this ruined city did I pass I espied a lonely bird on a bough and asked What knowest thou of this wilderness? It replied: 'I can sum it up in two words: ‘Alas, Alas!”"

"Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has betrayed the people of Delhi."

"It was a big challenge for me when I decided to start with the Sufi night. It took a while for the crowd to understand the music that was being played at the club since Delhi's crowd is more used to listening to hip-hop and Bollywood music, but the introduction of Sufi music definitely brought in a change."

"The soil and climate in Delhi are also not favourable for anthrax."

"Delhi does not have legislations and policies which recognise the city’s values. The state government has not been able to identify the unique elements and outstanding universal values yet."

"As you go from New Delhi to Old Delhi suddenly, the streets are narrower. Suddenly, there are bicycle-rickshaws instead of cars. Suddenly, there are more people. Suddenly, everything is different."

"In Delhi one could manage a drink and dine off other people all 365 days...Delhi had over a hundred embassies, High Commissions and legations. Diplomats in Delhi did not have much work to do. Most of their energies were directed to wining and dining officials of the External Affairs and other ministries of the Government of India, cultivating non-official locals, and celebrating their independence days."

"That's Delhi. When life gets too much for you all you need to do is to spend an hour at Nigambodh Ghat, watch the dead being put to flames and hear their kin wail for them. Then come home and down a couple of pegs of whisky. In Delhi, death and drink make life worth living."

"They grouped into nativities - Bengalis, Biharis, Bandladeshis, South Indians, Northeasterners, Kashmiri Pandits and Punjabis - or sought refuge in professional identities. They were Delhiites because geography and the pursuit of common goals made them so and not because the city offered a unifying identity. Delhi now belonged to everyone who lived in it, but no one belonged to Delhi. The original Delhiites too were missing from public life - they preferred the city of memory."

"It is now almost a cliché that the Partition transformed Delhi from a Mughal to a Punjabi city. The bitter experiences of the refugees at the hands of Islamists in Pakistan encouraged them to support right-wing Hindu parties ... Trouble began in September (1947) after the arrival of refugees from Pakistan who were determined on revenge and driving Muslims out of properties which they could then occupy. Gandhi in his prayer meetings in Birla House denounced the 'crooked and ungentlemanly' squeezing out of Muslims who left for Pakistan. Despite these exhortations, two-thirds of the city's Muslims were to abandon India's capital eventually."

"The southern most district and the capital of Kerala, God’s own country, one who visits Thiruvananthapuram, visits heaven experiencing the ecstasy of being here."

"Kerala's capital Tiruvanathapuram or Trivandrum which is infinitely easier to say and write was named after the Serpent God Anantha, on whom Lord Vishnu reclines."

"Thiruvananthapuram, which got this name from Anantha, the serpent king of Hindu mythology... traditional buildings and monuments stand as great examples of culture and overwhelming splendor."

"Trivandrum was the capital of the Princely State of Travancore, which was ruled by Hindu Kings and Queens, and it continues to be the state capital of the present day Kerala"

"Trivandrum, has been in commercial contact with many countries from ancient times. The people were of the Dravidic origin."

"The history of Trivandrum or rather Travancore comes with the Sangam age which comprised the first five centuries of the Christian era. There was no caste distinction in the earlier period. Hinduism was the religion and Sri Padmanabha Temple marked the religious symbol of the people."

"Towards the end of 12th century, Kersal became a full fledged feudal society with its peculiar socio-religious institutions, customs and usages. The spread of Christianity and Islam added many divisions in the society, though Trivandrum as such has never been under a foreign ruler."

"The ruler Ravi Varma (1721-29) entered into a formal treaty with the English East India Company with the aim of strengthening his position in the fight against these noble elements and other hostile elements. He also entered into a treaty with the Nayaks of Madurai with the same object. On his death in 1729 Marthanda Varma who was to become famous in history as “the Maker of Modern Travancore”"

"The history of modern Travancore begins with Marthanda Varma who inherited the Kingdom of Venad and expanded Travancore by conquering kingdoms Attingal, Kollam, Kayamkulam, Kottarakara, Kottayam, Changanassery, Meenachil, Poonjar and Ambalapuzha."

"Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch in the Battle of Colachel [1741]. He captured the Dutch Admiral who was later on appointed as the Senior Admiral it was he who modernised the Travancore army by introducing firearms and artillery."

"King Marthanda Varma founder of Travancore, made Trivandrum his capital and even after his rule ended the city continued to be the capital of the State of Travancore. When Kerala was formed as a state in 1956 the city was unanimously chosen to continue as the capital continuing two centuries of tradition.... It is a small city compared to the other state capitals and thus retains its charm."

"|Anizhom Thirunal Marthanda Varma was the first maharaja to usher in [this] concept of Padmanabha Dasa in the 18th century."

"That above all, the friendship existing between the English East India Company and Travancore should be maintained at any risk and that full confidence should always be placed in the support and aid of honorable association."

"The accession of Swati Thirunal ushered in an epoch of cultural progress and economic prosperity. The beginning of English education was made in 1834 by opening an English school at Thiruvananthapuram. In 1836, an observatory and a charity hospital were established."

"Those two ancestors - Swati Thirunal and Raja Ravi Varma - gave music and art, divinity and humanity respectively."

"Raja Ravi Varma, another member of the Travancore royal family and renowned painter, spent an important part of his lifetime in Trivandrum. While he painted many gods and even printed them as oleographs, he never painted Padmanabha or the temple."

"The Travancore royal family took a different approach to ruling its territories and managing the properties of the State. The king served as Padmanabha Dasa — [who] ruled on behalf of god and swore allegiance only to god. In 1949, Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Rama Varma came close to refusing the post of Rajpramukh because he could not “give oath to the Indian government"."

"The city’s former name, Trivandrum, was given by the British and is a contraction of Thiruvananthapuram, its ancient name that was adopted again in the early 21st century. It is the site of the University of Kerala (1937) and its affiliated colleges and technical schools. It also has a museum, zoological gardens, an observatory, and an art gallery."

"Thiruvananthapuram’s industries include mineral processing, sugar milling, textiles, and handicrafts. Rice and coconut cultivation and coastal fishing are economically important. It is a rail terminus and road hub and has an airport and a harbour."

"I have fallen in love with the women of Kerala. I have been looking around for the last 10 minutes and have not spotted any colour. All of you are wearing white and it is spotlessly clean. I respect you and admire you."

"Trivandrum is one of the nine Roman Catholic (Latin Catholic) dioceses of Kerala."

"The kingdom of Travancore was dedicated by Marthanda Varma to his deity Sri. Padmanabha (Lord Vishnu) and from then on the rulers of Travancore ruled the kingdom as the servants of Sri. Padmanabha (Padmnabhadasan)."

"Padmanabha Swamy temple located inside the East Fort, this Vaishnava temple is very famous attracting devotees from all parts. Dedicated to Lord Vishnu sleeping on Anantha, the serpent king, this temple is a rare blend of Dravidian architecture and the Kerala style."

"One is struck by the beauty and charm of the temple architecture - harmonious conglomeration of both Kerala and Tamil styles of architecture."

"There is a statue of Vishnu at the 2000 yaer old Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the heart of the city. This temple is located within the walls, or fort that encircles the town, and is the only temple in the state with a huge gopura which was so much part of the temple architecture in Tamil Nadu. This is an interesting temple but quite muted by Tamil Nadu standards and I think the six metre long reclining figure of Vishnu is probably the most striking aspect."

"...the treasure discovered in a temple in southern India. Nobody knew for certain what was hidden beneath the ancient Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple... But a lawyer named Ananda Padmanabhan had a hunch. According to legend, treasure was sealed in the temple vaults."

"Padmanabhan believed that these riches were still hidden in the basement, uncounted and unguarded. Like many observant Hindus, Padmanabhan believes that a temple’s deity—in this case, the supreme god Vishnu—resides within the temple’s walls."

"For centuries, the royal family’s management of the temple received little scrutiny. Nobody challenged the arrangement until 2007, when Padmanabhan brought a lawsuit against the temple administration, on behalf of two devotees. In the lawsuit, Padmanabhan alleged that a series of kallaras—treasure vaults—existed beneath the temple, and that they were being looted. Based on his research, Padmanabhan believed that there were at least six kallaras beneath the temple."

"Early one morning in October, 2008, as the temple prepared to hold its biggest annual festival, Padmanabhan accompanied the two commissioners into a storage area behind the sanctum sanctorum. Confirming Padmanabhan’s suspicions, they found doors to six kallaras. They unlocked and entered the two kallaras containing the festival ornaments, which were later dubbed Vaults C and D. Inside, they found dazzling objects, including a golden bow and arrow, umbrellas made with gold rods, and a golden throne for the deity embedded with hundreds of precious gems. The items were probably worth millions of dollars."

"After a series of appeals, the Supreme Court of India announced that before it ruled on the stewardship of the temple, a team of “observers” would inspect the remaining vaults that supposedly contained treasure. Vaults A and B, which had “reportedly not been opened for more than a century,” would be opened, inspected, then “closed and sealed again."

"So far, no one has formally calculated the value of the treasure found in Vault A. But V. K. Harikumar, the temple’s executive—who has now seen the hoard on at least two occasions—has estimated that it is worth at least twenty billion dollars."

"I cannot comment on what is happening there - the matter is sub-judice. But this much I will say. I have no problem with the inventory and additional security being provided by the state to the temple. But please don't remove those objects from the temple. They belong to nobody, certainly not to our family. They belong to god and our law permits that. All these debates swirling around the riches is unfortunate. That's all I can say - I have to listen to my doctor, lawyer and auditor. Our family has been donating objects to the temple for centuries. As chief patron of the temple, I go there every day. If I miss a day, I am fined Rs. 166.35 - an old Travancore tradition."

"I have never been inside those cellars. Our philosophy has always been not to look at such objects and get tempted. But of course I know what is inside them."

"Gooseflesh. Everything is surrendered. It is a great, elating feeling. My hair stands on end with joy. Each and every time."

"The Travancore State and the Padmanabhaswamy temple witnessed momentous changes during Maharaja Chithira Thirunal's time. In 1936, the Padmanabhaswamy temple was the first in India to proclaim temple entry for all, which made Gandhiji describe Chithira Thirunal as a ‘Modern Ashoka.' In 1949 the princely states were abolished and the temple administration changed. In 1971, the privy purse was abolished and grants given to erstwhile rulers were stopped. But Chithira Thirunal still managed to support the temple from his private funds."

"In 1924, Mahatma Gandhi came [to Trivandrum] and at that time he [Maharaja Chithira Thirunal] was too young to rule. My aunt, his mother's elder sister, was the Regent. Gandhiji came and met her. ‘Is this the Maharani?' he enquired. He looked at her simple dress and asked: Where are the golden saris? Where are the jewels? He then asked her: ‘Is it not very unfair that around the temple in Vaikom, a dog, a cat, a cow, can walk, but a man cannot?' She said, yes. ‘Then why don't you do something about it?' he quizzed. ‘I am a Regent and only carrying on the administration till he grows up. Why don't you ask him [Chithira Thirunal]?' she urged. Gandhiji then asked him: ‘When you become the person in charge, will you allow everyone to enter temples?' As a young boy he said, ‘yes.' He took over in 1931 and granted temple entry in 1936. The remarkable thing was that there was no resistance [from the people who were associated with temple administration."

"Attukal Bagavati temple, one of the ancient temples of South India, ...is venue of Pongala Mahotsvam... which is most important festival...is exclusively confined to women folk and the enormous crowd that gathers in Thiruvananthapuram on this auspicious day is reminiscent of the Kumbamel festival of North India."

"It was in 1591 that Hyderabad was founded by Mohd Quli Qutub Shah, the fifth king of the Quli Qutub Shah dynasty, based in Golconda fort. The Shah decided to build a new city on the banks of the Musi river because Golconda posed a problem of drinking water and raging epidemics. Over the next few decades, while Golconda continued to exist, Hyderabad, with Charminar as its centrepiece, became the new hub. It [is] 25km away from Golconda."

"In 1591, the fifth Qutb Shahi Sultan of Golconda, Mohammad Quli (r.1580-1612) built a city as ‘a replica of heaven’. He named it Bhagnagar, after his beloved Bhagmati. In 1983, the German architect Jan Pieper quoted chapter and verse to argue that the city was indeed an architectural metaphor for the Quranic heaven."

"I have resided in Delhi, Bhopal and Hyderabad (Deccan) for many years. In all these places I could hardly locate any temples left of the medieval period. Hindu learning was dependent on schools and Brahman teachers, and both were attached to temples mostly in urban areas. And all the three - schools, teachers and temples - were systematically destroyed."

"Through out its 420-year-old history, Hyderabad has been irresistible for those who coveted it, and they ended up either taking the city by force or fighting till end for control. The "city of pearls" is now going through yet another challenge that has ended up as a new chapter in its chequered history."

"It was in 1769 that Hyderabad got preeminence after Nizam Ali Khan Asaf Jah-II, the second ruler of the dynasty, made it the capital of his kingdom instead of Aurangabad. By then, two bloody battles had been fought for Hyderabad."

"In India got independence on August 15, 1947, the last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, refused to merge with India, opting instead to remain independent or merge with Pakistan. Home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel got Indian Army to take control of Hyderabad. With the Indian Army having reached Secunderabad, the Nizam saw it prudent to sign the instrument of accession."

"While Hyderabad was founded on love, Secunderabad was an offspring of coercive diplomacy. Hyderabad was a quintessential Oriental city renowned for its planning; Secunderabad was a cantonment which grew into a replica of an English town."

"From the defence point of view it would give safety to the Central Government. It is equidistant from all parts of India. It would give satisfaction to the South Indian people that their Government is sometimes with them. The Government may remain in Delhi during winter months and during other months it can stay in Hyderabad. Hyderabad has all the amenities which Delhi has and it is a far better City than Delhi. It has all the grandeur which Delhi has. Buildings are going cheap and they are really beautiful buildings, far superior to those in Delhi. They are all on sale. The only thing that is wanting is a Parliament House which the Government of India can easily build. It is a place in which Parliament can sit all the year round and work, which it cannot do in Delhi. I do not see what objection there can be in making Hyderabad a second capital of India. It should be done right now while we are reorganising the States."

"On the capture of Golkonda, the Emperor appointed Abdur Rahim Khan as Censor of the city of Haiderabad with orders to put down infidel practices and (heretical) innovations and destroy the temples and build mosques on their sites."

"Presumably had Hyderabad been in a position to accede to Pakistan, a corridor would have been demanded for linking it up with Pakistan in the shape of an outlet to the sea. This has been the tempo, the character and the insatiably ambitious nature of the Pakistan Plan, conspiring for the conquest of Hindu India. Rioting and pillaging would be accounted only as minor rehearsary exercises in such a mighty and vast programme of action!"

"The plan was to wreck not only the streets but also the spirit of the city. The audacity of the attack left little to doubt that the country was facing an undeclared war and that the enemy had help from within our own boundaries."

"...400 years of Hyderabad’s history ...rich and diverse...is a young city...However, megalithic circle tombs and stone implements excavated near Secunderabad are evidence of an earlier civilization."

"Golconda from which Hyderabad sprang has no recorded history until king Ganapati, the Kakatiya King built a fort on the pick of the rocky mountains."

"Bhagmati was so overwhelmed by Mohammad Quli’s love that she immediately converted to Islam and assumed the Muslim name Hyder Mahal. Mohammad Quli, not to be outdone, renamed his city Hyderabad or the ‘city of Hyder’. During Qutub Shahi dynasty, the city witnessed its golden age of architecture over-shadowing the city of Golconda."

"Qutub Shahi dynasty declined...gave way to invading Mughals in 1687,...which marked the end of a great epoch in the history of South India....Chin Qilich Khan, one of Mughal’s ablest generals, ...appointed the Viceroy of the Deccan with the title “Nizam-ul-Mulk" (Regulator of the Realm).... He rebelled against the Mughals and was victorious on 16 January 1725... and with the city as the capital ruled his vast dominions."

