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(bright uplifting music)
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I'm Christopher Clark and I'm traveling the world
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to discover its true treasures,
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the UNESCO world heritage sites.
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The baffling complexity of India,
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the depth of its history,
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the endless layers of language, culture and myth
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have always fascinated me.
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India is a study in contrasts.
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Rich and poor, sacred and profane,
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thronging mega cities and dreaming landscapes
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full of ancient trees.
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Nearly 1.4 billion people live here
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and yet there's a mysterious feeling of unity.
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What holds it all together?
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India is a voice that speaks to us,
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{\an8}and not just in its hundreds of languages
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{\an8}and countless dialects.
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{\an8}This country speaks to our senses
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with all the power of the rulers and religions,
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all the peoples and cultures that have left their mark
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on this enormous sub-continent over the millennia.
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India is the sound of a cosmos,
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much more than the sum of its parts.
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And that's what makes this country at once
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so rich and so bewildering.
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Some of the most important traces of the country's past
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can be found in the locations that UNESCO has named
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as world heritage sites.
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(speaking in foreign language)
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Says the Hindu proverb.
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Time waits for no man.
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On that note, I'd better get cracking.
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My journey will take me to Elephanta Island
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in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai,
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to Rajasthan, to Delhi,
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and to Agra with the with the Taj Mahal.
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And after a detour to visit the tigers
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of Sundarbans National Park,
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to the Himalayan foothills.
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But it begins on the Ganges in Varanasi.
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If you want to understand India,
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Veranasi should be your first port of call.
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It's the spiritual heart of the country,
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on the banks of the Ganges,
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the river gifted to the earth by the goddess Ganga.
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The goddess offers the hope of life after death
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and the cleansing of sins.
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And the candles and lotus blossoms
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that float on her waters are physical prayers.
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Pilgrims have been traveling to this city
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for more than 2,500 years.
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All of them want to bathe in the Ganges,
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and many would like to die and be cremated here as well.
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This spirituality shapes the entire country.
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You encounter it at every step along the way,
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but especially on the shores of its waters.
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(bell ringing)
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India's rivers are it's true temples.
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They are the arteries of India's sacred geography.
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They've long been considered holy
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since many years before the first temple
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was ever constructed.
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And for people here, they provide a sense of belonging.
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That's especially palpable in Varanasi.
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Here, the Ganges is the equivalent
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of a cathedral in the Christian world.
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When you are in it, you are close to the gods.
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That's why this river is a common point of reference
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for all Hindus.
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But the very name of this country, India,
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also stems from a river.
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The Indus.
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Rivers have always shaped the life
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and culture of this sub continent.
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Indians revere not only the Ganges
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but also the Brahmaputra, the Indus, and many other rivers.
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Rivers play an important role
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in nearly all religious rituals.
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And they're not just a symbol of life,
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in many places they are its literal source.
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But now I'm heading for an island
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off the west coast of India.
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We take a boat from Mumbai, once known as Bombay,
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a city built on islands and reclaimed from the sea.
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The roots of Hinduism, and consequently the roots of India,
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can be explored at a UNESCO world heritage site
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on Gharapuri island, which was later called Elephanta,
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in the Arabian Sea.
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After we've traveled seven nautical miles,
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the island slowly emerges from the morning haze.
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The cut stone sculptures here mainly date back
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to the era of the Kalachuri dynasty,
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which ruled here in the sixth and seventh centuries.
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But Elephanta was always a spiritual place.
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The small Buddhist stupa mounds on the island
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date back to 200 BC.
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Religious processions and sacrificial rituals
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were part of everyday life here,
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and to honor Shiva, six enormous cave temples
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were carved from the basalt rocks.
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The largest of them is 40 meters deep
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with a ceiling up to five meters high.
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I wonder what awaits me here.
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The temple was created to honor Shiva
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and its architecture and the symbols found here
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invoke the divine presence of the greatest of all gods.
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Two stone guardians watch over the center of the temple.
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Lord Shiva is like a kind of cosmic jigsaw puzzle.
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You can put him together.
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You can take him apart.
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And even the individual pieces of the puzzle
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possess the fullness of his power.
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This for example, is the Shiva Linga,
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the penis of Lord Shiva.
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And here especially you can feel his creative power.
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Hindu belief and symbology are finely rendered
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in the overall planning of the caves.
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The layout, including the pillar components,
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is a landmark of rock cut architecture.
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The combination of the aesthetic beauty
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and sculptural technique reached an apogee
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at the Elephanta caves.
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Elephanta is one of the hearts of India's spiritual life.
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UNESCO named this place a world heritage site
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in recognition of its relationship
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with the origins of the ancient Hindu religion.
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And here we meet Lord Shiva.
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One of the most important divine powers in the Hindu cosmos.
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Shiva unites all contradictions within himself,
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but why is he shown here with three faces?
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Because he creates, maintains and destroys.
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He embodies the harmony of the world in contradiction.
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There's nothing monolithic about Hinduism.
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Its forms are endlessly various,
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but they always come back to an order of the world
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and of the people in it that is enclosed
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within an eternal cycle.
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Shiva appears here as a being between man and woman,
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with Nandi, the bull, a gate guardian deity.
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The pillars symbolize the universe that Shiva destroys
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in a cosmic dance, only to rebuild it again.
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Everything in the cave is focused on
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this eternal cycle of life,
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but nothing else in this religion is set in stone.
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Hinduism has never been centered on a single holy book
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full of commandments and prohibitions
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and strict injunctions in the manner
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of Christianity and Islam.
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The faith and the faithful themselves
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are an open book that is continuously being written.
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This process still shapes the country today.
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80% of Indians are Hindus.
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The desire for contact with the divine world
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continues unabated in India.
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In fact, it's growing in importance,
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even for younger generations.
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This religion thrives on recurring rituals
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that also shape the everyday lives of Hindus.
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Young priests, known as pundits, swing lamps.
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The fire links this world and the spirit world.
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When the faithful come together for ceremonies
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like the Ganga Aarti,
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it feels like a funfair and it's just as loud,
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as if the revelers want to make sure
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that the Gods up in heaven can hear them.
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When the writer and the world traveler Mark Twain
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was in Varanasi, he believed he could sense
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the roots of all religions here.
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The city, he wrote, was older than history,
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older than tradition, older than legend itself.
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Whilelife on the banks of the Ganges
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revolves around piety and spirituality,
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the state of Rajasthan is all about power and beauty.
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In the 18th century, the Maharaja of Jaipur
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commissioned the construction of the water palace Jal Mahal,
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just outside the gates of his city on an artificial lake.
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It was a pleasure palace and a luxurious perch
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for the duck hunting he enjoyed so much.
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Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan,
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a colorful and somewhat chaotic metropolis
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with more than 4 million residents.
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This place brings together all the cultures of India.
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The skyline is full of temples and minarets,
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modern and ancient things are jumbled together
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in a maze of roads that appear to have no names.
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In Jaipur you can learn,
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in a very firsthand and visceral way,
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just how Indian street life works.
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The heart of Jaipur is still the Maharaja's palace,
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built by the same Rajput dynasty
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that founded this royal state.
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Their origins remain a mystery even today.
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The Rajputs, which roughly translates as sons of kings,
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lived together in clans that they called brotherhoods.
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They were exceptionally gifted, proud warriors
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with an elaborate code of honor.
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And they saw themselves as descendants of the gods,
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bearers of a tradition as old as the world itself.
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For Hindus, this attitude must've seemed quite arrogant,
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but depictions from the time indicate
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that the princes really didn't view themselves as divine.
