Jascha Emmanuel A.

Dadap

II-NEWTON

ASIA’S wonders

Manmade wonders
1. Temples of Bagan , Burma

History

The archeological and religious Bagan complex covers about 16 square miles. Most structures in this
complex were constructed from the 1000 to 1200 AD. During this time Bagan was the capital of the
Burmese Empire for second time. The golden age of Bagan began in 1057 AD when the King Anawrahta
conquest Thaton. Anawrahta was Buddhist; therefore he brought back to Bagan the scriptures of
Theravada Buddhism and with the help of a monk from Lower Burma, he converted the people of the
country to the Buddhism.
Anawrata initiated the massive construction of temples and other religious buildings in Bagan which we
can see still. But his successors were who continued the tradition started by Anawrata by 290 years, since
they constructed over 10000 temples and pagodas in Bagan.

During its apogee Bagan was one of the most important religious and cultural centers of Asia, it reached a
population 300 000 people and around 10 00 temples and pagodas existed in Bagan. Unfortunately the attacks
of enemies and several earthquakes destroyed most buildings of the ancient capital of Burma.

The golden age of Bagan finished in 1287 when the region was invaded by Mongols, who sacked the city and the
temples. Nevertheless, the city was still an important Buddhist center, but its political importance was lost
forever. Little by little the city was abandoned and nowadays only the temples and some archeological remains
survive of which was one of the most important capitals of Asia.
 2. Angkor wat, Cambodia

History

The construction of the temple was started in the XII century when the king Suryavarman (1113 - 1150) ruled in
the region. The complex was constructed as the state temple as well as the capital of the country. Current
theories say that the location of the temple was chosen because of its important strategic military position; but
there are other theories that explain the location of the temple because of a planet-spanning sacred geography.
It believes that its original name was Vrah Vishnulok, because of the main deity that was adored here.

The status of the temple did not last long time; since in 1177 Angkor was sacked by the main enemies of the
Khmer, the Chams. Some time later the empire was rebuilt by the king Jayavarman VII who moved the capital
and the main temple of the country to another location a short distance to the north.

Angkor Wat became a Theravada Buddhist during XIV and XV centuries. From the XVI century the temple lost its
importance; nevertheless, it was never totally abandoned.

In 1861 the French scientist Henri Mouhot rediscovered accidentally the remains of the temple and he
popularized the temple in the Western Hemisphere when published its travel notes. The French traveler
described the temple using these words: “One of these temples a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some
ancient Michenlangelo might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than
anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation
is now plunged”.

In 1908 thanks to the popularity that the temple reached in Europe mainly in France; French people funded and
managed a great plan of restoration. This restoration is made still today, but it was interrupted during 1980s and
1990s when the Khmer Rouge took the control of the country during a civil war. Fortunately, this violent war did
not cause great damage to the remains of the temple.

Today Angkor Wat is probably the greatest symbol of Cambodia , this temple is so very important to Cambodia
that its image is part of the country’s flag since 1863. Since 1990 Angkor Wat has experienced a great flood of
 tourism; mainly after UNESCO declared in 1992 the temple as World Heritage Site. In 2006 this place received
around 675 000 foreign visitors. The money contributed by tourists has served to provide additional funds for
the maintenance of the temple and support the economy of the region of Siem Reap in Cambodia.

3. Forbidden city, china

History

The construction of the palace was initiated in 1406 by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The
construction of the Forbidden City lasted around 15 years and almost one million workers were required
to do this monumental work. The main materials used to build the palace were the Phoebe Zhenan (a
fine Chinese wood) and marble blocks. The floors of the main halls were paved using golden bricks.

The palace was during over two centuries (1420- 1644) the residence of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty. In
1644 a rebellion leaded by Li Zeching captured the Forbidden City and proclaimed Li Zeching emperor. But the
rebels fled when an army leaded by the general Wu Sangui arrived with Manchu forces, during this fact some
parts of the complex were burned. Some months later the Manchu forces took the power in China and they
proclaimed Shunzi Emperor starting the Qing Dinasty. The new dynasty made some changes in the palaces and
renamed some buildings. Besides, the new Manchu Emperors introduce the Manchu language in Beijing.

