Sunday, May 31, 2009

Tour India

Rich with a number of heritage spots, the great subcontinent of India lies in South Asia, amidst Pakistan, China and Nepal. To the northern side it is arched and guarded by the world's tallest mountain chain, where foothill valleys cover the northern eastern parts of the country. Further south of the country there are huge plateaus, tropical rain forests and there are beautiful sandy sun bathed beaches that attracts foreigners from allover the world. The country is having a diverse culture and a rich tradition and heritage that is most unique. The heritage spots in India has always attracted tourist from different parts of the world.
Northern India
The Himalayan mountain range occupies some of the most beautiful hill stations of the sub - Continent. NewDelhi, the capital of India, also located in northern India is rich with the most important heritage spots in India. The city of Delhi has been in the history for centuries as the center of Indian culture and tradition.
Being closely related to the age-old history of northern India, Delhi has many marked historical monuments. Some of these monuments have managed to bear the vagaries of time but many have perished. Close to Delhi is the town of Agra. The Moughuls kept this place as their capital before they shifted their capital to Delhi. Agra is renounced for the greatest monument Taj Mahal This was earlier called Tejo Mahalaya and was a hindu temple where the diety Agreswar Mahadev (Siva) was being worshipped The monument stands out as a witness to the brutal muslim invation and plunder. This white marble structure is an architectural marvel and is the most photographed monument in the world. The Hindu temple, 'Tejo Mahalaya' waslater made in to a burial place by the Muslim invaders and is still the apex of the heritage spots in India.
Close to the town of Agra are twin cities of Mathura and Vrindavan. These two locations are significant pilgraimage centres for Hindus. River Ganga is regarded as auspicious by the hindus. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, on the banks of holy river Ganga is located Varanasi. Varanasi or Banaras as it is known, has been considered very holy for the Hindus as they consider this place to be dwelling of Lord Shiva and is a cradle of Indian civilization and is an important heritage location. While Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir have numerous hills stations, the dry Thar desert of Rajasthan holds historic cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur. The palaces, forts and gardens & lakes add colour to this otherwise barren area. The cities of Rajasthan spell Royal grandeur in their structure and have been attracting a major chunk of foreign tourists.
Southern India
The southern plateau of India has been lulled by the oceans. The people here are of the Dravidian race and are very protective about their culture and traditions. But strangely it is the southern region, which has been attracting most of foreign investment in the recent times. It was on Malabar coast of Kerala that first foreigner from the Western world landed in India.
The treasure house of culture and tradition of India is Tamil Nadu. The Capital city of Karnataka, Bangalore can now match any other major city in the west. Recently this place has also turned up as one of the prominet software and IT center of the world. Popularly called the garden city, the city of Bangalore is one of most flashy places in India. Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra state is a quite city known for the Nizam rulers, Hyderbad is the second place in India which has a cyber city.
Going further south there are excellent beaches and temples. The main attraction of Cochin in Keralais its beautiful chinese nets , jewish settlements and fantastic beaches. Kerala is renowned for spicies which are grown here. The state capital of Tamil Nadu, Chennai formely known as Madras is yet another historical place in the south.
The golden Marina beach in Chennai is one of the longest beach in the world. In south India one can enjoy crashing breakers on the shores or can enjoy the peace and greenry of places like Otty. One can visit the historical places of Karnataka or worship in the temples of Tamil Nadu. Southern India had many things to offer, what you need is to explore the region.
WILDLIFE
India is having a rich wildlife and a rich variety of flora and fauna. The jungles of India are rich with a variety of wild animals and their habitats elephant, peacock camel and tiger are to name a few. Watching birds in their natural habitats is a nice experience. In India there are immense opportunities for wildlife tourism. There are more than 75 national parks and about 410 wildlife sanctuaries, of which many are bird sanctuaries.
These forest areas are also very important for the endangered species like the Leopard, Lion, Asiatic Elephant, the Bengal tiger and Siberian Crane etc. which are on the verge of extinction. The reserves and forest areas in India is spread over a huge area from Ranthambore National Park in the state of Rajasthan to the Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary in Bihar state, from the valleys of Himalayas, the Jim Corbett National Park to many national parks in Andaman; the Indian Wildlife circuit provides an unprecedented experience for any tourist from any part of the world.
Deer, Wild buffalo, Panther, Wild ass, Elephant, Porcupine, the one horned Rhinoceros, Snow leopards etc are some of the animals you can find in The Himalayan region. Blackbuck and The Great Indian Bustard of the Karera Sanctuary attracts a lot of tourists from all parts of the world. The historical town of Gwalior has the Madhav National Park originally called the Shivpuri National Park . The Corbett National Park one of the most popular National Parks in the northern region. These Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks have played a key role in promoting wildlife tourism in India .
India has its fair share of Tiger Reserves. It is also India 's National Animal. India boasts of a couple of dozen Tiger Reserves. The most famous tiger reserves in India are located at Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. There the tourists can also find Royal Bengal Tigers, Cheetals, Leopard, Gaur, Sambhar, and many more faunal species. Uncountable species of birds can be found across India .
The Himalayan region is well known to be the natural habitat for the various varieties of birds like Pheasant, ravens and griffon vulture. The Keoladeo Ghana National Park known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan provides habitat to indigenous water birds, migratory water birds. The Andaman and Nicobar islands provides habitat for the rare species of birds like Nicobar Pigeon, the Narcondum hornbill and the Megapode.