TAJ MAHAL

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Ottoman, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar component, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, and employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen.[1] The Persian[2] architect, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer of the Taj Mahal.[3]


Origin and inspiration
Main article: Origins and architecture of the Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan, who commissioned the Taj Mahal -"Shah jahan on a globe" from the Smithsonian Institution
Artistic depiction of Mumtaz Mahal
In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was griefstricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child, Gauhara Begum.[4] In her dying breath, Mumtaz Mahal urged Shah Jahan to build a mausoleum for her that the world has never seen before. Shah Jahan granted his wife's wish, and construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death.[5] The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrates the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal.[6][7] The construction of Taj Mahal begun soon after Mumtaz's death with the principal mausoleum completed in 1648. The surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:[8]

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory.



Tomb of Humayun shares architectural similarities with the Taj MahalThe Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand),[9] Humayun's Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, and buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.[10]


Architecture

The tomb
The focus of the Taj Mahal is the white marble tomb, which stands on a square plinth consisting of a symmetrical building with an iwan, an arch-shaped doorway, topped by a large dome. Like most Mughal tombs, basic elements are Persian in origin.


The base of the Taj is a large, multi-chambered structureThe base structure is a large, multi-chambered structure. The base is essentially a cube with chamfered edges and is roughly 55 meters on each side (see floor plan, right). On the long sides, a massive pishtaq, or vaulted archway, frames the iwan with a similar arch-shaped balcony.

On either side of the main arch, additional pishtaqs are stacked above and below. This motif of stacked pishtaqs is replicated on chamfered corner areas as well. The design is completely symmetrical on all sides of the building. Four minarets, one at each corner of the plinth, facing the chamfered corners, frame the tomb. The main chamber houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; their actual graves are at a lower level.

The marble dome that surmounts the tomb is its most spectacular feature. Its height is about the same size as the base of the building, about 35 meters, and is accentuated as it sits on a cylindrical "drum" of about 7 metres high. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion dome (also called an amrud or guava dome). The top is decorated with a lotus design, which serves to accentuate its height as well. The shape of the dome is emphasised by four smaller domed chattris (kiosks) placed at its corners. The chattri domes replicate the onion shape of the main dome. Their columned bases open through the roof of the tomb and provide light to the interior. Tall decorative spires (guldastas) extend from edges of base walls, and provide visual emphasis to the height of the dome. The lotus motif is repeated on both the chattris and guldastas. The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial, which mixes traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements.

The main dome is crowned by a gilded spire or finial. The finial, made of gold until the early 1800s, is now made of bronze. The finial provides a clear example of integration of traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements. The finial is topped by a moon, a typical Islamic motif, whose horns point heavenward. Because of its placement on the main spire, the horns of moon and finial point combine to create a trident shape, reminiscent of traditional Hindu symbols of Shiva.[11]

At the corners of the plinth stand minarets, the four large towers each more than 40 meters tall. The minarets display the Taj Mahal's penchant for symmetry. These towers are designed as working minarets, a traditional element of mosques as a place for a muezzin to call the Islamic faithful to prayer. Each minaret is effectively divided into three equal parts by two working balconies that ring the tower. At the top of the tower is a final balcony surmounted by a chattri that mirrors the design of those on the tomb. The minaret chattris share the same finishing touches, a lotus design topped by a gilded finial. Each of the minarets were constructed slightly outside of the plinth, so that in the event of collapse, a typical occurrence with many such tall constructions of the period, the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.


Base, dome, and minaret

Finial

Main iwan and side pishtaqs

Simplified diagram of the Taj Mahal floor plan



Exterior decoration

Calligraphy on large pishtaqThe exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest to be found in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes, a large pishtaq has more area than a smaller one, and the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were created by applying paint or stucco, or by stone inlays or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs.

The calligraphy found in Taj Mahal are of florid thuluth script, created by Persian calligrapher Amanat Khan, who signed several of the panels. The calligraphy is made by jasper inlaid in white marble panels, and the work found on the marble cenotaphs in the tomb is extremely detailed and delicate. Higher panels are written slightly larger to reduce the skewing effect when viewing from below. Throughout the complex, passages from the Qur'an are used as decorative elements. Recent scholarship suggests that Amanat Khan chose the passages as well.[12][13] The texts refer to themes of judgment and include:

Surah 91 - The Sun
Surah 112 - The Purity of Faith
Surah 89 - Daybreak
Surah 93 - Morning Light
Surah 95 - The Fig
Surah 94 - The Solace
Surah 36 - Ya Sin
Surah 81 - The Folding Up
Surah 82 - The Cleaving Asunder
Surah 84 - The Rending Asunder
Surah 98 - The Evidence
Surah 67 - Dominion
Surah 48 - Victory
Surah 77 - Those Sent Forth
Surah 39 - The Crowds

As one enters through Taj Mahal Gate, the calligraphy reads "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you."[13][14]

Abstract forms are used especially in the plinth, minarets, gateway, mosque, jawab, and to a lesser extent, on the surfaces of the tomb. The domes and vaults of sandstone buildings are worked with tracery of incised painting to create elaborate geometric forms. On most joining areas, herringbone inlays define the space between adjoining elements. White inlays are used in sandstone buildings and dark or black inlays on the white marbles. Mortared areas of marble buildings have been stained or painted dark and thus creating a geometric patterns of considerable complexity. Floors and walkways use contrasting tiles or blocks in tessellation patterns.

Vegetative motifs are found at the lower walls of the tomb. They are white marble dados that have been sculpted with realistic bas relief depictions of flowers and vines. The marble has been polished to emphasise the exquisite detailing of these carvings. The dado frames and archway spandrels have been decorated with pietra dura inlays of highly stylised, almost geometric vines, flowers and fruits. The inlay stones are yellow marble, jasper and jade, leveled and polished to the surface of the walls.


Herringbone

Plant motifs

Spandrel detail

Incised painting



Interior decoration

Jali screen surrounding the cenotaphs
Tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal
Cenotaphs, interior of Taj MahalThe interior chamber of the Taj Mahal steps far beyond traditional decorative elements. Here the inlay work is not pietra dura, but lapidary of precious and semiprecious gemstones. The inner chamber is an octagon with the design allowing for entry from each face, though only the south garden-facing door is used. The interior walls are about 25 metres high and topped by a "false" interior dome decorated with a sun motif. Eight pishtaq arches define the space at ground level. As with the exterior, each lower pishtaq is crowned by a second pishtaq about midway up the wall. The four central upper arches form balconies or viewing areas and each balcony's exterior window has an intricate screen or jali cut from marble. In addition to the light from the balcony screens, light enters through roof openings covered by chattris at the corners. Each chamber wall has been highly decorated with dado bas relief, intricate lapidary inlay and refined calligraphy panels, reflecting in miniature detail the design elements seen throughout the exterior of the complex. The octagonal marble screen or jali which borders the cenotaphs is made from eight marble panels. Each panel has been carved through with intricate pierce work. The remaining surfaces have been inlaid with semiprecious stones in extremely delicate detail, forming twining vines, fruits and flowers.

Muslim tradition forbids elaborate decoration of graves and hence Mumtaz and Shah Jahan are laid in a relatively plain crypt beneath the inner chamber with their faces turned right and towards Mecca. Mumtaz Mahal's cenotaph is placed at the precise center of the inner chamber with a rectangular marble base of 1.5 meters by 2.5 meters. Both the base and casket are elaborately inlaid with precious and semiprecious gems. Calligraphic inscriptions on the casket identify and praise Mumtaz. On the lid of the casket is a raised rectangular lozenge meant to suggest a writing tablet. Shah Jahan's cenotaph is beside Mumtaz's to the western side. It is the only visible asymmetric element in the entire complex. His cenotaph is bigger than his wife's, but reflects the same elements: a larger casket on slightly taller base, again decorated with astonishing precision with lapidary and calligraphy that identifies Shah Jahan. On the lid of this casket is a traditional sculpture of a small pen box. The pen box and writing tablet were traditional Mughal funerary icons decorating men's and women's caskets respectively. Ninety Nine Names of God are to be found as calligraphic inscriptions on the sides of the actual tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, in the crypt including "O Noble, O Magnificent, O Majestic, O Unique, O Eternal, O Glorious... ". The tomb of Shah Jahan bears a calligraphic inscription that reads; "He traveled from this world to the banquet-hall of Eternity on the night of the twenty-sixth of the month of Rajab, in the year 1076 Hijri."


Arch of Jali

Delicate pierce work

Inlay detail

Detail of Jali



The garden

360° panoramic view of the Chahar Bagh gardensThe complex is set around a large 300-meter square charbagh, a Mughal garden. The garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four quarters of the garden into 16 sunken parterres or flowerbeds. A raised marble water tank at the center of the garden, halfway between the tomb and gateway, with a reflecting pool on North-South axis reflects the image of the Taj Mahal. Elsewhere, the garden is laid out with avenues of trees and fountains.[15] The raised marble water tank is called al Hawd al-Kawthar, in reference to "Tank of Abundance" promised to Muhammad.[16] The charbagh garden, a design inspired by Persian gardens, was introduced to India by the first Mughal emperor Babur. It symbolizes four flowing rivers of Paradise and reflects the gardens of Paradise derived from the Persian paridaeza, meaning 'walled garden'. In mystic Islamic texts of Mughal period, paradise is described as an ideal garden of abundance with four rivers flowing from a central spring or mountain, separating the garden into north, west, south and east.


