India is touching dizzying heights of glory with back-to-back massive constructions. The country, which is now home to the world’s tallest Statue of Unity in Gujarat, the world’s tallest Shiva statue in Rajasthan, and the world’s tallest railway bridge in Jammu & Kashmir, will see the inauguration of more wonders including the world’s largest Vedic monument in Bengal, and the world’s tallest temple in Uttar Pradesh.

The world’s tallest temple in question is Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir under construction at a whopping cost of $1 billion. Speculated to be one of the most expensive temple buildings in the world, this ISKCON temple will boast an astounding height of 700 feet on completion. Interestingly, the temple will surpass the world’s tallest Statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (597 feet) in height.

The temple complex sprawls over 62 acres, while the 7-story temple building will have a total floor area of 540,000 square feet. A contemporary touch to the temple’s traditional Nagara style of architecture is meant to serve ISKCON’s purpose to reinterpret the profound wisdom from India’s ancient scriptures like Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam within the modern context to render their eternal relevance to the current generation.

The towering structure will have four temples on its four ends. The temples will be dedicated to Krishna Balram, Radha Krishna, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and Swami Prabhupada. The main temple housing the idols of Radha Krishna will have a grand prayer hall that can accommodate 5000 devotees at a time. The prayer hall will be beautified with sculptures and frescoes depicting the life of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan. The soon-to-be inaugurated Mayapur ISKCON Temple near Kolkata will have the largest prayer hall with space for 10,000 devotees.

Anticipated to be a colossal wonder of white marble, the world’s tallest ISKCON temple will feature a lotus-shaped dome with the glass surface that will be dazzling on moonlight nights. The temple is a dream project for renowned architect Bimal Patel, a Padma Shri awardee, and his team. He is the chief architect for the Rs 14000cr Centra Vista, Gandhinagar Akshardham Temple, Gujarat High Court, Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Varanasi Viswanath Dham, and the new campus of IIM Ahmedabad.

The upcoming Radha Krishna temple site in the holy land of Vrindavan will also house a spiritual sanctuary comprising 12 forests, which will be named Madhuvana, Talavana, Kumudavana, Bahulavana, Kamyavana, Khadiravana, Vrindavana, Bhadravana, Bilvavana, Lohavana, Bhandiravana, and Mahavana after the twelve gardens of Brijbhumi. These forests are said to be modelled on the gardens described in the stories of Sri Krishna. Each forest will be landscaped with orchards, lush vegetation, green pastures, waterfalls, lotus ponds, musical fountains and artificial hillocks.

There will be a heritage museum, a library, a cultural center, and a viewing tower with telescopes at the Vrindavan Chandrodaya Temple complex. Visitors can catch panoramic views of the premises, Vrindavan town and the Yamuna River from the viewing tower. The 7-storey temple tower will have an elevator. Visitors will be able to enjoy a light and sound show on the universe’s planetary systems, as described in the Vedic literatures of Bharat.

Seva being integral to the culture and philosophy of ISKCON temples worldwide, the Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir will have a spacious Annadanam Hall and food distribution counters. Sadhus, pilgrims and the underprivileged will be served sattvic meals in the well-ventilated Annadanam Hall, while the food distribution counters will offer one serving of prasadam to every visitor. A huge temple kitchen where sattvic food will be cooked for the deities, priests and visitors is also on the construction agenda.

An expansive biodiversity park within the temple complex will feature themed zones like sacred forest, butterfly park, and ayurvedic herbal garden. It will not only serve as a natural habitat for some local species of flora and fauna, but also provide a serene space for visitors to revel in the beauty of nature. Beautiful nature trails will meander through flower gardens, trees, small lakes, and water fountains. A walk through the ayurvedic herbal garden will enrich your knowledge of medicinal plants.

One of the most interesting facts about ISKCON’s Vrindavan Chandrodaya Temple is that its foundation is deeper than the world’s tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa in Dubai by five meters. Burj Khalifa has got its foundation rooted 50 meters under the surface. Moreover, the temple will have earthquake-proof features, like shock-absorbing foundations and seismic isolation systems. Despite its location in the earthquake-prone region of the country, the temple can withstand intense tremors up to magnitude 7.5.

Reportedly, one end of the temple complex will be connected to the other end with skywalks. Devotees from across the country will have various accommodation options to enjoy the divine bliss for a few days within the complex. Other than a helipad, the temple site will have a 12-acre parking lot, goshalas, and a huge convention hall for religious and cultural events. The convention hall can also be booked for marriages and other social ceremonies.

Interestingly, the temple site is expected to have a Krishna theme park with fun rides among various attractions for young devotees (kids). other than community development, welfare programs for the underprivileged and widows of Vrindavan will be on the agenda of the temple body, as per reports. While Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir is expected to be fully completed in 2026, its south wing is set for inauguration in the auspicious month of Kartik in 2023.

