SIKKIM DIARIES: MESMERIZING KUPUP

The village of Kupup is situated at an altitude of 13000 feet provides breathtaking views of the famous Elephant Lake, which got the name from its shape that resembles an elephant. Locally known as Bitan Choo, the lake is surrounded by towering snow clad mountains on one side and a difficult to maintain 15 feet wide road carpeted with fresh snow on the sides and in between that provides the only route to reach Kupup via the lake. Kupup has a helipad primarily for military use. 

Another point of attraction in Kupup is the Yak Golf Course which is considered to be the highest golf course in the world. Me and Samyukta had the privilege to play there (and they give you a certificate saying that you played in the higest golf course in the world after that!) The magnificent Tukla Valley opens up as one crosses Gnathang Valley and Old Baba Mandir which commemorates the valiant sacrifice of an Indian soldier Harbhanjan Singh who lost his life during the relief and rescue operation of people affected by terrible landslides and floods in this part of the region in the year 1968. There is an old war memorial too in Gnathang which commemorates Col Younghusband’s famous expedition to Tibet in the  early 20^th Century.

A few houses dot the landscape on either side of this village as tyres wrapped in chains move in and out of this village with high degree of caution against possible slippage on the snow. There is another lake known as Menmecho lake, about 5 kms from Kupup and requires a possible diversion from the usual route that goes all the way to Nathula Pass.

WANDERLUST @ DELHI - VI : NATIONAL POLICE MEMORIAL

My last post was about the Mutiny Memorial. This article is about a memorial of a different kind- the National Police Memorial located in Chankyapuri, New Delhi- one of the latest additions to the already beautiful and rich architectural heritage of our amazing Capital City. (Location- https://goo.gl/maps/RkPbjEZ1nR7Fq7C29)

21 Oct every year is observed as Police Commemoration day in honour of 10 Policemen martyred in Hot Springs area of Ladakh by Chinese troops. The Prime Minister of India dedicated the National Police Memorial to the Nation on 21 Oct 2018. The complex is located at Kautilya Marg Chanakyapuri New Delhi. It is spread over an area of 6.12 acres and consists of an impressive 30 foot (9.1 metrea) tall and 238 tonne black granite central sculpture , a museum and Wall of Valour. It commemorates the 34,844 Policemen from all Central and state Police Forces of India who have laid

down their lives.

The entry to the Memorial is free. It is spread over a large area with beautiful ambiance. The newly built underground museum is an excellent place to visit with artifacts ,history, badges, books ,uniforms over the ages and is indeed well maintained. It is a real treat if you visit with children since it is very informative and creatively done. The wall of valour has names of all martyrs inscribed on it.

It is a must visit and a much better place to spend time rather that many other run of the mill tourist attractions in Delhi.

DAY TRIPPING @ UZBEKISTAN-I: THE MONUMENT OF COURAGE, TASHKENT - A SEMINAL SOVIET ERA EDIFICE

The monumental complex ‘Courage’ dedicated to the 1966 earthquake in Tashkent is one of the most significant monuments in Tashkent, the salubrious capital of Uzbekistan.

On 26 April 1966, at 5:24 a.m., an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.3 shook the city. The incredibly strong seismic shaking changed Tashkent"s appearance forever. Half of the city’s inhabitants were left without a roof over their heads and had to live in tents. The earthquake had had its epicentre at a depth of 10 km right under the central blocks of Tashkent, in about the place where the Monument of Courage was erected.

The Earthquake was a seminal moment in the city's history and this memorial draws attention to it in a very appropriate manner. It is visible from the main streets and a brief walk through the area will acquaint you with the earthquake story

Builders from all over the former USSR participated in the reconstruction of Tashkent. Several months after the first new houses were already able to receive the victims of the earthquake. Broad residential quarters sprang up on the outskirts of the capital, while the centre of the city saw its old destroyed buildings reconstructed and renovated.