"...Mughal sovereign, Muhammad Shah ...conferred on the Nizam the title of Asif Jha after making peace with him...The rule of Asif Jha I, that lasted for a quarter of a century, once again brought to Hyderabad an era of prosperity and grandeur ...The dynastic rule begun by the first Asif Jha lasted right up to 1948, when Hyderabad state merged with the Indian Union... rulers of the Asif Jha dynasty (or more popularly known as the Nizam dynasty contributed to the growth of Hyderabad economically and culturally."

"Kings of the Nizam dynasty... indulged their fantasies on an extraordinary extent. For instance, the ninth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mahbub Ali, Asif Jha VI (1869-1911) is reputed to have never repeatedly worn a dress. It is said that his wardrobe filled an entire wing of the palace and stood two story’s high."

"...an ancient culture and civilization...This cosmopolitan city is also known as the city of minarets due to the presence of several mosques displaying huge minarets. Art, architecture, groups of people and religions form a unique blend in Hyderabad. Over the centuries this variety evolved into a great cultural landscape."

"Though the Nizams who came after Asif Jha I still were wealthy, they were not capable administrators and policy-makers like the first Nizam. So, they were slowly subordinated by the growing French and British powers on the peninsula."

"Charminar, the four towered structure standing at the intersection of the four main streets of the city, like the Eiffel Tower of Paris, the Statue of Liberty in New York, or West Minister Abbey in London.."

"Charminar, had been built in 1589 by Mohammad-Quli Qutab Shah, the king whose seat was Golconda Fort some fifteen miles (from Hyderabad City), to commemorate the spot where he caught his first glimpse of Bhagmati, the Hindu girl who captured his heart and in time became his queen."

"During the time of Nizam Osman Ali Khan (1911-1956), Charminar even figured on the then Hyderabad Rupee because such kind of architecture was unknown in southern India until this time...Mosques and minarets, forts and palaces of great beauty exists side by side with colleges and art galleries, public gardens and administrative buildings offering thereby a rare visual variety to please even the most demanding of visitors."

"Ye jung hai jung-e-azadi, azadi ke parcham ke tale.. It is a war, the war of independence, of the myriad souls....."

"Far from gracefully accepting the public mood against his autocratic rule, the Nizam went on to declare Hyderabad an independent state, pompously claimed to unfurl the Asafia flag on the Red Fort, threatened to accede the State to Pakistan, sent an emissary to Britain and even sought UN intervention. Yet, it took just four days and 13 hours, beginning September 13, 1948, for the Indian Army to tame the "mighty" Nizam's Army."

"His Exalted Highness, Lt. Gen Muzaffar-ul Mulk Wal Mumalik Nizam-ul-Mulk, Nizam-ud-Dowla, Nawab Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, the Faithful Ally of the British, Nizam of Hyderabad, was arguably one of the richest men in the world, nearly bowing with a traditional "namaste" before the redoubtable first Indian Union Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, at the Begumpet Airport."

"The Nizam paid for his mistakes. He remained stubborn not accepting any of the conciliatory efforts made by Jawaharlal Nehru. He was offered full protection and 40 per cent representation to Muslims in the constitution of a responsible government, though their population was 12 per cent. Exhausting all options, the Nehru Government sent the army."

"Hyderabad has grown into a cosmopolitan city largely due to Central government and defence establishments. In its most recent phase of growth, the IT boom galvanised Hyderabad's outskirts into a major international hub. Apart from AP's two other regions, Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra, many people from other parts of India and abroad, attracted by Hyderabad's resources, climate and peaceful environment, have made its home."

"The discovery of [such] archaeological evidences shows that the history of the city and environs goes much beyond Kakatiya and Qutb Shahi periods. The burial spot was on a five-acre patta land in Sy. No.124, in the possession of B. Mallaiah of the same village in Hayathnagar mandal of Ranga Reddy district, just off the Hyderabad-Vijaywada highway. On the face of it, the site was datable to 500 B.C, but unless systematic excavations were carried out, further details would not be known."

"The Hyderabadi art and architecture of the 18th and 19th Centuries is eclectic which imbibes the Mughal cultural traits and traditions on the one hand and borrows freely from the Western art traditions on the other, which had come into vogue in Hyderabad after the construction of the British Residency in 1806 A.D. The Hyderabadi artists, however, did not fail to draw inspiration from their own soil, may it be architecture, painting, dress and ornaments for which the city was famous."

"The Asaf Jahi architecture, including palaces, tombs and mosques, belonging to Kings and nobles, are good examples of a mixture of the Mughal and European art styles. Besides the Residency building, there are a number of churches in the city, which are built in typical British style of architecture."

"The "newest’ of the official residences of the Indian President, Rashtrapati Nilayam at Secunderabad, came into being as a result of India’s Independence. In the first decade of freedom, the separatist tendencies evinced by some political organisations in South India caused concern to the founding fathers of the young republic. Among the various slogans of the separatists, one was that the President of the Indian Republic had all his official residences in north India. As such in 1955, the then President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, decided that there must be an official residence in South India, so that during his visits to the South, the local populace doesn’t feel that he comes as a "guest" to the various Raj Bhavans. Since the President was likely to spend only six to eight weeks every year in South India, a small edifice was to be chosen, so that the annual upkeep could be kept at the minimum."

"The mansion chosen by President Rajendra Prasad in 1956 had been originally built by the British in 1870 as the summer resort for the British Resident to Hyderabad state, who found the town cooler than the nearby cantonment of Secunderabad. This building with the total land area of 101 acres, is a single-storeyd edifice, with a dining hall, durbar hall, morning room and other ceremonial halls. There are 16 rooms for the President and his staff. There is also a visitors’ annexe which can accommodate more than 150 people."

"Constructed in 1562 and situated between the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad... the almost 450 years old lake Hussainsagar is an engineering marvel and a symbol of traditional wisdom of water conservation in this semi-arid region of peninsular India...In recent years the lake has emerged as the major recreational centre and ecological land mark on the map of the country."

"Starting with the period prior to the city's birth in 1591, Hyderabad, [is] one of contemporary India's most important cities. The city has a fascinating march from Bhagnagar to Hyderabad to 'Cyberabad', has evolved unique composite culture, which has continued to attract people since its founding by its poet-builder."

"Hyderabad is a historic beautiful City and is the Capital of Andhra Pradesh. The city is called “Pearl City” and famous for its twinkling pearls and [[w:Laad Bazaar|glass embedded bangles. The city was founded during Qutub Shahi dynasty and was called Bhagyanagar. The present Hyderabad district came into existence in August 1978 with total geographic area of 199.6 square kilometers and covers the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad."

"Hyderabad being the State Capital is highly developed in all aspects. It is situated at an altitude of 536 metres and offers pleasant weather conditions. The total geographical area of the District is 199.60 square kilometers."

"The Hyderabad development area is divided into two parts. The first part is the incorporated area of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad-Secunderabad and the Cantonement area. The second part is the peripheral area excluding the incorporated area in the Hyderabad development area."

"The Old City or shall we say the real Hyderabad? The part of town that has all the monuments that we are all so proud of, all the wares that we are so famous for, and all the folks that make us so unique!"

"The decision to bifurcate the state has cleared the air, bringing in stability in the market. But now there is clarity that second capital is also going to function from Hyderabad and this is going to be value addition for real estate market."

"Four hundred years ago what is Hyderabad city was an area covered with granite stone hills, forest and a river flowing through."

"Misfortune befell the city with the conquest of the Deccan by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1687. The headquarters of the Deccan then shifted to Aurangabad under the Mughal rule. In 1763, the Nizam shifted the headquarters to Hyderabad and again the city flourished."

"In the year 1802, Nawab Mir Alam built a reservoir. Construction was supervised by an Englishman, Mr. Russel. Water from the Mir Alam tank was channeled to the Purani Haveli Palace and others. Later was supplied to the public."

"The British Residency was established on the northern banks of the Musi River now referred to as Secunderabad and the gap between Hyderabad and Secunderabad gradually filled with residences and industry."

"The Falaknuma Palace stands majestically on the crest of a hill and is reached by a small winding road. It was built at a cost of rupees thirty-five lakhs by the late Sir Vigar-ul-Ulema and bought by the Nizam in 1897. The Nizam VI lived and died in the palace. Successive viceroys and the last Governor General of India, C. Rajagopalachari."

"In September of 1908, the usually quiet Musi river rose in fury and stuck the city with large scale destruction. Sir M.Vishveswarayya together with Ali Nawz Jung proposed damming the river on its two tributaries, the Musi and the Easi and channeling it as it passed through the city. Two reservoirs were thus formed in 1922 and 1927 and the new Hyderabad Water Works resulted."

"In the Deccan, a Muslim State ruled by H.E.H. the Nizam, special stamps and currency known as Halisika minted in Hyderabad was minted."

"The first mint in Hyderabad was established at the old royal palace, Sultan Shah, in 1803. Almost a hundred years later, the mint was modernized and shifted to Saifabad."

"The first Hali coins bearing the Charminar motif were silver rupee and four anna coins in 1904-1905. Nickel coinage for Hali came into vogue in 1919, when the round one-anna piece was minted."

"Bhubaneshwar’s history from the 3rd century BC is represented in the nearby Dhauligiri rock edict of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka at the site of his famous conquest of the Kalingas. Between the 5th and 10th centuries CE it was the provincial capital of many Hindu dynasties and a centre of the Shaivite faith. Its many temples (including the Mukteshwara and Parashurameshwar), displaying every phase of Orissan architecture, were built between the 7th and 14th centuries."

"The city consists of the old quarter, containing about 30 ancient temples, and a planned township built after 1948, when the capital was moved there from Cuttack."

"Bhubaneswar before becoming the capital of Orissa in 1948 had been a temple town. As a temple town it prospered and thrived, becoming an important Hindu cultural and religious center...it is generally believed that the town probably developed around the Lingaraj temple, erected to commemorate Lord Shiva. Thus the name Bhubaneshwar – the Lord of the Three Worlds: Tribhuvaneshvara."

"...the city’s character alternated with Buddhism, Jainism, Shaivism, and Vaishnavism – religions which found a home in Bhubaneswar at one time or another with the changing dynasties of Kalinga, the ancient name for Orissa. The presence of different religions gave Bhubaneswar its pluralistic character, but not without making the Oriya people suspicious of outsiders;m and it also gave Bhubaneshar its definite religious character, which has endured into the present."

"How do you ignore history? But the nationalist movement, independence movement ignored it. You read the Glimpses of World History by Jawaharlal Nehru, it talks about the mythical past and then it jumps the difficult period of the invasions and conquests. So you have Chinese pilgrims coming to Bihar, Nalanda and places like that. Then somehow they don't tell you what happens, why these places are in ruin. They never tell you why Elephanta island is in ruins or why Bhubaneswar was desecrated."

"The temple town of Bhubaneshwar is predominantly saiva, and the Oriya Hindus who live here belong, for the most part, to families of hereditary servants (sevaka) of Lingaraja, the form in which Shiva is worshiped here."

"This temple, Lingaraja Temple is an important pilgrimage site for all Hindus. Pilgrims from North India and Assam, and Bengal, in particular make a point of praying here before going on south to worship at the Jagannath temple."

"There is also an open air Tantric temple to the south of Bhubaneshwar that is dedicated to the sixty-four yoginis, each of whom is associated with a particular yogic ability. It is said that people still worship the sixty-four yoginis here on New Moon (amavasya) nights."

"The Lingaraja temple in Bhubaneswar, built in the eleventh century, has two classes of priests: Brahmins and a class called Badus who are ranked as Sudras and are said to be of tribal origin. Not only are Badus priests of this important temple; they also remain in the most intimate contact with the deity whose personal attendants they are. Only they are allowed to bathe the Lingaraja and adorn him and at festival time (...) only Badus may carry this movable image (...) the deity was originally under a mango tree (...) The Badus are described by the legend as tribals (sabaras) who originally inhabited the place and worshipped the linga under the tree.'"

"...history is reflected in the present-day appearance of the city, with the old city centre in the vicinity of the Lingaraj temple , and the far bigger new part of the city, the core of which was planned by German architect Otto Königsberger in the late 1940s. The layout of the new streets is very spacious, as are the parcels of the government buildings, with many trees and green areas along and inside them, respectively."

"...the modern administrative city that only came into being after 1948, [is] now capital to around 37 million Orissans."

"What makes Bhubaneswar a special case is the fact that there are wide areas inside the city limits that can be developed into modern urban, densely populated quarters rather than allowing the city to sprawl excessively."

"...Orissa government had taken the decision for placing the capital at Bhubaneshwar in September 1946...Dr. H Otto Koenigsberger, a German Jew, was first mentioned as a town planner, who had fled Germany and arrived in India at the invitation of Diwan (Chief Minister) Mirza Ismail of Mysore in 1939."

"We want a good architect and Town Planner to help us in preparing a scheme for [Bhubaneshwar]...The remuneration which will be paid to Dr. H Otto Koenigsberger, may be settled by mutual agreement."

"I am looking forward to the opportunity of helping you in this bold and interesting scheme."

"I do not know if they [Health Ministry] will be able to spare him [Koenigsberger], for any length of time but I suppose he can go to Orissa from time to time."

"...was conceived as a modern new town based on neighborhood planning concept by the internationally acclaimed urban planner, Dr.H. Otto Koenigsberger."

"The Bhubaneswar region, conceived after independence, has experienced tremendous growth."

"Administrative and institutional activities have contributed to the increase in the volume of trade and commerce activity."

"Bhubaneswar, well connected with the city of Cuttack (30 km) through rail and road linkages (NH-5 and Howrah-Chennai Rail route), has tremendous potential to act as a complimentary growth center to Kolkata in the Eastern Region for trade and commerce."

"Historical accounts of this place date back to Kadamba King Shasthadeva (1007-1050). An inscription of the Kadamba King Vijayaditya I, dated 7 February 1107 refers to Panajim as Pahajani Khali. Another interpretation of the name is that Panji or Ponji is said to mean the “land that never gets flooded”. Yet another interpretation is that it is a variation of Pancha Yma Afsumgary or five wonderful castles where the Muslim King Ismail Adil Shah and his wives used to live. The name was later changed to Panjim by the Portuguese and when Old Goa collapsed in the 19th century, Panjim was elevated to the status of a city on 22 March 1843 and was renamed “Nova Goa”. After Liberation in 1961 it was known as “Panaji”... Panjim was originally a neglected ward of Taleigão village. The only conspicuous construction was the 15th century castle built by Adil Shah on the left bank of the Mandovi. Viceroy Dom Manuel de Saldanha de Albuquerque, of Ega, remodelled the old castle and a palace was built which was later used as the Government Secretariat."

"Among Goa’s cities, Panaji is great place simply to wander with the old quarters, Fontainhas and Sao Tome still bearing a distinctive Portuguese influence."

"Much of the area on which Panaji stands was originally marshland...in around 1500 came under the control of Muslim leader Yusuf Adil Shah who built a fortress to guard the entrance to the Mandovi, which was later known as Idalcoa’s palace under Portuguese rule."

"Afonso de Albuquerque took the fort in 1510 and reinforced it initially after occupation and again in November after reoccupation... It is said that he was in such a hurry to complete the strengthen the fortifications before the next Muslim attack that even his officers were pressed into manual labour. **Paul Harding, in “Goa (2003)”,"

"The small church built, around 1540 (where the present huge church Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception stands), was the first stop for the Portuguese sailors celebrating their safe arrival in India."

"In 19th century, as Panjim developed, in 1834 it became known as Nova Goa...and in 1843 it was recognized by the Portuguese government as capital of Goa."

"Panjim loses much by close inspection."

"After Goa’s independence the city was renamed Panaji...a new flashy assembly complex was built, on a hill to its north in 2000."

