Top ancient cities of India

Wars were fought on their lands, majestic temples symbolize their deep rooted history. They are a beautiful sight to explore the rich culture and traditions of India.
Here we present some best ancient cities of the country: 

Ayodhya 

   

 It is situated in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh. According to the Ramayana, the city is 9,000 years old, and was founded by Manu, the first man in the Vedas, and law-giver of the Hindus. Puranas list Ayodhya as seven most sacred cities of India. It is the birthplace of Lord Rama as per Hindu belief. Ayodhya has historical significance for the Jain community as well. It is the birthplace of two important tirthankaras two-thousand years ago. 

Kannauj

Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital of Emperor Harshavardhan. 

The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja (The city of the hunchbacked maidens). 

It is known for distilling of scents and perfume market. Kannuaj remained a focal point for the three powerful dynasties, namely the Gurjara Pratiharas, Palas and Rashtrakutas, between the 8th and 10th centuries.

Kalibangan

It is a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization.The identity of Kalibangan as a pre-historic site was discovered by Luigi Pio Tessitori, an Italian Indologist. Kalibangan is distinguished by its unique fire altars and "world's earliest attested ploughed field".

Somnath

 Located on the western coast of Gujarat, it is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of God Shiva. As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of protection) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears.

Ujjain

Located in the Malwa region of Central India, it is the administrative centre of Ujjain district. It is the part of Madhya Pradesh. It is also home to the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga, one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines to the god Shiva.

Kurukshetra

Located in Haryana, the epic war of Mahabharata was fought on this land and Bhagavad Gita was preached during the war. It is also known as Dharmakshetra.

  Thanjavur

It is located in the Tamil Nadu. Scholars believe the name Thanjavur is derived from Tanjan, a legendary demon in Hindu mythology. While the early history of Thanjavur remains unclear, the city first rose to prominence during the reign of Medieval Cholas when it served as the capital of the empire. After the fall of Cholas, the city was ruled by various dynasties like Pandyas, Vijayanagar Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Thanjavur Nayaks, Thanjavur Marathas and the British Empire. It has been a part of independent India since 1947.

Sravasti

 It was one of the six largest cities in India during Gautama Buddha's lifetime. It is located in Uttar Pradesh, near Balmapur. According to the Mahabharata, the origin of Sravasti lies with the legendary king Shravasta. According to Buddhist tradition, the city was called Savatthi because the sage Savattha lived there.

Madurai

It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the third largest city in Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of River Vaigai, it has been a major settlement for two millennia and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

 

Amazing hanging stone pillar of Lepakshi temple, Andhra,S.India - strange temples 

 Many Indian Hindu temples are quite fascinating and are known to have some kind of magnificent features that may baffle one's imagination such as huge monolithic bull - Nandhi at Big Temple, Thanjavur, musical stone pillars such as the one in Nellaiappar temple, Tirunelveli, TN (if struck they produce musical notes matching various octaves),    1000 pillar halls(mandabams) at Sri Ranganather temple complex at Srirangam and the Arunachaleswarar temple complex at Thiruvannamalai, TN, etc..

The small historical village of Lepakshi near  Puttapurthi in  Ananthapur district of Andhra, 10 mile from Hindupur railway station on the Guntakal-Bangalore line, has  many  architectural marvels. It is about 75 miles(120 km) from Bangalore, another IT center. Lapakshi is a sermon in stone, a repository of sculptural wonders. Here Lord Sri Rama is said to have met the huge mythical bird 'Jatayu'whose wings had been struck by the king of Lanka Ravana(Lankeswaran) who was on his way back home with his hostage Sri Sita Devi, wife of Sri Rama. Sri Rama said compassionately to the wounded bird  ''Le Pakshi'' (Arise bird in Telugu). Hence the name Le Pakshi ( also in Sanskrit Pakshi means bird).

