THE BASILICA OF BOM JESUS

THE BASILICA OF BOM JESUS : 

                                 
       

         The Basilica of Bom Jesus or Borea Jezuchi Bajilika is located in Old Goa, India, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built on 1698.  The tomb of St. Francis Xavier has three parts, namely, the altar, the Florentine mausoleum and the silver casket.
     The basilica holds the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier  on the third floor of the residential wing, where kept into a silver casket on December 2, 1637. This casket was made by Goan silversmiths between 1636-37. There are 32 silver plates on all four sides of the casket depicting different episodes from the life of the Saint. The silver casket is lowered for public viewing only during the public exposition which occurs for a duration of 6 weeks every 10 years.      

The Francis was appointed by Pope as His Nuncio, for the East. He heeds for India on 7th April 1541 and arrived in Goa on 6th May 1542. He visited the Bishop, who was highly pleased with Francis. But  Francis chose to be in the Royal Hospital and spent rest of his life in nursing the sick and teaching Christian doctrine. In 1542 Francis was requested to hold the rectorship of the newly established institute named College of St. Paul, for the priestly formation of local candidates.

Xavier organized missionary work on the southern tip of India with full dedication. During this time, he was able to visit the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle in Mylapore, (Chennai) then in Portuguese India.

      In April 1552 he traveled to Sancian (Shangchuan) Island, near Canton, but died on the island on December 3rd 1552, at the age of 46 where he was alone with two companions.

Before his final resting place in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in 1624, his body was buried in three different countries. St Francis was regarded as a saint during his lifetime, and was canonized in 1662. The body, having resisted extensive decay, is now in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, 

For the first time the Body of St. Francis Xavier was exposed for public veneration in the Church of S. Paulo in an open coffin, on March 16 to 18 of 1554 soon after it was brought to Goa. On the fourth day the body was buried near the main altar. It was exhumed again after 6 years and never buried again. In 1665 the relics was taken to the Chapel, where it is present now.


                                     

HEADLESS ROMANS

MYSTERY OF HEADLESS ROMANS :-

           In between 2004 and 2005 in the northern city of York, the 80 skeletons were found buried in a burial ground which were used by the Romans throughout the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. Most of them were males, and more than half of them had been decapitated, although many were buried with their detached heads.
York at that time period referred as Eboracum—was the Roman Empire's northernmost provincial capital during the time.
 Gundula Müldner of the University of Reading in the U.K. says that the "headless Romans" probably  came from Eastern Europe, and evidence of combat scars in the skeletal remains also suggest that the men led violent lives. According to Müldner , The headless Romans had  different physic than the other native peoples of York. They came from all over the places, while some of them were quite exotic.
Headless Romans Had Foreign Diets
Müldner's team analyzed the bones . Based on the geology and climate of where a person grew up, their bones hold telltale traces of isotopes absorbed from the local food and water.
Oxygen and strontium isotopes in the bones of the headless Romans indicate that only 5 out of 18 individuals tested came from the York area, later it was  published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. While the rest of the men came from elsewhere in England or mainland Europe, possibly from France, Germany, the Balkans, or the Mediterranean.
Traces of carbon and nitrogen show that five of the headless Romans ate very different foods from York's local population. And two individuals had carbon  from a group of food plants like sorghum, sugarcane, and maize , which were not known to have been cultivated in England at that time. Millet was the only food plant from this group that was being grown in mainland Europe at that period of time.
 According to Müldner's team, the headless millet-eaters migrated from colder climates, perhaps parts of Eastern Europe that were beyond the borders of the Roman Empire.
As for what the men were doing in York, previous theories had suggested theheadless Romans were soldiers, imported gladiators, executed citizens, or ritually killed victims of a religious cult.
Other recent research suggested the headless Romans were gladiators brought to the distant capital for entertainment.

MOHENJODARO ARCHITECTURAL FACTS

MOHENJODARO ARCHITECTURE  FACTS :-

    The 'Mohenjodaro' literally means, the   'mound of the dead' , while 'Mo-henjo' means 'of the dead' in sindhi. The Harappan site lies in the Larkhan district of Sindh, present Pakistan. The town planning is one of the most striking features. Some of the important architectural features of Mohenjodaro town planning are as follows:-

            * On the west of the site presents a citadel with fortified walls while on the eastern side lies the lower city ,laid out in grid pattern , with main streets nearly 10 m wide almost cutting each other in right angles. The houses always opened on the side alleys or streets.