Vrindavan is a 3-hr drive from New Delhi IGI Airport, which is well connected with major US cities by Air India, British Airways and other airlines.

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Durga Puja, the grandest and most spectacular festival of India, is in full swing now.  This festivity is so divine, joyous and fabulous that it never ceases to keep us waiting eagerly for the arrival of the Goddess. Every year, we cover the Durga Puja celebration on Travel Beats in different ways. We have come up with an article on the age-old rituals of Durga Puja to keep some requests from the Indian community in USA so that they can share it with their American friends.     

Dhaak

With the image of dhaak, the face of Goddess Durga surfaces to the mind. A most identifiable icon of the Durga Puja festivity, dhaaks are beaten during the worship of the Goddess, dhunuchi naach, aarti in the mornings and evenings from the beginning to the end of the festival. The beating of dhaak defines the ambience, dominates the mood and fills the air on the festive days.

Dhunuchi Naach

Dhunuchi Naach is an attraction of the Durga Puja celebration on festive evenings. In the Bengali community, boys, girls, men and women perform this traditional dance holding earthen lamps full of burning coconut shell with both hands and facing the Goddess. The rhythmic moves of their dancing feet are accompanied by the beats of dhaaks. The excitement soars and crowd cheers with the fast beating of dhaaks during the performance. It is a most entertaining and crowd-pulling part of the Durga Puja event in Kolkata, the rest of Bengal and other states of India. Women wear dhakai, taant and jamdani saris with golden work in the typical Bengali dressing style, and men wear embroidered kurtas of different colors in combination with white dhotis for this occasion.

READ ALSO Folk Culture of Bengal

Pushpanjali

Source: Flickr.com

A ritualistic part of the Durga Puja celebration, Pushpanjali refers to the offering of flowers with devotion to the holy feet of the Goddess. Each day of the festival starts with this ritual in the morning when Bengalis wearing new traditional clothes utter holy mantras and offer the Pushpanjali. However, the Pushpanjali on Maha Ashtami has lots of significance. Almost everyone fasts till this ritual is performed. Once it is over, the devotees are given prasad.

Kumari Puja

Kumari Puja on Maha Ashtami, the 8th day of the festival, is one of the traditional ceremonies interwoven with the way Durga Puja is celebrated in Bengal. A five or six year old girl child is worshipped as a human incarnation of the Goddess. Worshipping of the girl child or kumari with lamps, incense sticks, flowers and other holy essentials is worth watching every year. She is offered sweets too. The people present on the puja spot offer their devotion to the tender feet of the child and receive her blessings. However, the Kumari Puja initiated by Swami Vivekananda at Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, is a grand spectacle.

READ ALSO Significance of Kumari Puja at Belur Math

Sandhi Puja

The most spectacular part of Durga Puja celebration, Sandhi Puja is performed at the moment when Maha Ashtami ends and Maha Navami begins. This ritualistic ceremony holds special significance because it is believed that the Goddess kills the buffalo demon at this time. Sandhi Puja marks triumph of the good and defeat of the evil. Worshipping of the Goddess in this part of the festivity requires a grand arrangement that entails 108 lotus flowers, 108 lamps, platefuls of sweets, a large pot full of rice grains, clothes, hibiscus garlands, wood apple leaves, vermillion, etc. The Sandhi Puja aarti is the most wonderful spectacle to behold with devotion.

Sindur Khela

The color of vermillion eclipses the glow of other colors on Dashami, the 10th day of Durga Puja, when married women of the Bengali community indulge in sindur khela. It is an age-old customary ritual for them to exchange good wishes and festive greetings by smearing each other’s face with vermillion. The married Bengali women of all age-groups including the newly wed and the old, deck themselves in white saris with deep red border, and gold ornaments for this occasion as you might have seen in the climax of Bollywood movie Kahani starring Vidya Balan. They offer flowers with vermilion to the obedience of Maa Durga before bidding adieu to the Goddess.

Immersion

Immersion of the idols of the Goddess and her family members – Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartik – is the culminating ceremony of the Durga Puja festival that leaves Bengalis with tears in the eyes. Bengalis across the country tearfully bid adieu to the Divine Mother on Maha Dashami, the 10th or last day of the festival. The immersion is preceded by spectacular processions in which traditionally dressed men and women dance in rhythm with the beats of dhaak, all the way to the river bank. Hundreds of devotees join the procession and catch the last glimpse of the Goddess during immersion.

Travel Beats is an Indian Diaspora portal by Indian Eagle, a leading travel organization for overseas Indians having a proven record of booking cheapest air tickets to India. We at Travel Beats connect Indians abroad, including Indian Americans with their cultural heritage roots through our stories and features.   

