Thiruvananthapuram – The city of Lord Padmanabha

Article by Ms. Uma Sridharan

Thiruvananthapuram, a tradition dating back to 1000BC, means "City of Lord Anantha" (the serpent on which Lord Padmanabha/Vishnu reclines) in Sanskrit and Malayalam.  Thiruvananthapuram is the Largest City in Kerala. The city is the state capital.

This city is full of famous educational institutions  including the University of Kerala,  Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Technopark, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) and the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER).

Places of interest in Thiruvananthapuram
Sri Anandhapadmanabha Swamy Temple: Located near East Fort, is one of the 108 sacred Vishnu Temples in India. The temple corridors are lined with 368 sculpted stone pillars.

Museum: Built by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Balarama Varma. The museum displays priceless collections of royal family.

Napier Museum:  built in 19th century houses a collection of historic artifacts, bronze idols and ivory carvings.

Sri Chitra Art Gallery: in this art gallery, paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, artworks of Rajput, Mughal, Tanjore and paintings from China, Japan, Tibet and Bali

Shagumugam Beach: 8 kms away from the city. Famous for its sunset watch. This beach is near Thiruvananthapuram airport.

Veli Tourist village: This is the place where Veli Lake enters Arabian Sea. This is a picnic spot that offers boating facility.

Kovalam Beach: 16 kms from the city, this beach is internationally known holiday destination.

Ponmudi: 61 kms from Thiruvananthapuram, a hill resort with winding pathways, cool and green.  Located at 915 meters above sea level, this hill station is famous for trekking.

How to reach: Air: Thiruvananthapuram International Airport has connections to Colombo, Maldives and the Middle East. Domestic flights  connect all over the country from here.
Rail: Direct trains from all the major cities to Thiruvananthapuram

Tanjore or Thanjavur - Rice Bowl of South India

<sup>Article by Ms. Uma Sridharan

Thanjavur is known as the Rice Bowl of Tamil Nadu. It was the capital of Cholas. With rich cultural heraitage, Thanjavur is full of temples most important is the Big Temple or Periya Kovil in tamil. The deity is Sri Brahadeeswar. This temple was built by Raja Raja Chola, in the year A.D 1010. The height of the temple tower or vimanam is 216 ft height.

The huge Nandhi statue at he entrance of the temple is carved out of single stone.
Manora: This eight storied tower known as 'tholla kaadhu mandapam' locally was built by Maratha King Serforji in the 1814. 

SARASWATHI MAHAL LIBRARY: Sarasvati Mahal Library is one of the few medieval Libraries that exist in the world.The Encyclopaedia Brittanica  mention this as "the most remarkable library in India. "  Started as a Royal Palace Library during the Nayak Kingdom over Thanjavar (1535-1673 A. D.). later developed by Marata Kings. There are nearly 47,000 manuscripts in palm leaves. A small museum is situated in the library to y displaying various rare artifacts.Rare manuscripts, books, beautifully decorated Thanjavur style of paintings in paper, wood, glass and canvass, illustrated manuscripts like Gaja Sastra, Asva Sastra, Mythological paintings, Botonical specimen paintings, Military costumes, Ramˆyana in miniature paintings, Rare maps, sketches and prints are displayed in this museum.</sup>

^{Thanjavur Maratha palace: originally constructed by the Nayaks, later it became the residence of Maratha Kings.}

^{Bangaru Kamakshi: Bangaru Kamakshi Temple is one of the popular religious sites in Thanjavur.The idol of Bangaru Kamakshi is made of pure gold. Bangaru means god in Telugu}

Shopping in Ajmer

Every one love shopping and shopping in the different tourist places of India is a definite pleasure. One can purchase local crafts, gold and silver jewels, handloom with block prints, brass artefacts and utensils, bangles, woodden items, hand embroidered cloth bags, bandhini textiles, hand embroidered shoes are different items that one can shop in Ajmer. Apart from this Ajmer is most famous for perfumes also.

