Keoladeo Ghana National Park

This magnificent bird haven in actual came into being paradoxically as a duck shooting preserve for Maharaja Suraj Mull of Bharatpur. He transformed the shallow depression formed by the confluence of River Gambhir and River Banganga into a reservoir by damming the rainwater in monsoons. Flooding of water created shallow wetland ecosystem causing it to be a perfect habitat for an astounding variety of birds.
The park that was a hunting preserve for the Maharaja and the British continued to be so till 1964, after which the hunting was banned. A forestation policy of planting acacias was vigorously followed. However the ecosystem at the Park continues to be fragile due to pressures of tourism and need for water from surrounding villages. However the environmentalists won the day in 1985 when UNESCO listed it as World Heritage site and earlier in 1982 it was declared as National Park. And, today the Park is recognised as the most important breeding and feed grounds for the birds in the world. Some species are still endangered and especially the Siberian crane. Visitors are advised to maintain low noise level and avoid littering the park.
The Park opens from sunrise to sunset around the year. The ticket is Rs 200 per foreign visitor and Rs 25 for Indian visitor. Vehicles are permitted upto Shanti Kutir about 1.7 kilometres inside at Rs 50 per vehicle. After this you can choose to walk, bicycle, or go by cycle rickshaw, Tonga or boat when the water level is high. The cycle rickshaw wallah’s displaying yellow plate meaning authorised double up as guides also carry binoculars. Hotels do supply packed lunches and you can get a bite at a canteen on the second gate and even at Forest Lodge.

Fairy Queen Train

The Fairy Queen which finds mention in the "Guinness Book of World Records" is the oldest running steam locomotive in the world.For an idyllic weekend trip between Delhi and Alwar, the Fairy Queen comes to the rescue of those bored with the same old blase ways of traveling around the place. The Fairy Queen with the privileged ones abroad reaches the picturesque town of Alwar in Rajasthan the same day, from where the guests will be taken to Sariska Tiger Reserve for an overnight stay.

The 50 select guests will certainly go back with fond memories of a once-in-a lifetime experience. Book your tour today!

Heritage on Wheels

Heritage on Wheels is yet another initiative by the Indian Railways to bring tourists closer to Indian culture. In association with the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, the Indian Railways have launched this luxury tourist train.
Traversing all the nook and crannies of the Bikaner and Shekhawati regions of Rajasthan, Heritage on Wheels takes you through an unbelievable journey that will remain etched in your memories forever.

Rajasthan is one of the culturally richest states in India. Heritage on Wheels is invariably the best way to showcase India to the world. Tourists get to witness the effortless amalgamation of city lifestyle in a rustic setup. This fusion has a uniqueness of its own.

International as well as domestic tourists will love to travel by Heritage on Wheels for its sheer royalty and splendor. Known to be one of the best luxury trains in India today, Heritage on Wheels gives you what no other train does.

Modeled on the Palace on Wheels, another luxury train of India, Heritage on Wheels has marvelous settings and will prove to be an ideal haven all through the journey. Luxurious amenities, personalized services and a congenial atmosphere will enhance the pleasure of your journey.

So, get set to unravel the beauty of Rajasthan on board the incredible Heritage on Wheels.

Natural Gas

According to OGJ, India had 38 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves as of January 2007. The bulk of India’s natural gas production comes from the western offshore regions, especially the Mumbai High complex. The onshore fields in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat states are also major producers of natural gas. According to EIA data, India produced 996 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas in 2004.
India imports small amounts of natural gas. In 2004, India consumed 1,089 Bcf of natural gas, the first year in which the country showed net natural gas imports. During 2004, India imported 93 Bcf of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar.

Sector Organization
As in the oil sector, India’s state-owned companies account for the bulk of natural gas production. ONGC and Oil India Ltd. (OIL) are the largest companies by production volume, while some foreign companies participate in upstream developments in joint-ventures and production sharing contracts (PSCs). Reliance Industries, a privately-owned Indian company, will also have a greater role in the natural gas sector in the coming years, as a result of a large natural gas find in 2002 in the Krishna Godavari basin.

The Gas Authority of India Ltd.
(GAIL) holds an effective monopoly on natural gas transmission and distribution activities. In December 2006, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas issued a new policy that allows foreign investors, private domestic companies, and national oil companies to hold 100 percent equity stakes in pipeline projects. While GAIL’s monopoly in natural gas transmission and distribution is not guaranteed by statute, it will continue to be the leading player in the sector because of its existing natural gas infrastructure (in 2004, GAIL piped 88 percent of the natural gas consumed in India). http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/India/NaturalGas.html

The temples of North India

The temples of North India are the abode of most heavenly sprits and holy figures. The Char Dham pilgrimage on the mighty Himalayas in North India is of the most divine journey for Hindu devotees. Visit the temples in North India that will spell-binds you through their holy environ and architecture splendor.

