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Top Ten Destinations
This is no survey, nor an expert study on what the top ten destinations in India are. This is simply a compilation of some all-time favourite hotspots representative of quintessential India - the India of natural beauty, the India of ancient civilization, the India of different religious and ethnic identities, and last but not the least, the India of adventurous possibilities.
Beginning from Ladakh in the northern-most state of Jammu & Kashmir to the Southern-most tip of Kanya Kumari in Tamil Nadu, every state in India boasts of a unique travel experience.
Kerala, promoted as 'God's own country' is perhaps the most popular destinations for foreigners. The long Malabar coastline dotted with fishing hamlets and palm-fringed beaches has a lot to offer. Backwater cruises from Kollam to Alapuzzha or Alleppy and further down to Kottayam is the not-to-be-missed highlight of this trip. The intricately woven lagoons and lakes inland create the famed backwaters with its own coir-making and spice villages. For the wildlife enthusiasts, there are the Periyar and Wayanad sanctuaries.
If Kerala is a green countryside, Rajasthan conjures up bright colours. This state is a rich tapestry of rugged natural beauty, history and folk arts. Against the backdrop of the desert erupts a most colourful pageantry with fairs and festivals, folk music and dance. Tourist operators offer customized packages such as desert tours and camel safaris through Jaislamer, Jodhpur, and Jaipur; and heritage tours that take in Rajput palaces and forts. Rajasthan is also a wonderful showcase of Indian handicrafts - textiles, jewellery, blue pottery and so on.
A trip to India would certainly be incomplete without seeing one of the architectural wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal in Agra in the vicinity of Delhi. Described by Rabindranath Tagore as the 'teardrop on the cheek of time' this mausoleum was built by Emperor Shahjahan as a tribute, of 'eternal love', to his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The enchanting beauty of this monument has inspired many a poets and film-makers. Agra also boasts of another monument, a world heritage site in Fatehpur Sikri.
A holiday in Goa it has to be, if you wish to let your hair down and go beach-bumming in India. Calangute and Covalam are two popular beaches in Goa, but there are plenty of sleepy sea-side stretches to be discovered by walk. A Goan holiday would mean gorging on seafood and drinking on feni to your heart's content. Goa has a sorpotel and sosegad culture of its own - the former, being a now world-famous non-vegetarian dish, and the latter, a daily ritual of siesta break - that grows over you.
Hill-stations make for great holiday destinations as the weather and the pace of the place makes for a comfortable stay. While there are plenty of hill-stations all over the country, the northern state of Uttaranchal has a large concentration of them, the highly popular ones being Nainital and Mussourie. The Gharwal region is a much-favoured pilgrimage spot for its char dham yatra - Gangotri, Yamnunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. The temple towns of Haridwar and Rishikesh are added attractions. The Corbett National Park, named after the legendary Jim Corbett, is not just a tiger reserve, but also a birding site.
Azure blue waters, coral reefs and sparsely-populated beaches - that is what Andaman Island is all about. Tourists can indulge in snorkelling and deep-sea diving with gay abandon here. The Cellular Jail which incarcerated Veer Savarkar and many other freedom fighters is an attraction as a national memorial.
As temples go, there is no place to compete with the South, especially the state of Tamil Nadu. Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram, the pristine coastal belt, is famous for its shore temples and rock sculptures. A sunset at the southern-most tip of the India subcontinent, Kanya Kumari, situated at the confluence of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal is something to die for. The Nilgiri hills with its hill-stations - Conoor and Ooty (Udhagamandalam) - and tea plantations offer salubrious environs for trekking and outdoor activities.
Jammu & Kashmir may be ravaged by insurgency and terrorism, but it still remains a hotspot as far as travel destinations go, for many. The remote highland of Ladakh with its Buddhist monasteries is particularly enticing. From Leh, you can traverse to the greener Nubra Valley by the highest motorable pass in the world at Khardung La.
The World Heritage site of Hampi, the Chalukyan temples of Badami and Pattadkal, and Hoysala architecture of Belur and Halebid temples make Karnataka a not-to-be-missed destination. The Dusshera festival celebrations in Mysore, Bandipur National Park, and the hill-station of Kodagu (Coorg) with its coffee plantations are few options in a wide array of attractions. A lesser-explored, but more promising place is the Dandeli forest, famous for its black panthers, and which still harbours an ancient tribe, the Siddis.
For sheer natural beauty, the contiguous belt of the North-eastern states is unbeatabale. Clubbed the seven sisters, the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh constitute the culturally-rich tribal belt of India. The places to visit are the Kaziranga Forest of Assam, the refuge of the one-horned rhino; the rolling hills of Shillong in Meghalaya; and the Loktak Lake in Manipur among several others.
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