1.
Museum
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Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities, towns and even the countryside. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public, the goal of serving researchers is increasingly shifting to serving the general public. There are many types of museums, including art museums, natural history museums, science museums, war museums, the city with the largest number of museums is Mexico City with over 128 museums. According to The World Museum Community, there are more than 55,000 museums in 202 countries, the English museum comes from the Latin word, and is pluralized as museums. The first museum/library is considered to be the one of Plato in Athens, however, Pausanias gives another place called Museum, namely a small hill in Classical Athens opposite to the Akropolis. The hill was called Mouseion after Mousaious, a man who used to sing on the hill, the purpose of modern museums is to collect, preserve, interpret, and display items of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the education of the public. The purpose can also depend on ones point of view, to a family looking for entertainment on a Sunday afternoon, a trip to a local history museum or large city art museum could be a fun, and enlightening way to spend the day. To city leaders, a healthy museum community can be seen as a gauge of the health of a city. To a museum professional, a museum might be seen as a way to educate the public about the museums mission, Museums are, above all, storehouses of knowledge. In 1829, James Smithsons bequest, that would fund the Smithsonian Institution, stated he wanted to establish an institution for the increase, Museums of natural history in the late 19th century exemplified the Victorian desire for consumption and for order. Gathering all examples of classification of a field of knowledge for research. As American colleges grew in the 19th century, they developed their own natural history collections for the use of their students, while many large museums, such as the Smithsonian Institution, are still respected as research centers, research is no longer a main purpose of most museums. While there is a debate about the purposes of interpretation of a museums collection, there has been a consistent mission to protect. Much care, expertise, and expense is invested in efforts to retard decomposition in aging documents, artifacts, artworks. All museums display objects that are important to a culture, as historian Steven Conn writes, To see the thing itself, with ones own eyes and in a public place, surrounded by other people having some version of the same experience can be enchanting. Museum purposes vary from institution to institution, some favor education over conservation, or vice versa. For example, in the 1970s, the Canada Science and Technology Museum favored education over preservation of their objects and they displayed objects as well as their functions. One exhibit featured a printing press that a staff member used for visitors to create museum memorabilia
2.
New Delhi
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New Delhi is the capital of India and one of Delhi citys 11 districts. The National Capital Region is a larger entity comprising the entire National Capital Territory along with adjoining districts. The foundation stone of the city was laid by George V and it was designed by British architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker. The new capital was inaugurated on 13 February 1931, by Viceroy, New Delhi has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Prime Minister of India Narendra Modis flagship Smart Cities Mission. Calcutta was the capital of India during the British Raj until December 1911, Delhi had served as the political and financial centre of several empires of ancient India and the Delhi Sultanate, most notably of the Mughal Empire from 1649 to 1857. During the early 1900s, a proposal was made to the British administration to shift the capital of the British Indian Empire, as India was officially named, from Calcutta on the east coast, to Delhi. The Government of British India felt that it would be easier to administer India from Delhi in the centre of northern India. The land for building the new city of Delhi was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1894. The foundation stone of New Delhi was laid by King George V and Queen Mary at the site of Delhi Durbar of 1911 at Kingsway Camp on 15 December 1911, during their imperial visit. Large parts of New Delhi were planned by Edwin Lutyens, who first visited Delhi in 1912, the contract was given to Sobha Singh. The original plan called for its construction in Tughlaqabad, inside the Tughlaqabad fort, construction really began after World War I and was completed by 1931. The city that was later dubbed Lutyens Delhi was inaugurated in ceremonies beginning on 10 February 1931 by Lord Irwin, Lutyens designed the central administrative area of the city as a testament to Britains imperial aspirations. Soon Lutyens started considering other places, however, it was rejected by the Viceroy when the cost of acquiring the necessary properties was found to be too high. The central axis of New Delhi, which faces east at India Gate, was previously meant to be a north-south axis linking the Viceroys House at one end with Paharganj at the other. During the projects early years, many believed it was a gate from Earth to Heaven itself. Eventually, owing to space constraints and the presence of a number of heritage sites in the North side. A site atop the Raisina Hill, formerly Raisina Village, a Meo village, was chosen for the Rashtrapati Bhawan, then known as the Viceroys House. The reason for this choice was that the hill lay directly opposite the Dinapanah citadel, which was considered the site of Indraprastha
3.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
4.
V. V. Giri
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Varahagiri Venkata Giri pronunciation, commonly known as V. V. Giri, was the fourth President of the Republic of India from 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974. As President, Giri subordinated the office of the President to the Prime Minister, Giri was succeeded by Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed as President in 1974. After the end of his term, Giri was honoured with the Bharat Ratna, Giri was born in Berhampur in the Ganjam district of Odisha, into a Telugu Brahmin family. His father, V. V. Jogayya Pantulu, was a successful lawyer, Giri was married to Saraswati Bai and the couple had 14 children. Giri completed his education at the Khallikote College in Berhampur. In 1913 he went to Ireland to study law which he did at University College Dublin, Giri was one among the first crop of thirteen Indian students who sat the obligatory year long course at UCD in 1914-15. This was a requirement for being called to the Irish Bar through study at the Kings Inns, in total,50 Indian students studied at UCD between 1914 and 1917. Giri and a law student also enrolled to study on the full bachelor of arts course in UCD. Giri studied English, where he was lectured by Thomas MacDonagh and his lecturer in political economy was the reformer and co-operativist Thomas A. Finlay SJ. During the First World War, Giri travelled from Dublin to London, Gandhi wanted for Giri to join the Imperial war effort as a Red Cross Volunteer. Giri initially acceded to Gandhis request but later regretted his decision. According to one of Giris biographers, Gandhiji with his characteristic magnanimity relieved Giri of the obligation to join the Red Cross, along with fellow Indian students he produced a pamphlet documenting the abuse of Indians in South Africa. The pamphlet was intercepted by Indian Political Intelligence and resulted in increased police scrutiny of Giri, meanwhile, anonymous articles were written by Indian students for the newspaper of the Irish Volunteers and in The National Student, a UCD student magazine. He was suspected of association with prominent ring leaders in the 1916 Rising including James Connolly, PH Pearse, Giri was called to the Irish Bar on 21 June 1916 but he did not complete his studies for BA in UCD. Indian students were subjected to police following the 1916 Rising. Upon returning to India in 1916 Giri enrolled at the Madras High Court and he also became a member of the Congress party, attended its Lucknow session and joined the Home Rule Movement of Annie Beasant. Giri abandoned a legal career in response to Mahatma Gandhis call for a Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920. In 1922, he was arrested for the first time for demonstrating against the sale of liquor shops, Giri was closely associated with the labour and trade union movement in India throughout his career
5.