Madhya Pradesh
..Khajuraho Temples
..Mahakaleshwar Temple
..Teli Ka Mandir
Delhi
..Kalibarimandir
..Kalkaji Temple
..Lotus Temple
Rajasthan
..Bramha Temple
..Kailadevi Temple
Uttaranchal
..Badrinath Temple
..Kedarnath Temple

Temples In India

India has rich cultural and historical heritage well preserved in its temple architecture and pilgrim sites. From the majestic Himalayan ranges in the North, to Kanyakumari in the South, India is arrayed with thousand of shrines, temples and worship places dating back to hundreds of years.. Many theories have been formulated to explain the existence of these holy sites in such a huge number, paving the path to attain salvation or "nirvana". The statuary and adornment in these ancient temples showcases one of the world's foremost artistic heritages. The designs of major temples have augmented into enormous architectural splendor.

.. Khajuraho Temples.. Badrinath Temple.. Pushkar Temples.. Tirupati Temples.. Kanyakumari Temple.. Dwarkadheesh Temple.. Srimahavirji.. Dilwara Jain Temples.. Ajanta Cave Temples.. Kedarnath Temple.. Kalkaji Temple .. Lotus Temple.. Birlamandir.. Meenakshi Temple

Indian Monuments

India has some of the most beautiful and evocative monuments in the world. These monuments of India owe their execution to the imagination of men who dared to extend their ideas to the farthest limits of human thought. As kings and emperors, they were able to translate their ideas into bricks, mortar, marble and stone. These monuments of India range through a span of centuries and the major philosophies of the world.

Many of the great monuments of India had lost in the process of subversion and dependence through India remained for around 300 years from 17th century onwards. With the growth of a strong middle class, new wave for national awakening, and interactions with a world outside the geographical confines of India in the 19th and 20th century helped many Indians to look deep in their past. This awakening helped them taking back from the ruins the symbols from a golden age of India. Many Europeans for that matter also explored and brought back from the rubbles, the lost civilizations, ruined monuments, and lost cultures.
Taj Mahal Qutab Minar India Gate Red Fort Meenakshi Temple Charminar

Marathi Language

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Maharashtrian people of western India. Among the Indo-Aryan languages, Marathi is the southern-most language.
Marathi ranks 4th in India according to the number of speakers as their primary language. Marathi belongs to the group of Indo-Aryan languages which are a part of the larger of group of Indo-European languages, all of which can be traced back to a common root.

Gujarati Language

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is one of the 22 official languages and 14 regional languages of India. The language is simple and relatively easy to learn. As a conversational language, it is concise, simple, and well adapted for social and domestic dealings.

The old (Apabhramsa) period (10th-14th cent.): During this period Parsis learned Sanskrit, and many of their religious texts were translated into Sanskrit from the Middle Persian versions. Thereafter when Gujarat came under Muslim influence, Arabic and Persian were studied. Parsis readily took to the Persian language and Sanskrit studies declined. It was at this time that Avestan and Pahlavi texts were translated into Gujarati with the use of existing Sanskrit translations.

Punjabi Language

Basically the Punjabi is the language of Punjab. Punjab is one of the 14 regional languages recognized in the Indian constitution. Central Indo-Aryan language spoken in Punjab, an area now divided between India and Pakistan, to the west, modern Punjabi merges into the Lahnda language. Punjabi Punjabi is a intercontinental language. Its speakers are spread all over the world.

Assamese Language

Assamese is spoken all along the Brahmaputra valley and sounds quite similar to Bengali, except for a few differences. In fact, the old text Charya Padas is claimed by both Old Assamese and Old Bengali.

The oldest Assamese writer was perhaps Hema Saraswati, who wrote his famous Prahlada Charita in the late 13th century AD. Madhava Kandali (14th century) was the next well-known figure, having written a vernacular Ramayana. Prominent among 15th century works were Durgavara’s Giti Ramayana, poems and songs from the Puranas by Pitambara and Manakara and the mass of literature called Mantras of unknown authorship.

Hindi Language

Hindi, an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is the primary official language of the Union government of India. It is part of a dialect continuum of the Indic family, bounded on the northwest and west by Punjabi, Sindhi, Urdu, and Gujarati; on the south by Marathi; on the southeast by Oriya; on the east by Bengali; and on the north by Nepali.
Hindi also refers to a standardized register of Hindustani termed khari boli, that emerged as the standard dialect of Hindi. The grammatical description in this article concerns this standard Hindi.