The Forbidden City was captured again in 1860 when the Anglo-Forces occupied the palace during the Opium
War II. The final episode to the Forbidden City as Imperial Palace occurred in 1912 when the last Emperor Puyi
abdicated. Nevertheless Puyi remained in the inner Palace until 1924 because of an accord with the Chinese
government. During this time many treasures of the Palace were sold by Puyi or were stole.

From 1924 the Forbidden City became museum. But during the World War II because of the Japanese invasion,
many of the treasures of the palace were evacuated by order of Chiang Kai-Sek to Taiwan. In 1961 the Forbidden
city was listed by the Chinese government as one of the most important historical monuments under special
preservation.

In 1987 the Forbidden City was declared World Heritage by UNESCO. Currently the Forbidden City is managed by
an organism of the Chinese government “The Palace Museum”, which is executing a restoration project.
Nevertheless, this administration has also taken controversial decisions, like to allow the presence of commercial
enterprises such as Starbucks inside the Forbidden City.
 This wonderful palace is without doubt today, the greatest symbol of the Imperial China in the capital of the
country and it is together with the Great Wall the most representative Chinese national symbol.

4. Great wall of china

The construction of the Great Wall China began in the 7th century B.C., under the Dynasty Zhou. This wall was
constructed along many hundreds of years. The first version of the wall was constructed to support invaders far
from the villages that cultivate the land for the Chinese border. These walls were constructed in weak points in
the natural landscape or where the threat was perceived like the major one.

Some of these walls eventually became of greater strategic importance when the localised defences were
gradually joined to form the Great Wall of China. At those times that the Chinese territory expanded northward,
earlier walls became secondary defences when a more northerly wall was built. The Great Wall of China was
built by soldiers, civilians, farmers and prisoners, primarily during three dynasties: the Qin, the Han and the
Ming, although the Sui Dynasty and the Ten Kingdoms period also played a part. The building styles of each
dynasty added their own flavour and advanced the techniques learned from the previous.

The first dynasty of China was the short lived Qin Dynasty. The first emperor, Qin ShiHuang, was a tyrannical
emperor who unified China by force and set about constructing one Great Wall by joining. He even sent scholars
to work on the Great Wall, anyone who was deemed unproductive. These workers faced arduous labor, and the
constant danger of being attacked by bandits.

Most of early Great Wall was composed of weak stone, but when the natural stone in an area was not sufficient
did that the engineers were turning to another method, there had to be used a rectangular frame that was filled
with loose soil. This soil was trampled for several hours by a team of workers until this was solid. This process of
landfill and to trample would be repeated again and again until the wall was reaching the wished height.

The second dynasty to add to the Great Wall was the Han Dynasty. The most notable contribution of the Han
Dynasty is that they extended the Great Wall westwards through the Gobi Desert. Despite a lack of building
materials, ingenious Chinese engineers found a solution. This method involved first laying down a layer of willow
reeds, possibly woven. Then a layer of gravel and a little water was applied and trampled solid. After the
trampling, a new layer of reeds and gravel was added. This process would be repeated until the desired height
was reached. Amazingly, some portions of this Great Wall are still standing, partly due to the dry conditions of
the Gobi.

The last dynasty to build a northern wall was the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). This dynasty built the biggest,
longest, strongest and most ornate Great Wall ever. These are the walls that we are familiar with today. Their
methods of Great Wall building fused all that was learned by the two previous dynasties. First, a center of
trampled earth was created. Then, around the firm center was applied a shell of stone and bricks. The bricks that
were created by the Ming are so strong that they compare well with the ones we use today. The strong Ming
wall was built across some of the most dangerous terrains in China, including steep mountains, sometimes on 75
degree inclines. It has been said that every foot of the construction of this Great Wall cost one human life.