"Archaeologically, the St Inez Roman mooring stone with a distinct carving of Neptune reveals a story of booming Roman trade voyages touching Panaji port. Panaji was always respected as a relatively safe port and a hilly, wooded place with natural springs, lakes which supplied fresh water to the ocean going ships. The Portuguese did try to create a miniature Lisbon when they raised the city of Panaji to capital status in 1843 but while doing this they maintained a fine balance between open and developed spaces, land and water and created tree-lined avenues where only swamps existed."

"The river Mandovi and the hillock of Altinho have historically been the determining factors for the city. During the 3rd century BC, Panaji and the rest of Goa were part of the Mauryan Empire."

"A historical city known for its rich culture, architecture and built heritage situated on the bank of Mandovi estuary, Panaji is the important centre in terms of Indo-Portuguese cultural heritage, having a number of natural, built, tangible and intangible sites and monuments."

"The unique cultural atmosphere is the result of the long absorbed 450 years of Portuguese rule. The influence has left a deep impact on the local traditions in all spheres and has formed a distinct cultural identity of the people. St. Francis Xavier was an instrument to carry with him the gospel of Jesus but more than that he also carried a way of life of people, their ethos and a rich culture."

"The city of Panaji is on the verge of getting developed from being part of fishing village of Taleigao in 1510 to a developed city in Goa. The evolution of the city has marked the achievement with the rise of many high rise buildings as a benchmark."

"The Fontainhas area continues to be a focal point for Heritage tourists and travellers with a taste of past glories. Interest in Panaji’s heritage buildings is worldwide. There are still clusters of quaint old houses in particular on one street in Portais and around St. Sebastian Chapel..."

"Panaji during relatively dry season-December to May is an architect’s, traveler’s, painters’, photographers’, poets’ dream."

"Episodic flooding in Panaji even during low tides is directly linked to rapid urbanization and consequent damage to existing drainage systems."

"Panaji is to be developed as a city that is environmentally and economically sustainable, a city that is a mixture of heritage and modernity, a city that cares for its citizen, a city that cares for its tourist, a city that maintains it culture, a city that provide high quality infrastructure services and facilities, a well managed clean, green and safe city that provides and better present and bright future to its people."

"The city’s architecture is the surest sign that Goa evolved independently of the rest of India. In the small old quarters of Fontainhas and Sao Tomé, winding alleyways are lined with Portuguese-style houses, boasting distinctive red-tiled roofs, wooden window shutters and rickety balconies decorated with bright pots of petunias."

"Secretariat building dating from the sixteenth century, colonial era building originally the palace of the original ruler Adil Shah, which was the Viceroy’s official residence in 1759, now houses less exciting government offices."

"Chapel of Saint Sebastian, has crucifix first brought to Panaji in 1812 from Old Goa after the Inquisition was suppressed. It is considered an unusual piece since Christ’s eyes are open – rather than shut as is customary - and legend has it that this was done to instill fear in the hearts of those being brought before the dreaded Inquisitors."

"...the strange and compelling statue of man bearing down upon a supine female form depcits one of Goa’s most famous home grown talents, Abbe Faria, an eighteenth century Goan priest, father of ‘hypnotism’ and friend of Napolean in full melodramatic throes."

"18 October – ... Onor is a small place by the Sea-side, but a good Port of indifferent capacity, which is formed by two arms of Rivers, which (I know not whether both from one or several heads) running one Southward and the other Northward meet at the Fortress, and are discharg'd with one mouth into the Sea. The habitations are rather Cottages than Houses, built under a thick Grove of Palms, to wit those which produce the Indian Nuts, called by the Portugals Coco; and by the Arabians Narghu. But the Fortress is of a competent circuit, though the walls are not very well designed, being just as the Portugals found them made by the people of the Country. It stands upon a high Hill of freestone, and, it being very capacious, not onely the Captain lives there, but most of the married and principal Portugals have Houses in it, very well accommodated with Wells, Gardens, and other conveniences. The streets within the Fortress are large and fair, besides a great Piazza sufficient to contain all the people of the place in time of a siege. There are likewise two Churches, one dedicated to Saint Catherine, and the other to Saint Anthony; but ordinarily there is but one Priest in Onor, who is the Vicar of the Arch-Bishop of Goa; and therefore in Lent other religious persons always go thither. Out of the Fort, in the country, is the Bazar or Market, but a small one, and of little consideration; nothing being found therein but what is barely necessary for sustenance of the inhabitants."

"This has been and still is a great tourist place, although the political unrest in the area has certainly put a damper on things. .... For the serious spiritual pilgrim, however, Srinagar does not have so much to offer. We will find Srinagar to be a crowded but colorful city that exudes a distinct Asian atmosphere."

"The great city known as Srinagar, the city of the sun or the blessed city, also known to the cultivators of the valley as “Kashmir”. Srinagar became the capital of the Kashmir about 960 AD."

"This capital city of Kashmir also stands out as the most physical manifestation of the turbulent history of the region."

"Kashmir was India’s paradise, an alpine “Switzerland” for the Moghuls, ancient Srinagar, its capital city on the banks of Jhelum River, with nine bridges and waterways reminiscent of Venice, and an adjacent lake of moored houseboats and gondola-like shikaras, provided a lyric spring and summer interlude…"

"...Srinagar inspite of its internal squalor is one of the most picturesque places in the world. The hill of ancient Gopadari, which latter came to be known by Shankarachrya Hill after Adi Shankaracharya visited Srinagar in 9th Century AD, rises abruptly to a height of 1100 feet. At the base of this hill feature is the famous Gukar road, which once housed Buddhist Monasteries and lands. Hariparbat ridge, with the fort of Akbar surmounting it, form an appropriate frame to the scenery, and beyond these near hills the great mountains seem to tower over the city as one passes up the river highway. The very absence of order in the location of the houses and their tumbled—down appearance add a peculiar charm to the scenery, and Srinagar possess at once the attraction of a city full of life and a city of ruins."

"Scattered about within the limits of Srinagar there are numerous gardens and open spaces."

"It must be borne in mind that the name Kashmir given by the villagers to the city carries with it a deep meaning, that for many generations Srinagar has monopolized the attention of the rulers of Kashmir, and that the interest of the cultivators and the country have been jealously sub served to the well-being and comfort of the city. In short, Srinagar was ‘Kashmir’ in fact as well as in phrase."

"In truth, the kingdom surpasses in beauty all that my warmest imagination had anticipated."

"300 years from 9th till 11th century have been exciting times for Srinagar. These centuries produced poets, saints and other creative men. Bilhan, the great poet and grammarian was born in 11th century. Though his intellectual accomplishments surfaced later in South India, where he migrated, his pandrethan ancestry is a matter of established historical record."

"14th century saw advent of Islam and establishment of Muslim rule. The Muslim rule gave a new character to the city, both to its physical and cultural form. Srinagar became the epicenter of the socio-cultural and religious transformation of the region. Then onwards, for another 500 years the city also got a new name, Shehri-Kashmir. Coincidentally the city has the same latitude as great Islamic cities of Baghdad, Damascus and Fez, Morroco."

"Founded between the Jhelum River and Dal Lake in the mid-third century B.C., the city of Srinagar reached its apogee in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries."

"The city's most famous monuments, including the Shalimar and Nishat Gardens, were built after the Mughal emperor Akbar captured the province of Kashmir in the sixteenth century."

"During the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British occupation of Srinagar, colonial-style colleges, hospitals, and courts were constructed. In the downtown area of the city are less well-known residences, mosques, temples, hammams, and bazaars constructed in the local vernacular of timber and masonry architecture. Together, these buildings represent an unusually intact pre-modern urban environment."

"The famous Shalimar Bagh lies at the far end of the Dal Lake. According to a legend, Pravarsena II, the founder of the city of Srinagar, who reigned in Kashmir from A.D. 79 to 139, had built a villa on the edge of the lake, at its north-eastern corner, calling it Shalimar, which in Sanskrit is said to mean "The Abode or Hall of Love." …The Emperor Jahangir laid out a garden on this same old site in the year 1619."

"The history of Kashmir has always been reflected as it were in that of its capital which has not changed its site for more than 13 centuires. Hiun-Tsiang, who visited the capital in 631 AD, found it already in position where most of the present day city of Srinagar is situated. He describes its as situated along the bank of a great river, i.e., the Vitasta, now known as Jhelum...He has referred to its as the new city to distinguish it from the old capital which was situated at Pandrethan, a village about 3-2 km from the south-east of Srinagar. According to Kalhana, Pandrathan, which then known as Puranadhisthana (meaning the old capital) or Srinagar was founded by Ashoka the great at the south foot of a mountain spur which rises with bold slopes to a height of 3000 feet above the village."

"Like most of the districts of the State, Srinagar is named after its headquarters town which is also the summer capital of the State Government."

"In the course of the first half of the twentieth century, an entire social season sprang up around Srinagar and Gulmarg...As the landscape becomes further framed into domestic views, there is decreasing room for the urban geography of those areas of Srinagar where tourists, now moored to their increasingly opulent houseboats did not venture. As the bridges, overhanging houses, Mar Canal views and ethnographic portraits receded from albums, increasing prominence was secured by landscapes of the Lake and the social life centered around the clubs of Srinagar and Gulmarg."

"The architectural views of Srinagar...fed into an increasingly interested appreciation of Kashmir’s pre-Islamic past. In 1898, Maharaja Pratap Singh converted the Ranbir Singh in Srinagar into the Pratap Singh Museum. Today, in the first gallery of the dusty and neglected State Museum, statutory form Kashmir’s Buddhist and Hindu sites is still prominent,"

"But within Sringar are also less privileged constituencies who resist such investment by valourising very different kinds of “Kashmir Views.” In Srinagar’s Batmaloo neighborhood, next to the Sufi shrine of Dawood sahib, is the tiny office of a breakaway resistance group termed Islamic League of Students (ILS)."

"Spurred on by Archeological interest in the regions pre-Islamic architecture, and by linguistic research conducted by missionaries in Srinagar, [these] Indologists laid the foundation for a potent imagining of ancient Kashmir that grounded its Hindu and Buddhist material in its Hindu elites in the Valley’s topography and history, but dismissed its Muslim masses as later day interlopers."

"The old shrines, some of great age, are made of deodar, and the great Juma Masjid of Srinagar, with its lofty shafts of cedar, is said to have been constructed of timer cut from the Tashawan Forest. The Tashawan Forest.is now part of the city lying on the left bank of the river between the Fatteh and Zaina bridges."

"The interaction and synthesis of men of religion with varying cultural back ground gave rise to a belief system of tolerance, accommodation, moderation and strict adherence to the principles of the great religion of Islam. This process of assimilation gave birth to a unique religious and secular architecture, represented by the Khanqah, mosque and vernacular houses. Though the city would be burnt, destroyed and rebuilt many times, yet in the end Srinagar survives as one of the representative intact cities of pre-modern vernacular and timber architecture."

"Srinagar has been declared as the first city among the list of seven heritage cities of India...the living heritage of the city [is] represented by its wooden buildings, Sufi shrines and the river front."

"INTACH has undertaken many projects to restore the social and cultural fabric of Srinagar by undertaking activities in the field of cultural resource mapping, conservation and restoration of heritage buildings."

"The vernacular building and techniques are fast losing ground. These crafts have made great contribution to the traditional architecture in an Islamic city like Srinagar, Kashmir. The techniques included wood work in lattice range, pinjrakari, khatamb and ceilings, mud plasters as insulation, carved doors, designed windows, doors and windows."

"He was one of the most romantic figures in Indian history, a lesser warrior but a greater ruler than Alexander. Chandragupta was a young Kshatriya noble exiled from Magadha by the ruling Nanda family, to which he was related. Helped by his subtle Machiavellian adviser, Kautilya Chanakya, the youth organized a small army, overcame the Macedonian garrisons, and declared India free. Then he advanced upon Pataliputra,I capital of the Magadha kingdom, fomented a revolution, seized the throne, and established that Mauryan Dynasty which was to rule Hindustan and Afghanistan for one hundred and thirty-seven years. Subordinating his courage to Kautilya’s unscrupulous wisdom, Chandragupta soon made his government the most powerful then existing in the world. When Megasthenes came to Pataliputra as ambassador from Seleucus Nicator, King of Syria, he was amazed to find a civilization which he described to the incredulous Greeks—still near their zenith—as entirely equal to their own."

"Megasthenes describes Chandragupta’s capital, Pataliputra, as nine miles in length and almost two miles in width. The palace of the King was of timber, but the Greek ambassador ranked it as excelling the royal residences of Susa and Ecbatana, being surpassed only by those at Persepolis. Its pillars were plated with gold, and ornamented with designs of bird-life and foliage; its interior was sumptuously furnished and adorned with precious metals and stones. There was a certain Oriental ostentation in this culture, as in the use of gold vessels six feet in diameter; but an English historian concludes, from the testimony of the literary, pictorial and material remains, that “in the fourth and third centuries before Christ the command of the Maurya monarch over luxuries of all kinds and skilled craftsmanship in all the manual arts was not inferior to that enjoyed by the Mogul emperors eighteen centuries later.” ...Kautilya was a Brahman who knew the political value of religion, but took no moral guidance from it; like our modern dictators he believed that every means was justifiable if used in the service of the state. He was unscrupulous and treacherous, but never to his King; he served Chandragupta through exile, defeat, adventure, intrigue, murder and victory, and by his wily wisdom made the empire of his master the greatest that India had ever known."

"“In short,” says Havell, “Pataliputra in the fourth century B.C. seems to have been a thoroughly well-organized city, and administered according to the best principles of social science.” “The perfection of the arrangements thus indicated,” says Vincent Smith, “is astonishing, even when exhibited in outline. Examination of the departmental details increases our wonder that such an organization could have been planned and efficiently operated in India in 300 B.C."

"Patna is located on the banks of the River Ganga. Patna is a metropolis and has a designated regional development area."

"Even in India there are but few places so rich in historical memories as Patna. Beneath the soil watered by the blood of Mir Kasim’s victims, lie the ruins of the ancient Buddhist capital, Pataliputra, the greatness of which had been foretold by Buddha a few months before his death."

"The competitive advantage of Patna lies in its being the state capital and its central location. It is the centre for all higher order services in the state education, health and the political centre... Patna’s location on the banks of the River Ganga ensures that there is abundant water and fertile soil in the region."

"As a busy capital, Patna serves as a major transportation hub for the region."

"Commercial establishments within the city are mainly lined along the arterial and major roads and there is extensive mixed land use of commercial and residential use throughout the city."

"Patna is ahead of Mumbai but second only to New Delhi in terms of ease of starting a business, according to a World Bank ranking."

"The per capita GDDP of Patna is over four times more than the per capita gross state domestic product (GSDP) of the state."

"Patna has been one of the oldest continuously inhabited riverine cities in the world situated at the southern bank of river Ganga."

"Legend ascribes the origin of Patna to a mythological King Putraka who created Patna by magic for his queen Patali, literally "trumpet flower", which gives it its ancient name Pataligrama. It is said that in honour of the queen's first-born, the city was named Pataliputra. Gram is |Sanskrit for village and Putra means son."

"Towards the end of his life, the Buddha went to visit Pataliputra...thousands of people gathered at the hall to hear the Dhamma directly from the Buddha...the city folk came to see him off and in the Buddha’s honour, named the gate through which he left “Gotama’s Ghat” (Gotamudvara) and the ferry landing that he used to cross the river “Gotama Ferry Landing” (Gotamatitta)."

"The Buddha then set off to continue his journey... he turned back to look at the city, and shared with Ananda a prediction that it would grow into a great metropolis, but then fall into ruin caused by fire floods, and war (which in fact did happen). Several years after the Buddha’s death King Ajatasatru moved his capital from Rajagar to the humble Pataligama (Patali village), which blossomed into the prosperous Pataliputra (Patali City). This city remained a capital for almost 1000 years and reached the apex during the Maurya dynasty led first by Chandragupta and later his grandson, the benevolent Ashoka."