Hindi is often contrasted with Urdu, another standardized form of Hindustani that is the official language of Pakistan and also an official language in some parts of India. The primary differences between the two are that Standard Hindi is written in Devanagari and draws its vocabulary with words from Sanskrit, while Urdu is written in Nastaliq script, a variant of the Perso-Arabic script, and draws heavily on Persian and Arabic vocabulary. The term "Urdu" also includes dialects of Hindustani other than the standardized languages. Other than these, linguists consider Hindi and Urdu to be the same language.

India and Indians!

1. ndia is the world's largest, oldest, continuous civilization.


2. India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.


3. India is the world's largest democracy.
   
   Varanasi, also known as Benares, was called "the ancient city" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world day.
   


4. India invented the
   Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
   


5. The World's first university was established in
   Takshashila in 700BC. More than 10,500
   students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The
   University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest
   achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
   


6. Sanskrit is the
   mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language
   for computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.
   


7. Ayurveda is the
   earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine
   consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its
   rightful place in our civilization.
   


8. Although modern images of India often show poverty
   and lack of development, India was the richest
   country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early
   17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth.
   


9. The art of Navigation
   was bornin the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is
   derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from
   Sanskrit 'Nou'.
   


10. Bhaskaracharya
    calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years
    before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th
    century) 365.258756484 days.
    


11. The value of pi
    was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is
    known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long
    before the European mathematicians.
    


12. Algebra, trigonometry
    and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by
    Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the
    Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the
    power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic
    period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power
    of 12).
    


13. IEEE has proved what has been a century old
    suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of wireless
    communication was Prof. Jagdish Bose
    and not Marconi.
    


14. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was
    built in Saurashtra.
    


15. According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE a
    beautiful lake called Sudarshana was
    constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time.
    


16. Chess (Shataranja
    or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
    


17. Sushruta is the
    father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time
    conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs,
    fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage
    of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment
    were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology,
    digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.
    


18. When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers
    over 5000 years ago, Indians established
    Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).
    


19. The four religions born in India,
    Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism,
    are followed by 25% of the world's population.
    


20. The place value system, the
    decimal system was developed in India
    in 100 BC.
    


21. India is one of the few countries in the World,
    which gained independence without violence.
    


22. India has the second largest pool of
    Scientists and Engineers in the World.
    


23. India is the largest
    English speaking nation in the world.
    


24. India is the only country other than US and Japan,
    to have built a super computer
    indigenously.

India Food Kitchen

The Food of India

Rice and wheat (in bread forms) are the staple foods of India. The food of India is extremely diverse, as ingredients, spices and cooking methods all vary from region to region. Spicy food and sweets are popular in India.

Interesting facts about India

• India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.


• When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years
  ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley
  Civilization)


• The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around
  which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to
  the river Indus as the Sindhu.


• The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name `Hindustan'
  combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.


• Chess was invented in India.


• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in
  India.


• The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in
  India in 100 B.C.


• The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur,
  Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece
  of granite. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between
  1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.


• India is the largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest Country in
  the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.


• The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint
  Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat'. The ladders in the game
  represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with
  cowrie shells and dices. In time, the game underwent several modifications,
  but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and
  evil to a cycle of re-births.


• The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built
  in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above
  sea level.


• India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.


• The largest employer in the world is the Indian Railways, employing over
  a million people.


• The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More
  than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects.
  The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest
  achievements of ancient India in the field of education.


• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father
  of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.


• India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in
  the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth,
  had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by
  mistake.


• The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000
  years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word
  'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.


• Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit
  the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his
  calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484
  days.


• The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician
  Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean
  Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European
  mathematicians.


• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India. Quadratic
  Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest
  numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers
  as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as
  5000 B.C. during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is
  Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).


• Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world (Source :
  Gemological Institute of America).


• The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in
  the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan
  mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.


• Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over 2600 years ago
  Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract,
  artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and
  brain surgeries.


• Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed
  knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology,
  etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.


• India exports software to 90 countries.


• The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and
  Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.


• Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C.
  respectively.


• There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other
  country, including the Muslim world.


• The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of
  Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.


• Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C. and
  52 A.D. respectively
  


• The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu
  Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.


• The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is
  the world's largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either
  Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the
  temple everyday.


• Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for
  housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577.
  Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord
  Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited
  city in the world today.


• India provides safety for more than 300,000 refugees originally from Sri
  Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who escaped to flee
  religious and political persecution.
  


• His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan
  Buddhists, runs his government in exile from Dharmashala in northern India.
  
  Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by
  Buddhist missionaries. Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.

Vindhyan and Deccan Trap

The eastern and southern extremities of the Aravalli ranges in Rajasthan mark the beginning of two different geological formations. The Vindhyan hill system and the Deccan trap begin here. The Vindhyan system lies above the older formations and constitutes an unmetamorphosed column of calcareous, arenaceous and argillaceous sediments which cover a vast area, its varying depth peaking at a maximum thickness of 4,300 m. The Vindhyas in the state are part of the Great Vindhyan Basin, extending from Rohtas in Bihar to Chittorgarh in Rajasthan. The contact between the pre-Aravalli and Vindhya is marked y a regional fault, the great boundary fault, which masses the Aravallis against the lower Bhander quartzites of the Vindhyan group. This great boundary fault passes through the Ranthambhore national park in Sawai Madhopur.