The Ming Dynasty Great Wall starts on the eastern end at ShanHai Pass, near QinHuangDao, in Hebei Province,
next to Bohai Sea. It once spanned 9 provinces and 100 counties, but the final 500 kilometers of the Great Wall
to the west have all but turned to rubble. Along the Ming Great Wall of China there are many watchtowers,
spaced from less than a kilometer to several kilometers or more apart. These were partly used to transmit
military messages. Fire and smoke were the most efficient means for communication; fire was used at night and
smoke during the day. Straw and dung was used for this. In 1468, a series of regulations set specific meanings to
these signals: a single shot and a single fire or smoke signal implied about 100 enemies, two signals warned of
500, three warned of over a 1000 and so on. In this way, a message could be transmitted over more than 500 km
of the Great Wall within a few hours.

5. Temple of heaven china

The temple was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor (Ming Dynasty) to offer
sacrifice to Heaven, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing

Then the complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the
16th century. The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun in the
east, the Temple of Earth in the north, and the Temple of Moon in the west. The Temple of Heaven was
renovated in the 18th century under the Qianlong Emperor.

The Temple of Heaven was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties worshipped heaven
and prayed for good harvests. The emperors visited the temple three times a year: on the 8th day of the first
lunar month to pray for a good harvest; during the Summer Solstice to pray for rain; and during Winter Solstice
to give thanks for a good harvest. During each ceremony, the emperors worshipped heaven and prayed for a
good harvest. In addition, the emperors also worshipped their ancestors and other natural phenomena such as
the Cloud God, Rain God and Wind God.

The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as "a
masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great
importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilizations" as the "symbolic layout and design of the
Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries". It
is regarded as a Taoist temple, although it is a temple to worship the heaven by the Chinese.

According to Xinhua, in early 2005, the Temple of Heaven underwent a 47 million Yuan (5.9 million USD)
restoration in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the restoration was completed on May 1st,
2006.

6. Taj mahal, india

Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1658), grandson of Akbar the great, in the
memory of his queen Arjumand Bano Begum, entitled Mumtaz Mahal a Muslim Persian princess. 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.

She died while accompanying her husband in Burhanpur in a campaign to crush a rebellion after giving birth to
their 14th child. When Mumtaz Mahal was still alive, she extracted four promises from the emperor: first, that
he build the Taj; second, that he should marry again; third, that he be kind to their children; and fourth, that he
visit the tomb on her death anniversary. But this has not been proven to be true, till date.

According to legend, after his wife’s death, Shah Jahan reportedly locked himself in his rooms and refused food
for eight days, when the emperor emerged from his seclusion, his black beard visible in many Mughal miniature
paintings had turned completely white. For the monument to his wife, Shah Jahan chose a site occupied by
sprawling gardens on a bend in the left bank of the Yamuna River. Six months later, her body was transferred to
Agra to be finally enshrined in the crypt of the main tomb of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is the mausoleum of
both Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan.

The construction of Taj Mahal started in the year 1631 and it took approximately 22 years to build it. It made use
of the services of 22,000 labourers and 1,000 elephants for the transportation of the construction materials. The
materials used in the Taj Mahal complex are bricks, sandstone and white marble. Brick sizes varied between 18-
19 x 11-12.5 x 2.3 cm, a standard size since Akbar's rule. These bricks were baked in kilns on the outskirts of
Agra. The sandstone used in the complex has a colour varying from soft red to red with a yellow tint. White
marble came from the quarries of Makrana in Rajasthan, approx. 400 kms southeast of Agra. The marble used in
the complex was a white one with black and grey streaks.

The greatest technical problem in the construction of the Taj Mahal was its heavy superstructures near the
riverfront. This was accomplished using wells cased in wood and filled with rubble and iron, spaced at 3.75
meters on center. Precious and semi-precious stones are used in the decoration of the mausoleum than
elsewhere in the complex. These stones include lapis lazuli, sapphire, cornelian, jasper, chrysolite and heliotrope.
A strict discipline in colours and decoration is visible in the detailed ornamentation of the Taj Mahal. Floral relief
carvings are found on the marble and sandstone walls; these carvings are stylistically related to the pietra dura
work, yet are worked according to the material of the building they adorn.

