Download or read book The Vanishing Stepwells of India written by Victoria Lautman and published by Merrell. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some of the finest architectural structures in India are to be found below ground: these are its ancient stepwells. Stepwells are unique to India; the earliest rudimentary wells date from about the 4th century CE, and eventually they were built throughout the country, particularly in the arid western regions. Stepwell construction evolved so that, by the 11th century, they were amazingly complex feats of architecture and engineering, not only providing water all year round but also serving as gathering places, refuges and retreats. The journalist Victoria Lautman first encountered stepwells three decades ago, and this book - now available in paperback for the first time - is a testament to her determined efforts over several years to document these fascinating but largely unknown structures before they disappear. Of the thousands of stepwells that proliferated across India, most were abandoned as a result of modernization and the depletion of water tables. Frequently commissioned by royal or wealthy patrons, the wells vary greatly in scale and design. Some also functioned as subterranean Hindu temples, featuring columned pavilions and elaborate stone carvings. Islamic wells were generally less flamboyant, but often incorporated shady loggias and small chambers in which to relax and escape the stifling heat. Today, few stepwells are in use. The majority have been left to silt up, fill with rubbish and crumble into disrepair. Gradually, however, the Indian government and heritage organizations are recognizing the need to preserve these architectural wonders. In 2014 India's grandest and best-known stepwell, the Rani ki Vav in Patan, Gujarat, became a UNESCO World Heritage site. In her introduction, Lautman discusses why and where the stepwells were built. She reflects on the reasons they became derelict and considers how the appreciation of stepwells is changing with the work of organizations and individuals who aim to protect and restore them. The main part of the book is arranged in a broadly chronological order, with up to four pages devoted to each of c. 70 stepwells, every one unique in design and engineering. The name, location (including GPS coordinates) and approximate date of each well accompany colour photographs and a concise commentary by Lautman on the history and architecture of the well and her experience of visiting it. While many of the stepwells are rather decrepit, their magnificent engineering and great beauty never fail to impress.
Download or read book The Vanishing Stepwells of India written by Victoria Lautman and published by Merrell. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some of the most stunning architectural structures in India are to be found below ground: these are its stepwells, ancient water stores. Stepwells are unique to India and from around the 3rd century CE were built throughout the country, particularly in the arid western regions. Excavated several stories underground in order to reach the water table, these cavernous spaces not only provided water all year long but also fulfilled other functions; they offered pilgrims and other travelers a respite from the heat, and became places in which villagers could socialize. Stepwell construction evolved so that, by the 11th century, the wells were amazingly complex feats of architecture and engineering. The journalist Victoria Lautman first encountered stepwells three decades ago and now, a seasoned traveller to India, she has devoted several years to documenting these fascinating but largely unknown edifices before they disappear. Of the thousands of stepwells that proliferated across India, most were abandoned as a result of modernization and the depletion of water tables. Often commissioned by royal or wealthy patrons, the wells vary greatly in scale, layout, materials and shape. Those in what is now Gujarat state also served as subterranean Hindu temples that featured columned pavilions and elaborate stone carvings of deities. Islamic wells were generally less flamboyant, but incorporated arched side niches. Today, few stepwells are in use. The majority have been left to silt up, fill with rubbish and crumble into disrepair. Gradually, however, the Indian government and heritage organizations have come to recognize the need to preserve these architectural wonders. In 2014 India's best-known stepwell, the Rani ki Vav in Patan, northern Gujarat, became a UNESCO World Heritage site. In her introduction, Lautman discusses why and where the stepwells were built. She reflects on the reasons they became derelict and considers how the appreciation of stepwells is changing with the work of organizations and individuals who aim to protect and restore them. The main part of the book is arranged in a broadly chronological order, with up to six pages devoted to each of c. 80 stepwells, every one unique in design and engineering. The name, location (including GPS coordinates) and approximate date of each well accompany color photographs and a concise commentary by Lautman on the history and architecture of the well and her experience of visiting it. While many of the stepwells are rather decrepit, their magnificent engineering and great beauty cannot fail to impress.