One can get all the above items in Ajmer in the areas like Purani Mandi, Naya Bazaar and Kaisarganj. One can get trinkets and other local items in the fairs and during the Urs melas. There are Government emporiums and sovenier shops too which are highly reliable to buy gifts and handicrafts.

How to reach Matheran

Matheran, a unique hill station by itself is truly spectacular to view in monsoon.
One have to pay an entry fee of Rs. 25/adult and Rs. 10/kid. The proceeds are mainly used to keep the eco system intact.

How to reach Matheran? 
     By Train:     
         One can reach the Neral station from Mumbai. From Neral one can take the toy train up the hills to reach Matheran. (One can ascertain whether the train is running or not only from the Neral station).

     By Road:     
         One need to reach Dasturi Point which is the last point to which one can go in vehicles. One can hire a cab from Neral. The drivers are highly skilled and equipped so those who are travelling in those cabs need just to sit back and relax and enjoy the scenes all around. Once Dasturi point is reached, one can proceed further up to Matheran either by foot or by horse back. This takes about 40 mins.

         There is also a mini bus service from Karjat or Neral railway stations upto Dsturi. One can walk along the rail route which will take about 20 minutes to half an hour. There are lots of walking trails used by the local people and a few trekking routes used by the trekkers. Starting to walk early in the morning gives a pleasant time.

Inside Matheran, one can either use the hand drawn rickshaws, or the horses or walk on foot all around to view the different view points and tourist spots. 

View points in Matheran

There are different places to visit in Matheran. 28 view points which give exciting view around the valley, 2 lakes, 2 parks and places of worship. All these places can be visited on a horseback in one day. But if one wants to get the better view and best scenic experience, one have to visit all these places only by foot as one will not get time to spend in the different points. There are different walking paths too one can take.
The different points to see in Matheran are:

Alexander Pt.Rambag Pt
Little Chowk Pt
Chowk PtOne Tree Hill Pt
Belvedere Pt
Olympia Race Course
Lords Pt
Charlotte Lake
Cecil Pt (Actually a water fall mouth)
Echo Pt.
Porcupine Pt (Sun Set Pt)
Panorama Point (Sun Rise Pt)
Khandala Pt
Madhavji Garden & Point
Matheran Railway Station
Louisa Point
Mayor Pt

Matheran a scenic hill station in Maharashtra at a distance of 108 kms from Mumbai is an eco friendly place with no vehicle allowed making the whole place pollution free. The place is discovered by British and converted into summer retreat. Located quite close to the Industrial Capital of India - Mumbai, surprising enough this place being at a height of 800m above the sea level is one of the best trekking destinations too. Matheran is declared eco-sensitive region declared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India.

Matheran means Forest on the head. Ma tha ren in Marathi. Being a no vehicle zone, this hill station itself is a Health Sanitorium and is a great week end retreat for people in Mumbai and Pune. With lots of medicinal and herbal plants all around, one can breathe a special air while they are in Matheran. Within Matharen horses and hand pulled rickshaws are the only mode of transportation. One can drive up to Dasturi Point and from there can reach matharen either by walk or by Pony. Apart from the road route, there is one narrow gauge rail route connecting Matheran and Neral.

There are a lot of view points in Matheran and enroute and on clear nights the lights of Mumbai are visible. Matheran is famous for its dense forest and honey is gathered from the forest bees. One can see a lot of monkeys also in this area. Though one can visit and see the entire area in just a day, to enjoy the scenic beauty and get the fullest benefit of the nature and surroundings one can stay for more than 2 days. The Charlotte lake is the main source of water to Matheran. Best time to visit is during the monsoon season.






View points in Matheran
How to reach Matheran
Matheran Toy Train

Ranthambore National Park - Rajasthan

Ranthambore, the destination of wild life sanctuaries of India is famous for its different kind of birds and animals. It is also regarded as one of the tiger reserves of India. Watching tigvers in their natural habitat is the major tourist attraction of this place.