Walkways beside reflecting poolMost Mughal charbaghs are rectangular with a tomb or pavilion in the center. The Taj Mahal garden is unusual in that the main element, the tomb, instead is located at the end of the garden. With the discovery of Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden" on the other side of the Yamuna, Archaeological Survey of India interprets that the Yamuna itself was incorporated into the garden's design and was meant to be seen as one of the rivers of Paradise.[17] The similarity in layout of the garden and its architectural features such as fountains, brick and marble walkways, and geometric brick-lined flowerbeds with Shalimar's suggest that the garden may have been designed by the same engineer, Ali Mardan.[18] Early accounts of the garden describe its profusion of vegetation, including roses, daffodils, and fruit trees in abundance.[19] As the Mughal Empire declined, the tending of the garden declined as well. When the British took over the management of Taj Mahal, they changed the landscaping to resemble that of lawns of London.[20]

Outlying buildings

The Great gate (Darwaza-i rauza) - gateway to the Taj MahalThe Taj Mahal complex is bounded by crenellated red sandstone walls on three sides with river-facing side open. Outside these walls are several additional mausoleums, including those of Shah Jahan's other wives, and a larger tomb for Mumtaz's favorite servant. These structures, composed primarily of red sandstone, are typical of the smaller Mughal tombs of the era. The garden-facing inner sides of the wall are fronted by columned arcades, a feature typical of Hindu temples later incorporated into Mughal mosques. The wall is interspersed with domed kiosks (chattris), and small buildings that may have been viewing areas or watch towers like the Music House, which is now used as a museum.

The main gateway (darwaza) is a monumental structure built primarily of marble and is reminiscent of Mughal architecture of earlier emperors. Its archways mirror the shape of tomb's archways, and its pishtaq arches incorporate calligraphy that decorates the tomb. It utilizes bas-relief and pietra dura (inlaid) decorations with floral motifs. The vaulted ceilings and walls have elaborate geometric designs, like those found in the other sandstone buildings of the complex.


Taj Mahal mosque or masjidAt the far end of the complex, there are two grand red sandstone buildings that are open to the sides of the tomb. Their backs parallel western and eastern walls, and these two buildings are precise mirror images of each other. The western building is a mosque and its opposite is the jawab (answer) whose primary purpose was architectural balance and may have been used as a guesthouse. The distinctions between these two buildings include the lack of mihrab, a niche in a mosque's wall facing Mecca, in the jawab and that the floors of jawab have a geometric design, while the mosque floor was laid with outlines of 569 prayer rugs in black marble. The mosque's basic design is similar to others built by Shah Jahan, particularly to his Masjid-Jahan Numa, or Jama Masjid of Delhi, a long hall surmounted by three domes. The Mughal mosques of this period divide the sanctuary hall into three areas with a main sanctuary and slightly smaller sanctuaries on either side. At the Taj Mahal, each sanctuary opens onto an enormous vaulting dome. These outlying buildings were completed in 1643.


Construction

Ground layout of the Taj MahalThe Taj Mahal was built on a parcel of land to the south of the walled city of Agra. Shah Jahan presented Maharajah Jai Singh with a large palace in the center of Agra in exchange for the land.[21] An area of roughly three acres was excavated, filled with dirt to reduce seepage and leveled at 50 meters above riverbank. In the tomb area, wells were dug and filled with stone and rubble as the footings of the tomb. Instead of lashed bamboo, workmen constructed a colossal brick scaffold that mirrored the tomb. The scaffold was so enormous that foremen estimated it would take years to dismantle. According to the legend, Shah Jahan decreed that anyone could keep the bricks taken from the scaffold, and thus it was dismantled by peasants overnight. A fifteen kilometer tamped-earth ramp was built to transport marble and materials to the construction site. Teams of twenty or thirty oxen were strained to pull blocks on specially constructed wagons. An elaborate post-and-beam pulley system was used to raise the blocks into desired position. Water was drawn from the river by a series of purs, an animal-powered rope and bucket mechanism, into a large storage tank and raised to large distribution tank. It was passed into three subsidiary tanks, from which it was piped to the complex.

The plinth and tomb took roughly 12 years to complete. The remaining parts of the complex took an additional 10 years and were completed in order of minarets, mosque and jawab and gateway. Since the complex was built in stages, discrepancies exist in completion dates due to differing opinions on "completion". For example, the mausoleum itself was essentially complete by 1643, but work continued on the rest of the complex. Estimates of the cost of the construction of Taj Mahal vary due to difficulties in estimating construction costs across time. The total cost of construction has been estimated to be about 32 million Rupees at that time which now runs into trillions of Dollars if converted to present currency rates.[22]

The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. Over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials during the construction. The translucent white marble was brought from Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.


Artist's impression of the Taj Mahal, from the Smithsonian InstitutionA labour force of twenty thousand workers was recruited across northern India. Sculptors from Bukhara, calligraphers from Syria and Persia, inlayers from southern India, stonecutters from Baluchistan, a specialist in building turrets, another who carved only marble flowers were part of the thirty-seven men who formed the creative unit. Some of the builders involved in construction of Taj Mahal are:

The main dome was designed by Ismail Afandi (a.ka. Ismail Khan),[23] of the Ottoman Empire and was considered as a premier designer of hemispheres and domes.
Ustad Isa of Persia (Iran) and Isa Muhammad Effendi of Persia (Iran), trained by Koca Mimar Sinan Agha of Ottoman Empire, are frequently credited with a key role in the architectural design,[24][25] but there is little evidence to support this claim.
'Puru' from Benarus, Persia (Iran) has been mentioned as a supervising architect.[26]
Qazim Khan, a native of Lahore, cast the solid gold finial.
Chiranjilal, a lapidary from Delhi, was chosen as the chief sculptor and mosaicist.
Amanat Khan from Shiraz, Iran was the chief calligrapher. His name has been inscribed at the end of the inscription on the Taj Mahal gateway.[27]
Muhammad Hanif was a supervisor of masons and Mir Abdul Karim and Mukkarimat Khan of Shiraz, Iran (Persia) handled finances and management of daily production.

History

Taj Mahal by Samuel Bourne, 1860.
An early color photograph of the Taj Mahal. Source:The National Geographic Magazine, March 1921
Protective wartime scaffoldingSoon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the Taj Mahal next to his wife.[28]

By the late 19th century, parts of the Taj Mahal had fallen badly into disrepair. During the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the Taj Mahal was defaced by British soldiers and government officials, who chiseled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. At the end of 19th century British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a massive restoration project, which was completed in 1908.[29][30]He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modeled after one in a Cairo mosque. During this time the garden was remodeled with British-looking lawns that are visible today.[31]

In 1942, the government erected a scaffolding in anticipation of an air attack by German Luftwaffe and later by Japanese Air Force. During the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, scaffoldings were again erected to mislead bomber pilots.[32] Its recent threats have come from environmental pollution on the banks of Yamuna River including acid rain[33] due to the Mathura oil refinery,[34] which was opposed by Supreme Court of India directives. The pollution has been turning the Taj Mahal yellow. To help control the pollution, the Indian government has set up the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), a 10,400 square kilometer (6462.26 square mile) area around the monument where strict emissions standards are in place.[35] In 1983, the Taj Mahal was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[36]


Tourism
The Taj Mahal attracts from 2 to 4 million visitors annually, with more than 200,000 from overseas. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking lots or catch an electric bus. The Khawasspuras (northern courtyards) are currently being restored for use as a new visitor center.[37][38] The small town to the south of the Taj, known as Taj Ganji or Mumtazabad, originally was constructed with caravanserais, bazaars and markets to serve the needs of visitors and workmen.[39] Lists of recommended travel destinations often feature the Taj Mahal, which also appears in several listings of seven wonders of the modern world, including the recently announced New Seven Wonders of the World, a recent poll[40] with 100 million votes.

The grounds are open from 6 am to 7 pm weekdays, except for Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12 noon and 2 pm. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after,[41] excluding Fridays and the month of Ramzan. For security reasons[42] only five items - water in transparent bottles, small video cameras, still cameras, mobile phones and small ladies' purses - are allowed inside the Taj Mahal.


Myths
Ever since its construction, the building has been the source of an admiration transcending culture and geography, and so personal and emotional responses to the building have consistently eclipsed scholastic appraisals of the monument.[43]


Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, one of the first European visitors to the Taj MahalA longstanding myth holds that Shah Jahan planned a mausoleum to be built in black marble across the Yamuna river.[44] The idea originates from fanciful writings of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a European traveller who visited Agra in 1665. It was suggested that Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb before it could be built. Ruins of blackened marble across the river in Moonlight Garden, Mahtab Bagh, seemed to support this legend. However, excavations carried out in the 1990s found that they were discolored white stones that had turned black.[45] A more credible theory for the origins of the black mausoleum was demonstrated in 2006 by archeologists who reconstructed part of the pool in the Moonlight Garden. A dark reflection of the white mausoleum could clearly be seen, befitting Shah Jahan's obsession with symmetry and the positioning of the pool itself.[46]

No evidence exists for claims that describe, often in horrific detail, the deaths, dismemberments and mutilations which Shah Jahan supposedly inflicted on various architects and craftsmen associated with the tomb. Some stories claim that those involved in construction signed contracts committing themselves to have no part in any similar design. Similar claims are made for many famous buildings.[47] No evidence exists for claims that Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India in the 1830s, supposedly planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and auction off the marble. Bentinck's biographer John Rosselli says that the story arose from Bentinck's fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort.[48]

In 2000, India's Supreme Court dismissed P.N. Oak's petition to declare that a Hindu king built the Taj Mahal.[47][49] Oak claimed that origins of the Taj, together with other historic structures in the country currently ascribed to Muslim sultans pre-date Muslim occupation of India and thus, have a Hindu origin.[50] A more poetic story relates that once a year, during the rainy season, a single drop of water falls on the cenotaph, as inspired by Rabindranath Tagore's description of the tomb as "one tear-drop...upon the cheek of time". Another myth suggests that beating the silhouette of the finial will cause water to come forth. To this day, officials find broken bangles surrounding the silhouette.[51

QUTUB MINAR

The Qutb Minar (also spelled Qutab or Qutub, Urdu: قطب منار), a tower in Delhi, India, is the world's tallest brick minaret.[2] Construction commenced in 1193 under the orders of India's first Muslim ruler Qutb-ud-din Aibak, and the topmost storey of the minaret was completed in 1386 by Firuz Shah Tughluq. The Qutb Minar is notable for being one of the earliest and most prominent examples of Indo-Islamic architecture.

It is surrounded by several other ancient and medieval structures and ruins, collectively known as Qutb complex. The complex is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Delhi.