Patiala State Monorail Trainways
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Patiala State Monorail Trainways was a unique rail-guided, partially road-borne railways system running in Patiala from 1907 to 1927. PSMT was the second system in India, after the Kundala Valley Railway. The Kundala Valley Railway pre-dated this, also using the Ewing system between 1902 and 1908, although only used bullocks for haulage. Following the conversion of the Kundala Valley Railway from a monorail to a gauge railway in 1908. These were the instances of a monorail train system in India. A locomotive and a coach of PSMT have been restored, are in running condition and are exhibited in the Indian National Rail Museum, maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh of Patiala got this unique railway system constructed to facilitate movement of people and goods in his state. The chief engineer of this project was Colonel C. W. Bowles, maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh made him chief Engineer for the PSMT project. One of the objects of PSMT was to use of the 560 mules being maintained by Patiala State. Apart from mules, bullocks were also used to haul the monorail before introduction of locomotives on the route of PSMT. The only published information about PSMT was in a 1908 edition of Imperial Gazetteer of India in which there was a brief mention, the gazetteer simply stated that a mono-rail tramway, opened in February,1907, connects Basi with the railway at Sirhind. An ordnance map of 1913 also shows a tramway running along west side of road, apart from the above, PSMT has not been mentioned in any official documents of that period in India. The railways based on the Ewing System are basically monorails using a wheel for balancing the train. The main load is borne by the rail while the rest is borne by the balancing wheel which runs on the ground. Further, in train systems, the rails have to be at almost exact level of other rail. By using Ewing system, this problem is solved as the wheel does not need exact level to maintain the balance of monorail. In addition the cost of laying tracks also goes down considerably since only one rail is used, another benefit of using Ewing System was that the balancing wheel could run on existing tarred roads as well as the macadam roads thus further reducing cost to lay down tracks. Using one rail also means that the circle is far less than the standard trains. PSMT had to pass through very congested areas
6.
Ewing System
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The Ewing System is a balancing monorail system developed in the late 19th century by British inventor W. J. Ewing. It is not to be confused with the later system patented by Robert W. Ewing. In the Ewing System the main wheels of the run on a single steel rail. The system had been proposed in 1868 by William Thorold, an engineer from Norwich. The major benefit of trains is that they run on steel tracks, steel rail can carry more load with less rolling friction than any other mode of ground transport. However there are several disadvantages of laying railway tracks consisting of two rails, Both rails have to rise and fall and bank together. Laying two rails requires a lot of space and maintenance, the turning radius of the train is restricted by the difference in length or distance traveled between the inside and outside rails due to curve resistance. Curve resistance means that the wheels on the rail travel a shorter distance than the wheels on the outside rail to get the vehicle around a curve. The trains can turn to the limit where its outer wheels can cope with the additional required speed. If the outer wheels fail to maintain or reach the required speed, W. J. Ewing implemented a monorail system, with only one rail and double flanged rail wheels, that had been proposed by William Thorold in a lecture to the British Association in 1868. This system avoided all those problems, since it was laid out along the side of a road, further, the road or balance wheels main purpose was to balance the train and to keep it upright. The balancing wheel on the road carried only 4% or 5% of the load, as the track was on side of the road, it was no obstacle to vehicles crossing it. Further, since it was a monorail with a wheel on the ground. The Ewing system was used in Patiala State Monorail Trainways, the Patiala monorail is preserved in National Rail Museum at New Delhi. It is still in running condition and it was also used on Kundala Valley Railway from 1902 to 1908
7.
Orenstein & Koppel
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Orenstein & Koppel was a major German engineering company specialising in railway vehicles, escalators, and heavy equipment. It was founded on April 1,1876 in Berlin by Benno Orenstein, originally a general engineering company, O&K soon started to specialise in the manufacture of railway vehicles. The company also manufactured heavy equipment and escalators, O&K pulled out of the railway business in 1981. The construction-equipment business was sold to New Holland Construction, at the part of the Fiat Group. The Orenstein & Koppel Company was a firm that first entered the railway-construction field, building locomotives. O&K supplied all manner of equipment to the Army. Because of strained capacity at the Schlachtensee shops, work transferred in 1899 to a site in Nowawes, later Babelsberg, around 1908, O&K acquired the firm of Gerlach and König in Nordhausen, building petrol and diesel locomotives there under the trade mark Montania. O&K expanded to freight and passenger cars, and above all. The company also built other heavy equipment, including graders, dump trucks, forklift trucks, compressors, crawler loaders, wheeled loaders, road rollers, the company also began manufacturing escalators, transmissions, rapid-transit railway lines, buses, tractors, and cargo ships. Passenger liners, shipboard cranes, and shipbuilding enterprises rounded out the companys profile, because of the companys thriving export business, a worldwide system of branch offices was created. In the early years of the 20th century, O&K built bucket chain trenchers, at first from wood and these were propelled by steam or oil engines. O&K also made railway trenchers for work in heavy soils, in the First World War, O&K built railway engines and cars of all sizes for the German government. The treaty also removed access to markets, at the end of 1925. By 1935, business had recovered and the company produced 5,299 locomotives, besides the Feldbahn contacts, the company produced Series 50 steam locomotives and standard rail gauge vehicles in the 1930s. The company produced locomotives, and Series 44 and Series 50 steam engines, for the national railway company. In 1922, they manufactured their first continuous-track steam shovel, in 1926, diesel engines replaced steam engines, the company converted earlier steam units to diesel power as the need arose. O&K merged with a builder, selling the engines under the O&K banner. At the Spandau factory, O&K built cable-operated excavators and bucket-wheel excavators for use in the coal mines of eastern Germany
8.
Salford, Greater Manchester
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Salford is a town lying at the heart of the City of Salford, a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. Salford is sited in a meander of the River Irwell, which forms in part its boundary with the city of Manchester to the east, the Salford wards of Broughton and Kersal are on the other side of the river. Together with its towns to the west, Salford forms the local government district of the City of Salford. The wider City of Salford district has a population of 219,200, historically in Lancashire, Salfords early history is marked by its status as a Royal caput and the judicial seat of the ancient hundred of Salfordshire, to which it lent its name. It was granted a charter by Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, in about 1230, Salford became a major factory town and inland port during the 18th and 19th centuries. Cotton and silk spinning and weaving in local mills attracted an influx of families, Salford Docks was a principal dockyard of the Manchester Ship Canal. By the end of the 19th century Salford had a working class community. Industrial activities declined during the 20th century however, causing an economic depression. Salford subsequently became one of contrasts, with regenerated inner-city areas like Salford Quays next to some of the most socially deprived, Salfords MediaCityUK became the headquarters of CBBC and BBC Sport in 2011. The name of Salford derives from the Old English word Sealhford and it referred to the willows or sallows that grew alongside the banks of the River Irwell. The ford was about where Victoria Bridge is today, willow trees are still found in Lower Broughton. Salford appears in the roll of 1169 as Sauford and in the Lancashire Inquisitions of 1226 as Sainford. The raw material for tools was scarce and unsuitable for working. The Brigantes were the major Celtic tribe in what is now Northern England, following the Roman conquest of Britain, General Agricola ordered the construction of a Roman fort named Mamucium to protect the routes to Deva Victrix and Eboracum from the Brigantes. The fort was completed in AD79, and for over 300 years the Pax Romana brought peace to the area. Both the main Roman road to the north, from Mamucium to Ribchester, and a road to the west, ran through what is now Salford. The withdrawal of the Romans in AD410 left the inhabitants at the mercy of the Saxons, the Danes later conquered the area and absorbed what was left of the Brigantes. Angles settled in the region during the Early Middle Ages and gave the locality the name Sealhford, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Sealhford was part of the Kingdom of Northumbria until it was conquered in 923 by Edward the Elder
9.