 Lepakshi temple was  built by the brothers Viranna and Virupanna  during the reign of Achyutha Devaraya period who ruled the vijayanagara empire from 1530 A.D to 1542 A.D. This temple, on a hillock known as Kurma Saila (tortoise shaped hill), is a treasure-house of beautiful Vijyanagara style of architecture and eye-catching paintings of 16th AD. There are three temples in one. 

The main shrine is dedicated to  Veerabadra,  the fiery god created by Shiva in his rage after the Daksha Yagna and the immolation of Parvathi and the other deity is  Papanaeswara (Lord Shiva). The third being  Sri Ragunatha (Lord Vishnu). The Arthamandabam (prayer hall) and Natya mandambam are the added attraction. The Natyamandabam(dance hall) has exquisitely sculptured  stone pillars dramatically depicting life-size representation of music and various dance poses carved with meticulous care. Veerabadra temple was, legend has it, established by sage Agastya initially. 

According to history, the temple's builder,Virupanna, a treasurer in Kings court was accused of misusing the funds for building the temple and  the king ordered him to be blinded. Hearing this, the builder as a punishment removed  his own eyes,dashed against the wall and died. Even today those blood marks can be seen on a particular wall.

One of the wonders in this temple of beauty and artistry  is, among the 70 stone pillars, there is a  monolithic pillar hanging  from the roof of the Veerabhadra temple barely touching the floor. This pillar hangs or floats without any support. Visitors  can pass objects  such as paper, towel, etc in the gap between temple floor and the bottom of the pillar !! People who come to the temple  strongly believe that  passing objects under the pillar brings  them prosperity and peace of mind.

During the British period a curious British  engineer  wanted to know the technicality behind the  hanging pillar in this temple. Upon  trying to dislodge the pillar, to his dismay, found out that it caused the movement of adjacent pillars to maintain the equilibrium. Though it is not an earthquake area (supposedly ''Shield'' area and geologically stable),the temple, it is believed, can withstand any seismic event.

Another sculptural wonders of this temple is the monolithic stone Nandi (Bull), the largest of its kind in India. It is 4.5m high and 8.23m long, located about a mile away from the  main temple and does not have a roof over it. It is so placed  that it faces the  huge Shivalinga with a three coiled huge sepent's  seven hoods forming the canopy over it. Said to be the second largest monolithic stone figure in India, after Gomateshwara, the Nandi sports a huge kaasu malai (coins in the form of garland), a bell chain, earrings and other jewelry beautifully carved in the stone. Another huge monolithic stone Nandhi is in the 1000 plus year old  Big temple - dedicated to Bragadeshwara (Lord Shiva) in Thanjavur city, TN built by the great Chola king Raja Raja.

10 mysterious caves of India

 There are thousands of caves in India. Sure, everyone knows about Ajanta & Ellora and the Elephanta (in pic) caves, but what of the others? From Andhra Pradesh to Odisha, here are some more gorgeous caves.

1. Borra Caves, Ananthagiri Hills, Andhra Pradesh 

The name comes from Borra Guhalu in Telugu — ‘Borra’ means something that has bored into the ground and ‘guhalu’ means caves. They are located in the Ananthagiri hills of the Araku valley of the Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh. In 1807, William King George of the Geological Survey of India discovered the caves.

 The caves are basically Karstic limestone structures extending to a depth of 80 m, and are considered the deepest caves in India. The caves distinctly exhibit a variety of impressive speleothems ranging from very small to big and irregularly shaped stalactites and stalagmites.

 2. Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, Madhya Pradesh

 The Bhimbetka are an archaeological site of the Paleolithic Age, exhibiting the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent. It is located in the Raisen district in Madhya Pradesh, inside the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary. Here we can see a close-up of the cave paintings depicting men.

 

 The caves were declared a World Heritage Site in 2003, and some of the Stone Age rock paintings found among the Bhimbetka rock shelters are approximately 30,000 years old.