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They lived in the many kingdoms that once made up Rajasthan.
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With the Rajasthanis, a unique and independent
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civilization arose within India,
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with impregnable fortresses whose interiors
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they built into exquisite fairytale palaces.
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These ruling families rained for 1,000 years.
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They successfully battled the Persians and the Turks,
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the powerful Mughals and the sultans of Delhi.
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Their kinds, the Maharajahs, were always the embodiment
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of romantic chivalry.
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Rajasthan is crisscrossed with walls,
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relics of an era of never ending wars
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that demanded the construction of strong defenses
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high up on the mountain peaks.
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They wind their way through this rugged countryside.
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The long wall around Fort Kumbhalgarh
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is known as India's great wall,
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a reference to the Chinese fortification system.
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There were 23 kingdoms in total, each ruled by a Raja.
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The most important mountain fortresses
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are cleverly distributed across Rajasthan,
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a territory approximately the size of Germany.
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UNESCO named the forts as world heritage sites,
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partly because they demonstrate how the Rajputs
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protected their nightly culture
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from external hostilities between the 11th
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and 18th centuries.
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Islamic conquerors in particular were becoming a threat.
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And here you can see how together
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they form a protective ring,
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always commanding the highest ground.
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The Amber Fort, with its massive walls
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of marble and sandstone,
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is one of the largest and most beautiful
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mountain palaces in Rajasthan.
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Today, Amber is one of the most visited spots in India,
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along with the Taj Mahal.
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These elephants are used to carry tourists
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up to the Amber Fort.
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India has now decided that this trade should be shut down.
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It's now illegal to capture elephants in the wild
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and to place them in the service of human beings
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in this way.
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It's regarded as cruel, inappropriate, for these animals.
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And I think actually I'd rather walk.
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Inside and out, Amber Fort is the perfect symbol of power,
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an ideal symbiosis between an impregnable fortress
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and a sumptuous palace.
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There were audience halls, treasure chambers,
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pavilions and elaborate gardens,
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and safe behind these massive walls,
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the ruling families lived luxurious lives.
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The Sheesh Mahal, the elaborate hall of mirrors.
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Natural light is reflected by tens of thousands
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of tiny Venetian mirrors.
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At night, the entire hall could be lit with a single candle.
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This is India's Versailles.
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The Amber Fort served as the Maharajah's
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seat of power for almost 700 years,
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until they moved to the new capital of their kingdom,
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Jaipur.
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00:15:26,107 --> 00:15:29,350
Officially there haven't been any Maharajahs in India
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00:15:29,350 --> 00:15:30,870
for half a century.
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Even the legendary wealth of these former rulers
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00:15:33,467 --> 00:15:35,210
is largely gone.
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00:15:35,210 --> 00:15:37,618
The Maharajahs lost most of the golden jewels
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00:15:37,618 --> 00:15:39,980
they had once had an abundance,
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00:15:39,980 --> 00:15:42,310
as well as their palaces and estates.
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00:15:42,310 --> 00:15:45,530
But some families still remain extremely wealthy.
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00:15:45,530 --> 00:15:49,230
The current Maharajah of Jaipur ascended the throne at 12.
273
00:15:49,230 --> 00:15:50,664
He's 21 today.
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00:15:50,664 --> 00:15:53,310
When he's not playing polo all over the world,
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he celebrates traditional festivals
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00:15:55,220 --> 00:15:57,980
with the people in the courtyard of the palace.
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00:15:57,980 --> 00:16:01,150
The fire is intended to drive off evil spirits,
278
00:16:01,150 --> 00:16:04,560
and everyone is welcome to take some fire home with them
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00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:05,503
on a wooden stick.
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00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,040
Behind the palace walls there are still
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00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:19,803
relics of the old times.
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00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,180
This gangajali is the largest object
283
00:16:25,180 --> 00:16:28,620
made of solid silver anywhere in the world.
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00:16:28,620 --> 00:16:31,650
It was built in 1894 by the then Maharajah
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00:16:31,650 --> 00:16:34,660
to store Holy Ganges water for his use
286
00:16:34,660 --> 00:16:36,230
and the use of his family.
287
00:16:36,230 --> 00:16:38,230
In 1902, when he traveled to England
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00:16:38,230 --> 00:16:40,789
to take part in the coronation of Edward VII,
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00:16:40,789 --> 00:16:43,853
the Maharajah took two of these things with him.
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00:16:43,853 --> 00:16:46,550
Fortunately, it was a short visit.
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00:16:46,550 --> 00:16:50,220
The 4,000 liters of stored Ganges water
292
00:16:50,220 --> 00:16:52,530
sufficed to cover the Maharajahs needs,
293
00:16:52,530 --> 00:16:55,270
which was just as well because he didn't trust
294
00:16:55,270 --> 00:16:57,253
the British water supply.
295
00:16:58,932 --> 00:17:01,500
The most famous landmark in Jaipur
296
00:17:01,500 --> 00:17:04,337
is the Hari Mahal Palace of the Winds.
297
00:17:04,337 --> 00:17:06,660
For the numerous ladies of the court
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00:17:06,660 --> 00:17:08,670
who were not permitted to mix with commoners,
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00:17:08,670 --> 00:17:11,140
the palace was a place where they could observe
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00:17:11,140 --> 00:17:13,650
the everyday lives of normal people,
301
00:17:13,650 --> 00:17:15,773
which they naturally found very exotic.
302
00:17:28,070 --> 00:17:32,211
Jaipur was founded by Maharajah Jai Singh II.
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00:17:32,211 --> 00:17:34,840
He ascended the throne in 1699
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00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:36,880
when he was just 11 years old,
305
00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:39,790
and he went on to reign for nearly half a century.
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00:17:39,790 --> 00:17:43,260
He built this city and he named it after himself,
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00:17:43,260 --> 00:17:44,470
Jaipur.
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00:17:44,470 --> 00:17:46,600
The word Jai wasn't just his name,
309
00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:48,240
it also means victory.
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00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,690
And Jaipur, the city of victory,
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00:17:50,690 --> 00:17:52,830
became a flourishing metropolis.
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00:17:52,830 --> 00:17:55,210
Over time, the war-like Rajputs
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00:17:55,210 --> 00:17:57,410
became the peace loving inhabitants
314
00:17:57,410 --> 00:18:00,120
of a commercial urban culture.
315
00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:02,850
The pink blush that suffuses this cityscape
316
00:18:02,850 --> 00:18:05,650
dates back to 1876,
317
00:18:05,650 --> 00:18:09,120
when the British Prince Albert Edward visited Jaipur.
318
00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:11,960
The then Maharajah ordered that every building
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00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:13,430
be painted pink.
320
00:18:13,430 --> 00:18:15,700
And even today, the residents of the old city
321
00:18:15,700 --> 00:18:18,730
of Jaipur are required to paint their houses pink.
322
00:18:18,730 --> 00:18:21,660
If they don't, the city government does it for them
323
00:18:21,660 --> 00:18:24,190
and sends them the bill.
324
00:18:24,190 --> 00:18:27,273
Jai Singh's true passion was astronomy.
325
00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:31,680
It looks like a modern sculpture park, doesn't it?
326
00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,731
But this Jantar Mantar was built just under 300 years ago.
327
00:18:35,731 --> 00:18:38,643
Along with his palace, Maharajah Jai Singh
328
00:18:38,643 --> 00:18:40,800
commissioned the construction
329
00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:43,580
of 19 astronomical instruments,
330
00:18:43,580 --> 00:18:46,810
including the world's largest sundial.
