Indian Crafts

                                                                       Indian Crafts

India’s deep rooted tradition in crafts can be traced back to the ancient times when the country, famous for its cotton, was an important trading centre for mainly textiles and dyes, and ivory. Sailors from the West and the Far East poured silver and gold into India in return for its hand-printed cotton textiles and other handicrafts. But it was only under the early Mughals that Indian crafts touched new heights: the art of textile making and jewellery was highly developed and new techniques/skills such as velvet manufacturing were introduced and perfected. Local patronage diminished with the weakening of Mughal power. The colonial era discouraged trade in crafts. Indian crafts were now challenged by the cheap, imported and machine made goods. Gandhi’s ‘Sawadeshi’ movement was aimed at reinforcing the status of the Indian crafts. After independence, the government’s efforts have been to launch developmental programmes for the crafts industry, revive many traditional crafts, identify new craft centres and make people more aware of their country’s rich cultural heritage.

Indian crafts can be broadly classified as folk crafts, commercial crafts and crafts associated with religious centres. Folk crafts are produced by village craftsmen for a limited population or created by people for their own use. Commercial crafts are produced by craftsmen of a particular group/ caste working in a centre associated with a specific skill.

Indian crafts are a major tourist attraction of India. The finesse, variety, regional modifications, perfection and eco-friendliness are hallmarks of Indian crafts. These innumerable crafts are result of hundreds and thousands of years of perfectionist endeavour. A visitor traveling India should explore the glorious aspect of Indian craftsmanship.

Same Day Agra Tour

This short trip popularly known as "same day Agra tour" or "same day Taj Mahal tour" or "one day Agra tour" is designed and planned specially for those business travellers who are left with least time for personal pleasure. This Same Day Taj Mahal tour will comfortably take you to Agra where the world famous Taj Mahal is situated. Along with Taj Mahal, you will be witnessing the grandiose scale of architecture in Agra Fort and sublime stream of love in the white marble structure of Tomb of It-mad-ud Daula. This marvelously and meticulously designed trip starts in the morning from New Delhi and will show you all the major attractions and local culture of Agra and offers a small shopping cum local sightseeing section which you can utilize for buying Handicrafts and leather items. The trip starts in the morning and late in the evening, you shall be back again to Delhi. 

Same Day Taj Mahal Tour Highlights :  Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Tomb of It-mad-ud-Daula,Tonga ride,Battery van ride,Local market and culture.

05:00 Hrs :Pick up from Hotel :- You will be picked up from your Hotel in Delhi at 5:00 hrs and you will move for Agra by road. En route have breakfast at good restaurant.
10:00 Hrs :Arrive at Agra :- In 5 hours you will reach Agra. An Introduction with English speaking trained guide followed by a visit to famous tourist attractions in the city of Agra.
11:00 Hrs :Visit the Taj Mahal :- Visit the well known Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal is a world heritage site in Agra and also one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
13:00 Hrs :Agra Fort :- Agra Fort is also known as Red Fort. Built by various Mughal rulers, the fort is a live testimony of the great Mughal Architecture in India.
16:00 Hrs :Visit Local Market :- Visit Tomb of It-Mad-ud-Daula and local bustling market of Agra which is famous for its handicrafts and leather products.
18:00 Hrs :- Depart from Agra for Delhi.
23:00 Hrs :Arrival in Delhi :- Arrive at Delhi. You will be taken to your hotel of stay. Proceed to your onward journey or destination.

                                                                                                  

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Dev Diwali (Deepawali) in Varanasi

Dev Diwali (Deepawali) in Varanasi

Dev Diwali is one of the famous festivals of Hindu which is celebrated in Benares on the occasion of Kartik Poornima and starts by holy Vedic mantras chanted by priests to please and welcome the God, sparkling fire crackers and a bunch of Diyas at the ghats.

At this occasion each and every ghat of the Ganges is packed with the great crowd of pilgrims and diyas (earthen ware). The pilgrims and devotees offer 'diyas' showing their reverence for the Ganges, worshiped by the Hindus as mother. Thousands of diyas (also known as earthen lamps) put into the holy water of the Ganges for their gods according to their rituals beliefs create a mesmerizing spectacle.

Dev Diwali 2013 will be celebrated on Sunday, at 17th November 2013. The main rituals performed by the devotees consist of Kartik Snan (taking a holy bath in the Ganges during Kartika) and Deepdan (offering of oil lighted lamps) to Ganga in the evening. The Ganga aarti is also performed in the evening.

