Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category

Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq
(Copyright 1990, 1997, All Rights Reserved)

Taj Mahal is regarded as one of the eight wonders of the world, and some Western historians have noted that its architectural beauty has never been surpassed. The Taj is the most beautiful monument built by the Mughals, the Muslim rulers of India. Taj Mahal is built entirely of white marble. Its stunning architectural beauty is beyond adequate description, particularly at dawn and sunset. The Taj seems to glow in the light of the full moon. On a foggy morning, the visitors experience the Taj as if suspended when viewed from across the Jamuna river.

Taj Mahal was built by a Muslim, Emperor Shah Jahan (died 1666 C.E.) in the memory of his dear wife and queen Mumtaz Mahal at Agra, India. It is an “elegy in marble” or some say an expression of a “dream.” Taj Mahal (meaning Crown Palace) is a Mausoleum that houses the grave of queen Mumtaz Mahal at the lower chamber. The grave of Shah Jahan was added to it later. The queen’s real name was Arjumand Banu. In the tradition of the Mughals, important ladies of the royal family were given another name at their marriage or at some other significant event in their lives, and that new name was commonly used by the public. Shah Jahan’s real name was Shahab-ud-din, and he was known as Prince Khurram before ascending to the throne in 1628. Read the rest of this entry »

City of Petra – An Ancient City

The City of Petra, obscured from the western world until discovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812 and still widely unknown by many despite its growing modern fame, is an ancient city located in the Middle Eastern country of Jordan. It is located near the southwest corner of Jordan just east of the Israeli border. The city itself is located near Mount Hor (the location in scripture, Numbers 20:23-28, where the brother of Moses — Aaron — passed away) as well as the modern day city of Wadi Musa (Arabic for Valley of Moses) — built primarily to host visitors of the ancient city. Petra was originally built as the capital of the ancient Nabataean people. It was built in a valley of sandstone mountains and much of the city is built directly into the sandstone itself. Because of the cities positioning, its inhabitants took on two very great advantages: Read the rest of this entry »

I asked a reader of this blog to write about the Mayan calendar, but it must be with an easily understandable. Actually the Mayan calendar is difficult to understand. But I will try to discuss it in simpler terms. This post just to increase knowledge, there is no element of mystery. (Sorry if not interesting).

We start from a fact that you may not know. If we only know one kind of calendar, the Gregorian calendar, the Mayan calendar has 22 species. But forget the 22 calendar, we will only discuss the 3 most famous calendar.

Three calendar are:
1. Tzolkin.
2. Haab
3. Long Count

I will discuss the first two calendar briefly.

Tzolkin
Consists of a religious cycle of 260 days. Tzolkin composed of 20 weeks, each consisting of 13 days (13 days x 20 weeks = 260 days). Each week has their own logo like zodiac or the Chinese zodiac. Read the rest of this entry »