TIRUMALAI NAYAK PALACE

TIRUMALAI NAYAK PALACE

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MADURAI

This Palace was built in 1636 by King Thirumalai Nayak with the help of an Italian Architect. The building we see today was the main Palace where the King lived. The original Palace Complex was four times bigger than the present structure. This palace consisted mainly of two parts, namely Swargavilasa and Rangavilasa.

It is considered a wonder of South India. Thirumalai Nayak wanted the grandest palace for himself and constructed the palace which is a blend of Dravidian and Islamic styles. The palace was originally four times bigger and it had two parts. The first part was Swargavilasa or the heavenly pavilion, meant for the King and Ranka Vilasa for servants. 

 Currently it has courtyard surrounded with garden. A sound and light show is held in the evening.The Interior of the palace surpasses many of its Indian contemporaries in scale. The interior is richly decorated whilst the exterior is treated in a more austere style.

Tirumala Nayaka, who ascended to throne in 1623 A.D., and ruled over Madurai for 36 years can be said to have made the largest single contribution towards the enhancement of the beauty and splendour of the town by magnificent edifices and monuments.

Tirumala Nayaka was certainly the greatest of the Nayaka rulers. The nayakas of Madurai like those of Thanjavur and gingee ruled South India as the Governors of Vijayanagar emperors and gradually became independent rulers as the empire began to decline and breakup,though they did not like to call themselves as kings due probably to their reverence to the dynasty.

Sound and light show the only one of its kind in South India, really is a boon to Madurai city. This show was established during 1981 when the fifth world tamil conference was conducted. The programme was engineered by the then Chief Minister of Tamilnadu Mr.M.G.Ramachandran.

The show begins with the reverbrating tribute to the King Thirumalai Naick. It deals with the important events which took place in the life of the King. His victories over the enemies, his love on art, his deep sense of devotion to Goddess Meenakshi are narrated interestingly. The court scene in which Kannagi, the heroine of Silapathikaram challanged the Pandya King Nedunchezhian, is an interesting episode of the show. This is an interesting show that one should not miss.

Daily two shows are conducted one in English and another in Tamil for one hour.

By Air

Madurai has an Airport. The Tirumalai nayak palace is about 8 kms from the airport. There are daily flights to Chennai. Chennai is the closest international airport to Madurai. Nearest

By Rail

 Madurai. Madurai is an important railway junction of the Southern Railway and is directly connected to Chennai (Egmore station), Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Tirunelveli.

By Road

 There are several buses from Chennai, Thiruchanapalli, Coimbatore and Thirunelveli. There are also buses to neighbouring states of Kerala and Karnataka.

KUMBHA MELA AT UJJAIN

KUMBHA MELA

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UJJAIN

The Simhastha is special in Ujjain as it is the seat of divine Mahakal - the Lord of all times. The ritual of bathing in the holy waters of Kshipra begins on the full moon day of the Hindu month of Chaitra (March-April) and continues on various dates until the full moon shows up in the following month of Vaishakha.

Simhastha or Kumbh Mela is going to celebrate at Ujjain in the year 2016 spanning from 22nd of April to 21st of May. The ritual of Shahi Snan will be conducting on 22 April 2016, a day of full moon

Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimages of faith in which Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred river. It is the world's largest religious gathering. It is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation: Haridwar, Allahabad (Prayag), Nasik and Ujjain. Thus the Kumbh Mela is held at each of these four places every twelfth year.

Ardh ("Half") Kumbh Mela is held at only two places, Hardwar and Allahabad, every sixth year. The rivers at these four places are: the Ganges (Ganga) at Haridwar, the confluence (Sangam) of the Ganges and the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati at Allahabad, the Godawari at Ujjain, and the Shipra at Ujjain.

