A well-known proverb says: "Fish is looking for where it is deeper, and the person - which is better." For some strange reason, escaping from a superficial glance, the people of India believe that this is the best will surely come, but not now, not in this, but in the next life. And it is not by itself, but only if you live this life with dignity and right.
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Sightseeing India: Rishikesh
It is the holy city, which every follower of Hinduism should visit at least one time in his life, of course, if he wants to escape from the wheel of births and deaths and a dip in the sacred Ganges water. Its streets are always thousands of pilgrims, ten times more than locals. It is incomprehensible how all these people are placed where they live and what to eat. In this city, you can walk the road, which is all deeply believe, can make a person better. Lakshman Jhula - Bridge Lakshman, the only major shrines Rishikesh.
About a hundred years ago, this bridge was built by the British. But is not the case, and that it is here in this place of Rama's brother Lakshman crossed the holy river Ganges and meditated for a long time. This is where he pacified his anger, so bridge over the Ganges rapid and lower it gently flows into the valley, and then into the ocean. All who come to Rishikesh, must pass over this bridge and to pacify their anger. All day pilgrims marching on the tight streets of the city, where the whole of India, all the dozens of its peoples.
In their dress and ornaments can be studied ethnography of the country. English is considered the official language here, but ordinary people rarely understand it. In the crowd of pilgrims lot of garden - holy men, ascetics. They respectfully called Baba, which means "dear". You can find Hanuman - the legendary leader of the army of monkeys. Get his blessing is considered a very good sign. Faced with it, you need to take both hands on the earlobes and a little sit down, depicting a monkey, he will be very happy and give his blessing.
Rishikesh is also famous for the ashram. Large ashrams around 30, and the small and not counted. Ashram - a spiritual school where the teacher is required to have and his followers, who live with him and heed the teachings. At a meeting with the teacher of the ashram to touch his feet. Ask a question ashram: "Why do I live? ". He will say: "Life is given to achieve happiness, to comprehend the divine nature of the mysterious. All earthly corruption. This shell, the appearance of one. " It is also considered the capital city of Rishikesh yoga.
Find yoga guru is simple. And to start the day with a yoga class - is the best thing that can come to mind. Yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning "union, unity." This is a meeting of Lord Shiva with the goddess Shakti, the male and female energies. The right side of the body - for men and the left -zhenskaya. So yogis of India explain why we do not look like the right eye to the left, and the left leg is not the same as the right. And when the female and male energies meet, they rush to the cosmic primary source of energy. And all the senses become better and brighter after this meeting.
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India Attractions: churches
Taj Mahal - a business card of India, known around the world. With its perfect proportions and the snow-white marble refinement, its elaborate inlaid, it is considered an ideal of beauty unsurpassed. The temple was built as a testimony of love. Shah Jahan built it in the name of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child.
When she died, then I made him promise that he would build for her the most beautiful mausoleum in the world. And although Shah Jahan were about five thousand concubines, he was madly in love with his wife and his was ready to fulfill her last wish. His masters were cut from the gemstone flowers and other shapes, carefully carving patterns finest jade, lapis lazuli, amber, jasper and amethyst, and then inlaid of white marble.
Historic churches Raja Raja Great
But there is even more ancient Indian attractions hidden in its tropical jungle. Here, one of the greatest feats in the construction of the history of mankind has created thousands of bizarre and mysterious temples. In southern India, in the heart of the traditional culture and religion, more than a thousand years ago, the greatest king Raja Raja Great India undertook an ambitious construction in the history of mankind, continues to this day.
He and his followers spent more stones than it took to build the pyramids of Cheops and his artists have created the greatest works in the history of architecture.
This temple is so spacious that its walls can easily accommodate two hundred Taj Mahal. And all this for the sake of strength and faith. The first of the temples built by Raja Raja is in Tanjore. Its construction was over a thousand years ago. At that time he was considered the greatest temples in India and ten times taller than any previous construction. But its attraction not only in size but also in the fact that it is completely built of granite - the most durable stone on Earth.
Raja Raja Great Personality
She captured around the temple. Inside it, under the dome of a giant tower stands a giant phallus, Ling, a height of 3, 5 meters and 1, 5 meters in diameter. Linga is a symbol of the most powerful and beloved god of the Indians - the god Shiva. Ling embodies the power and fertility of the king Raja. And this linga largest in India. Dome tower height of 65 m and consists of two massive granite blocks, each weighing 40 tons.
