India

Most Indian languages fall primarily into 3 categories – The Indo-Iranian, Dravidian, and Tibeto-Burman. Don’t be mistaken, these are categories or language families, not languages.

Indian constitution officially recognizes 22 languages (last revised in 2007), of which 13 of them have more than 10 Mio. native speakers. On top of it, the scripts are not same. Don’t believe? Look at the names of 14 languages written in their own script.

Not many people actually know that English is not one of the constitutionally recognized languages. It’s only a language that can be used for official communication, under a special clause. For now, English is waiting in the queue, along with 43 other languages.

But hey, if you are a tourist planning to visit India – no problem, almost every tourist route is full of English speakers. I mean, if you are jolly good with the accent 🙂 In the worst case, just say 'Namaste'.

Trivia: If you hold any Indian currency, you will see its value written in 17 different languages (and scripts)

Other useful resources:

• Decent article on Indian languages
• Interesting piece of work on scripts of Indian languages
• Very nice video on languages of India

Like most civilizations, all Indian festivals are more or less connected to gods, history or seasons. Perhaps the main difference is the largely peaceful congregation of all major religions of the world. There are numerous festivals from at least 5 major religions. However, below are some really important ones marked as public holidays.

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• Diwali: The day lord Rama rescued his wife, killing the then Sri Lankan king Ravana; Victory of righteousness (light) over evil (darkness), and so the fireworks to mark the fest
• Dussehra: 10 day festival to honor the divine feminism of Goddess Durga, and her victory over evil (the legend takes variations between north and south India but the festive season stays same)
• Ganesh Chaturdi: Birthday of Lord Ganesh, son of Lord Shiva and Parvati
• Janmashtami: Marks the birth of Lord Krishna (this place is in present day Mathura, Uttar Pradesh)
• Maha Shivaratri: The day of heavenly dance by Lord Shiva (celebrated in the night)
• Ram Navami: Birthday of Lord Rama of Ayodhya (this place is in present day Uttar Pradesh)

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Christmas: Birthday of Lord Jesus Christ

Easter Monday: Commemorates the day after Lord Jesus emerged from his Tomb

Good Friday: Commemorates the crucifixion of Lord Jesus

New year: Marks the beginning of calendar year under Gregorian Calendar system

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Bakrid: Marks Ibrahim’s obedience to sacrifice his son to God

Eid Ul-fitr: Marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Islam

Milad un Nabi: Birthday of Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him

Muharram: Mourning the Martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali

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Buddha Purnima: Birthday of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who later became the enlightened one – The Buddha

Gurupurab: Birthday of the first Sikh Guru, Shri Guru Nanak

Holi: Festival of colors. Victory of good over evil (Holika); Arrival of spring and colors to life

Mahavir Jayanti: Birthday of Lord Mahaveer, the 24th and final Theerthankara in Jainism

Onam: Harvest festival of the most southern state of India, Kerala [and my favorite :]

Pongal: Marks the first harvest of the year. (also called Sankranti, Uttarayana, Maghi and Bhogali)

Raksha Bandhan: Festival of brothers and sisters. Sisters symbolically tie wristbands to mark their affection for brothers

Ugadi: New year according to traditional calendars (also called Gudi Padwa – Maharastra; Cheti Chand – Sindhi; Manipur - Sajibar Cheraoba)

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Travel tip: If you plan to visit India for tourism, check for festival dates. Especially Ganesh Chaturdhi, Muharram and Dusshera - roads and public transportation can get really busy during these times

Some useful resources:

• Comprehensive information on festivals/holidays in India
• Famous Indian festivals
• Popular festivals of India

There are 29 states with their own cuisines, flavours, specialities and it’ll be very hard (and perhaps redundant) to put them here. To make it easy, I like this map someone made about Indian cuisine (original source). I think it is close to reality.

Traditional Indian food is spicy, but not hot; So, what is the difference between spicy and hot? Chili (hot) is only one of around 30 spices that are most commonly used in Indian cuisine. The idea is to balance the flavors and see that neither of them dominates the other - after all, it's made in the world's largest democracy. Interested to know what spices are used and why? see this post on spices and their benefits.

