Читать книгу Exciting India - Bikram Grewal - Страница 6

namaste!

welcome to

majestic india!

A traditional South Indian girl holding a thali (plate) of diyas (lamps) - the traditional Indian form of welcome.

India is one of the most richly rewarding regions of the world to visit. Her scenery is varied and exciting, her history and culture are lived experiences, and the openness and friendliness of her people are legendary.

dERIVING HER NAME from the river Indus, India is a country of subcontinental dimensions. The home of one of the earliest civilizations on earth and several of the world's great religions, India's historical and cultural heritage dates back several centuries. She has changed and reshaped herself through the ages, forever producing new forms of cultures and absorbing new influences. India is, besides, a country of amazing contrasts and diversity, with a physical environment that ranges from thickly populated plains, awe-inspiring mountains and palm-fringed golden beaches, to dense rainforests. India boasts a wonderful mix of tradition and modernity that finds its best expression in the distinctive lifestyles of the people who live across this vast land. The people of India are also her greatest wealth, borne out by the fact that India is the world's largest secular democracy, and home to over 1,000 million people.

The majestic Sivasamudram Falls in Karnataka-a telling reminder of nature's bounty.

Terraced cultivation in the lower reaches of the Himalayas. Dancers rehearsing at Kalakshetra, an academy of classical dance in Chennai. A view of the desert city of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan-the ramparts of Jaisalmer fort can be seen in the background. A streetside shopkeeper displays his wares-bales of colourful wool.

mARK TWAIN'S DESCRIPTION more than a century ago—"the land of dreams and contrasts, of palaces and hovels... of giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, of cobras and the jungle, the country of a hundred nations, of a thousand religions and a million gods,"—encapsulates the wondrous variety and bewildering contradictions that are still true of India today. Bustling cities alongside dusty villages where elders sit in council under the shade of the banyan, slums that hover at the fringes of high-rises, camels and cows and wild-haired sadhus—these are but some of the elements that make India a fascinating travel destination.

Men sitting around campfires at India's largest cattle fair, in Pushkar, Rajasthan.

A sadhu in ashes meditating at the banks of the Ganges at Benares.

A solitary boatman on the Ganges.