Structure

The Qutb Minar is 72 meters high (237.8 ft) with 379 steps leading to the top. The diameter of the base is 14.3 meters wide while the top floor measures 2.75 meters in diameter. Surrounding the building are many fine examples of Indian artwork from the time it was built in 1193. A second tower was in construction and planned to be taller than the Qutb Minar itself. Its construction ended abruptly when it was about 12 meters tall.The name of this tower is given as Alau Minar and construction of recent studies shows that this structure has been tilted in one direction.

[edit] History
At 72.5 m (238 ft), the Qutb Minar is the world's tallest free standing minaret.

Inspired by the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan and wishing to surpass it, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the first Muslim ruler of Delhi, commenced construction of the Qutb Minar in 1193, but could only complete its base. His successor, Iltutmish, added three more stories and, in 1386, Firuz Shah Tughluq constructed the fifth and the last story. The development of architectural styles from Aibak to Tughluq are quite evident in the minaret. Like earlier towers erected by the Ghaznavids and Ghurids in Afghanistan, the Qutb Minar comprises several superposed flanged and cylindrical shafts, separated by balconies carried on Muqarnas corbels. The minaret is made of fluted red sandstone covered with intricate carvings and verses from the Qur'an. The Qutb Minar is itself built on the ruins of Lal Kot, the Red Citadel in the city of Dhillika, the capital of the Tomars and the Chauhans, the last Hindu rulers of Delhi.

The purpose for building this monument has been variously speculated upon. It could take the usual role of a minaret, calling people for prayer in the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, the earliest extant mosque built by the Delhi Sultans. Other possibilities are a tower of victory, a monument signifying the might of Islam, or a watch tower for defense. Controversy also surrounds the origins for the name of the tower. Many historians believe that the Qutb Minar was named after the first Turkish sultan, Qutb-ud-din Aibak but others contend that it was named in honour of Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, a saint from Baghdad who came to live in India and was greatly venerated by Iltutmish.

The nearby Iron Pillar is one of the world's foremost metallurgical curiosities, standing in the famous Qutb complex. According to the traditional belief, anyone who can encircle the entire column with their arms, with their back towards the pillar, can have their wish granted. Because of the corrosive qualities of sweat the government has built a fence around it for safety.

It was then closed a few years later-due to a stampede which killed many people

PARROT

Parrots, also known as psittacines (pronounced /ˈsɪtəsaɪnz/),[2][3] are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes,[4] found in most warm and tropical regions. The order is subdivded in three families: the Psittacidae (true parrots), the Cacatuidae (cockatoos) and the Nestoridae.[5] Parrots have a pan-tropical distribution with several species inhabiting the temperate Southern Hemisphere as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is found in South America and Australasia.

Characteristic features of parrots include a strong curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Most parrots are predominantly green, with other bright colors, and some species are multi-colored. Cockatoo species range from mostly white to mostly black, and have a mobile crest of feathers on the top of their heads. Most parrots are monomorphic or minimally sexually dimorphic. Extant species range in size from the Buff-faced Pygmy-parrot, at under 10 g (0.35 oz.) in weight and 8 cm (3.2 inches) in length, to the Hyacinth Macaw, at 1.0 meter (3.3 feet) in length, and the Kakapo, at 4.0 kg (8.8 lbs) in weight. They are the most variably sized bird order in terms of length.

The most important components of most parrots' diets are seeds, nuts, fruit, buds and other plant material, and a few species also eat insects and small animals, and the lories and lorikeets are specialised to feed on nectar from flowers, and soft fruits. Almost all parrots nest in tree holes (or nestboxes in captivity), and lay white eggs from which emerge altricial (helpless) young.

Parrots, along with crows, jays and magpies, are some of the most intelligent birds, and the ability of some parrot species to imitate human voices enhances their popularity as pets. Trapping of wild parrots for the pet trade, as well as other hunting, habitat loss and competition from invasive species, have diminished wild populations, and parrots have been subjected to more exploitation than any other group of birds.[6] Recent conservation measures to conserve the habitats of some of the high-profile charismatic parrot species has also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the ecosystem.[7]

Origins and evolution
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The diversity of Psittaciformes in South America and Australasia suggests that the order has a Gondwanan origin, while the center of origins appears to be Australasian.[8] The parrot family's fossil record, however, is sparse and their origin can so far only be deduced.

A single 15 mm fragment from a lower bill (UCMP 143274), found in Lance Creek Formation deposits of Niobrara County, Wyoming, has been suggested as the first parrot fossil.[9] Of Late Cretaceous age, it is about 70 million years old. But subsequent reviews[10][11] have established that this fossil is almost certainly not from a bird, but from a caenagnathid theropod—a non-avian dinosaur with a birdlike beak.

It is now generally assumed that the Psittaciformes or their common ancestors with a number of related bird orders were present somewhere in the world around the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, some 65 mya (million years ago). If so, they probably had not evolved their morphological autapomorphies yet, but were generalized arboreal birds, roughly similar (though not necessarily closely related) to today's potoos or frogmouths (see also Palaeopsittacus below).

Europe is the origin of the first generally accepted parrot fossils. The first is a wingbone of Mopsitta tanta, uncovered in Denmark and dated to 54 mya (million years ago).[12] The climate at this time was tropical, consistent with the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.

Later fossils date from the Eocene, starting around 50 mya. Several fairly complete skeletons of parrot-like birds have been found in England and Germany.[13] Some uncertainty remains, but on the whole it seems more likely that these are not direct ancestors of the modern parrots, but related lineages which evolved in the Northern Hemisphere but have since died out. These are probably not "missing links" between ancestral and modern parrots, but rather psittaciform lineages that evolved parallel to true parrots and cockatoos and had their own peculiar autapomorphies:

* Psittacopes (Early/Middle Eocene of Geiseltal, Germany) – basal?
* Serudaptus – pseudasturid or psittacid?
* Pseudasturidae (Halcyornithidae may be correct name)
o Pseudasturides – formerly Pseudastur
* Quercypsittidae
o Quercypsitta (Late Eocene)

The earliest records of modern parrots date to about 23–20 mya and are also from Europe. Subsequently, the fossil record—again, mainly from Europe—consists of bones clearly recognizable as belonging to parrots of modern type. The Southern Hemisphere does not have nearly as rich a fossil record for the period of interest as the Northern, and contains no known parrot-like remains earlier than the early to middle Miocene, around 20 mya. At this point, however, is found the first unambiguous parrot fossil (as opposed to a parrot-like one), an upper jaw which is indistinguishable from that of modern cockatoos. A few modern genera are tentatively dated to a Miocene origin, but their unequivocal record stretches back only some 5 million years (see genus articles for more).

The named fossil genera of parrots are probably all in the Psittacidae or close to its ancestry:

* Archaeopsittacus (Late Oligocene/Early Miocene)
* Xenopsitta (Early Miocene of Czechia)
* Psittacidae gen. et spp. indet. (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand) - several species
* Bavaripsitta (Middle Miocene of Steinberg, Germany)
* Psittacidae gen. et sp. indet. (Middle Miocene of France) - erroneously placed in Pararallus dispar, includes "Psittacus" lartetianus

Some Paleogene fossils are not unequivocally accepted to be of psittaciforms:

* Palaeopsittacus (Early - Middle Eocene of NW Europe) - caprimulgiform (podargid?) or quercypsittid?
* "Precursor" (Early Eocene) - part of this apparent chimera seems to be of a pseudasturid or psittacid
* Pulchrapollia (Early Eocene) — includes "Primobucco" olsoni - psittaciform (pseudasturid or psittacid)?

[edit] Phylogeny
The feathers of a Yellow-headed Parrot. The blue component of the green coloration is due to light scattering while the yellow is due to pigment.

The phylogeny of the parrots is still under investigation. The classifications as presented reflects the current status, which is disputed and therefore subject to change when new studies resolve some of the open questions. For that reason, this classification should be treated as preliminary.

The Psittaciformes consist of three main lineages: Nestoridae, Psittacidae (true parrots) and Cacatuidae (cockatoos). In the past, the Nestoridae were considered part of the Psittacidae, but recent studies place this group of New Zealand species at the basis of the parrot tree next to the remaining members of the Psittacidae as well as all members of the Cacatuidae.[8][14][15]

The Cacatuidae are quite distinct, having a movable head crest, a different arrangement of the carotid arteries, a gall bladder, differences in the skull bones, and lack the Dyck texture feathers which, in the Psittacidae, scatters light in such a way as to produce the vibrant colours of so many parrots. However, the actual situation may be more complex (see below).

Lorikeets were previously regarded as a third family, Loriidae,[16] but studies using large amounts of DNA data place the group in the middle of the Psittacidae family, with as closest relatives the fig parrots (two of the three genera of the tribe Cyclopsittacini, subfamily Psittacinae) and the Budgerigar (tribe Melopsittacini, subfamily Platycercinae).

Systematics

The following classification is a version in which several subfamilies are recognized. Molecular data (see above) suggests that several subfamilies might indeed be valid and perhaps even be elevated to family rank, but the arrangement of tribes in these is not well resolved at present.
Rainbow Lorikeet(Juvenile) (Trichoglossus haematodus
Skeleton of a parrot

Family Nestoridae: The New Zealand parrots.

* Tribe Nestorini: 1 genus with only 2 living species, the Kea and Kākā of the New Zealand region.
* Tribe Strigopini: The flightless, critically endangered Kakapo of New Zealand.

