Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Kanyakumari

VIVEKANANDA ROCK MEMORIAL is a holy monument located in Kanyakumari, India. It is one of the most famous attractions. It is 200 meters from shore and constructed in Indian style.

It was built on two rocks in 1970 by the Vivekananda rock memorial committee and the gap between two rocks is 70 meters. It was built in respect to swami Vivekananda that he had meditated on this rock. It consists of Vivekananda Mandapam and Shripada mandapam are opposite to each other. Vivekananda mandapam has Dhyana mandapam (meditation hall) with six rooms, Sabha mandapam or assembly hall (swami Vivekananda statue is present) is designed in Indian architecture, Mukha mandapam. Shripada mandapam has inner prakaram, outer prakaram, Garba graham. The whole mandapam is designed like Sri Ramakrishna Temple, Belur and the entrance like Ajanta and Ellora style. People come here to meditate and relax from all over the world. From the past the rock is treated as a holy place and it is thought that rock is touched by the feet and blessed by Devi Kumari. So it is known as “Sripada Parai”. The whole memorial is surrounded by three merge seas known as Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Indian Ocean. It was built by 650 men in 2081 days under Sri S.K.Achari. This place is peace and calm. Visiting hours are from 7am to 5pm. It is closed on Tuesdays. You can reach to Kanyakumari by bus, train or air and from shore you can reach to Vivekananda rock memorial by boat.

Wat Pho, Bangkok

WAT PHO is a Buddhist temple situated in Bangkok. It is one of the largest and oldest in Bangkok. It is also called as the reclining Buddha temple or Wat Phra Chetuphon or rajwaramahaviharn.

It covers an area of 20 acres. The Buddha is 15 meters high and 46 meters long and had a pillow under his head and it is surrounded by candles. Wat Pho contains 1000 images in the grounds. It was built before 200 years in 1788 by king Ayutthaya and Pet raja and again it was rebuilt by King Rama I in 1824 to 51. The outer layer of Buddha is decorated with gold and the eyes and bottom of Buddha’s feet is decorated with mother of pearl and the feet are of Indian and Chinese styles. The Wat Pho is a center for massage, meditations and medicines. Wat Pho has two walled compounds are north and south compounds. In northern compound it has Wat Phra Chetuphon and a massage school and on southern compound it has a school and Buddhist monetary. Around the temple there are beautiful gardens. Before going inside the temple visitors should leave their shoes. The visiting hours are from 8am to 5pm and the break timings are 12pm to 1pm, entrance fee is 50 baht. It is one of the popular visiting places.

Colosseum, Italy

COLOSSEUM or Rome Colosseum is situated in Italy. Colosseum latin name was Amphitheatrum Flavium. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was built by emperor Vespasian between 70 and 72 AD and completed by Titus in 80 AD. It is in elliptic shape.

It covers about 6 acres and holds more than 50,000 people. The building is at a height of 40 meters, 156 meters wide, 189 meters long and covered with velarium to protect the people from sun. It consists of four floors and has around 80 entrances. In the second and third floors statues are present. The upper floor is for poor people and lower floor is for rich people. Below the ground was for mechanical devices and wild animals. Colosseum is mainly used for entertainment to the public with games and another show was the animal hunt, dramas etc. games end with fights between gladiators or animals and gladiators. The used animals like elephants, beers, giraffes, tigers, crocodiles. They brought these animals from Africa and Middle East. Huge number of peoples and animals are died in these games. Colosseum is made of tufa, bricks and marbles. It is completely destroyed today but it is one of the most popular tourist attractions. Now there is a museum in the upper floor of the building. Visiting hours from March to October are 9am to 6:30pm and from November to February are 9am to 3pm.

Victoria Memorial, Kolkata

VICTORIA MEMORIAL is situated in Kolkata, India. It is a beautiful monument opened in the year 1921. 

It was designed by Sir William Emerson. After the death of Queen Victoria, Lord Curzon build Victoria memorial of hid dream. He received funds from princely states. It covers an area of about 64 acres. It was built between 1906 to 1921. The weight of the building is 80,300 tons. The total cost of this memorial is 300,000 dollars. Construction was completed in 15 years. The building is made up of whit marbles and it is surrounded by gardens. Above the central of dome Angel of victory holding a bugle in her hand. Inside the hall it has so many oil paintings, water colors and images of King George and Queen Victoria, Queen Mary. You can 3,500 articles in the memory of queen Victoria. From these articles you can find queen dresses, weapons and rosewood piano. Victoria memorial is divided in to different parts like library, garden, stamps, manuscripts, and articles like dragger of Tipu sultan etc. Victoria memorial is famous as Raj Era monument. Visiting hours from March to April are 10 am to 5 pm and from November to February 10 am to 4 pm. It is closed on Mondays.  You can reach there by bus or taxies. Inside the memorial photography s prohibited. 

Salarjung Museum

SALARJUNG MUSEUM is situated on Musi River in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the third largest museum in India.