331
00:18:46,810 --> 00:18:49,900
It's 27 meters tall.
332
00:18:49,900 --> 00:18:52,450
Jai Singh was not just a popular Maharajah
333
00:18:52,450 --> 00:18:55,440
but also a formidable thinker and inventor.
334
00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,185
At the age of 13, he developed an irrigation system
335
00:18:58,185 --> 00:19:00,925
for the hanging gardens of his fort.
336
00:19:00,925 --> 00:19:02,930
And he reached for the stars.
337
00:19:02,930 --> 00:19:04,940
He was a passionate astronomer.
338
00:19:04,940 --> 00:19:08,692
This enormous observatory was Jai Singh's brainchild.
339
00:19:08,692 --> 00:19:11,695
He knew that in astronomy, size matters.
340
00:19:11,695 --> 00:19:13,600
The bigger an instrument is,
341
00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,660
the more precise are its measurements.
342
00:19:15,660 --> 00:19:18,220
Even after almost 300 years,
343
00:19:18,220 --> 00:19:21,163
everything works here as it did on the first day.
344
00:19:22,610 --> 00:19:24,640
And in fact, he was able to prove
345
00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,495
that local time in Jaipur deviated
346
00:19:27,495 --> 00:19:29,690
from the official time mandated
347
00:19:29,690 --> 00:19:33,610
by the capital city of Delhi by exactly two seconds.
348
00:19:33,610 --> 00:19:35,210
These instruments could even predict
349
00:19:35,210 --> 00:19:37,710
the intensity of a coming monsoon,
350
00:19:37,710 --> 00:19:40,263
which was absolutely invaluable for farming.
351
00:19:50,963 --> 00:19:53,630
(thunder claps)
352
00:19:55,210 --> 00:19:57,600
When the monsoon rains come to India
353
00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,750
between June and September,
354
00:19:59,750 --> 00:20:02,590
the Ganges alone holds more water
355
00:20:02,590 --> 00:20:05,750
than all the rivers in Western Europe combined.
356
00:20:05,750 --> 00:20:08,272
Only the Amazon exceeds this volume.
357
00:20:08,272 --> 00:20:11,270
And the rivers have been depositing sediment
358
00:20:11,270 --> 00:20:13,823
at their mouths for millions of years.
359
00:20:21,790 --> 00:20:25,887
The fertile earth extends kilometers deep at some points.
360
00:20:25,887 --> 00:20:28,993
India's rivers are a vital lifeline.
361
00:20:32,750 --> 00:20:36,390
India's fabled riches attracted Islamic rulers
362
00:20:36,390 --> 00:20:38,947
from the northwest around the year 1000.
363
00:20:38,947 --> 00:20:41,195
And along with these new dynasties,
364
00:20:41,195 --> 00:20:45,490
merchants, artists and scholars came to cities like Delhi,
365
00:20:45,490 --> 00:20:48,120
bringing an entire culture with them.
366
00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:50,840
the buildings and gardens created by architects
367
00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,460
from the Islamic world are what we might today
368
00:20:53,460 --> 00:20:55,783
describe as typically Indian.
369
00:21:00,596 --> 00:21:03,820
The powerful Mughal empire which spanned
370
00:21:03,820 --> 00:21:06,670
almost the entire Indian subcontinent
371
00:21:06,670 --> 00:21:11,060
and lasted nearly 300 years has its roots here.
372
00:21:11,060 --> 00:21:14,240
The Muslim rulers were known as Mughals or emperors.
373
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,300
They originally came as conquerors from Afghanistan
374
00:21:17,300 --> 00:21:20,470
and brought their religion, Islam, with them.
375
00:21:20,470 --> 00:21:23,600
It became the second most prevalent faith in India
376
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:25,130
after Hinduism.
377
00:21:25,130 --> 00:21:27,983
The Mughals had a highly developed courtly culture.
378
00:21:27,983 --> 00:21:30,070
The showpieces of their architecture
379
00:21:30,070 --> 00:21:32,430
communicate their unique understanding
380
00:21:32,430 --> 00:21:35,713
of death, paradise and universal rule.
381
00:21:37,750 --> 00:21:40,140
Symbols of that understanding can be found
382
00:21:40,140 --> 00:21:41,760
everywhere in India.
383
00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:43,350
A few kilometers south of Delhi,
384
00:21:43,350 --> 00:21:46,550
the archeological area of Qutub contains
385
00:21:46,550 --> 00:21:49,140
funerary buildings and two mosques,
386
00:21:49,140 --> 00:21:51,540
including the oldest in northern India,
387
00:21:51,540 --> 00:21:56,180
built of materials re-used from some 20 Brahman temples.
388
00:21:56,180 --> 00:21:58,010
Built in the early 13th century,
389
00:21:58,010 --> 00:22:00,928
the red sandstone tower of Qutub Minar
390
00:22:00,928 --> 00:22:04,030
is one of the highest minarets in the world.
391
00:22:04,030 --> 00:22:06,770
72.5 meters high.
392
00:22:06,770 --> 00:22:10,143
This is why UNESCO made it a world heritage site.
393
00:22:22,843 --> 00:22:25,180
In the 16th century, the Mughal empire
394
00:22:25,180 --> 00:22:27,840
was firmly established and its influence
395
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:29,470
could be felt everywhere.
396
00:22:29,470 --> 00:22:33,470
The great Mughal Humayun is symbolic of this development,
397
00:22:33,470 --> 00:22:36,023
the face of an entire culture changed.
398
00:22:37,910 --> 00:22:40,080
This was not Humayun's palace,
399
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,730
rather it's his modest tomb in Delhi,
400
00:22:43,730 --> 00:22:46,823
the earliest example of Mughal architecture in India.
401
00:22:48,610 --> 00:22:52,040
A woman commissioned the construction of this mausoleum.
402
00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:54,035
She was Humayun's widow.
403
00:22:54,035 --> 00:22:56,283
She hired a Persian architect
404
00:22:56,283 --> 00:23:00,520
and personally oversaw the works for nine years.
405
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,250
Hamida Banu Begum, that was her name,
406
00:23:03,250 --> 00:23:05,930
even set up camp in these gardens
407
00:23:05,930 --> 00:23:07,890
to keep an eye on everything.
408
00:23:07,890 --> 00:23:11,048
She was the mother of Humayun's son Akbar,
409
00:23:11,048 --> 00:23:13,780
the most legendary Mughal of all.
410
00:23:13,780 --> 00:23:15,290
When he was off on a conquest
411
00:23:15,290 --> 00:23:17,660
or traveling across his extensive empire,
412
00:23:17,660 --> 00:23:19,740
he left the business of governing
413
00:23:19,740 --> 00:23:22,260
to his highly intelligent mother.
414
00:23:22,260 --> 00:23:24,420
It's striking what powerful figures
415
00:23:24,420 --> 00:23:26,660
the women of these Islamic dynasties were,
416
00:23:26,660 --> 00:23:28,190
and how they were revered.
417
00:23:28,190 --> 00:23:30,370
And how, for a very long time,
418
00:23:30,370 --> 00:23:34,110
an open and generous form of Islam was practiced here.
419
00:23:34,110 --> 00:23:36,550
The people valued religious tolerance,
420
00:23:36,550 --> 00:23:39,223
music, literature and painting.
421
00:23:39,223 --> 00:23:43,838
Later on, this tomb served as a model for the Taj Mahal,
422
00:23:43,838 --> 00:23:46,613
which was a declaration of love to a woman.