Family Cacatuidae: Cockatoos

* Subfamily Microglossinae
* Subfamily Calyptorhynchinae: dark cockatoos
* Subfamily Cacatuinae: white cockatoos

Family Psittacidae: true parrots

* Subfamily Arinae: Neotropical parrots, about 160 species in some 30 genera. Probably 2 distinct lineages:[17][15]
* Subfamily Loriinae: Around a dozen genera with some 50 species of lorikeets and lories, centered in New Guinea, spreading to Australia, Indonesia, and the islands of the south Pacific.
* Subfamily Micropsittinae: 6 species of pygmy parrot, all in a single genus.
* Subfamily Psittacinae
o Tribe Cyclopsittacini: fig parrots, 3 genera, all from New Guinea or nearby.
o Tribe Polytelini: three genera from Australia and the Wallacea that were in the past grouped with the broad-tailed parrots.
o Tribe Psittrichadini: A single species, Pesquet's Parrot.
o Tribe Psittacini: Afrotropical parrots, about a dozen species in 3 genera.
o Tribe Psittaculini: Paleotropic psittaculine parrots, nearly 70 living species in 12 genera, distributed from India to Australasia.
* Subfamily Platycercinae: Broad-tailed parrots; nearly 30 species in roughly one dozen genera.
o Tribe Melopsittacini: one genus with one species, the Budgerigar.
o Tribe Neophemini: two small genera of parrots.
o Tribe Pezoporini: one genus of parrots with two quite distinct species.
o Tribe Platycercini: Rosellas and relatives; around 20 species in 8 genera.

Other lists

* A list of all parrots sortable by common or binomial name, about 350 species.
o Taxonomic list of Cacatuidae species, 21 species in 7 genera
o Taxonomic list of true parrots which provides the sequence of Psittacidae genera and species following a traditional two-subfamily approach, as in the taxobox above, about 330 species.
o List of Nestoridae
* List of macaws
* List of Amazon parrots

[edit] Distribution
Most parrot species are tropical but a few species, like this Austral Parakeet, range deeply into temperate zones.

Parrots are found on all tropical and subtropical continents including Australia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean, South Asia, southeast Asia, southern regions of North America, South America and Africa. Some Caribbean and Pacific islands are home to endemic species. By far the greatest number of parrot species come from Australasia and South America. The lories and lorikeets range from Sulawesi and the Philippines in the north to Australia and across the Pacific as far as French Polynesia, with the greatest diversity being found in and around New Guinea. The subfamily Arinae encompasses all the Neotropical parrots, including the Amazons, macaws and conures, and range from northern Mexico and the Bahamas to Tierra del Fuego in the southern tip of South America. The pygmy parrots, subfamily Micropsittinae, are a small genus restricted to New Guinea. The subfamily Nestorinae are three species of aberrant parrots from New Zealand. The broad-tailed parrots, subfamily Platycercinae, are restricted to Australia, New Zealand and Pacific islands as far as Fiji. The final true parrot subfamily, Psittacinae, includes a range of species from Australia and New Guinea to the species found in South Asia and Africa. The centre of cockatoo biodiversity is Australia and New Guinea, although some species reach the Solomon Islands (and one species formerly occurred in New Caledonia),[18] Indonesia and the Philippines.

Several parrot species enter the cool, temperate regions of South America and New Zealand. One species, the Carolina Parakeet existed in temperate North America, but was hunted to extinction in the early 20th century. Numerous species have been introduced in areas with temperate climates, and have established stable populations. The Monk Parakeet currently breeds in at least 15 U.S. states.

While a few parrot species are wholly sedentary or fully migratory, the majority fall somewhere between the two, making poorly understood regional movements, some species adopting an entirely nomadic lifestyle.

Morphology
Glossy Black Cockatoo showing the parrot's strong bill, clawed feet, and sideways positioned eyes

The most obvious physical characteristic that characterises parrots is their strong, curved, broad bill. The upper mandible is prominent, curves downward, and comes to a point. It is not fused to the skull, which allows it to move independently, and contributes to the tremendous biting pressure these birds are able to exert. The lower mandible is shorter, with a sharp, upward facing cutting edge, which moves against the flat portion of the upper mandible in an anvil-like fashion. Seed eating parrots have a strong tongue which helps to manipulate seeds or position nuts in the bill so that the mandibles can apply an appropriate cracking force. The head is large, with eyes positioned sideways, which limits binocular vision, but greatly enhances peripheral vision.

Cockatoo species have a mobile crest of feathers on the top of their heads which can be raised for display, and retracted.Parrots, along with crows, jays and magpies, are some of the most intelligent birds, and the ability of some parrot species to imitate human voices enhances their popularity as pets. Trapping of wild parrots for the pet trade, as well as other hunting, habitat loss and competition from invasive species, have diminished wild populations, and parrots have been subjected to more exploitation than any other group of birds.[6] Recent conservation measures to conserve the habitats of some of the high-profile charismatic parrot species has also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the ecosystem.[7]

Behaviour

There are numerous difficulties in studying wild parrots, as they are difficult to catch and once caught they are difficult to mark. Most wild bird studies rely on rings (or bands) or some form of wing tag, but parrots will chew them off.[19] The parrots also tend to range widely and as a consequence there are many gaps in science's knowledge of their behavior.

Parrots have a strong, direct flight. Most species spend most of their time perched or climbing in tree canopies. They often use their bills for climbing by gripping or hooking on branches and other supports. On the ground parrots often walk with a rolling gait.


Diet
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo kobble08.ogg
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A Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo using its strong bill to search for grubs

The diet of parrots consists of seeds, fruit, nectar, pollen, buds, and sometimes insects and to a lesser degree animal prey. Without question the most important of these to most true parrots and cockatoos are seeds. The evolution of the large and powerful bill can be explained primarily as an adaptation to opening and consuming seeds. All true parrots except the Pesquet's Parrot employ the same method to obtain the seed from the husk; the seed is held between the mandibles and the lower mandible crushes the husk, whereupon the seed is rotated in the bill and the remaining husk is removed.[19] A foot is sometimes used in order to help holding large seeds in place. Parrots are seed predators rather than seed dispersers; and in many cases where species are recorded as consuming fruit they are only eating the fruit in order to get at the seed. As seeds often have poisons to protect them, parrots are careful to remove seed coats and other fruit parts which are chemically well defended, prior to ingestion. Many species in the Americas, Africa, and Papua New Guinea consume clay which both releases minerals and absorbs toxic compounds from the gut.[20]
Parrots at a clay lick in Ecuador. Consuming clay neutralises toxins in the diet.

The lories and lorikeets, Swift Parrot and Philippine Hanging Parrot are primarily nectar and pollen consumers, and have tongues with brush tips to collect this source of food, as well as some specialized gut adaptations to accommodate this diet.[21] Many other species also consume nectar as well when it becomes available.

In addition to feeding on seeds and flowers, some parrot species will prey on animals. Golden-winged Parakeets prey on water snails, and famously the Keas of New Zealand will scavenge on sheep carcases and even kill juvenile petrels. Another New Zealand parrot, the Antipodes Island Parakeet, enters the burrows of nesting Grey-backed Storm-petrels and kills the incubating adults.[22] Some cockatoos and the Kākā will also excavate branches and wood in order to obtain grubs.

Breeding

Although there are a few exceptions, parrots are monogamous breeders which nest in cavities and hold no territories other than their nesting sites.[19][23] The pair bonds of the parrots and cockatoos are strong and the pair will remain close even during the non-breeding season, even if they join larger flocks. As with many birds pair bond formation is preceded by courtship displays; these are relatively simple in the case of cockatoos. Allopreening is used by the pair to help maintain the bond.
The vast majority of parrots are, like this Blue-winged Parrotlet, cavity nesters

Only the Monk Parakeet and five species of Agapornis lovebird build nests in trees,[24] and three Australian and New Zealand ground parrots nest on the ground. All other parrots and cockatoos nest in cavities, either tree hollows or cavities dug into cliffs, banks, termite nests or the ground. The use of holes in cliffs is more common in the Americas. In most cases both species will participate in the nest excavation. The length of the burrow varies with species, but is usually between 0.5-2 m in length. The nests of cockatoos are often lined with sticks, wood chips and other plant material. In the larger species of parrot and cockatoo the availability of nesting holes can be limited and this can lead to intense competition for them. Some species are colonial, with the Burrowing Parrot nesting in colonies up to 70,000 strong.[25]

The eggs of parrots are white. In most species the female undertakes all the incubation, although incubation is shared for in cockatoos, the Blue Lorikeet, and the Vernal Hanging Parrot. The female remains in the nest for almost all of the incubation period and is fed both by the male and during short breaks. Incubation varies from 17 to 35 days, with the larger species have the longer incubation periods. The newly-born young are altricial, either lacking feathers or with sparse white down. The young spend anything from three weeks to four months in the nest, depending on species, and may receive parental care for up to further months thereafter.[26]

As typical of K-selected species, the macaws and other larger parrot species have low reproductive rates. They require several years to reach maturity, produce one or very few young per year, and sometimes do not breed every year at all.

Intelligence and learning
Sun Conure demonstrating parrots' puzzle-solving skills.

Studies with captive birds have given us insight into which birds are the most intelligent. While parrots have the distinction of being able to mimic human speech, studies with the African Grey Parrot have shown that some are able to associate words with their meanings and form simple sentences (see Alex and N'kisi). Along with crows, ravens, and jays (family Corvidae), parrots are considered the most intelligent of birds. The brain-to body size ratio of psittacines and corvines is actually comparable to that of higher primates.[27] One argument against the supposed intelligent capabilities of bird species is that birds have a relatively small cerebral cortex, which is the part of the brain considered to be the main area of intelligence in other animals. However, it seems that birds use a different part of their brain, the medio-rostral neostriatum/hyperstriatum ventrale, as the seat of their intelligence. Not surprisingly, research has shown that these species tend to have the largest hyperstriata, and Dr. Harvey J. Karten, a neuroscientist at UCSD who has studied the physiology of birds, discovered that the lower part of avian brains are functionally similar to humans. Not only have parrots demonstrated intelligence through scientific testing of their language using ability, but some species of parrot such as the Kea are also highly skilled at using tools and solving puzzles.[28]

Learning in early life is apparently important to all parrots, and much of that learning is social learning. Social interactions are often practised with siblings, and in several species creches are formed with several broods, and these as well are important for learning social skills. Foraging behaviour is generally learnt from parents, and can be a very protracted affair. Supra-generalists and specialists are generally independent of their parents much quicker than partly specialised species which may have to learn skills over a long period of time as various resources become seasonally available. Play forms a large part of learning in parrots, it can be solitary, and related to motor skills, or social. Species may engage in play fights or wild flights to practice predator evasion. An absence of stimuli can retard the development of young birds, as demonstrated by a group of Vasa Parrots kept in tiny cages with domesticated chickens from the age of 3 months; at 9 months these birds still behaved in the same way as 3 month olds, but had adopted some chicken behaviour.[19] In a similar fashion captive birds in zoo collections or pets can, if deprived of stimuli, develop stereotyped behaviours and harmful behaviours like self plucking. Aviculturists working with parrots have identified the need for environmental enrichment to keep parrots stimulated.

