Top 10 Places to Visit in India!!! Part 2

6. Golden Temple - This holy shrine is located in Amritsar.This is the holiest place for the Sikhs(a religious sect in India.Harmandir Sahib,is another name by which the Golden Temple is famously known. Harmandir Sahib was built with four doors to show that every religion or faith is allowed to go in to meditate or just listen to the prayers for peace.

Originally built during AD 1574, the site of the temple was surrounded by a small lake in a thin forest. The third of the six grand Mughals, emperor Akbar, who visited the third Sikh Guru, Guru Amar Das, at the neighbouring town of Goindval was so impressed by the way of life in the town that he gave a jagir (the land and the revenues of several villages in the vicinity)to the Guru.The full-fledged Temple was built. In December 1588.

 7. Mahabalipuram- This is a place about 65 kms from Chennai located on the coast of Bay of Bengal.This place has architectural temples and sculptures from the 7th and 9th centuries during the reign of Pallava Kings.The mandapa or pavilions and the rathas or shrines shaped as temple chariots are hewn from the granite rock face, while the famed Shore Temple, erected half a century later, is built from dressed stone.

What makes Mamallapuram so culturally resonant are the influences it absorbs and disseminates. The Shore Temple includes many bas reliefs, including one 100 ft. long and 45 ft. high.There are many more such temples which are believed to have gone under the sea.And,people living there reported that they did see the burried temples during the Dec 2004 Tsunami.The truth to this fact however remains burried!!!

8. Howrah Bridge- This is the mighty bridge on the river Hooghly.
OMG!!! This is an awesome sight to see.This mighty bridge is in Kolkata,West Bengal.

An engineering marvel, it expands as much as a metre during a summer day. The eight-lane bridge carries a steady flow of approximately 80,000 vehicles, and possibly more than 1,000,000 pedestrians and thousands of cattle every day.The crowd of Calcutta is so amazing that each one will be walking on another person's head.Such is the population density in the metropolitan!!!!!!

9.Shravanabelagola - Shravanabelagola is a city located in Hassan District in Karnataka state.It is almost 99 miles from Bangalore.This is a place which is not really frequented by tourists because it is known to really a less number of people!!!!!Lack of Publicity,to put it in simple words...

The statue of Gomateshwara or Bahubali, at Shravanabelagola is one of the most important Jain pilgrim centers The 57 feet monolithic statue of the Gomateshwara Bahubali is located on the Vindyagiri mountain.It is considered to be the world's largest monolithic stone statue .

10.Temples down the South - There are many huge temples to be visited down the south in India,viz Meenakshi temple,Madurai,Brihadeswar temple,Tanjore, Srirangam temple ,Tiruchirapalli,Tirupathi temple,Andhra Pradesh. These temples are so really beautiful that one can just see their huge structures for hours together.

 The Gopuram(or temple tower) of Srirangam temple are really huge.The Rajagopuram and is 236 feet (72 m) tall, the tallest in Asia.Myth has it that the coast of Sri Lanka can be seen from the top of the gopuram.Oh wow!!!!! The Srirangam temple complex is composed of 7 concentric walled sections and 21 gopurams

 The Meenakshi temple at Madurai  houses 14 magnificent Gopurams or towers including two golden Gopurams for the main deities, that are elaborately sculptured and painted.This temple is located in a 2500 year old Madurai which is also termed as the TEMPLE CITY as it is built around the temple.The temple also has a Thousand Pillar Mandapam which is an added beauty of this temple.

 The Brihadeswar temple,Tanjore is the temple built during the Chola dynasty by the Great Emperor Raja Raja Chola.The temple houses a huge Nandhi(Bull,on which Lord Shiva rides).Myth has it that the Nandhi grows and there is a nail on its back to prevent its growth more!!!!It is the world's first complete granite temple. this temple is an ultimate testimonial for the Tamil architectural cognizance in planning and sculpting this temple. The Kalash or 'Chikharam' (apex or the bulbous structure on the top) of the temple is not carved out of a single stone as is widely believed.!!!A must see sight I would suggest!!!

