By

P.CHARLES CHRISTOPHER RAJ

M.A.,M.I.M.,M.LISC.,M.C.A.,M.Phil.,B.Ed.,P.G.D.T.A.,

Assistant Professor cum NSS Programme Officer

KASTHURBA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, VILLIANUR, PUDUCHERRY 605110

MOBILE :9443723327

Email :ccraj18@gmail.com

Heritage is that which is inherited ; it is everywhere around us. It is natural or created or has evolved in the course of history. Heritage is something which is specific and typical of a place, area, region or country on the one hand and of a family, community or people on the other. natura

l cultural

NATURAL HERITAGE:

•MOUNTAINSMOUNTAINS•FORESTS FORESTS

•DESERTSDESERTS•LAKESLAKES•SEASSEAS•CLIMATECLIMATE•RIVERSRIVERS

•FLORA FLORA &FAUNA&FAUNA

Land and Rivers

• The Great Himalayas Constitute the highest mountain system of the world.•Its tributaries namely the Satluj, Beas, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum•The Ganga with its tributaries like the Alaknanda, Mandakini, Yamuna,Ghaghra, Gandak and Kosi•The River Saraswati which was a mighty once but now it is dry and no more.•The rivers in the northern part of the peninsula are the Subarnarekha and the Mahanadi on the eastern side and the Mahi and the Sabarmati on the Western Coast.•The rivers that originate in the Western Ghats are the Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri and the Vaigai.•Because of the rivers great empire capital like Vijayanagar grew up in the banks of the Tungabhadra, Nagarjunakonda was on the bank of the Krishna and the great port town Kaveripattanam was on the bank of Kaveri.•Some of the hills like Pachaimali, Shevaroy, Javadi and Nallamala hills are known for their history.

•Our Heritage is also helped by nature specially trees

•Trees like the peepal and banyan and the tulsi plant are considered sacred and are respected.

•Mountains,rivers,trees,birds and animals have been a part of our stories of the Panchatantra, the Shukanasopadesha, popularly known as Kissa Tota – Maina or the Buddhist Jatakas.

•Some of the classical ragas are based on seasons or moods of the day. Musical Modes like Chaiti, Phag,Kajari etc., are essentially seasonal.

•Even the system of medicine like Ayurveda, Unani and naturopathy, rely on nature

•Some well known trees which are typical of our flora are mango, neem, sal, arjuna, amaltas, ashok,teak,shisham, tamarind, sandalwood, kadamba,amla,rosewood,palm,bamboo, acacia,deodar, oak, birch,rhododendron,coconut,bel etc.

Creation of human beings by the use of their intelligence, skill and artistic ability.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

Cultural heritage

Intangible cultural heritage (Living heritage)

Tangible cultural(Archaeological heritage)

It is mainly a tumulus or mound containing the relics of the Buddha

The largest is at AndhraPradesh erected between 3rd B.C and the 3rd A.D

Stupas at Sanchi in M.P. and Sarnath in U.P are best preserved examples

Devnimore in Gujarat and Ratnagiri in Orissa are known for Chaityas.

The stupas called Chortens are found at Ladakh,Jammu and Kashmir, upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Monastries of Rock-cut are found at Pune,Aurangabad,Kolaba and Kashik districts of Maharashtra.

The caves at Ajanta andEllora in Aurangabad were excavated mainly during the time of Vakatakas. They have beautiful sculptures and paintings on ceilings and walls.

Bagh caves in Dhar district of M.P are known for their paintings.

The caves of Elephanta (near Mumbai) andMahabalipuram (near Chennai)

Temples are classifed into three :

Nagara – northern styleDravida – southern

styleVesara – Chalukyan

styleTemples at huge are

found at Sanchi and Nachna in M.P

TheBodh Gaya templein Bihar

Aihole,Badami and Pattadakal in Karnataka belong to theearly Chalukyan period.

Chandella temples at Khajuraho in Chhatarpur district of M.P

Sun temple at Modhera in Gujarat

Sun temple at Konark (our NSS symbol)

The Brihadeswara or Rajarajeshwara at Thanjavur built by Cholas.

Temples at Halebid and Belur in Karnataka were built by Hoysalas. Hampi temples were built by Vijayanagar Kings.

The Martand temple at J.K

The gurudwara at Nanded in Maharashtra,Patna Sahib in Bihar and Harmandir Sahib or Golden Temple at Amritsar in Punjab

Quwwatu’l Islam mosque in Qutub complex in Delhi

Jama Masjid and Atala Masjid at Jaunpur in U.P

Jama Masjid in Delhi, in Gaur and Pandua in West Bengal, Jama Masjid (Buland Darwaza) at Fatehpur Sikri

The Char Minar in Hyderabad.

The Sidi Sa’ids mosque in Ahmedabad is famous for its beautiful screens.

In A.D 1510 at Cochin inKerala first European Church was built.

Many Churches at Goa such as Basilica of Born Jesus and Se Cathedral.

Churches at Chennai,Mumbai, Daman,Diu,Kolkata and one at Sardhana near Meerut in U.P.

Churches

JAMI MASJID

JEHANGIR MAHAL

Parsi Fire Temples are located mainly in Surat,Navsari and Udvada in Gujarat, Diu and Mumbai.

There are fire temples in Secunderabad, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Jewish place of worship

There are not many historic synagogues in our country except the one at Cochin in Kerala. It was built in 1568 and is of historic importance.

Synagogue

The interior décor of the synagogue

Dwellings: Dwellings/houses range

from stone and wooden structure in hills of north India to wooden houses in Gujarat and villas in Goa, small circular huts are called bonga in Kachchh.