Sound imitation and speech
Main article: Talking birds
See also: Animal language
Amazon edited.ogg
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Video of an Orange-winged Amazon saying "Hello" having been prompted by some people.

Many species can imitate human speech or other sounds, and the results of a study by Irene Pepperberg suggested a high learning ability in an African Grey Parrot named Alex. Alex was trained to use words to identify objects, describe them, count them, and even answer complex questions such as "How many red squares?" with over 80% accuracy. A second example is that of N'kisi, another African grey, which has been shown to have a vocabulary of approximately a thousand words and has displayed an ability to invent as well as use words in context and in the correct tense.

Parrots do not have vocal cords, so sound is accomplished by expelling air across the mouth of the bifurcated trachea. Different sounds are produced by changing the depth and shape of trachea. African Grey Parrots of all subspecies are known for their superior ability to imitate sounds and human speech. This ability has made them prized as pets from ancient time to now. In the Masnavi, a writing by Rumi of Persia, AD 1250, the author talks about an ancient method for training parrots to speak.

Although most parrot species are able to imitate, some of the Amazon parrots are generally regarded as the next-best imitators and speakers of the parrot world.

The question of why birds imitate remains open, but those that do often score very high on tests designed to measure problem solving ability. Wild African Grey Parrots have been observed imitating other birds. Most other wild parrots have not been observed imitating other species.

Relationship with humans

Humans and parrots have a complicated relationship. Economically they can be beneficial to communities as sources of income from the pet trade and are highly marketable tourism draws and symbols. But some species are also economically important pests, particularly some cockatoo species in Australia. Some parrots have also benefited from human changes to the environment in some instances, and have expanded their ranges where agricultural practices, and many parrots have declined as well.

It is possible to devote careers to parrots. Zoos and aquariums employ keepers to care for and shape the behavior of parrots. Some veterinarians who specialize in avian medicine will treat parrots exclusively. Biologists study parrot populations in the wild and help to conserve wild populations. Aviculturalists breed and sell parrots for the pet trade.

As tens of millions parrots have been removed from the wild, and parrots have been traded in greater numbers and for far longer than any other group of wild animals.[29] Many parrot species are still threatened by this trade as well as habitat loss, predation by introduced species, and hunting for food or feathers. Some parrot species are agricultural pests,[30] eating fruits, grains, and other crops, but parrots can also benefit economies through birdwatching based ecotourism.[31]

Pets
Pet Cuban Amazons in Cuba
Further information: Companion parrot

Parrots are popular as pets due to their sociable and affectionate nature, intelligence, bright colours, and ability to imitate human voices. The domesticated Budgerigar, a small parrot, is the most popular of all pet bird species. In 1992 the newspaper USA Today published that there were 11 million pet birds in the United States alone, many of them parrots. Europeans kept birds matching the description of the Rose-ringed Parakeet (or called the ring-necked parrot), such as in this first century account by Pliny the Elder.[32] As they have been prized for thousands of years for their beauty and ability to talk, they have also often been misunderstood. For example, author Wolfgang de Grahl discusses in his 1987 book "The Grey Parrot," that some importers allowed parrots to drink only coffee while they were being shipped by boat considering pure water to be detrimental and believing that their actions would increase survival rates during shipping. (These days it is commonly accepted that the caffeine in coffee is toxic to birds.)

Pet parrots may be kept in a cage or aviary; though generally, tame parrots should be allowed out regularly on a stand or gym. Depending on locality, parrots may be either wild caught or be captive bred, though in most areas without native parrots, pet parrots are captive bred.

Parrots species that are commonly kept as pets include conures, macaws, Amazons, cockatoos, African Greys, lovebirds, cockatiels, budgerigars, eclectus, Caiques, parakeets, Pionus and Poicephalus. Species vary in their temperament, noise level, talking ability, cuddliness with people, and care needs, although how a parrot has been raised usually greatly affects its personality.

Parrots can make excellent companion animals, and can form close, affectionate bonds with their owners. Parrots that are bred for pets may be hand fed or otherwise accustomed to interacting with people from a young age to help ensure they will be tame and trusting. However, parrots are not low maintenance pets; they require feeding, grooming, veterinary care, training, environmental enrichment through the provision of toys, exercise, and social interaction (with other parrots or humans) for good health. Some large parrot species, including large cockatoos, Amazon, and macaws, have very long lifespans with 80 years being reported and record ages of over one hundred. Small parrots, such as lovebirds, hanging parrots, and budgies have shorter life spans of up to 15-20 years. Some parrot species can be quite loud, and many of the larger parrots can be destructive and require a very large cage, and a regular supply of new toys, branches, or other items to chew up. The intelligence of parrots means they are quick to learn tricks and other behaviors - both good and bad - that will get them what they want, such as attention or treats.

The popularity, longevity, and intelligence of many of the larger pet parrots has led to many of these birds being rehomed during the course of their long lifespans. A common problem is that large parrot species which are cuddly and gentle as juveniles will mature into intelligent, complex, often demanding adults that can outlive their owners. Due to these problems, and the fact that homeless parrots are not euthanised like dogs and cats, parrot adoption centers and sanctuaries are becoming more common.

Zoos
Green-winged Macaw at a show at Paphos Zoo, Cyprus.

Parrot species are found in most zoos, and a few zoos participate in breeding and conservation programs. Some zoos have organised displays of trained parrots and other birds doing tricks.

[edit] Trade
10,000 Hyacinth Macaws were taken from the wild for the pet trade in the 1980s.[33]

The popularity of parrots as pets has led to a thriving - and often illegal - trade in the birds, and some species are now threatened with extinction. A combination of trapping of wild birds and damage to parrot habitats makes survival difficult or even impossible for some species of parrot. Importation of wild caught parrots into the US and Europe is illegal.

The trade continues unabated in some countries. A report published in January 2007 presents a clear picture of the wild-caught parrot trade in Mexico, stating: "The majority of parrots captured in Mexico stay in the country for the domestic trade. A small percentage of this capture, 4% to 14%, is smuggled into the USA."[34] In the early 1980s an American college student who worked his way through school smuggling parrots across the Rio Grande put his contraband Mexican birds in a cage on an inflatable raft and floated with them across the international river to the U.S. side where a partner would be waiting.[35]

The scale of the problem can be seen in the Tony Silva case of 1996, in which a parrot expert and former director at Tenerife's Loro Parque (Europe's largest parrot park) was jailed in the United States for 82 months and fined $100,000 for smuggling Hyacinth Macaws.[36] (Such birds command a very high price.) The case led to calls for greater protection and control over trade in the birds. Different nations have different methods of handling internal and international trade. Australia has banned the export of its native birds since 1960. The United States protects its only native parrot through its Endangered Species Act, and protects other nations' birds through its Wild Bird Conservation Act. Following years of campaigning by hundreds of NGOs and outbreaks of avian flu, in July 2007, the European Union halted the importation of all wild birds with a permanent ban on their import. Prior to an earlier temporary ban started in late October 2005, the EU was importing approximately two million live birds a year, about 90% of the international market: hundreds of thousands of these were parrots. There are no national laws protecting feral parrot populations in the USA. Mexico has a licensing system for capturing and selling native birds (though the laws are not well enforced).

Culture
Moche Parrot. 200 A.D. Larco Museum Collection Lima, Peru.

Parrots have featured in human writings, story, art, humor, religion and music for thousands of years. From the Roman poet Ovid's "The Dead Parrot"(Latin), (English) to Monty Python's Dead Parrot Sketch millennia later, parrots have existed in the consciousness of many cultures. Recent books about parrots in human culture include Parrot Culture.[37]

In ancient times and currently parrot feathers have been used in ceremonies, and for decoration. The "idea" of the parrot has been used to represent the human condition in medieval literature such as the bestiary. They also have a long history as pets.

In Polynesian legend as current in the Marquesas Islands, the hero Laka/Aka is mentioned as having undertaken a long and dangrous voyage to Aotona in what are now the Cook Islands, in order to obtain the highly prized feathers of a red parrot as gifts for his son and daughter. On the voyage a hundred out of his 140 rowers died of hunger on their way, but the survivors reached Aotona and captured enough parrots to fill 140 bags with their feathers.[38] By at least some versions, the feathers were plucked off living parrots without killing them [1].

Currently parrots feature in many media. There are magazines devoted to parrots as pets, and to the conservation of parrots (PsittaScene). Recent fictional books featuring parrots include Next. Fictional films include Paulie, and documentaries include The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

Parrots have also been considered sacred. The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped birds and often depicted parrots in their art.[39]

Parrots are used as symbols of nations and nationalism. A parrot is found on the flag of Dominica. The St. Vincent parrot is the national bird of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a Caribbean nation.

Sayings about parrots colour the modern English language. The verb "parroting" can be found in the dictionary, and means "to repeat by rote." There are also clichés, such as the British saying "sick as a parrot."

