The nation of Chad, which sprawls across the heart of North Africa, is among the world’s most challenging countries. According to both the United Nations and CIA World Factbook, it is currently counted among the bottom fifth of the world’s poorest countries. Over the last decade it has become an oil power with all of the problems that come with such mineral wealth. Its … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2015
GOLDEN TEMPLE
Amritsar, Punjab The Harimandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, is the most sacred site in the world for Sikhs. Sikkhism, one of four religions to have evolved in India, is currently the fourth most prominent religion in the country. Much of India’s Sikh population live in the state of Punjab and regularly visit the shrine, while most other Sikhs in India and around … [Read more...]
LOTUS TEMPLE
Delhi, NCT The Lotus Temple in Delhi, more properly known as the Bahai House of Worship, is one of India’s newest major pilgrimage sites. It is a religious center of the Bahai faith, the latest of many faiths introduced to India. This huge steel and marble structure is among the most spectacular works of modern architecture in the Subcontinent. Designed to look like an … [Read more...]
ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL
Kolkata, West Bengal St. Paul’s Cathedral in Kolkata is the largest Anglican church in India and among the largest in Asia. Located in what was for over a century the capital of British India, St. Paul’s was of particular religious and political importance throughout much of the British colonial era. It is part of a cluster of the city’s major sites, including a number of … [Read more...]
ST. MARY’S CHURCH
Chennai, Tamil Nadu St. Mary’s Church is the oldest purpose-built Anglican church building in India. A part of the first British settlement in the Subcontinent, it is for all intents and purposes the Mother Church of the Anglican Communion in the Far East. Constructed to withstand the hard realities of the wars of the colonial era, St. Mary’s has survived virtually intact to … [Read more...]
ST. FRANCIS CHURCH
Cochin, Kerala The St. Francis Church is not only the oldest Christian church in India, it is also the oldest church built by a European colonial power in Asia. It was from here, even earlier than in Goa, that Christianity and Roman Catholicism began its long spread throughout the Subcontinent. Its history includes brushes with famous European explorers as well as numerous … [Read more...]
BARA IMAMBARA
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh The Bara Imambara is, depending on who you ask, the largest mosque in India. However, an Imambara is technically not a mosque but rather a Shia ceremonial building used for the commemeroation of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammed. This tremendous building, a public works project which ran for years in order to keep … [Read more...]
TAJ-UL-MASAJID
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh The Taj-ul-Masajid is the largest mosque in India (not counting the Bara Imambara), the second largest outside of the Middle East and the tenth largest in the world. It was the last major construction project to be initiated by the Mughal Empire in its last days, and it was not completed until 1985 after a construction hiatus that lasted more than a … [Read more...]
MAKKAH MOSQUE
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh The Makkah Mosque is often overlooked in the shadow of its more famous neighbor, the Charminar Mosque. However, the Makkah Mosque is more than worthy of attention in its own right. Begun during the reign of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty and completed under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, this 17th century masterpiece is the largest mosque in Southern India. It … [Read more...]
BIBI KA MAQBARA
Aurangabad, Maharashtra The Bibi Ka Maqbara is arguably India’s second greatest mausoleum. However, being in the shadow of the world famous Taj Mahal, the Bibi Ka Maqbara is virtually forgotten in wider India, and almost unknown around the world. Built by the son of Shah Jahan for his first wife, the Bibi Ka Maqbara bears a striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal, to which it is … [Read more...]