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Indian government has released new 100 rupee notes which feature a motif of ‘Rani ki Vav’ stepwell on the reverse side. One of the most historic and best tourist attractions in Gujarat, Rani ki Vav is a unique architectural wonder. It was built as an inverted temple as homage to the sanctity of water.

Those who have watched Amol Palekar’s Paheli do remember the stepwell scene in Rajasthan featuring Rani Mukherjee as a newlywed bride who halts on the way to her in-laws and feels a mystic presence around herself. There are many stepwells in Gujarat and Rajasthan, the Rajputana states of India. But, Rani Ki Vav stepwell is more exquisite, magnificent and marvelous than other stepwells. In 2014,UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in India incorporated Rani Ki Vav, which is also known as Queen’s Stepwell.

UNESCO recognized Rani Ki Vav as a masterpiece of technological excellence in ground water management in the 11th century. This stepwell is an age-old model of how ground water was preserved and utilized in those days. In addition to this, Rani Ki Vav is a work of Indian subterranean architecture with ornamental sculptures. The stepwell is a seven-storied structure underground. It measures about 64 meters in length, 20 meters in width and 27 meters in depth.

Also Check: Gujarat Temple Offers Divine Pens to School Students for Success

As the history goes, Patan where the stepwell is located was the capital of Gujarat when King Siddharja Jaysingh was in power. Then, it was known as Anhilpur Patan. The construction of Rani Ki Vav was commissioned in the Solanki or Chalukya regime. It is said that the stepwell was built as a tribute to Bhimdev the First whose father had founded the Solanki dynasty in 1050 AD. The construction was proposed by the queen Udayamati, wife of Bhimdev the First.

Also Check: Gujarat’s Airport-themed Crematorium Puts Souls on Flights

Sculptural beauty is the mainstay of Rani Ki Vav as a historic attraction for tourists. The inner walls, pillars and columns are intricately sculpture. Most of the sculptures represent the incarnations of Lord Vishnu Rama, Krishna, Narasimha, Varah, Baman, Matsya, and Kalki. The other sculptures are shaped as beautiful dancing women of the Heaven including Nagkanya, Yogini and Urvasi. There are nearly 1000 sculptures. A carving of Lord Vishnu resting on the thousand-hooded serpent named Sheshnag is found at the water level.

After years of its construction, the stepwell was flooded by the Saraswati River and filled with silt. It remained covered with silt till the late 1980s. Then, the Archeological Survey of India discovered and excavated it. Rani Ki Vav with most of the carvings in pristine condition is an interface between a stepwell and a temple. It resembles a subterranean temple with carvings of deities in stone, which symbolizes the age-old faith in sanctity of water. Such stepwells were the sites for not only water preservation and distribution but also worship and socialization in the bygone eras.

The steps lead to the deepest bottom through several pillared pavilions. The lowermost step ends at a small gate which opens to a 30-km tunnel. It is supposed to have been used as an escape to the nearby town Sidhpur in times of invasion by enemies. The World Heritage Site status has made Rani Ki Vav the queen of stepwells in India, for its sheer magnificence, intricate carvings, celestial sculptures, and water-preserving technology.

‘Rani Ki Vav’ stepwell in Patan district of Gujarat is a 125-km long drive from Ahmadabad and 118 kms away from Gandhinagar. Modhera, the ancient Sun Temple, is another must-visit tourist attraction on the way. These days cheap flights to Ahmedabad International Airport are available for online booking throughout the year.

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Gangaur is one of the few Rajasthani festivals which are celebrated as colorfully as Holi. Gangaur is not just a festival but a celebration of women’s immovable faith in the Divine for their husbands’ wellbeing and the household welfare. The women of Rajasthan worship Gauri, the goddess of power, abundance and marital bliss on the occasion of Gangaur, a most splendid spring festival in Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner. Unrestrained fervor of menfolk and boundless devotion of womenfolk make Gangaur festivity a must-see cultural ceremony. Here are some interesting tidbits to share with you.

Worship of Deities

The Gangaur Festival centers on the worship of the deities – Lord Shiva and Goddess Gauri or Parvati. The small effigies of the deities are made of clay or wood. The clay images are immersed into a water body on the last day of the festivity, while the wooden idols are preserved and worshiped every year. The wooden ones are meticulously painted afresh before the ceremony begins. The Gangaur idols are beautifully dressed and worshiped with roli, kumkum, mehendi, haldi, etc.

Rituals for Women

The Gangaur festivity spans for 18 days. The ceremony begins on the next day of Holi festival. The newly married girls are obliged to worship the deities for 18 days and keep fasting for half of the day till the festival is over, in the first year of their marriage. The rituals are the same for unmarried girls and would-be married girls who wish to observe the ceremonies. The other married women worship the deities only on the third day of the festival. They wear red saris or ghagras with golden zari boder along with gold & silver jewellery. They flaunt borla in the parting line of the hair and kumkum on the forehead.