Feral populations
Main article: Feral parrots
Feral Red-masked Parakeets in San Francisco. The population is the subject of the book and film, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

Escaped parrots of several species have become established in the wild outside their natural ranges and in some cases outside the natural range of parrots. Among the earliest instances were pet Red Shining-parrots from Fiji which established a population on the islands of southern Tonga. These introductions were prehistoric and Red-shining Parrots were recorded in Tonga by Captain Cook in the 1770s.[18] Escapees first began breeding in cities in California, Texas and Florida in the 1950s (with unproven earlier claims dating back to the 1920s in Texas and Florida).[40] They have proved surprisingly hardy in adapting to conditions in Europe and North America. They sometimes even multiply to the point of becoming a nuisance or pest, and a threat to local ecosystems, and control measures have been used on some feral populations.[41]

Threats and conservation
A mounted specimen of the Carolina Parakeet which was hunted to extinction.
Yellow-streaked Lory drinking nectar from a small cup

A large number of parrot species are in decline, and several species are now extinct. Of the 350 or so living species of parrot 130 species are listed as near threatened or worse by the IUCN.[42] There are numerous reasons for the decline of so many species, the principal threats being habitat loss and degradation, hunting, and for certain species, wild-bird trade. Parrots are persecuted for a number of reasons; in some areas they may (or have been) hunted for food, for feathers, and as agricultural pests. For a time, Argentina offered a bounty on Monk Parakeets (an agricultural pest), resulting in hundred of thousands of birds being killed, though apparently this did not greatly affect the overall population.[43] Capture for the pet trade is a threat to many of the rarer or slower to breed species. Habitat loss or degradation, most often for agriculture, is a threat to numerous parrot species. Parrots, being cavity nesters, are vulnerable to the loss of nesting sites and to competition with introduced species for those sites. The loss of old trees is particularly a problem in some areas, particularly in Australia where suitable nesting trees may be many hundreds of years old. Many parrot species occur only on islands and are vulnerable to introduced species such as rats and cats, as they lack the appropriate anti-predator behaviours needed to deal with mammalian predators. Controlling such predators can help in maintaining or increasing the numbers of endangered species.[44] Insular species, which have small populations in restricted habitat, are also vulnerable to physical threats such as hurricanes and volcanic eruptions.

There are many active conservation groups whose goal is the conservation of wild parrot populations. One of the largest includes the World Parrot Trust,[45] an international organization. The group gives assistance to worthwhile projects as well as producing a magazine[46] and raising funds through donations and memberships, often from pet parrot owners. They state they have helped conservation work in 22 countries. On a smaller scale local parrot clubs will raise money to donate to a cause of conservation. Zoo and wildlife centers usually provide public education, to change habits that cause damage to wild populations. Recent conservation measures to conserve the habitats of some of the high-profile charismatic parrot species has also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the ecosystem.[7] A popular attraction that many zoos now employ is a feeding station for lories and lorikeets, where visitors feed small parrots with cups of liquid food. This is usually done in association with educational signs and lecture.

At present the IUCN recognises 19 species of parrot as extinct since 1600 (the date used to denote modern extinctions).[47] This does not include species like the New Caledonian Lorikeet which has not been officially seen for 100 years yet is still listed as critically endangered.

Trade, export and import of all wild-caught parrots is regulated and only permitted under special licensed circumstances in countries party to CITES, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, that came into force in 1975 to regulate the international trade of all endangered wild caught animal and plant species. In 1975, 24 parrot species were included on Appendix I of CITES, thus prohibiting commercial international trade in these birds. Since that initial listing, continued threats from international trade have lead CITES to add an additional 32 parrot varieties to Appendix I, including nine in the last four years.[48] All the other parrot species are protected on Appendix II of CITES. In addition, individual countries may have laws to regulate trade in certain species.

Master Blaster & Little Master

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar pronunciation (help·info) (Marathi: सचिन रमेश तेंडुलकर) (born April 24, 1973 in Mumbai) is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket.[5][6][7] In 2002, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, next to Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one day international (ODI) batsman of all time, next to Viv Richards.[8] In September 2007, the Australian leg spinner Shane Warne rated Tendulkar as the greatest player he has played with or against.[9] Tendulkar was the only player of the current generation to be included in Bradman's Eleven, the dream team of Donald Bradman, published in his biography.[10] He is sometimes referred to as Little Master or Master Blaster.[11][12]

Tendulkar is the highest run scorer in both Test matches and ODIs, and also the batsman with the most centuries in either form of the game. The first player to score fifty centuries in all international cricket combined, he now has more than eighty international centuries.

On October 17, 2008, when he surpassed Brian Lara's record for the most runs scored in Test Cricket, he also became the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in that form of the game,[13] having also been the third batsman and first Indian to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket.[14] He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, and also the first player to cross every subsequent 1000-run mark that has been crossed in ODI cricket history. In the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, Tendulkar surpassed Australia's Allan Border to become the player to cross the 50-run mark the most number of times in Test cricket history, and also the second ever player to score 10 Test centuries against Australia, after only Sir Jack Hobbs of England more than 70 years back.[15] Tendulkar has been honored with the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second highest civilian award, and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honor.

Contents [hide]
1 Early years and personal life
2 Domestic career
2.1 Indian Premier League
3 International career
3.1 Early career
3.2 Rise through the ranks
3.3 Captaincy
3.4 Injuries
3.5 Comeback
4 Style of play
5 Career achievements
5.1 Individual honours & appreciations
5.2 Regard by other cricketers
6 Controversies
6.1 Mike Denness incident
6.2 Controversy over Ferrari customs waiver
7 Fan following
8 Business interests
8.1 Product and brand endorsements
9 Biographies
10 See also
11 References
12 External links



Early years and personal life
Tendulkar was born in Bombay (now Mumbai). His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist, named Tendulkar after his favourite music director, Sachin Dev Burman. Tendulkar's elder brother Ajit encouraged him to play cricket. Tendulkar has two other siblings: a brother Nitin, and sister Savitai.

Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School), where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. During his school days he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler, but Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who took a world record 355 Test wickets, was unimpressed, suggesting that Tendulkar focus on his batting instead.[16]

When he was young, Tendulkar would practice for hours on end in the nets. If he became exhausted, Achrekar would put a one-Rupee-coin on the top of the stumps, and the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar would get the coin. If Tendulkar passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Tendulkar now considers the 13 coins he won then as some of his most prized possessions.[citation needed]

While at school, he developed a reputation as a child prodigy. He had become a common conversation point in Mumbai circles, where there were suggestions already that he would become one of the greats. His season in 1988 was extraordinary, with Tendulkar scoring a century in every innings he played. He was involved in an unbroken 664-run partnership in a Lord Harris Shield inter-school game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who would also go on to represent India. The destructive pair reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Tendulkar scored 326* in this innings and scored over a thousand runs in the tournament.[17] This was a record partnership in any form of cricket until 2006, when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India.

When he was 14, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his own ultra light pads. "It was the greatest source of encouragement for me," he said nearly 20 years later after surpassing Gavaskar's top world record of 34 Test centuries. This was in the same year as his first-class debut. Tendulkar never played for any Under-19 teams, crossing straight into the seniors.

In 1995, Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali (born November 10, 1967), a paediatrician and daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta. They have two children, Sara (born October 12, 1997), and Arjun (born September 24, 1999).[18]

Tendulkar sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annaben Mehta. He is reluctant to speak about his charitable activities[citation needed], choosing to preserve the sanctity of his personal life despite the media interest in him.[citation needed]


Domestic career
On December 11, 1988, aged just 15 years and 232 days, Tendulkar scored 100 not-out in his debut first-class match for Mumbai against Gujarat, making him the youngest cricketer to score a century on his first-class debut. His first double century was for Mumbai while playing against the visiting Australian team at the Brabourne Stadium in 1998.

Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts.

In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire (Craig White, although born in Yorkshire was the first player to be signed as an overseas player by Yorkshire. He had to be listed as an overseas player as he had already played for Victoria in Australia). Tendulkar played 16 first-class matches for the county and scored 1070 runs at an average of 46.52.[19]


Indian Premier League
Tendulkar was made the icon player and captain for his home side, the Mumbai Indians in the inaugural Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition in 2008.[20] As an icon player, he was signed for a sum of US$1,121,250, 15% more than the second-highest paid player in the team, Sanath Jayasuriya.[21]


International career

Early career
Tendulkar played his first Test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989 under the leadership of Kris Srikkanth. According to Cricinfo's Andrew Miller and Martin Williamson, India took an unconventional approach to combating the Pakistani pace attack by calling up a "baby-faced 16-year-old with one season of first-class cricket to his name".[22] He made just 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match, but was impressive in how he handled numerous blows to his body at the hands of the Pakistani pace attack.[22] Tendulkar followed it up with his maiden Test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. His One Day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was disappointing. He was dismissed without scoring a run, again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a tour of New Zealand in which he fell for 88 in the Second Test. His maiden Test century came in the next tour, to England in August 1990 at Old Trafford. Tendulkar further enhanced his development into a world-class batsman during the 1991–1992 tour of Australia that included an unbeaten 148 in Sydney (the first of many battles against Shane Warne who made his debut in the match) and a century on the fast and bouncy track at Perth. Merv Hughes famously commented to Allan Border at the time that "This little prick's going to get more runs than you, AB."[23]


Rise through the ranks

Tendulkar waits at the bowler's end.Tendulkar's performance through the years 1994–1999 coincided with his physical peak, in his early twenties. On the day of the Hindu festival Holi, Tendulkar was told to open the batting at Auckland against New Zealand in 1994.[24] He went on to make 82 runs off 49 balls. He scored his first ODI century on September 9, 1994 against Australia in Sri Lanka at Colombo. It had taken him 79 ODIs to score a century.

In 1996 against Pakistan in Sharjah, Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin was going through a lean patch. Tendulkar and Navjot Singh Sidhu both made centuries to set a record partnership for the second wicket. After getting out, Tendulkar found Azharuddin in two minds to bat out. Tendulkar boosted Azharuddin to bat and Azharuddin subsequently unleashed 29 runs in mere 10 balls. It enabled India post a score in excess of 300 runs for the first time. India went on to win that match.

Tendulkar's rise continued when he was the leading run scorer at the 1996 Cricket World Cup, topping the batting averages whilst scoring two centuries. He was the only Indian batsman to perform in the infamous semi-final of that World Cup. When Tendulkar's wicket fell, the Indian batting lineup collapsed and India conceded defeat after the crowd began angry demonstrations.

