Wonders Of The Medieval World

The Benaue Rice Terraces

# The Banaue rice terraces in the Philippines are not only spectacular to look at, but have also provided enormous quantities of food. # These terraces, created from the sides of mountains, look like a huge green stairway. # From the valley, they rise to over 1200 m. # They have been carved by the Ifugao tribesmen, with primitive tools. They took centuries to create them, in order to have larger areas for growing rice. # Sadly, some of these terraces have been turned into ruins, as more and more tribesmen are leaving the fields to look for more lucrative jobs.

The Angkor Wat Temple

# Angkor, meaning city, was once the capital of Cambodia. One of its rulers, King Suryavarman II built Angkor Wat in the 12 th century A.D. # It was a beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. # The temple complex covers 2.5 sq kms and the temple itself is a 3- storeyed building, rising to a height of 60 m. It has 5 towers shaped like lotus buds. Its corridors are full of carvings, depicting scenes of Hindu mythology. # In the 15 th century, Angkor was invaded by Thai soldiers and destroyed. Slowly, forest crept over the city and all its monuments began to crumble away. # In 1850, a French missionary went to explore the forest and came upon the ruins of the magnificent city. # Soon, UNESCO declared the city of Angkor Wat a world heritage site.

The crumbling Angkor Wat

The Easter Island Megaliths

# A megalith is a colossal stone, used for religious purposes. They were erected in ancient times in the form of giant statues. # The Easter Island megaliths, called moai, are the most famous. Easter Island is located in the Pacific Ocean. It is made up of extinct volcanoes. # It is a common belief that the Polynesians migrated there around 400 A.D. Four centuries later, their descendants began to carve these statues. They also built enormous burial platforms called ahus. Each ahu supported many of these giant statues of 3-12m in height. # However, the population of the island grew so rapidly that it led to ecological disaster. They destroyed forests and the rich soil was soon washed away. The birds and wild life disappeared and they were struck by famine. # Having no food around, they turned to cannibalism. As a result, the various clans began to fight among each other and toppled these giant statues. Hence, a culture which had created such magnificent edifices soon perished.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

# It is the bell tower of the cathedral of Pisa, in Italy. # It is decorated with carvings and marbles. Inside the tower, there is a 294-step staircase leading up to the bells. # This 8-storey tower is 55 m high and it tilts to one side. # The construction of the tower was started in 1173 but was not completed until 1350 because it could not remain straight from the very beginning. # When almost a third of the work was complete, one side of the tower sank to the ground. Several attempts were made to correct the tilt, but they all failed. Even today, people are trying to find a solution but are not successful. # As of now, the tower tilts about 5 m from the vertical and this is increasing steadily,.

The Borobudur Temple

# The Borobudur Temple in Java, Indonesia is a Buddhist shrine. Borobudur means temple on the hill. # It was built by Sanmaratunga in the 8 th century A.D. and remained a popular shrine for around 150 years. # The complex is designed to symbolise the universe and is situated on a hill. It stretches for 55,000 sq.m. It has ten levels and is shaped like a stepped pyramid. # It is made up of several stupas, a massive central stupa and many pagodas. Its walls depict various scenes from the Jataka tales and from the life of Buddha. # The temple was abandoned in the 11 th century and gradually fell into ruin and buried under layers of earth. It was excavated by archaeologists around 100 years ago. After restoration, this temple has been declared an Indonesian national monument.

The Taj Mahal

# The Taj Mahal is located on the banks of river Yamuna in the city of Agra, in northern India. # It is a mausoleum built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. # It was designed by an Iranian architect, Ustad Isa. # Its construction started in 1630 and is built of shining, white marble. Craftsmen, sculptors and calligraphers from India, Persia and Europe were employed to create this marvel and they took around 22 years to build it. # It combines the architectural styles of Central Asia with Islamic and Indian touches. # It has 4 minarets in the corners and an enormous dome in the centre. # When Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb, he drew solace by gazing at the Taj Mahal from his window. When he died, he too was buried in the Taj Mahal, next to his wife.

Machu Pichhu

# Machu Pichhu means manly peak. It is located high on a ridge in the Andes mountains, in Peru. This city was built by the Inca ruler, Pachacuti in the 15 th century A.D. # The buildings here have been cleverly integrated with the landscape. This was done by shaping the natural stone formations into various structures. # Sculptures have been carved into rocks. The temples have been built in such a way that they hang on steep precipices. # Most of the buildings have been built from granite blocks such that they fit together perfectly without mortar. One cannot even insert a thin knife blade between them. Most of the houses do not have windows. # The Incas were eco-friendly. The advanced methods they used for terrace farming and for irrigation reduced soil erosion. # By 1527, half of the people died of small pox. At the same time, a civil war was going on which affected Machu Picchu and was soon forgotten until its ruins were found in the modern times.