"The history and tradition of Patna go back to the earliest dawn of civilization. The original name of Patna was Pataliputra or Patalipattan and its history makes a start from the century 600 B.C. The name Patna has undergone many changes at its earliest stages like Pataligram, Kusumpur, Patliputra, Azimabad etc., ultimately terminating to the present one. Chandragupta Maurya made it his capital in the 4th century A.D"

"Historically it [Patna] went back to antiquity and was the capital of Mauryan Empire at the time of Alexander…centrally located on the south bank of the Ganges in central northern India. It was major trading center and wealthy. Gautama Buddha passed through Patna in 490 BC. At the time of Alexander, Chandragupta Maurya ruled an empire from the Bay of Bengal to Afghanistan."

"Ajatashatru’s son had moved his capital from Rajagriha to Pataliputra and this status was maintained during the reign of the Mauryas and the Guptas. Ashoka the Great, administered his empire from here. Chandragupta Maurya and Samudragupta, valiant warriors, took Pataliputra as their capital. It was from here Chandragupta sent forth his army to fight the Greeks of the western frontier and Chandragupta Vikramaditya repelled the Shakas and the Huns from here."

"It was there [Patna] that the Greek ambassador Megasthenes stayed during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya. The famous traveler Fa-Hien in the 3rd century and Hiuen-Tsang in the 7th century inspected the city. Many noted scholars like Kautilya stayed here and works like ‘Arthashastra’ were written from this place. This city was the fountainhead of the spring of knowledge and wisdom in ancient times."

"The Chinese Scholar Fa Hein who took Buddhism back to China in 400 BC described Patna in his dairy as the greatest city of earth. It was capital to the Mauryas and Gupta India empires."

"After a temporary eclipse, in 16th century, Sher Shah Suri returned the city to its former glory and established the present Patna. After the decline of the Mughals, the British too found Patna a convenient regional capital and built a modern extension to this ancient city and called it Bankipore. It was in Gandhi Maidan in this area, that Mahatma Gandhi held his prayer meetings."

"In the middle of 16th century, Sher Shah Suri built a fort on the banks of the Ganga understanding the strategic location of the city and importance of the port. The place has continued to be a significant trading centre during Sultanate period and flourished during the rule of Mughals and Nawabs of Bengal."

"Akbar himself came to capture the city, the downfall of which completed the conquest of Bengal. Then came the great days in which Patna was the center of political life in Bengal. Azim-us-Shan, the grandson of Aurangzeb held his court there, and gave to the city his own name – Azimabad, which it bears in works such as Seir-i-Mutaqherin. It is said writes O ‘Malley, “that the young prince aspired to make the city a second Delhi, but this ambition was cut short by the patricidal war which broke out on the death of Aurangzeb, in the course of which he met his death (1712) by being swallowed up alive by quicksand."

"Patna became a centre of international trade in the seventeenth century. The European trading countries British, French, Danes, Dutch and Portuguese started to come to Patna for trading purposes."

"It was a walled city and the European trading companies settled outside the fort area all along the river front. The city developed in three phases during the European influence and the British rule: First along the river front, Next on the southern side of Maidan to railway station and Third after being made the capital of the province of Bihar along the Bailey road, the new capital area."

"It was a major port on the Ganges before the British and Calcutta. After the Battle of Bihar (1765), the East India Company took charge and installed a puppet Raj, and Patna became capital of Bihar Province under the British Raj."

"They [British] built their residences and residential quarters, churches, schools, clubs, institutions and official buildings. One of the major intervention in the city was development of the Race course the present day Gandhi Maidan, in the central part of the city. These are significant heritage components of the Institutional area along the river front today. They are notonaly historically important but also form the prominent Institutional, Public-Semi-Public space of the city continuous in use from more than 200 years."

"Patna’s locational advantage, specifically its position on the great Gangetic artery connecting northern India to Bengal made it ideal as an entrepot city. Convenient land routes connected Patna both with the cities of the north and with important centers in Bengal. Jehangir had ordered the construction of a road that would link Patna to Agra."

"Patna’s biggest break as entrepot came with the consolidation of Mughal control over Bengal – particularly with the final suppression of the Pathan chiefs of Eastern Bengal in 1612... the city also served as an outlet for several commodities produced in its hinterland...By 1620 Patna was being described as the “chefest mart towne of all Bengala"."

"Situated on the south bank of the Ganges River, this crowded, dirty, and noisy state capital has lost all resemblance of its past glory. It is difficult to imagine that modern Patna was once the largest city in the world and the seat of India’s greatest empire from the 6th century BCE to the 4th century CE. A series of fires, floods and wars eventually destroyed most of Pataliputra, and all that now remains of the past are the ruins of a large pillared assembly hall at Kumrhar Archeological Park (6 km from the railway station), and some fantastic art in the Patna Museum."

"Patna Museum, Rajput fashioned, was built by the [[British in 1917 and now houses a collection of poorly labeled Buddhist statues from the past 2000 years. The museum’s marvelous collection of stone and metal statues and painyings of the Buddha and the bodhistvas demonstrate how the Dhamma had inspired beauty and creativity throughout the centuries.In addition to the art work, the museums most prized possession is a relic casket containing what is believed to be the portion of the Buddha’s ashes obtained by Lichhavi rulers after the Buddh;as passing."

"The casket is kept in a separate room making it possible to meditate in the relic’s presence with out any outside disturbance...Behind a glass window, on a raised platform, sits a small soapstone casket, with its contents neatly laid out beside it a copper coin, a shell, two glass beads and a small gold plate (the ashes are still inside the casket). We gaze silently at the casket for a few moments and then tell the guard we want to meditate. It is not every day you get a private audience with the Buddha's remains."

"In Pataliputra, India, which is now the city of Patna, legend also says that the Emerald Buddha was created in Patna (then Pataliputra) by Agrasena in 43 BCE...in Northern Thailand, lightning struck a pagoda in a temple in Chiang Rai, after which something became visible under the stucco. The Emerald Buddha was dug out and the people thought the figurine was made from emerald, hence its current name...The Buddha's clothing are changed by the King of Thailand, to celebrate the changing of seasons."

"Kumhrar, located in the city of Patna, is the site that consists of the archaeological excavations of Patliputra and marks the ancient capital of Ajatshatru, Chandragupta and Ashoka. The remains of the ancient city of Patilputra have been uncovered in Kumhrar, south of Patna. It is six km from the railway station, on the Kankarbagh Road. Excavations here have revealed relics of four continuous periods from 600 BC to 600 AD. An important find is the 80-pillared huge hall of the Mauryan dynasty dating back to 400 - 300 BC."

"Agam Kuan (Unfathomable well) is one of the most important early historic archeological remains in Patna. It is situated just close to Gulzarbagh railway Station, which is proposed to be associated with the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka."

"Alarmed by the famine of 1770, captain John Garstin built this huge granary Golghar for the British army in 1786. The massive structure is 29 m high and the walls are 3.6 m wide at the base. The winding stairway around this monument offers a brilliant panoramic view of the city and the Ganga flowing by."

"Harmandir Takht is regarded as one of the holiest of the five takhts, Standing in the Chowk area of old Patna. The place once known as Kucha Farrukh Khan is now known as Harmandir Gali. The Sikhs consider the city of Patna as particularly holy, as the tenth guru of the Sikhs was born here. It was here that Guru Gobind Singh was born in the year 1666 and spent his early years before moving to Anandpur. Besides being the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, Patna was also honoured by visits from Guru Nanak as well as Guru Tegh Bahadur."

"Padri Ki Haveli, a Church constructed in 1772, is the oldest Christian shrine of Bihar, and was designed and completed by Venetian architect Tirreto from Calcutta. In the quarrel between the English traders in Patna and Nawab Mir Kasim, the ruler of Bengal, on 25 June 1763, the Haveli was pillaged by the Nawab's soldiers for its treasures. The ancient records were destroyed and burnt. The structure was also attacked during the first war of Independence, in 1857. Today, the monument stands as an architectural wonder with intricate details which can be seen in few other churches of India."

"Agam Kuan (Unfathomable well) is one of the most important early historic archaeological remains in Patna…which is believed to be a part of the legendary hall created by Ashoka."

"...since Patna college was founded, Patna has been the most important place of education in Bihar; and it is now a university town, the acknowledged headquarters of educational activity in the Province. Moreover, in 1912, with the inauguration of new Province of Bihar and Orissa, Patna was restored to its old station of a Provincial Capital."

"Similar inscriptions are known to exist in some mosques which are still in use. But they cannot be copied because they have been covered with plaster. Years ago, Dr. Bloch had seen an inscription in the Patthar-kî-Masjid at Patna, the capital of Bihar, stating that the materials for the mosque were obtained from a Hindu temple at Majhauli (now in the Gorakhpur District of Uttar Pradesh).11 The temple was demolished in AH 1036 (AD 1626) by Prince Parwiz, a son of the Mughal emperor Jahãngîr. “I made the car stop,” writes Syed Hasan Askari, “and took my friends to the upper part of the historic Patthar-ki-Masjid. One of my American friends was an Arabist, but there was nothing for him to read, for the demoralised custodians had the inscription plastered with cement, considering that it contained provocative references.”12 Some friends of this author who visited the Jãmi‘ Masjid at Sambhal in the Moradabad District of Uttar Pradesh had the same experience when they expressed a desire to have a look at the inscriptions. This mosque was built in AD 1526 by an officer of Bãbur on the site and from the materials of the local Hari Mandir."

"Shillong is widely known as Scotland of the East. It is a beautiful town."

"In Shillong and this small but beautiful hill State of Meghalaya, the people are simple, straightforward and willing to listen. But they also believe in dialogue and discussion for all issues. They do not like to take orders, unless they feel that they are also taken into confidence."

"The name Shillong is derived from a peak of the same name. According to one legend the name came from a young handsome boy called ‘Shyllong’ who was born under mysterious conditions to a virgin mother."

"Shillong established in mid 1800s by Colonel Henry Hopkinson as a refuge for officers and staff of East India Company during summers, was made into a new civil station by British in 1864 and was also designated as the summer capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam for many years."

"The city … situated on the Shillong Plateau at an altitude of 1520 m (4987 ft); destroyed by earthquake in 1897 and rebuilt."

"Shillong — the capital city of Meghalaya — has been a capital city since its inception. In the course of its over-a-century old history it has attained the status of a cosmopolitan city with its own culture."

"The civil station of Shillong was established in 1864 as the administrative centre for a Khasi and Jaintia Hills district. At that time most of its present area was covered with deep forests with Laban — a small village under the United Khasi State of Shillong – nestling on hill slopes."

"The city of Shillong is exposed to the outer world. This gives opportunities to the educated elite to derive major benefits of socio-economic change. English education, Christianity, spread of communication and connectivity of the region contributed to the changing process of the Khasi life in Shillong."

"Finally on 21 January 1972, Meghalaya was declared a new state with Shillong as its capital."

"The Khasis of Shillong city have retained even today many important element of their tradition."

"Shillong the capital set amidst a picturesque landscape of pine covered hills, rapid streams and captivating water falls provides a perfect getaway from the heat."

"Within the city are a number of places to visit, which include Wards Lake, Lady Hydari Park, Sweet Falls, and the Shillong 18 Hole Golf Course, which is one of the oldest in the country. Other Tourist sites around the city are the Crinoline Swimming Pool, Mattilang Park, Air Force Museum, Upper Shillong, Don Bosco Centre of Indigenous Cultures, the Butterfly Museum and Jaya Kalra's Art Gallery."

"Rain drenched streets, dreamy youth smoking joints, their enigmatic fascination with rock music, literature, the authoritative Khasis and their antagonism against Dkhars (non-Khasis), snacking on peppered boiled potatoes soaked in tamarind water, and the wanting to break-free attitude, all of it and more is part of a picturesque narration that makes the reader fall in love with Shillong."

"The city’s half-timbered architecture has been rather swamped by lots of drab modern concrete, but areas such as Oakland and Lumsohphoh retain many older houses...The Anglican Church, perched above Police Bazaar, is a graceful structure fronted by pretty lawns...The 1902 All Saints’ Cathedral would look perfect pictured on a biscuit tin. Located nearby, the turreted Das-Roy House lurks behind a traffic circle that harbours five forgotten Khasi monoliths as well as a mini Soviet-style globe monument."

"It's true that we're well-known globally but it's also important to be known in your own country. It is very comforting indeed that our kind of music is accepted by the rest of the country. It gives us a great sense of identity. And of course there is no platform like television to present your talent to the whole nation."

"They've [Shillong Chamber Choir] made us all very proud."

"Man, this place barely exists on the map and there are all these wonderful people coming out of the woodworks with Powers of 10 albums and posters that I haven't even seen in America. They know everything I have ever done, every tune I have ever played... it's just bizarre, simply inconceivable."

"The related tradition tells us that one Ksatriya King Iksvaku, a predecessor of Ram Chandra, performed many Yajnas at ]this holy place and that it was named Iksvakusar after him. It is claimed that Sita stayed at Ram Tirath (15 KM from Amritsar) during her exile and gave birth to two sons, Lava and Kush. It is further said that Lava and Kush fought a battle with their father, Ram Chandra, in which the latter was wounded at the site where now stands the Dukh Bhanjani Beri. When the identity of dying Ram Chandra was disclosed to Lava and Kush, they brought amrit (nectar) which saved him. After serving some amrit to Ram Chandra, the rest of it was immersed in a nearby pond. From that very moment, the pond became a reservoir of amrit."

"In the history of the Muslim League War on the Hindus and Sikhs of the Punjab in 1947, Amritsar occupies an outstanding position. It was in this city, along with Lahore, though with an intensity even greater than in the latter town, that the most sustained war, lasting for over five months was waged on the Hindus and Sikhs, especially the latter, by the Amritsar Muslims. In the scheme of the Muslim League, Amritsar appears to have been Theatre of War No. 1. ... Amritsar, to use a not inappropriate parallel, became a kind of Stalingrad of this Muslim League-Sikh War."

"No one in the whole city ate anything on this night; no one slept a wink. The whole town was ringing with the yells of the attacking Muslims and the defiant shouts of Hindus and Sikhs. Flames were rising and tall buildings were gutted with huge fires. (149)... During the night, the Hindu and Sikh quarters got hell. Parties of Muslims would go about shouting Pakistan and Islamic slogans, setting fire to Hindu and Sikh houses... Hindus and Sikhs trying to escape from flames were lynched by the mob. A large part of Amritsar was reduced to cinders and rubble in the fires of this night and the one following it. If one stood on the top of a high building in the night, red flames could be seen rising high, spread over large areas, lending a terrible and awful glow to the darkness of the night... Attacks on Sikhs found anywhere became a feature of the Muslim campaign in Amritsar. Any Sikh found anywhere on the road was attacked and killed. A large number of Sikhs coming from the villages around Amritsar, and many pilgrims coming from outside to visit Darbar Sahib were stabbed by Muslim parties lying in ambush.... Besides the Muslim mobs and assassins, Muslim police shot out of hand any Sikh or Hindu they could lay hands on. Muslim police are known to have gone about prowling of a night, to have sometimes called out of their homes Hindus and Sikhs and to have shot them dead on the spot. This practice they called ‘shikar’ and it was a terror for Hindus and Sikhs."

"In towns like Amritsar, where the earliest attacks occurred, even before any Hindu or Sikh was thinking that fighting would take place, the Muslims were fully prepared for the offensive. For example, they had distributed among their own folk all the available sword-blades in Amritsar. On Muslim shops had been written in prominent lettering ‘Muslim Shop’ in Urdu to protect these shops from planned arson."

"Amritsar was the spiritual capital of the Sikhs, and Sikh history is full of wars waged by Sikhs in the pre-Ranjit Singh Era for the recovery of Amritsar from the hands of Muslims who desecrated the holy Hari Mandir (the Golden Temple of, later days) and filled the sacred Tank with sand. ... To surrender Amritsar to the Muslims would mean practically the writing off of Sikh history and admitting a status inferior to that of the Muslims in the Punjab-a status, in view of the past record and declared ambitions and methods of the Muslim League, of serfdom. To break the Sikh resistance and morale in Amritsar was, therefore, of the first importance... As a result of the Muslim campaign of arson, from the 5th March onwards, more than one-fourth of the city of Amritsar has been laid in ruins-the worst sufferer in this respect among the cities of the Punjab."

