Namaste Friends

Thousands of pilgrims taking a holy dip in ice-cold waters at dawn on a winter morning, the muezzin’s azan calling the faithful for namaaz, the pindrop silence of a prayer hall, community feasts cooked by volunteers served to one and all … as the birthplace of 4 of the world’s major faiths (Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism) religion is a part of life in India. The country is dotted with temples, mosques, churches, gurdwaras and shrines. Millions of Indians make a pilgrimage at least once every few years. Why not join them and pay homage to your maker, whichever creed you believe in. Favoured pilgrimages / destinations include:
  
 
-   Char Dham Yatra (Yamnotri, Gangotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath), Vaishnodevi, Tirupati, Shirdi, Nathdwara, Varanasi, Delhi, Rameshwaram, Tanjore … all Hinduism   -
-		   Palitana, Mt Abu … Jainism
Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib … Sikhism
  
      -   Kochi … Judaism  
-   Ajmer, Delhi … Islam   -   Udwada … Zoroastrianism  
-   Bodh Gaya … Buddhism   -   Delhi … Bahai  
 
 
The National Tourism Awards for the year 2004-05 were presented at a glittering function in New Delhi. Winners included:
  
- Best Performing Tourism State Award – Kerala  
- Best Maintained Tourism Friendly Monuments Award – Sakthan Thampuran Palace, Kochi  
- Best Tourism Project - Andhra Pradesh’s Konaseema Tourism Project  
- Most Innovative Tourism Project - Assam Bengal Navigation Project  
- Best NGO working for the promotion of Tourism - Beach Protection Council of Orissa  
- Best Hotel - Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, and Taj Residency, Bangalore  
- Most Eco-Friendly Hotels - The Marriot, Delhi, and Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom (Kerala)  
- Best Travel Agents/ Tour Operators - Kuoni Travel, Le Passage to India, Travel Corporation
of India, Tourism India Management Enterprises (TIME), Tushita Travels, Orient Express 		 
  To view the complete list of awardees, click here  
     
 
Visa International has launched its Incredible India Visa Great Breaks programme promoting India as preferred travel destination. Click here for more details.
 
Travel+Leisure pays tribute to India’s famed diversity in its 22-page “Discover India” section. The magazine explores festivals, cuisine, streetfood, wildlife, royal retreats, heritage sites, hill resorts, boutique hotels, wellness traditions, fabrics, nightlife and more …

 
The Amanresorts Group’s Amanbagh has won the Travel+Leisure Design Award 2006 for Best Resort. Designed by Edward Tuttle, Amanbagh, is a lakebed retreat of palm, fruit and eucalyptus trees within a walled royal hunting camp.  
     
 
  If you want to see your favourite Hollywood star in person, India might be the best place to do it. Michael Douglas will be filming “Romancing the Stone”, in Mumbai and Rajasthan, with Indian actress, Ashwarya Rai. Morgan Freeman is to visit the holy cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar to shoot “Moses Tate’s War”, a film about saving cows. Sylvester Stallone will face the camera “Rambo IV” in Jammu and Leh in Ladakh. Johnny Depp will play the title role in “Shantaram”, set in Mumbai and Havelock Island, the Andamans. Goldie Hawn and Richard Gere come frequently on holidays or to promote social causes. And Brad Pitt is reported to have gone river rafting in the Ganges.
     
 
  15,498 meters of cave passages have been discovered in Meghalaya’s Jaintia Hills by an international team of speleologists. These are the Indian sub-continent’s longest cave system.  
  Tata Coffee, Asia’s largest coffee plantation company, has launched Plantation Trails, a cluster of Holiday Homes in the coffee district of Coorg, Karnataka. Experience the plantation lifestyle for yourself!  
  The Himalayan shrines of Badrinath and Kedarnath, in the state of Uttaranchal, will re-open on 4 May to pilgrims.  
       
 
 
These tie-dyed (cotton and silk) saris from Gujarat are a perennial favorite – they have been depicted in the 5th century Ajanta murals and continue to be a wardrobe staple for fashionistas even today! Elaborate motifs (flowers, animals, figures) are formed, depending on how the material is tied. Red, black, green, yellow are the most common colour combinations, but, of course, this is India, and there are many more. Often, bandhinis are embellished with mirrors, tassels, sequins, zari and embroidery to look richer. A traditional wedding sari, the Gharchola, is a type of bandhani, made up of a network of squares separated with white 		 
  tie-dyed spots or woven bands of zari, with a different motif in each square. Rajasthani Lehriya saris are also a type of bandhini, in which the entire length of fabric is tied, to produce wavy stripes.How do you know you are getting an authentic bandhini and not cloth printed with a Bandhani design? Buy it in a “still-tied” form.
  
     
             
             
   

Amitabh Kant
Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism,
Transport Bhawan, Parliament Street,
New Delhi - 110 001.
T: 91 + 11 + 23715084
F: 91 + 11 + 23710518
M: amitabhk@incredibleindia.org
W: http://www.incredibleindia.org

 

While others may claim breathtaking locales, the mysticism of the east, the draw of civilization, the call of the wild.... India is that and much more.....
It is a journey of mind and soul.
It is a journey of the five senses
It is a journey of self-discovery
It is a journey of self-fulfillment.

  
     

To unsubscribe to this newsletter, click here.
You can always log on to our site at www.incredibleindia.org to subscribe.