 Mir Yusuf Ali Khan was the prime minister of Nizam of Hyderabad. He was also known as Salar Jung 3. He was the only man who collected all the antiques present in this museum. He spent a lot of money for buying the antiques. Some of the items present in this museum were taken from his father and grand father. The collection is from all over the world. It was opened on 1952, Dec 16^th. It has more than 50,000 books, 43000 art objects and 9000 manuscripts. The collections are Indian art, children art, European art, far eastern art, Middle Eastern art. Indian art consists of painted textiles, wood carvings, stone sculptures, jade carvings, textiles, manuscript, metal ware etc. European art contains water color and oil paintings. Far eastern art contains paintings, bronze, enamel etc. Museum is in semicircular shape and it contains two floors. In the first floor it contains 20 rooms and in the second floor it contain 18 rooms. Museum contains white marble statue of veiled Rebecca, crafted knives of Mughal emperor Jahangir and Queen Noor Jehan.  Museum contains 100 year old clock. A complete room is for the children’s who are interested in toys, puppets etc. In 1961 it is declared as the “institution of national importance”. You can also get the books in different languages and you can find various items like paintings, furniture’s, snuff boxes, archer’s rings, ornaments etc. The best attraction is present in clock room.  In the clock room it contains more than 300 clocks. The visiting hours are from 10 am to 5 pm. It is closed only on Fridays. You can go to the museum by bus or other transportation. 

Bahai Temple, Delhi

Delhi is the home for various tourist attractions among them  BAHAI Temple is one. 

BAHAI TEMPLE is situated in Bahapur, Delhi. It is also known as Lotus temple because of its nine sided circular shape it look like a flower. It is one of the most beautiful temple in India. It is a house to worship god and a famous attraction in Delhi. Its construction was completed in 1986. It won various awards and placed in various magazines and newspapers. Bahai temple looks like Sydney opera house. This temple is open to all religious and cultures without any restrictions. Temple has nine entrances. It was constructed by using marbles, sand, cement and dolomite. It covers an area of 26 acre more than 2,500 people can fit in it. The central hall is 40 meters tall. It was designed by Fariborz Sahba. Around 800 employees worked to complete the temple in 10 years. People come here to do meditations and prayers and musical instruments can not be played inside and no pictures, images and statues are displayed. Around the temple gardens and pools are present. Inside the temple it is silent and peace. Visitors should take off his shoes before entering to the temple. Temple open from Tuesday to Sunday and the visiting hours are from 10 am to 4 pm. At the night time light glows beautifully one can enjoy it from 1 km away. It is visible from entire south Delhi. Day by day tourists are increasing to this place.

Manchu Picchu

MACHU PICCHU is situated 8000 feet above sea level. It is located above the Urubamba valley, Peru and it is 80 km northwest to Cuzco, the Urubamba river flows through it. 

Manchu Picchu is also referred to as “The lost city of Incas”. Manchu Picchu was an estate of Inca emperor, Pachacuti. It is the most popular tourism center. It is the familiar symbol to Inca Empire. Manchu Picchu was started building at AD 1430 by Incas but it doesn’t known to the outside world. It received publicity only when National geographic society loyal to Manchu Picchu in April 1913.  It was built with polished dry stone walls. We can know the exact time by sun rays falling on Manchu Picchu.Its main buildings are sun temple, room of the three windows, and Intihuatana stone. The Intihuatana stone is believed has it holds the sun directly in its place. It is also called as “The Hitching point of the sun”. The stone was damaged when a 450 kg crane was fell on it in 2000 September. It covers an area of about 325.92 sq km. on July 7, 2007 it is declared as one of the seven wonders of the world. It was given a name as a world heritage site in 1983. Manchu Picchu has a pleasant climate than the Inca capital. 

Buckingham Fountain, Chicago

The BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN is the most beautiful and one of the largest fountains  in the world. 

It is located in Grant park, Chicago. It was designed by French sculptor Marcel F. Loyau. Fountain was donated by Kate Buckingham to the city in the memory of her late brother Clarence Buckingham..  It was opened in May 26, 1927.  It contains 1,500,000 U.S gallons of water. It is constructed of pink marble. The four sea horses are present on its side it represent the four states touch the lake are Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, lllinois. The fountain displays water from 10 am to 11 pm everyday from April to October. water runs for 20 min every hour. The central jet  rises water up to a height of 150 feet. The last show begins at 10 pm. Fountain contains 820 lights. It contains 134 jets and display water are powered by three pumps. The bottom of the pool is 280 feet. In fountain’s pump house Honeywell excel plus computers are located. The computers are brought from Georgia, Atlanta. While the water is displayed at the same time the light and music starts. At the night time the lights glows beautifully. The fountain will be closed in winter and there will be a holiday music and light presentation. 

Statue of Christ Redeemer, Brazil

CHRIST REDEEMER is a statue of Jesus Christ located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is one of the largest of its kind and one of the wonders of the world. It is a beautiful monument. 