"The comments of the Chief Secretary to the Punjab Government of those days, Mr. Akhtar Hussain; are significant:... “The two cities have shown some distinctive features in their disorders and in Lahore stabbings had the place in favour taken by crude bombs in Amritsar. However, both have points in common, the most important of which have been arson and the signs of better organization and greater determination which have emerged. In respect of arson Muslims have been the main culprits and there have been numerous acts of incendiarism in both places resulting in conflagrations which have taxed the available army and civil resources to their utmost limit.”"

"Sultan Sikandar was yet a young boy when he heard about a tank in Thanesar which the Hindus regarded as sacred and went for bathing in it. He asked the theologians about the prescription of the Shari'ah on this subject. They replied that it was permitted to demolish the ancient temples and idol-houses of the infidels, but it was not proper for him to stop them from going to an ancient tank. Hearing this reply, the prince drew out his sword and thought of beheading the theologian concerned, saying that he (the theologian) was siding with the infidels..."

"The chief of Tanesar was on this account obstinate in his infidelity and denial of Allah. So the Sultan marched against him with his valiant warriors, for the purpose of planting the standards of Islam and extirpating idolatry... The Sultan adopted the stratagem of ordering some of his troops to cross the river by two different fords, and to attack the enemy on both sides; and when they were all engaged in close conflict, he ordered another body of men to go up the bank of the stream, which was flowing through the pass with fearful impetuosity, and attack the enemy amongst the ravines, where they were posted in the greatest number. The battle raged fiercely, and about evening, after a vigorous attack on thepart of the Musulmans, the enemy fled, leaving their elephants, which were all driven into the camp of the Sultan, except one, which ran off and could not be found. The largest were reserved for the Sultan. The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously that the stream was discoloured, and people were unable to drink it. Had not night come on and concealed the traces of their flight, many more of the enemy would have been slain. The victory was gained by Allah's grace, who has established Islam forever as the best of religions, notwithstanding that idolators revolt against it. The Sultan returned with plunder which it is impossible to recount - Praise be to Allah, the protector of the world, for the honour he bestows upon Islam and Musulmans!..."

"The Sultan now received information that there was a city in Hindustan called Thanessar, and there was a great temple there in which there was an idol called Jagarsom, whom the people of Hindustan worshipped. He collected a large force with the object of carrying on a religious war, and in the year AH 402 marched towards Thanessar. The son of Jaipal having received intelligence of this, sent an envoy and represented through him, that if the Sultan would relinquish this enterprise, he would send fifty elephants as tribute. The Sultan paid no heed to this offer, and when he reached Thanessar he found the city empty. The soldiers ravaged and plundered whatever they could lay hands upon, broke the idols and carried Jagarsom to Ghaznin. The Sultan ordered that the idol should the placed in front of the place of prayer, so that people would trample upon it."

"'In the year AH 402 (AD 1011) he set out for Thanesar and Jaipal, the son of the former Jaipal, offered him a present of fifty elephants and much treasure. The Sultan, however, was not to be deterred from his purpose; so he refused to accept his present, and seeing Thanesar empty he sacked it and destroyed its idol temples, and took away to Ghaznin, the idol known as Chakarsum on account of which the Hindus had been ruined; and having placed it in his court, caused it to be trampled under foot by the people...From thence he went to Mathra (Mathura) which is a place of worship of the infidels and the birthplace of Kishan, the son of Basudev, whom the Hindus Worship as a divinity - where there are idol temples without number, and took it without any contest and razed it to the ground. Great wealth and booty fell into the hands of the Muslims, among the rest they broke up by the orders of the Sultan, a golden idol."

"It is also related of this prince, that before his accession, when a crowd of Hindus had assembled in immense numbers at Kurkhet, he wished to go to Thanesar for the purpose of putting them all to death..."

"'In the year AH 402 (AD 1011), Mahmood resolved on the conquest of Tahnesur [Thanesar (Haryana)], in the kingdom of Hindoostan. It had reached the ears of the king that Tahnesur was held in the same veneration by idolaters, as Mecca by the faithful; that they had there set up a number of idols, the principal of which they called Jugsom, pretending that it had existed ever since the creation. Mahmood having reached Punjab, required, according to the subsisting treaty with Anundpal, that his army should not be molested on its march through his country...'The Raja's brother, with two thousand horse was also sent to meet the army, and to deliver the following message:- "My brother is the subject and tributary of the King, but he begs permission to acquaint his Majesty, that Tahnesur is the principal place of worship of the inhabitants of the country: that if it is required by the religion of Mahmood to subvert the religion of others, he has already acquitted himself of that duty, in the destruction of the temple of Nagrakote. But if he should be pleased to alter his resolution regarding Tahnesur, Anundpal promises that the amount of the revenues of that country shall be annually paid to Mahmood; that a sum shall also be paid to reimburse him for the expense of his expedition, besides which, on his own part he will present him with fifty elephants, and jewels to a considerable amount." Mahmood replied, "The religion of the faithful inculcates the following tenet: That in proportion as the tenets of the prophet are diffused, and his followers exert themselves in the subversion of idolatry, so shall be their reward in heaven; that, therefore, it behoved him, with the assistance of God, to root out the worship of idols from the face of all India. How then should he spare Tahnesur?"...This answer was communicated to the Raja of Dehly, who, resolving to oppose the invaders, sent messengers throughout Hindoostan to acquaint the other rajas that Mahmood, without provocation, was marching with a vast army to destroy Tahnesur, now under his immediate protection. He observed, that if a barrier was not expeditiously raised against this roaring torrent, the country of Hindoostan would be soon overwhelmed, and that it behoved them to unite their forces at Tahnesur, to avert the impending calamity...."

"In the expedition to Thaneshwar (1015), according to Farishtah, “the Muhammadan army brought to Ghaznin 200,000 captives, so that the capital (Ghaznin) looked like an Indian city, for every soldier of the army had several slaves and slave girls”."

"One day he ordered that an expedition be sent to Thaneswar, (the tanks at) Kurkaksetra should be filled up with earth, and the land measured and allotted to pious people for their maintenance, He was such a great partisan of Islam in the days of his youth..... Sultan Sikandar led a very pious life Islam was regarded very highly in his reign. The infidels could not muster the courage to worship idols or bathe in the (sacred) streams. During his holy reign, idols were hidden underground. The stone (idol) of Nagarkot, which had misled the (whole) world, was brought and handed over to butchers so that they might weigh meat with it."

"The city of Taneshar is highly venerated by Hindus. The idol of that place is called Cakrasvamin, i.e. the owner of the cakra, a weapon which we have already described. It is of bronze, and is nearly the size of a man. It is now lying in the hippodrome in Ghazna, together with the Lord of Somanath, which is a representation of the penis of Mahadeva, called Linga."

"The linga he raised was the stone of Somnath, for soma means the moon and natha means master, so that the whole word means master of the moon. The image was destroyed by the Prince Mahmud, may God be merciful to him! - AH 416. He ordered the upper part to be broken and the remainder to be transported to his residence, Ghaznin, with all its coverings and trappings of gold, jewels, and embroidered garments. Part of it has been thrown into the hippodrome of the town, together with the Cakrasvamin, an idol of bronze, that had been brought from Taneshar. Another part of the idol from Somanath lies before the door of the mosque of Ghaznin, on which people rub their feet to clean them from dirt and wet."

"In AH 796 (AD 1393-94), it was reported that Sultãn Muhammad bin Fîrûz Shãh had died at Delhî and that the affairs of the kingdom were in disorder so that a majority of zamîndãrs were in revolt, particularly the Rãjã of Îdar. Zafar Khãn collected a large army and mountain-like elephants and proceeded to Îdar in order to punish the Rãjã… The Rãjã of Îdar had no time to prepare a defence and shut himself in the fort. The armies of Zafar Khãn occupied the Kingdom of Îdar and started plundering and destroying it. They levelled with the ground whatever temple they found… The Rãjã of Îdar showed extreme humility and pleaded for forgiveness through his representatives. Zafar Khãn took a tribute according to his own desire and made up his mind to attack Somnãt…“In AH 803 (AD 1399-1400) ‘Ãzam Humãyûn paid one year’s wages (in advance) to his army and after making great preparations, he attacked the fort of Îdar with a view to conquer it. After the armies of the Sultãn had besieged the fort from all sides and the battle continued non-stop for several days the Rãjã of Îdar evacuated the fort one night and ran away towards Bîjãnagar. In the morning Zafar Khãn entered the fort and, after expressing his gratefulness to Allãh, and destroying the temples, he appointed officers in the fort…"

"The Rãjã of Îdar ran away to the mountains and on the fourth day the Sultãn started from Morãsã and halted near Îdar. He ordered that the houses and temples of Îdar should be destroyed in such a way that no trace of them should remain."

"He marched towards Malwa, in the same month, from Muhammedabad for repulsion of unbelievers and defence of religious-minded Muslims. He halted at the town of Godhra for reinforcement of powerful forces when he received a report about insolence of the Raja of Idar. He, therefore, marched thither and ordered to demolish houses and temples of Idar. This event took place in the year 919, nine hundred and nineteen Hijri."

"Sultãn Muzaffar… started for Îdar. When he arrived in the town of Mahrãsã, he sent armies for destroying Îdar. The Rãjã of Îdar evacuated the fort and took refuge in the mountain of Bîjãnagar. The Sultãn, when he reached Îdar, found there ten Rajpûts ready to lay down their lives. He heaped barbarities on them and killed them. He did not leave even a trace of palaces, temples, gardens and trees."

"The King, hearing of this disaster, instantly marched towards Idur. On reaching Mahrasa he caused the whole of the Idur district to be laid waste. Bheem Ray took refuge in the Beesulnuggur mountains; but the garrison of Idur, consisting of only ten Rajpoots, defended it against the whole of the King’s army with obstinacy; they were, however, eventually put to death on the capture of the place; and the temples, palaces, and garden houses, were levelled with the dust."

"In the year 832 he marched again to Idur; and on the sixth of Suffur, AH 832 (AD Nov. 14, 1428) carried by storm one of the principal forts in that province, wherein he built a magnificent mosque."

"His [P. V. Narasimha Rao] victory from the Nandyal constituency (in Kadapa district) gave him an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records in 1991 for the maximum votes — 89.5%! — polled. In 1996, he had an opposition to contend with, and still managed to poll 366, 431 votes and defeat the TDP."

"Although the king of the time [Aurangzeb] is not a prophet, yet there is no doubt in his being a friend of God. He built the mosque and broke the idols (at a time) when 1103 years had passed from the flight (of the Prophet).”"

"“The sudden swelling of the rivers, and the absence of the King with his army, gave Venkutputty leisure to muster the whole of his forces, which amounted to one hundred thousand men. The leaders were Yeltumraj, Goolrung Setty, and Munoopraj, who marched to recover Gundicota from the hands of Sunjur Khan. Here the enemy were daily opposed by sallies from the garrison, but they perservered in the siege; when they heard that Moortuza Khan, with the main army of the Mahomedans, had pentrated as far as the city of Krupa, the most famous city of that country, wherein was a large temple. This edifice the Mahomedans destroyed as far as practicable, broke the idol, and sacked the city…”"

"In the name of God, the most Merciful and Compassionate. Praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds, and blessing and peace be upon Muhammad, the apostle of God, and upon all his descendants and companions. O God, help Islãm and the Muslims by preserving the kingdom of Abu’z-.Zafar Muhîu’d-Dîn Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahãdur ‘Ãlamgîr, the victorious king. Blessed be the ruler of the world, the refuge of the universe; whose name effaces the existence of sin. Since the time of Tîmur who conquered the kingdom of Romans, there has been no ruler just like the present king (Aurangzeb). The bow which he has stretched by his powerful arms, is such that the echo of its twing has reached the (distant) seas. By the sword, which the powerful king has wielded, panic has sprung (even) in the ocean. Although the king of the time is not a prophet, yet there is no doubt in his being a friend of God. He built the mosque and broke the idols (at a time) when 1103 years had passed from the flight (of the Prophet)."

"“In the year AH 427 (AD 1036)… he himself marched with an army to India, to reduce the fort of Hansy… Herein he found immense treasure, and having put the fort under the charge of a trusty officer, he marched towards the fort of Sonput. Depal Hurry, the governor of Sonput, abandoned the place, and fled into the woods; but having no time to carry off his treasure, it fell into the conqueror’s hands. Musaood having ordered all the temples to be razed to the ground, and the idols to be broken proceeded in pursuit of Depal Hurry…”"

"“…He marched with his army to the fort of Sonipat, and the commandant of that fort, Daniãl Har by name, becoming aware of his approach, fled… the army of Islam, having captured that fort, pulled down all the temples and obtained an enormous quantity of booty.”"

"“Two weeks ago, I wrote in Navajivan a note on the tragedy in Godhra, where Shri Purshottam Shah bravely met his death at the hands of his assailants and gave my note the heading Hindu-Muslim Fight in Godhra. Several Hindus did not like the heading and addressed angry letters asking me to correct it (for it was a one sided fight). I found it impossible to accede to their demand. Whether there is one victim or more, whether there is a free fight between the two communities, or whether one assumes the offensive and the other simply suffers, I should describe the event as a fight if the whole series of happenings were the result of a state of war between the two communities. Whether in Godhra or in other places, there is today a state of war between the two communities. Fortunately, the countryside is still free from the war fever (no longer now) which is mainly confined to towns and cities, where, in some form or the other, fighting is continually going on. Even the correspondents, who have written to me about Godhra, do not seem to deny the fact that the happenings arose out of the communal antagonisms that existed there. “If the correspondents had simply addressed themselves to the heading, I should have satisfied myself with writing to them privately and written nothing in Navajivan about it. But there are other letters in which the correspondents have vented their ire on different counts. A volunteer from Ahmedabad, who had been to Godhra, writes: You say that you must be silent over these quarrels. Why were you not silent over the Khilafat, and why did you exhort us to join the Muslims? Why are you not silent about your principles of Ahimsa? How can you justify your silence when the two communities are running at each other’s throats and Hindus are being crushed to atoms? How does Ahimsa come there? I invite your attention to two cases: A Hindu shopkeeper, thus, complained to me: Musalmans purchase bags of rice from my shop, often never paying for them. I cannot insist on payment, for fear of their looting my godowns. I have, therefore, to makean involuntary gift of about 50 to 70 maunds of rice every month? Others complained: Musalmans invade our quarters and insult our women in our presence, and we have to sit still. If we dare to protest, we are done for. We dare not even lodge a complaint against them. What would you advise in such cases? How would you bring your Ahimsa into play? Or, even here you would prefer to remain silent! “These and similar other questions have been answered in these pages over and over again, but as they are still being raised, I had better explained my views once more at the risk of repetition. “Ahimsa is not the way of the timid or the cowardly. It is the way of the brave ready to face death. He who perishes sword in hand is, no doubt, brave, but he who faces death without raising his little finger, is braver. But he who surrenders his rice bags for fear of being beaten, is a coward and no votary of Ahimsa. He is innocent of Ahimsa. He, who for fear of being beaten, suffers the women of his household to be insulted, is not manly, but just the reverse. He is fit neither to be a husband nor a father, nor a brother. Such people have no right to complain…” (extract from To the Hindus and Muslims, a collection of articles by Gandhiji from Young India ).”"

"Godhra town is a very sensitive place. There is a high percentage of Muslim population in various places in the district. Communal riots had taken place in Godhra in the years 1925, 1928, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1953, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992. The communal riots that had taken place in 1948 were very serious. Initially, the Muslims had burnt 869 houses of Hindus. Thereafter, the Hindus had burnt 3,071 houses of Muslims..."

"Even though communal murders and attacks dating to the early decades of the 20th century are still fresh in people’s memory, the following incident has become part of Hindu fear-lore in Godhra: Four Hindu teachers, including two women teachers, were hacked to death by miscreants in Saifia Madrasa in Vhorvada area of Godhra on November 20, 1990 in front of children. One Hindu tailor was also stabbed to death in this area. All this was done by anti-social elements allegedly at the instance of the Congress MLA of the area."

