IndianHolidaysXL - enjoy your holidays

Dharamshala – hidden paradise of India

alishaminta — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:09:20 +0000

This place is situated in himanchal pradesh state of india. The high snow clad Dhauladhar ranges of the Himalayas form a magnificent backdrop to the hill resort of Dharamshala. This is the principal township of Kangra and overlooks the wide spread of the plains. With dense pine and deodar forests, numerous streams, cool healthy air, attractive surroundings and the nearby snowline, Dharamshala has everything for a perfect holiday. It is full of life and yet peaceful. And not surprisingly, the headquarters of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is here. Covering a wide area in the form of a twin settlement, Lower Dharamshala (1380 m) is a busy commercial center, while Upper Dharamshala (1830 m) with the suburbs of McLeodganj and Forsythganj, retains a British flavour and colonial lifestyle.

Dharamshala is a popular hill station located in the Kangra district known for its idyllic surroundings amidst pine trees, tea gardens and snow capped mountains. It is also home to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. The word Dharamshala means, an inn attached to a temple. Dharamshala’s history has been influenced greatly by both Hinduism and Buddhism. Several monasteries were built in the 8th century by the Tibetan immigrants who settled here, though some slowly gave way to Hindu structures. The Hindu inhabitants of the region are the Gaddis who worship Shiva and Durga. Dharamshala was developed as a summer retreat for the British and their troops, who had seized control of the town in 1848. It later became the administrative capital of Kangra in 1852. However, its days of glory were short lived, as the town suffered a serious setback and the loss of many lives with the earthquake of 1905. It took time to slowly get back to normalcy, and it really

Excursions

Dal Lake:
11 km from Dharamshala and surrounded by deodar trees, the lake fills a mountain bowl, On the motor – road, this is an enchanting and serene picnic spot.

St. John’s Church
8 km from Dharamshala, between Forsythganj and McLeodganj is the charming dressed- stone church of St. John in the wildness. Under the shade of deodar branches, a memorial has been erected over the body of the British viceroy, Lord Elgin who died at Dharamshala in 1863. There is a wall tended old graveyard on these grassy slopes.

McLeodganj
Often called the’ Little Lhasa’ at 1770 m, this is the residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan government-in-exile has been here for over three decades. The impressive monastery has larger than life images of the Buddha, Padmasambhava and Avalokteshwara. The large Tibetan community and the presence of traditional architectural designs drawn from Tibet have enhanced the area. A host of Tibetan handicrafts, curios and garments are available on sale and every Sunday, a flea-market appears.

Bhagsunath
Close to fresh water springs, this ancient temple is 11 km from Dharamshala. It is a popular picnic spot and the famous slate quarries are close by.

Kunal Pathri
A 3 km level walk from the Kotwali Bazaar leads up to this rock temple.

Dharmkot
On the crest of a hill this attractive picnic spot presents a panoramic view of the Kangra valley and the Dhauladhar ranges. This is 11 km from Dharamshala.

Triund
Based at the root of the Dhauladhar ranges,Triund is at a height of 2827m and is 17 km from Dharamshala. The snowline starts at llaqua 5 km from here. This is a popular picnic spot and trek route, with spectacular views of the mountains and valleys. There is a lovely forest rest house here.

Kareri
22 km from Kotwali Baazar, amidst sylvan surroundings, there is a rest house here. Surrounded by open meadows and thick woods,the Kareri lake is 13 km ahead.

Chinmaya Tapovan
10 km from Dharamshala on the banks of the rivulet Bindu Saras, is an ashram complex established by the late Swami Chinmayananda, a noted exponent of the Gita. The complex includes a 9m high image of Lord Hanuman, a magnificent Ragunath Temple, a meditation hall, a school, and a health and recreation center.

Masrur
13 km south of Kangra is this large, monolithic temple, similar to the temples of Ellora. With rich ornamentation, this is the only shrine carved out of live rock in north India. Images of Lord Rama, Laxman and Sita are installed here.

Tilokpur
41 km from Dharamshala,on the highway to Pathankot, there is a cave temple with a stalactite and stalagmite dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Sujanpur Tira
80 km from Dharamshala, this historic town is famous for its wall paintings, temples and fort. Here, the festival of holiday a major event.

Andretta
13 km from Palampur, the famous artist S. Sobha Singh lived here for several years. A gallery houses some of his major works. Also, there is a pottery centre at Andretta.

Other Attractions

The temple of Jawalamukhi, Chamunda Devi and Briheshweri Devi are other pilgrim centres close to Dharamshala. The forts of Kangra and Mangarh are other attractions.