Historically, India has been a vegetarian majority nation. It is still the most vegetarian nation in the world, according to some statistics. However, increasing movement of Indians across the world, globalization and changes in socio-financial structures proved quite influential, at least in the recent past. If you like to try and know new food, try vegeterian - there are a ton of tasty choices.

How to pick a good restaurant in your frst India trip? It’s hard to say; but, here are some thumb rules from my experience:

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• Frist things first: Do no compromise on hygiene. You can buy a sizeable meal for less than $1 or end up spending to the north of $200. What changes is the quality, and importantly hygiene
• If it’s very hot, leave it: Do not try to test your limits with hotness. Unless someone you know personally suggests you, it’s very likely not authentic
• Where ever you go, try the ‘Thali’ first: In Hindi, ‘Thali’ means plate (with food). This is most often used as synonym for traditional meal across India. Thali gives you all in one opportunity to try out many things, so you can make up what you like for next
• If the name of the state is in the name of the dish, it’s possibly authentic. (e.g. Traditional ‘Kerala’ meals, ‘Rajasthani’ thali, ‘Bengali’ thali). But this did fail me at times
• Traditional (and authentic) Indian meals are very elaborate. e.g. A traditional Kerala meal comes with 22 items on a freshly cut banana leaf (prepared that very day). And you won’t feel particularly heavy after your meal
• How 'some' traditional Indian meals look like: Kerala meal, Maharashtra meal, Rajasthani Thali, Bengali Thali

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Some useful resources:

• Taste Atlas on India
• Good collection of details on Wikipedia
• Wikipedia article on Indian spices
• Wikipedia summary on several statistics

I rarely come across someone who knew about Indian classical (traditional) music. Most of what is on the internet is current Bollywood music. In my view, the real beauty of India music lies in the science and syntax of it's classical (or traditional) music. A fascinating subject for me, although not my really my core competence. In a nutshell:

This is how it sounds:

• Carnatic: Instrumental; Vocal
• Hindustani: Instrumental; Vocal
• Film industry: Instrumental; Vocal

Some useful resources:

• Brief overview on Indian Classical music
• Renowned  Carnatic artists
• Renowned Hindustani artists
• Nice work by a Music student

I am attempting to summarise a $3 Bio. industry that releases an average of 5 movies a day and sells about 3.5 Bio tickets a year – so, please bear my approximations.

Bollywood is one of the at least 10 film industries in India, each of which produce at least 100 moviews a year. Here are the first 7 biggest pieces of Indian film industry (and the number of movies they produced in 2018).

• Bollywood (305): Hindi language (which is also the national language)
• Kollywood (189): Tamil language
• Marathi Film (124): Marathi Language
• Mollywood (173): Malayalam language
• Sandalwood (264): Kannada language
• Tollywood (133): Bengali language
• Tollywood (242): Telugu language

It may look similar, if you are not familiar. Unfortunately (or fortunately)… they not only sound different, they also look different, use a different script, not to mention the differences in cultures. Here are some samples – a typical song from each of the 7 film industries listed above.

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Bollywood (Hindi language)

Kollywood (Tamil language)

Marathi Language

Mollywood (Malayalam language)

Sandalwood (Kannada language)

Tollywood (Bengali)

Tollywood (Telugu)

Don’t understand all of them…? don’t worry, me neither.! Just appreciate the differences in language/culture, and embrace this difference that complements eachother.

