Discover India

Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal -A Marvel of Love

Take a constitutional down Shahjahan Park in the chilly mauve light of dawn, and the pale white dome of the Taj Mahal, India looms in the distance. Set against the azure skyline, it looks like a mirage in a desert. Inch closer and the supreme majesty of the greatest monument to love comes into focus – with its dew-coated lawns and its pearl-white mausoleum.

Travel to Taj Mahal Agra to baptize into the true glory of this passion of love. As the sun rises to cast a reverential beam on the sepulchre, the ‘dream in marble’ turns from lavender to yellow, while nightfall sees the monument bathed in moonlight – looking like a woman wreathed in smiles while waiting for her lover.
There are many theories as at which time the Taj Mahal, India looks the best, but there is no substitute to viewing it at all hours of the day and the night if you want to understand its myriad facets. Taj Mahal, India is a microcosm of the universe – it contains within it both the yin and the yang, taking on a new personality to suit the occasion. It can be harsh, dry and strong like alabaster, delicately chaste and fragile like porcelain, noisily populous or quiet and secretive.
Ajanta Caves
The famous Ajanta caves are situated about 99-kms away from Aurangabad district in the state of Maharashtra. These caves are regarded as a world heritage site and were carved out from the 2nd century BC to 6th century AD. They are placed in a horseshoe shape about 3.5 m away from the village. The river Wagura, a mountain stream flows along the bottom of the ravine. This river falls from a height of 200 ft, thus making a series of waterfalls. The sound of the waterfalls can be heard in the caves also.

The intriguing Ajanta Caves are carved out of large rocks and are 30 in number. These caves are dedicated to Lord Buddha. The followers and students of Buddhism resided here to study this religion. They have decorated these caves with the help of their excellent architectural skills and artistic paintings.

The carvings and the paintings in the caves depict the life stories of Lord Buddha. Along with this, several types of human and animal figures are also carved out of the rocks.
Thar Desert
The Great Thar Desert of India

Also known as the Great Indian Desert, Thar Desert is located in Western India and South Eastern Pakistan. The landforms of Thar Desert is divided into three major regions - Sand Covered Thar, Plains and Hills. The Great Thar Desert spreads across the state of Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat in western India. Covering about 2,59,000sq km, the desert is interspersed with hillocks, gravel, salt marshes and some lakes.
TheHowever, the dexterous people of Rajasthan have transformed this scrubland into what is popularly known as ‘the most colourful desert in the world’, making Rajasthan the No.1 destination in India for tourism.

The only river that crosses these sands is the Luni, which joins the Arabian Sea through the Rann of Kutch. In 1996, discoveries made by paleontologists indicated that dinosaurs and their ancestors stalked the desert as long back as 300 million years.
Khajuraho - World Heritage Site of India
The Stones of Passion

Right through the Mughal invasion and the early British forays into India, Khajuraho temples in India remained unknown. Rediscovered in this century, they are fine reminders of India's glorious past.

To some, Khajuraho Temples are the most graphic, erotic and sensuous sculptures of India, the world has ever known. But Khajuraho has not received the attention it deserves for its significant contribution to the religious art of India – there are literally hundreds of exquisite images on the interior and exterior walls of the shrines.

Architecturally these temples are unique. While each temple in Khajuraho has a distinct plan and design, several features are common to all. They are all built on high platforms, several metres off the ground, either in granite or a combination of light sandstone and granite. Each of these temples has an entrance hall or mandapa, and a sanctum sanctorum or garbha griha. The roofs of these various sections have a distinct form. The porch and hall have pyramidal roofs made of several horizontal layers. The inner sanctum's roof is a conical tower - a colossal pile of stone (often 30m high) made of an arrangement of miniature towers called shikharas.

The famous Western group of temples are designated as the World Heritage Site and is enclosed within a beautifully laid out park. The Lakshmana and Vishwanath Temples to the front and The Kandriya Mahadev, Jagadami and Chitragupta Temples displays the best craftmanship of Khajuraho
Ayurveda Rejuvenation in India

Age-Old Science of Medicines
‘Harmony is health’, is what Ayurveda preaches. This is India’s age-old science of medicine which illumined many, like the early Greeks and Arabs who were so awed that they went ahead and borrowed from it.

According to World Health Organization, Health is not only physical well being or absence of disease, it is rather physical and metal well being. And Ayurveda deals with mental, physical and social well being of an individual; making it different from other form of medicinal therapies. Derived from the Sanskrit word, Ayurveda is divided into two words - 'Ayur' which means life and Veda - which means knowledge.

Ayurveda in India was at its glorious best in the age of rishis (Hindu ascetics) and rajas (kings). Our ancient masters and physicians knew exactly how to be hale and hearty till a ripe age, which would be nothing less than a century! Traces of the science have filtered down the centuries, and are being revived in a big way these days. But most people tend to think of Ayurveda as an alternative system of medicine, which it is not. It is a way of life.

We tend to ignore that the human body does react to nature’s ever-changing moods and that human life is but only a link in the great web of Life. Medication today has been reduced to curative or system-regulating medicines; preventive medicine has hardly made much progress except for a handful of vaccines. Ayurveda or ‘the knowledge of life’ will tell you that there’s much more to ‘medication’ than that. Ayurveda is based on sound observational concepts which have stood the test of time for thousands of years.
Kerala Backwaters

A Fascinating Journey

The Kerala backwaters are one of the most favoured tourist attractions. The calm and serene blue backwaters of Kerala provide with an unforgettable travel experience. 'God's Own Country', Kerala, has a very long and complex structure of this waterbody called backwaters. The state of Kerala is very green and vacation in the lap of this greenery can be best enjoyed cruising slowly across the backwaters on a houseboat or a canoe. The backwaters ride leaves a forever lasting impression in the minds of the visitor. The backwaters labyrinth is a structure in the form of lagoons, lakes and estuaries. The houseboats provide with all the comforts during your holidays in Kerala.