Download or read book Steps to Water written by Morna Livingston and published by Princeton Architectural Press. This book was released on 2002-04 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the fifth to the nineteenth centuries, the people of western India built stone cisterns to collect the water of the monsoon rains and keep it accessible for the remaining dry months of the year. These magnificent structures-known as stepwells or stepped ponds-are much more than utilitarian reservoirs. Their lattice-like walls, carved columns, decorated towers, and intricate sculpture make them exceptional architecture., while their very presence tells much about the region's ecology and history. For these past 500 years, stepwells have been an integral part of western Indian communities as sites for drinking, washing, and bathing, as well as for colorful festivals and sacred rituals. Steps to Water traces the fascinating history of stepwells, from their Hindu origins, to their zenith during Muslim rule, and eventual decline under British occupation. It also reflects on their current use, preservation, and place in Indian communities. In stunning color and quadtone photographs and drawings, Steps to Water reveals the depth of the stepwells' beauty and their intricate details, and serves as a lens on these fascinating cultural and architectural monuments.
Download or read book New Light on Hampi written by John M. Fritz and published by Marg Publications. This book was released on 2001 with total page 1 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title is devoted to the researches, discoveries, and interpretations of those Indian and international scholars from different disciplines who have been working at the Vijayanagara site over the last 20 years. The volume complements the issue of Marg in the early 1980s, which provided an overview of Hampi-Vijayanagara. This book, however, focuses on specific topics and problems in an attempt to offer new insights into the understanding of this increasingly visited UNESCO World Heritage site.
Download or read book The Submerged Kumari Continent written by Ma. Victor and published by . This book was released on 2017-02-28 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Submerged 'Kumari Continent' book
Download or read book Delhi Heritage written by Vikramjit Singh Rooprai and published by Niyogi Books. This book was released on 2019-08-06 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Delhi heritage top 10 Series is a comprehensive guide to Delhi heritage icons and architectural gems. The first volume in the series delves into the fascinating history and the great significance of forgotten, subterranean, man-made water structures, commonly known as baolis or stepwells. The book walks us through the top ten baolis, with two special mentions at the end. Besides giving a vivid description of the functioning and revival of the baolis, the book also focuses on the social importance of each structure. The work is an outcome of a three-year-long research from various archives and contains historic as well as modern photographs along with architectural drawings. The Foreward has been written by Prof. Sohail Hashmi.
Download or read book Sacred Groves Of Rajasthan written by G. Singh and published by Scientific Publishers. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book City Planning in India 1947 2017 written by Ashok Kumar and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a comprehensive history of city planning in post-independence India. It explores how the nature and orientation of city planning have evolved in India’s changing sociopolitical context over the past hundred or so years. The book situates India’s experience within a historical framework in order to illustrate continuities and disjunctions between the pre- and post-independent Indian laws, policies, and programs for city planning and development. It focuses on the development, scope, and significance of professional planning work in the midst of rapid economic transition, migration, social disparity, and environmental degradation. The volume also highlights the need for inclusive planning processes that can provide clean air, water, and community spaces to large, diverse, and fast growing communities. Detailed and insightful, this volume will be of interest to researchers and students of public administration, civil engineering, architecture, geography, economics, and sociology. It will also be useful for policy makers and professionals working in the areas of town and country planning.
Download or read book On Weaving written by Anni Albers and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This survey of textile fundamentals and methods, written by the foremost textile artist of the 20th century, covers hand weaving and the loom, fundamental construction and draft notation, modified and composite weaves, early techniques of thread interlacing, interrelation of fiber and construction, tactile sensibility, and design. 9 color illustrations. 112 black-and-white plates.