Ganga Mahotsav is a tourist-centric festival in Varanasi which is celebrated for five days every year starting from Prabodhani Ekadashi to Kartik Poornima during the month of October–November. It showcases the rich cultural heritage of Varanasi. The festival, with a message of faith and culture, covers popular cultural programmeslike classical music, a country boat race, daily Shilpa Mela, displays of sculptures, displays of marital arts, and on the final day Poornima (full moon) which coincides with the traditional Dev Deepawali (light festival of the gods). The ghats on the Ganga River glitter with more than a million lit earthen lamps.

On occasion of Ganga Mahotsav and dev Dipawali all hotels are full, so please reconfirm your hotel reservation. 

North India Tourism

The reasons to visit north India are many. Except sea beaches and lagoons, you happen to discover almost all sorts of topographies and hence evolved diversities. North India is studded with most revered Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain pilgrimages. Being guarded by the Himalayas, north India is endowed with rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Sutlej, Vyas, Gomti and Brahmaputra. Delhi, the capital of India, has been arena of political and military upheavals. Being birth place of Ram, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavir and holy sages, north India represents gist of cultural India.

North India tours stun a the visitors by showcasing Yoga & Ayurveda in Rishikesh, religious and spiritual rituals in Varanasi, sexual bliss sculpted on temple walls in Khajuraho, Taj Mahal as epitome of love in Agra, forts and palaces all around in Rajasthan, wildlife diversity in Ranthambhore and Corbett National Parks and Buddhist monasteries in Dharmashala and Ladakh. And Delhi probably emerges as the capital which is most endowed with cultural heritage and monuments of olden days.

As North India is having lot many exotic tourist destinations, Indian tour operators offer many North India package tours to cater to different niches catering to differing requirements and proclivity of the travellers. Rajasthan tour packages cater to the demand of the travellers who want see sturdy, gargantuan and royal monuments like forts and palaces. Customized Rajasthan tours also cater to specific wish-lists of the traveller like desert safari in Jaisalmer, camel ride in Bikaner, tiger safari in Ranthambhore, village safari into Bishnoi villages in Jodhpur etc.

Similarly, Taj Mahal has the distinction of most visited single monument of India. Most of the tourists visiting North India, do visit Taj Mahal in Agra. But many a times, a business traveller with paucity of time wants to see Taj Mahal during his India stay. Keeping in view the time constraints and eagerness to see Taj Mahal once while in India, Indian tour operators have on offer ‘one day Taj Mahal tour, also called as ‘day tour to Agra’ and ‘same day Taj Mahal Tour’.    

  

Likewise, tailor-made tours for Varanasi, Khajuraho, Golden Triangle, Leh Ladakh etc are also on offer. 

The Ganges Floods Varanasi

Today, this blog is being employed to disseminate important information to all visitors who are planning to tour India, especially Varanasi, in September'2013. On account of ongoing monsoon season, unprecedented rainfall, the water level of the Ganges has soared to alarming heights and entered into the city, primarily Gadoulia which leads to famous ghats like Rajendra Prasad Ghat, Dashashwamedh Ghat, Manikarnika Ghat etc. As a result, not only the entire Ghats are submerged in the water and but also the water has also reached to the level of approach  road from where we normally go towards the Ghats to experience the evening Ganga Aarti.

Keeping in mind the water level, the local government authority has suspended the boat ride in the Ganges. As the ghats have got submerged, Ganga Aarti is taking place in one of the high rise buildings on the ghats. But to reach to this venue, a visitor has to go across through the water logging on the main road.  

So, it is being advised by us to people touring Varanasi to partake in Ganga Aarti that kindly avoid to attend the splendid ritual in this September or be prepared to sail through log-jammed water on the way.

Incredible India Tours

Incredible India Tours

India is a country of sub-continental size, continental in diversity and universal in spiritual appeal. One the world’s oldest living civilization, India and its culture have survived ravages of time with success. All through several thousand years of civilization and cultural evolution, unique Indian ethos has been intact. Every kind of conceivable geographical diversity can be traced in India like high altitude desert plateau of Ladakh, plateau of Deccan, hot desert of Thar, snow capped hills of the great Himalaya, Gangetic plain, sea beaches on the coast of Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, dense forests of Sunderbans and Bandhavgarh, tiger reserves of Corbett and Ranthambhore National Parks, flora and fauna in more than 170 national parks etc. Then observe cultural diversity like languages, attires, rituals, traditions etc that varies even at the distance of few kilometres. Again watch social diversity in terms of different religious groups, castes and tribes. Realize and extol plethora of crafts and maturity of the craftsmanship into a different caste. And you wouldn’t be able to miss architectural finesse and varieties of monuments. Come and explore Incredible India. Experience ‘Atithi Devo Bhav’ in spirit and practice.

