INDIA

India is a sub_continent rather than a country a world or family of peoples. Many parts of India still belong to the ages, obvious anachronistic overlaps into the nuclear era. Saffron-robed sadhus and other holy men are perhaps more sought after than electronic or atomic engineers.

The wayside astrologer can still be found on the sidewalks girdling the Atomic Energy Commission's offices, and the soothsayer, with his parrots picking out your fortune, waits for you as you come out of the cinema playing the latest pot-boiler in colour produced in Bombay or Hollywood. Fa Hien, the Chinese scholar-diarist tasted India's flavours at leisure and today's traveller too can savour them, if he goes by road and rail, picking and choosing places of speical interest.

The following pages contain capsule comments on the important points on a voyage of discovery of India. The arrangement is in alphabetical order plus a special list of places of pilgrimage or shrines which attract the religiously minded. There are notes on where and which part of the year wildlife can be seen in the raw. Another grouping is of hill resorts in the various regions.

Location

A Located in South Asia, the Indian peninsula has the Bay of Bengal to the east and Arabian Sea to the west (parts of the Indian Ocean). Pakistan is to its west, China, Nepal and Bhutan to the north, and Burma to the east. Bangladesh in the east is mainly surrounded by Indian territory.

Capital

New Delhi

Language

Hindi (official)
English (is an associate language)
Assamese
Bengali
Gujarati
Kannada
Kashmiri
Konkani
Malayalam
Manipuri
Oriya
Punjabi
Sanskrit
Sindhi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu (all recognised by the Constitution)

Monetary Unit

Rupee

$1 (USD)          =  Rs. 47.6679 (INR)
�1 (GBP)          =  Rs. 74.6322 (INR)
1 EUR (Euro)      =  Rs. 50.4663 (INR)

Currency Conversion rates as on 24^th March 2003.

Largest Cities

Mumbai
Calcutta
Delhi
Madras
Bangalore
Hyderabad
Ahmedabad
Kanpur
Pune
Nagpur
Lucknow
Jaipur

Principal rivers

Ganges (Ganga)
Brahmaputra
Sutlej
Yamuna
Tapti
Godavari
Krishna

For Bird Watchers

The famous Keoladeo Ghana sanctuary at Bharatpur, about 75 kms. from Delhi, is one of the most spectacular water bird sancturies anywhere. Migratory birds, from as far as Sibena, arrive here from December, and indigenous birds nest from October to December.

Most of the wildlife sancturies also harbour huge gatherings of birds. Notable site for bird watchers are Manas, in Assam, Periyar in Kerala, Point Calimere and Vedanthangal, in Tamil Nadu, Chilka Lake in Orissa, Nal Sarovar, in Gujarat, Sultanpur in Haryana, Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh and Borivali and Taroba, in Maharashtra. Vedanthangal is the second most attractive bird sanctuary nest only to that Bharatpur. It is 80 kms by road from Madras.

Hunting and Fishing

In the sanctuaries, the wild animals and birds can be hunted only with the camera. At one time, India was one of the greatest hunting grounds in the world but more and more animals are being brought under the umbrella of the Wildlife Protection Act. Shikars can still be arranged in some places through government approved experts.

Excellent facilities for fishing are existing along the vast 4700 kilometres coastline. On the land are hnumerous rivers, canals and lakes making India an angler's paradise.

Yoga Centres

The practice of Yoga is to maintain good physical and mental health and for the prevention and cure of diseases.

In New Delhi, the Delhi Yoga Sabha, at Ramakrishnapuram, and the Vishwayatan Yogashram, on Ashoka Road, are both sponsored by the Ministeries of the Government of India. The Yoga and Health Training Centre in Chandigarh is run by the sports department of the Chandigarh Administration. The Yogic Treatement-cum-Research Centre at Bapu Nagar, Jaipur is a Rajasthan Government enterprise. Lucknow has the Ideal health Clinic, at Yehiagani, and the Institute of Yoga, at Hazratgaj. The Divine Life Society at rishikesh runs the Shivananda Ashram.

The shri Ramtirth Yogashram, Dadar, is among the more famous centres in Bombay which also has the Arya Samaj Yoga Centre, at Santa Cruz West among several others. Lonavala, between Bombay and Pune, houses the Kaivalyadhama SMYM Samiti which awards certificates and diplomas ibn the field. Bhopal, in Madhya Pradesh, has the Government Yoga Training Centre. Assam's best-known centre is the Shivananda Math at Gauhati and the bihar School of Yoga is at Moghyr. Hyderabad has the Patanjali Yoga Research Institute and Madras the All-India Manava Sevak Samaj, at Mylapre and also a branch of Kaivalyadhama SMYM Samiti of Lonavala. Kerala has several Yoga teaching centres, in trivandrum and at Cannanore, Ernakulam, Quilon, Trichur and Kottayam. The Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan houses a Yoga centre in Bangalore.

If you are a sports fan

The most popular organised sports is football and competitive matches can be seen in almost all the major cities. Come season, cricket too is commonplace.

But for the more exotic....

Polo suffered a decline along with the wane of the princes, but is undergoing a rivival, partly as a result of army participation. Polo matches can be seen in Madras, Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Dehra Dun and of course Imphal, in Manipur, where the game is said to have originated.

Water skiing is rare, and confined largely to Kovalam, in Kerala, and the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir.

Sailing, yatching has a following in Delhi, Chandigarh, Pune, Srinagar, Nainital, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Calcutta (in lakes) and in Madras, Cochin, Goa and Bombay (on the sea).

As for ice-skating, apart from the open air rink in Simla, there are facilities in several first class hotels in the big cities.

For skiing, the most developed centre in Gulmarg, in Kashmir. Kufri, about 13 kms from Simla in Himachal Pradesh, is another centre for winter sports.

Air Ports

Indiragandhi International Airport (Delhi),
Madras International Airport (Chennai),
Chatrapathy Shivaji International Airport(Mumbai),
Kochi International Airport,
International Airport - Culcutta.