Everyday Reflections

There are many famous historical monuments around the world and name, we have some which stand out

• Petra | Jordan.
• Pyramids of Giza | Egypt.
• Taj Mahal, Agra | India.
• The Colosseum, Rome | Italy.
• The Great Wall of China | China.
• Machu Picchu | Peru.
• Parthenon, Acropolis | Greece.
• Khajuraho Temples, Madhya Pradesh | India.
• Borobudur Temple Compounds | Indonesia
• Tikal |Guatemala

It may not be possible to cover all of them but we will talk about some in this post.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is an Incan citadel set high in the Andes Mountains in Peru, above the Urubamba River valley. Built in the 15th century and later abandoned, it’s renowned for its sophisticated dry-stone walls that fuse huge blocks without the use of mortar.

Meaning

The term Machu Picchu means Old Mountain. The word Machu means Old Picchu can vary. It can be called chewed coca leaves or mountain.

Built

Historians believe Machu Picchu was built at the height of the Inca Empire, which dominated western South America in the 15th and 16th centuries. Built without the use of wheels, hundreds of men pushed the heavy rocks up the steep mountainside. Structures at Machu Picchu were built with a technique called “ldquo ashlar” Stones are cut to fit together without mortar. Most recent archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the “Lost City of the Incas”, it is the most familiar icon of the Inca civilization.

Facts

• Built with a technique called “ldquo ashlar”
• South America’s most famous ruins
• Built to provide shelter for the wealthy people of the Empire
• Made of granite, a high-density material in the area.
• Construction start approximately 1450-1460AD

Tikal Guatemala

Introduction

• Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world.
• Tikal is the ruin of an ancient city, likely to be known as Yax Mutal, found in the forests of Guatemala.
• It is located in the archaeological region of Peten Basin in what is known as northern Guatemala.
• Situated in the department of El Peten, the site is a part of Guatemala’s Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Monument and its meaning

• The structure was a funerary temple associated with Jasaw Chan K’awill, a classic period ruler of the polity based on Tikal, who ruled from 682AD-734.
• The tomb of the ruler has been located deep in the temple by archaeologists, the tomb was built first with the temple being raised over it.
• Jasaw Chan K’awiil probably planned the building of the temple before his death.
• The temple rises in nine stepped levels, which may be symbolic of the nine steps of the underworld.
• The temple has grooved moldings and inset corners.

Built

• Though Tikal may have been settled by at least 600 BC, most of the city edifices were built during what was called the Classic period of Maya history, from AD 250 to 900.
• It was the time when the Maya created great artwork and amazing artwork across the region.
• Between 200 BC to 200 AD, Maya architects across the northern Peten designed short, broad temples with flanked staircases by enormous stucco masks.
• Plaster made up of burned and powdered limestone, was built around stone armatures into elaborate deity faces.
• Temple E-vii-sub, a pyramid with four stairways at Uaxactun, a smaller site near Tikal, had such stucco masks flanking the stairs.

Current State

• Tikal now is a major tourist attraction surrounded by its national park.
• A site museum has been around Tikal; it was completed in 1964.
• Tilak is located in northern Guatemala’s Peten province within a large forest region often referred to as the Maya forest, which extends into neighboring Mexico and Belize.

Kailashanatha

Introduction

• Kailashanatha temple is one of the largest rock-cut Hindu temples. It is situated in Ellora Caves, Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, India.
• The Megalith is the biggest cave temple in India. It is dedicated to Ghrishneshwar (Shiva).
• The megalith has been cut into the face of a rock cliff. It is the “climax of the rock-cut phase of Indian architecture.”

History

Kailasa temple lacks a dedicatory inscription, but there is no doubt that it was commissioned by a Rashtrakuta ruler. Its construction is generally attributed to the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I (r. 756-773 CE), based on two epigraphs that link the temple to “Krishnaraja”. The Vadodara copper-plate inscription (c. 812-813 CE) of Karkaraja II (a ruler of a Rashtrakuta branch of Gujarat) records the grant of a village in present-day Gujarat. It mentions Krishnaraja as the patron of Kailashanatha and also mentions a Shiva temple at Elapura (Ellora). It states that the king constructed a temple so wondrous that even the gods and the architect were astonished. Most scholars believe that this is a reference to the Kailasa Shiva temple at Elora. The Kadaba grant of Govinda Prabhutavarsha similarly appears to credit Krishnaraja with the construction of the temple. However, the attribution of the temple to Krishna I is not completely certain because these epigraphs are not physically connected to the caves, and do not date Krishnaraja’s reign. Moreover, the land grants issued by Krishna’s successors do not contain any references to the Kailasa temple.