           * Construction works were done by kiln-burnt bricks  but they generally used Sun dried bricks to construct houses, raise platforms etc. The mud mortar were used to keep the bricks in place.The bricks were laid in. 'English bond', mud pluster usually covered the inner walls.

            * There was advancement in drainage and water supply system. In Mohenjodaro most of the houses had their own private bathrooms, supplied with proper drainage system as well as drains to dispose wastes. Bathroom floors paved with burnt bricks. The street channels opened into bigger Cornel-vaulted sewers that emptied into the river. Each house had a tube well , along with public well in a community .

             * The houses were of different sizes. Some were spacious while smaller ones had only a partition. Houses had a courtyard where all the doors and windows opening into the courtyard. The houses main entrance opened only to the side lanes and never to the main road. The thickness of the outer walls measured nearly  90 cms. The houses had brick floors.

              *The citadel has a great bathroom. A complex of varandahs and rooms ranged around the sides of a rectangular pool measuring almost 12*7 m , and depth of 2.44 m, all laid on a north-south axis. The steps were furnished with bitumen. The tank was made of bricks and gypsum mortar to make it waterproof , further covered with 2 cm thickness layer of bitumen. The water to the tank was supplied from a well in a room to the east has an entrance from outside. A pillared verandah surrounded all the four sides of the pool. On the south 2 entrances led ta a paved vestibule,  with a drain at the eastern extremity. At either end this vestibule terminated into two small apartments of unknown function. A series of rooms extend on the eastern side. On the north the arrangement of the rooms is not clear.

               *To the northern side of the great bath lie two rows of bathrooms on either side of the lane containing drains .

               * To the west of great bath , a structure which was identified as granary by Sir Mortimer wheeler. It consists of high podium of massive walls and a crisscross arrangement of passages inside , probably serving as air-ducts.

                

LOTHAL - HARAPPAN SITE

LOTHAL:- 

  The discovery of Lothal as Harappan settlement is one of the most remarkable and fascinating events in Indian archaeology. It's one of the most prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilization located in the Bhal region, along the Bhogava river, a tributary of Sabarmati river, Gulf of Khambat, Gujarat. Lothal's dock is the world's earliest known dock. Lothal was excavated on a large scale for 6 seasons from 1955 to 1962 by S. R . Rao of ASI. A full report has been published in 2 volumes. Stratigraphically the site has been divided into 5 levels, each separated from the other by flood deposits. 1st four levels numbered as 1-4 from bottom to top and designated as lothal A. Here ceramics and small finds of mature or urban Harappan characters are found. While the 5 th level is designated as Lothal B and can be termed as late or post-urban Harappan (Possehl 1977). Radiocarbon dates of Lothal A can be dated in between 2100- 1850 BC while of Lothal B end 100 to 150 years later. The entire site is about 300*250m .

 TOWN PLANNING:-

  Lothal is a planned settlement with quardrangular layout. Lothal has been divided into 3 architectural areas : Citadel or Acropolis, The Lower Town and The Dockyard.
  Citadel was the political and commercial heart. The area was artificially raised above the remainder of the settlement, on a mud brick platform. This area occupies the south-east quadrant of the site. Total area is 48.5*42.5 m in size. Streets are at right angles to one another, which separates blocks of mud and brick structures, whose functions are still unknown. Streets are like plastered. One of these blocks have been identified as a warehouse. Another large structure near the warehouse, has been suggested as a merchants house. Little further there's a row of 12 bathrooms with elaborate drains. The citadel had paved baths, underground and surface drains. All the lothal drainage channels met at right angles, engineered with several steps to separate solid and liquid wastes, which the river sabarmati carried to the sea.

 The Lower town is also divided into blocks separated by streets (6-8m wide) at right angles, oriented to the cardinal directions. Only 6 of these blocks were excavated . The Lower town appears to have been the location of domestic quarter's. A bead factory was present with several rooms of small size surrounding a central courtyard, a special furnace was also found.

 The most controversial feature at Lothal is the structure identified as Dockyard. It's located on the eastern side of the site. It was constructed of backed brick and nearly rectangular in shape. The dimension is 219*37 m in size. The dockyard is surrounded by an embankment which was designed to withstand the repeated tidal flood. There's a brick wall of sunken enclosure. According to Leshmik , the brick lined enclosure might have been used as a tank for the storage of irrigation of water. There's no stairs or other means to access the interior of the enclosure. There's a well on the loading platform between this structure and the citadel.