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Some useful resources:

• Comprehensive information on Indian Movies

India is the 7^th largest country on the planet, with 3.3 Million Kms². Naturally, the list is quite big and I tried some summaries:

North:

• Agra: Spend at least a day adoring the beauty of Taj Mahal
• Jaipur: Amber fort, Hawa Mahal and City Palace (i.e. Jaipur Palace)
• Leh and Ladakh: Once in a lifetime bike rides
• Udaipur: The palaces and exceptional Taj hotel island

East:

• Darjeeling: Soul food with excellent tea plantations
• Konark: 750 years old Sun temple with precise time calculation
• Varanasi: One of the most important Hindu places of worship
• Kolkata: Famous for busy streets, famous sweets and culture

South:

• Hampi: stellar remains of a 14^th century empire
• Kanyakumari: Enjoy sunrise and sunset, from the same spot
• Munnar: Picturesque landscapes
• Mysore: Maharaja Palace

West:

• Goa: Hotspot for beach lovers, and foreigners. Thanks to Portuguese
• Jaisalmer: Stargazing in Thar desert, and camel friendships
• Mangalore: Calm sunsets with exemplary food
• Rann of Kutch: Endless salt deserts and cultural memoirs

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PS: I have my travel notes from all the places on this page (i.e. smart tips like how to travel, when to travel, what time of the day is best, safety, and other tips). Happy to share, but... you have to give something back to the society. If you are busy or need some ideas, visit my 'Giving back to society' page or 'Donate -> Shop' page for some hints. If you have any questions, please contact me via 'Contact page'
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If you are not just a tourist but a traveller or explorer at heart, this might of be of interest to you. Again, I have my personal travel notes on all these places.

[tg_accordion icon="fa-tags" title="North India (click here to expand)" close="1"]

• Agra (at least a day admiring the beauty of Taj Mahal)
• Ajmer (Darga)
• Amritsar (valour and kindness of Sikhism, and of course – Golden Temple)
• Ayodhya (streets once used by gods)
• Bhopal (the lake city, Bhojpur temple)
• Bikaner (Splendour of Rajasthani havelis, forts and sweets)
• Delhi (Jamma Masjid, Parliament, Jain temple and Red fort)
• Dharamshala (Happy faces and HH Dalai Lama’s residence)
• Gwalior (not just any palace, the Jai Vilas Palace; Sas bahu temple)
• Haridwar and Rishikesh (entry routes to upper Himalayas)
• Jaipur (Rajastani richness of Amber fort, Hawa Mahal, City palace)
• Jhansi (for the love of Rani and the place where she jumped)
• Jodhpur (witness the might of Jodhpur dynasty)
• Khajuraho (where nature seems to learn from human art work)
• Kota (the horseshoe curve of River Chambal)
• Kurukshetra (connections to 10,000 year old texts)
• Leh and Ladakh (lifetime bike rides and Lake Pangong)
• Manali (bike ride from Leh to Manali thru Spiti valley. Thank me later)
• Prayagraj (where 2 holy rivers and a soul meet)
• Srinagar (Boat houses)
• Udaipur (Live, like the Rajas)
• Wagah Border (Brothers at arms)
• …

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• Antarvedi (endless jetty travels through the coconut plantations)
• Araku (go for a second honeymoon)
• Bhimavaram (respect, culture and food)
• Bhubaneshwar (where all the beautiful girls live)
• Cuttack (not just for dance, but temples)
• Darjeeling (tea plantations, cute trains and hill tops)
• Gangtok (Buddhism, trekking)
• Gaya (The enlightened one himself could not resist)
• Kohima (Elephants, hills and food)
• Kolkata (Kali temple, Howrah bridge and Sunderbans National Park)
• Konark (magnetic levitation and time precision to minutes, 800 years ago)
• Mokokchung (experience Nagaland to the core)
• Mussorie (how humans and mountains love each other)
• Puri (where the gods beat the laws of nature)
• Rajahmundry (entry point to Papi mountains)
• Ranchi (home of Captain cool)
• Shillong (entry point to falls, lakes and trees bridges. Don’t miss Nohkalikai falls)
• Shimla (skiing, snow sport and nature)
• Varanasi (witness everything between Varuna and Asi)
• Yuksom (Buddhism, lakes and mountains)
• …