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    Kumbh means a pitcher and Mela means fair in Hindi. The pilgrimage is held for about one and a half months at each of these four places where it is believed in Hinduism that drops of nectar fell from the Kumbh carried by gods after the sea was churned. The festival is billed as the "world's largest congregation of religious pilgrims"

By Air

Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport in Indore caters to domestic flights and is well connected to Bhopal, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Visakhapatnam, Nagpur, Raipur and Srinagar. The airport is about 57 km away and there are many options like cabs, buses and private vehicles to reach the airport.

By Train

Ujjain railway station is just over one km from the city centre. It is connected to several cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. There are rickshaws, buses and taxis available to reach the city.

By Road

The developed roads of Ujjain smoothly connect many neighbouring places. Buses ply a regular services to the visitors and also affordable to ones pocket.

TIMIGS 

DATE	DAY	OCCASION
22 -04-2016	Friday	Shahi Snaan
03-05-2016	Tuesday	Kumbh Snan
06-05-2016	Friday	Kumbh Snan
09-05-2016	Monday	Kumbh Snan
11-05-2016	Wednesday	Kumbh Snan
15-05-2016	Sunday	Kumbh Snan
17-05-2016	Tuesday	Kumbh Snan
19-05-2016	Thursday	Kumbh Snan
20-05-2016	Friday	Kumbh Snan
21-05-2016	Saturday	Shahi Snan

PINK CITY

PINK CITY 

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JAIPUR

Jaipur is known as the Pink City and on arrival visitors will immediately understand the reasoning behind the name. Every building within the walled historic centre is painted a terracotta “pink” colour and there are few exceptions to this uniformly colour scheme.

The palace is located towards the northeast side of central Jaipur and has many courtyards and buildings. The palace was built between 1729 and 1732 AD by Sawai Jai Singh II. He ruled in Amer and planned and built the outer walls of the palace and later rulers added to the architecture of this palace.

Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II is known to have commissioned work for building the outer wall of the city's complex. He shifted from Amer to Jaipur due to water problems and an increase in population in 1727. He had entrusted the city's architectural design to the chief architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. The architect went on to design the City Palace in accordance with the Vaastushastra texts.

To experience the originality, to experience the traditional touch of the glorious past, your stop should be at old city, famously known as the Pink City, which is famous for magnificent palaces. The founder was Sawai Jai Singh II. To offer cordial welcome to Prince of Wales in 1876, the entire city was painted in pink color, which resembles hospitality. 

You cannot help marvel the architectural brain as the construction of the city was planned on providing excellent ventilation through out. You will love the exclusive artwork in the jewellery. You need to commence your Jaipur tour from Pink City, considered the first planned Indian city

The City Palace is a landmark in Jaipur and is also a very popular tourist hotspot. Apart from the regal architecture, the palace offers a stunning view of the Pink City and also an insight into the rich heritage of a bygone era. The City Palace is a must-see while sightseeing in Jaipur.

By Air

Jaipur also has daily domestic air links with many Indian cities such as Jodhpur, Udaipur, Aurangabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Goa, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Indore.

By Train

Indian Railways connects Jaipur from all over the country and is one of the cheapest options. A number of daily trains connect Jaipur to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Agra, Mumbai, Jodhpur, Kota, Alwar and Ajmer. Daily connections are also available for Udaipur, Chittaurgarh, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Kolkata, Jammu, Pathankot, Ludhiana, Kanpur, Roorkee, Haridwar, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur and Bhopal.

Long-distance trains arrive from many other major cities including Lucknow, Allahabad, Benaras, Vadodara, Surat, Nagpur, Bilaspur, Raipur, Patna, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Chennai, Bangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad, Goa, Mangalore, Kozhikode and Kochi.

By Bus

There is an excellent bus service between Jaipur to Delhi by Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) with buses approximately every half an hour both sides. From Delhi you can board the bus from Bikaner House on Pandara Road next to India Gate. From Jaipur you can board the bus from Narayan Singh Circle or the main Sindhi Camp bus stand. .