The Unique Water Structure
The labyrinth :

The blue backwaters of Kerala are formed by crisscrossings of the 44 rivers flowing across the state. A network of the canals, lakes, lagoons and deltas of these 44 rivers along with the sea water makes the Kerala backwaters. The main mode of transport on these backwaters is through houseboats. The complex backwaters stretch for as long as 1900 Km but only 900 Km of this is open for navigation.

Travel Highway :
The backwaters connects the remote villages and the cities of Kerala. The backwaters have been known to be existent centuries ago. It used to be the means of transport. Trading among the villages was done through the backwaters. Still it is the source of livelihood of many villagers. The fish caught from its waters, the paddy, coconut and other crops harvested along its banks, the boats they build and use to transport them across the complicated backwaters in Kerala, are all a part of their traditional way of life.
India Himalayas
The Mighty Himalayan Mountains of India
Hima - Snow, alaya abode. 'Abode of Snow is also known as the king of mountains. The well known range of mounatins now is called the Himalayas. The mounatin range forms the northern barrier of the Indian peninsula, containing the highest eevation of th e world. Himalayas is the youngest system in the world formed in Oligocence period. Himalayas gave birth to great rivers Indus and its four tributaries.

The snow-clad Himalayas have been described by Kalidasa as the 'King of mountains (nagdhiraja), enclosing divnity (devtama) who stands between the two oceans as measuring rod as were, of the earth.' From the Pamirs in Pakistan to the easternmost bend of the Brahmaputra in Assam, the majestic Himalayas rise across a length of 2,500km. From the most ancient times they have attracted pilgrims from all over India, and in their sublime presence people have felt the grandeur and the infinity of the pure spirit.

The Himalayas have not only proceed the country from invasion from North, but hvae also sheltered the vast plains of Northern India from the ice colds winds of the Tibet and have played a great part in determining the climate of North India.

Within their folds stand 92 of the 94 peaks in Asia that measure above 7,300m. The highest peak is Mount Everest (8,863m, in Nepal), followed by Kanchenjunga (8,598m), and Nanda Devi (7,817m). Kullu, Chamba, Kashmir are some of the exquisite valleys cradled by these magnificent mountains. India’s mighty rivers like the Ganga, Yamuna, Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab and Brahmaputra originate from the melting snows of the Himalayas.

For a clearer understanding of this colossal mountain range, the Indian Himalayas can be divided into three zones – the Shiwaliks or the Outer Ranges on the southern wing, the Middle Ranges like the Pir Panjal and the Dhauladhar, and the Greater Himalayas with the highest and oldest peaks (many of these are in Nepal).

However don’t get taken in by the sheer size of the Himalayas; compared to some of the mountains of the world, they’re actually babies! The central core of the Himalayas began to rise barely 35 million years ago, making them the youngest of the most awe-inspiring ranges in the world.
The 5 million-year-old Shiwaliks are much younger. These peaks are still growing at the rate of about 5mm a year. The effects can be felt in the form of violent earthquakes that rock the region separating the mountains from the plains.
Ganga River
The Most Holy of All

Ganga Cha Yamune Chaiva
Godavari Saraswati
Narmade Sindhu Kaveri
Jale Asmin Sannidhim Kuru
For centuries, Hindus have taken their morning dip while saying this prayer to the seven sacred rivers of India, beseeching that they be purified by the holy waters of these rivers. In this shloka, the one river that is called first, even before the mighty Indus, is the Ganga.
A Disire of A Holy Dip In The Pure Waters of Ganga
There are many rivers in the world that are bigger than Ganga. In the Indian subcontinent itself the Brahmaputra and the Indus are much longer, but none of them possess the character of this river.
It is so much more than a river to the people who live by its banks and the millions who come to her holy cities to take a ritual dip in its sanctified water.

The Ganga is a part of our history and mythology, our legends and folklore. It has seen kingdoms rise and fall by its banks, watched preachers and poets sit by its flowing water; it is a wise, old river and a truly great one. The Ganga begins its journey high in the remote, perilous reaches of the Garhwal Himalayas. They
call it Devabhoomi - the land of the gods, an enchanting landscape of pine forests, steep mountain treks and rushing hill streams, through which pilgrims and ascetics travel to the temple of Gangotri, dedicated to Ganga.

Islands In India

There are two groups of islands – the andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, and the Lakshwadeep and Minicoy Islands in the Arabian Sea.
The first is a group of 204 islands, believed to be extensions of the mountain system in the northeastern part of the country. Some of them are volcanic in origin.

The second group has about 43 islands, surrounded by beautiful coral reefs. The beauty of the andamans notwithstanding, their history is tainted with blood. Known as Kaala Paani, or black waters, Port Blair, the capital city of the andamans was the dreaded site of the Cellular Jail, used by the British for banished convicts.
The jail itself is well worth a visit, for it is replete with tales of those ‘freedom fighters’ who fought to liberate India from British dominion and were condemned to spend the last days of their lives in this jail.