423
00:23:48,330 --> 00:23:51,410
The Taj Mahal on the Yamuna River is considered
424
00:23:51,410 --> 00:23:52,990
one of the most beautiful examples
425
00:23:52,990 --> 00:23:55,290
of Muslim architecture in India.
426
00:23:55,290 --> 00:23:57,830
The mausoleum was commissioned by the great Mughal
427
00:23:57,830 --> 00:24:01,360
Shah Jahan, in memory of his beloved wife.
428
00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:06,360
She died in 1631 while giving birth to their 14th child.
429
00:24:06,620 --> 00:24:09,340
More than 20,000 laborers worked on
430
00:24:09,340 --> 00:24:11,660
the construction of the Taj Mahal.
431
00:24:11,660 --> 00:24:15,052
1,000 elephants transported material to Agra
432
00:24:15,052 --> 00:24:17,200
from all over Asia.
433
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:19,710
It's said that the great Mughal had the brick layers
434
00:24:19,710 --> 00:24:22,510
and even the architect's fingers cut off
435
00:24:22,510 --> 00:24:23,840
so that they could never create
436
00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,140
anything as spectacular again.
437
00:24:26,140 --> 00:24:29,420
Today, the Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings
438
00:24:29,420 --> 00:24:32,023
in the world, and India's greatest landmark.
439
00:24:42,531 --> 00:24:46,690
Without the Humayun mausoleum in Delhi as a model,
440
00:24:46,690 --> 00:24:48,430
it never would have been built,
441
00:24:48,430 --> 00:24:50,303
says art historian Ratish Nanda.
442
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,210
This was a political statement more than anything else.
443
00:24:55,210 --> 00:24:57,920
{\an8}It was the grandeur of the structure
444
00:24:57,920 --> 00:24:59,950
{\an8}on a never before scale,
445
00:24:59,950 --> 00:25:02,550
{\an8}never before seen in the Islamic world,
446
00:25:02,550 --> 00:25:05,810
was a statement that Akbar and the Mughals were making,
447
00:25:05,810 --> 00:25:08,650
saying, you know, we are here to stay
448
00:25:08,650 --> 00:25:09,963
and this is who we are.
449
00:25:12,270 --> 00:25:14,100
Nothing in this tomb
450
00:25:14,100 --> 00:25:16,200
is reminiscent of death.
451
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,340
Everything is broken down into geometric shapes,
452
00:25:19,340 --> 00:25:22,622
into symmetries cubes, arches and ornaments.
453
00:25:22,622 --> 00:25:24,147
Time is suspended.
454
00:25:24,147 --> 00:25:27,033
It has been transformed into space.
455
00:25:34,130 --> 00:25:35,430
The Dormitory of the Mughals
456
00:25:35,430 --> 00:25:38,450
Humayun's mausoleum was called,
457
00:25:38,450 --> 00:25:40,320
because in addition to Humayun himself,
458
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,080
the building serves as the final resting place
459
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:47,053
for 160 of his family members.
460
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:52,840
Humayun's son Akbar the Great became
461
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,130
the most important ruler in the country's history.
462
00:25:56,130 --> 00:25:57,820
To the Indians he must have been
463
00:25:57,820 --> 00:26:00,423
what Charlemagne was to the Europeans.
464
00:26:03,890 --> 00:26:07,490
Akbar really employed Islamic geometry
465
00:26:07,490 --> 00:26:09,030
as defined in the Holy Quran,
466
00:26:09,030 --> 00:26:13,000
in the building of this mausoleum and the adjoining gardens.
467
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,180
Now, the Holy Quran repeatedly promises the fateful
468
00:26:16,180 --> 00:26:18,040
gardens beneath which rivers flow
469
00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:19,930
as their final resting space.
470
00:26:19,930 --> 00:26:21,740
And it must have been a huge challenge
471
00:26:21,740 --> 00:26:23,440
to have flowing water on the plains,
472
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,070
but the four rivers of paradise were represented
473
00:26:26,070 --> 00:26:28,130
by the four axial pathways.
474
00:26:28,130 --> 00:26:31,040
And each of the four quadrants was then subdivided
475
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:35,250
into eight blocks because paradise is hasht-behesht
476
00:26:35,250 --> 00:26:37,870
or eight spaces of paradise.
477
00:26:37,870 --> 00:26:41,340
And, what is very interesting is that the building plan
478
00:26:41,340 --> 00:26:44,370
is also following the same Quranic geometry.
479
00:26:44,370 --> 00:26:48,310
And the plan is the introduction of the hasht-behesht plan
480
00:26:48,310 --> 00:26:51,020
with eight chambers around the central chamber
481
00:26:51,020 --> 00:26:51,853
built in here.
482
00:26:51,853 --> 00:26:53,865
So what is interesting for me
483
00:26:53,865 --> 00:26:57,046
is this building has absolutely no precedent
484
00:26:57,046 --> 00:26:59,563
anywhere in India or the Islamic world.
485
00:27:03,100 --> 00:27:05,640
How do you preserve an enormous
486
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,360
16th century building that has been named
487
00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:10,350
a world heritage site?
488
00:27:10,350 --> 00:27:12,950
Thousands of craftsmen worked for six years
489
00:27:12,950 --> 00:27:14,320
to restore the mausoleum,
490
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,220
which was on the verge of falling into disrepair.
491
00:27:17,220 --> 00:27:19,890
And before the restoration work began,
492
00:27:19,890 --> 00:27:22,124
years of research went into determining
493
00:27:22,124 --> 00:27:27,124
which stones and paints the original craftsman had used.
494
00:27:27,381 --> 00:27:29,700
So for us to restore that reminder
495
00:27:29,700 --> 00:27:31,310
was extremely important.
496
00:27:31,310 --> 00:27:33,440
And we were very fortunate that we were able
497
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:36,790
to figure out the exact patterns of the tile work.
498
00:27:36,790 --> 00:27:38,760
But the craft skill having died out,
499
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,950
we invited craftsmen from Samarkand
500
00:27:41,950 --> 00:27:45,762
and trained local youth in these works.
501
00:27:45,762 --> 00:27:50,110
But it took us about 20,000 samples of testing
502
00:27:50,110 --> 00:27:52,240
to really make the lapis blue.
503
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:53,490
There are also five other colors.
504
00:27:53,490 --> 00:27:55,150
There's turquoise blue, yellow,
505
00:27:55,150 --> 00:27:56,990
two shades of green and white.
506
00:27:56,990 --> 00:27:59,380
But lapis blue, which is used predominantly
507
00:27:59,380 --> 00:28:01,500
in buildings in this mausoleum area,
508
00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:03,537
took us about two years to work out.
509
00:28:18,370 --> 00:28:20,230
At some point, Akbar the Great
510
00:28:20,230 --> 00:28:22,120
relocated his capital.
511
00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:24,310
He'd been looking for a silent place
512
00:28:24,310 --> 00:28:26,380
for an almost sacred landscape,
513
00:28:26,380 --> 00:28:30,413
and finally decided to build Fatehpur Sikri near Agra.
514
00:28:38,221 --> 00:28:41,920
At the time, there were only small villages and farms,
515
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:45,200
a bucolic atmosphere, perfect for contemplation
516
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,853
and the right place for Akbar to establish his new capital.
517
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,010
On the way to the palace there are small hints
518
00:29:04,010 --> 00:29:05,333
at his legacy.