Lancashire
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Lancashire is a non-metropolitan ceremonial county in north west England. The county town is Lancaster although the administrative centre is Preston. The county has a population of 1,449,300, people from Lancashire are known as Lancastrians. The history of Lancashire begins with its founding in the 12th century, in the Domesday Book of 1086, some of its lands were treated as part of Yorkshire. The land that lay between the Ribble and Mersey, Inter Ripam et Mersam, was included in the returns for Cheshire, when its boundaries were established, it bordered Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire, and Cheshire. Lancashire emerged as a commercial and industrial region during the Industrial Revolution. Liverpool and Manchester grew into its largest cities, dominating global trade, the county contained several mill towns and the collieries of the Lancashire Coalfield. By the 1830s, approximately 85% of all cotton manufactured worldwide was processed in Lancashire, Accrington, Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Bury, Chorley, Colne, Darwen, Manchester, Nelson, Oldham, Preston, Rochdale and Wigan were major cotton mill towns during this time. Blackpool was a centre for tourism for the inhabitants of Lancashires mill towns, the detached northern part of Lancashire in the Lake District, including the Furness Peninsula and Cartmel, was merged with Cumberland and Westmorland to form Cumbria. Lancashire lost 709 square miles of land to other counties, about two fifths of its area, although it did gain some land from the West Riding of Yorkshire. Today the county borders Cumbria to the north, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south and North and West Yorkshire to the east, with a coastline on the Irish Sea to the west. The county palatine boundaries remain the same with the Duke of Lancaster exercising sovereignty rights, including the appointment of lords lieutenant in Greater Manchester, the county was established in 1182, later than many other counties. During Roman times the area was part of the Brigantes tribal area in the zone of Roman Britain. The towns of Manchester, Lancaster, Ribchester, Burrow, Elslack, in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal in 410AD the northern parts of the county probably formed part of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a successor entity to the Brigantes tribe. During the mid-8th century, the area was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, in the Domesday Book, land between the Ribble and Mersey were known as Inter Ripam et Mersam and included in the returns for Cheshire. Although some historians consider this to mean south Lancashire was then part of Cheshire and it is also claimed that the territory to the north formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It bordered on Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire, and Cheshire, the county was divided into hundreds, Amounderness, Blackburn, Leyland, Lonsdale, Salford and West Derby. Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, the part north of the sands of Morecambe Bay including Furness and Cartmel
10.
Prince of Wales
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Charles, Prince of Wales is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Known alternatively in South West England as Duke of Cornwall and in Scotland as Duke of Rothesay, he is the heir apparent in British history. He is also the oldest person to be next in line to the throne since Sophia of Hanover, Charles was born at Buckingham Palace as the first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. After earning a bachelor of degree from Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer and they had two sons, Prince William later to become Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, in 1996, the couple divorced, following well-publicised extramarital affairs. Diana died in a car crash in Paris the following year, in 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles has sought to raise awareness of the dangers facing the natural environment. As an environmentalist, he has received awards and recognition from environmental groups around the world. His support for alternative medicine, including homeopathy, has been criticised by some in the medical community and he has been outspoken on the role of architecture in society and the conservation of historic buildings. Subsequently, Charles created Poundbury, a new town based on his theories. He has authored a number of books, including A Vision of Britain, A Personal View of Architecture in 1989 and he was baptised in the palaces Music Room by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, on 15 December 1948. When Prince Charles was aged three his mothers accession as Queen Elizabeth II made him her heir apparent. As the monarchs eldest son, he took the titles Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince. Charles attended his mothers coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, seated alongside his grandmother, as was customary for upper-class children at the time, a governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed and undertook his education between the ages of five and eight. Buckingham Palace announced in 1955 that Charles would attend school rather than have a private tutor, Charles then attended two of his fathers former schools, Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, England, followed by Gordonstoun in the north-east of Scotland. He reportedly despised the school, which he described as Colditz in kilts. Upon his return to Gordonstoun, Charles emulated his father in becoming Head Boy and he left in 1967, with six GCE O-levels and two A-levels in history and French, at grades B and C, respectively. Tradition was broken again when Charles proceeded straight from school into university
11.
Edward VII
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Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, before his accession to the throne, he served as heir apparent and held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long reign of his mother, he was excluded from political power. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and the Indian subcontinent in 1875 were popular successes, as king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War. He reinstituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised and he died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. Edward was born at 10,48 in the morning on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace and he was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle and he was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the family throughout his life. As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall, as a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841, Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850, a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867. In 1863, he renounced his rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on an educational programme devised by Prince Albert. Unlike his elder sister Victoria, Edward did not excel in his studies and he tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent, after the completion of his secondary-level studies, his tutor was replaced by a personal governor, Robert Bruce. After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, he spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, among others, in October, he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. Now released from the strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time
12.
