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Other wonders of world
Welcome...Guys and gals.......
Hey everybody.....In this Page you will see the wonderful things that still exists in this world...The things that is fascinating people all around the world.....keep on surfing and enjoy............. |
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Surf on this page and enjoy.......
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Angkor wat
Ankor Wat is the majestic work of Suryavarman II (1113-c. 1150).It is located in Northwestern Cambodia, Angkor, the Capital of the Ancient Khmer Empire was possibly founded around the Ninth Century AD by King Jayavarman II. However, the city reached its peak glory in the 12th Century under KingsSuryavarman II and Jayavarman VII. The most beautiful and most famous monument in the city, Angkor Wat, lies about one
kilometer south of the Royal town of Angkor Thom which was founded by Jayavarman VII.
The Temple of Angkor Wat was dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu by King Suryavarman II, who reigned between AD 1131
and 1150. The Temple was constructed over a period of 30 years, and illustrates some of the most beautiful examples of
Khmer and Hindu art. Covering an area of about 81 hectares, the complex consists of five towers, which are presently shown
on the Cambodian national flag. These towers are believed to represent the five peaks of Mount Meru, the Home of Gods and
Center of the Hindu Universe. Angkor Wat features the longest continuous bas-relief in the world, which runs along the outer
gallery walls, narrating stories from Hindu Mythology.
With the decline of the Ancient Khmer Empire, Angkor Wat was turned into a Buddhist Temple and was continuously
maintained, which helped its preservation. In 1992, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee declared the monument, and the
whole city of Angkor, a World Heritage Site.
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Eiffel tower
The Eiffel tower was built in Paris by Gustave Eiffel, a Frenchengineer specialized in revolutionary steel constructions, for the
1889 world exhibition. The tower originally had no practical use.
The intent was just to demonstrate the capabilities of modern
engineering. A daring engineer's dream, the Eiffel tower
weights 7000 tons, but the pressure it applies on the ground is
only equivalent to that of a chair with a man seated on it!
At 300 meters, it remained the world highest building until the
construction of the Chrysler building in New York city in 1929.
Now 320 meters high with its television antennas, it still
incredibly towers above Paris, a city almost free from
skyscrapers. Open air elevators bring you up to the first (57
meters high), the second (115 meters high) and the third floor
(276 meters high). Each one provides different and interesting
views on Paris and the surrounding Ile de France region.
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Pisa tower
The Tower of Pisa is the bell tower of the Cathedral.Its construction began in the august of 1173 andcontinued (with two long interruptions) for about two
hundred years, in full fidelity to the original project,
whose architect is still uncertain.
In the past it was widely believed that the inclination
of the Tower was part of the project ever since its
beginning, but now we know that it is not so. The
Tower was designed to be "vertical" (and even if it did
not lean it would still be one of the most remarkable
bell towers in Europe), and started to incline during its
construction.
Both because of its inclination, and its beauty, from
1173 up to the present the Tower has been the object
of very special attention. During its construction
efforts were made to halt the incipient inclination
through the use of special construction devices; later
colums and other damaged parts were substituted in
more than one occasion; today, interventions are being
carried out within the sub-soil in order to significantly
reduce the inclination and to make sure that Tower will
have a long life.
In all this story it is possible to find a meaningful
constant, the "genetic code" of the Tower: its
continual interaction with the soil on which it was built.
Today's (1999) works for the safeguard and the
conservation of the Tower with very advanced
methodologies are designed to fully respect this
constant.
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Great wall
At one time great wallstretched 12,700 li ( a li is a third of a mile) across the border between China and theHun territories in the north.Its beauty is caught in glimpses
through the mountains and clouds, its human cost is experienced through climbing it
step by step.
It started as earth works thrown up for protection by different States. The individual
sections weren't connected until the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.). Qin Shihuangdi,
First Emperor of Qin began conscripting peasants, enemies, and anyone else who
wasn't tied to the land to go to work on the wall. The tradition lasted for centuries.
Each dynasty added to the height, breadth, length, and elaborated the design mostly
through forced labor.
There is a traditional story about Meng Jiangnü. Shortly after she and her husband
were married he was conscripted to work on the wall. Meng Jiangnü worried that he
would suffer from the cold in the north and began to make a padded cotton jacket.