519
00:29:05,333 --> 00:29:09,100
The Hiran Minar is covered with stone projections
520
00:29:09,100 --> 00:29:11,230
in the form of elephant tusks.
521
00:29:11,230 --> 00:29:13,470
For a long time it was thought to have been erected
522
00:29:13,470 --> 00:29:17,150
as a memorial to the emperor Akbar's favorite elephant.
523
00:29:17,150 --> 00:29:19,393
But it was probably used as a milepost.
524
00:29:28,002 --> 00:29:31,460
The new city with Akbar's imposing palace in the middle
525
00:29:31,460 --> 00:29:33,470
became a haven of tolerance.
526
00:29:33,470 --> 00:29:36,380
He participated in festivities of other religions
527
00:29:36,380 --> 00:29:39,530
and abolished the taxes that non-Muslims had to pay.
528
00:29:39,530 --> 00:29:43,050
And he surrounded himself with theologians and priests
529
00:29:43,050 --> 00:29:45,310
from a range of different faiths.
530
00:29:45,310 --> 00:29:48,063
Muslims, Hindus and Jesuits.
531
00:29:50,193 --> 00:29:53,160
He himself married a Rajput princess,
532
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:54,408
a Hindu woman.
533
00:29:54,408 --> 00:29:57,660
For a long time she was unable to conceive a child,
534
00:29:57,660 --> 00:30:00,260
and then the Sufi saint Salim Chishti
535
00:30:00,260 --> 00:30:02,420
foretold that she would bare the king,
536
00:30:02,420 --> 00:30:04,320
their long desired heir to the throne,
537
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:05,380
within the year.
538
00:30:05,380 --> 00:30:07,863
And she had 13 more children after that.
539
00:30:08,730 --> 00:30:10,950
The saint is still worshiped in a temple
540
00:30:10,950 --> 00:30:13,460
on the palace grounds of Fatehpur Sikri,
541
00:30:13,460 --> 00:30:15,753
mainly by women who hope to have children.
542
00:30:24,250 --> 00:30:26,900
Amidst all the antiquities that bear witness
543
00:30:26,900 --> 00:30:29,310
to India's history over the millennia,
544
00:30:29,310 --> 00:30:31,280
it's sometimes easy to forget that
545
00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:33,848
Indians live in a modern nation.
546
00:30:33,848 --> 00:30:38,004
Since 1947, India has been the largest democracy
547
00:30:38,004 --> 00:30:42,129
in the world, with a population of 1.4 billion.
548
00:30:42,129 --> 00:30:44,810
Nearly 20 million people live on the coast
549
00:30:44,810 --> 00:30:47,240
of the Arabian Sea in Mumbai,
550
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,400
which used to be known as Bombay,
551
00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:52,270
after the Portuguese for beautiful bay.
552
00:30:52,270 --> 00:30:55,699
The Portuguese were also colonial rulers here for a time.
553
00:30:55,699 --> 00:30:58,140
But before the Portuguese arrived,
554
00:30:58,140 --> 00:31:01,552
the city was a scattered amalgamation of seven islands.
555
00:31:01,552 --> 00:31:04,455
The natives of the area lived here as fishermen.
556
00:31:04,455 --> 00:31:08,090
They formed their own cast by the name of Koli.
557
00:31:08,090 --> 00:31:09,890
They helped develop the harbors
558
00:31:09,890 --> 00:31:12,176
and the coastlines around Mumbai.
559
00:31:12,176 --> 00:31:16,520
The name Mumbai stems from the Mumba Devi Temple in Dongri,
560
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:19,393
where the Kolis worshiped their gods.
561
00:31:29,690 --> 00:31:32,249
Can you make a good living out of fishing in these waters?
562
00:31:32,249 --> 00:31:34,200
We have been facing problems.
563
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,333
There are barriers or restrictions.
564
00:31:38,430 --> 00:31:39,453
No fish to catch.
565
00:31:40,818 --> 00:31:43,233
Fishing has not been that rewarding anymore.
566
00:31:45,082 --> 00:31:48,740
It's not just the fishermen who suffer from the pollution.
567
00:31:48,740 --> 00:31:51,410
Today the city is continuously growing.
568
00:31:51,410 --> 00:31:54,750
Everyone wants to come to Mumbai, the golden city,
569
00:31:54,750 --> 00:31:56,950
in search of a better life.
570
00:31:56,950 --> 00:31:59,360
The influence of the British colonial era
571
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,943
is also still highly visible in Mumbai.
572
00:32:01,943 --> 00:32:06,220
After all, Queen Victoria was also Empress of India.
573
00:32:06,220 --> 00:32:09,792
In 1888 the Victoria Terminus was inaugurated
574
00:32:09,792 --> 00:32:12,754
to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee.
575
00:32:12,754 --> 00:32:15,270
It's the most impressive example
576
00:32:15,270 --> 00:32:18,090
of Victorian Gothic architecture in India
577
00:32:18,090 --> 00:32:20,010
and as part of the Victorian Gothic
578
00:32:20,010 --> 00:32:22,640
and art deco ensembles of Mumbai,
579
00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:25,512
it's a UNESCO world heritage site.
580
00:32:25,512 --> 00:32:28,429
("Rule Britannia")
581
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:39,378
Half the sub-continent was part of British India back then,
582
00:32:39,378 --> 00:32:41,470
and the train station was considered
583
00:32:41,470 --> 00:32:43,713
its largest and most important building.
584
00:32:47,417 --> 00:32:49,810
With its beautiful stained glass windows,
585
00:32:49,810 --> 00:32:51,638
the enormous dome at the top,
586
00:32:51,638 --> 00:32:54,110
the extravagant stone vaults,
587
00:32:54,110 --> 00:32:56,700
this feels like a place of worship.
588
00:32:56,700 --> 00:33:00,134
This is railway station as cathedral.
589
00:33:00,134 --> 00:33:03,430
That's how British India celebrated itself
590
00:33:03,430 --> 00:33:04,994
in the 19th century.
591
00:33:04,994 --> 00:33:07,470
("Rule Britannia" continues)
592
00:33:07,470 --> 00:33:11,060
But those days are over and the train station
593
00:33:11,060 --> 00:33:13,440
is no longer called Victoria Terminus.
594
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,980
Today it is named after Indian national hero
595
00:33:15,980 --> 00:33:20,980
Chhatrapati Shivaji, a Hindu leader from the 17th century.
596
00:33:21,110 --> 00:33:24,570
A fitting patron because Shivaji was an early campaigner
597
00:33:24,570 --> 00:33:26,263
for Indian independence.
598
00:33:34,860 --> 00:33:38,450
Now, the terminus is undergoing intense renovation.
599
00:33:38,450 --> 00:33:41,600
Pollution from the enormous traffic volumes
600
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:43,910
and industrial pollution in the region
601
00:33:43,910 --> 00:33:46,910
have damaged the stone structure of the building.
602
00:33:46,910 --> 00:33:49,827
Another problem is the saline air from the sea.
603
00:33:49,827 --> 00:33:53,866
Craftsmen from all over India are working on the site,
604
00:33:53,866 --> 00:33:57,293
just as they did when the station was built.
605
00:33:57,293 --> 00:34:00,230
British architects worked with Indian craftsmen
606
00:34:00,230 --> 00:34:03,420
to include Indian architectural traditions,
607
00:34:03,420 --> 00:34:06,810
thus forging a new style unique to the city,
608
00:34:06,810 --> 00:34:08,903
which was then still called Bombay.