OTHER FINDS:-

   Lothal yielded 213 seals. Lothal artists introduced a new form of realistic painting.Lothals copper were found pure, devoid of arsenic. Beads made of carnelian, Crystal, Kaspersky, opal, steatite, paste were manufactured in large scale. A thick ring-like shell object found with four slits, each in 2 margin served as a compass to measure angles of plane surface or of the horizon, in multiple degrees. Stone anvil, bronze, drills, crucible,slag, conch shell, elephant tasks were the other finds relating to specialized crafts.

GALLERY:-

        
                                          

Thank you so much... Vishal Sikaria for providing me all the images required for completing this blog.

DHOLAVIRA : 

  INTRODUCTION:- 

                      The earliest civilization of South Asia is known as Indus Valley Civilization because a large number of sites were discovered in the Indus valley. Some archaeologists have called it the Harappan civilization named after Harappa, the 1st discovered site. It flourished during the 3rd-2nd millennium BCE. It ranks four amongst widely known civilizations of the world and covers area larger than any other civilizations.
                               

    DHOLAVIRA:- 

                         It's one of the largest Harappan sites and most prominent archaeological sites in India belonging to Indus valley civilization, spreading over 100 ha along with the cemetery.It's located in the Kachchh district of Gujarat. The site was first excavated in 1967-1968 by Jagat Pati Joshi second excavation was started by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the direction of  R. s. Bisht (1989-1991).
                          The city is parallelogram in plan, outlined by massive wall. On the both sides of the city wall there was a provision of broad roads running all around. On the basis of their relative location, planning, defence and architecture......the settlement has been tentatively divided into- citadel, middle town and lower town. Citadel and Middle town has its own defence system, gateway, street, wells and large open space. While the lower town did not have its own fortification wall but it lies within the common fortification wall of the city.

★  CITADEL:- It was established in the southern part of the city. The citadel mound was about 300 m EW and 160 m NS. It consists of two fortified subdivisions: 'castle' on the east and 'bailey' on the west. To the north of the citadel, a broad and long area provided a ground for community gatherings or also referred as Ceremonial ground.

★MIDDLE TOWN:-  To the north of the Ceremonial ground, middle town was raised. Total area was 350 m EW and 250 m NS.

★LOWER TOWN:- It's located on the east side of the site. Total area covers is 300 m * 300 m.

                                      These three major built-up makes an L-shaped design altogether. Outer fortification wall was made up of mud bricks. At places near gates, stone facing has been provided on the inner face to provide more strength. Total area occupied was 1771.10 m^2 .
                                     One of the characteristic features of Dholavira is water reservoirs.There are altogether 16 reservoirs and only two have been excavated. 20% of the area was used for the management of water. The site represents the best example of hydrolic engineering of water management.
                                     Another important discovery was the presence of engraved inscription of ten large sized Indus script and other is the fragment of large seals with three large signs.
                                Funerary structures is another important feature throwing light on the socio religious practices and believe.

                                   

                                     

               Pictures provided by my senior Vishal Sikaria and my friend Anubhav Mukherjee.

Rajagriha

RAJAGRIHA OR RAJGIR:- 

                               Rajagriha (25°2' N ; 85°26' E) is often referred as Girivraja, Barhadrathapura, kusagrapura. It's located about 100 km to the south east of Patnna (present capital city of  Bihar), Nalanda district . Rajagriha was the ancient capital city which represents the early historic urbanization, emerging strongly towards the middle of the 1st millennium Bc in the gangetic plains. The city's name is mentioned in Mahabharata, Buddhist texts like ' Mahaparinibbanasutta'of Digha Nikaya, and even Chinese pilgrims. According to the Buddhist literature the Magadhan kings ruling Rajgir at the time of Buddha were Bimbisara and Ajatasatru.


                     According to the Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang, Rajagriha lies north to the valley, out in plain. He also says that the site is divided into old and new Rajagriha.Old Rajagriha is surrounded by a girdle of 5 low hills called as Baibhar-giri, Vipula-giri, Ratna-giri, Uday-giri, and Sona-giri. The city has dual fortification system : old fortification system and new fortification system.