A war scene is shown in one of the cave painting in Bhimbetka. There are over 500 natural caves here, which have a large collection of pre-historic rock paintings depicting scenes from everyday life, hunting scenes and war. The painting were discovered in 1958. The caves also deliver early evidence of dance.

 3. Amarnath Cave, Baltal, Jammu and Kashmir

 A Hindu pilgrim worships in front of an ice stalagmite, which is representative of a Shiva Lingam, or the god Shiva. It is one of the most revered of Hindu shrines. Thousands of Hindu devotees, braving sub-zero temperatures, come to pay their respects at the cave.

 The cave, enveloped by the rugged Himalayan mountains, itself is covered with snow most of the year except for a short period of time in summer when it is open for pilgrims. The stalagmite, or Shiva Linga, is formed due to freezing of water drops that fall from the roof of the cave on to the floor and grows up vertically from the cave floor.

 4. Undavalli Caves, Andhra Pradesh

 These caves are one of the finest testimonials to ancient 'vishwakarma sthapathis', and are located 6km from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. These caves were carved out of solid sandstone on a hillside in the 4th-5th centuries AD.

 

The Undavalli caves are an example of how many Buddhist artefacts and stupas in the state were converted into Hindu temples and deities. It was originally a Jain cave resembling the architecture of Udayagiri and Khandgiri. The main cave is one of the earliest examples of the Gupta architecture, primarily primitive rock-cut monastery cells carved into the sandstone hills.

 

5. Vaishno Devi, Jammu and Kashmir

One of India's most popular cave temples, Vaishno Devi is one of the holy Hindu temples dedicated to Shakti, located in the Trikuta Mountains. Officials claim that millions of pilgrims visit the shrine each year. 

6. Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves, Orissa

 The Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves are partly natural and partly artificial caves of archaeological, historical and religious importance near Bhubaneswar. They have a number of finely and ornately carved caves. It is believed that most of these caves were carved out as residential blocks for Jain monks during the reign of King Kharavela.

 

Udayagiri means 'sunrise hill' and has 18 caves while Khandagiri, which means 'broken hill', has 15. The Jain caves are among the earliest in India.

7. Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra

 

The Elephanta Caves are a network of sculpted caves on the Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri — meaning 'the city of caves' — in Mumbai Harbour. It can be reached by ferries running through the day from Mumbai. The island consists of two groups of caves — the first is a large group of five Hindu caves, the second, a smaller group of two Buddhist caves.

8. Badami Caves, Karnataka

 The Badami cave temples are a complex of temples located at Badami, a town in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka. The cave temples are composed of four caves, all carved out of the soft Badami sandstone on a hill cliff in the late 6th-7th centuries.

 

 The architecture of teh caves includes structures built in Nagara Style and Dravidian style. Each has a sanctum sanctorum, a mandapa, a verandah and pillars. The cave temples also bear exquisite carvings, sculptures and beautiful murals.There is also the fifth natural cave temple in Badami – a Buddhist temple in natural cave which can be entered kneeling on all fours.

 9. Ellora Caves, Maharashtra

 

Ellora is an archaeological site, 29km from Aurangabad in Maharashtra. Well-known for its monumental caves, Ellora is a World Heritage Site and the 34 caves are actually structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills. Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock-cut temples and viharas and mathas were built between the 5th century and 10th century.

 10. Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra

 

 The caves are located in Maharashtra, near Jalgaon and just outside the village of Ajinṭhā. The caves form the largest corpus of early Indian wall-painting. This image, from Cave 17, shows the Buddha begging for food at his former home, standing in front of his wife Yashodhara and his son Rahula.

 

The caves include paintings and sculptures described by the Archaeological Survey of India as "the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting", which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales. Shown here is the east wall of Cave No. 26 in Ajanta, with five sculptures of Sitting Buddha. Cave No. 26 is the most famous one in the cause od Reclining Buddha sculpture.