Also Check: Rajasthan’s Gypsy Tribe – Kalbeliya Music and Dance

Departure of Deities

The Gangaur festival ends with the departure of the deities, a grand ceremony which is observed through a spectacular procession. It is the most colorful, joyful and magnificent ceremony to behold. The ethnically dressed married women walk down the street, carrying the deities on their heads during the procession to a garden with a pond or well. Some other women sing folk songs and perform folk dance moves adding to the grandeur of the procession.

Gangaur Festival Sweets

Kheer, choorma, halwa and puri are some of the traditional delicacies on the Gangaur festival menu in Rajasthan. Ghevar, an essential culinary part of the festivity, is one of the most famous Rajasthani sweets. It is made in households and sold in markets during the festivity. It is customary for the people to sweeten the mouths of relatives and friends with slices of ghevar.

Also Check: Rajasthan’s Gogamedi Fair – An Offbeat Celebration in Incredible India 

Mehendi on Hands

Mehendi is one of the traditional rituals of the Gangaur Festival. It is a custom for both married women and unmarried girls to beautify their hands with Mehendi designs. Mehendi signifies good luck and bliss to the married women of Rajasthan. They worship the goddess Gauri with their colorful hands and seek blessings for the wellbeing of their husbands. Even young girls decorate their little hands with Mehendi on this occasion.

Travel Beats is an overseas Indian community portal on culture, travel, and community news by Indian Eagle, a leading international travel organization making air travel to India cheaper and better. Indian Eagle issues cheap flight tickets to Jaipur and other cities for overseas Indians, in order to help them connect with their roots.

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India is on a temple construction spree aiming to harness the economic potential of religious tourism. These days, temples not only draw pilgrims but also fetch tourists in general. With new temples coming up as tourist attractions, India is all set to redefine pilgrimage as socio-religious tourism.

A 1000-year-old cave shrine in the scenic hills on the outskirts of Hyderabad City, the Yadagirigutta Temple is getting a makeover as grand as the Tirupati Tirumala Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The estimated cost of the makeover comprising wide-scale renovation and expansion of the Yadagirigutta Temple is INR 1800 crore, which is nearly three times more than the cost of the Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir in Mathura, the world’s tallest temple under construction.

It is said that the ongoing inch-by-inch and brick-by-brick transformation of Yadagirigutta into a Tirupati-like temple town and spiritual capital is Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao’s pet dream. A 2-hour drive (60 kilometers) from Hyderabad, the Lakshmi Narasimha Temple of Yadadri is a hilltop shrine dedicated to the half-lion-and-half-human incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Yadadri is surrounded by eight other hills and lush forests.

The Telangana government came up with the plan to develop the Lakshmi Narasimha Swami Temple of Yadagirigutta into into a world-class pilgrimage hub, in 2015. The Yadagirigutta Temple Development Authority (YTDA) headed by CM K Chandrasekhar Rao is at the helm of this multi-crore project. YDTA roped in renowned architects, sculptors and builders from across the country for the historic transformation of not only the temple, but also the temple town.

The government of Telangana formed a special body of advisors including S. Sundara Rajan, an eminent temple builder and Anand Sai, a renowned art director. S. Sundara Rajan, who is the Engineer-in-Chief of the 1800-crore project, has the rare distinction of constructing 4500 temples across India, including the Gopuram at the Sri Kalahasti temple in Chittoor of Andhra Pradesh.

Highlights of Yadadri Temple Complex

The upcoming Yadadri Temple Complex will spread over 14.5 acres on the top of a hillock in Yadagirigutta. The new complex of Yadagirigutta Temple will have seven temple domes (Gopuram) with wooden roofing, including a 100-foot dome which will command views from a considerable distance. A 1,400-acre part of the complex will house tourist facilities including cottages for tourists, a multilevel parking lot for 7000 vehicles, and housing for the temple priests. The construction of the domes was completed early this year.

Notably, more than 500 sculptors have been employed to carve delicate sculptures and designs on pillars in the Yadadri Temple Complex. They are also engaged in carving statues out of stone. The whole temple complex, including the interior and the exterior, has been made of black granite stone as per the temple architecture of the Kakatiya Dynasty in Telangana. Black granite stone has very small pores. The stone becomes strong and hard when milk, curd, oil and other liquids get into pores, according to experts.

A 2.7 km road has already been constructed around the hillock named Yadadri, where the Lakshmi Narasimha Temple complex is coming up, for devotees to do pradakshana (circumambulate), a sacred ritual. Four-lane roads are under construction in the downhill area for smooth connectivity. The project, which was supposed to be completed in 2021, is currently currently getting a finishing touch. Reportedly, 2022 will see the inauguration of the new temple complex.