609
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,730
In any case, the train station is still in operation today
610
00:34:20,730 --> 00:34:23,490
and it's a key transport hub in India.
611
00:34:23,490 --> 00:34:27,050
More than 1,000 trains pass through here every day,
612
00:34:27,050 --> 00:34:30,230
heading in every direction across the subcontinent.
613
00:34:30,230 --> 00:34:32,060
2 million passengers per day,
614
00:34:32,060 --> 00:34:35,423
vast numbers of whom are commuters from the suburbs.
615
00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:43,960
I'm taking the train to Kolkata,
616
00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,600
and from there I will explore Sundarbans National Park,
617
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:50,453
a UNESCO world natural heritage site.
618
00:34:52,180 --> 00:34:55,628
As I leave Mumbai, I can only think about how Victoria,
619
00:34:55,628 --> 00:34:59,348
who had originally lent her name to this palatial station,
620
00:34:59,348 --> 00:35:02,350
never experienced the wonder and beauty
621
00:35:02,350 --> 00:35:04,670
of this sub-continent firsthand,
622
00:35:04,670 --> 00:35:07,543
despite the fact that she was Empress of India.
623
00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:14,330
In the northeast of India, seven rivers and hundreds
624
00:35:14,330 --> 00:35:18,670
of smaller streams form an extensive network of channels.
625
00:35:18,670 --> 00:35:21,760
This place, the Ganges Delta in the northeast of India,
626
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,610
is home to mangrove forests that are by far
627
00:35:24,610 --> 00:35:26,283
the largest in the world.
628
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:35,690
World heritage is about more than just culture.
629
00:35:35,690 --> 00:35:37,470
It's also about protecting the world's
630
00:35:37,470 --> 00:35:39,340
unique natural treasures.
631
00:35:39,340 --> 00:35:42,740
{\an8}India's most important UNESCO world natural heritage site
632
00:35:42,740 --> 00:35:44,750
{\an8}is Sundarbans National Park.
633
00:35:44,750 --> 00:35:47,420
{\an8}It's located at the point where India's mighty rivers,
634
00:35:47,420 --> 00:35:50,714
the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, flow together.
635
00:35:50,714 --> 00:35:53,830
Mangroves even thrive in the salt water
636
00:35:53,830 --> 00:35:56,460
that mixes with the fresh water of the rivers here.
637
00:35:56,460 --> 00:36:00,380
Sundarbans, a Bengali name, means beautiful forest.
638
00:36:00,380 --> 00:36:02,430
And it's an ideal refuge for many
639
00:36:02,430 --> 00:36:04,373
endangered species of animals.
640
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:11,440
This place is a perfect hunting ground
641
00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:13,350
for the spotted owlet.
642
00:36:13,350 --> 00:36:16,640
The lesser adjutant specializes in wetlands.
643
00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:20,663
There are more than 270 species of birds in the Sundarbans.
644
00:36:24,810 --> 00:36:26,490
The Sundarbans covers more than
645
00:36:26,490 --> 00:36:29,560
10,000 square kilometers of territory,
646
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:32,940
and during the floods it is flushed with seawater.
647
00:36:32,940 --> 00:36:35,788
It is home to enormous saltwater crocodiles,
648
00:36:35,788 --> 00:36:39,619
rare species of heron and tiny mudskippers.
649
00:36:39,619 --> 00:36:43,527
The primeval ghost crab has its sanctuary here,
650
00:36:43,527 --> 00:36:45,713
as does the chital deer.
651
00:36:50,771 --> 00:36:53,150
This is where you'll find the world's
652
00:36:53,150 --> 00:36:54,770
largest mangrove forests,
653
00:36:54,770 --> 00:36:57,590
though it's also home to India's national animal,
654
00:36:57,590 --> 00:37:00,608
the Bengal tiger, an endangered species.
655
00:37:00,608 --> 00:37:03,320
Unfortunately, this majestic creature
656
00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:05,750
is still mercilessly hunted by poachers,
657
00:37:05,750 --> 00:37:08,760
despite the fact that killing these magnificent animals
658
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,220
is considered a blasphemy in India.
659
00:37:11,220 --> 00:37:13,620
The tiger is the mount of the goddess Durga,
660
00:37:13,620 --> 00:37:16,890
who uses her weapons to defend humanity's divinity
661
00:37:16,890 --> 00:37:18,760
and to battle demons.
662
00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:21,490
But it would appear that the demons that drive humanity
663
00:37:21,490 --> 00:37:24,190
to devastate its natural environment
664
00:37:24,190 --> 00:37:25,793
are very difficult to defeat.
665
00:37:27,010 --> 00:37:30,470
No one knows exactly how many Bengal tigers
666
00:37:30,470 --> 00:37:32,216
still survive today.
667
00:37:32,216 --> 00:37:34,180
Estimates suggest that there may be
668
00:37:34,180 --> 00:37:37,060
fewer than 200 in the Sundarbans.
669
00:37:37,060 --> 00:37:39,740
The tigers drink the brackish water,
670
00:37:39,740 --> 00:37:41,880
which has very high salt content,
671
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:44,440
and that reduces their life expectancy.
672
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:46,460
So they're facing a double threat,
673
00:37:46,460 --> 00:37:48,730
from humans and from nature.
674
00:37:48,730 --> 00:37:51,040
The Sundarbans region has been under growing threat
675
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:52,800
from climate change.
676
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:56,390
If the sea level continues to rise at such a rapid pace,
677
00:37:56,390 --> 00:37:58,790
it will throw off the delicate equilibrium
678
00:37:58,790 --> 00:38:00,543
of this unique biosystem.
679
00:38:02,857 --> 00:38:05,870
The Ganges, which flows into the Sundarbans,
680
00:38:05,870 --> 00:38:08,210
is one of the longest rivers in the world,
681
00:38:08,210 --> 00:38:10,723
at 2,600 kilometers.
682
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,507
It has its source in a Western Himalayan glacier,
683
00:38:17,507 --> 00:38:20,420
crystal clear and high up in the mountains,
684
00:38:20,420 --> 00:38:23,150
and that's exactly where we're headed now,
685
00:38:23,150 --> 00:38:24,860
up the river to Shimla,
686
00:38:24,860 --> 00:38:27,433
the capital of the state of Himachal Pradesh.
687
00:38:31,020 --> 00:38:34,370
On the horizon are the Himalayan foothills,
688
00:38:34,370 --> 00:38:36,853
with their 8,000 meter mountains.
689
00:38:38,267 --> 00:38:41,220
The area around Shimla used to be dotted with
690
00:38:41,220 --> 00:38:44,311
nothing but mountain cabins and nomads tents.
691
00:38:44,311 --> 00:38:47,550
Today, the Queen of Hills, as Shimla is locally known,
692
00:38:47,550 --> 00:38:50,343
is inhabited by almost 200,000 people.
693
00:38:59,917 --> 00:39:02,827
In the 19th century, the British came
694
00:39:02,827 --> 00:39:05,730
and the English Viceroy had a palace built
695
00:39:05,730 --> 00:39:10,003
on a commanding hill in English Renaissance revival style.
696
00:39:13,650 --> 00:39:16,071
Suddenly there was hustle and bustle.
697
00:39:16,071 --> 00:39:19,850
Half timbered houses and a traditional Anglican church
698
00:39:19,850 --> 00:39:21,373
were erected in the Himalayas.
699
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:30,200
Shimla became an exclusive mini empire for the Brits,
700
00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:33,610
with afternoon teas, garden parties and cricket matches,
701
00:39:33,610 --> 00:39:36,400
with English architecture and gardens to match.
