Friday 29 April 2022

Magic of Sandstone KBG-73

What is common between the Red Fort in Delhi, Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, Fatehpur Sikri near Agra, Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, Sonar Quilla in Jaisalmer, Havelis in Khichan, National Art Gallery in Edinburgh, Dallas County Courthouse or The Delicate Arch in Utah, USA?

They are all built using the sandstone! Except The Delicate Arch, all are man-made structures/buildings. The Arch on the other hand, has been created by Nature's own forces of wind, snow and water. According to Wikipedia, Sandstone is a clastic (denoting rocks composed of broken pieces of older rocks)  sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. 

Why Sandstone: It is used for making buildings because it is suitable for both indoors as well as outdoor areas. Due to their sedimentary nature, they are adaptable stones ideal for ornamentation and façade cladding purposes. Sandstone is a natural stonework which is affordable for everyone. It does not require any special products for cleaning. Inalterable colours that last over time. Resistant to fire and heat. No wonder most of the Forts and Palaces in northern India were made using the sandstone because of ease of availability from Rajasthan.

Colours of Sandstone

Does the sandstone come in only one colour? No, like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow, red, gray and white. The Arches National park has the red sandstone. Ghumakkad shares below few pictures of the yellow and red sandstone structures from Jodhpur, Khichan and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, India. 








The Delicate Arch USA

"Nature's Namaste!"

" Bending and touching mother earth’s feet makes me stand strongly"

"We might be far apart but, we will meet at the top"

These are some of the captions that the readers gave for a picture of The Delicate Arch. Located in the Arches National Park, Utah USA, the sandstone arch is Nature's own creation. All the pictures featured here are courtesy our daughter Akanksha who had visited the Park recently with her family and friends.






The Contest

The picture below was featured as KBG-73, the 73rd edition of Kaun Banega Ghumakkad captions contest

The Contest received more than 50 captions listed below from the readers round the globe.

No.

Name

Caption for KBG-73 Contest

1

Aayush Paroolkar(11yrs)

Old is gold…oops, sandstone.

2

Aayush Paroolkar

There was an arch, but no bridge.

3

Ajai Bhumri

प्रक्रिति : अजेय

4

Amandeep Kaur

Paradise's gate is made of red rocks!

5

Avinash Tiwari

A new biginning

6

Avinash Tiwari

Agey bhi janey na tu!

7

Avinash Tiwari

Aao dildar chalo, arch ke paar chalo!

8

Bharat Ladha

Entry gate to the world of Nature.

9

Bharat Ladha

Toofano ke baad bhi khade hai seena taan!

10

BR Natarajan

God alone can a tie a string to this arch to shoot an arrow on the lions

11

CD Sawant

Nature's victory

12

C Raghuram

Stand tall, bend only in humility. Don’t let anything erode core values.

13

Deepak Jena

Without stones there is no arch.

14

Deepak Jena

An arch consists of two weaknesses which, leaning one against the other, make a strength.

15

Geeta Bhargava

Depicts humbleness. Bending to receive blessings from Mother earth.

16

GR Sreenivasan

A grand spectacle created by none other than Nature itself.

17

J Ramamoorty

Tender image of our wonderful past

18

Jaishankar

Gateway to splendour

19

Kapil Bhargava

Life is a balance of holding on and letting go…!

20

LS Bhargava

Existence of Arch technology in ancient times.

21

Manju Khaitan

To be an artist to be in life.

22

Poonam Bhargava

Welcome gate of nature!

23

Pradeep Siwach

Gateway to Heaven

24

Prashant Jadenavar

No matter what passes through me, my penance is unshakeable!

25

PRR Rao

God's gateway to hills

26

Radhika Sareen

Double edged door..

27

Radhika Sareen

CEO's Office....open door

28

Radhika Sareen

A broken glass ceiling

29

Rajendra Singh

Nature, the supreme architect!

30

Rakesh Bajaj

Gateway to happiness.