Holkar
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The Holkar dynasty was a Hindu Maratha royal house in India. The Holkars ruled as Maratha Rajas, and later as Maharajas of Indore in Central India as an independent member of the Maratha Empire until 1818, later, their kingdom became a princely state under the protectorate of British India. The dynasty was founded with Malhar Rao, who joined the service of the Peshwas of the Maratha Empire in 1721, the name of the dynasty was associated with the title of the ruler, who was known informally as Holkar Maharaja. The Holkars claim descent from the family of Udaipur. The sun in their emblem asserts their Suryavanshi lineage, Malhar Rao Holkar, a Maratha chief serving Peshwa Baji Rao, established the dynastys rule over Indore. In the 1720s, he led Maratha armies in Malwa region, in 1734, Malhar Rao established a camp later called Malharganj. In 1747, he started the construction of his royal palace, by the time of his death, he ruled much of Malwa, and was acknowledged as one of the five virtually independent rulers of the Maratha Confederacy. He was succeeded by Ahilyabai Holkar, his daughter-in-law and she was born in the Chaundi village in Maharashtra. She moved the capital to Maheshwar, south of Indore on the Narmada River, Rani Ahilyabai was a prolific builder and patron of Hindu temples in Maheshwar and Indore. She also built temples at sacred sites outside her kingdom, from Dwarka in Gujarat east to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Varanasi on the Ganges, the adopted son of Malhar Rao Haolkar, Tukoji Rao Holkar briefly succeeded Rani Ahilyabai upon her death. Tukoji Rao had been a commander under Ahilyabai for her entire rule and his son Yashwantrao Holkar succeeded him upon his death. He tried to free the Delhi Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II from the British in the unsuccessful Second Anglo-Maratha War, the grateful Shah Alam gave him the title of Maharajadiraj Rajrajeshwar Alija Bahadur in honor of his bravery. Attempts by Yashwantrao Holkar to unite the kings failed, and he was approached to sign a treaty with the British. The Treaty of Rajghat, signed late December 1805, recognised him as a king and returned all his territories, including Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota, Bundi. In 1811, the four-year-old Maharaja Malharrao Holkar II succeeded Yashwantrao Holkar and his mother, Maharani Tulsabai Holkar, looked after the administration. However, with the help of Pathans, Pindaris, and the British, Dharama Kunwar and Balaram Seth plotted to imprison Tulsabai, when Tulsabai learnt about this, she beheaded both of them in 1815 and appointed Tantia Jog. As a result, Gaffur Khan Pindari secretly signed a treaty with the British on 9 November 1817, the treaty was signed on 6 January 1818 at Mandsaur. Bhimabai Holkar did not accept the treaty, and kept attacking the British by guerilla methods, Rani Lakshmibai of Jhanshi took inspiration from Bhimabai Holkar and also fought against the British
13.
Indore
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Indore /ɪnˈdɔər/, is the largest and most populous city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division, Indore was described by the Economic Times as the commercial capital of the state. It is also considered as a hub of the state. With a census-estimated 2011 population of 1,994,397 and 2,170,295, the city is distributed over a land area of just 530 square kilometers making Indore the most densely populated major city in the central province. It comes under Tier 2 cities in India, Indore traces its roots to its 16th century founding as a trading hub between the Deccan and Delhi. The city and its surroundings came under Hindu Maratha Empire on 18 May 1724 after Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I assumed the control of Malwa. During the days of the British Raj, Indore State was a 19 Gun Salute princely state ruled by the Maratha Holkar dynasty, Indore served as the capital of the Madhya Bharat from 1950 until 1956. Indores financial district, anchored by central Indore, functions as the capital of the Madhya Pradesh and is home to the Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange. It has also qualified the first round of Smart Cities Mission and has selected as one of the first twenty cities to be developed as Smart Cities. By 1720, the headquarters of the local pargana were transferred from Kampel to Indore, on 18 May 1724, the Nizam accepted the rights of the Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I to collect chauth from the area. In 1733, the Peshwa assumed the control of Malwa. Nandlal Chaudhary accepted the suzerainty of the Marathas, on 29 July 1732, Bajirao Peshwa-I granted Holkar State by merging 28 and half parganas to Malhar Rao Holkar, the founder ruler of Holkar dynasty. His daughter-in-law Ahilyabai Holkar moved the capital to Maheshwar in 1767. In 1818, the Holkars were defeated by the British during the Third Anglo-Maratha War, a residency with British resident was established at Indore, but Holkars continued to rule Indore State as a princely state mainly due to efforts of their Dewan Tatya Jog. During that time, Indore was established the headquarters of British Central Agency, Ujjain was originally the commercial centre of Malwa. But the British administrators such as John Malcolm decided to promote Indore as an alternative to Ujjain, because the merchants of Ujjain had supported anti-British elements. In 1906 electric supply was started in the city, fire brigade was established in 1909 and in 1918, first master-plan of city was made by noted architect and town planner, Patrick Geddes. During the period of Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar II efforts were made for the planned development, with the introduction of Railways in 1875, the business in Indore flourished till the reign of Maharaja Shivaji Rao Holkar, Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar III and Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar
14.
Leslie Orme Wilson
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Sir Leslie Orme Wilson, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, DSO, PC was a Royal Marines officer, Conservative politician, and colonial governor. He served as Governor of Bombay from 1923 to 1926 and as Governor of Queensland from 1932 to 1946. Wilson was the son of Henry Wilson, a stockbroker, and his wife Ada Alexandrina, and was educated at St Michaels School, Westgate, Wilson married Winifred May, daughter of Charles Smith, of Sydney, Australia, in 1909. They lived at the Manor House at Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire, on his retirement as Governor of Queensland, Leslie Wilson and his wife Winifred returned to live in Surrey, England. However, they visited Queensland on a number of occasions, including the marriage of their son Peter and he died after being hit by a truck while walking in September 1955, aged 79. In 1901 he achieved the rank of captain, from 1903 to 1909, he served as aide-de-camp to the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Harry Rawson. On 2 December 1915, he was carrying dispatches on the Greek ship Spetzia when officers from a German submarine boarded the ship and captured him and another officer, in January 1910, at the General Election, he unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative candidate for Poplar. In December 1910, he was Unionist candidate for Reading, but was defeated by the sitting Liberal candidate, Sir Rufus Isaacs, in 1913 Wilson was returned to Parliament for Reading, a seat he held until 1922. He was also the Conservative Chief Whip, at the general election he abandoned his Reading constituency to contest the Westminster St. Georges division, but was defeated by an Independent Conservative. However within a few weeks he was re-elected at a by-election at Portsmouth South and he was again Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from 1922 to 1923 under Andrew Bonar Law and later Stanley Baldwin, and was admitted to the Privy Council in 1922. In July 1923 he resigned from position and his seat in the House of Commons on his appointment as Governor of Bombay. Wilson remained in Bombay until 1928, in 1932 Leslie Wilson was made Governor of Queensland, a post he held until 1946, one of the longest gubernatorial tenures in British history. On 13 May 1937, he planted a small bunya tree on North Quay, Leslie Wilson retired at the end of his service as Governor of Queensland. He was initiated into the craft in the Lodge Ionic No,65, in Sydney, while serving as an aide-de-camp to Harry Rawson. When he returned to England, in 1909, he became a member of Navy Lodge No.2612 and he became Senior Warden of the Lodge in 1913 and Worshipful Master in 1917. In 1922 he was appointed Junior Grand Warden of the United Grand Lodge of England, when he was appointed Governor of Queensland, he became Grand Master of Queenslands Grand Lodge serving for 12 years
15.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station
