Mahabalipuram Lighthouse
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Mahabalipuram Lighthouse
Mahabalipuram Lighthouse is located in Tamil Nadu, India. It has been open to tourists since 2011. It was closed in 2001 following a perceived threat from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The first light was commissioned here in 1887 on the roof of the Olakkannesvara Temple. The lighthouse, with a circular masonry tower made of natural stone, became fully functional in 1904. India's oldest lighthouse, built around 640 CE by Pallava king Mahendravarman I stands next to this modern structure. The Pallava era lighthouse is a protected monument, maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. Olakkannesvara Temple Mahabalipuram was a busy port under the Pallavas as early as the 7th century CE. Bonfires were lit on rocks even at that time to aid the mariners. The British first used the temple atop the Mahishasuramardini cave as a light. The new lighthouse and the old lighthouse are adjacent to each other.
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Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India by population, sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language—one of the longest surviving Classical languages of India, classical languages in the world—is widely spoken in the state and serves as its official language. The state lies in the southernmost part of the Indian peninsula, and is bordered by the Indian union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, as well as an international maritime border with Sri Lanka. It is bounded by the Western Ghats in the west, the Eastern Ghats in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait to the south-eas ...
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India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka.", "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, int ...
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Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, translit=Damiḷa īḷām vimukthi koṭi; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization that was based in northeastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese dominated Sri Lankan Government.T. Sabaratnam, Pirapaharan, Volume 1, Introduction (2003)T. Sabaratnam, Pirapaharan, Volume 1, Chapter 1: Why didn't he hit back? (2003) Violent persecution erupted in the form of the 1956 and 1958 anti-Tamil pogroms which were carried out by majority Sinhalese mobs often with state support following the passing of the 1956 Sinhala Only Act. Founde ...
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Olakkannesvara Temple
The Olakkannesvara Temple ("flame eye"; commonly Olakkanatha; also known as, "the Old Lighthouse") is in Mahabalipuram town, overlooking the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal in Kancheepuram District in Tamil Nadu, India. Like the Shore Temple, the Olakkannesvara Temple is a structural temple. Built in the 8th century, it is situated directly above the Mahishasuramardini mandapa on a hillock which provides scenic views of the town. As the area is within a high security zone because of a nuclear power station a few kilometres to its south, photography is prohibited. The Olakkannesvara Temple is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a Mahishasura temple. It is dedicated to an incarnation of Shiva. It is one of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram that were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. Etymology Commonly, the building has been known as the "Olakkanatha Temple". Its original name, however, was Olakkannesvara, a corruption of "Ulaikkannisvaram" (meani ...
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Pallava
The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as feudatories. The Pallavas became a major South Indian power during the reign of Mahendravarman I (600–630 CE) and Narasimhavarman I (630–668 CE), and dominated the southern Andhra Region and the northern parts of the Tamil region for about 600 years, until the end of the 9th century. Throughout their reign, they remained in constant conflict with both the Chalukyas of Badami in the north, and the Tamil kingdoms of Chola and Pandyas in the south. The Pallavas were finally defeated by the Chola ruler Aditya I in the 9th century CE. The Pallavas are most noted for their patronage of Hindu temple architecture, the finest example being the Shore Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mamallapuram. Kancheepuram served as the capital of ...
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Mahendravarman I
Mahendravarman I (600–630 CE) was a Pallava emperor who ruled the Southern portion of present-day Andhra region and Northern regions of what forms present-day Tamil Nadu in India in the early 7th century. He was a scholar, painter, architect, musician. He was the son of Simhavishnu, who defeated the Kalabhras and re-established the Pallava kingdom. During his reign, the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II attacked the Pallava kingdom. The Pallavas fought a series of wars in the northern Vengi region, before Mahendravarma decimated his chief enemies at Pullalur (according to Pallava grants at Kuram, Kasakudi and Tadantottam). Although Mahendravarma saved his capital, he lost the northern provinces to Pulakeshin. Tamil literature flourished under his rule, with the rise in popularity of ''Tevaram'' written by Appar and Sambandhar. Mahendravarman I was the author of the play '' Mattavilasa Prahasana'' which is a Sanskrit satire. During his period "Bhagwatajjukam", another satire (praha ...
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Archaeological Survey Of India
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who also became its first Director-General. History ASI was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who also became its first Director-General. The first systematic research into the subcontinent's history was conducted by the Asiatic Society, which was founded by the British Indologist William Jones on 15 January 1784. Based in Calcutta, the society promoted the study of ancient Sanskrit and Persian texts and published an annual journal titled ''Asiatic Researches''. Notable among its early members was Charles Wilkins who published the first English translation of the '' Bhagavad Gita'' in 1785 with the patronage of the then Governor-General of Bengal, Warren Hastings. However, the most important of the society's achieveme ...
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Mahabalipuram
Mamallapuram, also known as Mahabalipuram, is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, best known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 7th- and 8th-century Hindu Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. It is one of the famous tourist sites in India. The ancient name of the place is Thirukadalmallai. Mamallapuram was one of two major port cities in the Pallava kingdom. The town was named after Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who was also known as Mamalla. Along with economic prosperity, it became the site of a group of royal monuments, many carved out of the living rock. These are dated to the 7th and 8th centuries: rathas (temples in the form of chariots), mandapas (cave sanctuaries), the giant open-air rock relief the ''Descent of the Ganges'', and the Shore Temple dedicated to Shiva. The contemporary town plan was established by the British Raj in 1827. Etymology The earliest mention of the city is found in the 1st century work called ''P ...
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Chennai Lighthouse
There have been at least four lighthouses named Chennai Lighthouse ( ta, சென்னை கலங்கரை விளக்கம்) or Madras Lighthouse, which face the Bay of Bengal on the east coast of the Indian Subcontinent in Chennai, India. The current lighthouse is a landmark on the Marina Beach, which was built by the East Coast Constructions and Industries in 1976, and opened in January 1977. It also houses an office of the meteorological department. On 16 November 2013, it was reopened to visitors. It is one of the few lighthouses in the world with an elevator. It is also the only lighthouse in India within the city limits. It is powered by a solar panel. Location The lighthouse is located on Kamarajar Salai (Beach Road) opposite the office of the Director General of Tamil Nadu Police and All India Radio's Chennai station. The lighthouse marks the end of the promenade on the northern half of the Marina Beach. It is also the junction where Kamarajar Salai, ...
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List Of Lighthouses In India
There are many lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...s along the long coastline of India and in the associated List of islands of India, islands. They are administered by the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships, Government of India whose headoffice is located in Noida. They are categorized for administrative reasons into nine directorates: Gandhidham, Jamnagar, Mumbai, Goa, Kochi, Cochin, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata and Port Blair. Gandhidham directorate Office located in Gandhidham: * Kandla * Bhadreshwar * Balachhadi * Navalakhi * Chhachhi, Gujarat, Chhachhi * Harudi * Jakhau * Narayan Sarovar (Koteshwar) * Vanku, Gujarat, Vanku * Chudeshwar * Mundra (Navinal) * Mandvi * Okha, India, Okha Jamnagar directorate Office located in Jamnag ...
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Lighthouses In Tamil Nadu
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, rocks, and safe entries to harbors; they also assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and has become uneconomical since the advent of much cheaper, more sophisticated and effective electronic navigational systems. History Ancient lighthouses Before the development of clearly defined ports, mariners were guided by fires built on hilltops. Since elevating the fire would improve the visibility, placing the fire on a platform became a practice that led to the development of the lighthouse. In antiquity, the lighthouse functioned more as an entrance marker to ports than as a warning signal for reefs and ...
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