We all know the 7 wonders of the world, many of you have visited these places, and others at least heard of names. I think the people who selected the wonders have not researched India properly because we have thousands of wonders in India, every nook and corner you can find amazing temples, memorials, and places that create curiosity in the formation and even beauty-wise.
There are many places to cover under the wonders of India but still, we chose these few places from all categories excluding the Taj Mahal because as you know it is considered as one of the Wonders of the World so again if I mention here I may lose an opportunity to cover one more place in the list below.
7 wonders of India:
- Nalanda University
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
- Ajanta and Ellora Caves
- Chand Baori
- Gomateshwara Statue
- Konark Sun Temple
- Dholavira
1. Nalanda University
Nalanda University was one of the greatest learning centers in the world, people were traveling from different nations to study here. It was a multi-story building having the biggest library with a huge collection of books that was providing a hostel facility also for the students and readers.
It is located in the Bihar state of East India, it was built during the reign of the Gupta Empire and during Harshavardhana’s ruling. It is believed that Nalanda’s library was so big that it burned for months after Bakhtiyar Khilji ransacked the university and the library caught fire. Nalanda was attacked 3 times by the invaders: the Huns, Gaudas, and eventually Bhaktiyar Khilji, causing complete destruction.
It is our pride to say that we had the best university in the world in those times itself. Even today it takes an important place because it is recognized as one of the UNESCO world heritage sites and attracts tourists from all around the world.
2. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is an amazing and historic train station located in the center of South Mumbai, and also serves as the headquarters of the railway in Mumbai. This station was built in 1887 in the bori bunder area to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria designed by British architect FW Stevens.
The structure became a symbol of Mumbai having extensive networks covering the entire city. Almost 3 million people used the service every single day. This station is one of the finest examples of colonial architecture in the country. It is the representation of both East and West culture that can be noticed in the entrance designs.
We cannot forget this station because of the 26/11 terror attack hence a memorial is built inside the CST to pay tribute to the people who lost their lives. When you are in Mumbai add CST to your list of travel places.
3. Ajanta and Ellora Caves
There are 29 caves in Ajanta and it occupies a unique position in the history of Indian art. It is believed that it was excavated from the 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD. But after the 9th century no one knows this place suddenly 200 years ago in 1819 a British officer was traveling to hunt tigers, he got into this place and when he entered the caves he was surprised to see the paintings, sculptures and great art present there. Since then, people have come to know the place and now it is a must-see place to visit in India.
The specialty of Ajanta caves is people have shown their talent without any light, the latest technology, or tools how they have done it 1000’s of years ago is a big question even today. Not only that if you observe the arts you can see all today’s costumes, ornaments, clothes, etc.
When it comes to Ellora Caves it consists of 30 caves, it is another astonishing temple you can find i.e. Kailasa Temple. It is part of the complex cave temples found in India, it is believed that it took 18 years with scooping out 400,000 tons of rock and made this amazing temple. That means 2.5 tons of rock is scooped in an hour, how is it possible we cannot even do that even today with all the latest equipment’s and tools used.
It is also said that people were having extra-terrestrial contact from their help this could be possible, but still the real fact no one knows.
4. Chand Baori
Chand Baori is a stepped well located in the village of Abhaneri in Jaipur, Rajasthan. It is located in front of the Harshat Mata Temple and was built around 800 AD. It has 3,500 narrow steps that add to the aesthetic beauty of the structure. The stepped well was built in the 9th century to meet people’s water needs. It is a 13-story building about 30 meters deep, which makes it the deepest well in India. The weather condition made people to dig such a deep well in search of a reliable source of water for the daily hood.
The place is shown in many popular movies like Bhool Bhulaiyaa, The Dark Knight Rises, etc. And when you see the steps collectively from above it gives you a different experience. Some people say it is a haunted place because of the structure and the rooms and hundreds of bats exist there. But still, it is recorded as one of the oldest and largest step wells in the world.
The step here is like a maze once you get down and reach the bottom, it’s hard to remember the path you came and it feels like you are lost in the maze.
5. Gomateshwara Statue
The tallest Gomateshwara statue is the most sacred place for Jains and the statue is dedicated to Bahubali. The grand statue is one of the tallest free-standing statues in the world with a height of 57-foot and appears immensely peaceful and serene.
The Gomateshwara statue was built by the Ganges Dynasty Minister and Commander Chavundaraya; It is on the top of a hill in Shravanabelagola, in the Hassan district of Karnataka. It was built around 981 AD. For every 12 years, the Mahamastakabhisheka festival is held where the statue is anointed with milk, saffron, ghee, sugarcane juice, etc.
Even after 1000 years, the statue did not lose its importance. People come from all around the world to see this giant statue, it is a wonder because it is built in a single granite without using the latest technology at that time.
6. Konark Sun Temple
Konark Sun Temple is dedicated to the sun God remains complex with an immense chariot, 12 wheels, and 7 horses carved from stone. It is located on the coastline of Odisha and was completed in the Ganga Dynasty by the year 1250 CE. But the sad part is some intruders damaged the sculptures of the temple between the 15-17th century.
The specialty of this temple is, you can see the time on the wheel and even you can calculate every minute. When Europeans excavated this temple there were shocked to see the sculptures showing the gestures of sex education. There are many temples in India that did this to educate people because in those days people were not getting access to these things like today’s Internet or television and they were broad-minded as we can say.
7. Dholavira
Dholavira also known locally as Kotada timba, site contains ruins of an ancient Indus Valley / Harappa city civilization. It is an important place because of its remarkable town planning and amazing architecture. The city had water tanks, residential zones, gardens, and even open spaces.
Did you know they had a stadium as well to play different games with 300 meters long and 50 meters wide along with a sitting capacity of more than 10,000 people. The site was discovered in 1967-68 by J. P. Joshi of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and is the fifth-largest of the 8 major Harappan sites.
The excavations shed light on urbanization, architecture and brought to light a large number of antiquities such as animal bones, gold, silver, terracotta ornaments, ceramic, and bronze vessels. Archaeologists believe that Dholavira was an important trading center between settlements in southern Gujarat, Sindh, and Punjab and in western Asia.
Conclusion:
India is like a home for treasure in all forms like culture, tradition, festivals, spirituality, food, health, languages, places, etc. There are thousands of places in India you can make it a wonder of India but still, we tried our best to cover all the sectors under the list. Hope you like this article, please share it with your friends to educate them.