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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, is a historic railway station and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India which serves as the headquarters of the Central Railways. The stations name was changed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in March 1996, Bori Bunder was one of the areas along the Eastern shore line of Mumbai, India which was used as a storehouse for goods imported and exported from Mumbai. In the areas name, Bori means sack and Bandar means port or haven, in the 1850s, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway built its railway terminus in this area and the station took its name as Bori Bunder. The train between Bori Bunder and Thane took 57 minutes at a distance of 35 km apart, the station was designed by the consulting British architect Frederick William Stevens. He received ₹1,614,000 as the payment for his services, Stevens earned the commission to construct the station after a masterpiece watercolour sketch by draughtsman Axel Haig. The final design bears resemblance to St Pancras railway station in London. GG Scotts plans for Berlins parliament building had been published four years before, crawford market is also located near CSTM. The station took ten years to complete, the longest for any building of that era in Bombay and this famous architectural landmark in a Gothic-revival style was built as the headquarters of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. Since then, the station came to be known as Bombay VT, the original platforms were from 1–9. The original building is still in use to handle traffic and is used by over three million commuters daily. It is also the headquarters of the Central Railway. In 1996, the Minister of Railways, Suresh Kalmadi, changed the name of the station to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in honour of Great King Chhatrapati Shivaji, on 26 November 2008, two terrorists entered the passenger hall of the CST, opened fire and threw grenades at people. The terrorists were armed with AK-47 rifles, One of the terrorists, Ajmal Kasab, was later caught alive by the police and identified by eyewitnesses. This despite the fact that Central Railway RPF Hq being located near Platform 13 overlooking the central passenger hall. The CCTV captured the attack but was not completely made public to hide Railway police inaction. The CCTV evidence was used to identify and indict Kasab, in 2010, Kasab was sentenced to death for his role in the attack, and in 2012 he was hanged. The station building is designed in the High Victorian Gothic style of architecture, the building exhibits a fusion of influences from Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and classical Indian architecture. The skyline, turrets, pointed arches, and eccentric ground plan are close to classical Indian palace architecture, the station stands as an example of 19th century railway architectural marvels for its advanced structural and technical solutions. The CST was constructed using high level of engineering both in terms of engineering and civil engineering
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Railbus
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Railbuses designed for use specifically on little-used railway lines were commonly employed in countries such as Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Sweden. Today railbuses are being replaced by modern light DMU railcar designs, british Rail produced a variety of railbuses as a means both of building new rolling stock cheaply, and to provide services on lightly used lines economically. A variety of known as Pacers, which were constructed in the 1980s, are still in common use today. The Great Northern Railway of Ireland produced railbuses at the Railway Works in Dundalk and these were followed after the Second World War by the eventually ubiquitous Uerdingen railbuses which generally ran in pairs and were a predecessor of the modern diesel multiple units. A number of accidents in Germany in the late 1970s involving Schienenbus resulted in the development and specification of larger. The DB Class 628 series exemplifies the contemporary German diesel railcar and this type of car replaced the Schienenbus and locomotive-hauled train consists where possible on branch-line and main-line assignments during the 1980s and 1990s. The Schienenbus has virtually disappeared from regular service, but its rail diesel car successors are prevalent. A new-generation DMUs third in succession after the Schienenbus, are now being ordered by the hundreds by its diversity and the variety of modular design combinations. In 1937 the NSW Department of Railways added six four-wheel streamlined rail buses to serve on branch lines in Cowra. Powered by a Ford V8 engine, they were given the designation FP1 to FP6, when the railbus service wasnt popular, several of the buses became mobile pay cars used to pay railway employees at stations and working on tracks. In December 1941 one of these railbuses was destroyed when dynamite was placed on tracks near Yanderra. The three-man crew of the railbus were killed in the explosion, though £2000 of loose cash was taken, the safe in the railcar could not be opened by the robbers. No one was prosecuted for the offence, the first railbus, FP1 has been restored where it is on display at New South Wales Rail Transport Museum in Thirlmere, New South Wales. Locally manufactured TecnoTren railbuses are in use around Argentina, most notably on the University train of La Plata and they are mostly used in rural parts of the country where the tracks have not yet been repaired and thus cant handle the weight of regular trains. In Queensland, Australia, RailBus service refers to the bus service running parallel to portions of railway lines. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, railbuses are used on less frequented rural lines, most railbuses are based on a former ČSD M152.0 diesel multiple unit, also known as ČD/ŽSR Class 810. Indian Railways operate many Railbuses and amongst it, one runs from Kolar to Bangarpet, a railbus plies between Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh. Another from kakinada to kotipalli in andhra pradesh, on August 5,2012 the first Batara Kresna Railbus service in Indonesia is launched to accommodate a part of commuter Prameks Train passengers from Solo to Yogyakarta City v. v through Sukoharjo
17.
Ooty
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Udhagamandalam and abbreviated as Udhagai and Ooty is a town and municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located 80 km north of Coimbatore and is the capital of the Nilgiris district and it is a popular hill station located in the Nilgiri Hills. Originally occupied by the Toda, the area came under the rule of the East India Company at the end of the 18th century, the economy is based on tourism and agriculture, along with the manufacture of medicines and photographic film. The town is connected by the Nilgiri ghat roads and Nilgiri Mountain Railway and its natural beauty attracts tourists and it is a popular summer destination. As of 2011, the town had a population of 88,430, the origin of the name Udhagamandalam is obscure. The first known mention of the place is given as Wotokymund in a letter of March 1821 to the Madras Gazette from an unknown correspondent. In early times it was called OttakalMandu, Mund is the Anglicised form of the Toda word for a village Mandu. The first part of the name is probably a corruption of the name for the central region of the Nilgiri Plateau. The stem of the name comes from the language in which Otha-Cal literally means Single Stone. This is perhaps a reference to a sacred stone revered by the local Toda people, the name probably changed under British rule from Udhagamandalam to Ootacamund, and later was shortened to Ooty. Ooty is situated in the Nilgiri hills, because of the beautiful mountains and green valleys, Ooty became known as the Queen of Hill Stations. Udhagamandalam was originally a land occupied by the Toda along with other hill tribes who coexisted through specialisation. The major tribes of Nilgiris area are the Toda, Kota, Irula, the Toda in the Nilgiris are first referenced in a record belonging to Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana and his general Punisa, dated 1117 CE. The Toda people were known for raising water buffalo, the Tamil and Badaga people known for farming activities. Nilgiris was ruled by various dynasties like Satavahanas, Cheras, Gangas, Kadambas, Rashtrakutas, Cholas, Hoysalas, the Vijayanagara empire, Tipu Sultan captured Nilgiris in the eighteenth century and extended the border by constructing a hideout cave like structure. The Nilgiris came into possession of British East India Company as part of the lands, held by Tipu Sultan. Whish and N. W. Kindersley, assistants to John Sullivan, then Collector of Coimbatore, visited Ooty, Sullivan camped at Dimbhatti, north of Kotagiri in January 1819 and was enthralled by the beauty of the place. It resembles Switzerland, more than any country of Europe, the hills beautifully wooded and fine strong spring with running water in every valley
18.