Large mansions of Chettiars in Tamilnadu

Havelis in Rajasthan Wadas in Gujarat The Patuwon Ki Haveli in

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan is famousfor its intricately carved stonework.

Forts and Palaces The seven – storeyed Leh Palace

in Ladakh. Bir Singh Palace at Datiya,M.P. Tipu Sultan’s Palace at Mysore,

Karnataka, Mattancherry andPadmanabhapuram palaces in Kerala.

Some of the forts are converted into Heritage Hotels.

The Kangra Fort of Himachal Pradesh

The Janjira (in the sea) andSingarah Forts of Maharashtra.

Gingee fort at Tamilnadu Rohtas Fort of Bihar, Tughlaqabad Fort and Red Fort

of Delhi and Agra Fort and Allahabad Fort of U.P

GWALIOR FORT

CHITTORGARH FORT MAHARASHTRA

MANORA FORT

REDFORT AGRA

NAMAKKAL FORT

NURJAHAN SARAI

Sarais were built along the Grand Trunk Road for traders and travellers by Sher Shah Suri and Mughals.

Sarais at Amritsar in Punjab to Haryana,Delhi,U.P,Bihar and West Bengal.

Sarai Amanat Khan,Dakhni Sarai and Nurmahal Sarai in Punjab

Gharaunda Sarai in Haryana, Badli and Badarpur Sarais in Delhi and Chhata Sarai near Mathura in U.P.

As we travel along the Grand Trunk Road huge high brick pillars were constructed approx. 5 meters high are Kos Minars e.g. Qutub Minar which was started by Qutub ud din Aibak and completed by Illtumish.

Water conservation and harness led to creation of human made lakes and reservoirs.

Water harvesting goes back to Harappan Civilization.

At Dholavira, in the Great Rann of Kachchh.

Gujarat, a network of reservoirs were created. A record was found of a lake at Girnar in Junagarh at Gujarat was repaired.

Sudarshan Lake was built by Chandragupta Maurya.

Cholas built many tanks. Devaraya I built canal from

river Tungabhadra to Hampi.

Hydraulic Structures

Human made Lakes like Bhopal Tal built by Bhoja the Paramara King in the eleventh century.

Gadsisar in Jaisalmer, Pichhaula and Udaysagar in Udaipur,Anasagar in Ajmer,Haus Khas in Delhi, Barwasagar in U.P.

Step-wells or baolis or anicut are our unique heritage.

Other Monuments Astronomical

observations,gardens,dams etc., serving different purposes and functions.

Jantar Mantar in Delhi. U.P is famous for its labyrinth. Buildings with amazing acoustic

qualities like Gol Gumbad in Bijapur, Karnataka or the Golconda Fort in Andhra Pradesh.

British,Portuguese,French,Dutch or Danish, too have constructed many which lays as specimen for the foreign constructions.

Victoria Memorial in Kolkata Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi Rashtrapati Nivas in Shimla Gate way of India in Mumbai Victoria Terminus in Mumbai built in

1887.

QUTB SHAHI TOMB

3.Funerary Monuments Graves and tombs,dargahs,memorial

stones,chhatris,devals,megaliths,towers of silence, etc. The best and famous example of funerary architecture

is Taj Mahal in Agra, U.P The Gol Gumbad in Bijapur, Karnataka is the largest

dome in the world. Akbar’s tomb at Sikandara Tomb of Etmad-ud-daula in Agra. Sher Shah’s tomb in Sasaram, Bihar. Humayun’s tomb in Delhi. Dargahs are the tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti at

Fatehpur Sikri, Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer in Rajasthan, Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi.

Memorial stones include hero-stones,barselas,menhirs etc. Megaliths means big stones. These are found in Kerala,T.N., Karnataka etc.,

4.Historical sites & RemainsLarge number of archaeological sites located in different parts of our country.Excavation of archaeological mounds containing remains of Harappan culture provides evidence of three thousand years of historical period.The rock shelters are found in M.P. parts of U.P and Uttaranchal, eastern Gujarat, western Rajasthan, A.P., Orissa, Karnataka and Kerala.

Thus the tangible cultural heritage or Thus the tangible cultural heritage or built heritage is vast and consists of built heritage is vast and consists of many things.,many things.,

Literature, arts and crafts, systems of medicine, science and technology, fairs and festivals, cuisine, other traditions related to social life and religious practices and pilgrimages.

The Upanishads, the Puranas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita, The Tirukkural (Tamil) and writings of Sangam Poets have great significance.Aryabhata’s AryabhattiyaLagdhacharya’s Vedanga JyotishaKautilya’s ArthashastraKalhana’s RajataranginiThe Pali canonical literature is best represented by TripitakaThe non – canonical literature by Jatakas which deals about the birth of Buddha.The Jain Siddhanta or Agamas, the Upangas, Haribhadra’s Shaddarshan – samuchchaya are some of the important Jain works.Persian literature are innumerable

Orthodox Syrian church

1. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OFINDIA (ASI)1. INDIAN TREASURE TROVE ACT 18762. THE ANTIQUITIES AND ART TREASURES ACT 1972

2. MUSEUMS

3. INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY1. AWARENESS RALLY OR CAMPAIGN2. AWARD OF CASH PRIZE3. REGULAR VISITS TO VARIOUS IMPORTANT SITES

Thus individuals can help by indentifying hitherto unknown monuments, sites and antiquities, take up the work of listing

and documenting these and maintain vigil so that the monuments are not damaged or destroyed and the antiquities

are not removed or stolen from their location. Awareness about this rich heritage land will help in preserving it for

posterity.