31

Ranajit Sen

Perfect 10

32

Rashmi Bhargava

Who knew paradise was made of red rocks

33

RB Dhavare

Gate-way to Nature's Beauty & Bounty.

34

Ritu Bhargava

Perfect art by God

35

Ritu Bhargava

कुदरत ने तराशा है, इंसानों ने संभाला है।

36

Ruma Purkayastha

Gateway or getaway? The beckoning archway.

37

Shereen Sultana

Nature's selfie booth!

38

Supradeep Sen

Creator's beauty lies in the arch

39

Susmita Ganguly

Holding up the sky.

40

Susmita Ganguly

Welcoming Gate.

41

Swayam Misra

A Panoramic view of nature

42

Swayam Misra

We might be far apart but, we will meet at the top

43

Tejaswini Artworks

A dinosaur waiting for it’s egg to hatch

44

Unknown

Bending and touching mother earth’s feet makes me stand strongly.

45

Unknown-2

We may call delicate arch .But the arch shows the strength by bending and uniting. And also showing that how delicately one can allow people to cross the arch and reach their destination without any obstructins

46

Vanita Vandan Singh

Nature's arms greeting mankind.

47

Vanita Vandan Singh

Nature's Namaste!

48

Vanita Vandan Singh

Nature greets Humans

49

Veeky Baths

My silence is  it not a weakness, the beast in me is sleeping

50

Vinay Prasad

Lovely arch

51

Vinod Dhanuka

Balance in Life is Welcome

52

Vinod Dhanuka

Persistence makes Lasting Impression

53

Yogesh

Mehra-be-khas

KBG-73 Winners

Our Jury has selected the following five winning captions. Congratulations to the winners.

Avinash Tiwari loves golf, gardening and music. A former Colonel of Indian Army, he is a War Veteran of 1971 Indo-Pak conflict. Having done enough route marches with his troops, he detests long morning walks except on the golf course. He is a regular contributor and winner of KBG contests. His  caption 'Aao dildar chalo, arch ke paar chalo!' आओ दिलदार चलो , arch के पार चलो based on a popular Hindi song means 'Come hearty, let's go across the Arch!' was the Jury's immediate choice.

Ruma Purkayastha is an educator  and wellbeing coach who learns something from her grand children  everyday! She majored in psychology and was Principal of a leading school in New Delhi. Her caption 'Gateway or getaway? The beckoning archway!' captured the essence of the picture and its location. Ruma has won the KBG Contest previously also.

Shereen Sultana appreciates Nature and has been a past winner of several KBG Contests. With an MBA in finance she applies her creative thinking in life. Her caption 'Nature's selfie booth!' was short and sweet.

Kapil Bhargava holds an MBA and has worked with leading telecom corporates. As a Covid survivor, he has been taking motivational cum encouragement session pro-bono for the last two years. Kapil is a free lance trainer for personality development and anti-tobacco awareness. His simple caption 'Life is a balance of holding on and letting go!' appealed to the Jury.


Vinod Dhanuka is former CEO of IL&FS. An alumnus of BITS Pilani, he is fond of travelling and music. Ever willing to lend a helping hand, he lives in Mumbai. His short and crisp caption 'Balance in life is welcome!' was much liked by the Jury. He has won the KBG Contest in the past also.


We thank our Jury Anchita and Akanksha for taking time off from their hectic schedules in California. Thanks are also due to Vijay Gulechha of Khichan for research inputs.

Magic of Sandstone

We hope we were able to illustrate the magic which sandstone can create. Magic which has lasted for centuries. Do visit some of the sandstone forts, palaces and buildings featured in our story. You may share the names and pictures of more sandstone structures which you have visited. 'Sandstone Tourism' as Ghumakkad calls it, is a fascinating way to learn about Nature's building materials and creations. We hope to bring you 'Marble Tourism' story some other day.

Thanks for browsing.

Stay connected, more KBGs and other picture stories are coming your way!

      - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 29th April 2022

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