Adventure Activities and Sports
Between May and October, the Dhauladhar ranges offer an enormous variety of trekking and rock climbing. Himachal’s mountaineering institute has a branch at Dharamshala.

Fishing
The 20 km stretch of the river Beas between Nadaun and the Pong Dam offers ample opportunities in angling for mahseer.

Shopping
For local handicrafts at Kotwali bazar, Tibetan handicrafts and carpets at McLeodganj.

Transport Information

By Air
Dharamshala can be approached by air from Delhi. The nearest airport is at Gaggal,just l3 km away. Pathankot, the nearest railway station is 85 km away.

By Road
Taxis for Dharamshala are available at both places from Pathankot the drive takes about three hours. Or you can drive from Delhi (526 km) via Chandigarh, Kiratpur and Bilaspur – this should take around 8 hours. From Delhi and Shimla, luxury buses ply to Dharamshala.

Climate Conditions

In winter the temperature can drop to freezing point when heavy woolens are required. During summer, the climate is mild and light woolens/cottons are recommended.

Best time to visit

Well, everyone has preferences. So, check out to see which time of the year you would like to be in Dharamshala.

If you are a heat freak then mid-April to mid-July is the time for you to be in India and in Dharamshala. Well, as compared to the plains of Delhi, Dharamshala is much cooler but still it can get quite hot at this time.

Mid-July to September is the monsoon season. If you like singing in the heavy rain then its time for you to be in Dharamshala. ‘Notorious monsoon’ as I prefer to call it. It can pour cats and dogs. Dharamshala, according to Indian metrological study receives the second highiest rainfall in India after Chirapunji. Be sure to equip yourself with a good rainsuit and a strong and a big umbrella.

October to December can be rather cool and you need to be careful in the early hours and in the evenings. It can be chilly. Some light warm clothes are an ideal companion. Daytime can be warm with generous amount of sunshine and clear sky. Beautiful scenery and good weather.

Sanchi Stupas,India – Buddhist Monument Heritage

alishaminta — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 05:40:03 +0000

Sanchi Stupas may seem to be like a normal monument from long distance but its specialities, prestige and preciousness reveals only when someone goes to Sanchi. Therefore, a large number of peoples like Buddhists, tourist, archaeologist and researcher from worldwide travels to sanchi. The Great Stupa at Sanchi was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the third century B.C. In B.C. 483 when Lord Buddha left his body dead, his followers conflicted among themselves to get it. At the end one Buddhist saint distributed the body fossils in equal parts. In later phase this monument become the base of spreading Buddhism worldwide and the learning of Lord Buddha get spread throughout. Stupa in Sanchi is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Indian holiday’s destination.

Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chhatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. Like in every religion, monument of Sanchi was developed as per tradition of Buddhism. In the beginning at the central part of Fossils of Buddha are kept and later on covered with mud and stone in hemispherical structure. In Sanchi we get a lot of ultimate sculpture of heritage in for of Stupa, Toranas and Pillars. The gates to the stupas – the “toranas” are the real highlight of Sanchi. Absolutely brilliantly carved stone depicts episodes of Buddas life and it is said that the toranas are possibly the best and finest Buddhist art in India.

The Stupa number 1 was developed by Emperor Ashok in his royal ruling session to maintain the fossils of Lord Buddha. Rest two Stupas are of having Buddha’s follower’s fossils. These hemispherical monuments are covered around by fencing mage of stone which earlier used to be of wood. At the top of Stupa there you can find square fencing called as hermica with three level chattra. In the fencing of stone there is a very beautiful depiction of Gautam Buddha life. These toran also reveals different stages of lord Buddha life. It is said that 50 tonnes weighing pillar of Ashoka have been brought and situated here. This pillar of Ashoka is another most popular reason for tourist to see as places to see in India.

Sanchi is small town in district of Raisen, Madhya Pradesh and could be reached very easily from sanchi. Sanchi comes in the railway path from Bhopal to New Delhi. The distance between sanchi and Bhopal is of 50 km only. Normally superfast train and express train do not stoppage at Sanchi. Best time to visit Sanchi is from October to March. There are facilities of hotel and restaurants easily available near around. So keep enjoying Indian holidays at XL.

Indian Heritage Fairs : Indian Holidays Attractions

alishaminta — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:48:19 +0000

The sizzling air of autumn brings a new enthusiasm while saying goodbye to winter season. It is the time when ice melts at Himalayas and makes person come out from home to explore the natural scenic beauties in form of fair. These fair is another excuse for a traveller to visit India in Holidays as travel destination. The month of February could be said as the month of festival and fair throughout the country. Whether it is a Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, Haryana or Agra all places gather so huge amount of visitors of India that worth a lot in terms of tourism ministry revenue.