After it was sewn she began the long walk from her home in the south to the site of the
Great Wall. When she got there and finally found the other men from her village, she
was told that her husband had died. She went to the wall and began keening and
mourning with such pathos that 20 li of the wall collapsed and in the pit at the center,
she found the body of her husband. Meng Jinagnü threw herself into the sea to join her
husband. Her suicide personalizes the losses due to the Great Wall.
It was during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) that the Wall took on its present form. The brick and granite work was enlarged
and sophisticated designs were added. The watch towers were redesigned and modern canon were mounted in strategic areas.
The Portuguese had found a ready market for guns and canon in China, one of the few items of trade that China didn't already
have in abundance. The Ming Emperors, having overthrown the Hun dominance and expelled their Mongol rulers of the North
devoted large portions of available material and manpower to making sure that they didn't return.
Since the 1600's parts of the Wall in some areas have been either dismantled to provide building materials in the area or have
been buried by silt. We visited a restored section of the Wall at Badaling. When you stand on the Wall and look to the north
you see the beginning of the great desert flatlands of the Hun. The view to the South is like a Chinese painting of layers of rolling
hills covered by short brush and trees. The terrain is rough on both sides, and even today it is only accessible by a narrow road.
Throughout the centuries, armies were garrisoned along the length of the Wall to provide early warning of invasion and a first
line of defense. Great piles of straw and dung used to build signal fires have been found during excavations. There must have
been small garrison towns spotted along the length. There weren't many farms or trade towns to provide ease, relaxation and
food. The supply trails were over mountains along narrow paths. To bring supplies to the top, ropes were slung over posts set
in the Chinese side of the wall and baskets were hauled up hand over hand. Supplies must have always been short and chancy,
particularly in the winter.
The Wall served well. Only when a dynasty had weakened from within were invaders from the north able to advance and
conquer. Both the Mongols (Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368) and the Manchurians (Qing Dynasty,1644-1911) were able take
power, not because of weakness in the Wall but because of weakness in the government and the poverty of the people. They
took advantage of rebellion from within and stepped into the void of power without extended wars.
The Wall extends from peak to peak. The height of the mountains is used to command a greater view and for its advantage in
defense. Always take the high ground, particularly if you are going to use bows and arrows and javelins. It's steep. Most of us
settled for climbing part of the restored section and returning, but Fred was easily able to circuit between the two major gates
and return by road.
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Statue of liberty
Date Construction of the Statue began in France: 1875Title of Statue: "Liberty Enlightening the World"Sculptor: Auguste Bartholdi
Structural Engineer: Gustave Eiffel
Method of Fabrication: Repousse Process
Statue completed in Paris: June 1884
Statue presented to America by the people of France: July 4, 1884
Statue dismantled and shipped to US: Early 1885
1885 Transport Ship: French frigate "Isere"
Number of individual pieces shipped to US: 350
Number of crates required: 214
Architect of the pedestal: Richard M.Hunt (in 1877)
Dates of construction of the pedestal: Start 1883, complete 1884
Champion Fundraiser for the Pedestal: Joseph Pulitzer,
Hungarian immigrant, Publisher of the New York World.
Date of Final Assembly of statue & pedestal: 1886
Official accepting Statue on behalf of US: President Grover Cleveland
Date of Acceptance by President: October 28, 1886
Part of Acceptance Statement by President Cleveland:
"We will not forget that liberty here made her home;
nor shall her chosen altar be neglected".
Date designated a National Monument: October 15, 1924
Wind speed at which Statue sways 3 inches (7.62 cm): 50 mph
Torch sway in 50 mph wind: 5 inches (12.7 cm).