A black labradorite cube with the date of 26 April 1966 inscribed on one of its sides is installed on a granite pedestal. Another side of the cube presents a clock, the hands of which show the time of 5:24. The cube is split by a crack symbolising the break of the earth and continuing to the foot of the statue,

The statue represents a woman embracing a child and a man trying to protect them with his breast from the strike of the nature. In the background of the monument there is a composition in relief telling about the restoration of Tashkent.

Truly worth a visit – when you travel to Tashkent!

WANDERLUST @ DELHI - V MUTINY MEMORIAL a.k.a AJIT GARH

Delhi Ridge, or simply 'The Ridge', is an extension of the ancient Aravalli Range and runs through the heart of the National Capital Territory (NCR) of Delhi. The Delhi Ridge covers a distance of about 35 km and refereed to as the green lung of Delhi and protects the city from the hot winds of the deserts of Rajasthan. 

It is divided into four zones. North Ridge or Kamala Nehru Ridge is one of the four zones. It is a hilly area near the Delhi University. It was declared a Reserve Forest in 1915. It initially covered an area of 170 hectares but have now shrunk to 87 hectares, making it the smallest of the four ridge zones if Delhi.

The North Ridge, officially known as the Kamala Nehru Ridge, houses an interesting mix of monuments. Scattered along the forested region of the ridge are monuments ranging from the Tughlaq era right up to  the days of the Mutiny.

The monument that stands out among the monuments of the ridge is the towering Mutiny Memorial. It is located at the site of Taylor’s Battery during the siege of Delhi in 1857. It was built in 1863. The Gothic styled red sand stone tapering tower rises from a two tiered platform.

 After the Mutiny of 1857 sites related to the Mutiny were preserved and turned into late Victorian tourist attractions. Monuments were erected all over the sub – continent in memory of the Britishers and Indian soldiers who fought for the British.

The Mutiny Memorial at North Ridge (Kamala Nehru Ridge) Delhi was the most prominent of the mutiny memorials of the sub continent. It holds a special place in the monuments created during the Raj in the sense that the the defence of the ridge by a small contingent of Indian and East India Company soldiers in 1857 against a overwhelmingly superior opponent was militarily a great feat and one of the first successes of the British, which eventually lead to the recapture of Delhi and deposition of the Mughal Emperor.

Built in Gothic style the Mutiny Memorial is a octagonal tapering tower in red sand stone. It has a richly ornamented facade and is crowned with a marble crucifix.

The four tiered tower stands on a two tiered platform and total height of the tower stands at 33 meters. Flights of stairs on all the four sides of the platform lead to the base of the tower. Entry inside the tower is through a gateway on its western wall and a flight of spiral stairways leads to the balconies on the four tiers.

But sadly the gate is kept under lock and key and thus preventing visitors access inside the tower and robbing them of the grand birds eye view of the lush green Kamala Nehru Ridge (North Ridge).

Apart from the gateway to the inside of the tower the other seven sides contain marble plaques embedded inside decorated sandstone archways. Three of them narrates the event in English, Hindi and Urdu. The English plaques says that the Memorial honours the soldiers of Delhi Field Force who died during the Mutiny of 1857.

Among the remaining four plaques one lists the regiments present during the siege of Delhi while the second one lists actions fought at or near Delhi. The remaining two plaques list the KILLED, WOUNDED and MISSING soldiers of the mutiny, which is again sub divide into sub categories like Europeans & Natives and Officers & Non Commissioned Officers.

On 15 August 1972 the Delhi’s Mutiny Memorial was renamed Ajitgarh (Place of the Unvanquished) and a plaque was put at its pedestal. Written in four languages Hindi, Urdu, English

It says that the “enemies” mentioned in the inscription were actually the freedom fighters and martyrs of India, who fought bravely against the repressive colonial rule in the First War of Indian Independence.

The monument which had gone to seed was majorly refurbished prior to the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The compound remains locked to the public but the security guard was kind enough to allow us in for sometime on request. Of course as I have mentioned above- the main building is locked and one cannot access the stairs.

The monument is well worth a visit- if not for anything else, it is unlike you will find of this scale in India- probably the most imposing monument of the Raj (if you exclude the later buildings built in Lutyens Delhi) and for the lovely drive on the lush green North Ridge.