Information Pages
Facts about India
| inhabitants: | 1 050 000 000 people |
| life expectancy: | 62 years |
| literacy rate: | 65% |
| people below poverty line: | 35% |
| languages: | 15 official languages |
| capital: | New Dehli |
| money: | 1 Indian rupee = 100 paise |
| landscape | extreme variety of landscapes from deserts to tropical forests and from the mountains of the Himalaya (8 000 metres high) to the beaches of Goa. We find a vegetation from green tropical forests to dry savannes. |
| important dates: |
1497 Vasco da Gama`s voyage to India 1947 independance of India (Mahatma Gandhi) 1971 military conflict between India and Pakistan |
| economy: | textiles, software, greatest film industry of the world in Bombay (Bollywood), jewellery, chemicals, steel, petroleum |
Indian habits-German habits
|
Indian habits Uncle Rajeev married when he was 16 (p.5). Indian girls can marry at the age of 13. People are transported in autorickshaws (p.14). Indian kids wear traditional clothes (boys: turban, yuba; girls: sari). The spring festival is Holi. The food is spicy. In villages men sleep outside the houses to protect the women. There is one well in the middle of the village where the people get water. There are no roads to many villages, only tracks. |
German habits People marry in their midtwenties or when they are older. People are transported in taxis. German kids wear jeans and T-shirts.
The food is mild. Men sleep inside their houses.
There are roads everywhere. |
Indian clothes for girls and women
Sari
The most popular dress for girls and women is the Sari. Depending on
the region in India Saris have different styles, patterns, fabrics and
there are even different ways to wrap Saris. A Sari is a three piece
garment: the blouse (a small top), the long underskirt and the Sari
itself. It can have 5-9 yards of cloth. It is wrapped in a particular
way around the waist and chest and over the shoulder.
For their marriages the Indian women wear Saris that are decorated with
a lot of gold.
Shalwar Kameez
That is another dress for women and girls. Shalvaar kameez is Hindi,
shalvaar means pant and kameez means shirt or top. This dress comes
in 3 pieces: top, pant and dupetta (scarf).
Lengha
The Lengha is popular in Northern India. It has three pieces: a long
skirt, a blouse, a dupetta and sometimes a vest. Lenghas are usually
worn on special festivals.
My virtual tour in and around the Taj Mahal
I want to tell you something about a very famous monument in India. Its name is the Taj Mahal. It is one of the most famous monuments in the world. Before I talk about this building I want to talk about the area which surrounds this monument. Then I am going to talk about the Taj Mahal and the problems that go along with it.
I found this information on the internet. There is an online tour through the Taj Mahal and the area which surrounds it. So I want to start with the surroundings. There are many photos on the internet I could click on. Then there is a speaker who gave me this information about the Taj Mahal. Now I start:
The Taj Ganj is an area in front of the Forecourt and in front of the Taj Mahal. In the past it was a lively place with many shops, like a real basar. People say that the emperor Shah Jahan met his later wife Mumtaz Mahal here for the first time when she sold jewels in her shop. Today this area is still a very lively place but not as well organized as in the past.
The Forecourt is an area which is surrounded by a red sandstone wall. Within these walls there are 128 shops and you will find wonderful terraced gardens.
The Gateway is part of the Forecourt and leads to the gardens of the Taj Mahal. This Gateway is a very interesting building. It is 100 feet high and 150 feet wide. It has got three storeys. It separates the very noisy and lively area of the Forecourt from the quiet gardens of the Taj Mahal. These gardens represent the garden Eden in paradise.
The Taj Mahal was built in 1631 and is one of the biggest monuments of all times. It's 120 feet high. The emperor Shah Jahan did this because he loved his wife and he promised her two things on her deathbed: First, that he would never have a child from another woman and second, that he would build a wonderful monument - the Taj Mahal - that would be a copy of her beauty. The building itself is surrounded by wonderful gardens and two water canals that form a cross. Without all this, the Taj Mahal would not be so interesting.
The emperor Shah Jahan built this monument in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who he loved very much and who was his favourite wife. So this building is a wonderful tomb for his wife. If you have a closer look at this monument you will find many decorations. All these ornaments are in great harmony.
The Taj Mahal is built from white marble. But the monument is in no good condition - they call it marble cancer (Marmor-Krebs). What does this mean? The Taj Mahal is close to the big city of Agra. About 5.5 million people live in this area and 7 million tourists come here every year. There are more than 1000 factories. All this pollutes the air and so the Taj Mahal is getting very ill. If the air is not cleaned, the Taj Mahal will no longer be white but black. Since 1998 there have been plans to close the factories and to plant trees around the Taj Mahal, so that the air is getting cleaner and cleaner.
Even Lady Diana from England, the Princess of Wales visited this monument in 1992. Maybe I can visit this wonderful monument when I am older.
(www.Taj-Mahal.net)
What I wrote in my diary after my visit to the Taj Mahal
Dear diary,
this is a wonderful class trip. Yesterday I was at the Taj Mahal with my hosts and their children. First it was very boring because there were so stupid guides who talked too fast and whose English was too difficult for me. So I could not understand anything. But then we decided to go to some parts of the area on our owns. And that was what we did.
First we went to the gatehouse. The walls there are painted in white and red patterns. Behind it there is the big Pool of Abundance. Its water is turquoise. Then we had a look at the Chaka. That is a wonderful white building and around it there are four towers. On the roof there is a big dome. On the top there is a water bassin that is designed like a Hindu temple.
The guide said that the Taj Mahal was built in 1631 after Shah Jahans`s wife had died. He had loved her so much that he wanted to give her the most beautiful tomb in the world. I think that`s very romantic.
My English teacher took a photo of me. Right at the same place where the famous photo of Princess Diana was taken.
In the evening I was a bit homesick and so I wrote a postcard to my family in Germany. I look forward to seeing them soon. Tomorrow we will go to New Dehli and take the plane to Frankfurt at the Indira Gandhi Airport.