Visiting and exploring whole of India in a single India tour is a herculean task. Keeping in view this reality, Indian tour operators offer lot many India tour packages catering specific interests of the visitors. A visitor finds beach tour packages offering coveted beaches like Goa and Kovalam. Rajasthan Forts and Palaces tours are designed for esteemed visitors who are more interested in monumental heritage and histrionics. North India Tours ranging from 05 days to a month present cultural and architectural lineage of a significant part of India- North India. Experience religious and spiritual ambience in Varanasi, exotic temple sculpture at Khajuraho, strategic fortress of Orchha, one of the Seven Wonders of the World- Taj Mahal, highest mortar & brick tower of Qutub Minar and gargantuan forts and palaces scattered all over Rajasthan.  

Enjoy serene beauty of Kerala, mammoth temples of Tamil Nadu, legacy of richly carved and engraved temples of Karnataka and Buddhist era monuments in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Enjoy delicious cuisines and pleasantly different cultural shades of South India. Don’t miss Ayurveda massage, Yoga therapy and backwaters tour in a houseboat in Kerala while on South India tour.

And if you are an adventurist and nature-lover, Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Ranthambhore National Park and Corbett Wildlife Sanctuary beckons you with open arms. Various India Wildlife Tours are offered by Indian tour operators.

Measures To Attract Tourists In India

India’s share in International tourist arrival (Inbound India Tour) is a meager .64%. With thousands of years rich ancestral lineage of culture, civilization, monuments, unique life styles and, above all, unmatched traditional ethics of ‘Atithi Devo Bhav’, the Working Group on Tourism, set up by Planning Commission, has targeted India’s share in International tourist arrival in India at 1% by the end of 12^th Five Year Plan. Though the tours to India are on rise since last several years but to achieve exponential growth of Indian tourism industry, concerted efforts have to be made. The targeted figure has to be achieved on the basis of three pronged approach:

(a)    Various promotional efforts highlighting India in general and various Indian tourist destinations in particular. With regard to that Indian tour operators may offer customized India Tour Packages.

(b)   Promotion of prioritized Indian tourist destinations will be a focused drive. The prioritization of select Indian tourist destinations will be reached at on the basis of consultation with respective state governments by the Union Government of India.

(c)    Central Financial Assistance to States/UTs will be provided for promoting tourism projects in various states. This financial assistance will be utilized to improve the road connectivity leading to the tourist sites, especially from the National Highways/State highways and other entry points under its Plan Scheme of Product/Infrastructure Development for Destinations and Circuits.

(d)   Though the emphasis will be on International tourist arrival in India but the domestic tourism will also be supported so that the present 12% growth rate of Indian tourism industry remains intact.

(e)   Various infrastructural projects will be given due diligence at the time of their speedy implementation.

Expansion of Bandhavgarh National Park

The conservation efforts have started showing results in increased population of tigers. Increased population of tiger in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, India is compelling forest authorities to expand buffer as well as core zones of Bandhavgarh National Park. The tigers roam in a larger area and travel quite a long distance.

Keeping in view the increased tiger population in Bandhavgarh Wildlife Sanctuary and frequent movement of the tigers in buffer zone, the forest authorities have proposed to include 540 sq. kms forest area of Umaria district into buffer zone of Bandhavgarh National Park. This will comprise Dhamokhar, Panpatha, Manpur, Chandia and Ghunghuti forest ranges. As a result, the buffer zone area of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve will increase to 1370 sq kms from 830 sq kms.

Naturally, as the tiger population increases and their movements become frequent in buffer zones, the buffer zones and later core zones of tiger habitat are increased. Presently the area of core zone of Bandhavgarh National Park is 740 sq kms and it is also likely to increase as well.  

