India Traveller

Government of Rajasthan will be holding Jaipur Festival on the account of Rajasthan Day Celebrations, starting from March 24th. The week long festival will host music and dance programs, art exhibitions and heritage walks within the city and will last till March 30th.

Ajmer Fort, Jaipur

You can see the complete schedule here. Also see Rajasthan Tourism’s website on Rajasthan Day. For more details, visit Jaipur Festival website. Below is the official press release.

Rajasthan Day Celebrations - Jaipur Festival 2008
Amber Fort & Jaipur City
24 – 30 March 2008

Government of Rajasthan and the Jaipur Virasat Foundation, a non-governmental organization dedicated to heritage-based social and economic development with the support of the Department of Tourism and UNESCO, today announced the launch of India’s largest festival - Rajasthan Day Celebration Jaipur Festival 2008. The festival will be held from 24th March, 2008 to 30th March, 2008.

The one week-long Rajasthan Day Celebrations - Jaipur Festival 2008 (RDC JF 08) will showcase Rajasthani culture targeting mass participation of local audience, domestic and overseas visitors. The festival will conclude on 30th March, which is commemorated as Rajasthan Day.

This week long event both advocates and celebrates the incredible legacy of Rajasthan’s rich culture and gives a nourishing thrust to Rajasthan’s traditional heritage and folk-lore through the promotion of artistes, performers, ethnic arts and crafts, Rajasthani cuisine among others.

Speaking at the occasion Ms Usha Punia, Hon’ble Minister of State for Tourism said, “Rajasthan’s rich cultural legacy has been widely acknowledge across the globe. This year’s festival highlights and celebrates the vibrant, spirited culture and heritage of Rajasthan”

Rajasthan Day Celebration Jaipur Festival 2008 will showcase a number of events ranging from folk performances, rural sports, craft bazaar, night bazaar, Rajasthan food festival, police tattoo show, army band performance, theatre festival, evening concerts and the grand procession during the closing ceremony. One special highlight this year will be the Surya Kiran Air Display by the Indian Air Force.

Citizens of Jaipur as well as visitors to the city will get to see some of the top artistes and stars like Hema Malini, Sunidhi Chouhan, Pt. Birju Maharaj, Madhvi Mudgal, Mallika Sarabhai, Rama Kutinayal, Geeta Chandran among others. The local artistes will also be given due opportunity during the event. JVF has organized 5 nights of superb performances at Amber Fort, in addition to community events in the city. These events will include theatre from Poland, contemporary jazz from Netherlands in collaboration with folk artistes, international Kathak performance and dance theatre from Switzerland, heritage walks, amongst others.

Festival Highlights

Bhawani Shanker - The world finest Pakhawaj exponent (from Shekawati) creates a rhythm circle par excellence with percussionists from North and South India

Nahid Siddiqui – (Pakistan/UK) - One of the world’s most respected Kathak choreographer and dancer, performs her own creation at Amber Fort, a setting unsurpassed in its grandeur

Sirocco Music - Australia’s flagship folk music group plays an array of indigenous and world music rhythms, including foot tapping dance numbers and experimental pieces with our folk musicians

Kavi Sammelan - An evening of poetry to bring out the festivity and colors of holi with a little dose of laughter. Poets from Rajasthan and elsewhere perform, in Rajasthani and Hindi

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar – creates a popular mood with ‘Rang’, a brilliant Dhrupad recital.

Gali baazi – Gali-baazi, where verbal repartee and wit flash in local slang for those hanging around street corners and paan shops – a street corner performance tradition unique to Jaipur.

Inside OUT, Outside IN – specially commissioned contemporary art exhibition on Jaipur/ Rajasthan

Chowkdi Modikhana Heritage Walk – A walk through the old city; the best possible way to observe our rich heritage and take a closer look at the city’s architecture, its art and its culture and traditions.

Autorickshwa rallies that started a couple of years back are now getting popular. The next Indian Autorickshaw Challenge is starting on 3rd August 2008 and is going to last for two weeks. Rally begins in Chennai and passes through parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra to reach Mumbai on the 13th day for independence day celebrations.

If you intend to participate, it is time to start planning. Registration is open for a while now and the entry fee is 1,600 euros for a team of two. See registration form and the route. Keep in mind that it is the time of monsoons and would be pouring heavily through most of your journey.

FICCI(Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), Ministry of Tourism and Government of Rajasthan are coming together to organize an event called ‘The Great Indian Travel Bazaar 08′. It is an event showcase tourism products, and a meeting place for buyers and sellers. The news items says

Around 100 foreign tour operators and travel writers from 30 countries are expected to participate in the event. Over 500 key tourism product sellers from Rajasthan and the rest of the country would showcase their products in the event. Structured interactive sessions spread over three days for brainstorming opportunities and potential of Indian tourism with national and international experts will also be part of the event. Travel trade associations like Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Hotel and Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR) and Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) are also supporting the event.

Read the complete story here.