702
00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:39,440
And because the wives of the civil servants
703
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:42,480
and officers were often left to their own devices here
704
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:44,310
for long periods of time,
705
00:39:44,310 --> 00:39:48,563
Shimla soon became known as the capital city of adultery.
706
00:40:01,430 --> 00:40:04,440
It's the strangest feeling to visit this handsome
707
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,600
but rather provincial Victorian English confection
708
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:09,640
in the midst of an Indian landscape.
709
00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:11,970
You get the feeling that the British
710
00:40:11,970 --> 00:40:14,490
colonial rulers of India wanted to be here
711
00:40:14,490 --> 00:40:17,050
and not to be here at the same time.
712
00:40:17,050 --> 00:40:20,060
The Indian national leader, Nehru,
713
00:40:20,060 --> 00:40:22,440
found an interesting way to put it when he said
714
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:25,480
the British ultimately failed as colonial rulers
715
00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:27,403
because they failed to become Indian.
716
00:40:29,994 --> 00:40:34,690
Instead, they left landmarks of their own culture.
717
00:40:34,690 --> 00:40:37,740
There is, for example, Northern India's second oldest
718
00:40:37,740 --> 00:40:40,740
Anglican church, Shimla's Christ church,
719
00:40:40,740 --> 00:40:42,490
overlooking the central square,
720
00:40:42,490 --> 00:40:44,730
where at the time local farmers
721
00:40:44,730 --> 00:40:47,143
and craftsmen offered their goods for sale.
722
00:40:57,210 --> 00:41:00,250
In the Indian plain it can get unbearably hot,
723
00:41:00,250 --> 00:41:01,710
at least for Europeans.
724
00:41:01,710 --> 00:41:05,010
In the summer of 1864, Viceroy of India
725
00:41:05,010 --> 00:41:08,090
and representative of Queen Victoria John Lawrence
726
00:41:08,090 --> 00:41:10,960
decided in one fell swoop that the seat
727
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:12,610
of the British colonial government
728
00:41:12,610 --> 00:41:15,590
should be transferred in the hot months of every year
729
00:41:15,590 --> 00:41:17,240
to a city in the mountains.
730
00:41:17,240 --> 00:41:18,840
That was Shimla.
731
00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:21,610
All the important civil servants had to move here
732
00:41:21,610 --> 00:41:23,470
to the foothills of the Himalayas.
733
00:41:23,470 --> 00:41:25,690
The entire bureaucracy was relocated,
734
00:41:25,690 --> 00:41:28,790
lock, stock and barrel, to higher altitudes.
735
00:41:28,790 --> 00:41:32,280
An endless caravan of over 20,000 porters
736
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:34,300
dragged the civil servants possessions
737
00:41:34,300 --> 00:41:36,080
across the country in high summer
738
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:38,950
and then back again when the summer was over.
739
00:41:38,950 --> 00:41:40,950
To put an end to this drudgery,
740
00:41:40,950 --> 00:41:42,880
construction on a train line
741
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:44,820
from the city of Kalka to Shimla
742
00:41:44,820 --> 00:41:47,173
began in the late 19th century.
743
00:41:49,630 --> 00:41:51,810
Like India's other mountain railways,
744
00:41:51,810 --> 00:41:55,893
the Kalka-Shimla railway is a UNESCO world heritage site.
745
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:01,590
On its 100 kilometers of track
746
00:42:01,590 --> 00:42:04,976
it climbs 1,500 meters skyward,
747
00:42:04,976 --> 00:42:07,856
which is why the trip takes nearly six hours.
748
00:42:07,856 --> 00:42:10,630
But the train offers spectacular views
749
00:42:10,630 --> 00:42:13,093
of the Himalayan foothills and wooded valleys.
750
00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:26,760
This stretch of railway only has one track,
751
00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:30,624
so the journey can't continue until the oncoming train
752
00:42:30,624 --> 00:42:32,663
has reached the station.
753
00:42:33,950 --> 00:42:37,589
The track gauge is just 762 millimeters,
754
00:42:37,589 --> 00:42:40,333
which is why it's also known as a toy train.
755
00:42:43,155 --> 00:42:45,820
The railways are as much a part of India
756
00:42:45,820 --> 00:42:48,020
as the Taj Mahal or the Ganges,
757
00:42:48,020 --> 00:42:49,450
and just like the rivers,
758
00:42:49,450 --> 00:42:51,390
they are a lifeline for this country,
759
00:42:51,390 --> 00:42:55,113
a piece of living history to be experienced firsthand.
760
00:43:01,830 --> 00:43:04,760
This railway is one of the finest legacies
761
00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:07,020
of the British colonial rulers in India.
762
00:43:07,020 --> 00:43:10,200
It's a masterpiece of British engineering.
763
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:12,037
It was completed in 1903.
764
00:43:12,037 --> 00:43:16,548
The Kalka-Shimla railway, with its 864 bridges
765
00:43:16,548 --> 00:43:18,884
and it's more than 100 tunnels,
766
00:43:18,884 --> 00:43:21,410
is listed in the Guinness Book of Records
767
00:43:21,410 --> 00:43:25,573
as possessing the steepest incline in altitude worldwide.
768
00:43:27,100 --> 00:43:29,610
And I must say this particular stretch
769
00:43:29,610 --> 00:43:31,310
is just a little bit hair-raising.
770
00:43:33,418 --> 00:43:37,220
Every day, on average, more than 8,000 trains
771
00:43:37,220 --> 00:43:40,275
travel 80,000 kilometers of track,
772
00:43:40,275 --> 00:43:43,572
carrying more than 23 million passengers.
773
00:43:43,572 --> 00:43:48,145
Cargo trains transport 3 million tons of goods and more.
774
00:43:48,145 --> 00:43:51,510
The total distance India's trains travel every day
775
00:43:51,510 --> 00:43:55,310
is three times the distance from the earth to the moon.
776
00:43:55,310 --> 00:43:58,110
Indian traditions are partly responsible for this.
777
00:43:58,110 --> 00:44:01,150
People are always traveling for religious festivals
778
00:44:01,150 --> 00:44:02,683
and family celebrations.
779
00:44:22,710 --> 00:44:25,190
After the trip on the Kalka-Shimla railway,
780
00:44:25,190 --> 00:44:27,295
it's time for some relaxation,
781
00:44:27,295 --> 00:44:30,813
and an ancient Indian invention is just the ticket.
782
00:44:30,813 --> 00:44:32,260
Yoga.
783
00:44:32,260 --> 00:44:35,100
The goal of yoga is to exercise control
784
00:44:35,100 --> 00:44:37,240
over your body and the mind.
785
00:44:37,240 --> 00:44:39,050
Maybe yoga really does allow you
786
00:44:39,050 --> 00:44:41,230
to overcome physical limitations,
787
00:44:41,230 --> 00:44:43,073
to think without thoughts.
788
00:44:48,899 --> 00:44:52,899
(speaking in foreign language)
789
00:44:56,202 --> 00:45:00,150
In the theory of yoga, a human being is a traveler,
790
00:45:00,150 --> 00:45:02,770
moving through life in a horse drawn cart.
791
00:45:02,770 --> 00:45:05,670
The body is the cart, the mind is the driver,
792
00:45:05,670 --> 00:45:09,360
and the five senses are the five horses pulling the cart.
793
00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:11,780
The soul is the passenger and the harness
794
00:45:11,780 --> 00:45:14,370
controlling the whole thing is known
795
00:45:14,370 --> 00:45:17,880
in the Sanskrit language simply as yoga.