                        Old fortification system is one of the architectural marvels of ancient India. It's commonly termed as Cyclopean wall. This wall runs all along the 5 hills and across the valley. The wall strengthened the city's defence. The wall was made up of massive undressed stone blocks ranging between 1 m and 1.5 m or more. The maximum height of the wall is about 3.65 m , found mostly on the either side of the Banganga pass. The thickness of the wall is quite uneven. Unfortunately, in some places the traces of the rock is completely lost. The wall is strengthened by bastions, which are rectangular in plan. Another important features of this fortification is Ramps and Watch Towers.
                   

               Inner fortification was made up compactly with stone rubbles . It was discovered by kittoe in 1847. It was probably build to protect the core of the city.
                     

                  A small excavation was carried out by Ghost in 1950 at the north eastern end of the valley. He showed the evidence of roads. Pottery sherds found through excavation was mainly NBPW , wheel made and almost totally unpainted. Other finds include terracotta animal and bird figurines, female figurine , terracotta beads, and a plain double-convex toy wheel.

   CHRONOLOGY on the basis of excavation done by Ghosh:

        Pd 1.    Earlier than the 5th c BC
        Pd 2.    5th c BC (or earlier) to 2nd c BC
        Pd 3.    1st c BC
        Pd 4.    1 st c AD

HANGSESHWARI TEMPLE AND ANARTA BASUDEVA TEMPLE

HANGSESHWARI TEMPLE AND  ANARTA BASUDEVA TEMPLE:-

                               

LOCATION:- 

                     Hangseshwari Temple Complex is located at a distance of about 10 km from Hooghly and about 50 km from Kolkata, in Bansberia.Bansberia is located besides river Ganga, and it's situated in between Tribeni and Bandel.This beautiful complex maintained with gardens. The temple complex consists of two temples, namely Ananta Basudeba Temple and Hangseshwari Temple, which is the most significant one.The time when the temple was constructed, Nawab Shayesta Khan was ruling Bengal.

HANGSESHWARI TEMPLE:-

                    The temple is standing on a raised platform. As soon we enter the temple, the temple dalan has a mud cluster, worshiped by people, surrounded by an iron railings. From outside we can see the main door of garbhagriha where the main deity is located, just before that white marble shiva linga in present beneath the floor and is worshiped. All the four side of the temple has shiva linga . The entry of the garbhagriha is beautifully decorated along with the the ceilings. The inner chamber is connected to the domes through narrow passage ways.Entry is restricted for tourists, as according to locals many people got lost in them.
                      Raja Nrisimhadeva Rai started the construction of this temple in 1799. It is said that the king built this temple after he was instructed by Goddess Hangseshwari in a dream.Rani Hanseswari was the mother of Raja Nrisingha Deb Roy, hence the deity is worshipped as Maa Hanseswari.
                      The temple was made of stone and bricks.The temple is of 'Ratna' type and has 13 ratnas arranged in five-storey. The shikharas are conical in shape and depicting an image of lotus petal. The temple was building on 'kundalini and yogic concepts', architecturally it represents " Tantrik Satchakrabhed ".
                       The body of Hangseswari godess (form of goddess kali) blue in colour which is made up of neem wood, has four arms and is seated on a lotus having it's stalk coming out of the navel of a mahadeva. The goddess is standing on her right leg- resting the left leg on her right thigh. The upper left hand is carrying a sword , the lower left hand is carrying a head of a demon; the upper right palm is posed in Abhaya Mudra whereas the lower right hand is in Bar-Mudra.
                       The five storied temple represents the five different parts of Human body, such as : Bajraksha, Ira, Chitrini, Pingala and Sushumna. It also shows the influence of European architecture.
                       About one lakh rupees or more was spent on marbles brought from Chunar situated near Benaras (Varanasi, U.P). Unfortunately the King died in the year 1802 in the midway of construction of the temple. His widowed queen Shankari took the initiative and completed the construction of the temple in the year 1814.

                                 

                                         

   
                                       

ANARTA BASUDEBA TEMPLE:-

           Just beside Hungseshwari temple , connected to it lies the anarta basudeba temple. It was built by Raja Mahasai Raneshwar Dutta Rai. In 1679. He was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. The deity is bluish in colour. The temple is 'ekratna' in plan and has octagonal pinnacle over the humped roof of the temple which has arched openings on all it's sides.The temple is standing on a raised platform. There are triple - arched facade on the east and southern side of the temple. Whole temple wall is decorated with panels of terracotta plaques, depicting war scenes, soldiers in ships, life of Krishna, gods and goddesses, animals, fight between rama and ravana, floral designs,etc.
       
                               

                    Next to the temples are the remainings of the Duttaroy palace, which are now fully in ruined state.