Travel Stories

  Agra is well known in the whole world for the beautiful 'Taj Mahal'- the tomb of Mumtaj Mahal made in her memory by her husband Shahjahan. Known as a symbol of Love, counted in the Wonders of the World (in fact rated the highest) , we don't even know for sure whether it was a symbol of love.  But not going into the Taj Mahal controversy, what I want to focus right now is another monument in the same city that most of us don't even know about - The Mariam Tomb. Mariam-uz-Zamani was the wife of the greatest Mughal emperor, Akbar. She was a Hindu by birth and was married to Akbar in a political union. Otherwise Known as Jodha Bai (popularly) she was given the title of Mariam-uz-Zamani when she gave birth to Jahangir. She was amongst the most prodigious female traders at the Mughal court. No other noblewoman on record seems to have been as adventurous a trader as the Queen mother. As suggested by the name her nature was just like a mother, caring and loving, and thus righ...

Karna Lake is a small tourist attraction in the Karnal district of Haryana. It is almost 130 kms from Delhi and 120 kms from Chandigarh and easily accessible by road.  It is believed to be the place where Karna used to bathe and this was the exact place where Devraj Indra disguised as a brahman and asked Karna to Give up his Kavach and Kundal which he readily donated. Karna - a character from the epic Hindu text -Mahabharata . He is believed to be born with a Kavach and Kundal (or protected Armour). It is said that no weapon could tear this Armour. Krishna in order to protect Arjuna , had told Devraj Indra to ask for Karna's Kavach and Kundal as a donation. Karna was also known as Danveer Karna and when Devraj Indra demanded his Kavach and Kundal he tore it off his body and donated it.  It is said that the power of the Kavach so so much that Devraj Indra could not carry it with him and he hid it somewhere in the Himalayas. It is believed that this armour is still present somew...