Rajkot
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Rajkot is the fourth-largest city in the state of Gujarat, India, after Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. Rajkot is the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Rajkot is the 35th-largest urban agglomeration in India, with a population more than 1.2 million as of 2015. Rajkot is the seventh-cleanest city of India, and is the 22nd-fastest-growing city in the world, the city contains the administrative headquarters of the Rajkot District,245 km from the state capital Gandhinagar, and is located on the banks of the Aji and Nyari rivers. Rajkot was the capital of the Saurashtra State from 15 April 1948 to 31 October 1956, Rajkot was reincorporated into Gujarat State from 1 May 1960. Rajkot has been under different rulers since it was founded, Rajkot has a long history and had a significant part in the Indian independence movement. Rajkot was home to many personalities like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Rajkot is in a transition period of growing cultural, industrial and economical activities. Rajkot is the 26th largest city of India and the 22nd fastest growing area of the world. Rajkot was the capital of the then Saurashtra state from 15 April 1948 to 31 October 1956 before merging in bilingual Bombay State on 1 November 1956, Rajkot was merged into Gujarat State from bilingual Bombay state on 1 May 1960. Thakur Saheb Pradyumansinhji died in 1973 and his son, Manoharsinhji Pradyumansinhji, who has carved out a political career at the provincial level, succeeded him. He served as a Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly for several years and as the state Minister for Health, monoharsinhjis son, Mandattasinh Jadeja has embarked on a business career. On 26 January 2001 an earthquake centred near Bhuj, measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, Rajkot is located at 22. 3°N70. 78°E /22.3,70.78. It has an elevation of 128 metres. The city is located on the bank of Aji River and Nyari River which remains dry except the monsoon months of July to September, the city is spread in the area of 170.00 km². Rajkot is situated in the region called Saurashtra in the Gujarat state of India, the significance of Rajkots location is owing to the fact that it is one of the prime industrial centres of Gujarat. Rajkot has a location in the area called the Kathiawar peninsula. The city is located within the Rajkot district in Gujarat, Rajkot city is the administrative headquarters of the district of Rajkot. The district is surrounded by Bhavnagar and Surendranagar in the east, Junagadh and Amreli in the south, Morbi in the north and Jamnagar in the west. Rajkot has a climate, with hot, dry summers from mid-March to mid-June and the wet monsoon season from mid-June to October
19.
Indian Air Force Museum, Palam
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The Indian Air Force Museum, Palam, is the museum of the Indian Air Force, and is located at the Palam Air Force Station in Delhi, India. Entrance to the museum is free, the museum was the only one of its kind in India until the unveiling of the Naval Aviation Museum in Goa in 1998. The Museum entrance features a display gallery that contains historic photographs, memorabilia, uniforms. The gallery leads to a hangar exhibiting small aircraft and Air Force inventory like anti-aircraft guns, vehicles, larger aircraft are exhibited outside the hangar. This outdoor gallery contains aircraft that also displays several war trophies, radar equipment, the Vintage Aircraft Flight services some rare aircraft and maintains them in an airworthy condition. These aircraft are not open to the public for viewing. Large transport aircraft are stored on the apron of the due to lack of space. These aircraft are displayed only on the annual Air Force Day, the Museum also has a small souvenirs corner
20.
Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum
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The Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum is a digital multimedia museum established in 2005. It is located at Gandhi Smriti, formerly Birla House, the site where Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was assassinated, the Museum presents historical records of Gandhi’s life, and aims to revive and redefine the values by which India obtained freedom. The project is an initiative of the Aditya Birla Group and Gandhi Smriti Darshan Samiti and it is supported by Grasim and Hindalco, and developed by the Sacred World Research Laboratory. The Museum was inaugurated on April 14,2005 by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and it embellishes the life of Gandhi in rhythmic with photographs, paintings, film footage, and video clips. A collection of over 40 exhibits shows the intersection of modern tactile computing, the Project won the ID Magazine New York award for its design contributions. A mobile version of the travels to different states of the country
21.
Gandhi Smriti
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Gandhi Smriti formerly known as Birla House or Birla Bhavan, is a museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, situated on Tees January Road, formerly Albuquerque Road, in New Delhi, India. It is the location where Mahatma Gandhi spent the last 144 days of his life and was assassinated on 30 January 1948 and it was originally the house of the Indian business tycoons, the Birla family. It is now home to the Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum. The 12-bedroom house was built in 1928 by Ghanshyamdas Birla, sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi were frequent guests of the Birlas. During his final stay, Mahatma Gandhi stayed here from 9 September 1947 to 30 January 1948 when he was assassinated, jawaharlal Nehru wrote to Ghanshyamdas Birla seeking to turn part of the Birla House in to a memorial. Ghanshyamdas was rather reluctant to give up the house with associated memories, eventually KK Birla, sold the property to the Government for Rs 5.4 million and seven acres of urban land in exchange, which was considered a very profitable deal. Birla House opened for the public on 15 August 1973, renamed the Gandhi Smriti, the museum in the building houses a number of articles associated with Gandhis life and death. Visitors can tour the building and grounds, viewing the preserved room where Gandhi lived, Gandhi was shot during his prayers at the place where Martyrs Column now stands. The Martyrs Column now marks the place where Gandhi, the Father of the Nation was assassinated, the Gandhi Smriti or Birla House is located at 5 Tees January Marg, a couple of kilometres from the Connaught Place, one of the Central Business Districts of New Delhi. Outside the house stands a pillar that contains a swastika symbol, the prominence of the pillar means that it has been used as a visual example of the way the ethical meaning of the swastika symbol has changed in the West in the 20th century. The same pillar also contains the Sanskrit symbol for the meditation sound, Om. Gandhi Smriti – Government of India website
22.
Ghalib Museum, New Delhi
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Mirza Ghalib Museum, New Delhi is a museum on the life and times of the 18th century Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib, under the aegis of the Ghalib Academy, New Delhi. The museum is situated in the vicinity of the tomb of the 13th century Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Nizamuddin, the museum is housed on the third floor of the Ghalib Academy building. It was formally declared open by the 3rd President of India Dr. Zakir Hussain on the occasion of the Ghalib Centenary on 22 February 1969, the museum presents pictures of Ghalibs residences, food habits and attires of the poet and his times. There are seals, coins dating to the era, Postage stamps. Paintings of renowned artists like those of M. F, Hussain, Satish Gujral, Anis Farooqui are some of the main attractions of the museum. Ghalibs poetry calligraphy and other based on Ghalib’s poetry are also on display. The mausoleum of Mirza Ghalib is just next to the Academy building and it lies in the attached courtyard of the building just on the way to the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin. The Humayuns Tomb is also at a distance from the museum
23.