 The Tirumala Thirupathi temple is in Chittor district of Andhra Pradesh, India.The temple is reportedly the richest and the most visited place of worship in the world The richest Hindu God resides here!!!!And a must see and must taste is the Ladoo of this temple.It simply makes anyone want for more and more.And behold sweet toothed people,you will be trapped in its taste easily.The temple is visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims daily, while on special occasions and festivals, like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrims shoots up to 500,000.!!!!!

Top 10 Places to Visit in India!!! Part 1

1.The Taj Mahal- As everyone knows,this beauty which always makes itself to the list of the seven wonders of the world,is located in a place called Agra.Agra is just 157.2 miles from Delhi,the capital of India.Agra can be reached via all road,air and trains.The Taj occupies position 1 on my list..

 

2. Salar Jung Museum - This world famous art museum is a feather on India's cap.This beautiful museum is located in a place called Hyderabad.Behold!!This is the world's largest one man collection art museum.

The collections of the Salar Jung Museum are the mirrors of the past human environment, ranging from 2nd century B.C to early 20th century A.D of different cultures such as Greek, Roman, Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Islamic of various countries and of various materials. 3. Ajanta and Ellora Caves - These are must see marvels in India.Located near the city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra, the famous Ajanta and Ellora are cave shrines cut out of rock, by hand, and rank amongst some of the most outstanding specimens of ancient Indian architectural heritage.

It was only in the 19th century, that the Ajanta group of caves, lying deep within the Sahyadri hills, cut into the curved mountain side, above the Waghora river, were discovered. They depict the story of Buddhism, spanning a period from 200 BC to 650 AD.

These structures representing the three faiths of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, were carved during the 350 AD to 700 AD period. The 12 caves to the south are Buddhist, the 17 in the centre dedicated to Hinduism, and the 5 caves to the north are Jain.

4.Backwaters in Kerala - "God's own place",that is how Kerala is quoted.The Kerala Backwaters are formed as a network of many canals and rivers interconnected among each other. The backwaters in Kerala offer long waterways useful for transportation. Tourism is flourishing in these backwaters with many houseboats and country boats are readily available for a grandeur travel and stay in backwaters.

5.The Sun temple at Konark - The Sun temple at Konark is an ancient temple. It has beautiful carvings of the god's and godesses depicting various scenes. The temple is near Bhubaneshwar at Orissa. It is the site of the 13th-century.

The temple takes the form of the chariot of Surya, the sun god, and is heavily decorated with stone carving. The entire complex was designed in the form of a huge chariot drawn by seven spirited horses on twelve pairs of exquisitely decorated wheels.The entrance is guarded by two giant lions, which are each shown crushing a war elephant. Each elephant in turn lies on top of a human body. The temple symbolizes the majestic stride of the Sun god.

It was constructed from oxidizing and weathered ferruginous sandstone. The temple is one of the most well renowned temples in India and is a World Heritage Site.

Top 10 Places to Visit in India!!!

India!!!!Hmmmm!!! I can sense the excitement in many faces and I can imagine the arched eyebrows when I just say India.Because I know that many of the foreigners crave to visit India and they are in for the biggest cultural shock!!!The Indian culture,the work of art,the religious beliefs are all really antediluvian!!Even now there are swarms of people coming in to see how the sages lived,how did these religions and caste system come into existence,how the sculptures were carved out of just a single huge rock..These are some citations of the millions of reasons as to why people land up in India.I would now suggest the must-visit places when anyone goes to India.

Read about it on the following links
http://wordsmakewonders.blogspot.com/2010/05/top-10-places-to-visit-in-india-part-1.html

http://wordsmakewonders.blogspot.com/2010/05/top-10-places-to-visit-in-india-part-2.html

Interesting:Ionising Radiation in Food Processing!!

Wow!!This topic seems quite interesting!!!Ionising Radiation in food processing and preseravtion???Ok let's get back to the good old chemistry books...Ionising Radiation includes Alpha rays,Beta rays and Gamma rays.The Gamma rays are the most penetrating of all the three so here in this article we will be dealing with ionisation by gamma rays.And this technique is currently gaining popularity in developing countries like India.Fulfilling the needs of about more than billion, with scanty resources is a no mean task for even for a developed nation. Increasing the productivity is aimed as one of the prime targets, effective utiliasation of the produce is yet another issue one needs to keep in mind while addressing the issue. It is noted that about 25 to 40% of food grains that is produced does not get consumed since they get spoiled before they reach the consumer.  The spoilage is essentially due to lack of processing of food grains, improper storage, and infestation by pests, fungal infection and also due to rodents.Oh Pests!!!

