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| General Facts |
| India will sideswipe you with its size, clamour and
diversity. Nothing in the country is ever quite what you expect, and
the only thing to expect is the unexpected which comes in many forms
and will always want to sit next to you. India is a litmus test for
many travellers and some visitors are only too happy to get on an
aircraft and fly away, but if you enjoy delving into convoluted cosmologies
and thrive on sensual overload, then India is one of the most intricate
and rewarding dramas unfolding on earth. |
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Full country name :
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Republic of India |
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Area :
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3,287,590 sq km (1,229,737 sq mi) |
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Population :
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1,014,003,817 |
| Capital |
New Delhi |
| People |
72% Indo-Aryan, 25% Dravidian, 3% other |
| Language: |
Hindi |
| Religion: |
80% Hindu, 14% Muslim, 2.4% Christian, 2%
Sikh, 0.7% Buddhist, 0.5% Jains, 0.4% other |
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| Culture |
| Religion seeps into every facet of Indian life.
Despite being a secular democracy, India is one of the few countries on
earth in which the social and religious structures that define the nation's
identity remain intact, and have continued to do so for at least 4000 years
despite invasions, persecution, European colonialism and political upheaval.
Change is inevitably taking place as modern technology reaches further and
further into the fabric of society but essentially rural India remains much
the same as it has for thousands of years. So resilient are its social and
religious institutions that it has absorbed, ignored or thrown off all attempts
to radically change or destroy them.
India's major religion, Hinduism, is practised by approximately 80% of
the population. In terms of the number of adherents, it's the largest
religion in Asia and one of the world's oldest extant faiths. Hinduism
has a vast pantheon of gods, a number of holy books and postulates that
everyone goes through a series of births or reincarnations that eventually
lead to spiritual salvation. With each birth, you can move closer to or
further from eventual enlightenment; the deciding factor is your karma.
The Hindu religion has three basic practices. They are puja or worship,
the cremation of the dead, and the rules and regulations of the caste
system. Hinduism is not a proselytising religion since you cannot be converted:
you're either born a Hindu or you're not.
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| Festivals |
| India is blessed with a huge number of festivals,
and several are so spectacular that you would be a fool to miss them if
you were remotely within spitting distance. They start with the secular
Republic Day Festival in Delhi each January, which includes elephants, a
procession, and plenty of military might and Indian princely splendour.
Holi in February is one of the most exuberant Hindu festivals in the north
of India. It marks the end of winter and basically involves throwing coloured
water and red powder over as many people as you can in one day.
The 10-day Shi'ite Muharram festival commemorates the martyrdom of Mohammed's
grandson. It's marked by a grand parade and dedicated penitents scourge
themselves with whips in religious fervour. It's best seen in Lucknow,
the principal Indian Shi'ite city and takes place in April/May for the
next couple of years. The massive Kumbh Mela festival commemorates an
ancient battle between gods and demons for a pitcher (kumbh). During the
fight for possession, four drops of nectar fell from the pitcher and landed
in Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain. The mela is held every three
years rotating through these four cities. The next festival takes place
in Allahabad in 2001.
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| The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi in August/September
is dedicated to the popular elephant-headed god Ganesh. It's celebrated
widely, but with particular enthusiasm in Maharashtra. Shrines are erected,
firecrackers let off, clay idols are immersed in rivers or the sea, and
everyone tries to avoid looking at the moon. September/October is the time
to head for the hills to see the delightful Festival of the Gods in Kullu.
This is part of the Dussehra Festival, which is at its most spectacular
in Mysore and Ahmedabad.
November is the time for the huge and colourful Camel Festival at Pushkar
in Rajasthan. Diwali (or Deepavali) is the happiest festival of the Hindu
calendar and is celebrated over five days in November. Sweets, oil lamps
and firecrackers all play a major part in this celebration in honour of
a number of gods. It may be a tired old scene, but a beach party in Goa
is still the only place to be for Christmas.