Vindhyan sandstone is, by far, the most common rock found in the state, with the exception of the lower Bhander stage which, for the greater part, is calcareous. The sandstone is of a uniform fine grain, preserving the uniformity of texture and composition unchanged over long stretches. The Kaimur as well as Bhander sandstone is a fine textured, soft, easily workable stone with a deep red tint. It passes occasionally into softer shades in Karauli. These stones have a great market for building and other architectural purposes.

The topography is varied. Hill slopes change from very gentle to steep, ending in escarpments forming impregnable barriers. Extensive plateaus, locally called dangs, have been formed y the flat-topped hills of the Vindhyas. With its rich grasses and sparse tree growth, the dangs are a good pasture-land for herbivorous wild animals and domestic cattle. The Vindhyan forests of dhok and other species associated with it provide in excellent habitat for the tiger and its prey species.

The Deccan trap formation occurs in the state’s southern extremities of the Vindhyan an Aravalli ranges. Towards the end of the Mesozoic era, there were extensive eruptions an flows of lava in the peninsula which occlusive lava flows were separated by sedimentary beds. The thickness of the column of lava flows and sedimentary beds varied from place to place. The lava flows gave rise to the flat-topped hills and plateaus with their step-like terraces. The formation as a whole is called the Deccan trap.

Wild wonders of rajasthan

Spanning an area of about 3,42,000 sq km, located in north-west India, Rajasthan is among the largest of the country’s states and is remarkably rich in wildlife, its vast size and latitudinal variations (sea level to over 1,700 m) have provided it with varied vegetation- from the semi-evergreen forests of Mt Abu to the almost barren or dry scrub grasslands of the desert and from the dry deciduous thorn forests of the Aravalli hills to the wet marshes of Bharatpur.

The climate of the state may be described as tropical monsoon, but varies considerably from area to area, its extremes of temperature ranging from frost cold winters to scorching hot, dry summers. The average annual rainfall varies from 100-1,500 mm.

Geographically, Rajasthan can be divided into four regions, each distinctive—the desert in the north and west, the Aravalli hills in the middle, the alluvial Indo-Gangetic plains in the east, and the Vindhyan hills and the Deccan trap in the south and south-eastern parts of the state-with ecosystems that support a variety of wildlife. Till a hundred years ago the Asiatic lion, now confined to the Gir forests of Gujarat, and the cheetah, now extinct in India, were found in many parts of the state. Sightings of herds of over a thousand antelopes was not unusual. The range and number of these antelopes has declined with the increase in human population and the ploughing of marginal lands-yet, large herds can still be spotted in the state’s non-forest areas. Tigers and their prey animals, deer and wild bqar, are essentially forest animals and are, therefore, confined to the Aravalli and Vindhyan hills. Two protected regions have been included under Project Tiger. Although the tiger is an elusive animal, yet the chances of seeing one in the dry deciduous forests of Rajasthan is better than in most other tiger reserves.

The leopard, also called panther in India, an adaptable animal, is usually found in the forest areas as well as in the open, degraded forest areas with rocky outcrops adjoining towns and villages. The cunning predator finds it easy to prey on unguarded village dogs, goats, donkeys, calves and poultry.

Besides the two big cats, five lesser cats-caracal, jungle cat, fishing cat, desert cat and rusty spotted cat-inhabit the state. The caracal, found in both the forest and the desert, is a graceful feline with a sandy coloration and black tufted ears. Once trained for hunting doves, pigeons, partridges and other birds by the cheetah-trainers of Jaipur, this agile hunter has now become rate, occasionally sighted in Ranthambhore and Sariska. There have been recent reports of sightings of the rusty spotted cat for the first time in Sariska. It is possible that it is also present in other, similar areas though no such reports are available. The jungle cat is common in most protected areas as well as in the wastelands. The distribution of the desert cat is confined to the arid parts of the state, whereas the best place to spot a fishing cat is the Keoladeo Ghana national park, Bharatpur.

The Rbesus macaque and common langur are found throughout Rajasthan with the exception o the arid Thar desert. Monkeys are unharmed by people because of religious sentiments, resulting in their bold behaviour, especially near towns and villages where they snatch food and offerings from unwary pilgrims. The langur feeds on wild leaves and fruit. A wasteful feeder, it drops large quantities on the ground where it is consumed by deer and wild boar which often move with the langur. The langur sounds the alarm to announce the presence of large predators like the tiger or leopard to warn their prey.