Explore Temple Trail from India to USA with Indian Eagle 

Besides the Yadadri Temple Complex under construction on the top of the hillock, the downhill area is undergoing complete transformation to be shaped as a temple town. Several different structures and facilities including a lake, marriage halls, food courts, a shopping complex and a bus depot will come up across 2,000 acres in the downhill area. The temple city of Yadadri will get VVIP quarters on a hillock adjoining the Yadagirigutta hillock, and a 25-acre horticulture park where different flowers will be cultivated for daily puja at the temple.

“Once the project is finished, Yadadri is going to be as big as Tirumala, with even better facilities and structures. The footfall will go up from 10,000 to 30,000 a day.” said G Kishan Rao, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the Yadadri Temple Development Authority.

With an expected rise in the number of daily visitors, the annual revenue of the Yadagirigutta Temple is likely to shoot up from INR 80 crore per year to INR 200 crore per year, according to the temple authorities. The critics of Telangana government opine that it is next to impossible for Yadadri Temple to make even 10% of the Tirumala Temple’s annual revenue which is an average of INR 2600 crore.

However, there is no doubt that the Yadadri Temple Complex and City project, once completed, will trigger a commercial boom in and around Yadagirigutta by catapulting religious tourism to new economic heights.

How to Reach Yadagirigutta or Yadadri Temple from RGI Airport   

Yadagirigutta is some 92 km from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad. It can be reached via road from the airport and by train from the city. Many foreign tourists, pilgrims and NRIs rely on Indian Eagle for cheap flight tickets to Hyderabad International Airport.

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Ugadi is a festival of the Telugu-speaking populace in the states of South India. Ugadi is celebrated to welcome the Telugu New Year which ushers in a season of freshness and brightness before the colors of Holi entirely fade away. Nature brims with sprightliness when red flowers blossom and mango buds bloom heralding the arrival of New Year for South Indians. The festive ceremonies of Ugadi are observed in harmony with the joy and beauty of nature to mark the beginning of growth, affluence and prosperity for everyone.

Legendary beliefs

Apart from its harmony with the changing face of nature, Ugadi has an age-old association with mythology and history in reference to Hinduism. It is mythically believed that the day when Lord Brahma, the Supreme Creator of the universe, stared creation of life is the first day of a new year or the Ugadi Day. If the cosmic calculations made by Bhaskaracharya, a noted Indian mathematician, are to be believed, the first day of the first month of a new year begins with the Ugadi festivity. The controversy of these beliefs apart, the fields with vibrancy of life, the meadows with colorful blossoms, the mango trees with green foliage and the households with the glow of rangoli refer to a new beginning, a new journey, a new life…

Culinary tidbits

Ugadi comes with the fresh aroma of raw mangoes in the air. It defines the mood and color of the environment, which in turn impacts the festivity and celebration. Raw mango slices are among the ingredients of Ugadi Pachadi, a must-taste festive dish that is unique to the culinary culture of the Telugu people. The women in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh get busy making several different mango preparations including pickle as raw mangoes are available in plenty for two months – April and June. Atukulu Payasam, Boorelu, Bellam Garelu, Semiya Payasam, Rava pulihora, Pappu Pulusu, Vankaya batani, etc. are some of the most popular Ugadi festival dishes, unique to the culinary culture of the Telugu people.

Philosophy of life

Ugadi Pachadi is not just an overtone of the festive celebration but also an integral part of the cultural tradition and a reference to the philosophy of life in the Telugu community. It is a dish of six different tastes and flavors – jaggery, raw mango, tamarind, neem flowers, salt and green chilli – that range from sweet to bitter. The ingredients of the dish symbolize the different phases and experiences of life that everyone undergoes during the journey from cradle to grave. Human life is a harmonious mix of verities including joy and sorrow just Ugadi Pachadi, a mix of different flavors. Ugadi Pachadi is known as Bevu Bella in Karnataka.

Traditional rituals

The people wake up before sunrise. They start the Ugadi day with a holy oil bath early in the morning and wear new clothes. The women draw beautiful rangoli in form of floral designs, as an auspicious mark of the festivity, on the space just outside their homes. The main entrance, doors and windows of houses as well as shops are decorated with strings of fresh green mango leaves called thorana. According to a mythical legend stating that Lord Ganesh, god of wealth and prosperity, is fond of mango leaves, this tradition signifies good harvest and good health. The people visit temples to seek divine blessings for health, wealth, success and prosperity in the New Year.

Travel Beats is an overseas Indian community portal by Indian Eagle Travel. It publishes latest visa, immigration and travel news, inspiring features and interesting community stories. 

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Other than the wealthiest temples, India is known for some of the tallest, largest and grandest structures in the world. Now, India is home to the world’s tallest Shiva lingam in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Eclipsing the tallest Shiva Lingam temples across India, the Maheswaram Sivaparvathi Temple of Chenkal near Thiruvananthapuram is looking to enter the Limca Book of Records and the Guinness Book of Records for its astounding 111.2 feet height and and 50-feet diameter in breadth.

