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"Lord Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupati is the best example of history, heritage and divinity preserved. Being an inseparable part of devotees lives for centuries, Tirupati Temple has grown from strength to strength and has become the most revered Hindu pilgrimage site in the world. Also crowned as the most visited and second richest worship place in the world, Tirupati Temple is one path to finding god."
The ancient and sacred temple of Sri Venkateswara is located on the seventh peak, Venkatachala (Venkata Hill) of the Tirupati Hill, and lies on the southern banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini. It is by the Lord's presidency over Venkatachala, that He has received the appellation, Venkateswara (Lord of the Venkata Hill). He is also called the Lord of the Seven Hills. The Temple of Sri Venkateswara has acquired unique sanctity in Indian religious lore. The Sastras, Puranas, Sthala Mahatyams and Alwar hymns unequivocally declare that, in the Kali Yuga, one can attain mukti, only by worshipping Venkata Nayaka or Sri Venkateswara. |
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Located in the Southwestern United States Verde Valley 1.5 hours north of Phoenix Arizona is one of the best preserved Indian cliff dwellings in North America.
Montezuma Castle was one of the first four National Monuments dedicated in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The castle was built and used by the Pre-Columbian Sinagua people circa 700 AD. The Hopi Indians, and some Navajos can trace their roots to immigrants from the Verdi Valley and Beaver Creek area. Some tribe members return on occasion to these older sites for religious ceremonies. Early European Americans (1850's) named these area after the Aztec emperor of Mexico "Montezuma", thinking the emperor had been involved in the construction of the site. This 20 room 5 level high-rise apartment, nestled into a towering limestone cliff, tells a 1,000 year-old story of ingenuity and survival by the Sinagua Indian in an unforgiving desert landscape. It is believed the Sinagua women actually built the entire structure and did all the farming as well. Getting to the first level of the Castle is done using small holes in the floor of level two. These two dark, windowless rooms have low ceilings, requiring anyone but a child to squat low to move through them. They may have been used to store food, water and equipment for the residents who lived in the Castle. The interior of the Castle is very dark. Most of the walls are covered in thick layers of soot deposited from hundreds of years of cooking and warming fires lit in each room. This soot covers layers of hand-coated adobe plaster used to seal and protect the structure. Fingerprints of the Castle's original inhabitants are still visible on walls containing original Sinagua plaster. These walls would have been continuously maintained by the Sinagua, with fresh applications of plaster covering older applications. For more information on this historic treasure visit: http://www.nps.gov/moca |
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This is the oldest living tree in Alberta. This Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis) wraps itself around the bare rocks on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River near the Banff Park boundary and has been there for more than 1200 years. A small seedling has started to grow near the base of the tree and will eventually replace the existing tree.
This was my second Gigapan. This view can only be obtained by a very wide angle panorama because if you were to take a step backwards you'd fall into the river! To see a photo of the largest and oldest tree in Canada and the largest Cedar tree in the world: http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/23786/photos/view/1/8 It's the Cheewhat Giant on Vancouver Island. Circumference 18.3 meters (60 feet) Height 55.5 meters Estimated age: 2000-3000 years. |
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Golkonda consists of four distinct forts with a 10 km long outer wall with 87 semi circular bastions; some still mounted with cannons, eight gateways, four drawbridges and number of royal apartments & halls, temples, mosques, magazines, stables etc, inside. The lowest of these is the outermost enclosure into which we enter by the "Fateh Darwaza" (Victory gate, so called after Aurangzeb’s triumphant army marched in through this gate) studded with giant iron spikes (to prevent elephants from battering them down) near the south-eastern corner. At Fateh Darwaza can be experienced the fantastic acoustic effects, characteristic of the engineering marvels at Golkonda. A hand clap at a certain point below the dome at the entrance reverberates and can be heard clearly at the 'Bala Hisar' pavilion, the highest point almost a kilometre away, this worked as a warning note to the royals in case of an attack |
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As you enter the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, the "Treasury" (seen in Indiana Jones and the last Crusade) is the striking first sight. It was probably a temple, not a treasury, but it is striking, carved directly from the rock. |
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This panorama shows some of the ruins of the ancient Greco-Roman city of Gerasa (Jerash). Parts of the modern city can also be seen from this point.
Related panorama: http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=23440 Jerash map here: http://www.atlastours.net/jordan/jerash_map.html مدينة جرش الرومانية Shots: 96 Date: 2 May 2009 17:00:00 Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 900Ti Tripod: SLIK Master Classic |
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Big Cottonwood canyon at the "remnants of an Ancient Sea" sign just below storm mountain. The big wall in the right side of the image has a couple of awesome multipitch climbs on it including the classic "Outside Corner"
I was experimenting with how much overlap you really needed in the field of view... guess I found out it is more than this! Too bad about the missing bits. |
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Golkonda FortGolkonda (or Golconda) Telugu గోల్కొండ , a ruined city of south-central India and capital of ancient Kingdom of Golkonda (c. 1364–1512)., is situated west of Hyderabad.
The most important builder of Golkonda was Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali, the fourth Qutb king. Ibrahim was following in the spirit of his ancestors, the Qutub Shahi kings, a great family of builders who had ruled the kingdom of Golkonda from 1512. Their first capital, the fortress citadel of Golkonda, was rebuilt for defense from invading Mughals from the north. They laid out Golkonda's splendid monuments, now in ruins, and designed a perfect acoustical system by which a hand clap sounded at the fort's main gates, the grand portico, was heard at the top of the citadel, situated on a 300-foot (91 m)-high granite hill. This is one of the fascinating features of the fort. ************************************************ Please contact Shashi Mettu at + 00-91-98495-30995 for Prints / Enlargements and Busssiness enquiries |
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View of the panorama surrounding Ancient Hunters Overlook and the adjacent "Pinnacles" at Badlands National Park, South Dakota
GPS COORDINATES: 43.961191 " N -102.233276 PANORAMA DETAILS: Created from 64 - 14.6 megapixel images Format: 16 columns wide,4 rows deep Capture Date: October 6, 2009 GIGAPAN SIZE:44000 X 7736 (147 x 26 inches) , 558MB EQUIPMENT: Canon PowerShot SD990 IS and GigaPan. TECHNICAL: 133mm focal length, f/16, 1/100 sec., 100 ISO. FIELD OF VIEW: 152 degrees wide by 29 degrees high. TIME TO STITCH: 2:46 |
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Apollon Temple is the most famous ancient building in Side.
http://www.avyusufisler.blogspot.com/ |