National Gandhi Museum
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The National Gandhi Museum or Gandhi Memorial Museum is a museum located in New Delhi, India showcasing the life and principles of Mahatma Gandhi. The museum first opened in Mumbai, shortly after Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, the museum relocated several times before moving to Rajghat, New Delhi in 1961. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948, shortly after his death, collectors began searching India for anything of importance about Gandhi. Originally the personal items, newspapers, and books related to Gandhi were taken to Mumbai, in 1951, the items were moved to buildings near the Kota House in New Delhi. The museum moved again in 1957 to a mansion, in 1959, The Gandhi Museum moved for a final time to Rajghat, New Delhi next to the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. The museum officially opened in 1961, on the 13th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhis assassination, the Gandhi Museums library is both a showcase for Gandhis work and a general studies library. The books are divided into two sections, those written by or about Gandhi and books on other subject matters, there are currently over 35,000 books or documents in the museums library. The library also has a collection of 2,000 periodicals in both English and Hindi chronicling the life of Gandhi, the National Gandhi Museum Gallery has a large number of paintings and personal items of Mahatma Gandhi. The Museum also displays some of Gandhis teeth and his ivory toothpick, in addition to the museums Gandhi based permanent collection, the museum also showcases other exhibits mainly dealing with the history of India. Most exhibits are based on Indian political leaders, and peace movements, eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum Gandhi Smriti Gandhi Memorial Museum at Madurai National Gandhi Museum, Official Site
24.
National Museum, New Delhi
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The National Museum in New Delhi, also known as the National Museum of India, is one of the largest museums in India. Established in 1949, it holds variety of articles ranging from pre-historic era to modern works of art and it functions under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The museum is situated on the corner of Janpath and Maulana Azad Road, the blue–print of the National Museum had been prepared by the Gwyer Committee set up by the Government of India in 1946. The Museum has around 200,000 works of art, both of Indian and foreign origin, covering over 5,000 years, the roots of the National Museum begin with an exhibition of Indian art and artefacts at the Royal Academy in London in the winter of 1947-48. At the end of the London exhibition, the curators had decided to display the same collection intact in India before returning the artefacts to their individual museums. The Indian exhibition was shown at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in 1949, on 15 August 1949, the National Museum was formally inaugurated by the then Governor-General of India, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. At that time, it was decided that until a permanent home could be found for the collection, it would continue to be housed at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The cornerstone of the present museum building was laid by Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, on 12 May 1955, today, the Museum is administered and funded by the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Tourism. Presently, there are several departments in the National Museum, the Museum has in its possession over 200,000 works of art, of both Indian and foreign origin, covering more than 5,000 years of the rich cultural heritage of different parts of the world. The National Museum building has 2 floors and it has a rotunda around which the structure is based. The Museum has various artefacts from the Harappan Civilization also known as Indus Valley Civilization or Indo- Saraswati, the whole collection of this gallery represents the advanced technology and sophisticated lifestyle of the Harappan people. Most of the objects on display are permanent loans from the Archaeological Survey of India, apart from these the gallery has Sculptures in Bronzes & Terracotta, Bone Objects, Ivory, Steatite, Semi-Precious Stones, Painted Pottery and Jewellery items. Many seals have been discovered during numerous excavations and these seals were probably used for trading purposes. These seals depict bulls, elephants, unicorns, tigers, crocodiles, on one of the seal, there is the depiction of Pasupati The gallery presents the vibrancy of human civilization in India at par with the contemporary civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and China. Among the artefacts, the most significant is the Dancing Girl which is a 4.5 inch bronze statue, the name Dancing Girl was coined by Sir John Marshall. It is made by the Lost Wax Method, the Chola bronzes and the Dhokra castings are still made this way. The gallery has objects from the 4th century BCE to the 1st century BCE and it has objects spanning three major dynasties, The Mauryas, the Shungas and the Satvahanas. Objects in the gallery have Greek influence characterized by the mirror like finishing, the gallery also houses fragments of railings from various ancient Stupas that are carved on with episodes from Buddhas Life
25.
National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum
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The National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum commonly known as National Crafts Museum in New Delhi is one of the largest crafts museums in India. It is run by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, the museum is situated on the corner of the Pragati Maidan, facing the Purana Qila complex. By the 1980s it already had a collection, and in time the museum space gradually evolved and transformed into its present shape. Various galleries within the museum include the Tribal and Rural Craft Gallery, Gallery of Courtly Crafts, the museum is popular for an exhaustive collection of textiles. The entire village complex is a remnant of an exhibition on the theme of rural India. Today several traditional craftsmen in residence at the museum, can be working in a designated area within the museum complex. Apart from the collection, the museum houses Research and Documentation facilities, a library, a conservation laboratory, a photo laboratory. It is open from 9.30 am to 5 pm and it is accessible through Pragati Maidan Delhi Metro Station. The Crafts Museum has on display part of its permanent collection in its galleries of Bhuta Sculpture Gallery, Tribal & Folk Art, Ritual Craft Gallery, Courtly Craft & Textiles Gallery. The Village Complex also has open walls along the corridors & passages which are used as the canvas to display the traditions of several tribes of folk artisans. New folk artists come in every month from different parts of the country to paint on the museums walls, Textile industry in India Museums ofIndia, National handicrafts and handlooms museum, New Delhi, by Jyotindra Jain and Aarti Agarwal. National Crafts Museum website Architectural study of National Crafts Museum building Museum layout Crafts Museum at Google Cultural Institute
26.