Download or read book Unruly Waters written by Sunil Amrith and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2018-12-11 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a MacArthur "Genius," a bold new perspective on the history of Asia, highlighting the long quest to tame its waters Asia's history has been shaped by her waters. In Unruly Waters, historian Sunil Amrith reimagines Asia's history through the stories of its rains, rivers, coasts, and seas--and of the weather-watchers and engineers, mapmakers and farmers who have sought to control them. Looking out from India, he shows how dreams and fears of water shaped visions of political independence and economic development, provoked efforts to reshape nature through dams and pumps, and unleashed powerful tensions within and between nations. Today, Asian nations are racing to construct hundreds of dams in the Himalayas, with dire environmental impacts; hundreds of millions crowd into coastal cities threatened by cyclones and storm surges. In an age of climate change, Unruly Waters is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Asia's past and its future.
Download or read book Faunal Heritage of Rajasthan India written by B.K. Sharma and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-09-14 with total page 661 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first ever monumental and scientific documentation of the faunal wealth of the Indian Desert state of Rajasthan. This volume, the first of two, provides background on Rajasthan and covers species diversity and distribution of fauna. A scholarly contribution to the field of knowledge, it provides novel and vital information on the vertebrate faunal heritage of India’s largest state. Broadly falling under the Indo-Malaya Ecozone, the three major biomes of Rajasthan include deserts and xeric shrublands, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. The corresponding ecoregions to the above biomes are, respectively, the Thar Desert and northwestern thorn scrub forests, the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests, and the Upper Gangtic Plains moist deciduous forests. Contrary to popular belief, the well-known Thar or Great Indian Desert occupies only a part of the state. Rajasthan is diagonally divided by the Aravalli mountain ranges into arid and semi-arid regions. The latter have a spectacular variety of highly diversified and unique yet fragile ecosystems comprising lush green fields, marshes, grasslands, rocky patches and hilly terrains, dense forests, the southern plateau, fresh water wetlands, and salt lakes. Apart from the floral richness, there is faunal abundance from fishes to mammals. In this volume, the various flagship and threatened species are described in the 24 chapters penned by top notch wildlife experts and academics. The world famous heronry, tiger reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and some threat-ridden biodiversity rich areas shall certainly draw the attention of readers from around the world.
Download or read book Adaptive Strategies for Water Heritage written by Carola Hein and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-18 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Open Access book, building on research initiated by scholars from the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Global Heritage and Development (CHGD) and ICOMOS Netherlands, presents multidisciplinary research that connects water to heritage. Through twenty-one chapters it explores landscapes, cities, engineering structures and buildings from around the world. It describes how people have actively shaped the course, form and function of water for human settlement and the development of civilizations, establishing socio-economic structures, policies and cultures; a rich world of narratives, laws and practices; and an extensive network of infrastructure, buildings and urban form. The book is organized in five thematic sections that link practices of the past to the design of the present and visions of the future: part I discusses drinking water management; part II addresses water use in agriculture; part III explores water management for land reclamation and defense; part IV examines river and coastal planning; and part V focuses on port cities and waterfront regeneration. Today, the many complex systems of the past are necessarily the basis for new systems that both preserve the past and manage water today: policy makers and designers can work together to recognize and build on the traditional knowledge and skills that old structure embody. This book argues that there is a need for a common agenda and an integrated policy that addresses the preservation, transformation and adaptive reuse of historic water-related structures. Throughout, it imagines how such efforts will help us develop sustainable futures for cities, landscapes and bodies of water.
Download or read book The Geoheritage of Hot Springs written by Patricia Erfurt and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-04-24 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The aim of this book is to provide an overview of topics related to the extensive geoheritage of hot springs, their natural environments, and their integration into commercial and industrial functions. The eleven chapters explore aspects of historical and cultural traditions, geology and geochemistry, research updates, conservation issues and of course health, wellness, and recreation throughout time. Because natural hot springs and active hydrothermal areas play a significant role in the tourism industry, visitor expectations are examined together with an assessment of common hazards and potential risks in active hydrothermal environments, along with recommendations how to stay safe. For the purpose of showcasing certain unique features, to share noteworthy events and developments or to identify concerns associated with the sustainability of natural water source, examples of particular hot spring areas are included in several chapters. One chapter is also dedicated entirely to the protection of natural hot springs and raises awareness for conservation, while another chapter reviews the history of hot springs in great detail to establish a realistic and justifiable timeline of their original use. Lastly, the significance of natural hot springs for various tourism sectors is analysed and the potential for sustainable future destination development in rural and remote regions is discussed. Many locations were considered and invite the reader to use the information as a reference point in the quest to further explore the remarkable natural and cultural geoheritage of hot springs worldwide.
