An Indian Bureaucrat's Diary

The World Heritage Site nearest to Mumbai

The Elephanta Caves contain the most striking collection of rock-art statues, sculptures and reliefs panels in India.
They contain the most exquisite works of art skillfully hewn out of basaltic mountains.

They are comparable to the works of Ellora.
It is quite possible that the Elephanta and Ellora caves were built by the same artists.

 History


We have not been able to determine the precise period of construction.

There is mention of the Elephanta Caves in the Aihole (Karnataka) inscriptions of King Pulkesin II of Chalukya dynasty.

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Oldest living City in the World

Varanasi (also called Benares) is the oldest living city in the world.
I lived and worked in Varanasi for two years, but that was over 25 years ago.

After that, I have visited Varanasi on and off.

Varanasi has changed, as all modern cities have, for the worse.
In those days, we lived in a small apartment, close to Dasashwamedh Ghat, the most popular ghat (bank) of the river Ganges.

We used to drop our two sons at the bus stop for their school bus to pick them up, walk down to the Ganges river every morning, stroll along the ghats (all the ghats are connected to each other) and meander through the narrow lanes bordering the river.
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a mixture of the old British Raj and modern India

Calcutta has given four Nobel laureates to the world – Ronald Ross, Rabindranath Tagore, Mother Teresa and Amartya Sen.

I had my entire schooling and college education in this city.
I also spent the first 15 years of my service life here.
I have been visiting Calcutta at least twice every year.
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What is there to see in a small non-descript place like Aurangabad?

You must visit the place to find out.

Two Mughal Emperors visited the region, and they liked it so much that they shifted their capital from Delhi to this region.

The Daulatabad Fort, which is one of the world’s best preserved forts of medieval times, alone would make Aurangabad a great place to visit.

But there is far more to see.
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The Rock cut Caves of Ajanta

Government service does provide some unique pleasures and opportunities.I must thank the Election Commission of India which sent me as an election observer to Buldana (Maharashtra).

I saw the Lonar Crater, Aurangabad, Ajanta, Ellora and vast areas completely devastated by earth quakes.

Ajanta Caves

The rock cut caves of Ajanta and Ellora in Maharashtra represent the ultimate in this type of cave architecture.

The Ajanta caves are older of the two – being over 21 centuries old.
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The rock cut caves of Ellora

In my earlier blog on Ajanta, I have already written that Government service does provide some unique pleasures and opportunities.

I have thanked the Election Commission of India which sent me as an election observer to Buldana (Maharashtra).

This spell of duty made it possible for me to see the Lonar Crater, Aurangabad, Ajanta, Ellora and vast areas completely devastated by earth quakes.

The caves of Ellora represent the epitome of Indian rock-cut cave architecture.

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Guardian of the Western Ghats

Panhala is a beautiful hill station – 977.2 metres ( 3177 feet) above sea level – about 18 km north-west of Kolhapur in the state of Maharashtra.
The most interesting thing here is Panhala Fort – the largest of the Deccan forts.
The Fort is strategically located on one of the principal routes passing through the Western Ghats and was therefore of great military importance. It is also intimately connected with Shivaji and the Maratha rule.

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The southern most
of Adi Shankaracharya’s
Four Dhams

Rameswaram is a small town on Pamban Island – an island in South India – separated from the Indian mainland by the Pamban Channel.

Rameswaram is the place used by Lord Rama to cross over to Sri Lanka (Ceylon).Rameswaram is one of the four Char Dhams established by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century A.D.

A pilgrimage to Varanasi (Kashi) – famous pilgrimage in North India – is considered incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameswaram.
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The City of Temples
and the Gate Way to the South

I have visited the 2500 old Madurai City many many times.

The Meenakshi Temple is the largest and most beautiful temple dedicated to any female deity in India.

Madurai is also the gateway to a number of tourist places in South India – such as Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari, Kodai Kanal and Yercaud.

Madurai is the headquarters of the world famous Aravind Eye Hospital, which is doing outstanding philanthropic work in the field of eye care.

And the hi-so Taj Hotel located on a vantage spot here is really affordable.
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A Lost Empire

Hampi is today a small hamlet in Karnataka (South India) with a population of about two thousand.
It is difficult to visualise that once upon a time, this was the glorious city of Vijayanagar (meaning City of Victory) – the capital of South India’s largest, prosperous and most beautiful empire.

History

The story of Vijayanagar takes us back to the 14th Century.
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