Cities And Towns In India

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

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

"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."

"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."

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

"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 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."

"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."

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

"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."

"...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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."