India

Incredible India !

Incredible India...A roller coaster ride of paradoxes...guaranteed adventures and experiences that will shock you, thrill you or pleasantly surprise you but never leave you indifferently uninterested. A nation that is a collective university that helps one grow up and not just grow old horizontally! When they said 'travel broadens the mind' they surely meant India. The subtle mystic vibe in the air unleashes the boundaries of one's consciousness. Captain Kirk's starship- 'Enterprise'- may take you on voyages to the boundaries of outer space, but India provokes one to enter a world, where, Not many men have gone before- The Inner Space of Consciousness and Bliss. Incredible India! A vast symphony of Diverse People, varied landscapes, art, cultures, cuisines, and faith systems that will enrich one's inner world and thrill the outer senses! Truly a Cradle of Civilization.

The magnificent palaces and forts, sand dunes and exotic fairs of Rajasthan, the sandy beaches of Goa, the temples and gardens of South India, and the wonders of the Himalayas, all form the beautiful tapestry that is India. A magical land of high mountains, deep seas, golden deserts and splendid plains, India’s natural beauty is uniquely blended with the country’s deep-rooted heritage and culture, making India a destination that is pleasing to the eyes and soul.

The Indian Subcontinent is often perceived as a daunting place to travel, with long journeys, primitive accommodation and a strange culture, but a vast rail network and a myriad of flights now connect the far flung corners from the Himalaya to the languid backwaters of the tropical south, allowing you to experience an astonishing diversity of landscapes and cultures.

Anywhere you go, discover an energetic mélange of culture, aroma and flavor. India abounds in attractive and well-preserved historical sites, ancient monuments of architectural grandeur and not-so-ancient mosques/dargah’s, churches and places of worship of other diverse faiths.

Taj Mahal at Agra with a romantic story behind it is known the world over for its treasure of architecture. Besides Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Sikandra, Rambagh and the Imperial ruins of the Mughal city at Fatehpur Sikri are some of the finest examples of architecture combining both Hindu and Muslim elements.

Ajanta and Ellora Cave temples with spectacular cave paintings contain some of the world’s most exquisite sculpture. Some of the other places of cultural interest are the Elephanta Caves in Maharashtra, The Konark Sun Temple and the Jagannath Temple in Orissa, the Khajuraho temples in Madhya Pradesh, Golden temple at Amritsar in Punjab, Temples of Mamallapuram and Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, monuments in Karnatka etc.

India is also known for some of its fine beaches like Goa, Mamallapuram, Kovalam, Pondicherry, Puri-Konark etc. In addition island tourism has been developed at Andaman/Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands.

All across the country are wildlife sanctuaries whose areas extend over several thousands of square kilometers, where wildlife can be observed in their natural surroundings. Each sanctuary supports several species of wildlife, being well known for one particular species. In some cases, there are rare or even endangered species. Thus, the Gir Forest in Gujarat is the only surviving home of the Asian lion, Manas and Kaziranga in Assam have a significant population of one horned rhinos, Periyar in Kerela is best known for wild elephant viewing. Thamin deer at Keibul Lamjao National Park in Manipur, Hangul or Kashmir stag at Dachigam, Srinagar and blackbuck at Velavadhar in Gujarat are the only homes of these species.

India’s vast geographical diversity provides a wealth of outdoors adventure. All tastes are catered for - from the gentlest to the fast-paced, and there is something for every level of competence - the beginner and the expert.

The major adventure tourism activities in India are trekking and skiing in Himalayas, river running in Gangas, water skiing in Goa, Trout fishing in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Heliskiing in Himachal Pradesh, wind surfing, scuba diving and yatching in Andamans & Lakshadweep islands etc. India is a land of fairs and festivals with atleast one fair in each day of the year. These fairs and festivals add colour to the social life of Indian people. Some of the important fairs and festivals are Pushkar fair in Rajasthan, Crafts Mela at Surajkund, Holi in North India, Pongal in Tamilnadu, Onam in Kerela, Baisaki in Punjab, Bihu in Assam, Dance festivals at Khajuraho and Mamallapuram etc.

India has a rich cultural heritage with several forms of art and handicrafts. Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam are some of the most popular forms of classical dances which have their origins in various States across the country. Every dance form has a precise vocabulary of emotions - love, yearning, sorrow etc. - and these are displayed by gestures that involve the body, arms, fingers face and eyes.

India has a treasure trove of handicrafts for any discerning shopper, in truly remarkable variety of styles and prices. In India, the shopping experience runs the gamut of multi-storeyed, air-conditioned stores selling a hand-picked assortment of crafts from every corner of the country, to whole streets of shops selling speciality goods, in local fairs, where stalls, set up overnight, stock a variety of exotica.

Over the years, India has developed world standard accommodation infrastructure for entertaining the visitors. Some of the major hotel chains in India are the Oberoi Group, Taj Group, Welcome Group, Hilton Group, Le Meridien, Intercontinental, Hyatt, Leela Hotels, The Park, Holiday Inn, Ramada, Country Inn, Royal Orchid etc.