    Ranthambore National park is in the proximity of Sawai Madhopur village and to be more precise the village is the gate way of Ranthambore which is just 15 kms away. The National park is in the southeastern Rajasthan. Ranthambore was once the famous hunting grounds of the Rajas and Maharajas of Jaipur.

    Ranthambore national park is spread over 1334 sq dm and is along with the Mansingh Sanctuary and Kaila Devi Sanctuary. The National Park can also be considered as historical and heritage tourist site due to the ruins one can see all over the park. 

Best time to visit Ranthambore National Park: 
           The National park is open to visitors from 1st October to 30th June. The remaining time the park remains closed.

What to wear while visiting Ranthambore National Park?   
           As the National Park is in Rajasthan, which is the part of Thar Desert, the summers are extremely hot and winters are extremely cold. So one should be highly careful in selecting the cloth. The clothes during summer have to be very light and during winther thick enough to save from the chill breeze. Better carry a pair of loves and a muffler.

How to reach Ranthambore National Park? 
           The nearby Airports are at Jaipur and at Kota.      
           The nearby Railway stations are Delhi, Agra, Kota and Jaipur.
           Ranthambore National Park can be reached via road from Delhi via Dausa and from Jaipur via Tonk

Forts of India

For a very long time, India had been ruled by so many kings and emperors. There wer dynasties and the kings lived in styles. To safeguard their palaces and their people, the kings build huge forts. Many forts are seen in Rajasthan as there were Rajputna kings and these forts are symbols of their grandeur living. The forts depict their architecture and the colours of the past. Most of the Indian forts are mainly castles and fortressess. But it was British people during their rule gave the common name fort to all of them. Though many of the ancient forts have become old and have become mere rampages, still there are some forts that are strong enough and stand as icons of past.

The 16th century saw a lot of fort constructions due to the muslim invasion. The forts that were built during this period were built to withstand the gun powder attack. The gates of the forts were decorated intricately and artisticly, (Lintel design for Hindu or Rajput forts or the arch design for Mughal forts. Most forts have sharp iron spikes to stop the gates being broken by the elephants.

The British too built forts in India. The famous forts built by British are the Fort William in Kolkataand Fort St. George in Chennai.

Two of the Indian forts - The Redfort and Agra Fort have been named the Unesco World Heritage sites.

Ooty - The Queen of Hills

The Queen of hills is always a place of tourism interest for many

especially for people of Tamilnadu during the summer. The Ooty - capital of Nilgiris district is 105 kms away from Coimbatore. It is at an altitude of 2240 mtrs above the sea level. Nilgiris - is known as Blue Mountains and this place have lots of picnic places to visit. It is a scenic beauty to see the tea plantations lined up on the slopes along with houses built in the slopes.

One have to go through lots of almost 14 hair pin bends, from Kallar to Coonor in the ghat road. To reach this place, one have to reach Coimbatore either through train or through plane and from there travel either through the ghat road or take the toy train that chugs through the hills.

There are lots of tourist places to be seen in Ooty

Botanical Garden which covers a vast area of over 55 acres. The entire area is green with well maintained lawns and have many rare species of trees too. The garden is maintained by the Horticulture Department of Tamilnadu. Every Summer especially during the month of May, the Summer Festivals are held and the plants and trees and the beautiful roses are great attractions to the tourists.

Ooty Lake
The Ooty lake stretches from the Main Bus stand to about 2 kms. Tourists enjoy going on boat rides in this lake. The boat house is located on the far end and the tourists can rent out any kind of boat.

During summer boat race takes place. A small area near the boat house is converted into children's park with a toy train and it have become a great hit. The deer park which is just near the children's park is also a major attraction. Ponies are also found outside the boat house to go on for a ride.

This Ooty lake is not a natural lake but an artificial one which was formed in the year 1823 to dam the mountain stream water during the rainy season.