Tourism has never been very good to environment. Each time we take a flight or use any mode of transport, stay in a luxury hotel or wander in the wilderness, we do a bit of damage to the environment. But responsible travel and reducing the footprint is an idea that is fast catching up.

An international meet on ‘responsible tourism’ will be held in India for the first time at Kochi, starting from Friday. According the news:

The meet will discuss wide-ranging topics like local economic development and poverty reduction, taking responsibility for destination sustainability, travel philanthropy and the role of government - national and local.

See the full story here.

Forbes makes a list of 25 dirtiest cities in the world. Not surprisingly, there are some names from India, but what is more surprising is that some likely names have been left out. I doubt if they have really managed to cover all the large cities in the country and at least a few tier II cities. The entries from India:

1. Mumbai at number 7
2. New Delhi at number 24

See the full story.

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YHAI’s well known organized trek to Sar Pass will begin on May 1st of this year and go on till end of May, with a new batch departing everyday. The bookings are open, and the first few weeks are already completely sold. For more details on the trek, see YHAI webpage on Sar Pass Trek. Bookings can be made online from YHAI website. Click here to book online, and click here to see all the programs that are scheduled in the Himalayas during the summer of 2008. There are a total of seven programs, and most of them start in the last week of April.

Palace on wheels, the luxury tourist train to travel in Rajasthan is well known and also seems to be popular. There is a lesser known but expensive and luxurious way to travel in Rajasthan. Palace of Wings is a package tour that takes you around Rajasthan, but this one is on Helicopters.

City Palace, Jaipur

Palace on Wings offers seven day package trips to popular destinations in Rajasthan, starting from Delhi. I was curious to know, but their website doesn’t list the prices of the package. I would not dare to call them and ask, it might give me a heart attack!

I was browsing some travel sites, and found a catchy line that said ‘Skiing in Kashmir(4 nights/5 days) - Rs.14,320 on arzoo.com. I was curious and decided to take a look. Not that I was interested in the package, but I am keen to get every possible information on Gulmarg. I click on the link, and instead of taking me directly to the page which describes the package, I am lead to an intermediate page which has many deals and this one among them. So another click and I am finally at the page describing the package. I read the details and am baffled.

What would be your interpretation of the line ‘Skiing in Kashmir(4 nights/5 days)? Naturally it means you would ski for 4 days, but it could be 3 or 5 days depending on how the package is arranged. But this is what the package deal said:

Day 01: Arrive at Srinagar Arrive at Srinagar. On arrival at Srinagar, you will be met by our local representative who will assist you to board your vehicle to Gulmarg. Check-in to the hotel. Evening is free for your leisure. Dinner and overnight stay at hotel.

Day 2 - Gulmarg After breakfast, you relax at hotel or explore town (at your own cost). Lunch at hotel. Dinner and overnight stay at hotel.

Day 3 - Gulmarg After breakfast, set for skiing. Lunch at hotel. Dinner and overnight stay at hotel.

Day 04: Gulmarg - Srinagar After breakfast, check-out of the hotel and drive back to Srinagar. Afternoon have a relaxing Shikara ride on Dal Lake. Dinner and overnight stay at houseboat.

Day 05: Depart Srinagar After breakfast, check-out of the houseboat and transfer to Srinagar airport to board the flight back to your home / onward journey.

What do you have to say about this? The package talks about 4 day/5 night ski, and when you look at the details, you are given a few hours of skiing! It only re-inforces my idea that travel agents and package tours are never really for a serious, indulging traveller, may be with some rare exceptions.

See above is the screen capture of the clipping that appeared on arzoo.com’s homepage. And here is the details of the package, which may change or may not remain after the package expires.

It would be nice to be able to visit all the Unesco World Heritage sites in India. But there are many, and India is a big country, so it is not going to be an easy job. But I am definitely on it, and would do it even if might take a decade or two. So far I have made it to 8 of the total 27 sites. Here is the list, with trip reports on most of them. Qutb Minar and Pattadakal are the latest, both visited in this year.

* Agra Fort
* Taj Mahal
* Mahabalipuram
* Kaziranga National Park
* Churches of Goa
* Hampi
* Pattadakal
* Qutb Minar

A section of UNESCO World Heritage Site at Pattadakal, Karnataka

I have been so close to a few more and yet haven’t visited them. That includes the Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. And of the two mountain railways that are listed together, I have made it to one. I intend to up my list from 8 to 9 very quickly, if I make it to Tanjore next week as planned.

Madhya Pradesh’s Pench Tiger Reserve received ‘Best maintained tourist-friendly national park award’ from the union ministry of tourism. Pench received nearly 50,000 tourists in 2006-07. See more details.

Links on Pench Tiger Reserve:

* Project Tiger Website on Pench
* Madhya Pradesh tourism website on Pench
* Travelogue and Images
* A Picture of tigers at Pench
* Accommodation: Taj Baghvan, Jungle Camp, Mowgli’s Den, Kipling’s Court(MP Tourism). Kipling Court has some dorm rooms, which is available in budget prices.
* Travelogue and useful info.