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Chitkul (Himachal Pradesh), May 25 (IANS) Pretty wooden houses with slate rooftops are fast disappearing in Chitkul, a village close to the China border in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district. Multi-storeyed concrete structures are instead changing the skyline.
With felling of trees banned and wood prohibitively expensive, residents have been opting for concrete that is eclipsing the ethnic beauty of the pristine village located at an altitude of 3,450 metre (11,319 feet) above sea level. Chitkul is the last village connected by road in the area. 



"We know the village is losing its unique identity, but we shouldn't be blamed for this. The (state) government has banned the felling of trees and it's too costly and tedious to procure wood from the government under the timber distribution system. So the villagers have no choice except opt for concrete structures," shopkeeper Naresh Thakur told IANS. 

"Wood is also not available for repair of the old

houses," he added. 

Octogenarian Subhash Negi blamed "the outsiders" for introducing concrete pillars and lintel (concrete beams) in the village. 

"A large number of local people have given their land on lease to outsiders to set up hotels and rest houses. Commercialisation is more responsible for marring the unique identity of this village like any other village in the state," he said. 

Chitkul, a picturesque spot with a backdrop of the majestic snow-clad Kinner Kailash peaks, has the gurgling Baspa river, a tributary of the Satluj, running alongside. Located some 250 km from state capital Shimla, it nestles amid virgin nature, with abundant wildlife and exquisite flora and fauna. 

"It's really shocking to see the landscape of this tiny village has almost changed in less than 10 years. These multi-storeyed buildings have changed its skyline," said Abhijit Chatterjee, a tourist from Bangalore. 

"Last time (in 2000) when we visited this place, we stayed in a snug wooden cottage amid the orchards. Now that guest house has been converted into concrete with all modern gadgets," he said, showing pictures of his last visit. 

His wife, Renu said: "Too many constructions have been marring Chitkul's beauty. Most of the houses now have tin roofs rather than slate and wooden planks. We came here with a promise of holidaying in rural settings, but sadly the village has almost lost its ethnic look." 

There are a few wooden houses still existing but in dire need of repairs. 

"It's true the village is losing its unique identity, but we shouldn't be entirely blamed for this. The government should check the mushrooming of hotels in and around the village; otherwise the tourists will stop coming here," Subhash Negi, a resident, said. 

He blamed the rise in commercialisation to improved road infrastructure and easy transport facility. 

Chitkul, with a population of 650, remains cut off from the rest of the country for more than six months a year owing to heavy snowfall. The locals mainly cultivate potatoes that are one of the best in the country. It is also the last point in India one can travel to without a permit.

Istanbul: A city with skyline specked with minarates and domes 

By Ranjana Narayan
Istanbul, May 30 (IANS) Their impressive minarets and domes dominate the skyline of Istanbul and no tour to the ancient Turkish city is complete without a visit to its two most important landmarks - the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.
The Hagia Sophia, built in the 6th century, functioned as a church for more than 900 years, till the Ottoman Turks converted it into a mosque in the 15th century and it remained so for almost 500 years. It was in 1935 that the farsighted first Turkish president and founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, ordered the Hagia Sophia to be converted into a museum. 

After the building was transformed into a museum, prayers were no longer allowed inside. The layers of plaster covering the mosaic pictures of Christ and Virgin Mary on the ceilings of the gallery, applied during the Ottoman rule, were removed in many places to show the pictures and the massive building was thrown open to the public. 

The cathedral, built by Emperor Justinian I, is one of the finest examples of Byzantine architecture. In 1453, the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, what is modern-day Istanbul, and converted it into a mosque, calling it the Ayasofya. 

"The Ottoman rulers did not demolish anything inside the structure, they had the greatest respect for the Christian faith. They only carefully plastered over the Christian emblems inside the Hagia Sophia," tour guide Derya Kutukcu told this visiting IANS correspondent. 

The Ottomans added the three important symbols of Islam in the building - the mihrab, or a niche in the wall pointing to the direction of Mecca; the mimbar or pulpit for the cleric; and the minaret for the azan, as well as huge discs with inscriptions in praise of Allah on it. 

The Turks after taking over the building, added huge buttresses to it to strengthen the structure and the minarets to give it the element of a mosque. 

"Look carefully at the dome. There is no steel holding the stone pieces together," Derya said. One cannot help but marvel at the feat of the engineers who created the masterpiece so many hundreds of years ago. 

The dome, if you stare at it from the groundfloor, looks perfectly formed but it is not, said Derya. It is 31.7 metres in diameter on one side and 31.4 metres on the other. "It is not a perfect circle," she said. 

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul's famous landmark, is just next door to the Hagia Sophia. 

Built by Ottoman emperor Sultan Ahmet I during 1609-1616, it is the first mosque to have six minarets. The Blue Mosque gets its name from the blue Iznik tiles adorning its interior walls. 

The mosque, which is a functional mosque, is open to tourists, barring an area in the central hall which is kept for offering prayers. 

Since footwear is not allowed inside, the authorities have provided plastic packets for tourists to wrap their footwear in while walking inside the main hall. 

The huge central dome has four quarter domes on four sides. It has two floors, with the second floor for the women to sit and pray. 

Since many of the precious Iznik tiles, which are made of quartz, were stolen in the early years, guards stand all along the main hall and don't allow anyone to go near the walls. 

"Please, please...," they politely say and wave their hands to indicate to tourists to keep away from the wall. 

There are 21,043 pieces of square Iznik tiles, each side measuring 23.5 cm, plastered on the walls, according to Derya. 

The mosque also has a madrassa, which functioned like a university for the Ottomans, and a fountain for ablutions before the prayers. 

Clerics with very melodious voices sing the azan prayers, which blare out from the speakers on the minarets. 

The city boasts of another beautiful mosque, the 16th century Suleiman Mosque built by Ottoman rule Suleiman the Magnificent. It is located near Istanbul University and the city's well-known Grand Bazar.