The Taj Mahal architecture is a kind of fusion of Persian, Central Asian and Islamic architecture. Specific design
credit is uncertain, and is given by different sources to Istad Usa, Ustad Ahmad Lahori, Isa Muhammad Effendi or
Geronimo Veroneo. But construction documents show that its master architect was Istad Usa, the renowned
Islamic architect of his time. The documents contain names of those employed and the inventory of construction
materials and their origin. And how the entire complex is designed in such a way that the apparent organic unity
of the whole does not obscure the individuality of any part, nor does it detract from the prominence of the Taj
Mahal proper. It was completed in 1648 at a cost of 32 Million Rupees (more than 750 000 dollars).

Natural wonders

1. Mount everest, Nepal

 Mount Everest peak, 29,035 ft (8,850 m) high, on the border of Tibet and Nepal, in the central Himalayas. It
is the highest elevation in the world. Called Chomolungma or Qomolangma [Mother Goddess of the Land]
by Tibetans and Sagarmatha [head of the sea] by Nepalis, it is named in English for the surveyor Sir George
Everest . It was first climbed on May 28, 1953, when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal
reached the summit. The body of George H. L. Mallory , who died in an earlier attempt (1924), was found on
the mountain in 1999.
2. Komodo island, indonesia

Komodo is one of the 17,508 islands that make up the Republic of Indonesia. The island has a surface area of
390 km² and over 2000 inhabitants. The inhabitants of the island are descendants of former convicts who were
exiled to the island and who have mixed themselves with the Bugis from Sulawesi. The population are primarily
adherents of Islam but there are also Christian and Hindu minorities.
Komodo is part of the Lesser Sunda chain of islands and forms part of the Komodo National Park. Particularly
notable here is the native Komodo dragon. In addition, the island is a popular destination for diving.
Administratively, it is part of the East Nusa Tenggara province.
3. Puerto princes subterranean river

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 kilometers north of the city of
Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. The National Park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the
northern coast of the island. It is bordered by St. Paul Bay to the north and the Babuyan River to the east.
The City Government of Puerto Princesa has managed the National Park since 1992. It is also known as St.
Paul's Subterranean River National Park, or St. Paul Underground River. The entrance to the Subterranean
River is a short hike from the town of Sabang. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is one of
the 28 finalists for the "New Seven Wonders of Nature" competition.
4. The valley of geysers

The Valley of Geysers (Russian: Долина гейзеров) is the only geyser field in mainland Eurasia (apart from
the Mutnovsky geyser field) and the second largest concentration of geysers in the world. This 6 km long
basin with approximately ninety geysers and many hot springs is situated on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the
Russian Far East, predominantly on the left bank of the ever-deepening Geysernaya River, into which
geothermal waters flow from a relatively young stratovolcano, Kikhpinych. Temperatures have been found
to be 250 °C, 500 m below the caldera ground. It is part of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, which, in turn, is
incorporated into the World Heritage Site "Volcanoes of Kamchatka". The valley is difficult to reach, with
helicopters providing the only feasible means of transport.

5. Kopet Dag

The Kopet Dag, Köpet Dag (Koppeh Dagh) is a mountain range on the frontier between Turkmenistan and Iran,
extending about 650 km (404 mi) along the border, east of the Caspian Sea. The highest peak of the range in
Turkmenistan is southwest of the capital Ashgabat and stands at 2,940 m (9,646 ft). The highest Iranian summit
is 3,191 m (10,466 ft).

This mountain range has a ski resort officially open by the former president of Turkmenistan Saparmurat
Niyazov. Despite the lack of snow in the Kopet Dag mountains, Niyazov was determined to build a major
resort there.