This was the beginning of a period at the top of the batting world, culminating in the Australian tour of India in early 1998, with Tendulkar scoring three consecutive centuries. These were characterized by a premeditated plan to target Australian spinners Shane Warne and Gavin Robertson, to whom he regularly charged down the pitch to drive over the infield. This technique worked as India beat Australia. The test match success was followed by two scintillating knocks in Sharjah where he scored two consecutive centuries in a must-win game and then in finals against Australia tormenting Shane Warne once again. Following the series Warne ruefully joked that he was having nightmares about his Indian nemesis.[25] He also had a role with the ball in that series, including a 5 wicket haul in an ODI. Set 310 runs to win, Australia were cruising comfortably at 3 for 203 in the 31st over when Tendulkar turned the match for India taking wickets of Michael Bevan, Steve Waugh, Darren Lehmann, Tom Moody and Damien Martyn for just 32 runs in 10 overs.[26]

Tendulkar single-handedly won the ICC 1998 quarterfinal at Dhaka to pave way for India's entry into the semifinals, when he took 4 Australian wickets after scoring 141 runs in just 128 balls.

A chronic back problem flared up when Pakistan toured India in 1999, with India losing the historic Test at Chepauk despite a gritty century from Tendulkar himself. The worst was yet to come as Professor Ramesh Tendulkar, Tendulkar's father, died in the middle of the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Tendulkar flew back to India to attend the final rituals of his father, missing the match against Zimbabwe. However, he returned with a bang to the World cup scoring a century (unbeaten 140 off 101 balls) in his very next match against Kenya in Bristol. He dedicated this century to his father.[27]


Captaincy
Tendulkar's two tenures as captain of the Indian cricket team were not very successful. When Tendulkar took over as Captain in 1996, it was with huge hopes and expectations. However, by 1997 the team was performing poorly. Azharuddin was credited with saying "Nahin jeetega! Chote ki naseeb main jeet nahin hai!",[28] which translates into: "He won't win! It's not in the small one's destiny".

Tendulkar, succeeding Azharuddin as captain for his second term, then led India on a tour of Australia, where the visitors were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by the newly-crowned world champions.[29] Tendulkar, however, was at his usual best and won the player of the tournament award as well as player of the match in one of the games. After another Test series defeat, this time by a 0-2 margin at home against South Africa, Tendulkar resigned, and Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in 2000.

Tendulkar remains an integral part of the Indian team's strategic processes. He is often seen in discussion with the captain, at times actively involved in building strategies. Former captain Rahul Dravid publicly acknowledged that Tendulkar had been suggesting moves such as the promotion of Irfan Pathan up the batting order which, although only temporary, had an immediate effect on the team's fortunes.


Injuries
Tendulkar continued his good form in Test cricket in 2001 and 2002, with some pivotal performances with both bat and ball. Tendulkar took three wickets on the final day of the famous Kolkata Test against Australia in 2001. Tendulkar took the key wickets of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, centurions in the previous test.

Tendulkar made 673 runs in 11 matches in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, helping India reach the final. While Australia retained the trophy that they had won in 1999, Tendulkar was given the Man of the Tournament award. The drawn series as India toured Australia in 2003/04 saw Tendulkar making his mark in the last Test of the series, with 241* in Sydney, putting India in a virtually unbeatable position. He followed up the innings with an unbeaten 50 in the second innings of the test and then an unbeaten 194 against Pakistan at Multan in the following series. The 194 was controversial in that he was stranded prior to reaching his double century as a result of a declaration by Rahul Dravid. In meeting with the press that evening, Tendulkar responded to a question on missing 200 against Pakistan by stating that he was disappointed and that the declaration had taken him by surprise.[30] Many former cricketers commented that Dravid's declaration was in bad taste.[31][32] The media noted at the time that the decision had apparently been made by Sourav Ganguly,[33] and Ganguly himself later admitted that it had been a mistake.[34] The controversy was put to rest when Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and coach John Wright spoke to the media after the team's victory and stated that the matter was spoken internally and put to rest.[35]

Although he was in strong form, tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar, leaving him out of the side for most of the year, coming back only for the last two tests when Australia toured India in 2004. He played a part in India's victory in Mumbai in that series, though Australia took the series 2-1.

On December 10, 2005 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Tendulkar scored his record-breaking 35th Test century, against the Sri Lankans. On February 6, 2006, he scored his 39th ODI hundred, in a match against Pakistan. He followed with a run-a-ball 42 in the second one-day international against Pakistan on February 11, 2006, and then a 95 in hostile, seaming conditions on February 13, 2006 in Lahore, which set up an Indian victory.

On March 19, 2006, after scoring an unconvincing 1 off 21 balls against England in the first innings of the third Test in his home ground, Wankhede, Tendulkar was booed off the ground by a section of the crowd,[36][37] the first time that he had ever faced such flak. Tendulkar was to end the three-Test series without a single half-century to his credit, and news of a shoulder operation raised more questions about his longevity. Tendulkar was operated upon for his injured shoulder. In July 2006, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Tendulkar had overcome his injury problem following a rehabilitation programme and was available for selection, and he was eventually selected for the next series.


Comeback
Tendulkar's comeback came in the DLF cup in Malaysia and he was the only Indian batsman to shine. In his comeback match, against West Indies on September 14, 2006, Tendulkar responded to his critics who believed that his career was inexorably sliding with his 40th ODI century. Though he scored 141*, West Indies won the rain-affected match by the D/L method.

In the preparation for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Tendulkar was criticized by Greg Chappell on his attitude.[38] As per the report, Chappell felt that Tendulkar would be more useful down the order, while the latter felt that he would be better off opening the innings, the role he had played for most of his career. Chappell also believed that Tendulkar's repeated failures were hurting the team's chances. In a rare show of emotion, Tendulkar hit out at the comments attributed to Chappell by pointing out that no coach has ever suggested his attitude towards cricket is incorrect. On April 7, 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India issued a notice to Tendulkar asking for an explanation for his comments made to the media.[39]

At the Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, Tendulkar and the Indian cricket team, led by Rahul Dravid had a dismal campaign. Tendulkar, who was pushed to bat lower down the order by the Greg Chappell had scores of 7 (Bangladesh), 57* (Bermuda) and 0 (Sri Lanka). As a result, former Australian captain Ian Chappell, brother of the then Indian coach Greg, called for Tendulkar to retire in his column for Mumbai's Mid Day newspaper.[40]

In the subsequent series against Bangladesh, Tendulkar returned to his opening slot and was Man of the Series. He continued by scoring two consecutive scores of 90+ in the Future Cup against South Africa. He was the leading run scorer and was adjudged the Man of the Series.[41]


Tendulkar celebrates upon reaching his 38th Test century against Australia in the 2nd Test at the SCG in 2008, where he finished not out on 154On the second day of the Nottingham Test (July 28, 2007) Tendulkar became the third cricketer to complete 11,000 Test runs.[42] In the subsequent One day series against England, Tendulkar was the leading run scorer from India[43] with an average of 53.42. In the ODI Series against Australia in October 2007 Tendulkar was the leading Indian run scorer with 278 runs.[44]

Tendulkar was dismissed seven times in 2007 between 90 and 100, including three times at 99, leading some to suggest that he struggles to cope with nerves in this phase of his career. Tendulkar has got out 23 times between 90 and 100 in his international career. On November 8, 2007 he got out on 99 against Pakistan in an ODI at Mohali to the bowling of Umar Gul caught by Kamran Akmal. In the fourth ODI, he got out on 97 (off 102 balls with 16 fours) after dragging a delivery from Umar Gul on to his stumps, falling short of another century in ODIs in 2007.

In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 2007-08, Tendulkar showed exceptional form, becoming the leading run scorer with 493 runs in four Tests, despite consistently failing in the second innings. Sachin scored 62 runs in the first innings of the first Test at the MCG in Melbourne, but couldn't prevent a heavy 337-run win for Australia. In the controversial New Years Test at Sydney, Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 154 as India lost the Test. This was his third century at the SCG, earning him an average of 221.33 at the ground. In the third Test at the WACA in Perth, Sachin was instrumental in India's first innings score of 330, scoring a well compiled 71, only to be dismissed by what was later confirmed to be a questionable LBW decision. India went on to record a historic triumph at the WACA. In the fourth Test at Adelaide, which ended in a draw, he scored 153 in the first innings, involving in a crucial 126 run stand with V.V.S. Laxman for the fifth wicket to lead India to a score of 282 for 5 from 156 for 4. He secured the Player of the Match award.

In the One-Day International Commonwealth Bank Tri-Series involving Sri Lanka and Australia, Tendulkar became the first and only batsman to complete 16,000 runs in ODIs. He achieved this feat against Sri Lanka on February 5, 2008 at Brisbane. He started the CB series well notching up scores of 10, 35, 44 and 32, but could not convert the starts into bigger scores. His form dipped a bit in the middle of the tournament, but Sachin came back strongly in India's must-win game against Sri Lanka at Hobart, scoring 63 off 54 balls. He finished the series with a match winning 117 not out of 120 balls in the first final,[45] and 91 runs in the second final.[46]


Style of play

Tendulkar plays a wristy leg-side flickTendulkar is ambidextrous: He bats, bowls, and throws with his right hand, but writes with his left hand.[47] He also practices left-handed throws at the nets on a regular basis. Cricinfo columnist Sambit Bal has described him as the "most wholesome batsman of his time".[48] His batting is based on complete balance and poise while limiting unnecessary movements and flourishes. He appears to show little preference for the slow and low wickets which are typical in India, and has scored many centuries on the hard, bouncy pitches in South Africa and Australia.[48] He is known for his unique punch style of hitting the ball over square. He is also renowned for his picture-perfect straight drive, often completed with no follow-through. Recently, legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar, in an article he wrote in the AFP, remarked that "it is hard to imagine any player in the history of the game who combines classical technique with raw aggression like the little champion does".[4]

Sir Donald Bradman, considered by many the greatest batsman of all time, considered Tendulkar to have a batting style similar to his. In his biography, it is stated that "Bradman was most taken by Tendulkar's technique, compactness and shot production, and had asked his wife to have a look at Tendulkar, having felt that Tendulkar played like him. Bradman's wife, Jessie, agreed that they did appear similar."[49]


Tendulkar at the crease, getting ready to face a delivery.Former Australian cricket team coach John Buchanan voiced his opinion that Tendulkar had become susceptible to the short ball early in his innings because of a lack of footwork.[50] Buchanan also believes Tendulkar has a weakness while playing left-arm pace.[50] He was affected by a series of injuries since 2004. Since then Tendulkar's batting has tended to be less attacking. Explaining this change in his batting style, he has acknowledged that he is batting differently due to that fact that (1) No batsman can bat the same way for the entire length of a long career and (2) He is a senior member of the team now and thus has more responsibility. During the early part of his career he was a more attacking batsman and frequently scored centuries at close to a run a ball. Ian Chappell, former Australian player, recently remarked that "Tendulkar now, is nothing like the player he was when he was a young bloke".[51] However, during the latest tour of Australia in 2008, Tendulkar displayed glimpses of his attacking style with several masterful innings, dominating attacks in a manner reminiscent of his younger days.