Number of windows in the crown: 25
Number of spikes in the crown: Seven rays of the diadem (7 oceans of the World)
Hand with which Statue holds tablet: left
Inscription on tablet: "July 4, 1776" (in Roman numerals)
Day of America's Independence from Britain: July 4, 1776
Height from base to torch: 151' 1" (46.50m)
Foundation of pedestal to torch: 305' 1" (92.99m)
Heel to top of head: 111' 1" (33.86m)
Length of hand: 16' 5" (5.00m)
Index finger: 8' 0" (2.44m)
Circumference at second joint: 3' 6" (1.07m)
Size of fingernail: 13"x10" (33x25.4cm)
Head from chin to cranium: 17' 3" (5.26m)
Head thickness from ear to ear: 10' 0" (3.05m)
Distance across the eye: 2' 6" ( .76m)
Length of nose: 4' 6" ( l.48m)
Right arm length: 42' 0" (12.80m)
Right arm greatest thickness: 12' 0" (3.66m)
Thickness of waist: 35' 0" (10.67m)
Width of mouth: 3' 0" (.91m)
Tablet, length: 23' 7" (7.19m)
Tablet, width: 13' 7" (4.14m)
Tablet, thickness: 2' 0" (.61m)
Height of granite pedestal: 89' 0" (27.13m)
Height of foundation: 65' 0" (19.81m)
Weight of copper used in Statue: 200,000 pounds (100 tons)
Weight of steel used in Statue: 250,000 pounds (125 tons)
Total weight of Statue: 450,000 pounds (225 tons)
Thickness of Copper sheeting: 3/32 inch (2.37mm)
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Big ben
Big Ben is one of London's best-known landmarks, and looks most spectacular at night
when the clock faces are illuminated. You even know when parliament is in session,
because a light shines above the clock face.
The four dials of the clock are 23 feet square, the minute hand is 14 feet long and the
figures are 2 feet high. Minutely regulated with a stack of coins placed on the huge
pendulum, Big Ben is an excellent timekeeper, which has rarely stopped.
The name Big Ben actually refers not to the clock-tower itself , but to the thirteen ton
bell hung within. The bell was named after the first commissioner of works, Sir
Benjamin Hall. This bell came originally from the old Palace of Westminster, it was given
to the Dean of St. Paul’s by William III. Before returning to Westminster to hang in it's
present home, it was refashioned in Whitechapel in 1858. The BBC first broadcast the
chimes on the 31st December 1923 - there is a microphone in the turret connected to
Broadcasting House.
During the second world war the House of Commons was destroyed, but the clock
tower remained intact and Big Ben continued to keep time and strike away the hours,
its unique sound was broadcast to the nation and around the world, a welcome
reassurance of hope to all who heard it.
There are even cells within the clock tower where Members of Parliament can be
imprisoned for a breach of parliamentary privilege, though this is rare; the last
recorded case was in 1880.
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Taj mahal
Agra, once the capital of the Mughal Empire during the 16th and early 18th centuries,is two and ahalf hours by express train from New Delhi. Tourists from all over the world visit Agra not to see the
ruins of the red sandstone fortress built by the Mughal emperors but to make a pilgrimage to Taj
Mahal, India’s most famous architectural wonder, in a land where magnificent temples and edificies
abound to remind visitors about the rich civilization of a country that is slowly but surely lifting itself
into an industrialized society.
The postcard picture of Taj Mahal does not adequately convey the legend, the poetry and the
romance that shroud what Rabindranath Tagore calls "a teardrop on the cheek of time". Taj Mahal
means "Crown Palace" and is in fact the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in
the world. It is best described by the English poet, Sir Edwin Arnold, as "Not a piece of architecture,
as other buildings are, but the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones." It is a
celebration of woman built in marble and that’s the way to appreciate it.
Taj Mahal stands on the bank of River Yamuna, which otherwise serves as a wide moat defending
the Great Red Fort of Agra, the center of the Mughal emperors until they moved their capital to Delhi
in 1637. It was built by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in 1631 in memory of his second wife,
Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess. She died while accompanying her husband in
Burhanpur in a campaign to crush a rebellion after giving birth to their 14th child. The death so
crushed the emperor that all his hair and beard were said to have grown snow white in a few
months.
When Mumtaz Mahal was still alive, she extracted four promises from the emperor: first, that he
build the Taj; second, that he should marry again; third, that he be kind to their children; and fourth,
that he visit the tomb on her death anniversary. He kept the first and second promises.
Construction began in 1631 and was completed in 22 years. Twenty thousand people were
deployed to work on it. It was designed by the Iranian architect Istad Usa and it is best appreciated
when the architecture and its adornments are linked to the passion that inspired it. It is a "symbol of
eternal love".
