Architecture of The Mosque

The rulers of the Sultanate of Delhi and its successor  were great patrons of art and architecture and constructed many fine tombs, mosques and madrasas. These have a distinctive style which bears influences of 'later Tughlaq' architecture. Mosques all over India were built in different styles; the most elegant styles developed in areas where indigenous art traditions were strong and local artisans were highly skilled. Thus regional or provincial styles of mosques grew out of local temple or domestic styles, which were conditioned in their turn by climate, terrain, materials, hence the enormous difference between the mosques of Bengal, Kashmir and Gujarat. The  Mosque followed the architectural school of Jaunpur.The Mosque of a distinct style, preserved mainly in architecture, developed after the Mugal empire was established (1192). The square CharMinar of Hyderabad (1591) with large arches, arcades, and minarets is typical. This art made extensive use of stone and reflected Indian adaptation to Muslim rule, until Mughals art replaced it in the 17th century, as typified by structures like the Taj Mahal.
The traditional hypostyle plan with an enclosed courtyard, imported from Western Asia was generally associated with the introduction of Islam in new areas, but was abandoned in favour of schemes more suited to local climate and needs. TheMosque was a mixture of the local influence and the Western Asian style and examples of this type of mosque are common in India.
                      The  Mosque was a large imposing structure with three domes, one central and two secondary. It is surrounded by two high walls, running parallel to each other and enclosing a large central courtyard with a deep well, which was known for its cold and sweet water. On the high entrance of the domed structure are fixed two stone tablets which bear two inscriptions in Persian declaring that this structure was built by Mir Baqi on the orders of Babur. The walls of The Mosque are made of coarse-grained whitish sandstone blocks, rectangular in shape, while the domes are made of thin and small burnt bricks. Both these structural ingredients are plastered with thick chunam paste mixed with coarse sand.
                                    The Central Courtyard was surrounded by lavishly curved columns superimposed to increase the height of the ceilings. The plan and the architecture followed the Begumpur Friday mosque of Jahanpanah rather than the Moghul style where Hindu masons used their own trabeated structural and decorative traditions. The excellence of their craftsmanship is noticeable in their vegetal scrolls and lotus patterns. These motifs are also present in the Firuz Shah Mosque in Firuzabad (c.1354) now in a ruined state, Qila Kuhna Mosque (c.1540, The Darasbari Mosque in the Southern suburb of the walled city of Gaur, and the Jamali Kamili Mosque built by Sher Shah Suri this was the forerunner of the Indo Islamic style adopted by Akbar.TheMosque with its bold and graceful style was universally praised and widely followed.
                                            A whisper from The Mosque Mihrab could be heard clearly at the other end 200 feet [60 m] away and through the length and breadth of the central court" according to Graham Pickford (1828–1833). The Mosque's acoustics were mentioned by him in his book 'Historic Structures of Oudhe' he says “for a 16th century building the deployment and projection of voice from the pulpit is considerably advanced, the unique deployment of sound in this structure will astonish the visitor”.
                  Modern Architects have attributed this intriguing acoustic feature to a large recess in the wall of the Mihrab and several recesses in the surrounding walls which functioned as resonators; this design helped everyone to hear the speaker at the Mihrab. The sandstone used in building The  Mosque also had resonant qualities which contributed to the unique acoustics.
                               The Mosque’s Tughluquid style integrated  design components and techniques, such as air cooling systems disguised as Islamic architectural elements like arches, vaults and domes. In The Masjid the high ceiling, domes, and six large grill windows  all served as a passive environmental control system that brought down the temperature and also allowed in natural ventilation as well as daylight
                                       The reported medicinal properties of the deep well in the central courtyard have been featured in various news reports such as the BBC report of December 1989 and in various The earliest mention of The Mosque water well was in a two line reference to the Mosque in the Gazette of Faizabad District 1918 which says  the  Mosque is an ancient structure with a well which both the Hindus and Mussalmans claim has Miraculous properties.”

David Coleman Headley posed as Jew in mumbai

David Coleman Headley, a pakistani american,who was arrested last month in Chicago as he tried to make his way to Pakistan via Philadelphia.

U.S. and Indian authorities have been investigating Headley. Over the weekend, the Indian Nation Investigating Agency raided several places in Mumbai in search of evidence.

Indian security sources believe Headley cased the Chabad center, known as the Nariman House, for the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is believed to be responsible for the attacks.

Indian investigators found that Headley visited all 10 Mumbai locations that were attacked last November, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

The news agency reported that Headley visited the Mumbai Chabad in July 2008. When he was arrested last month in the United States, he had a book in his possession titled "To Pray as a Jew," the Calcutta Telegraph reported.