Download or read book Eating Aliens written by Jackson Landers and published by Storey Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2012-09-05 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: North America is under attack by a wide range of invasive animals, pushing native breeds to the brink of extinction. Combining thrilling hunting adventures, a keen culinary imagination, and a passionate defense of the natural environment, Eating Aliens chronicles Landers’ quest to hunt 12 invasive animal species and turn them into delicious meals. Get ready to dig into tacos filled with tasty black spiny-tailed iguana!
Download or read book ICGG 2018 Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Geometry and Graphics written by Luigi Cocchiarella and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-06 with total page 2334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book gathers peer-reviewed papers presented at the 18th International Conference on Geometry and Graphics (ICGG), held in Milan, Italy, on August 3-7, 2018. The spectrum of papers ranges from theoretical research to applications, including education, in several fields of science, technology and the arts. The ICGG 2018 mainly focused on the following topics and subtopics: Theoretical Graphics and Geometry (Geometry of Curves and Surfaces, Kinematic and Descriptive Geometry, Computer Aided Geometric Design), Applied Geometry and Graphics (Modeling of Objects, Phenomena and Processes, Applications of Geometry in Engineering, Art and Architecture, Computer Animation and Games, Graphic Simulation in Urban and Territorial Studies), Engineering Computer Graphics (Computer Aided Design and Drafting, Computational Geometry, Geometric and Solid Modeling, Image Synthesis, Pattern Recognition, Digital Image Processing) and Graphics Education (Education Technology Research, Multimedia Educational Software Development, E-learning, Virtual Reality, Educational Systems, Educational Software Development Tools, MOOCs). Given its breadth of coverage, the book introduces engineers, architects and designers interested in computer applications, graphics and geometry to the latest advances in the field, with a particular focus on science, the arts and mathematics education.
Download or read book Ethno ornithology written by Sonia C. Tidemann and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-08-06 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indigenous knowledge that embraces ornithology takes in whole social dimensions that are inter-linked with environmental ethos, conservation and management for sustainability. In contrast, western approaches have tended to reduce knowledge to elemental and material references. This book looks at the significance of indigenous knowledge of birds and their cultural significance, and how these can assist in framing research methods of western scientists working in related areas. As well as its knowledge base, this book provides practical advice for professionals in conservation and anthropology by demonstrating the relationship between mutual respect, local participation and the building of partnerships for the resolution of joint problems. It identifies techniques that can be transferred to different regions, environments and collections, as well as practices suitable for investigation, adaptation and improvement of knowledge exchange and collection in ornithology. The authors take anthropologists and biologists who have been trained in, and largely continue to practise from, a western reductionist approach, along another path - one that presents ornithological knowledge from alternative perspectives, which can enrich the more common approaches to ecological and other studies as well as plans of management for conservation.
Download or read book The Temples in Kumbh riy written by Madhusudan A. Dhaky and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kumbhariya (Known Ancient As Arasaha Or Arasankara ), Now A Non-Descript Hamlet, Situated About A Mile And A Half To The Southeast Of The Famous Holy Tirtha-Town Ambaji (Banaskantha District, Gujarat, India) And About 35 Kms Southeast Of Mt. Abu Was An Important Jaina Site In High Medieval Times. Home To Five Exquisite Jaina Temples And A Sivaita Fane, These Marble Buildings Sacred To The Faithful, Were Built During Thesolanki Period Between The 11Th And Late-13Th Centuries A.D. This Work Also Demonstrates That The Spectacular Interiors Of The Four Jaina Temples At Kumnhariya Are More Ancient Than Those In The Delvada Temples And The Variety And Richness If The Columns And The Celling Equal Or Are On Par With The Delvada Temples On Mt. Abu
