Indian Heritage : India is a place where colour is doubly bright.
India has a rich heritage in its history. Fromcho las and dravidas in the south to Mughals and Rajputs in the north, every region in every corner of the country has a unique story to tell. Some of the monuments and heritage sites like Hampi in Karnataka or Ajanta Ellora caves in Maharashtra are UNESCO world heritage sights. They are of the utmost importance to the tourism industry in India. Other than revenue, tourism and economic aspects of our heritage sites, the preservation of these heritage sites are important to celebrate the architectural and cultural marvels of our people thousand of years back.
If we look at the architectural and engineering marvel of heritage sites like Ajanta Ellora caves or Belur-Halebeed temples, it signifies the knowledge about art, engineering, management construction, patience and perseverance that people had back then. Many such monuments back then took more than 100 years to be built. Such caves and monuments are difficult to build even now, in 2020, with so much of technological and engineering expertise.
Taj Mahal has become the face of India in the rest of the world. The importance of love and sacrifice that the Taj Mahal signifies is an important message to people even today. Being one of the seven wonders of the world, the architectural marvel of Taj Mahal is beyond words to describe. From Taj Mahal to Laal Kila (red fort) to Qutub Minar and Jamma Masjid, the Mughal rule in India has definitely left its imprint in the country and it continues to leave one for years to come.
When we say heritage, it does not necessarily mean monuments and buildings. Heritage refers to any possession that our ancestral generations have left for us. In this Indian heritage essay, we will be talking about such possessions as well.
From the swords and jewels of Tipu Sultan, ruler in Karnataka, to the collection of vintage cars left behind by Rajput of Rajasthan and Maharajaas of Mysore region, such possessions in India are numerous. One of the biggest heritage of India, the Kohinoor diamond, which was looted and taken away by the Britsh, still lies with the United Kingdom. There are various such valuable possessions in the UK and other parts of the world that belongs to India, which has never come to us, which rightly and fully belongs to us. In fact, the reparations that the UK has to pay India, for its brutal regime of 200 years in the country, will be in billions of dollars.
It is not just the architectural, artistic and engineering marvel that these heritages represent. They represent something far more than that. The sacrifices, immolations, tortures and renunciations that people had to go through while making these legendary arts. It is said that the labourers who built the Taj Mahal had their thumbs cut off so that they shall not be employed again to build a similar structure. While we awe the beauty of these structures now, we should also understand and learn from the sacrifices that went behind making these heritages.
Many statues of kings and queen were built by hard-working labourers, soldiers and artists. They are the real unsung heroes of those times and not just the queens and kings. The heritage of India celebrates not only the traditions and culture of our land but also the sacrifices and immolations that our heroes have gone through.