Chabad Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, were among the six victims killed at the Nariman House. A total of 179 people were killed in the Mumbai terror attacks, which occurred over a three-day period.

incredible india

In 1991, westarted the economic reforms process owing mainly to the serious balance of payments crisis it was facing. Then, India -- just an inch away from defaulting on its loans -- had less than $2 billion in forex reservesand then had to pledge gold with the International Monetary Fund to get a loan to get out of the crisis.

Today, it is the IMF that has sold gold to India to 'borrow' money to loan to poor nations!

That is t the economic reforms that Manmohan Singh (the then finance minister and current prime minister) set in motion have borne fruit.

On September 18, 2009, the IMF's executive board approved gold sales strictly limited to 403.3 metric tonnes, representing one eighth of its total holdings.

India and China were seen as the likely buyers the IMF gold, given the two Asian giants' economic strength even in the face of the global recession that ravaged most economies. Gold jumped to a record after India’s central bank bought 200 metric tons of the metal from the International Monetary Fund, heightening speculation that there may be more official purchases.The Reserve Bank of India bought the bullion, for $6.7 billion, from Oct. 19 to Oct. 30. It was “the biggest single central-bank purchase that we know about for at least 30 years in such a short period

Five minds for the future

I happened to see in the book stall, “Five Minds for the Future” written by Howard Gardner. Let us remember, this book is being published, 25 centuries after Lord Buddha’s enlightenment. My curiosity and desire increased to go into the details of this book; particularly in the today’s world environment of social conflicts, political violence and impact of globalization and above all the youth of the world have a question where their lives’ are heading. I am convinced with the multi-religious background of our nation, the future definitely needs these capacities to be built in the minds of the youth. I studied the five minds of the future, let me describe based on my understanding:

1. Disciplinary mind: Disciplinary minds require the mastery of major schools of thought that may include science, mathematics, history and religion. Apart from this the disciplinary mind has to be enriched with expertise in at least one professional field. Research confirms that it takes up to 10 years to master a discipline. This mind also knows how to work steadily overtime to improve skill and understand.

2.Synthesizing mind: What is needed is the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into an integrated system and communicate the synthesized thoughts. With the increasing volume of information in the present day world, capacity to synthesize assumes great importance.

3. Creating mind: It is essential to build capacity to uncover and create solutions to new problems, questions and phenomena. For examples on creativity, in general we look for leaders, rather than managers.

It puts forth new ideas, poses, familiar questions and arrives at unprecedented answers. The creating mind seeks to remain at least one step ahead of even the most sophisticated computers and robots. I understand that most of the computers of the future and accessories will be micro sized, wearable and will have wireless communication with each other. Moderately priced PCs capable of performing about a billion calculations per second today will be able to perform about a trillion calculations per second within next 10 years. It is predicted that by 2019, the computational ability of an ordinary PC would exceed the capability of human brain. By 2029, the capability of a normal PC would be around 1000 times that of the human brain. My view is that definitely the creating mind of the human being will always be superior to the most powerful computers in the horizon.

4.Respectful mind: It is a uniquely developed mind, a mature mind that has awareness and appreciation for differences among human beings. The capacity built in the respectful mind, leads to understand other persons on their own terms with mutual trust. In the world where we are, all interlinked and need to maintain working relationship, intolerance is no longer a viable option.

5. Ethical mind: It is indeed a built-in-capacity for fulfilling once responsibility as a worker and as a citizen simultaneously, It will essentially lead to “work with integrity and succeed with integrity”. The mind conceptualizes how workers can serve purpose beyond self interest and how citizens can work unselfishly to improve the lot of all. The ethical mind then acts on the basis of these analyses. In the present scenario, the need for respecting mind and ethical mind is very important, because many of the societal problems today are arising out of lack of consideration for others and overwhelming selfishness of the individual. The education system has to cultivate these minds among the youth, so that they learn to respect others, are tolerant and perseverant for realizing their goals in life.

With these five types of minds, a person will be well equipped to deal with what is expected as well as what cannot be anticipated. Without these minds, a person will be at the mercy of forces that he or she can’t understand. Our educational, political, managerial and spiritual system should nurture these five kinds of minds for cultivating positive human potentials. Disciplines, syntheses and creativity can be put to all kinds of ends if we do not cultivate the sense of respect and ethical orientation. Hence, the five kinds of minds should be made to work synergistically.

When I visualize these five minds of the future, I have a message for all of you. Nurturing all the five minds is possible, if you build the following five capacities among the youth. What are those five capacities? The five capacities are: research and inquiry, creativity and innovation, use of high technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership are the five capacities required to be built through the education process.

If we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce “Autonomous Learner” a self-directed, self controlled, lifelong learner who will have the capacity to both, respect authority and at the same time is capable of questioning authority, in an appropriate manner. These are the leaders who would work together as a “Self-organizing Network” and transform any nation into a prosperous nation. The most important part of the education is to imbibe the confidence among the student is the spirit of “we can do it”.