"Fortunately, in the last ten years, with growing political stability and massive improvements in the economic and educational infrastructure of the area, the social and occupational profile of Godhra’s Ghanchi community has changed noticeably. With stricter enforcement of law and order and new economic opportunities opening up for this once- backward community, criminal elements have been marginalised. This has begun to change both the self view and aspirations of the Ghanchi community as well as their image in the eyes of non-Ghanchis—both Hindus and Muslims."

"Stereotyping of communities is not only communal but also misleading. Keeping this in mind, some attributes for which the Ghanchis of Godhra are known among both Hindus and Muslims in Godhra and outside, may be taken as applicable to a majority of them. They are known as an aggressive, impulsive community, descendants of Afghan soldiers and Bhil women. They were initially harvesters and traders of oil and later became farmers. Today they are in the transport business. They are largely illiterate and poor, though the number of educated among them is growing. The Ghanchis have had a long history of violent conflicts with Godhra’s Hindus, pre- and post-Independence."

"I remained at Calicut... The proper name of the place is Colicodu... Tippoo destroyed the town, and removed its inhabitants to Nelluru, the name of which he changed to Furruck-abad ; for, like all the Mussulmans of India, he was a mighty changer of old Pagan names."

"[Kozhikode is] "one of the great ports of the district of Malabar" where "merchants of all parts of the world are found". [The king of this place,] "shaves his chin just as the Haidari Fakeers of Rome do... The greater part of the Muslim merchants of this place are so wealthy that one of them can purchase the whole freightage of such vessels put here and fit out others like them"."

"The devastation in Kozhikode was so comprehensive that it changed the character of the place forever."

"To show his ardent devotion and steadfast faith in Muhammaddan religion, Tipu Sultan found Kozhikode to be the most suitable place. It was because the Hindus of Malabar refused to reject the matriarchal system, polyandry and half-nakedness of women that the 'great reformer' Tipu Sultan tried to honour the entire population with Islam."

"Accompanied by an army of 60,000, Tipu Sultan came to Kozhikode in 1788 and razed it to the ground. It is not possible even to describe the brutalities committed by that Islamic barbarian from Mysore."

"Kozhikode was then a centre of Brahmins. There were around 7000 Namboodiri houses of which more than 2000 houses were destroyed by Tipu Sultan in Kozhikode alone. Sultan did not spare even children and women. Menfolk escaped to forests and neighbouring principalities. Mappilas increased many fold (due to forcible conversion).... "During the military regime of Tipu Sultan, Hindus were forcibly circumcised and converted to Muhammadan faith. As a result the number of Nairs and Brahmins declined substantially."

"Few scenes are more lovely than the beautiful Valley of the Krishna, as seen from the open Temples of Mahabuleshwar. The smooth and brightly gleaming waters, like a silvery thread, wind their quiet way between the richly wooded hills, which form a vista of fertile shelter to the grassy banks; while the herds, feeding peacefully beside the sacred river, complete the scene, and afford a glimpse of pastoral beauty, the more fair and sweet, perhaps, as contrasted with sublime mountain solitudes of the immediate neighbourhood…"

"The walks and drives about the hills, are numerous and beautiful; long avenues, shaded by magnificent forest trees, afford noon-tide shelter, and permit the visitor the unusual and safe indulgence, of a mid-day stroll beneath their shade, while here and there an opening in the rich foliage, affords a glimpse of the superb mountain-scenery around, arresting the step in admiration of its sublime and varied wonders. Bold peaks, towering and cloud-capt Ghauts, sparkling cascades, hill-forts, deep straths, and wooded glens, blend their magnificent effects in a succession of rich and glowing pictures, more wondrous and more grand, than even Italy with her bold Alps and smiling Pyrenees, can charm the traveller’s eye withal. No snowy peaks, ‘tis true, blushing in the rays of the sun-lit sky, form backgrounds to the scene, but veils of fleecy vapour, with mazy indistinctness, shroud the towering scraps of the eternal hills, while the clear atmosphere around, permits the eye to revel in the full majesty of these stupendous scenes, revealing the sun-lit valleys and the quiet occupation of their peasants, as clearly as it does the dense jungle of the mountain side, crowded with its wild and savage denizens."

"But Santiniketan (the Abode of Peace), in the glorious countryside of what today is West Bengal, north of Calcutta (now called Kolkata), was no common place to learn. The school there was founded by the celebrated Bengali poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, who would write the national anthems for two unborn states, India and Bangladesh. The Nobel laureate meant to realize Indians’ intellectual independence through learning, studying all of humanity, with a special attention to Japanese and Chinese civilization. The institution was determinedly unconventional: on arriving, Indira Nehru searched in vain for the classrooms and was startled to discover that her classes were held under the trees. “Everything is so artistic and beautiful and wild!” she wrote to Nehru."

"In order to qualify for Government grants, Shanti Niketan, the famous institution found by the great Rabindra Nath Tagore, the poet of the soul's Godward aspiration and a great representative of undying India, had to give up its Upanishadic motto: satyam, Sivam, sundaram. These figures represent the deepest and loftiest that spirituality has conceived about man, his aspirations and destiny, his hopes and possibilities. But to the modern secular ears of the present-day rulers, these terms sound communal and antiquated."

"At the commencement of the fourth mile from Pampur, a low spur of steep rock descends from the mountains, and rests upon the flat upon the bank of the river. Near its extremity, where it may be about one hundred feet high, is the capital, and five feet of the shaft, of an enormous limestone-pillar. The capital is about five feet in diameter, and polygonal. The plinth is much damaged, but enough is left to show that it was composed (at least I thought so) of four gigantic female busts, most likely those of Luksmi, if the pillar supported the Garuda or bird of Vishnu, as mentioned below. It is lying on its side, and was probably overthrown by the zeal of “the idol-breaker”. A flat surface, sufficiently large to answer the purpose of a base; has been cut on the rock; but I could not discover a vestige of any other ruin near it. About half a mile nearer the city is another large block, on which are rudely sculptured the knees and legs of a gigantic sitting figure, not crossed like those of a Hindu figure in general, but apparently bent like those of an Egyptian statue; all the remainder seemed to have been broken off; but although the uncultivated slope around it is strewed with large masses of stone, I saw nothing that must be necessarily supposed to have formed part of the image. Near them again are some enormous lingams, or pieces of sculpture, that are, as is well known, venerated by the Hindus as the emblems of Siva. I could not contemplate these massive relics without imagining for a moment that they may have originally been parts of a city and vast Hindu temple, which, being near the modern city, and consequently of so much the greater sanctity and importance, must have called for the especial notice of Butshikan."

"Formerly the Cortalés (the villagers of Cortalim) were greatly devoted to their idols as is seen from the fact that although Cortalim is not large it had many lands belonging to the temples. The reason of this was that they served the kings of the mainland in offices requiring penmanship; and as this caste of people always find those whom they can exploit, they returned to their village rich, bought lands and offered them to the temples, in order to preserve the memory of their names. All of them bear the title ‘‘ Xenens”’ (Shenvis), that is to say, teachers ; because in the region of Konkan they are the ones who teach the other Brah- mins the three R’s. There are other Brahmins in Salsete, who do not bel&ng to Cortalim and yet take pride in the appelation Xenens... The Church of Cortalim is erected in the same site, where formerly the idol of Mangesh was worshipped. Mangesh is nothing but a stone and the reason which led the people of Cortalim to worship this stone is the following: The first Cortalé Brahmin who came to Salsete from Kashi-Pandharpur in the territory of Bengal, was wandering in search of a convenient place in which to settle down with his family. He sought the advice of the Demon of this point who appeared before him and ordered him to build his home at the place where his cow would discharge her milk. The Brahmin kept his cow under observation while she left in the morning for grazing and saw that when she reached a certain stone, which adjoined the river, she poured her milk on it spontaneously. And here he built his home and adorned the stone as a precious treasure, in which had entered the god who had appeared before him and to whom the cow had made an offering of her milk... Cortalim is a place of Kashi-Pandharpur from which the Brahmin hailed and he gave the name to the new colony to conserve the memory of his land of birth."

"'The victorious standards set out from Jaunpur for the destruction of idols, slaughter of the enemies of Islam and hunt for elephants near Padamtalav. The Sultan saw Jajnagar which had been praised by all travellers'...'The troops which had been appointed for the destruction of places around Jajnagar, ended the conceit of the infidels by means of the sword and the spear. Wherever there were temples and idols in that area, they were trampled under the hoofs of the horses of Musalmans... After obtaining victory and sailing on the sea and destroying the temple of Jagannath and slaughtering the idolaters, the victorious standards started towards Delhi..."

"Allah, who is the only true God and has no other emanation, endowed the king of Islam with the strength to destroy this ancient shrine on the eastern sea-coast and to plunge it into the sea, and after its destruction, he ordered the nose of the image of Jagannath to be perforated and disgraced it by casting it down on the ground. They dug out other idols, which were worshipped by the polytheists in the kingdom of Jajnagar, and overthrew them as they did the image of Jagannath, for being laid in front of the mosques along the path of the Sunnis and way of the musallis (the multitude who offer prayers) and stretched them in front of the portals of every mosque, so that the body and sides of the images may be trampled at the time of ascent and descent, entrance and exit, by the shoes on the feet of the Muslims."

"It (Sîrat-Fîrûz Shãhî) is a text either written or dictated by Sultãn Fîrûz Shãh Tughlaq himself. According to this book, the objects of his expedition to Jajnagar were: “extirpating Rai Gajpat, massacring the unbelievers, demolishing their temples, hunting elephants, and getting a glimpse of their enchanting country.” ‘Ain-ul-Mulk also says, “The object of the expedition was to break the idols, to shed the blood of the enemies of Islãm (and) to hunt elephants.”"

"The Rajas of Majnauli belong to the Višvëna family of Kshatriyas, fabled to have sprung from an ancient sage named Mayürabhatta, who practised penance at a place now called Kakràdih situated some 15 miles south-west of Majhauli. The place is still considered holy and every new successor to the Raj is anointed at his installaton with clay specially brought from there."

"Majhaul at the present day possesses but few antiquities, Indeed, the only ones worth mentioning are an image of the Mahishasuramardini Durga, lying under a tree near the Raja's palace, and a ruined shrine of Dirghëšvara Mahadéva of unknown date, situated among a mass of ancient remains a little to the east of the town. Majhauli must have been a place of some importance in past ages, if, as suggested by Dr. Fleet, it should prove to be the place where Buddha crossed the Anuma. It is true that some four miles from Majhauli near the railway line between the stations of Salémpur and Bhatni there is a small but ancient village called Anuümpar meaning "across the Anuma” or more freely “the crossing of the Anuma,” which may well be an арabramsa of Anuma, but the absence of апу stream of such a name anywhere in the neighbourhood offers a difficulty in the way of the identification, The channel running past the village is called Рusi. Nor does the locality show any remains which can be called Buddhist."

"That the name was spelt as Majhauli at least as far back as the time of Raja Bodhmall, a contemporary of Aurangzeb, is proved by a paper document dated in Samvat 1692 kindly shown to me by the Maharaja Sahib. The same spelling occurs in a Persian inscription discovered by Dr. Bloch in the Pathar-ki-masjid at Patna, which states that the material for the building of the mosque was obtained from a temple and a fort demolished at Majhauli for the purpose."

"I made the car stop,... and took my friends to the upper part of the historic Pathar-ki-masjid. One of my American friends was an Arabist, but there was nothing for him to read, for the demoralised custodians had the inscription plastered with cement, considering that it contained provocative references."

"Years ago, Dr. Bloch had seen an inscription in the Patthar-kî-Masjid at Patna, the capital of Bihar, stating that the materials for the mosque were obtained from a Hindu temple at Majhauli (now in the Gorakhpur District of Uttar Pradesh).11 The temple was demolished in AH 1036 (AD 1626) by Prince Parwiz, a son of the Mughal emperor Jahãngîr. “I made the car stop,” writes Syed Hasan Askari, “and took my friends to the upper part of the historic Patthar-ki-Masjid. One of my American friends was an Arabist, but there was nothing for him to read, for the demoralised custodians had the inscription plastered with cement, considering that it contained provocative references.”12 Some friends of this author who visited the Jãmi‘ Masjid at Sambhal in the Moradabad District of Uttar Pradesh had the same experience when they expressed a desire to have a look at the inscriptions. This mosque was built in AD 1526 by an officer of Bãbur on the site and from the materials of the local Hari Mandir."

"The place,... is strewn with sculptures of Jaina and Brahmanical professions of faith… Contemporary history does not mention Bodhan; but the array of antiquities and the discovery of both Hindu and Muslim inscriptions in recent times establish the fact that the town possessed considerable religious and strategic importance in early days."

"In obedience to the commandment of the Almighty God, the Lord of both the worlds; and in love of… the exalted Prophet: During the reign of Shãhjahãn, the king of the seven climes, the viceregent of God (lit. Truth), the master of the necks of people… the benevolent and generous Prince Aurangzeb, whose existence is a blessing of the Merciful God on people: He built a house for worship with (all) the qualities of heaven: after the site has been previously occupied by the temple of infidels…"

"In the town of Keladi in the Kannada country there was a person named Basava, who had married a woman of the same name and who was a devotee of Siva. The couple had four sons. After the death of Basava and two of his sons, his wife was bringing up the two other sons who were named Chauda and Bhadra, and in due course had their marriages performed. Once when Chauda was attending to the ploughing of his land his ploughshare is said to have come across a large amount of buried treasure. With the aid of the treasure he managed to become a Gramadhipa (headman of a village). He then collected a small company of soldiers. The king of the country, on hearing of this, sent for Chaudappa. Much pleased with him on hearing his story, the king made him governor of Pulladesa with the title Keladi Chaudappa Nayaka. Then Chauda returned to Keladi and, constructing the temple of Ramesvara there, made to it large endowments. He had two sons who were named Sadasiva and Bhadra. Having taught both of them the several sastras and arts, he nominated Sadasiva Nayaka as his successor and died soon after."

"6 November – Two hours before noon we went from Ahinalà, and having travell'd through a Country like the former, but plain, about noon we came to the Town Badra; where, according as Vitulà Sinay had writ to us, we thought to lodge that night, and accordingly had lay'd down our baggage, and withdrawn to a place to rest; but after two hours being there, we found our selves surrounded by abundance of people, (for 'tis a large Town, and they go almost all arm'd) who out of curiosity came to see us; whereupon the Ambassador, either having receiv'd an Answer from Vitulà Sinay, or not caring for a pompous entrance, rais'd us all again; and after a small journey further we arriv'd at Ikkerì, which is the Royal City of Venk-tapà Naieka where he holds his Court; having travell'd since morning from Ahinalà to Ikkerì but two Leagues. This City is seated in a goodly Plain, and, as we enter'd, we pass'd through three Gates with Forts and Ditches, but small, and consequently, three Inclosures; the two first of which were not Walls, but made of very high Indian Canes, very thick and close planted in stead of a Wall, and are strong against Foot and Horse in any, hard to cut, and not in danger of fire; besides, that the Herbs which creep upon them, together with themselves, make a fair and great verdure, and much shadow. The other Inclosure is a Wall, but weak and inconsiderable: But having pass'd these three, we pass'd all. Some say, there are others within, belonging to the Citadel or Fort where the Palace is; for Ikkerì is of good largeness, but the Houses stand thin and are ill built, espe∣cially without the third Inclosure; and most of the situation is taken up in great and long streets, some of them shadow'd with high and very goodly Trees growing in Lakes of Water, of which, there are many large ones, besides Fields set full of Trees, like Groves, so that it seems to consist of a City, Lakes, Fields, and Woods mingled together, and makes a very delightful sight."