Recently unveiled, the Shiva lingam of Maheswaram’s Sri Sivaparvathi Temple has been recognized as the tallest Shiva lingam in India. It has already entered the India Book of Records for not only its height but also its unique cylindrical structure. Travel Beats, an overseas Indian community portal by Indian Eagle, shares some interesting facts about the Maheswaram Sivaparvathi Temple of Chenkal in Kerala.

Surprising Facts about India’s Tallest Shiva Lingam

Attention from all quarters has been pouring in for the Maheswaram Sivaparvathi Temple of Kerala because of the Shiva lingam, which is equal to a 10-storey building in terms of height. The Shiva lingam is neither hollow nor stuffed a piece of sculpture like the erstwhile tallest shiva lingams in India. Rather, it is a piece of architecture in the form of cylindrical structure.

The top of India’s tallest Shiva lingam at Kerala’s Maheswaram Sivaparvathi Temple is accessible to pilgrims through eight floors inside the structure. Six of the 8 floors represent six energy centers in the human body. The top of the lingam features Kailasam (the Himalayan abode of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi in Hindu scriptures) with snow-clad idols of the presiding deities. The inside of the lingam features several marvels.

The pathway from the base to the top of the tallest Shiva lingam in Kerala is decked with eye-catching murals and statutes of meditating monks in a cave-like environment. The passage is designed and constructed in such a way so as to symbolize seven hills of Himalayas. The first floor of the lingam is consecrated to 108 Shiva lingams, where devotees can offer ‘abhishekam.’

India’s Tallest Shiva Lingam is a Seat of Meditation 

India’s tallest Shiva Lingam at Maheswaram Sivaparvathi Temple is expected to become a haven of peace and meditation. The cave-like inside of the lingam houses six meditation halls for pilgrims, devotees and tourists to meditate on human body’s energy centers. The topmost floor features a grand lotus with 1000 petals symbolizing ‘sahasrara chakra’ or pure bliss in terms of yoga.

The construction of India’s tallest Shiva Lingam in Kerala began in 2012. It went on for 6 years. Water, sand and soil from various holy places including Kashi, Gangotri, Rishikesh, Rameswaram, Badrinath, Gomukh, and Kailash across the country mixed with the construction materials. The 108-feet-high Shiva lingam at Kotilingeshwara Temple in Karnataka was the tallest in the country until the Maheswaram Sivaparvathi Temple of Chenkal unveiled the 111.2-ft-high lingam recently.

Reportedly, the temple authorities are planning to approach the central government to confer the status of a national pilgrim center upon the temple where India’s tallest Shiva lingam represents spiritual energy preservation.

The Maheswaram Sivaparvathi Temple of Chenkal in Kerala is just a 45-minute drive from Thiruvananthapuram. Trivandrum International Airport has good connectivity with the rest of India, the neighboring countries and the Middle East.

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While many Indians keep their fingers crossed for the sake of American Dreams, some pursue their Indian Dreams and manage to hit the jackpot eventually. One of them is a Pune chaiwala who sells a few thousand cups of tea every day and earns INR 12 lakh a month. Amazing! The story of Navnath Yewle chaiwala in Pune City is an interesting story of desi entrepreneurship. How he gives a tough competition to the highest paying jobs in the world.

Selling tea is Navnath Yewle’s family business started by his father, Dashrath Yewle in 1983. At the age of 16, Dashrath Yewle shifted to Pune from Purandar, where a new airport named Chhatrapati Sambhaji Rane International Airport is coming up by 2023. He started selling milk to earn his bread and butter in Pune. Eventually, he took a shop on rent and sat up a tea stall which is popularly known as Yewle Tea House in Pune and outshines the highest paying jobs in the world.

With hundreds of customers pouring in for tea, Dashrath added snacks to the menu. After his demise in 2001, the journey was continued by his sons who have made it bigger than their father. Today, Yewle Tea House in Pune has three outlets; each having 10 to 12 workers. Navnath Yewle having an entrepreneurial bent of mind eyes on setting up 100 outlets across the city and plans to enter international markets.

He took over his father’s tea stall and transformed it into the brand ‘Yewle Amrutalay’ over a few months of research on target audience and marketing. He spent a few months standardizing the process of making tea using the ingredients in the same proportion at all of the outlets. The water with tea leaves is boiled for exactly 7 minutes, and the milk is boiled twice before it is used. The two-time boiling of milk gives the density and texture that Yewle tea is known for.