Shekhawati Fair – Place Navalgarh, Sikar, Rajasthan

This fair was scheduled at 14th -17th Feb. To encourage the culture and tradition of Shekhawati Rajasthan, Tourism department of state in collaboration with government authorities of Churu and Jhunjhunoo organizes this festival fair every year. Normally tourist could not reach this place that is why fairs is organized every year and place is becoming rural tourism centre. This fair covers three district aiming Navalgarh as Centre which is famous because of Royal homes or Haveli’s having Fresco Paintings.

Maru Fair – Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

This fair is being organized from 7th -9th February. This fair is a great opportunity to explore every corner of Rajasthan royal prestige. In this fair of 3days planned by Rajasthan tourism development corporation (RTDC) we can find best of the culture and heritage of Rajasthan. Fire dance including other popular dances of Rajasthan attracts a big mass from worldwide. Pagadi Tying, Long moustaches, Rope Pulling and Mr Desert are famous competition game of this fair. Doing Camel riding and looking folk dances under soothing light of moon is another kind of excitement. It is best time to explore Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

Khajuraho Dance Festival – Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

This place is organized with festival in 25th Feb– 3rd March. Every history monument has got some story to enlighten. Khajuraho is the ultimate depiction of love. In the festival of 7 days these cultural monuments seems to get alive. The glory of temples touches extreme in the festival duration. There is great prestige of watching various forms of dance together at single place like Bharatnatyam Kuchipudi, odyssey, Kathak, Manipuri or Kathakali. As this festival attracts tourist from all over the world therefore it is given value of international festival.

SurajKund Handicraft Fair – Surajkund, Haryana

This fair organized in 1st – 15th Feb. From the top most fairs of northern India is this fair of SurajKund. The date is fixed at much earliest so as to avoid hassle at last moment. In this festival of Haryana tourism you can see great combination of great heritage of India in form of Folk Dances, Handicrafts and Cultural Customs. This year for the first time SAARC countries architects along with Egypt, Brazil and Thailand artists have participated in the festival.

Taj Festival – Agra, Uttar Pradesh

This Festival is organized in duration of 18th- 27th Feb. As like SurajKund Festival, Taj Festival also encloses the culture, art, music and dance of Indian traditions. With the upcoming of spring city of Agra get filled in different colours of excitement. Arts and crafts village begins at Taj nearest attraction known as shilpgram. This fair starts up with the ultimate depiction of Mughal empire cultural show, which makes visitors attracted to spend their holidays in India. In this world famous fair you can see Marble work, Saharanpur Wood work, Moradabad Metal work, Bhadohi rugs work, Khurja Clay work, Lucknow fabric Work and Banaras Silk work. There you can taste the various recipes in utmost city of Uttar Pradesh. Snack Dance of Rajasthan, Puppet Show, Lavani of Maharashtra, are the major centre of attraction for Indian travellers.

Royal Rajasthan on wheels – Royal Present

alishaminta — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:34:17 +0000

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Palace on wheels was already well recognized as royal hosting idol. Rajasthan tourism and Indian railways has finally launched a new Royal Rajasthan on wheels with great excitement. On January 11th at railway station of Safdarjang, New Delhi it initiated its first prestigious journey. On basis of success of palace on wheel train we can estimate that this train is booked for trip till 2010. From reliable sources it is predict that palace on wheels assumes to recover all sort of loses being faces by tourism department of Rajasthan.

Royal Rajasthan on wheels is definitely going to lead tourism industry to some margin of profit as it has got some additional benefits and features as compared to older royal trains, besides there is some marginal increase in tariff and freight as well. That is why there should be no objection on running two different trains in same path at same season.

This train will run in period of September to April for all seven days visiting through various indian holidays destinations like Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Ranthambhor, Udaipur, Bharatpur, Chittorgarh and New Delhi. Both palace on wheels and royal Rajasthan on wheels will be running parallel duration but on different days.
As a new royal train it is having a lot of special features which will be definitely going to attract the attraction of tourists who are in Indian Holidays.These features are big spa, Wi-Fi, study room, long beds, cubical beds. This train has got every coach with three saloons because in luxury this will be competing with blue train or orient express.
Royal Rajasthan on Wheels each saloon cost for $2000 per night which will be $14000 per weeknights. So in Indian terms we can say this will lead to Rs 6.72 lakhs (excluding tax). In deluxe saloon of royal Rajasthan on wheels the cheapest rent for deluxe saloon will be $800 per night i.e. for weeknights $5600.
Obviously this train is not for medium class of society and is highly dedicated to high class premium tourist society. This will ultimately fetch attraction of tourist who are interested in spending their holidays in India with wonderful luxury.

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alishaminta — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:37:48 +0000

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