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• Alappuzha (life on a boat, in backwaters)
• Chikmagalur (entry point to awesome Karnataka)
• Coorg (waterfalls)
• Goa (more white people than in the west)
• Gokarna (the land, the food, the beach)
• Hampi (Marvel of the Krishna Devarayas)
• Kanchipuram (temples, culture and carnatic music)
• Kannur (see what nature can do to you)
• Kanyakumari (turn left for sunrise, right for sunset and straight for Indian ocean)
• Madurai (Amman, the great)
• Mahabalipuram (the ages old carvings)
• Munnar (endless honeymoon stories)
• Mysore (respect to the royalty)
• Ooty (and try the 50+ tea varieties you find on the way)
• Pondicherry (Get soaked in spirituality)
• Rameshwaram (say hello to Sri Lanka)
• Thoothukudi (spicy dishes… and people)
• Tiruchirapalli (See the island heaven from Ucchi Pillayar)
• Trekking in Nallamala forests
• Varkala (Cliffs of Moher, Kerala version)
• Velankanni (the Church capital of the south)
• Vellore (that’s all gold)
• Wayanad (look for the heart pond)
• …

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• Ganapatipule (beach, Ganapati. What else?)
• Goa (enough said)
• Hassan (Shetty Halli and the lush routes)
• Jaisalmer (the lake, the desert and the culture)
• Karkala (live in coconut plantations)
• Karwar (sunsets on one side and mountains on another)
• Mahabaleshwar (Monsoon’s first night)
• Malvan (beaches no one touched, yet)
• Mangalore (stunning sunsets)
• Mullodi (hail the might of Karnataka’s wild side)
• Mumbai (Nariman point, a bit far away Lonavala falls)
• Panchgani (submit yourself to the Western ghats)
• Patan (Rani ki vav)
• Rann of Kutch (endless salt deserts)
• Ratnagiri (amazing sunsets and food)
• Shimoga (Shivappa Nayaka palace)
• Udupi (Sri Krishna Math and Malpe)
• Vijaydurg (fort and Chatrapati Shivaji)
• …

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If you are into culture, history, spirituality and traditions – you might be interested in the following too. I have my notes on all these places:
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IMPORTANT: I hold equal respect for all religions and belief systems. This is only my humble attempt to protect the historical/cultural wisdom of our ancestors and NOT to promote (or demote) any religion.

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• Ajanta (Buddhist caves)
• Bhopal (Sanchi Stupa)
• Dharamsala (Residence of HH Dalai Lama)
• Gaya (Mahabodhi Tree)
• Kushinagar (Parinivana Stupa)
• Ladakh (several Tibetan Buddhism monasteries)
• Leh (Tsemo Maitreya)
• Lucknow (closest link to Lumbini, birth place of Buddha)
• Nalanda (destroyed university)
• Patna (capital of Magadha)
• Sarnath (Dhamek Stupa)
• Spiti Valley (Tabo Monastery - Tibetan Buddhism) and
• Tawang (Tibetan Buddhism)

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• Allahabad (All Saints Cathedral)
• Cochin (Santa Cruz Basilica)
• Cochin (Vallarpadam Church)
• Goa (Basilica of Bom Jesus)
• Goa (Church of our lady of the Immaculate Conception)
• Goa (St. Catherine Cathedral)
• Kolkata (St. Paul Cathedral)
• Mysore (St. Philomena’s Church)
• Nagapattanam (Velankanni Church)
• Trichur (Our lady of Dolours Church)

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The 18 Mahashakti peetas (Ashtadasa Mahashaktipeeta): Alampur, Draksharamam, Gaya, Guwahati, Jajpur, Kanchi, Kangra, Kolhapur, Mahur, Mysore, Pandua, Pithapuram, Prayagraj, Sri Sailam, Triconmalee (Sri Lanka), Ujjain, Varanasi, and Neelam valley [Sarada peeth - I haven't been to this one in Pakistan, yet]

The 12 Jyothirlingas (Dwadasa Jyothirlingas): Baidyanath (and/or Parli Vaidnath), Bhimshankar, Dwaraka, Ellora, Kedarnath, Nashik, Omkareshwar, Rameswaram, Somnath, Srisailam, Ujjain, and Varanasi

The 7 Puris (Saptapuris): Ayodhya, Dwaraka, Haridwar, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Ujjain, Varanasi

