GOING, GOING… NOT GONE! AUCTION OF THE TAJ MAHAL
“Henceforth, let the inhabitants of the world be divided into two classes – them as has seen the Taj Mahal; and them as hasn’t.” -Edward Lear In my series of articles on the Taj Mahal, I am going to introduce you to an interesting episode of our history, where one of the British appointed Governor […]
TAJ MAHAL
THE FOREIGN CONNECTION On the 17th of June 1631, as Arjumand Banu Begum, aka Mumtaz Mahal, the most favourite wife and Empress Consort of the Mughal Emperor Badshah A’la Azad Abul Muzaffar Shahab ud- Din Mohammad Khurram, aka Shah Jahan died, the Mughal Court started planning for the grand burial of the late queen. She […]
Swastika in Common Culture
When famous Bollywood actor Amir Khan said ‘All is Well’, I was wondering, how come such a beautiful and powerful line was not discovered earlier. Then one day, when I was explaining the symbols on mosques and temples to some college students, I pondered over the name “Swastika”. A little more research and I found […]
THE MESSALINA OF THE PUNJAB
THE MESSALINA OF THE PUNJAB Queen Valeria Messalina, Empress Consort of the Roman Empire was the notoriously famous wife of Emperor Claudius, to whom the British compared the Queen of Punjab. Although the Queen of Punjab and the Queen of Rome had nothing in common, the informal title given by the British speaks volumes about […]
Festival Of Colours, Water, Sticks & Swords
From Akitu to Sham el-Nessim and from May Day to Easter, the entire world celebrates spring. From the point of view of Science, this season is purportedly one of the most important seasons as the axis of Earth is increased relative to Sun, which causes the lengthing periods of daylight and the days themselves get […]
The Namdharis: A Forgotten Battle For Independence
When India got independence on 15th August 1947, everyone thanked the great leaders of that time, who fought throughout their lives for this day. On the one hand, people were rejoicing with extreme happiness, and on the other, they were remembering those whom they lost in this 100 year-long battle for independence. The first major […]
Hey Ram !
We were about to complete 6 months of India’s Independence from the British, when the entire world heard the sound of three bullets being fired in a posh bungalow of Albuquerque Road in Lutyen’s Delhi. This house, built by a millionaire from the Marwari Maheshwari family, Ghanshyam Das Birla, was those days being used as […]
Temple Of Gold, And Folklore
There is an old story still narrated in the villages of Punjab, that there was once a water pond which turned black crows into white swans after they bathed in it. A poor man suffering from leprosy saw this, and turned into a completely healed handsome man after taking a dip in that pond. Some […]
Untold Story Of The Qutub Minar
Mamluk Sultan Altamash (Iltutmish) built the Minarah, which till date is the tallest brick minaret on earth. Then why do we call it the ‘Qutub’ Minar? The Qutb Minar of Delhi (also spelt Qutub Minar) is the world’s tallest brick minaret, and a world heritage site. In 1060 AD, after Muhammad-bin-Sam (Muhammad Ghori) defeated Prithvi […]
A Royal Prison For Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, father of the Indian nation, spent a considerable amount of his time in prisons. One such imprisonment tenure was imposed upon him immediately after he launched the Quit India Movement, when he was forced to spend 20 months in a building in Pune, which was built by His Holiness Sir Sultan Muhammad […]