Ganges at Varanasi

Ganges is the India’s most worshipped river with many religious aspects and Varanasi is well famous for Ganges and its activities and is one of the holiest cities in India. Earlier known as Banaras, Varanasi is found within Uttar Pradesh and it is truly a feast for visitors with warm welcoming citizens and heartfelt ceremonies and rich cultures woven around Ganges. 

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Wat Phra Kaeo

Located in the city of Bankok, is the heart of all Buddhists in Thailand; Wat Phra Kaeo. There lies the Emerald Lord Buddha in central ubosoth and this statue is in standing form with a height of 66cm carved from a single jade stone. Only the king is allowed to touch the statue in order to change the cloak three times a year in the hope of good fortune to the country.  The roots of the statue is from India, according to legends, however its records states that it was found in Cambodia in 15th century and was moved to Laos and Vientiane and it was kept there for 215 years and at last, it was brought to Thailand in 18th century. 

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Hassan II Mosque

The Hassan II Mosque can be taken as the largest mosque in the country, Casablanca, Morocco and the 7th largest mosque in the world. Its minaret is however the world's tallest at 210 m. This Mosque, which is a religious building is a design the French architect Michel Pinseau and a creation by Bouygues. The Mosque stands in a way like looking out to the Atlantic. The Mosque is so huge so that it can accommodate almost 105,000 worshippers for prayers and around 25,000 inside the mosque and another 80,000 on the mosque's ground outside.

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Sistine Chapel

   Found in Apostolic Palace, Sistine Chapel is the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Veteran artists like Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio have drawn frescoes in this chapel where it is well known for architecture and decorations. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 1,100 m2 (12,000 sq ft) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. The painting drawn in the ceiling; The Last Judgment (1535-1541) is supposed to be Michelangelo’s crowning achievement in painting. The chapel’s name is from Pope Sixtus IV who restored the old Capella Magna in 1477-1480. The paintings were completed in 1482, and on the 15 August 1483, Sixtus IV celebrated the first mass in the Sistine Chapel for the Feast of the Assumption, at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The main function of the chapel could be denoted as the venue for the election of each successive pope in a conclave of the College of Cardinals. On the occasion of a conclave, a chimney is installed in the roof of the chapel, from which smoke arises as a signal. If white smoke appears, created by burning the ballots of the election, a new Pope has been elected. If a candidate receives less than a two-thirds majority, the cardinals send up black smoke which means that no successful election has yet occurred. The conclave also provided for the cardinals a space in which they can hear mass, and in which they can eat, sleep, and pass time abetted by servants. Canopies for each cardinal-elector were once used during conclaves as a sign of equal dignity. When a new pope is being elected, he gives his new name and at this, the other Cardinals would tug on a rope attached to their seats to lower their canopies.

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Colosseum

     This is an amphitheatre which is also known as Amphitheatrum Flavium, built in the center of the city Rome, Italy shaping in an ellipse. It is also the largest ever built in Roman Empire. Its construction began in 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign. Colosseum accommodates seating for 50,000 spectators which was basically used for  gladiatorial contests and public events such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, and quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

It has been long believed that the name Colosseum was from a colossal statue of Nero nearby. This statue was later remodeled by Nero's successors into the likeness of Helios or Apollo, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown. Nero's head was also replaced several times with the heads of succeeding emperors. Despite its pagan links, the statue remained standing well into the medieval era and was credited with magical powers. It came to be seen as an iconic symbol of the permanence of Rome. In the 8th century, a famous epigram attributed to the Venerable Bede celebrated the symbolic significance of the statue in a prophecy "as long as the Colossus stands, so shall Rome; when the Colossus falls, Rome shall fall; when Rome falls, so falls the world.” This is often mistranslated to refer to the Colosseum rather than the Colossus. The Colossus did eventually fall, possibly being pulled down to reuse its bronze.

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Cathedral–Mosque of Córdoba

Located in the Andalusian city of Córdoba, Spain, is the former Great Mosque of Córdoba or the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción which in English means the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. Before the Umayyad Moors converted the building into a mosque and then built a new mosque here, it was originally a pagan temple and then a Visigothic Christian church. After the Spanish Reconquista, it once again became a Roman Catholic Church, with a plateresque cathedral later inserted into the centre of the large Moorish building. The Mezquita is regarded as the one of the most accomplished monuments of Islamic architecture. 

The building was begun around the year 600 as the Christian Visigothic church of St. Vincent. After the Islamic conquest of the Visigothic kingdom, the church was divided between the Muslims and Christians. When the exiled Umayyad prince Abd ar-Rahman I escaped to Spain and defeated the Andalusian governor Yusuf al-Fihri, he allowed the Christians to rebuild their ruined churches, and purchased the Christian half of the church of St. Vincent. Abd ar-Rahman I and his descendants reworked it over two centuries to refashion it as a mosque, starting in 784. Additionally, Abd ar-Rahman I used the mosque as an adjunct to his palace and named it to honor his wife. Traditionally, the mihrab of a mosque faces in the direction of Mecca; by facing the mihrab, worshipers pray towards Mecca. Mecca is in east which means southeast of the mosque, but the mihrab points south. 

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Potala Palace

    Located in Lhasa,Tibet Autonomous Region, China, Potala Palace was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India, after an invasion and failed uprising in 1959. It was named after Mount Potala, the abode of Chenresig or Avalokitesvara. Construction of the palace started in 1645 by Lozang Gyatso, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama after one of his spiritual advisers, Konchog Chophel, pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is between Drepung and Seramonasteries and the old city of Lhasa. Today, the Potala Palace serves as a museum.

