Jaipur: Jantar Mantar

Everybody would have heard about the Jaipur observatory that houses the largest sun dial of the world. I found this collection of architectural astronomical marvels really fascinating. Located right next to the City Palace, Jantar Mantar is one of the five astronomical observatories t by Maharaja Jai Singh in the year 1728. Formerly called Yantra Mantra, meaning instruments and formulae, the observatory has devices for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking planet positions and stars in their orbit and more.Jantar Mantar in Delhi and Jaipur are said to have been built on the orders of Emperor Muhammad Shah, who asked Jai Singh to make corrections in the astronomical tables and to confirm the already available planetary positions. Sawai Jai Singh is said to have sent his envoys to various parts of the world to collect information in astronomy. The Jaipur observatory was apparently based on the data available in the La Hire's "Tables". Upon completion it was discovered to be even more accurate than the table itself.The observatory houses the Jaiprakash Yantra, Samrat Yantra, Ram Yantra and the Composite instrument, which comprises of a sundial and a massive hemisphere.

KFC

Who doesn't know about Kentucky Fried Chicken or famous with KFC? Everybody know that place. Talking about KFC, all people will imagine the fried chicken. But, do they know the history of KFC. Now I would like to talk about it.

KFC Corporation, based in Louisville, Kentucky, is the world's most popular chicken restaurant chain, specializing in Original Recipe®, Extra Crispy™, Twister® and Colonel's Crispy Strips® chicken with homestyle sides.
Every day, nearly eight million customers are served around the world. KFC's menu includes Original Recipe® chicken made with the same great taste Colonel Harland Sanders created more than a half-century ago. Customers around the globe also enjoy more than 300 other products from a Chunky Chicken Pot Pie in the United States to a salmon sandwich in Japan.

KFC has more than 11,000 restaurants in more than 80 countries and territories around the world. And in quite a few U.S. cities, KFC is teaming up with sister restaurants, A&W, All-American Food™, Long John Silver's, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, selling products from the popular chains in one convenient location.

KFC is part of Yum! Brands, Inc., which is the world's largest restaurant system with over 32,500 KFC, A&W All-American Food™,Taco Bell, Long John Silver's and Pizza Hut restaurants in more than 100 countries and territories.

Petronas Twin Tower

The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were the world's tallest buildings, before being surpassed by the Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings and office building in the world.

The Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until Taipei 101, as measured to the top of their structural components (spires, but not antennas), took over the record. Spires are considered integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, to which changes would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Twin Towers remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.

Designed by Argentine-American architect César Pelli, the Petronas Towers were completed in 1998 and became the tallest buildings in the world on the date of completion. They were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's race track. Because of the depth of the bedrock, the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundations. The 120-meter foundations were built by Bachy Soletanche, and required massive amounts of concrete.
The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass façade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim religion. Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross-section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb (albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements).


Below the twin towers is Suria KLCC, a shopping mall, and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Petronas, Malaysia's national oil company, set out to build the world's tallest building. Although other buildings such as the Sears Tower have higher occupied floors, a higher antenna, and a higher roof, the Petronas Twin Towers' spires are classified as architectural details and rise to 452 m (1483 feet), giving it the greatest structural height until Taipei 101. Taking advantage of the rules governing building measurements (counting spires but not antennas) has generated controversy over the towers' claim to the title. However, the tradition of including the spire on top of a building and not including the antenna dates back to the rivalry between the Chrysler Building and the 40 Wall Street.

Other buildings have used spires to increase their height but have always been taller overall to the pinnacle when trying to claim the title. In the aftermath of the controversy, the rules governing official titles were partially overhauled, and a number of buildings re-classified structural antenna as architectural details to boost their height rating (even though nothing was actually done to the building).