With a stress on exposing the local known and unknown culture
to the world, we have been able to operate a wide range of tours
to different part of the subcontinent. India
is a big country, and here the culture and traditions
vary after every 50 kms, but we have been able to mastermind the
itineraries, giving exposure to various traditions and customs,
of this great country. The joy and the expressions of disbelief
on the face of our guests, have been truly our rewarding experience.
India History
The history of India
is shrouded in antiquity. The country has been thought of as a
nation of philosophers with a well-developed and even idyllic
society.
Excavations
of sites belonging to the Harappan era show that the people lived
in brick houses in towns with excellent drainage. One of the oldest
scriptures in the world is the four-volume Vedas that many regard
as the repository of national thoughts that anticipated some of
the modern scientific discoveries.
Despite
formidable barriers in the form of the mighty Himalayas and oceans,
India also received a succession of foreigners, many of them carrying
swords and guns.
But
nearly all of them stayed on. Out of these waves of immigration
has emerged the composite culture of India and made it a land
of unity in diversity. India became a land of assimilation and
learning, a land of change and continuity.
The
Aryans were among the first to arrive in India which was inhabited
by the Dravidians. Others who came here included Greeks, Persians,
Mughals and even British, Portugese and French.
Over
the years there have been many major ruling dynasties like the
Shakas, the Kushans, the Maurayas and Guptas.
Nearly
every major religion in the world is represented in India which
is also the land of the Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavira and Guru Nanak
Dev, the founders of Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
India
People
India is probably the only country
with the largest and most diverse mixture of races.
All
the five major racial types - Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid,
Caucasian and Negroid - find representation among the people of
India.
Physical Feature
India, with an area of 3.3 million
sq. km, is a subcontinent. The peninsula is separated from mainland
Asia by the Himalayas.
The
country lies between 8° 4' and 37° 6' north of the Equator
and is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian
Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean to the south.
The
Himalayas form the highest mountain range in the world, extending
2,500 km over northern India.
Bounded
by the Indus river in the west and the Brahmaputra in the east,
the three parallel ranges, the Himadri, Himachal and Shivaliks
have deep canyons gorged by the rivers flowing into the Gangetic
plain.
Fair & Festivals
India is a rich land which
has attracted invaders from Central Europe and Asia who left their
imprint on this land, its religions and its lifestyles over 40
centuries. The Greeks , under Al-exander the great, travelled
as far down as the lower Indus River which they mis pronounced
as the "Hindu River" Consequently, all the various in
vaders, with their conflicting faiths, who inhabited the land
of the Indus River were called Hindus and their land, Hindustan.
It was shortened to "HIND", then "IND" and
finally INDIA.
Religion
| HINDUISM
The
Hindu religion had its origin in the concepts of the early
Aryans who came to India more than 4,000 years ago. It is
not merely a religion but also philosophy and a way of life.
Hinduism does not originate in the teachings of any one
prophet or holy book. It respects other religions and does
not attempt to seek converts. It teaches the immortality
of the human soul and three principal paths to ultimate
union of the individual soul with the all-pervasive spirit.
The
essence of Hindu faith is embodied in the Lord's Song, the
Bhagavad Gita: "He who considers this (self) as a slayer
or lie who thinks that this (self) is slain, neither knows
the Truth. For it does not slay, nor is it slain. This (self)
is unborn, eternal, changeless, ancient, it is never destroyed
even when the body is destroyed".
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more info click here... |
ZOROASTRIANISM
In
the days of the old Persian Empire, Zoroastrianism was the
dominant religion in West Asia, and in the form of Mithraisn
it spread over vast areas of the Roman Empire, as far as
Britain. After the Islamic conquest of Iran, a few intrepid
Zoroastrians left their homeland and sought refuge in India.
The first group is said to have reached Diu in about 766
A.D. The total number of Zoroastrians probably does not
exceed 130,000. With the exception of some 10,000 in Iran,
almost all of them live in India, the vast majority concentrated
in Mumbai. The Parsees excel in industry and commerce, and
contribute richly to the intellectual and artistic life
of the nation. |
| ISLAM
Arab
traders brought Islam to South India in the seventh century.
After them came the Afghan the seventh century. After them
came the Afghans and the Moghuls, among whom the most enlightens
was the Emperor Akbar. Akbar almost succeeded in founding
a new religion Din-e-Elahi, based on both Hinduism and Islam,
but it found few adherents. Islam has flourished in India
through the centuries. Muslim citizens have occupied some
of the highest positions in the country since independence
in 1947. |
SIKHISM
Guru
Nanak, the founder of Sikhism in the 15-century, stressed
the unity of God and the The Sisganj Gurudwara in Delhi,
an important Sikh shrine brotherhood of man. Sikhism, with
its affirmation of as the one supreme truth and its ideals
of discipline and spiritual striving, soon won many followers.
It was perhaps possible only in this hospitable land that
two religions as diverse as Hinduism and Islam could come
could come together in a third, namely Sikhism.
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info click here... |
| CHRISTIANITY
Christianity
reached India not long after Christ's own lifetime, with
the arrival of St. Thomas, the Apostle. The Syrian Christian
Church in the south traces its roots to the visit of St.
Thomas. With the arrival of St. Francis Xavier in 1542 the
Roman Catholic faith was established in India. Today Christians
of several denominations practice their faith freely.
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more info click here... |
JAINISM
AND BUDDHISM
In
the sixth century before Christ, Mahavira propagated Jainism.
Its message was asceticism, austerity and non-violence.
At about the same time, Buddhism came into being Gautama
Buddha, a prince, renounced the world and gained enlightenment.
He preached that 'Nirvana' was to be attained through the
conquest of self. Buddha's teachings in time spread to China
and some other countries of South-East Asia.
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info click here... |
| JUDAISM
Jewish
contact with the Malabar Coast in Kerala dates back to 973
BC when King Solomon's merchant fleet began trading for
spices and other fabled treasures. Scholars say that the
Jews first settled in Cranganore, soon after the Babylonian
onquest of Judea in 586 BC. The immigrants were well received
and a Hindu king granted to Joseph Rabban, a Jewish leader,
a title and a principality. |
Languages
India has 17 major languages and 844 different dialects.
The Sanskrit of the Aryan settlers has merged with the earlier
Dravidian vernaculars to give rise to new languages. Hindi, spoken
by about 45 per cent of the population, is the national language.
English
has also been retained as a language for official communication.
Indian literature dates back several millennia to the hymns of
the vedic Aryans.
The
oral tradition nurtured lassical literature, and produced great
works of philosophy and religious doctrine. It also accounted
for compilations of anecdotes like the Panchatantra and the Jataka
tales, as well as epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
In
southern India, the creative energies of the Tamil poets found
expression in the great works of Sangam literature.
The
epic Tirukkural by Tiruvalluvar is a masterpiece of this age.
In the north, dramatists like Kalidasa and Bhasa produced great
dramas in Sanskrit.
CULTURAL
TOURS OF INDIA...