"7 November – ... At length the Ambassador being dress'd came forth with the rest, and receiv'd the Visit of Vitulà Sinay, and another great Person sent by the King to accompany him; he was a Moor by Sect, but of Indian Race, very black, and Captain General in these parts of Banghel, from which charge he was lately return'd, and his Name was Musè Baì. With these came also a Son of his, a Youth of the same colour, but of a handsome Face, and cloth'd odly after the Indian Fashion, that is, naked from the girdle upwards, having onely a very thin and variously painted cloth cast cross one Shoulder, and another of the same sort girt about him, and hanging down loose; he had a little Bonnet upon his Head, like those of our Gally-slaves, but wrought with divers colours; his Hands, Arms, Neck, and Nose, were adorn'd with many ornaments of Gold, and he had a guilt Po∣nyard at his girdle, which shew'd very well. His Father was cloth'd all in white, after the manner of India, to wit, of such as wear Clothes, and go not naked from the Waste upwards; upon his white vestment he had a shorter sur-coat of Velvet, guarded with Gold at the bottom, loose and open before, which is the custom onely in solemnities. He had no Sword, but onely a Ponyard on the right side, the hilt and cheap guilded, and, as I believe, of Silver; upon his Head he had a little Cap of the same form, made of Cloth of Gold; for in these Countries 'tis the fashion for Men to cover their Heads either with such Caps, or with white Turbants, little and almost square. Vitulà Sinay and some other personages who came with them to accompany the Ambassador, were all cloth'd with white garments of very fine Silk, and other rich Silken sur-coats upon the same, to honor the solemnity; and upon these they had such colour'd clothes as in Persia they call Scial, and use for girdles, but the Indians wear them cross the shoulders cover'd with a piece of very fine white Silk, so that the colour underneath appears; or else wear white Silk alone. As soon as we came forth of doors, Musè Baì presented to the Ambassador one of these colour'd Skarfs inclos'd in white Silk to wear about his Neck; and the Ambassador gave him a piece of I know not what Cloth, and in the mean time a publick Dancing-Woman whom they had hir'd, danc'd in the presence of us all."

"Mantua la gloriosa."

"Mantua the glorious."

"I found that Mantua, even apart from her great place in the movement of Humanism, in the art of the Renaissance, had really been under these Gonzaga, Lords of Mantua—this their title from first to last—the central pivot of north Italian history; that she held her place, both in culture and political importance, beside Milan, Venice, Rome and even Florence; that in writing this story of the Gonzaga I came near to writing that of Italy if not of Europe. ... I have tried ... to clothe those dry bones of History with something of their living reality. ... I have even sometimes seemed to myself to be present in the scenes I have pictured—on summer nights to have heard the music of the lute and girlish laughter when Isabella sat with Elisabetta Gonzaga in her “Paradiso” above the lakes of Mantua; to have been beside her Lord Francesco in that press and fury of conflict on the banks of Taro; to have seen her yet again, a queen and mother, among those terror-stricken fugitives in the Palazzo Colonna at Rome; to have followed poor Crichton in that last midnight stroll beneath the dark arcaded streets of old Mantua; or within the vast Reggia to have heard the whispered voices, the hurried steps of courtiers when Duke Vincenzo, last of his line, was nearing his end."

"Primus Idumaeas referam tibi, Mantua, palmas, Et viridi in campo templum de marmore ponam Propter aquam. Tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat Mincius et tenera praetexit arundine ripas."

"I, Mantua, first will bring thee back the palms Of Idumaea, and raise a marble shrine On thy green plain fast by the water-side, Where Mincius winds more vast in lazy coils, And rims his margent with the tender reed."

"Fatidicæ Mantus et Tusci filius amnis, Qui muros matrisque dedit tibi, Mantua, nomen."

"Next Ocnus summoned forth A war-host from his native shores, the son Of Tiber, Tuscan river, and the nymph Manto, a prophetess: he gave good walls, O Mantua, and his mother's name, to thee,— To Mantua so rich in noble sires, But of a blood diverse, a triple breed, Four stems in each; and over all enthroned She rules her tribes: her strength is Tuscan born."

"Above in beauteous Italy lies a lake At the Alp’s foot that shuts in Germany Over Tyrol, and has the name Benaco.By a thousand springs, I think, and more, is bathed, ’Twixt Garda and Val Camonica, Pennino, With water that grows stagnant in that lake.Midway a place is where the Trentine Pastor, And he of Brescia, and the Veronese Might give his blessing, if he passed that way.Sitteth Peschiera, fortress fair and strong, To front the Brescians and the Bergamasks, Where round about the bank descendeth lowest.There of necessity must fall whatever In bosom of Benaco cannot stay, And grows a river down through verdant pastures.Soon as the water doth begin to run, No more Benaco is it called, but Mincio, Far as Governo, where it falls in Po.Not far it runs before it finds a plain In which it spreads itself, and makes it marshy, And oft ’tis wont in summer to be sickly.Passing that way the virgin pitiless Land in the middle of the fen descried, Untilled and naked of inhabitants;There to escape all human intercourse, She with her servants stayed, her arts to practise And lived, and left her empty body there.The men, thereafter, who were scattered round, Collected in that place, which was made strong By the lagoon it had on every side;They built their city over those dead bones, And, after her who first the place selected, Mantua named it, without other omen.Its people once within more crowded were, Ere the stupidity of Casalodi From Pinamonte had received deceit.Therefore I caution thee, if e’er thou hearest Originate my city otherwise, No falsehood may the verity defraud.”"

"ROMEO: I do remember an apothecary— And hereabouts he dwells—whom late I noted In tattered weeds, with overwhelming brows, Culling of simples. Meagre were his looks; Sharp misery had worn him to the bones; And in his needy shop a tortoise hung, An alligator stuff’d, and other skins Of ill-shap’d fishes; and about his shelves A beggarly account of empty boxes, Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds, Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses, Were thinly scatter’d to make up a show. Noting this penury, to myself I said, And if a man did need a poison now— Whose sale is present death in Mantua— Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him. O, this same thought did but forerun my need; And this same needy man must sell it me. As I remember, this should be the house; Being holiday, the beggar’s shop is shut.— What, ho! apothecary!"

"At Mantua in chains The gallant Hofer lay, In Mantua to death Led him the foe away; His brothers’ hearts bled for the chief, For Germany disgrace and grief And Tyrol’s mountain land! His hands behind him clasped, With firm and measured pace, Marched Andrew Hofer on; He feared not death to face, Death whom from Iselberg aloft Into the vale he sent so oft In Tyrol’s holy land. But when from dungeon-grate, In Mantua’s stronghold, Their hands on high he saw His faithful brothers hold, “O God be with you all!” he said, “And with the German realm betrayed, And Tyrol’s holy land!” The drummer’s hand refused To beat the solemn march, While Andrew Hofer passed The portal’s gloomy arch; In fetters shackled, yet so free, There on the bastion stood he, Brave Tyrol’s gallant son. They bade him then kneel down, He answered, “I will not! Here standing will I die, As I have stood and fought, As now I tread this bulwark’s bank, Long life to my good Kaiser Frank, And, Tyrol, hail to thee!” A grenadier then took The bandage from his hand, While Hofer spoke a prayer His last on earthly land. “Mark well!” he with loud voice exclaimed, “Now fire! Ah! ’t was badly aimed! O Tyrol, fare thee well!”"

"To describe every particular duel or pagod, both for the number, and difficulty of the shapes, would be impossible. Take therefore only one that had escaped the fire and is therefore highly venerable. It was cut out of excellent black marble, the height of a man, the body of an ancient Greek hero, it had four heads, and as many hands, had not two been cut off; it was seated on an offertory in a broken pagod, a piece of admirable work and antiquity, exceeding, say they, Benares, the other noted university of the heathens. Who founded these, their annals or Sanscrit deliver not. But certainly time and the entry of Moors ruined them. ‘This, though a principal university, can boast of no Bodlean or Vatican, their libraries being old manuscripts of their own cabulas or mysteries understood only by the Brahmans."

"Proceeding to the east of Andbhavan for about a mile we come to the large village of Sudrbal situated on a deep inlet of the Dal known as Sudrakhun. The name of the village and the neighbouring portion of the lake make it very probable that we have to place here the sacred spring of Sodara (see note Rajat. Bk. i. 125-126). An ancient legend related by Kalhana represented this spring as ... an Avatara of the Sodara Naga worshipped Close to the mosque of Sudrabal and by the lake shore are two pools fed by perennial sprigs.originally near the sacred site of Bhuteshvara below Mound Haramukata (For this Sudara the present Naran Nag see notes I, 123; v. 55- 59). Stein further says Close to the mosque of Sudrabal and by the lake shore are two pools by by perennial springs. These, according to a local tradition were in old times visited by numerous pilgrims. Now all recollection of this Tirtha has been lost among the Brahmans of Srinagar. But the name of a portion of the village area Battapur points to a former settlement of Battaas or Purohitas. It is curious, too, that we find only half a mile from the village the Ziarat of Hazrat Bal, perhaps the most popular of all Muhammadan shrines in the Valley. It is supposed to be built over the remains of the miracle-working Pir Dastgir Sahib. Is it possible that the presence of the rathr ubiquitous saint at this particular spot had something to do with the earlier Hindu Tirtha?î Rajat. Vol. ii, p. 457. Commenting on verses 125 ñ 126 of Bk. i of Rajat. Stein states in the footnote as this: In order to give full sactitity to Jyeshtharudra, which Jalauka of the lake, but according to the uniform statementg of by the water vered cohad established near Srinagar, the presence of the Sodara spring was also needed. The Tirtha which the legend represens an Avatara of the latter, must after what has been said regarding the position of Jalaukaís Jyeshtharudra (Note C), be loked for in the vicinity of the present Srinagar. I have, therefore, no hesitation in connecting the name Sudar, which appears in the designation of a portion of Dal, called Sudarkhun and in the name of neighbouring village Sudarbal, with this legend. The Sudrakhun (khun from Sanskrit kona) is a narrow inlet on the west side of the Dal strettheching between the suburban villages of Arampor and Sudarbal. ... On visiting Sudarbal in June 1895, I was shown on the very shore of the Sudarkhun, and close to the village Masjid , two small pools which were then covered by the water of the lake, but according to the uniform statement of the villagers, which I gathered fatement of the villagers, are fed by two perennial springs. A tradition, whfrom the old men of the village, relates that many hundred years ago Brahmans were in the habit of making pilgrimage to these springs. The name Battpor, which survives to this day as the name of a now deserted part of the village area was pointed out to me as evidence of the former habitation of Battas, i.e. Purohitas (Skt. bhatta). No ancient remains can now be traced near the springs, but large carved slabs are said to have been carried away from that site to serve as building material for the new temple erected by Maharaja Ranbir Singh at Ranvor in Srinagar. I cannot find any reference to the Sodara spring of Srinagar in the texts accessible to me nor can I trace any tradition relating to it among the Brahmans of the capital. The marginal gloss of G (Sodarabal Gagaribal), however, indictes that the same identification as proposed already has been made by some modern reader of the Rajat."

"Kalibangan . . . is strategically located at the confluence of the Sarasvatī and Drishadvatī Rivers and must have played a major role as a way station and monitor of the overland communications of the Harappan peoples."

"The study offered 'the first stratigraphic evidence that a palaeochannel exists in the sub-surface alluvium in the Ghaggar valley. The fact that the major urban sites of Kalibangan and Kunal lie adjacent to the newly discovered subsurfacefluvial channel body ... suggests that there may be a spatial relationship between the Ghaggar-Hakrapalaeochannel and Harappan site distribution' (Sinha et al., 2013)."

"Such a conclusion had been reached by archaeologists long ago, since Kalibangan, for instance, shows no evidence of independent water supply; unlike Mohenjo- daro, it had very few wells, and unlike Dholavira, no reservoirs, yet it was continually occupied for several centuries: for its water supply through the year, it must therefore have depended on the Sarasvati, on whose left bank it lay, with entries into its fortified enclosures facing the riverbed."

"A remarkable discovery ... at Kalibangan was that of a ploughed agricultural field.... This is the earliest agricultural field ever brought to light through an excavation anywhere in the world."

"Marshall identified certain stone objects ... as lingas and yonis... [At Kalibangan] has been found a terracotta specimen which is clearly identifiable as linga-cum-yoni."

"The fire-altars of Kalibangan and Lothal are so far without parallels at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Indeed, it has been asked [by Raymond and Bridget Allchin]: "Fire- worship being considered a distinctly Indo-Aryan trait, do these {ritual hearths of Kalibangan] carry with them an indication of an Indo-Aryan presence even from so early a date?" This hypothesis new seems quite plausible to me, if "Indo-Aryan" here is understood to refer to carriers of the Bronze Age culture of Greater Iran, who had become quickly absorbed into the Indus Civilization, culturally and linguistically. It is supported further by the cylinder shape of the famous Kalibangan seal showing a Durga-like goddess of war, who is associated with the tiger. The goddess on the Kalibangan cylinder seal is said to be similar in style, especially the headdress, to one depicted on a cylinder seal from Shahdad [in Kerman on the desert of Lut in Iran, a major centre of the Bronze Age cultural tradition]. Seated lions attend to a goddess of fertility on a metal flag found at Shahdad."

".,. the so-called-'citadels' at Indus cities were taken to be the seats of government but B.B. Lal (1981) has now conclusively proved that at least at Kalibangan it was not at all so; it was possibly the place where collective religious ceremonies were held around the 'fire altars'. Inother words, underlying the mature Indus Civilization or Harappan Culture was a great deal of social change, all of which is not easy to comprehend but without which the cities would not have emerged on the Indus plains. Social changes and cultural changes keep on interplaying variously at various levels (Gupta 1974)."

"Such "ritual hearths" are reported from the beginning of the Harappan period itself. It has been suggested that they may have been fire altars , evidence of domestic, popular and civic fire-cults of the Indo-Iranians, which are described in detail in the later Vedic literature. It may then be an indication of culture contact between an early group of Indo-Aryans and the population of the still-flourishing Indus civilization."

"When the Jasalmir territory comes to be regularly surveyed, I apprehend that some interesting and valuable discoveries will be made, which will tend to throw some light upon the ancient state of these parts, once fertilized by the waters of the Hakra or Wahindah and its tributaries; for, from the traditions and histories of the past, there can be no possible doubt, that these parts were once flourishing and populous, and contained several important towns and cities, the names of which have now been lost."

"Several hundred sites [of the Indus civilization] have been identified, the great majority of which are on the plains of the Indus or its tributaries or on the now dry course of the ancient Sarasvatī River, which flowed south of the Sutlej and then southward to the Indian ocean, east of the main course of the Indus itself."

"‘The major reduction of sites [along the Sarasvatī] in the Early Post-urban period (c. 2000-1700 BC) . . . strongly suggests that a major part of the river’s water supply was lost around that time’."

"(the Sarasvatī) continued to flow down to c. 2000 BC. The major reduction of sites in the Early Post-urban period (c. 2000-1700 BC) . . . strongly suggests that a major part of the river’s water supply was lost around that time; while the final settlement pattern of the Late Post-urban period indicates that the river was by then dry (i.e. by c. 1300-1000 BC)."

"D.P Agrawal: ‘It is obvious that in north and west Rajasthan tectonically changed paleochannel configurations were a major factor which affected the human settlements, perhaps from the pre-Harappan times onwards. Major diversions cut off the vital tributaries and growing desiccation . . . dried up the once mighty Saraswati and Drishadvati rivers.’"

"In the course of a survey project limited to only a section of the Hakra/Ghaggar in the Cholistan desert in Bahawalpur state (representing three hundred miles of the Pakistan side of the Hakra part of the riverbed), Mughal mapped out a total of 414 archaeological sites on the bed. This dwarfs the number of sites so far recorded along the entire stretch of the Indus River which number only about three dozen. The centrality of the river, both archaeologically and culturally, has led a minority of Indian archaeologists to propose, and to begin to adopt, die term Indus- Sarasvati Civilization in lieu of the labels Harappan or Indus Valley Civilisation."