The Taj rises on a high red sandstone base topped by a huge white marble terrace on which rests
the famous dome flanked by four tapering minarets. Within the dome lies the jewel-inlaid cenotaph
of the queen. So exquisite is the workmanship that the Taj has been described as "having been
designed by giants and finished by jewellers". The only asymmetrical object in the Taj is the casket
of the emperor which was built beside the queen’s as an afterthought. The emperor was deposed
by his son and imprisoned in the Great Red Fort for eight years but was buried in the Taj. During his
imprisonment, he had a view of the Taj.
As a tribute to a beautiful woman and as a monument for enduring love, the Taj reveals its subtleties
when one visits it without being in a hurry. The rectangular base of Taj is in itself symbolic of the
different sides from which to view a beautiful woman. The main gate is like a veil to a woman’s face
which should be lifted delicately, gently and without haste on the wedding night. In indian tradition
the veil is lifted gently to reveal the beauty of the bride. As one stands inside the main gate of Taj,
his eyes are directed to an arch which frames the Taj.
The dome is made of white marble, but the tomb is set against the plain across the river and it is this
background that works its magic of colours that, through their reflection, change the view of the
Taj. The colours change at different hours of the day and during different seasons. Like a jewel, the
Taj sparkles in moonlight when the semi-precious stones inlaid into the white marble on the main
mausoleum catch the glow of the moon. The Taj is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the
evening and golden when the moon shines. These changes, they say, depict the different moods of
woman.
Different people have different views of the Taj but it would be enough to say that the Taj has a life
of its own that leaps out of marble, provided you understand that it is a monument of love. As an
architectural masterpiece, nothing could be added or substracted from it.
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Victoria falls
Visitors can gaze at the mighty Zambezi as it flows, broad and placid, to the brink of a
basalt lip, nearly two kilometres wide before taking a headlong 100 metre plunge into
the thunderous, frothy chasm of the gorge below. This is the world's largest sheet of
falling water. The early inhabitants called it "Mosi oa Tunya" - The Smoke that
Thunders - which rises up into a spray, often accompanied by rainbows. The spray
falls back as a permanent "rain", nourishing the exotic vegetation forming the rain forest
through which paths wind leading the spectator on a magnificent tour of the various
view points. It is a World Heritage Site, one of two in Zimbabwe. Named after Queen
Victoria in November 1855, it has signs of settlement earlier than 1500 ad. In 1947
King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret provided the first of many
Royal accolades to Victoria Falls.
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Opera house of Sydney
Surrounded by water on three sides, at what is knownas Bennelong Point, stands one of the most
magnificient buildings on one of the most beautiful
harbours in the world. The Sydney Opera House,
Originally designed by the Danish Architect Joern
Utzon, is meant to look like a giant sailing ship.
Click above for tour & concert
Since its opening in 1973, the Sydney Opera House
has been host to some of the most memorable artistic
performances.
The Sydney Opera House took more than 16
years to complete. It is supposed to look like a
giant sailing ship, and from some angles it does
look exactly that. This giant structure has well
over two thousand glass panes specifically made
for it in France. Unless one gets too close to the
building one does not realise that what covers the
sails so to speak is in fact rectangular ceramic
tiles. Much like the tiles in the bathroom, except
that there are well over one million of them made
for the Opera House in Sweden.
It also lies close to the other famous Sydney
landmark, the "Harbour Bridge" which joins
Central Sydney to the North Shores. Best views
of the two together are seen from McMahons
Point, Kirribilli, and the approach to the Opera
House from the Botanical Gardens.
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Angel falls
waterfall, 3,212 ft (979 m) high, on the Churún R., in the
Guiana Highlands, SE Venezuela. It has the world's
highest uninterrupted fall (2,648 ft/807 m).
One of the favorite adventures, a journey
to the base of 3,212-foot Angel Falls (the
highest in the world), offers the experience
of a lifetime. Departing from Canaima
Camp, motorized dugout canoes navigate
scenic rivers past dense jungle, open
savanna grassland and countless waterfalls
into the very heart of Canaima National
Park. Massive table-top mountains
looming ominously over the river valley
below dominate the landscape.
Auyan-tepui (where "Salto Angel"
originates) is perhaps, the most impressive
of these mountains and every bend in the
river offers a new and dramatic
perspective of this stunning formation. A
rustic shelter with hammocks for sleeping is established on an island affording fantastic views Auyan-tepui’s steep vertical face
and Angel Falls. From here, exploration of the area, including a hike to the base of the falls, affords a unique up-close
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