Eternal India Encyclopedia

ETERNAL

INDIA

encyclopedia

A GREAT DESTINATION

WHY INDIA AS A TOURIST DESTINATION

India has always been a favourite resort of travellers, scholars

and special envoys — people like Hiuen Tsang, Ibn-Batuta and

Thomas Roe. They were attracted to India for their own individual

reasons or because of their special assignments and we are grate-

ful to them that they came, considering the very valuable record that

they have left — detailed reminiscences and their often quaint im-

pressions and comments.

However, India has never solicited tourists in the modern

sense of the word. Not for India the kind of tourism culture which

has been built up in certain countries of Asia — which have un-

selfconsciously become destinations for that kind of tourism for

no other reason than the fact that it brings in plenty of dollars.

India has of course always been the dreamed-of destination for

Indophiles — people who are fascinated by India’s ancient lore and

culture, its great philosophical, architectural and artistic heritage.

For philosophers the world over, a journey to India has always

meant a pilgrimage to the land of the Vedas and Upanishads.

The point I am trying to make is that India has no ‘flesh-pots’ to

offer like some of the Asian countries, and no ‘sunning on beaches’,

which attracts millions of tourists to Spain, Southern Italy and the

French Riviera. This is not to say that there are no great beaches in

India and no beach tourism. You have Kovalam in Kerala and

Aguada in Goa and you have Sultanpur-on-Sea in Orissa. These

are all great beaches by any standard and they attract a large

number of tourists who have otherwise come to India and who are

most agreeably surprised to find that such beaches exist in India.

But these are not the blandishments offered in India’s tourism-

promotion literature for would-be ‘foreign arrivals’ from Europe,

America and elsewhere. This is because India has rich fare for all

varieties of tourists — for the humblest, shoe string-budget tour-

ist, for the discerning and appreciative Indophile, for the'most de-

manding and sophisticated, high flying world-traveller, for the

Robert Morley-like gourmet and, last but not least, for the familiar

tourist prototype who has come to India only to see the Taj but who

stays on, or goes back, because no one had told him that there was

more to India than the Taj and the Maharaja cliche and the shriv-

elled beggars with a bowl.

Talking of cliches and the Taj brings me to the ‘Golden Triangle’

which most of our tourism promoters offer to the would-be tourists.

The Taj, of course, is a great destination and I have heard from for-

eigners again and again that the ‘dream in marble’ by far surpasses

anything that they had imagined. I have myself found the Taj more

beautiful each time I have gone there — and I must have gone there

at least 30 times. And then there is the fascinating ghost-city of

Fatehpur Sikri which gives you much more insight into the flower-

ing of Indo-Saracenic culture in the 16th century in India than

twenty tomes can. Jaipur and Delhi, the other two parts of the ‘Tri-

angle’, are, again, great destinations with all the history and heri-

tage and the rich tapestry of present-day culture which they have to

offer. But then I have never felt happy about India being sold to

tourists almost entirely as the ‘Golden Triangle’. And I have felt

uncomfortable and concerned when I see tourists visiting the

‘Golden Triangle’ during the scorching months of May and June,

and the maddeningly humid months of July and August. Foreign

tourists must choose the winter months to visit these great desti-

nations in Northern India. November to February is the ‘cham-

pagne-weather’ to visit Northern India. During the sizzling and

humid months, the destinations to visit are mostly in Southern

India.

Before speaking of Southern India, let me dwell on a few highly

worthwhile destinations and tourist trips in Northern India. For the

‘well-heeled’ tourists visiting India in the highly agreeable winter

months (October to March), there is nothing to beat the ‘Palace on

Wheels’ trip which begins and ends at Delhi after a round trip

through Rajasthan and the Taj-State of Uttar Pradesh. Having

enjoyed this memorable trip myself, I would commend it to tourists

across the world as one which promises, and delivers, perhaps the

greatest value for money. Whatever you have been told about the

train, the food and the hospitality is true — in fact it falls short of

the experience. Then there is a train trip to Jhansi, from where you

travel by road to Khajuraho. A visit to Bombay must include a quick

trip to the nearby Elephanta caves and a longer trip to the famous

Ajanta and Ellora caves.

Coming to Southern India, Karnataka offers the most agreeable

climate during the summer months. The itinerary suggested for a

southern ‘Palace on Wheels’ project begins from Bangalore with an

overnight halt each at Mysore and Bandipur, whereafter you go to

Hassan for sight-seeing at the nearby Halebid and Belur temples.

From Hassan, you go to Hospet for a couple of night halts, with a

day-time trip to Badami thrown in. Thereafter, you can go over to

Bijapur and then fly to Bombay from Belgaum, or go by train to Goa.

This would make a really rich 7-to-8 days package, giving you an

opportunity to look at some of the greatest temple carvings in world

heritage (Somnathpur, Halebid and Belur), the Hampi ruins near

Hospet, which are among the most remarkable and well-preserved

ruins of ancient civilisations in the world heritage — and the

remarkable temples group at Badami, Pattadakal and Aihole,

where you can see the transition between cave temple and the

structural temple. In Pattadakal, particularly, you can see in one

place almost all the styles of temple-architecture in India.

The other remarkable destinations in Southern India — not to

be missed, in spite of the somewhat muggy weather in Madras —

are Madras and Mahabalipuram, with a: trip thrown in to Madurai

and back. This makes a rich package through a countryside which

boasts of a great heritage of stone-carving art and temple architec-

ture, not to speak of the highly rated beach, at Mahabalipuram. A

visit to Kerala during the ‘Onam’ festival in July can be a memo-

rable experience — with all the excitement and spectacle of the

boat races, the elaborately organised dance events and the parades

of richly-caparisoned elephants.

I have mentioned the Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary while speak-

ing

the

Bangalore-Hospet

round-trip.

Sanctuaries

Kaziranga (Assam), Corbett National Park (U.P) and Bandipur/

Nagarahole in Karnataka, offer the most agreeable way of viewing

wildlife in its natural, unself-conscious and painstakingly pre-

served habitat. Here again, India is not for those who would like a