Famous Places of India

1. One of the world's best known tombs is the Taj Mahal in Agra. Built for the remains of Mumaz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan, 20.000 workers were employed to construct the building and the garden around. All rooms and halls are pompously ornated, diamonds and other material had been brought from countries in Asia. Today it's mainly a tourist attraction, yearly 2-4 millions visitors, but the religious background of the Islam still has it's influence, leading to safety arrangements after bomb threatings. According to a cronicler, the rise of the building took place right after the death of the mogul and was finished after 12 years in 1644. The UNESCO classified it as a World Cultural Heritage. Problems came with air pollution, yellow walls in the evening sun show how fast the white colour is affected by the new boom of cars and the following pollution in India.

2. The Ajanta Caves are old cave temples in a valley, mural paintings show Buddha and the history of the place lead to the classification World Cultural Heritage. From the second century to the fifth century, buddhists habited in the valley and used the stone walls to build caves with a seize of 30 metres wideness and a depth until 15 metres. After animosities against the buddhists, that caused them to leave the place, the temples, which had each taken a building time of 30 years, were forgotten. When an english major hunted tigers he accidentally found them, an exposure took place soon. Cultural importance and the beauty of the place are obvious, ornated, decorated and filled with statues of warriors it's a rich source to archaeologists.

3. In the early 20th century, a starvation let the population of India endure, so the local Maharaja wanted to build a palace to give his people work, the Umaid Bhawan Palace. 14 years 3.ooo employers used sandstone, 12.100.000 Indian rupees were donated by the maharaja. The palace is 14.000 square metres large. When the place was in bad shape and no money was there to renovate it, a separation in 3 parts was ordered. A museum, a hotel and the living area. It's the world's biggest building owned by a private person.


by Lukas and Jonathan