Also Read: Intriguing Tales of Biryani from India to USA

Inspired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rise to political power from selling tea, Pune’s Navnath Yewle chaiwala looks upon the tea selling business as not only a thriving means of sustenance for himself but also a good source of employment for others. He agrees with PM Modi’s view that there is nothing mean about selling pakoda, which is also an employment in India.

Happy with the increasing popularity of Yewle Tea House in Pune, Navnath Yewle is planning to open 100 outlets in Mumbai, Nagpur, Nasik, Satara and the rest of Pune City over the next 5 years. The expansion will generate employment for more than 10,000 people, according to him. Initially, Dubai and Bangkok are his preferred international markets for business expansion outside India.

Many travelers to Mumbai take road trips to Pune for a scenic drive. Among the best road trips in India, Mumbai to Pune is popular because of nearby hill stations. If you happen to visit Mumbai, do drive to Pune, stop by Yewle Tea House and try a cup of smoking hot tea for a different experience altogether. Navnath Yewle Chaiwala does not mince words while asserting, “Our Amrutulaya Chai is different, special and unique.”

The post Meet Pune’s Navnath Yewle Chaiwala who Earns Rs 12 Lakh a Month and Plans to Go Global appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

In some of our stories of Kolkata, we are eloquent about the street food culture, traditional Bengali cuisine and Durga puja festival of the city. There are many things to talk and write about beyond the cultural aspects of the 21st century Kolkata as the city has experienced highs and lows since its foundation in the year 1690. One of the major transformations that the capital of Bengal has undergone is that of its identity from Calcutta to Kolkata.

The post-independence picture of Calcutta may be a mystery and a matter of curiosity, at the same time, to many of the present generation. Travel Beats, an overseas Indian community portal, has woven a brief story of Calcutta in the 1960s.

The nightlife culture of Calcutta in the 1960s was an integral part of the sophisticated lifestyle of the elite and the rich. Park Street was the most happening place to spend out nights partying till wee hours. Cultured men and women from the upper reaches of society used to sweep down Park Street in their swanky cars and dance to the music of live bands at Blue Fox, Mocambo, Moulin Rouge and other restaurants of those times. Guests on a visit to Calcutta from Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Manila were treated to the musical beats, fairy lights, and winey flavors of Park Street in the dead of night, in the 1960s.

Calcutta in the 1960s was a city of political upheavals, mass agitation, labor strikes and student unions’ protests. The turbulent being of the city served as the base of the Left’s rise in West Bengal. Deindustrialization of the state began to take place in the 1960s leaving the next generations high and dry. The Naxalite movement, led by the fuming youth of Calcutta in the 1960s, triggered the political agitation. A massive flow of starved, penniless refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during the onset of the Liberation War of 1971 added to Calcutta’s socio-political stagnation.

In the 1960s, Calcutta was a city of middle-class intellectuals. The professionals including doctors, professors, lawyers, filmmakers, engineers, managers and artists belonged to this class of the then Bengali society. The British had created this intellectual class to support and expand their trade when Calcutta was the capital of India. The 21st century Kolkata takes pride in the achievements of the middle-class intellectuals, including legendary filmmakers, actors and writers such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Uttam Kumar, Utpal Dutta, Suchitra Sen, Soumitra Chatterjee, Bikas Roy and others.

The Hooghly riverfront of Calcutta was a thriving industrial belt till the mid of the 1960s. Howrah was the throbbing center of industrialization in the northeast before and after independence. Calcutta was the second best port city, next to Singapore, in Asia. The then industrial recognition of Calcutta as one of the global leaders was based on the production and export of jute and tea. The Ranigang-Asansol-Durgapur belt with coal mines and manufacturing plants was known as the Ruhr of India.

The public transport lifeline of Calcutta in the 1960s consisted of hand-pulled rickshaws, double-decker buses, and trams. The present Kolkata has not parted with handcarts and trams yet, though double-decker buses are no more seen plying the busy streets.

The picture of Calcutta in the 1960s is too big to be framed in an article of a few hundred words. Why not travel to India to explore the difference between Calcutta of the 1960s and the 21^st century Kolkata? Indian Eagle books the cheapest flights to Kolkata International Airport throughout the year. 

Disclaimer: The tidbits of information for this story of Calcutta in the 1960s are collected from different sources on the web. We do not guarantee the authenticity of the information.     

The post Calcutta in 1960s: Political Mayhems, Mass Agitation, Labor Strikes, Rise of Middle-class Intellectuals appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

Today is the World Toilet Day.  The world celebrates the day to get rid of insanitation, deliver lessons of personal hygiene and save environment from open defecation. Evolution of toilet as a basic need of existence is a most important chapter in the history of human civilization. This basic sanitary system is a link between life and health, society and environment. In India, the journey of toilets began from the Indus Valley Civilization and has been continuing till date.