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| People |
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| Places |
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| Delhi : Your first impression of Delhi
is unlikely to be a good one, particularly if it's also your first impression
of India. You'll most likely notice the pollution, the crowds, the smell,
the noise and the ceaseless hassles long before you notice the city's charms.
But it's worth persevering as the history of this city is fascinating, and
it's all around you: the bazaars of Paharganj are a wonderful introduction
to India's backpacker trail; the city's monuments are among the most architectuarally
striking in the country; and the food here is great. Delhi is the capital
of India, and it's also the travel hub of northern India. It's an excellent
base for visiting Agra and the Taj Mahal, and the Rajasthani colour of Jaipur
is less than five hours away. If you're heading north to the Himalaya or
east to the ghats of Varanasi, you'll probably pass through Delhi. So you
might as well grit your teeth, hold your breath and dive on in.
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| Mumbai : Mumbai is the glamour of Bollywood
cinema, cricket on the maidans on weekends, bhelpuri on the beach at Chowpatty
and red double-decker buses. It is also the infamous cages of the red-light
district, Asia's largest slums, communalist politics and powerful mafia
dons. This tug of war for the city's soul is played out against a Victorian
townscape more reminiscent of a prosperous 19th century English industrial
city than anything you'd expect to find on the edge of the Arabian Sea.
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| Goa : It's a shame Goa comes burdened
with a history of louche living, because there's so much more to it than
sun, sand and psychedelia. The allure of Goa is that it remains quite distinct
from the rest of India and is small enough to be grasped and explored in
a way that other Indian states are not. It's not just the familiar remnants
of European colonialism or the picture-book exoticism that make it seem
so accessible, it's the prevalence of Roman Catholicism and a form of social
and political progressiveness that Westerners feel they can relate to. Although
Hindus make up two-thirds of the population, the people of Goa are more
liberal-minded than imperviously devout, in a way that is unmatched elsewhere
in India. |
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| Calcutta : The capital of West Bengal
sprawls shapelessly along the eastern bank of the Hooghly River. Once the
glorious capital of British India, its urban horror story of squalor and
starvation only began with Partition and a resulting massive influx of refugees.
This plucky city, however, is keen to promote itself as the 'City of Joy'
and, given half a chance, it reveals itself to be one of the country's most
fascinating and congenial cities, the intellectual capital of the nation,
and a thriving political and arts arena.
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| Agra : The Taj Mahal, described
as the most extravagant monument ever built for love, has become the de
facto tourist emblem of India. This poignant Moghul mausoleum was constructed
by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his second wife Mumtaz Mahal, whose death
in childbirth in 1631 left the emperor so heartbroken that his hair is said
to have turned grey overnight. Construction of the Taj began in the same
year and was not completed until 1653. The emperor's hair may have gone
shabby but his eye for detail apparently remained acute - the near-perfection
of the Taj's architecture does not diminish upon closer inspection; it merely
comes into sharper focus. Semiprecious stones were laid into the marble
in elaborate designs through a process called pietra dura. If you're planning
to check out this marvel, don't forget that it's closed on Monday.
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| Varanasi : For over 2000
years, Varanasi, the 'eternal city', has been the religious capital of India.
Built on the banks of the sacred Ganges, it is said to combine the virtues
of all other places of pilgrimage and anyone who ends their days here, regardless
of creed and however great their misdeeds, is transported straight to heaven.
The easternmost city in Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi is an important seat of
learning, and is the home of novelists, philosophers and grammarians. This
has been reflected in its role in the development of Hindi - the closest
thing to a national language in India. Varanasi has over 100 bathing and
burning ghats but the Manikarnika Ghat is the most sacred of them all. This
is the main burning ghat and one of the most auspicious places that a Hindu
can be cremated. Corpses are handled by outcasts known as chandal, and they
are carried through the alleyways of the old city to the holy Ganges on
a bamboo stretcher swathed in cloth. You'll see huge piles of firewood stacked
along the top of the ghat, each log carefully weighed on giant scales so
that the price of cremation can be calculated. There are no problems watching
cremations, since at Manikarnika death is simply business as usual, but
leave your camera at your hotel.
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