"Scholars such as Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib and the late RS Sharma started questioning this identification in the 1980s. What prompted this rather late reaction? It was a new development: A study of the evolution of the pattern of Harappan settlements in the Saraswati basin now revealed that in its central part — roughly southwest Haryana, southern Punjab and northern Rajasthan — most or all Harappan sites were abandoned sometime around 1900 BCE, a period coinciding with the end of the urban phase of the Indus civilisation. Clearly, the river system collapsed — which archaeologists now saw as a factor contributing to the end of the brilliant Indus civilisation. Why was this a problem? We must remember that the Saraswati is lavishly praised both as a river and a Goddess in the Rig Veda, a collection of hymns which mainstream Indology says was composed by Indo-Aryans shortly after their migration to India around 1500 BCE. However, by that time, the Saraswati had been reduced to a minor seasonal stream: How could the said Aryans praise it as a ‘mighty river’, the ‘best of rivers’, ‘mother of waters’, etc? There is a chronological impossibility. Hence, the objectors asserted, the Ghaggar-Hakra was not, after all, the Saraswati extolled in the Rig Veda. While some (Rajesh Kochhar) tried to relocate the river in Afghanistan, others (Irfan Habib) decided that the Saraswati was not a particular river but “the river in the abstract, the River Goddess”; but both theses ran against the Rig Veda’s own testimony that the river flowed between the Yamuna and the Sutlej."

"The frequent Rg-Vedic references to the Saraswati river are seen by both sides as a key to the solution of the Aryan question. Non-invasionists have pointed out that the biggest concentration of Harappan cities was along the Saraswati river, and that it nearly dried up synchronously with the decline of Harappan city culture. Therefore, the Rg-Veda cannot be post-Harappan..."

"In view of Stein’s statement which had led us to believe that nothing very ancient would be found in the region, it was a great thrill for us when even on the first and second days of our exploration we found sites with unmistakable affinities with the culture of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. And a few subsequent days’ work convinced us that the Sarasvatī valley had been really a commingling of many rivers, not only geographically, but culturally... the valleys of the Sarasvatī and the Drishadvatī must be regarded as very rich indeed in archaeological remains."

"Or as Amalananda Ghosh stated in 1952 after he discovered Harappan sites along the bed of the Ghaggar, those settlements ‘on the bank of the Sarasvati’ could not have been established there ‘had the river been dead during the lifetime of the culture’."

"S. P. Gupta (1996) elaborates on this perspective: Once it becomes reasonably clear that the Vedas do contain enough material which shows that the authors of the hymns were fully aware of the cities, city life, long-distance over- seas and overland trade, etc. . . . it becomes easier for us to appreciate the theory that the Indus-Saraswati and Vedic civilizations may have been just the two complementary ele- ments of one and the same civilization. And this, it is important to note, is not a presup- position against the cattle-keeping image of the Vedic Aryans. After all, ancient civiliza- tions had both the components, the village and the city, and numerically villages were many times more than the cities. In India presently there are around 6.5 lakhs of villages but hardly 600 towns and cities put together. . . . Plainly, if the Vedic literature reflects primarily the village life and not the urban life, it does not at all surprise us." (147)"

"Sites such as Harappa continued to be inhabited and are still important cities today. . . . Late and post-Harappan settlements are known from surveys in the region of Cholistan, . . . the upper Ganga-Yamuna Doab,. . . and Gujarat. In the Indus Valley itself, post-Harappan settlement patterns are obscure, except for the important sites of Pirak. . . . This may be because the sites were along the newly-stabilized river systems and lie beneath modern villages and towns that flourish along the same rivers."

"Another ancient river, the Saraswati or Ghaggar-Hakra had taken its course along the eastern edge of the plain. Numerous surveys in the deserts of Cholistan and Rajasthan made it clear that large numbers of settlements dating from the fourth to the first millennium B.C. were situated along the banks of this other major river system . . . Now that we know of the presence of the ancient Saraswati river (also known as the Ghaggar-Hakra along its central stretches), some scholars refer to this culture as the Indus-Sarasvatī civilization."

"Khan and Sinha noted, “A dense concentration of Harappan sites has been documented in the Jind and Hisar districts of Haryana and further west in the Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, and this can only be explained if the Yamuna once flowed through these southwesterly flowing palaeochannels. ... The palaeo-Yamuna does represent the courses of a major feeder to the Ghaggar–Hakra system (Sarasvati) as suggested by thick sand bodies.”"

"B. B. Lal (1997) is a little more cautious in denying the nomadic character of the Indo- Aryans: "Just as there were cities, towns and villages in the Harappan ensemble (as there are even today in any society) there were both rural and urban components in the Vedic times. Where then is the 'glaring disparity' between the cultural levels of the Harappan and Vedic societies?" (285)."

"These discoveries establish the existence in Sind (the northernmost province of the Bombay Presidency) and the Punjab, during the fourth and third millennium B.C., of a highly developed city life; and the presence, in many of the houses, of wells and bathrooms as well as an elaborate drainage-system, betoken a social condition of the citizens at least equal to that found in Sumer, and superior to that prevailing in contemporary Babylonia and Egypt. . . . Even at Ur the houses are by no means equal in point of construction to those of Mohenjo-daro."

"There is nothing that we know of in prehistoric Egypt or Mesopotamia or anywhere else in western Asia to compare with the well-built baths and commodious houses of the citizens of Mohenjodara."

"In contrast, changes taking place in the Saraswati Valley in the early second millennium were probably a major contributor to the Indus decline. In Harappan times, the Saraswati was a major river system flowing from the Siwaliks at least to Bahawalpur, where it probably ended in a substantial inland delta. The ancient Saraswati River was fed by a series of small rivers that rose in the Siwaliks, but it drew the greater part of its waters from two much larger rivers rising high in the Himalayas: the Sutlej and the Yamuna. In its heyday the Saraswati appears to have supported the densest settlement and provided the greatest arable yields of any part of the Indus realms. The Yamuna, which supplied most of the water flowing in the Drishadvati, a major tributary of the Saraswati, changed its course, probably early in the second millennium, to flow into the Ganges drainage. The remaining flow in the Drishadvati became small and seasonal: Late Harappan sites in Bahawalpur are concentrated in the portion of the Sarawati east of Yazman, which was fed by the Sutlej. At a later date the Sutlej also changed its course and was captured by the Indus. These changes brought about massive depopulation of the Saraswati Valley, which by the end of the millennium was described as a place of potsherds and ruin mounds whose inhabitants had gone away. At the same time new settlements appeared in the regions to the south and east, in the upper Ganges-Yamuna doab. Some were located on the palaeochannels that mark the eastward shift of the Yamuna. Presumably many of the Late Harappan settlers had originated in the Saraswati Valley."

"The decline of Harappan urbanism probably had many contributing factors. The shift to a concentration on kharif cultivation in the outer regions of the state may have seriously disrupted established schedules for craft production, civic flood defense, building and drain maintenance, and other publicly organized works on which the smooth running of the state depended. The reduction in the waters of the Saraswati and the response of its farmers by migrating into regions to the east tore apart the previous unity of the Harappan state, disrupting its cohesion and its ability to control the internal distribution network."

"‘[The desertion of the Drishadvati and the Sutlej] is typical of the instability of the river courses in the Indus plains—but in the case of the Saraswati, the effect was not localized but devastating on a major scale. Cities, towns, and villages were abandoned, their inhabitants drifting to other regions of the Indus realms and eastward towards the Ganges, pushing back the centuries-old eastern boundaries of Indus culture and venturing into uncharted territory.’"

"This work revealed an incredibly dense concentration of sites, along the dried-up course of a river that could be identified as the ‘Saraswati’. . . Suddenly it became apparent that the ‘Indus’ Civilization was a misnomer—although the Indus had played a major role in the rise and development of the civilization, the ‘lost Saraswati’ River, judging by the density of settlement along its banks, had contributed an equal or greater part to its prosperity...Many people today refer to this Early state as the ‘Indus-Saraswati Civilization’ and continuing references [in her book] to the ‘Indus Civilization’ should be seen as an abbreviation in which the ‘Saraswati’ is implied."

"The now-dry Hakra River forms part of this river system. Surveys along its dry bed revealed that this was one of the most densely populated areas of the 3rd millennium, the agricultural heartland of the civilization, although it is now virtually desert."

"In the Indus period the Saraswati river system may have been even more productive than that of the Indus, judging by the density of settlement along its course. In the Bahawalpur region, in the western portion of the river, settlement density far exceeded that elsewhere in the Indus civilization . . . While there are some fifty sites known along the Indus, the Saraswati has almost a thousand . . . [The Yamuna] shifted its course eastward early in the second millennium, eventually reaching its current bed by the first millennium, while the Drishadvati bed retained only a small seasonal flow; this seriously decreased the volume of water carried by the Saraswati. The Sutlej gradually shifted its channel northward, eventually being captured by the Indus drainage . . . The loss of the Sutlej waters caused the Saraswati to be reduced to the series of small seasonal rivers familiar today. Surveys show a major reduction in the number and size of settlements in the Saraswati region during the second millennium."

"Mughal's broad chronological periods are not specific enough to assist us in definitively situating the Vedic-speaking Aryans as inhabitants of the Indus Valley Civilization. It is significant, however, that about 80 percent of Mughal's 414 archaeological sites along a three-hundred-mile section of the Hakra were datable to the fourth or third millen- nium B.C.E, suggesting that the river was in its prime during this period."

"‘The large number of protohistoric settlements, dating from c. 4000 BC to 1500 BC, could have flourished along this river only if it was flowing perennially.’"

"V.N. Misra: ‘Late Harappan sites are concentrated on the tributaries of the [Sarasvatī] river, originating in the Siwalik Hills. They appear to be a consequence of the desiccation of the river and mass migration of the population to less dry regions near the Siwalik Hills and across the Yamuna.’"

"Archaeological evidence demonstrates that the Hakra flood plain was densely populated between the fourth and the second millennia B.C.... the Ghaggar-Hakra is ‘often identified with the sacred Sarasvatī River of the Vedic Aryans’... ‘certain that in ancient times the Ghaggar-Hakra was a mighty river, flowing independently [of the Indus] along the fringes of the Rann of Kutch’."

"Marco Madella and Dorian Fuller : ‘Archaeological research in Cholistan has led to the discovery of a large number of sites along the dry channels of the Ghaggar-Hakra river (often identified with the lost Sarasvati and Drishadvati rivers of Sanskrit traditions) ... The final desiccation of some of these channels may have had major repercussions for the Harappan Civilisation and is considered a major factor in the de-centralisation and de-urbanisation of the Late Harappan period.’"

"‘This change ... is strongly suggestive of the dispersal of inhabitants, if not depopulation, of the Hakra flood plain during the Late Harappan. ... It seems almost certain that changing environmental conditions were profoundly affecting the long-established cultural pattern in Cholistan.’"

"The existence of this river at no very remote period, and the truth of the legends which assert the ancient fertility of the lands through which it flowed, are attested by the ruins which everywhere overspread what is now an arid sandy waste. Throughout this tract are scattered mounds, marking the sites of cities and towns. And there are strongholds still remaining, in a very decayed state, which were places of importance at the time of the early Mahommedan invasions. Amongst these ruins are found not only the huge bricks used by the Hindus in the remote past, but others of a much later make. All this seems to show that the country must have been fertile for a long period . . ."

"With the separation of the Pakistan Provinces, the main sites of what was known as the Indus Valley Civilisation have gone to Pakistan. It is clearly of the utmost importance that archaeological work in connection with this early period of Indian history must be continued in India. A preliminary examination has shown that the centre of the early civilisation was not Sind or the Indus Valley but the desert area in Bikaner and Jaisalmer through which the ancient Saraswati flowed into the Gulf of Kutch at one time."

"Combined, these geological changes meant major changes in the hydrology patterns of the region. These natural geologic processes had significant consequences for the food producing cultural groups throughout the greater Indus Valley area. Archaeological surveys have documented a cultural response to these environmental changes creating a “crisis” circumstance..."

"‘The large number of these ancient sites contrasts strikingly with the very few small villages still on the same ground.’..."

"In Tod’s description, the ‘Marusthali’, as it was then called, consists of ‘expansive belts of sand, elevated upon a plain only less sandy, and over whose surface numerous thinly peopled towns and hamlets are scattered’. He also records ‘the tradition of the absorption of the Caggar river, as one of the causes of the comparative depopulation of the northern desert’. This tradition was transmitted in the form of a ‘couplet still sung among Rajputs, which dates the ruin of this part of the country back to the drying up of the Hakra.’ Although Tod could not recall the exact text of the said song, he acknowledged ‘the utility of these ancient traditional couplets’. ‘Folk history’, as we would call it today... Yet, James Tod finds worthy of mention a tradition alive in the 1810s that blames the region’s ‘depopulation’ on the Ghaggar’s ‘absorption’ or disappearance; he even notes how ‘the vestiges of large towns, now buried in the sands, confirm the truth of this tradition, and several of them claim a high antiquity."

"In the Hoysala country which was daily increasing in prosperity, a place of great good fortune was Muttana-Hosavūru. There hunger was unknown to the people, so abundant were the crops. The bees knew not hunger, such were the bountiful flowers. The birds knew no hunger on account of the abundance of woods. This was the favourable residence known as Muttana-Hosavūru. Its moat was as deep as the Serpent King’s city, and its golden fort walls rose higher than the clouds — what can I say of its glory? Equal to Indra’s town, or to Dhanada’s city (Kubera’s Capital), or to Vishnu’s town, was Muttana-Hosavūru with lines of lofty houses and many different temples."

"They that dwell in Kurukshetra which lies to the south of the Sarasvatī and the north of the Drishadvatī, are said to dwell in heaven."

"In the reign of the early Hindu rulers, Bhinmal became one of the premier cities of the Northern India. According to the preserved tradition, the city was about 24 to 32 km in extent, laid-out in the shape of a square. There were several temples of Ganpati, Kshetrapala, Chandika-devis, Shivalingas and others. It had 84 gates…there is no doubt that it must have been a flourishing town in those days. From the…mediaeval times, we learn that Bhinmal was a prosperous city, and a home of artists, who were in demand at other places also. They were expert sculptors, architects and Sutradharas. Bhinmal was also a great seat of learning and home of several illustrious scholars… The Brahamanas of this place, known as Srimalis were reputed for their Vedic learning. It is for this reason that Padmanabha calls it the Brahmapuri of the Chauhans. …it (later) began to be called Bhinmal because of its poverty caused by its destruction at the hands of the Muslim invaders which forced the wealthy residents to migrate to other places."

"If the first home of the Aryans can be determined at all by the conditions topographical and meteorological, described in their early hymns, then decidedly the Punjab was not that home. For here there are neither mountains nor monsoon storms to burst, yet storm and mountain belong to the very marrow of the Rigveda... If there is an area which fulfils these conditions, according to Hopkins, it is ―a district […] where monsoon storms and mountain scenery are found, that district, namely, which lies South of Umballa (or Ambālā). It is here, in my opinion, that the Rigveda, taken as a whole, was composed. In every particular, this locality fulfils the physical conditions under which the composition of the hymns was possible, and what is of paramount importance, is the first district east of the Indus that does so."

"It is certain ... that the Rigveda offers no assistance in determining the mode in which the Vedic Aryans entered India., .. If, as may be the case, the Aryan invaders of India entered by the western passes of the Hindu Kush and proceeded thence through the Punjab to the east, still that advance is not reflected in the Rigveda, the bulk at least of which seems to have been composed rather in the country round the Sarasvati river, south of the modern Ambala."

"Max Müller, Weber, Muir, and others held that the Punjab was the main scene of the activity of the Rgveda, whereas the more recent view put forth by Hopkins and Keith is that it was composed in the country round the SarasvatI river south of modem AmbAla.”"

"When the [Rig Vedic] hymns were written the focus of Āryan culture was the region between the Jamnā (Sanskrit Yamunā) and Satlaj (Shutudrī), south of the modern Ambālā, and along the upper course of the river Sarasvatī. The latter river is now an insignificant stream, losing itself in the desert of Rajasthan, but it then [in Rig Vedic times] flowed broad and strong..."