It is hard to imagine how it was possible to lift to a height stone weighing 40 tons in 1010 BC! And only the current Prince of Tanjore revealed the secret of how the stones raised to such a height. They were raised on a slope at an angle of 6 degrees, which led to the top, and the length of the cleavage was more than two kilometers. Such slopes are called in India ramps. All buildings and churches were built facing east where the sun rises. And found the remains of ramps built from west to east, which supports this theory.
Another attraction of India, namely the army of Raja Raja are the elephants. After all, wars with neighbors and procured the king funds to build the temple. But elephants have contributed not only to the fighting. They pushed the ramp granite blocks perfectly round beams. They shifted the beam ahead for the next push. It remains a mystery how the carving and mined the hardest stone on Earth. A little later, Muslims Regiment ended the dynasty Raja Raja. Muslims destroyed all evidence of Hinduism.
Priests were buried and walled up in a secret room of the deity gold inlaid with diamonds, followed by Muslims and hunted. Deity lay in the sand over 700 years until they were discovered in 1905. And it was the greatest archaeological find of the century. But after the Muslim invasion of India rose by more majestic height.
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City - a great winner
The central part of southern India is now more like a countryside, a sun-baked earth and large piles of granite boulders. But once this place was great and prosperous city. Its inhabitants turned his thoughts to the golden age of Raja Raja and created the heavenly city, so that he Raja Raja could not imagine. Several centuries later, after churches were absorbed Raja jungle, there was a mysterious and holy city, the city of Vijayanagara, the city-winner. It was founded in 1350, it was built in just 30 years and was larger than any European city with a population 50 times larger than the population of medieval London or Paris. Its founders set out to continue the tradition of art and architecture.
The carved granite mural decorating the courtyard familiar with the way of life of the rich and famous. Vijayanagar Tradition, left over from the king - is hunting, dancers and wrestling. The city had a lot of artificial pools, and every day all the inhabitants ritual bath. The city teemed with game board.
Everywhere on the stones carved with dozens of different games, and is therefore not surprising that chess was invented in India. The game is played chaturanga Vijayanagara kings, to hone their combat skills. Elephant - a prototype boat, the most powerful figure who could go in all directions and even jump through a weak figure. This was a reflection of the power of the indomitable power of the elephant, which was present in war, and in construction and farming. Again, the Muslim invaders destroyed this city. It was a battle of God against the hundreds of gods in India to establish superiority, break faith. The city was almost completely destroyed and is now considered a ghost town, where nobody has moved.
But south again cheered by building a more magnificent and majestic temples, which is considered the pearl of Madurai, the most elegant of all Indian temples. But despite this, a hundred people that come to India, only ten are sent south to admire these exquisite temples. The central temple is the abode of the gods, and it was believed that properly build it only as modest. But often with gilded roof, crowning temple. Temples are now more and more to expand, because they have to increase the height of it was impossible. This expansion led to the creation of gates, decorated with ornaments and is called gopuras.
Fligely Madurai especially graceful and full of sculptures. At one gate placed over a thousand individual figures. Nowadays, the church authorities regularly embellish their original bright colors. In order to describe what he saw, not enough words.
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Undisputed and gorgeous Srirangam
The most magnificent temple - this is without a doubt, Srirangam. He is so great that it can safely accommodate a Kremlin building of the US Senate, the British Parliament, and still have room for the Palace of Versailles and St. Peter's Cathedral, which is located in Rome. And in this church still worship the bronze relics, singing hymns that are more than a thousand years, and keep in touch with the culture, roots dating back in the days of Raja Raja. But for most people in the world and for many living in India all is lost and forgotten world.
But why these churches are the legacy of Raja Raja ignored Western society? Part of the answer lies in what happened here in February 1838, code locks Lost found a British officer Captain William Berg. He was told about the wonders that are worth seeing in a place called Khajuraho, in an abandoned for centuries and hidden under the dense canopy of trees.
The worst began when he came so close that he could see what is depicted on the walls of the temple. The temple walls are decorated with scenes depicting group sex, excited men and women hungry for them. It was not what I expected to see on the walls of a respectable Christian house of worship. However, in Hinduism, everything looks different. One of the many purposes of Hinduism is the pursuit of love, and the Indians do not see anything wrong with the image of love scenes on the walls of their churches. But these temples shocked Western guest who once convinced of his moral superiority.
Nature of Hinduism became too extreme for the Victorians. It is because of the Victorian sense of propriety and art temples of southern India were ignored by tourists and scientists. A world that is not inferior to the Greek in their culture, and the ancient Egyptians - in architecture, once again disappeared into the jungle, becoming a lost world.
