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Mumbai
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Mumbai, the capital
of Maharashtra, is the fastest moving,
most affluent and industrialised city
in India. Mumbai is part of India's beautiful
west coast that runs down from Gujarat,
through Mumbai to Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
The city has a natural harbour, which
was developed by the British. It is one
of the busiest ports of India, handling
approximately 40 percent of India's maritime
trade.
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Mumbai (till recently
known as 'Bombay'), derives its name from
the local deity Mumba Devi, whose temple
is still there. The Portuguese predecessors
of the British preferred to think of the
name as Bom Baim, the Good Bay. Mumbai
is a group of seven islands which are
today known as Colaba, Mahim, Mazgaon,
Parel, Worli, Girgaun and Dongri. Large
expanses of open sea have been filled
in, and tidal swamps have been reclaimed
for furthering the land area. These reclaimed
areas include Churchgate and Nariman Point.
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Mumbai
is home to people of all Indian creeds and
cultures. It is a fascinating city, throbbing
with life, and, for many people, the gateway
to India.
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Chennai
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The fourth largest
city in India and the capital of Tamil
Nadu, Chennai has grown from the merging
of a number of small villages including
its former namesake Madraspatnam. Though
many still call it Madras, it is now officially
known as Chennai. The city sprawls over
more than 70 sq km and rather than claiming
a centre, retains its former regional
hubs.
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Bangalore
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The capital of Karnataka
state is thriving modern business center,
dubbed the 'Silicon Valley' of India,
whose gracious garrison town features
are being remodeled in the image of India's
mall-loving middle class. It likes to
think it's more in tune with Mumbai and
Manhattan rather than the rest of Karnataka,
and has been scathingly described as a
city ' in search of a soul '.
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The pace of life, like
the intellectual and political climate,
is brisk. hardly a day goes by without
some new controversy boiling over across
the front pages of it's also regarded
as one of India's most progressive and
liberal cities, as far as social attitudes
go. Tourist brochures call Bangalore the
'Garden City', but nothing could be further
from the truth. Its attractions are limited,
but it does have a congenial climate and
good transport connections, and it's a
useful place to arrange trips to Karnataka's
national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
If you need a break from life on the road,
its bars and restaurants can provide some
much-needed light relief. While you are
sinking a few beers and munching on pizza,
you can contemplate the pros and cons
of modern India's confused but headlong
rush into the 21st century.
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Kushinagar
It
was in Kusinara (the modern Kasia, known
in Sanskrit as Kushinagara) toward evening,
and, on a couch between two sal trees
in the park Upavattana of the Mallas,
that he "laid himself down on his
right side, with one leg resting on the
other, mindful and self-possessed",
saying "Decay is inherent in all
things". This was the full-moon day
of the month of Vesakha (May). A week
later, his body was cremated by the Mallas
in Kusinara.
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A
dispute over the remains of the Buddha
arose between the delegates of rulers
of several kingdoms, such as Magadha,
Vesali, and Kapilavasthu. It was settled
by a venerable old Brahmin named Dona
on the basis that they should not quarrel
over the relics of one who preached peace.
With common consent, the relics were then
divided into eight portions to the satisfaction
of all and stupas were built over these
relics.
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The
passing way by Buddha at Kushinagar provided
not only the grand finale to depiction
of the story of the great teacher but
also created a new architectural form
in India - the stupa - entombing the relics
of Buddha and his leading disciples, The
stupa can be described as the earliest
mausoleum in India.
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Sarnath
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After
attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya the
Buddha went to Sarnath; and it was here
that he preached his first discourse in
the deer park to set in motion the 'Wheel
of the Dharma'. It is one of the most
holy sites as in this place the stream
of the Buddha's teaching first flowed.
At this place, the Buddha encountered
the five men who had been his companions
of earlier austerities. On meeting the
enlightened Buddha, all they saw was an
ordinary man; they mocked his well-nourished
appearance. "Here comes the mendicant
Gautama," they said, "who has
turned away from asceticism. He is certainly
not worth our respect."
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When
they reminded him of his former vows,
the Buddha replied, "Austerities
only confuse the mind. In the exhaustion
and mental stupor to which they lead,
one can no longer understand the ordinary
things of life, still less the truth that
lies beyond the senses. I have given up
extremes of either luxury or asceticism.
I have discovered the Middle Way".
Hearing this, the five ascetics became
the Buddha's first disciples.
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Gautama Buddha started teaching not to
debate but for the advantage of and out
of compassion for human beings. He explained
the middle way which avoids extremes,
the Four Noble Truths, and prescribed
the Eight-fold path. The Four Noble Truths
are: 1. There is suffering; 2. Suffering
has a cause; 3. The cause is removable,
and 4. There are ways to remove the causes.
So as to remove the causes the Buddha
prescribed an Eight-fold Path: Right speech,
Right action, Right livelihood, Right
effort, Right mindfulness, Right concentration,
Right attitude and Right view.
A Monastic tradition flourished for over
1,500 years on the site of the deer park
at Sarnath. In the third century BC Ashoka
erected a column 15.24 m in height which
had four lions as its capital which is
now treasured in the archaeology museum.
The lion symbolises both Ashoka's imperial
rule and the kingship of the Buddha. The
four-lion capital was adopted as the emblem
of the modern Indian republic. The last
and largest monastery constructed before
the Muslim invasion was Dharma-Chakar-Jina
Vihar, erected by Kumardevi, wife of King
Govinda Chandra, who ruled over Benares
during 1114 to 1154. In 1194 AD, Kutubuddin
Aibak, the Muslim conqueror, leveled the
city to the ground. Sarnath became a forest
of debris below which the historical ruins
remained buried. Of the two great stupas
which adorned the city only the Dhamekha
remained which is of the 6th century.
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About India
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