796
00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:21,440
Yoga is much more of course than a relaxation technique
797
00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:23,480
for stressed out modern people.
798
00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:25,700
It's said that the first yogis were part of
799
00:45:25,700 --> 00:45:29,280
the advanced civilizations of the Indus River Valley
800
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:31,090
over 5,000 years ago.
801
00:45:31,090 --> 00:45:33,538
We can see this on ancient depictions.
802
00:45:33,538 --> 00:45:36,910
For a long time, this kind of meditation,
803
00:45:36,910 --> 00:45:40,647
this self-improvement technique, only existed in India,
804
00:45:40,647 --> 00:45:43,233
where it was closely linked to Hinduism.
805
00:45:43,233 --> 00:45:46,649
Then in the 19th century, Yogi Swami Vivekananda
806
00:45:46,649 --> 00:45:50,720
set yoga on the path to its current world hegemony.
807
00:45:50,720 --> 00:45:53,850
He made a case for Hinduism as a world religion
808
00:45:53,850 --> 00:45:55,520
and heightened global awareness
809
00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:57,433
of India's cultural importance.
810
00:46:00,130 --> 00:46:02,670
We are visiting Yogi Rakesh Pandey,
811
00:46:02,670 --> 00:46:04,800
one of the most famous Indian masters.
812
00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:07,223
He practices yoga as a science.
813
00:46:11,071 --> 00:46:15,071
(speaking in foreign language)
814
00:46:27,789 --> 00:46:32,625
Guruji, yoga is more than just a bodily discipline.
815
00:46:32,625 --> 00:46:36,110
Where does the thought behind yoga come from?
816
00:46:36,110 --> 00:46:38,100
This came from the Vedas.
817
00:46:38,100 --> 00:46:39,913
{\an8}in Indian, Vedas.
818
00:46:39,913 --> 00:46:43,136
{\an8}And the Vedas had the divided four part,
819
00:46:43,136 --> 00:46:47,185
{\an8}Rigveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda, Yajurveda.
820
00:46:47,185 --> 00:46:51,050
So in the Rigveda, all my yogis, all my saints,
821
00:46:53,269 --> 00:46:58,269
Rishis, Munis, says you do the yoga.
822
00:46:59,881 --> 00:47:02,030
All the time, at that time,
823
00:47:02,030 --> 00:47:05,348
yoga is not this one little exercise.
824
00:47:05,348 --> 00:47:08,780
At that time, yoga is a philosophy.
825
00:47:08,780 --> 00:47:10,933
Yoga is a lifestyle.
826
00:47:10,933 --> 00:47:14,040
Many of the asanas, the position you showed us,
827
00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:15,560
looked like dance.
828
00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:17,810
And you sang before and after,
829
00:47:17,810 --> 00:47:21,440
you chanted musically before and after the positions.
830
00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:23,920
Is there a connection between yoga and music?
831
00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:26,270
Yoga is like the music.
832
00:47:26,270 --> 00:47:28,154
The rhythm of the body.
833
00:47:28,154 --> 00:47:30,300
The melody of the mind.
834
00:47:30,300 --> 00:47:32,459
Harmony of the soul.
835
00:47:32,459 --> 00:47:35,600
Create a symphony of life.
836
00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:36,563
This is yoga.
837
00:47:42,310 --> 00:47:44,820
I can think of no other country
838
00:47:44,820 --> 00:47:48,436
as enthralling and baffling as India.
839
00:47:48,436 --> 00:47:50,548
Nothing is straightforward.
840
00:47:50,548 --> 00:47:52,744
The riddles are never resolved.
841
00:47:52,744 --> 00:47:55,560
The sacred sites of Hinduism suggest
842
00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:58,331
a deep reverence for the natural environment,
843
00:47:58,331 --> 00:48:01,747
yet one also finds traces of a certain disregard
844
00:48:01,747 --> 00:48:04,590
for the upkeep of natural spaces
845
00:48:04,590 --> 00:48:08,600
and even for the bodies of water that many consider holy.
846
00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:11,560
Sewage from private households and industrial plants,
847
00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:14,796
rubbish deposited along thousands of kilometers of river,
848
00:48:14,796 --> 00:48:16,610
avalanches of garbage,
849
00:48:16,610 --> 00:48:18,863
and not just on the outskirts of the cities.
850
00:48:22,290 --> 00:48:23,890
Just over there there's a temple,
851
00:48:23,890 --> 00:48:26,150
and down here on the street the cows
852
00:48:26,150 --> 00:48:28,900
are doing their business, there's rubbish everywhere.
853
00:48:28,900 --> 00:48:33,650
In India, holiness and dirt are often found close together.
854
00:48:33,650 --> 00:48:34,980
And I think the reason for this
855
00:48:34,980 --> 00:48:38,040
lies partly in the Hindu concept of Maya,
856
00:48:38,040 --> 00:48:40,290
which means literally veil,
857
00:48:40,290 --> 00:48:42,990
that signifies the idea that the world
858
00:48:42,990 --> 00:48:45,610
that we can see and touch is not the thing
859
00:48:45,610 --> 00:48:47,090
that matters most,
860
00:48:47,090 --> 00:48:49,590
that the truly essential things lie
861
00:48:49,590 --> 00:48:51,523
in the domain of the invisible.
862
00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:03,240
India gives wings to our imagination.
863
00:49:03,240 --> 00:49:05,084
It fuels our dreams.
864
00:49:05,084 --> 00:49:09,290
But so much that matters is hidden from view.
865
00:49:09,290 --> 00:49:12,940
Its history has never moved in straight lines.
866
00:49:12,940 --> 00:49:15,510
It's not an easy place to understand
867
00:49:15,510 --> 00:49:17,913
and that's exactly why I'll be back.
868
00:49:24,030 --> 00:49:27,935
No one who comes to India could fail to be astonished
869
00:49:27,935 --> 00:49:32,350
by the diversity and number of its cultures,
870
00:49:32,350 --> 00:49:34,380
aptly represented by its UNESCO
871
00:49:34,380 --> 00:49:37,200
world cultural heritage sites.
872
00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:38,730
India is not a country.
873
00:49:38,730 --> 00:49:41,749
It's a country of countries, a civilization.
874
00:49:41,749 --> 00:49:44,790
Buddhism, a world religion, had its origins here,
875
00:49:44,790 --> 00:49:47,860
and Hinduism is present almost everywhere now
876
00:49:47,860 --> 00:49:51,070
thanks to the global reach of the Indian diaspora.
877
00:49:51,070 --> 00:49:54,150
But unlike Europe, India has never sought
878
00:49:54,150 --> 00:49:56,610
to reshape the world in its own image.
879
00:49:56,610 --> 00:49:59,360
Instead, the world came to India,
880
00:49:59,360 --> 00:50:01,590
and everything that immigrants and conquerors
881
00:50:01,590 --> 00:50:04,440
brought to this subcontinent was absorbed
882
00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:07,723
and transformed by a society that was open
883
00:50:07,723 --> 00:50:09,462
but never servile.
884
00:50:09,462 --> 00:50:12,140
The thread of continuity with a deep past
885
00:50:12,140 --> 00:50:13,990
was never entirely broken.
886
00:50:13,990 --> 00:50:16,450
And the result is a nation unique
887
00:50:16,450 --> 00:50:20,615
in the richness of its contrasting colors and layers.
888
00:50:20,615 --> 00:50:23,198
(gentle music)
70261
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