National Museum of Natural History, New Delhi
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The National Museum of Natural History was a museum focusing on nature, located in New Delhi, India. Established in 1972 and opened in 1978, the museum functioned under the Ministry of Environment, the museum was situated on Barakhamba Road at Tansen Marg in central New Delhi, across from the Embassy of Nepal, near the Connaught Place metro station. On 26 April 2016, the building and its entire collection were destroyed by a fire. The NMNHs director, B Venugopal, also emphasised intangible natural heritage at the museum, the NMNH was created in 1972 as part of the celebration of the 25th year of Indias independence. Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, said that India needed such a museum to promote environmental awareness, after several years of development of its building and exhibits, the NMNH opened in 1978, on World Environment Day. Regional Museums of Natural History are located in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Gangtok, Mysuru, in the early morning of 26 April 2016, a fire broke out in the museum and destroyed the entire collection. Around 200 firefighters and 35 fire engines were called, they more than three and a half hours to extinguish the fire. Six people who became trapped in the building were later sent to a hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, the cause of the fire is still unknown, although the fires spread was fuelled by museum specimens and the woodwork holding them. Reports indicate that the effect of the blaze was due to the buildings sprinkler system being out of order. There were also galleries on the origin and evolution of life, conservation of nature, a 160 million-year-old fossil of a sauropod and stuffed animals by renowned Mysuru-based taxidermists Van Ingen & Van Ingen were part of the museum collection. The museum also featured a Discovery Room and Activity Room, specifically designed for children, guided tours, and specially designed resources for disabled visitors, were also available. Specific exhibits included a sauropod fossil, a collection of bird eggs including those of the ostrich and the long-billed vulture, and stuffed animals including various big cats. Plans for future exhibitions, as of 2015, had included climate change, global warming, combating desertification, tsunami, the museum was also acquiring dinosaur egg fossils from Narmada Valley, Gujarat
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National Science Centre, Delhi
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The National Science Centre established in 1992, is a science museum in Delhi, India. It is part of the National Council of Science Museums, a body under Indias Ministry of Culture. It stands close to Gate no 1, of Pragati Maidan overlooking the Purana Qila, the National Science Centre is the northern zonal headquarters of the National Council of Science Museums. The first Science Museum under this Council, the Birla Industrial & Technological Museum came up on 2 May 1959 at Calcutta, thereafter another Museum, the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum was opened in Bangalore in 1962. Dr. Amalendu Bose, a chemistry graduate at that time, was recruited by Dr. B. C. Roy to commission the first Museum at Calcutta. Thereafter several smaller centres came up, but for two decades, there was a lull in the science museum movement in India. The coming to power of Rajiv Gandhi saw a fresh impetus for science popularisation, the Nehru Science Centre in Mumbai came up as the third major Science Centre. With Rajiv Gandhi inaugurating the Mumbai Centre, the Science Centre movement embarked on a period of growth, with science centres opening in most state capitals of India. With Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai Centres functional, a need for a big Centre in the Nations capital in Delhi in the north was felt, and work started in earnest in 1984. It is open all seven days a week from 10,00 AM to 5,30 PM except on the Indian Festival days of Holi and Diwali, the building was designed by noted Indian architect Achyut Kanvinde. A special feature of the National Science Centre is its student visitors, while the world over, the ratio of student to general visitor ratio is about 0.3, almost 65% of the visitors to the National Science Centre are students. As these visitors assemble at the amphitheatre, they are given a brief. And as the visitors proceed further, the Centre opens up its treasures contained in six permanent halls full of interesting, an escalator takes them up to the first gallery on the third floor - Our Science and Technology Heritage. Indian Heritage in Science & Technology has a history of 4500 years. In ancient Sanskrit texts, we can find shades of twentieth century thinking, scientific ideas grew in Indian minds more than two thousand five hundred years ago. Concepts of matter, atomism and cosmic evolution were recorded for posterity and it was also in India that the concept of zero gained meaning. The present day numerals, Powers of ten, the rule of three, square root and cube root were worked out 1500 years ago and took 1000 years to reach Europe. This Gallery is the latest in the Centre and was inaugurated by the Secretary to the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, next is a gallery on Human Biology - the miracle of Human Life
28.
Sanskriti Museums
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Sanskriti Museums are a set of three museums namely, Museum of ‘Everyday Art’, Museum of Indian Terracotta and Textile Museum. The museum was founded by, O. P. Jain in 1990, under the ageis of Sanskriti Foundation, the construction of present Kendra premises began in 1989. Next the Museum of Everyday Art established in 1984 contains items of everyday use, the foundation also runs Sanskriti Yatra workshops on cultural awareness for school children. Its three- month resideny programs is run residency programme in collaboration with UNESCO, Asia Link, museumologist Jyotindra Jain is trustee and Director of the Foundation. This Museum has over 1,500 objects of art, sculptures and figurines from the tribal areas of India. A showcase of the best of, and the most diverse of Indian textile heritage, Museums are open from 10 AM to 5 PM on all days except Mondays and Public Holidays. Sanskriti Museums, New Delhi Sanskriti Museums at Google Cultural Institute
29.
Shankar's International Dolls Museum
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The International Dolls Museum is a large collection of dolls in Delhi, India. It was set up by K. Shankar Pillai, a political cartoonist, housed in the Childrens Book Trust building on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, accessed through a separate entrance, a winding staircase, leading up to a foyer. The museum has an area of 5,184.5 sq ft. K. Shankar Pillai, noted cartoonist, set up Childrens Book Trust, later, a gift of a doll from a Hungarian diplomat gave Shankar the idea of collecting dolls from countries he visited. He often held exhibitions for children, and at one exhibition in Delhi. Indira was inspired and together with Shankar set up a museum for dolls. The principal collection consists of gifts from Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, also several embassies and diplomatic missions in Delhi gifted dolls to the museum. The renowned political cartoonist, K. Shankar Pillai founded this museum in 1965 with thousand dolls, the museum covers an area of 5,184.5 square feet. The former President of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan inaugurated the Dolls Museum, in between 1965 and in 1987, the number of dolls has risen to 5,000, a vast majority coming as gifts. Shankar Pillai was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, Indias second highest civilian award by Government of India in 1976, today the volume has increased to 6,500 exhibits from almost 85 countries, adding to its international character. The museum is located in the Childrens Book Trust building on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and it occupies a floor area of 5,184.5 square feet on the first floor. A separate entrance with a staircase leads up to a foyer. Inside, the Museum is divided into two equal halves, the two sections have over 160 glass cases,1,000 ft long, mounted on the walls. One section has exhibits from Europe, the U. S. Australia, New Zealand, Common Wealth of Independent States and the other from Asian countries, the collections of dolls are classified into two parts. The main collections of Dolls Museum are of 150 types of Indian costume dolls created at the own workshop of the museum which is located inside the museum, the craftsmen create the dolls with utmost perfection to create a symphony of the physical features, costumes and ornaments. In the pageant are characters from Indias unique classical dance, Kathakali, the dolls of Dolls Museum even was awarded first prize namely Golden Peacock Feather at the Dolls Biennale that was held in Cracow, Poland in 1980. The major attractions of this museum are Kabuki and Samurai dolls from Japan, Maypole dance replica dolls of Hungary, UK’s Queen collections, Orchestra of women from Thailand, etc. Besides, dolls representing various countries, there is also a display of a representative collection of over 150 dolls in Indian costume dolls
30.
National Gallery of Modern Art
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The National Gallery of Modern Art is the premier art gallery under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The main museum at Jaipur House in New Delhi was established on March 29,1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent branches at Mumbai, some of the oldest works preserved here date back to 1857. With 12,000 square meters of space, the Delhi branch is one of the worlds largest modern art museums. Situated at the end of Rajpath, in the Central Hexagon around the India Gate, the butterfly-shaped building with a central dome and built in 1936, and designed by Sir Arthur Bloomfield, after the construction of Lutyens Delhi. The Central Hexagon around the India Gate, where the buildings of leading princely states, was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Though the idea of the National Gallery was floated in 1949, it was inaugurated by Vice-president Dr S. Radhakrishnan in 1954. Hermann Goetz, a noted German art historian became its first curator and in time it added new facilities such as Art restoration services, an Art reference Library and a Documentation Centre
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Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