Exhilarating landscapes, the filigreed splendors of world-famous cities, and a unique spiritual heritage stretching back for millennia make India the perfect choice for an exotic, inspiring PCTI journey.

Fasts & Figures

Official Name: Bharat (Hindi), Republic of India (English)
Capital: New Delhi
Population: 1, 027, 015, 247 (2001 Census)
Area: 3.3 million square kilometers
Geographical Location: Between latitudes 8 ° 4' and 37 ° 6 ' north and longitudes 68 ° 7 ' and 97° 25' east
Coastline Length: 7600 km
Major Religions: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism
Literacy: 65.38%
National Anthem: Jan gana mana written by Rabindranath Tagore
National Song: Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji
National Emblem: Replica of the Lion Capital of Sarnath
National Animal: Tiger (Panthera tigris)
National Bird: Peacock
National Flower: Lotus
National Tree: Banyan
National Fruit: Mango
National Currency: Rupee (One Rupee=100 paise)
National Sport: Hockey
Languages: India has two National languages (Central administrative). They are English (associate official) and Hindi (in the Devanagiri script). The Indian Constitution also officially recognizes 22 regional languages.
National Flag: Horizontal tricolor in equal proportion of deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. In the center of the white band is a wheel in navy blue color.

Interesting Facts

• India is the world's largest, oldest, continuous civilization.
• Varanasi, also known as Benares, was called "the ancient city" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
• India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.
• India is the world's largest democracy.
• Grammar constitutes one of India's greatest contributions to Western philology. Panini, the Sanskrit grammarian, who lived between 750 and 500 BC, was the first to compose formal grammar through his Astadhyai.
• India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
• The World's first university was established in Takshashila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
• Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.
• Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth.
• The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindh 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit 'Nou'.
• Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.
• The value of "pi" was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.
• Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of 12).
• India exports software to 90 countries.
• According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world.
• USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof. Jagdish Bose and not Marconi.
• The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
• According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE a beautiful lake called 'Sudarshana' was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time. Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
• Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.
• When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).
• The four religions born in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.
• Islam is India's and the world's second largest religion.
• Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C.E and 52 A.D respectively.
• The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world's largest religious pilgrimage destination, larger than either Rome or Mecca, with an average of 30,000 visitors every day giving donations to the temple of $6 million (U.S.) daily.
• The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.
• The head of the team that developed the Pentium co-processor, Vinod Dham, is Indian.
• The founder and creator of Hotmail, the world's best-known web-based email program, Sabeer Bhatia, is Indian.
• The testing Director of Windows 2000, Sanjay Tejwrika, is Indian.

Quotes on India

KEITH BELLOWS, Editor in Chief, National Geographic Traveler Magazine:
There are some parts of the world that, once visited, get into your heart and won’t go. For me, India is such a place. When I first visited, I was stunned by the richness of the land, by its lush beauty and exotic architecture, by its ability to overload the senses with the pure, concentrated intensity of its colors, smells, tastes, and sounds. It was as if all my life I had been seeing the world in black and white and, when brought face-to-face with India, experienced everything re-rendered in brilliant technicolor.

ALBERT EINSTEIN, German-born theoretical physicist:
We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.

MARK TWAIN, American author and humorist:
India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.

ROMAIN ROLLAND, a French scholar:
If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.

HU SHIH, former Ambassador of China to USA:
India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.

WILL DURANT, American historian:
"India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all".

MAX MUELLER, German scholar:
If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU, American Thinker & Author:
Whenever I have read any part of the Vedas, I have felt that some unearthly and unknown light illuminated me. In the great teaching of the Vedas, there is no touch of sectarianism. It is of all ages, climbs, and nationalities and is the royal road for the attainment of the Great Knowledge. When I read it, I feel that I am under the spangled heavens of a summer night.

R.W. EMERSON, American Author:
In the great books of India, an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence, which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the questions that exercise us.

DR ARNOLD TOYNBEE, British Historian:
It is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a Western beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in the self-destruction of the human race. At this supremely dangerous moment in history, the only way of salvation for mankind is the Indian way.

SIR WILLIAM JONES, British Orientalist:
The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity is of wonderful structure, more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin and more exquisitely refined than either.

W. HEISENBERG, German Physicist:
After the conversations about Indian philosophy, some of the ideas of Quantum Physics that had seemed so crazy suddenly made much more sense.

SIR W. HUNTER, British Surgeon:
The surgery of the ancient Indian physicians was bold and skilful. A special branch of surgery was dedicated to rhinoplasty or operations for improving deformed ears, noses and forming new ones, which European surgeons have now borrowed.

ADOLF SEILACHAR & P.K. BOSE, scientists: One Billion -Year-Old fossil prove life began in India:

Adolf Seilachar and Indian Scientist P.K. Bose have unearthed fossil in Churhat a town in Madhya Pradesh, India which is 1.1 billion years old and has rolled back the evolutionary clock by more than 500 million years.