The statue stands on a rounded stone and it is 38 meters high and 30 meters wide. Its  weight is 645  tons. The statue is very important  symbol  of  Brazil’s Christianity. The first idea for building the statue was by Catholic priest Pedro Maria Boss and it was rejected. And second idea was proposed  by Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro. He performed an event to get donations. Most of the donations came from Brazilian Catholics. Statue was designed by Heitor da Silva Costa and was sculpted French sculptor Paul Landowski. The statue structure was build by concrete instead of steel because of its cross shaped structure. The outer layers are used with soapstone. The statue was chosen with open arms. The left arm points to the north zone and right arm to the south zone. It took nine years to complete the construction from 1922 to 1932 and was opened on October 12, 1931. The cost of the statue was $250,000. One can reach the statue by crossing 222 steps or by escalators. You can view the statue from throughout the Brazil. It is located at the peak of the Corcovado mountain (700 meters) in the Tijuca forest national park looking the city. From Cosme Velho district you can go to the statue of christ by bus or train. It take 17 minutes to go there. 

Golconda Fort, Hyderabad

When we think of HYDERABAD we first remember GOLCONDA FORT. It is a beautiful monument located on the western outskirts of Hyderabad city, India. It is 11 km away from the city. It is built on a granite hill having a height of 120 meters. Golconda is also known as “ Golla  Konda ” or “Shepherd’s hill” in telugu. 

Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali was the builder of Golconda. He had ruled the kingdom of Golconda from 1521 and was the fourth Qutb King. Golconda is very famous for diamond trade. Golconda consists of  four forts. Inside the fort it has eight gateways, temples, number of  halls, mosques etc. The main gate is Fateh Darwaza. The main entrance of fort is Bala Hissar Gate situated on the eastern side and above the doors it has peacocks. When you clap your hands below the dome at the entrance continuously we can heard at the “Bala Hissar”, almost one km away, in case of any attack for royals it worked as a warning note. The gates of fort are decorated with iron spikes. They used spikes because to keep fort safe from elephants. The fort also has tombs, this tombs are situated 1km north of the outer wall of Golconda. You can see Taramathi Gana and premathi Nritya Mandir outside of Golconda fort. You can enjoy the light and sound show in gonconda fort. The shows start at evening and the show timing in winter are 6:30 pm and in summer are 7 pm. Entrance fee is 120 for adults and 100 for children. 

Victoria Falls

VICTORIA FALLS is one of the wonders of the world. The beauty of these waterfalls is awesome.  It is a waterfall situated in southern Africa on a Zambezi river between the countries of Zimbabwe and Zambia. It is the highest waterfall in the world. It is also called as Mosi-oa-Tunya. In 1851, Livingstone first heard about waterfalls and he visit there at 1855. Its height is 108 meters and width is 1,708 meters. The falls rainy season is from late November to early April and the rest of the year is dry season. In dry season you can walk on the edge of the falls. The river’s flood season is from February to May and the falls flow with full power, it is impossible to see the foot and face of the falls. The falls spray rises to a height of 400 meters and sometimes even twice and it is visible from 50 km away. You can see the waterfalls from air through fixed wing flights and Micro light. Helicopter flights are also available. Below the falls it has 39 species of fish and 89 species above it. You can also buy crafts from Mukuni Victoria falls craft village. Mosi oa Tunya National park is 12 km away from the Victoria falls. It is 64 square km and it has so many animals and birds. One can take a drive around the park. It is becoming the most famous tourist center. The number of visitors to the Victoria falls are increasing day by day.

Pyramid of Giza

The great PYRAMID OF GIZA is the largest of the Seven Wonders of the World. Pyramid of Giza is one of the famous tourism place in the world. It is located in Egypt. It is also called as pyramid of Khufu, Khufu’s pyramid, pyramid of Cheops. It is largest of the three pyramids. The pyramid looks like a triangle on it sides and a square in its base. It covers an area of 13 acres. The height of the pyramid is 450 feet and it has 203 steps from its lower to the highest point.  It was built as a tomb during the rule of king or queen of Khufu , fourth dynasty Egyptian and constructed over 20 year period around 2560 BC. It was a man-made structure for over 3,800 years and it was covered by stones. Inside the pyramid it has three chambers. The lowest chamber was built and was unfinished, Queen’s  chamber and  King’s  chamber. The lowest chamber is the largest of the three chambers. pyramid also included two mortuary temples, for Khufu’s wives three small pyramids, smaller satellite pyramid, and small mastaba tombs. Pyramid consists of more than 2.3 million limestone blocks and each stone has a weigh of 2 to 70 tons. The Egyptians carried the lime stones through boat along the Nile river to the pyramid. The mysteries of the pyramid is that how they planned the construction. One hundred thousand people worked for three months each year. The temperature inside the pyramid is at a constant of 68 degrees Fahrenheit.