While Tendulkar is not a regular bowler, he is adept at bowling medium pace, leg spin, and off spin with equal ease. He often bowls when two batsmen of the opposite team have been batting together for a long period, as he can often be a useful partnership breaker. With his bowling, he has helped secure an Indian victory on more than one occasion.[52] He is the 9th highest wicket taker for India in ODIs.[53]


Career achievements
Main articles: Achievements of Sachin Tendulkar and List of ODI Awards for Sachin Tendulkar

An innings-by-innings breakdown of Tendulkar's Test match batting career, showing runs scored (red bars) and the average of the last ten innings (blue line).Sachin Tendulkar is the most prolific run scorer in one-day internationals with 16,684 runs. With a current aggregate of 12,773 Test runs, he surpassed Brian Lara's previous record tally of 11,953 runs as the highest run scorer in test matches in the second Test of Australia's 2008 tour of India in Mohali.[13] [54] Sachin described “It is definitely the biggest achievement in 19 years of my career” on the day he achieved the record.[55] He also holds the record of highest number of centuries in both Test (42) and ODI cricket (43). Throughout his career, he has made a strong impact on Indian cricket and was, at one time, the foundation of most of the team's victories. In recognition with his impact on sport in a cricket-loving country like India, Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India. He was also elected Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997 and is ranked by the objective scoring method of the Wisden 100 as the second best test batsman and best ODI batsman of all time.

Tendulkar has also consistently done well in Cricket World Cups (excluding the 2007 Cricket World Cup in which India were knocked out after only 3 matches). Tendulkar was the highest run scorer of the 2003 Cricket World Cup and 1996 Cricket World Cup. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODIs 7 times, and in one of these years he scored 1894 runs, easily the record for the highest number of runs scored by any player in a single calendar year for one day internationals. Tendulkar is also one of the very few players who are still playing in international cricket from the 1980s.

He has been Man of the Match 11 times in Test matches and Man of the Series 4 times,[56] out of them twice in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. The performances earned him respect from Australian cricket fans and players.[23]


Individual honours & appreciations
Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, 2008.[57]
ICC World ODI XI: 2004, 2007
Player of the tournament in 2003 Cricket World Cup
Wisden Cricketer of the Year: 1997
Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, 1999.[58]
Arjuna Award, by the Government of India in recognition of his outstanding achievement in Cricket, 1994.[59]
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports, 1997-98.[60]
In January 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggested that Sachin should be conferred with an honorary knighthood for his contribution to international cricket.[61] He was mentioned in the TIME magazine as the "The greatest living exponent of his craft."[62]


Regard by other cricketers
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (April 2009)

In September 2007, former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne published his list of the 50 greatest cricketers who had played during his time, in which Tendulkar had secured the number 1 spot.[9] Sunil Gavaskar, one of the greatest Indian Test batsmen, regarded as Tendulkar as being the "closest thing to batting perfection."[63] Shane Warne had mentioned a decade back, "I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player."[64][65][66] He has received such appreciations from various other cricketers, including Wasim Akram who said "Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time."[65], Viv Richards who said "He is 99.5 percent perfect. I'd pay to see him."[67], Brian Lara who said "You know genius when you see it. And let me tell you, Sachin is pure genius."[68], and Barry Richards who said "Sachin is cricket's God." [65] Former New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee believes Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman ever to grace the game.[69]


Controversies

Mike Denness incident
Main article: Mike Denness and Indian cricket team incident
In the second test of India's 2001 tour of South Africa, match referee Mike Denness fined four Indian players for excessive appealing as well as the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly for not controlling his team.[70] Tendulkar was given a suspended ban of one game in light of alleged ball tampering. Television cameras picked up images that suggested Tendulkar may have been involved in cleaning the seam of the cricket ball in the second test match between India and South Africa at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth.[71] This can, under some conditions, amount to altering the condition of the ball. The match referee Mike Denness found Sachin Tendulkar guilty of ball tampering charges and handed him a one Test match ban.[72] The incident escalated to include allegations of racism,[73] and led to Mike Denness being barred from entering the venue of the third test match. After a thorough investigation, the International Cricket Council revoked the official status of the match and the ban on Tendulkar was lifted. Tendulkar's ball tampering charges and Sehwag's ban for excessive appealing triggered a massive backlash from the Indian public and even the Indian parliament.[74]


Controversy over Ferrari customs waiver
In commemorating Sachin Tendulkar's feat of equalling Don Bradman's 29 centuries in Test Cricket, automotive giant Ferrari invited Sachin Tendulkar to its paddock in Silverstone on the eve of the British Grand Prix (July 23, 2002) to receive a Ferrari 360 Modena from the legendary F1 racer Michael Schumacher.[75] On September 4, 2002 India's then finance minister Jaswant Singh wrote to Sachin telling him that the government will waive customs duty imposed on the car as a measure to applaud his feat.[76] However the rules at the time stated that the customs duty can be waived only when receiving an automobile as a prize and not as a gift. It is claimed that the proposals to change the law (Customs Act) was put forth in Financial Bill in February 2003 and amended was passed as a law in May 2003. Subsequently the Ferrari was allowed to be brought to India without payment of the customs duty (Rs 1.13 Crores or 120% on the car value of Rs 75 Lakhs).[77] When the move to waive customs duty became public in July 2003, political and social activists protested the waiver[78] and filed PIL in the Delhi High Court. With the controversy snowballing, Sachin offered to pay the customs duty and the tab was finally picked up by Ferrari.[79] Tendulkar has been seen taking his Ferrari 360 Modena for late-night drives in Mumbai.


Fan following
Sachin Tendulkar's entry into world cricket was very much hyped up by former Indian stars and those who had seen him play. By scoring his first half-century in his second match and his first century aged 17, Tendulkar's consistent performances earned him a fan following across the globe, including amongst Australian crowds, where Tendulkar has consistently scored centuries.[23] One of the most popular sayings by Sachin's fans is "Cricket is my religion and Sachin is my God".[61] Cricinfo mentions in his profile that "...Tendulkar remains, by a distance, the most worshipped cricketer in the world."[80]

At home in Mumbai, Tendulkar's fan following is so great that he is unable to lead a normal life. Ian Chappell has said that he would be unable to cope with the lifestyle Tendulkar was forced to lead, having to "wear a wig and go out and watch a movie only at night".[51] In an interview with Tim Sheridan, Tendulkar admitted that he sometimes went for quiet drives in the streets of Mumbai late at night when he would be able to enjoy some peace and silence.[81]


Business interests
Tendulkar's immense popularity has led him to numerous profitable business dealings in the past. He currently has the most sponsorships out of all players in world cricket. Sachin Tendulkar was an early pioneer in India on cricket business dealings when he signed a then record sports management deal with Worldtel in 1995, the value of the deal being 30 crore rupees over 5 years.[82] His next contract with WorldTel in 2001 was valued at 80 crores over 5 years.[83] In 2006, he signed a contract with Saatchi and Saatchi's ICONIX values at 180 crores over 3 years.[84] He is the highest earning cricketer in the world.

Making use of his popularity, Tendulkar has opened two restaurants: 'Tendulkar's'[85] (Colaba, Mumbai) & 'Sachin's'[86] (Mulund, Mumbai). Sachin owns these restaurants in partnership with Sanjay Narang of Mars Restaurants. He has also got a new restaurant in Bangalore called Sachin's.

In 2007, Tendulkar also announced a JV with the Future Group and Manipal Group to launch healthcare and sports fitness products under the brand name 'S Drive and Sach'.[87] A series of comic books by Virgin Comics is also due to be published featuring him as a superhero.[88]


Product and brand endorsements
Sachin Tendulkar endorses the following products:

Pepsi: 1992 - Present[89]
Canon: 2006 - 2009[90]
Airtel: 2004-2006[91]
Nazara Technologies: 2005 - 2008. License for Mobile Content development based on Sachin.[92]
Reliance Communications sub-licensed brand 'Sachin Tendulkar' to update the user of the latest 2007 Cricket World Cup scores and news in Sachin's voice. Hutch - ICC's prime communication sponsor protested calling Reliance's plan as 'ambush marketing', a charge that Reliance Communication denies.[93]
Britannia: 2001 - 2007[94]
HomeTrade: 2001 - 2002[95]
Sunfeast: 2007 - 2013/14[96]
National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC): 2003 - 2005[97]
Boost: 1990 - Present[98]
Action Shoes: 1995 - 2000[99]
Adidas: 2000-2010[100]
Fiat Palio: 2001 to 2003[101]
Reynolds: 2007 - Present[102]
TVS: 2002 - 2005[103]
ESPN Star Sports: 2002 - Present[104]
G-Hanz: 2005 - 2007[105]
Sanyo BPL: 2007 - Present[106]
AIDS Awareness Campaign: 2005[107]
Colgate-Palmolive[108]
Philips[108]
MRF[108]
VISA[108]
Aviva
Royal Bank of Scotland Group