SALIM CHISTI

TOMB OF SHEIKH SALIM CHISTI

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FATEHPUR SIKRI

The Tomb of sheikh salim chisti is situated in Fatehpur sikri of North India. Now it is one of the main tourist attractions of India.

The beautiful square marble tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti is one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture in India. The mausoleum was built by Akbar as a mark of his respect and reverence for the saint and it was completed in the year 1580-81. Raised on about a meter high platform, there is flight of five steps to reach its entrance porch.

 Elegant marble screens enclose the main tomb building on all sides while the tomb is places in the centre of the main hall with a single semicircular dome. 

The tomb of Sheikh Salim Chisti is a white marble structure placed in the middle of a huge sandstone formation. Showcasing excellence in craftsmanship are the jali screens that are intricately carved out of marble. You will be amazed to see the spectacular serpentine brackets that are made to support the broad chajja on four sides. 

Every year, a number of women pray here for a child and tie a thread on thejali windows. When their wish is fulfilled, they come back to express their gratitude to the saint for granting their wish.

Air

 Agra's Kheria airport is situated 6km from the city centre. It is well connected with Delhi (204km-30 minutes flight) and major places in India. Flights are on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Rail

 Agra is a major railway Junction and has several railway stations and connects the city to major places in the north as well as the south. Agra Cantonment Railway station is the main terminal, located southwest of the city.

Road

 Agra is well linked by bus services to other places in the State as well as outside the state and national highways 2,3 and 11 pass through the city. The state transports have deluxe as well as ordinary buses to Delhi (every hour), Jaipur (every half an hour), Lucknow, Gwalior, Jhansi etc from Idgah bus station. For local travel, taxis, tempos, auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws are available. Bicycles can also be hired on hourly basis.

KALLALAGAR FESTIVAL

KALLALAGAR FESTIVAL

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MADURAI

Chithirai festival of this temple celebrated for ten days is one of the declared festivals of Tamilnadu Government. This festival day is declared as Local Holiday. In chithirai, Lord Kallalagar starts from Alagar kovil in the form of Kallar and reaches Madurai on Pournami (Full Moon day).

Here he steps into river Vaigai in his Horse Vaganam. Lakhs of devotees flock to river Vaigai to see this event. "Ethir Sevai" festival is celebrated on the day before Alagar steps into river Vaigai. It is a tradition for the people of Madurai to welcome Alagar.

As Alagar returns from Vandiyur Dhasavatharam festival is celebrated throughout the night at Ramarayar Mandapam in the Northern part of river Vaigai. After this event Alagar is taken to Mysore Veera Mandapam on decorated Anantharayar Palanquin.

The next morning Alagar in the form of Kallar returns to Alagar kovil in 'Poo Pallakku'(Palanquin decorated with flowers) During this festival, the processional idol of Alagar is taken to Madurai, halting at various places on the way.

 This festival attracts thousands of pilgrims and visitors from South India as well as from other parts of the country.A legend is popular how Alagar, the brother of Meenakshi was unable to attend her marriage in time and how he turned back from the banks of the Vaigai river.

 It is surprising what a strong visible influence this picturesque belief has been left in the environs of Madurai.

By Air
If you are traveling by air, it is very convenient to reach Madurai. The city is well connected to all the major cities of the nation. There are daily flights to Madurai from Chennai, Bangalore, Tiruchi and Coimbatore. Madurai Airport is just 10 km away from the city.

By Rail
Madurai falls on the Madurai-Tiruchirappalli-Dindigul-Quilon line. It is an important railway junction of the southern railway, directly connected to Chennai and Tirunelveli via railway lines. The fastest train on the route is the Vaigai Express, a super-fast day train between Chennai Egmore and Madurai. It just takes 7 hours to cover a distance of 495 km.

By Road
Madurai city is well connected to all the parts of South India. There is an excellent bus service at regular intervals, which facilitates comfortable journey. Madurai city has 5 major bus stands, from where you can get bus to most of the cities of Tamil Nadu as well as the neighboring states.