Samatva

The Joy of Himachal Temples

Himachal’s temples offer spirituality and more; they offer relative solitude, pleasant encounters with simple people and unparallelled joy.

The Joy of Himachal Temples is a visual celebration. The joy of the temples, the people, the landscape and the legends.

Samatva

Byte Sized Travel Stories

people, places and stories.

nothing else.

just the trivial things.......

that make travel interesting....

and memorable

Next series .... Not so common places

Surya, A Solstice Quiz

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Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.

The Sun and its cycle have been an important part of worship in India. On this day, this short quiz takes you through the famous Sun temples of India. Like the antiquity of Sun worship, the status of the temples also reflects the long history. Some have been destroyed, some, even with the destruction retain their glory. Some others still host Sun worship and some have left a lasting impression on local traditions.

Do take this quiz and see how many you can recognize.  Just seven questions each marking a day of the modern week.

The picture above is a Surya sculpture from the Guwahati museum, Assam.

Picture Credit: Ramanujam S. R

1 / 7

A famous medieval sun temple, in present day Pakistan, was among the first temples to be sacked by Arab invaders. It was destroyed by Muhammed bin Qasim who led the expedition to capture Sindh between 708-11 CE. In which city was it located?

2 / 7

One of the famous pilgrimage sites of India also was the location of 14 Sun temples. These were razed after 12th century but remnants of them still are worshipped. Which pilgrimage site is this?

3 / 7

The Hindi film Haidar had a song filmed at the ruins of a sun temple built by the great Kashmiri king Lalitaditya Mukatapida of the Karakota dynasty. He ruled in the first half of the 8th century CE. He is sometimes described as a world conqueror having defeated kings from Central Asia to Bengal and from Kanauj to the Deccan. What is name of this temple?

4 / 7

Suryanar Temple is a well known Surya temple. It is part of a unique group nine temples which are dedicated to the worship of Navagrahas or nine planets. In which Indian State is this located?

5 / 7

This unknown Sun Temple is in the Himalayas and is 1000 years old. Where is this Sun Temple?

6 / 7

The Konark sun temple is one of the most celebrated monuments of India. It is a UNESCO world heritage structure. The main structure (vimana) does not exist and only the assembly hall remains. That itself rivals any other monument in aesthetics. In traditional temple terminology, what is the assembly hall, the remaining structure, called?

7 / 7

This is perhaps the only ancient Sun temple, which though damaged, is more or less intact, along with a Surya Kund. Where is this Sun Temple?

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Renikaji Lake, Himachal Pradesh

Lake placid at Renukaji

Renukaji, Temples of Himachal …2.

Renukaji is one of the quietest lake fronts in India and on Christmas holiday in 2017, I could not spot more than a dozen overnighters. Strange, considering the reserve area is only three hours from Chandigarh.
Perhaps, because hotels are not allowed to set up shop, that makes the place less attractive, comfort wise. Hidden inside Sirmour district of Himachal, it remains aloof from the rest of the State in every aspect.

The birthplace of Parasurama, his mother is said to rise from the lake once a year, and a temple is dedicated to the same.

I reached Renukaji from Kalsi,a Buddhist edict and another interesting story, and travelled through roads that I would never be able to find again. I reached Renukaji only by evening. And while in the morning, the magical December mist had just begun to unfold, I had to leave.
Sometime again, Renukaji.

AskHow Rediscovery of India

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AskHow Rediscovery of India

It is the 75th year of independence. It is Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav. How well do you know your country? Over the last few years, we at AskHow have asked experts – what is one fact that you wished that more people knew. We have taken some of these contributions and have converted them into a quiz. See how well you do on these !

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The life expectancy at birth in India today is around 70 years. What do you think it was in the 1950s?

2 / 10

India is the seventh largest country by land mass. What is its rank when it comes to the amount of arable land?

3 / 10

What percentage of rural households do you think have regular wage earning as their major source of income?

4 / 10

What percentage of India’s youth do you think enrolls in a college?

5 / 10

How many promotions does a typical police constable get in his career?

6 / 10

What proportion of water is used by the Agriculture sector in India ?

7 / 10

What proportion of our Members of Parliament are graduates ?

8 / 10

In 2004-05, less than 40% of child births happened in an institution (hospital or similar). What would you guess is the figure now?

9 / 10

Haryana houses 2% of India’s population, but produces a higher share of athletes and sports persons. Players from Haryana contribute to what proportion of India’s medals in international events like Asian Games and Commonwealth Games?

10 / 10

The Louvre in Paris had over 10 million visitors in 2018. How many visitors did the Taj Mahal in Agra have in that year?

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