                                                     Now we get on to the most interesting at the same time boring part of food processing.Guess what it is???Oh ya it is the history of food processing.Food processing dates back to the prehistoric ages when crude processing incorporated slaughtering, various types of cooking, such as over fires, smoking, steaming, oven baking), fermenting, sun drying and preserving with salt. Foods preserved this way were a common part of warriors and sailor's diets up until the introduction of canned food. These crude processing techniques remained essentially the same until the advent of the industrial revolution. Growing demand for food, increasing storage losses of food grains and the existing limitations of the presently available method for processing have driven many researchers in the pursuit of devising novel techniques and methods which are not only safe, economical, proven and yet environment and eco-friendly.

                                                     Nicolas Appert developed a vacuum bottling process to supply troops in the French army with food, which would eventually lead to tinning and then canning by Peter Durand in 1810.  Pasteurization, discovered by Louis Pasteur in 1862 was a significant advance in ensuring micro-biological safety of food. But for him we would not be drinking our chocolate milks and other stuff!! In early 1900s scientist all over the world studied the use of ionising radiation for food processing applications. During World War II, the U.S. Army tested irradiation on fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and meat. NASA has routinely used irradiated food for several years.  Now the most interesting and amazing discovery was that the irradiation not only increased the shelf life of the food stuffs but it also abated the attack of rodents and pests!!!

 

Getting on to the process side ,Radiation processing of food involves exposure of food to short wave radiation energy to achieve a specific purpose such as extension of shelf-life, insect disinfestation and elimination of food borne pathogens and parasites. Now I can sense blood pressures shooting up as to these rays will not make the food radioactive and hence consumption lethal!!!The process cannot increase the normal radioactivity level of the food, regardless of how long the food is exposed to the radiation, or how much of an energy “dose” is absorbed. It can prevent the division of microorganisms, which cause food spoilage, such as bacteria and moulds, by changing their molecular structure. It can also slow down ripening or maturation of certain fruits and vegetables by modifying/altering the physiological processes of the plant tissues. GRAY is the unit of absorbed dose, which is equal to absorption of 1 joule of energy in kg of any substance. The effects that occur in the item irradiated would be proportional to the dose that is delivered.

                                                      Incidentally, the irradiation also kills several disease causing pathogens during the irradiation process. Among these, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocytogenes, and Vibrio are of primary concern from a public health standpoint because of the severity of the illnesses and/or because of the higher number of outbreaks and individual cases of food borne illness associated with these pathogens. With fresh poultry carcasses, irradiation up to a dose of 2.5 kGy will virtually eliminate Salmonella and Campylobacter under proper production conditions. The same dose of irradiation destroys E. coli O157:H7, a highly virulent bacteria which can lead to illness and death, and which is estimated to cause 20,000 infections and 250 deaths in the USA annually. Irradiation is currently the only known method to inactivate these pathogens in raw and frozen food. Infact irradiated food items are recommended for astronauts and cosmonauts during their mission in space and also to patients who require pathogen free food for consumption. Wow!!That sounds good!!!

                                                       Getting practical,like every other process this process also has limitations. Radiation processing is a need based technology and cannot be applied to all kinds of foods. Internationally only some of the major items that is being exported are cleared for irradiation. Many other items are undergoing extensive study world over. Another important factor to be borne in mind is that irradiation technique cannot make spoiled food a good one. This can be successful only if good manufacturing and packaging techniques are followed prior to subjecting them for irradiation. This technique is not a substitute for good manufacturing technique.

                                                      The results of food processing by irradiation have been reviewed by the experts of the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and also independently by the governments of various countries. The tests for wholesomeness and safety of radiation processed food include, checking for induced radioactivity, microbiological safety, safety of chemical changes, nutritional adequacy, and feeding studies on animals and humans. At the energies of the gamma rays from Cobalt-60 and those recommended for X-rays and accelerated electrons, no radioactivity can be induced in foods. Thus,it is inferred that this technique does not induce any radioactivity into the food stuff or does it  alter the normal radioactivity of the food stuff.

READ MORE:    http://www.mofpi.nic.in