Dhoddabetta
The tallest peak in the Nilgiri hills hae always been a great attraction to tourists. The natural beauty in the surrounding is unbeleivable and stunning.There is a telescope house from which people see all around the hills. Tourists never forget to take a snap of themselves in this area.

Government Museum
This museum hosts a lots of tribal objects.

Pykara Falls
On the road from Ooty to Banglore, the Pykara falls is situated. This is quite close to Mudumalai also. There is a dam built on the river and the falls have formed a lake where it falls from the mountain. There is a forest rest house and the dam is protected with fence. Just near the dam is the Toda settlements, and wild life habitats. There is a boat house and it also have an restaurant attached to it.

Trekking is a major sports attraction in Ooty. From the base cap at Parsons Valley, one can start their trekking.

Ooty is a shopping paradise too. One can get almost anything in Ooty. Fresh vegetables are available all through the year. The Tibet market is also a famous place in Ooty for a great shopping experience. One should definitely have the art of bargaining to shop in this market.

Shopping never ends without getting the different flavours of Tea and the Eucalyptus Oil.

Kasi or Varanasi - The holy town of India

History Varanasi or Kasi is a major pilgrimage destination in India. Hindus make it a point to visit Kasi atleast once in their life time. It is a very ancient city of India and is the cultural capital of India. Every day lots of people visit this city to experience the holiness of this place and also for self realization. Just being there itself is a great experience. Varanasi is also known as Kasi and for a long time, it had been the city of learning.  Climate The climate of Varanasi is quite favourable all over the year as this city is situated on the banks of the river Ganges. There are lots of places to visit in Kasi and one can use Taxis or Autos or Cycle Rickshaws to get around the city.  Temples in Varanasi           Kashi Vishwanath Temple        Durga Temple        Tulsi Manas Temple        Sankat Mochan Temple        Bharat Mata Mandir Varanasi and Ganga      Taking a dip in the Ganges is considered very holy. And that too a dip in Kasi is very precious there are lots of Ghats in Kasi and those visiting Kasi definitely go to these ghats to take a dip in them.  Things to shop in Varanasi       There are lots of things to shop in Varanasi. Varanasi is famous for it Banaras silk sarees and also Banarasi sarees which are made of silk mixed with crepe, georgette and or cotton and chiffon. Many of the sarees and dress materials available in this city are beautifully decorated with zari and stone work along with rich and intricate embriodry work. One can shop for designer wear glass bangles, brass and copper gift items. Benarasi carpets is also famous for it carpets and also Paan.  How to reach Varanasi It is very easy to reach Varanasi from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta, Bhubaneswar,Lucknow, Jaipur, Khajuraho and Katmandu (Nepal) by flights. The Varanasi airport is at Babatpur which is 22 kms away from the main city.  Varanasi can also be reached by train. There are trains from Mumbai, Kolkatta, Chennai, Lucknow, Allahabad, Patna, Jaipur, Gorakhpur and Khajuraho. The city is connected with Delhi by a superfast train also.  Varanasi is connected to all major towns of Uttar Pradesh by road

Chittorgarh - The Tourist Town of Rajasthan

The town of Chittorgarh in Southern Rajasthan is known for is bravery and glorious past. The Chittorgarh fort is the major attraction in this town. The history of this city is traced back to Mahabaratha and that connection can be understood by the BhimLat reservoir which was created by Bhim himself by stamping his feet on the ground. This city was the capital city of Mewar rulers till it was shifted to Udaipur in the year 1568.

To capture the fort, so many fierce battles were fought. The first one was the battle by Allaudin Khilji to capture Rani Padmini. The other famous historical personalities of Chittorgarh are Meera Bai and Maharana Pratap.

There are so many places to visit in and around Chittorgarh
Chittorgarh Fort
Nagri
Barolo
Bassi Wildlife Sanctuary
Sanwariyaji Temple
Matri Kundiya Temple
Bhainsorgarh Wildlife Sanctuary
Sitamata Sanctuary
Deogarh
Menal
Gotmeshwar
Jogniya MataJi
Bijapur