The expansion of Bandhavgarh National Park will surely be a delight for wildlife lovers. Indian tour operators offer several India wildlife tours which include an excursion into Bandhavgarh tiger reserve. India wildlife tours comprising Bandhavgarh National Park offer ‘tiger safaris’ on jeep and elephant. 

Six Rajasthan Hill Forts Declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Six Rajasthan Hill Forts Declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Rajasthan adds another feather to its crowning glory with inclusion of six hill fort palace complexes in Aravalli hills (mountain range) into the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The International Council in Monuments and Sites, a body that surveys, evaluates and proposes heritage sites with cultural relevance and architectural brilliance to be inducted into the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. On recommendation of International Council in Monuments and Sites, six hill forts of Rajasthan- Chittaurgarh Fort (Chittaurgarh), Kumbhalgarh Fort (Rajsamand), Ranthambhore Fort (Sawai Madhopur), Jaisalmer Fort (Jaisalmer), Amber Fort (Jaipur) and Gagron Fort (Jhalawar) - have been granted UNESCO World Heritage site status.

These forts of Rajasthan are splendid examples of Rajasthani art and architecture. Rajasthan is a desert state of India and so faces paucity of water. These hill forts of Rajasthan have developed excellent mechanism of water harvesting and conservation. These forts are exemplary embodiment of Rajput military hill architecture. Most of these Rajasthan hill forts, built during 17^th & 19^th centuries, house palaces, temples, courtyards, memorials and villages. Thus these forts symbolize fortified township architecture.    

Rajasthan travel itineraries comprising these forts are already being offered by many Indian tour operators. Rajasthantour without visiting these places is not complete. Various Rajasthan packages, offered by Indian travel agents, comprise stay in heritage hotels as well. This serves as additional exotic and incredible India experience for a visitor on India tour.  

Visit Chennai, Tamil Nadu, South India

To a first time visitor, India seems to be an abstruse riddle with exotic experiences and colorful cultural exposures. India’s diverse flora, fauna, languages, attires, traditions, religious sects, architectural variety, music, dances, cuisines, geography etc make a tourist spell-bound. India is perceived by them as a different world altogether.

If a tour starts from or ends in Chennai, one must visit Dakshinachitra. An excellent example of best kind of heritage tourism, Dakshinachitra showcases rural life and architecture from all four South Indian states of India, tastefully and charmingly. Entire houses of Tamil Brahmins, Chettiar traders, Syrian Christians and Andhra weavers, among others, have been carefully translanted from the original villages and rebuilt in this sprawling campus. They have been furnished with authentic artifacts, furniture and objects of daily living, to give you a glimpse of the rural South India.

Plus, there are small museums that showcase textiles, vessels, history and craft. To add to the experience, you can have your fortune told by a parrot at the village square, practice a Kollam (rice flour design) in one of the houses, or mess with clay at the potter’s wheel. Artisans from across the country periodically demonstrate and sell their work here. And if you visit during a festival like Pongal or Navratri, you can catch a folk dance or street play. 

CREATING & CAPITALIZING TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIA

Realizing the potential of India in tourism sector and positive cascading effects of growth in tourism industry has mobilized Indian government to create and develop new tourist destinations. Multicultural India offers tremendous opportunity in ‘recession proof’ Faith Tourism by developing new India travel circuits- Buddhist pilgrimage tours for ASEAN countries, Jewish centre in Kochi to visit one of the oldest synagogue, British era war cemeteries for the westerners, 22 Sufi shrines for moderate Muslims, Hindu pilgrimages spanning length and breadth of Indian subcontinent, various Jain pilgrimage circuits covering Bihar and western part of India, Sikh pilgrimage tours encompassing Nanded in Maharashtra to Amritsar. The spiritual tourism circuits are new places to be explored, bringing prosperity to every nook and corner of India.   
  

The sincerity of Indian government towards tourism is quite visible in relaxation of rules to allocate tourist visa. But the most promising signals are being shown from various state governments. Bihar is recognized the importance of the holy river Ganga and developing various projects related to tourism revolving around cultural Ganga. Gujarat is exploring possibility of capitalizing on the surge of Ayurvedic treatment and massage. Gujarat has established an Ayurvedic University as well. West Bengal is come out of slumber and is exploring to promote wildlife tourism along with unique cultural practices. Many Buddhist sites are already on the map of India tourism and many more are being explored in provinces like Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The Indian travel agents or Indian tour operators will have to gear up for offering appropriate Indiatour packages catering varied needs of the visitors.