The building spreads over 400 metres east-west and 350 metres north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging 3 m. thick, and 5 m. thick at the base, and with copper poured into the foundations to help proof it against earthquakes. Thirteen stories of buildings containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues  soar 117 metres (384 ft) on top of Marpo Ri, the "Red Hill", rising more than 300 m in total above the valley floor. It is said that the three main hills of Lhasa represent the "Three Protectors of Tibet." Chokpori, just to the south of the Potala, is the soul-mountain (bla-ri) of Vajrapani, Pongwari that of Manjushri, and Marpori, the hill on which the Potala stands, represents Chenresig or Avalokiteshvara.

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Hagia Sophia

It is a former mosque and now a museum found in Istanbul, Turkey which served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935. The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity, its dedication feast taking place on 25 December, the anniversary of the Birth of the incarnation of the Logos in Christ. 

Incredibly famous for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have "changed the history of architecture." It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by the Greek scientists Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician. It also contains a large collection of holy relics. 

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Pagan Pagodas in Myanmar

Pagan or also known as Bagan is located 425 miles north of Yangon, Myanmar. It is a famous religious city consists of many pagodas, stupas and shrines built around 11-13 AD. Pagan was the capital city of northern Burma for more than thousands of years.  It's believed that more than 13,000 structures once occupied the Pagan plain. Pagan is a religious and archaeological marvel, and some would say it's "a wonder of the ancient World." The temples stretch for eight miles along the bank of the Ayeyarwady River and for about two miles inland. At some points the ruins are so dense that it's often described as a place where it's impossible to move without touching something sacred. 

People of the Burman ethnic group had been already converted to Indian religion like Mahayana. Under King Anawrahta (reigned 1044-77), the ethnic Burmans finally conquered the other people of the region, including people called the Mon, who were previously dominant in the south. They sent the Mon royal family making it the capital and centre of an official, fundamentalist form of Hinayana (Theravada) Buddhism adopted from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), about 1056. This initiated the period of Pagan’s greatness, which was sustained at first by Mon artistic traditions. Many numbers of large and exquisite monasteries and shrine were built and maintained during the next 200 years and it was made possible both by the great wealth of the royal exchequer and by the large number of slaves, skilled and unskilled, whose working lives were dedicated to the support of each institution. The city became one of the most important centres of Buddhist learning.

Lesser buildings are grouped around the more important pagodas and temples. Scattered around these are smaller pagodas and buildings, some of which may once have been aristocratic palaces and pavilions later adapted to monastic uses--e.g., as libraries and preaching halls. All are based on Indian prototypes, modified during subsequent development by the Mon. The principal architectural theme is the Buddhist stupa, a tall bell dome, designed originally to contain near its apex the sacred relics of Buddhist saints. Another is the high, terraced plinth, which may be supplemented by stairs, gateways, extra stupas, and pinnacles and symbolizes a sacred mountain.

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Ancient city of Petra

Undoubtedly famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system, this Jordanian ancient city of Petra is found on the slope of mountain Hor, in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is believed that this was built in the 6th century BC as the capital city of Nabataeans. Enclosed by towering rocks and watered by a perennial stream, Petra not only possessed the advantages of a fortress, but controlled the main commercial routes which passed through it to Gaza in the west, to Bosra and Damascus in the north, to Aqaba and Leuce Come on theRed Sea, and across the desert to the Persian Gulf.

It is found that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BC). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. Stations 19 through 26 of the stations list of Exodus are places associated with Petra. The habits of the original natives may have influenced the Nabataean custom of burying the dead and offering worship in half-excavated caves. Although Petra is usually identified with Selawhich means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance.

The Semitic name of the city, if not Sela, remains unknown. The passage in Diodorus Siculus which describes the expeditions which Antigonus sent against the Nabataeans in 312 BC is understood to throw some light upon the history of Petra, but the "Petra" referred to as a natural fortress and place of refuge cannot be a proper name and the description implies that the town was not yet in existence. The name "Rekem" was inscribed in the rock wall of the Wadi Musa opposite the entrance to the Siq, but about twenty years ago the Jordanians built a bridge over the wadi and this inscription was buried beneath tons of concrete.

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The Taj Mahal

You will get the answer Taj Mahal from anyone if you ask what is the living proof of eternal love for it was built with great love and grief by the Mugal king Shah Jahan for his beloved 3rd wife queen Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal situated in Agra, India is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage." It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and an UNESCO world heritage site.

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later.

Taj Mahal is a fine example for Mogul architecture which is a combination of Persian, Indian and Turkish architectural styles. Taj Mahal consists of a large white marbled dome which is actually an integrated complex of structures. Construction of Taj Mahal was done by thousands of craftsmen and artists. Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abdul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.  Most of the earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, and buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.

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Inca city of Machu Picchu

Situated on a mountain ridge above Urubamba Valley in Peru of South America, which is 80km northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows is the great Inca Temple of Sun. Build around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire this great piece of craftsmanship was abandoned 100 years or so later. It is now one of the Seven Wonders of the World and it truly does amaze everyone who not only pays a visit but also the ones who have heard about it. The origins of the Inca are shrouded in mystery and mythology. According to their own mythology, the Inca began when Manco Capac and his sister, Mama Occlo, rose out of Lake Titicaca, having been created by the Sun and the Moon as divine founders of a chosen people. Manco Capac and his sister then went off with a golden rod to find a suitable location to found a great city. Through a series of adventures, geomantic resonances, and astronomical correspondences, the site of Cuzco was chosen.

The Incas started building the "estate" around AD 1400, but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed lately. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored. The restoration work continues to this day. Since the site was never known to the Spanish during their conquest, it is highly significant as a relatively intact cultural site. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

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