The history of toilets in India is as old as the Indus Valley Civilization, which had grown in and around Harappa and Mahenjodaro. The archaeological remains of the Indus Valley Civilization bear evidence to the use of water-borne toilets by the Harappan people living at Lothal, which is only 62 km from Ahmedabad. Each house in Harappa had a private toilet with link to the covered drains outside. The architects of the Indus Valley were in the know of sanitary engineering science, which got buried in the grave of the Indus Valley Civilization, thereby leading to the practice of open defecation.

According to some historians, the invention of sitting-type toilet dated back to the Minoan Civilization in Greece, which is older than the Indus Valley Civilization. The Minoans of Crete are credited for the first flushing human waste management system. Rome has its own history of public and private toilets in the bygone times. In ancient Rome, the public toilets had side-by-side seats without any partition. Each seat had a hole, and water kept flowing to flush away excreta. Archaeologists have confirmed the existence of the same toilet system in the Egyptian Civilization, too.

Legend says that the slaves in Rome used to hold urine pots made of silver whenever the members of the royal / aristocratic families felt like urinating while playing cards at dinner parties. Evidences of the use of stools with keyhole for urination and defecation have been unearthed in Thailand and Sri Lanka. The ruins of the Housesteads Roman Fort in Britain have the remains of public loos consisting of seats with holes and without partition. The men used to gossip about everyday matters while using the loos and had sticks padded with sponge to clean the behind.

England witnessed a major development of toilet system in the late 1500s. The invention of the first modern indoor flushing system is credited to John Harrington, who devised the toilet flushing mechanism and installed it for Queen Elizabeth 1. In the 1800s and 1900s, flushing toilets were no longer confined in the royal households. It was gradually reaching out to the common man.

Also Check Inspiring Stories of Toilets from across India

Some stories in the scriptures of India refer to the close relation between men’s frequency of using toilets for defecation and their saintliness / manliness. In those days, wrestlers were believed to be weak if they defecated frequently due to their poor digestive system. Similarly, saints were not expected to defecate much because they were supposed to eat as much as needed. Infrequent defecation was considered a saintly habit in some communities of ancient India, while it was a sign of manliness in some other communities. It is said that the menfolk of the Chaga tribe blocked their anus when they attained manhood, in order to exercise their superiority over the fair sex. The ancient Greeks used to believe in the practice of swallowing something and not taking it out.

It was a dark period of human hygiene in the history of civilization from 500 AD to 1500 AD. Protrusions were used for defecation in aristocratic households and forts across India. The excreta were dumped on to the ground and into rivers. The fort of Jaisalmer bears testimony to this offbeat reference to the Indian history of toilets and defecation. In the medieval period, toilets were simple pits with wooden seats on ground. Besides, the primitive practice of covering human waste with earth was prevalent in some parts of the Mughal Empire. In the medieval castles of Europe, toilets were vertical chutes with stone seats on the top. These were called “garderobe,” which became wardrobe in the course of time. In Europe, the well-to-do people would wipe their behinds with rags.

The history of toilets for public use is full of twists in several countries. Poor maintenance of public toilets has always been a concern about the wellbeing of people. The Mughal Emperor Jehangir had commissioned the construction of a public loo to be used by as many as 100 families, 125 km away from Delhi, in 1556. But poor maintenance drove the people to defecate in the open. In 1872, the French municipalities mandated private organizations to fund maintenance of public toilets for 20 years.

Several countries implemented measures to improve sanitary conditions. Provision of toilets and construction of cesspools were made compulsory in 1519. The British issued the first sanitation law in 1848 in England. The first sanitation law came to effect in India in 1878. The municipalities were mandated to construct toilets in the slums of Calcutta (now Kolkata), the capital of British India. Toilets got curtains in 1880. The trend came to be known as Belleepoque in France and Edwardian in England. With the onset of 1900, bathroom with loo became an institution all over Europe. It was called Gushalkhana by the Mughal kings in their times.

The history of toilets has come a long way with evolution of human living and hygiene.  Though the developed countries of the world have put an end to open defecation, the developing countries including India, Indonesia, China and Korea are still grappling with the challenges of controlling open defecation. In 2001, the World Toilet Organization was formed to encourage construction of toilets for the sake of public well-being in the developing nations. The journey of toilets will continue in India until every household has access to basic sanitary facilities.

The capital of India got a museum of toilets in 1992. It exhibits different toilet models from 50 countries across the world in three sections – Ancient, Medieval and Modern – spanning from 3000 BC till the 20^th century end. The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets in New Delhi is one of the most offbeat places to visit in India. – Indian Eagle

This story about the history of toilets in India is brought to you as part of the campaign, “Explore India with Indian Eagle”, aiming to promote what is lesser-known about India through our overseas Indian community portal, Travel Beats. Travel Beats is a subsidiary of Indian Eagle Travel, a leading international air travel booking partner of Indians abroad.

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