The 5 kedars (Panchakedara): Kalpeshwar, Kedarnath, Madhmaheshwar, Rudranath, Tungnath, [and the assumed 6th Kedar - Pasupatinath, Kathmandu]

The 5 Ramas (Pancharamas): Amara Rama, Draksha Rama, Ksheera Rama, Kumara Rama, Soma Rama

The temples of 5 elements (Panchaboota Sthanam): Chidambaram, Kalahasthi, Kanchipuram, Tiruvanaikaval, Thiruvannamalai

The 4 Dhams (Original Sri Adi Shankaracharya peetas): Badrinath, Dwaraka, Puri, and Rameshwaram

The 4 Dhams (smaller circuit): Badrinath, Gangothri, Kedarnath, and Yamunotri

The 3 Rangas (Tri-rangas or Vaikuntas): Srirangapatnam, Shivanasamudra, Srirangam

Others: Antarvedi (Narasimha), Ayodhya (Ram Janmabhumi), Badami (Buddha), Bidar (Narasimha), Bhadrachalam (Sri Rama), Bhopal (Sanchi, Bhojeshwar), Bhubaneshwar (Lingraj), Chidambaram (Nataraja), Chirabasa (the peaks of Bagiratha, Brigu, Iravat), Delhi (Akshardham), Dwaraka Tirumala (Sri Venkateswara), Ellora (Kailasha), Gaya (Mahabodhi, Phalgu River), Guruvayoor (Sri Krishna), Halebeedu (Hoysaleswara), Hampi (Virupaksha), Haridwar (Ganga, Manasa Devi), Kanchi (Ekambareshwar, Kamakshi), Khajuraho (Lakshmana), Kolkata (Belur Math), Konark (Sun Temple), Kumbakonam (Darasuram), Kurukshetra (Jyotisar, Brahmasarovar, Draupati Kund), Lepakshi (Veerabhadra), Madurai (Meenakshi Amman), Mangalore (Mangala Devi), Mathura (Vrindavan), Mysore (Chamundeshwari), Sri Bhagavati, Sri Manjunatha), Mathura (Sri Krishna Janmasthan & Vrundavan), Mantralayam (Sri Raghavendra), Modhera (Sun temple), Orrcha (Ram Raja), Puri (Jagannath), Ranakpur (Jain temple), Rishikesh (Ram/Laxman Jula), Sabarimala (Ayyappa), Sringeri (Sharadamba), Sri Kalahasthi (Lord Shiva), Tanjore (Bhrihadeeswara), Tirupati (Venkateswara), Trivandrum (Sri Padmanabhaswamy), Udupi (Sri Krishna), Vijayawada (Kanaka Durga)

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The 7 holy Mosques

• Bhopal (Taj-ul Masjid)
• Hyderabad (Makkah Masjid)
• Kolkata (Tipu Sultan Masjid)
• Lucknow (Bara Imambara)
• Mangalore (Zeenath Baksh)
• New Delhi (Jama Masjid)
• Srinagar (Hazratbal Masjid)

The holy Dargahs

• Ajmir (Khwaja Muin-uddin Chisthi, Ajmir Darga)
• Mumbai (Haji Ali Dargah)

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• Ahmedabad (Hutheesing)
• Karkala (Chaturbhuja)
• Ranakpur
• Shravanabelagola (Gomateshwara)

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The holiest Punj-Takths of

• Amritsar (Sri Alak Takht Sahib)
• Anandpur (Keshgarh Sahib)
• Bhatinda (Damdama Sahib)
• Nanded (Sri Hazur Sahib)
• Patna (Sri Patna Sahib)
• Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib

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Planning: Please do not forget, India is a developing country. It’s home to the poorest hut you’ll ever see and the costliest private residence on the planet. Infrastructure is not equally stellar across the nation, and so are the facilities. Do reasonable home work or stick to the standard tourist itinerary. If things go awry, people are generally helpful (and a lot of Indians speak understandable English)
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Respect the local customs: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Most tourist problems are attributed to misunderstandings of local customs, and India is no exception. It’s a conservative country. Foreigners are usually well received, but… public display of romantic affection, wearing revealing attire to places of worship (e.g. yoga pants, rugged jeans), making fun of gods/elderly/women are some of the usual acts that likely draw attention
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Getting around: Although the system isn’t foolproof, there are many options to organise a decent country wide trip. Some useful links:

• • IRCTC: Exclusively railways, and tours across India
  • Redbus: Leading country wide bus ticketing website
  • Abhibus: Alternate bus ticketing website
  • Ixigo: Covers all major transport options (air, rail and road)
  • Makemytrip: Famous for rail transport and tour packages
  • Yatra: Famous for rail transport and tour packages
  • Easemytrip: Reasonable website for all modes of transport (air, rail and road)
  • Tripadvisor: One of the best tools to prepare for the trip

If you are visiting any off-tourist map places, registered taxi services are always recommended (Uber, Ola)
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Safety: Like the country’s terrain, safety index varies vividly across the nation. Take good tips from your hotels/hosts and rely on extra care if you are into late-night activities. Always keep emergency numbers handy (Emergency – 112; police – 100; fire – 101; health – 108; women – 1090; and a local friend, if possible). Some helpful tips to consider:

• Health: Sanitiser, nose masks, sun-screen, emergency tablets, doctor's contact, travel insurance
• Money: Prepaid card, local currency
• Others: Local phone SIM card (available from all leading airports, passport/ID copy required)

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Trivia: On a global stage, India is really not expensive. If you are going for a cheap option in India, you know what you are asking for

There are many (and much better) collections of famous Indians. These are just some I managed to do some research about and wanted to pay tributes to their contribution:

• APJ Abdul Kalam: The poor kid from the bottom of India, who became a scientist; The scientist who became the president of India, at the top of India
• Dhirubhai Ambani: The man who steered his journey from a petrol station attendant to the biggest business tycoon of modern India. (i.e. from scratch to $26 Billion)
• Indra Nooyi: Once ranked the 2nd most powerful women in the world. If you ever consumed a PepsiCo product, you know her already
• Jiddu Krishnamurthy: If you are interested in philosophy or spirituality, this man needs no introduction
• Mahatma Gandhi: You probably already know him as the peaceful warrior from India. This Indian born, British educated, South-African settled politician is widely credited as the one person (in addition to a number of other legends).
• Narendra Modi: A normal village boy who started as a tea seller and ended up becoming the premier of a 1.2 billion nation
• P.V. N. Rao: One of the most forgotten foreign policy champions who opened the doors for foreign investments in India and economic policy reforms
• Rabindranath Tagore: Probably the only man who wrote national anthems for two countries. The second ever non-european to receive the Alfred Nobel prize (literature), whose works are still considered legendary in Indian literature
• Ratan Tata: If you have anything to do with India, chances are likely you used a product or service offered by his Tata group of companies
• Sachin Tendulkar: An ordinary school boy who became the first human to score 10,000 runs in ODI (besides becoming god for cricket lovers)
• Sardar V. Patel: The iron man and one man army behind the unification of India as a country we see today. If you ever go around Vadodara (Baroda) in India, you can see the world’s tallest statue of this gentlemen made with materials donated from across the country
• Shakuntala Devi: Popularly known as ‘Human computer’, who could multiply two 13 digit numbers in 28 seconds in her head (yes, you read it right – in 28 seconds)
• Srinivasa Ramanujan: If you saw the movie ‘the man who knew infinity’, you don’t need more introduction. A semi-educated passionate kid from Chennai (erstwhile Madras or Chennapatnam) who wrote some of the most foretold concepts in Mathematics. You can visit his former house and extended family if you go to Chennai (near Mylapore)
• Sundar Pichai: One of the most inspiring journeys from a humble South Indian town to leading one of the biggest technology giants of our times
• Swami Vivekananda: One of the foremost Indian philosophers who attempted to bridge the gap between world’s religions. A spiritual legend who still continues to inspire generations
• Viswanathan Anand: Former world chess champion and the first ever from Asia

PS: This list excludes pre 19th Century figures who made impeccable inventions, discoveries and contributions not just for Indians but for the world.