Republic Day of India - 26 January

Although India obtained its independence on August 15, 1947, it did not yet have a permanent constitution; instead, its laws were based on the modified colonial Government of India Act 1935, and the country was a Dominion, with George VI as head of state and Earl Mountbatten as Governor General.
On August 29, 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed to draft a permanent constitution, with Dr. Ambedkar as the Chairman. A Draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on November 4, 1947. The Assembly met, in sessions open to public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution.


After many deliberations and some modifications, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on January 24, 1950. Two days later, the Constitution of India became the law of all the Indian lands. The Constitution of India came into effect only on January 26, 1950. Following January 26, 1950, Rajendra Prasad was elected as the president of India.


This was, infact, a delibrate act, signing the constitution on 26th January, to mark and respect the freedom fighters who wanted 26 January as India's intial independence day.

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SaptaShrungi Devi Temple

The Saptashrungi Devi temple is located at Vani near Nashik in Maharashtra. Its about 60 Kms from Nasik. This temple is one among the 51 Shakti peethas located on the Indian subcontinent.


The temple, which sort of sticks to the cliff, is 1230 meters above sea level. There is an old path with steps cut out of the mountain, which starts right at the foothills, at Vani and goes all the way to the mountain. However, now, a motorable road has been built, which goes up to an altitude of 1150 meters. From this place one has to climb around 500 steps to reach the shrine, which only takes about forty five minutes.

The road from the foothill to the top is very scenic. You almost travel in the clouds. It has some dangerous turns as well and one has to be very careful while driving there.

On the road from Nasik to Vani, you can find the Ojharkhed dam. This is one place which will make you visit again and again. Its very famous for its fishes. I have visited this place a lot of times just for enjoying the mouth watering fishes.


Seen above is the Ojharkhed dam. Photo cliked by me.

Below you can see me @ SaptaShrungi Devi Temple when I visited it in 2007.


Its very crowded during the month of October/November when people of India celebrate 'Navratri' festival. Try to see this place when you are visiting Mumbai. Its about 230 Kms from Mumbai by road.


Baba

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Golden Temple (Punjabi: ਹਰਿਮੰਦਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ) or Darbar Sahib

The Golden Temple or Temple of God, is culturally the most significant place of worship of the Sikhs and one of the oldest Sikh gurdwaras. It is located in the city of Amritsar.



I have been here and the peace of mind I got here was just great! Its an awesome place and must see if you are visiting North of India.


The Golden Temple is considered holy and beautiful by Sikhs because the eternal Guru of Sikhism, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is always present inside in it, and its construction was mainly intended as a place of worship for men and women from all walks of life and all religions to come and worship God equally.



Its name literally means House of God. The fourth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Ram Das, excavated a tank in 1577 which subsequently became known as Amritsar (meaning: Pool of the Nectar of Immortality), giving its name to the city that grew around it.



Originally built during 1574 AD, the site of the temple was surrounded by a small lake in a thin forest.

Baba

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Pondicherry a.k.a. Puducherry

This is one place I can spend countless days and nights just relaxing by the beaches. If anyone asks me which is your favorite holiday destination, I have only one answer - 'Pondicherry'.

There are 4 beaches in Pondicherry and all of them are just mesmerizing.

The 1.5 km long promenade running along the beach is the pride of puducherry. There one can relax or take a stroll at any time of the day. On the sea front are several land marks.


Seen above - Gandhi statue at Promenade beach. Clicked by me.

My personal favorite is the 'Paradise' beach. The name says it all! Its has the beautiful blue sea and the location is very amazing. You have to travel by boat through the backwaters to reach the beach. Just one word - 'Beauty with serenity'!

Seen above - "Paradise beach":Heaven on Mother Earth! Clicked by me.

Serenity beach is a ten minutes drive to the north of the town. This virgin beach, with its serene surroundings is an ideal place to laze away your day. The Auroville Beach as the name indicates is close to Auroville. It is right off the ECR, opposite the road leading to Auroville.

Apart from the beaches, Pondicherry has very beautiful monuments, heritage buildings and museums which can make anyone's holiday dream come true!



Seen above me relaxing at the Promenade beach road.

Baba

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The Taj Mahal

I was wondering as to what should be the first picture I should put here and then realized it was so simple! There is one monument in India that stands tall among the New 7 Wonders of the world and its none other than the 'Taj Mahal'.

Here is a pic of Taj Mahal clicked by me, when I visited it some time back in 2005.


Taj Mahal, the pinnacle of Mughal architecture, was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his queen Mumtaz Mahal. Masons, stonecutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome-builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the whole of the empire and also from Central Asia and Iran to build the monument.

While bricks for internal constructions were locally prepared, white marble for external use in veneering work was obtained from Makrana in Rajasthan. Semi-precious stones for inlay ornamentation were brought from distant regions of India, Ceylon and Afghanistan. Red sandstone of different tints was requisitioned from the neighbouring quarries of Sikri, Dholpur.

It took 17 years for the Taj to be built. Now that's hell of a job ... ain't it? If you are in India, you should not miss visiting the Taj ... not at all!!!



Seen above me and my better half at 'The Taj Mahal'.


Baba

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What is Tropical Beauty?

I have been thinking about this for long and finally the day has arrived. I always wanted the world to know more about India and what else than a blog can be a better medium!

I would be posting different pics about India here. So you can expect to know a little more than you knew before about my lovely country ... India!

This would be a place to watch out for places, people, festivals etc in India. I hope I would be making justice to my motive.

Keep watching this space ... you might love it!

Baba

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