Architecture from the Latin architectura, is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art.

Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.

Bansilalpet Stepwell & Tourist Plaza

Known at the time as Naganah Kunta the stepwell was historically included in a garden of tamarind and palmyra trees during the British period. It also sees mention as such in an 18x15.5 inch 1854 plan of Secunderabad by Pharoah and Co. covering in beautiful detail the British Cantonment at the time noting streets, the bazar, military parade grounds, tanks, fields, streams and topography. The map extends from the centuries old Hussain Sagar Lake in the south to what later became Bowenpally in the north. The map includes six specific areas and a reference key along the right border listing the locations noted in each area.

Read the entire story and see the 1854 map marking the Stepwell and its surrounding garden.

Hawa Mahal - The Palace of Winds, Jaipur

Vihara Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Bintan Indonesia

The Taj Mahal or 'Crown of the Palace', was commissioned in 1632 and construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643, but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2020 would be approximately 70 billion rupees (about U.S. $916 million).

Constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. It is believed over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. It took the efforts of 22,000 labourers, painters, embroidery artists and stonecutters to shape the Taj. The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty-eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.

Dholavira - Harappan Metropoly - Northern Gate into the castle where the famous Signboard was found. There are Guard houses on either side. Click the photo to read the story.

Krida Ghar - the games room at Patwaon ki Haveli, Jaisalmer

The Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chisti

The Tomb of Salim Chishti is famed as one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture in India, built during the years 1580 and 1581, along with the imperial complex at Fatehpur Sikri near Zenana Rauza and facing south towards Buland Darwaza, within the quadrangle of the Jama Masjid which measures 350 ft. by 440 ft. It enshrines the burial place of the Sufi saint, Salim Chisti (1478 – 1572), a descendant of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer, and who lived in a cavern on the ridge at Sikri. The mausoleum, constructed by Akbar as a mark of his respect for the Sufi saint, who foretold the birth of Akbar's son, who was named Prince Salim after the Sufi Saint and later succeeded Akbar to the throne of the Mughal Empire, as Jahangir.

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