India Hotels

India , a Country as old as human civilization. A Country that is a blend of the modern and ancient, from intricate temples and beautiful palaces, beaches and magnificent forts to ultra modern scientific, educational and industrial facilities. The international investors treasure trove to a tourists dream vacation. A vacation you will never forget. Lose yourself in the wonder that is India . Meander through lands steeped in chivalry and pageantry that begin before recorded history.

  Explore modern cities that have grown organically from the roots of a multi-hued past. Festivals Frolic on a vast array of golden beaches that dot an enviable coastline, washed by two seas and an ocean. Let the jungle lure you to a fascinating world at a diverse array of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks... Explore India and see its exotic, pristine and unspoilt natural beauty and a colorful vibrant land of cheerful people, where dreams come to reality. From Kashmir, in the north to Kanyakumari, in the south from the Himalayan Ranges to the deserts of Rajasthan and the beaches of Goa , traverse, discover and experience the vast expanse of diversity in language, culture and food habits of this ancient land.

 People who participate at our program will arrive in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, on the morning flight from Delhi . They will spend their first night at the Maharaj of Jaisalmer's Mandir Palace , a hotel richly decorated with exquisite carvings. The city of Jaisalmer has always been the highlight of our tour because it is full of havelis (villas) and opulent palaces. You will also find some of the most colourful people of India here, and the camel safaris are the best in the whole of Rajasthan.

 Half an hour from the city is a small recently renovated medieval fort belonging to the same Maharaj of Jaisalmer, Hukam Singhji, the last of his lineage and a true lover of meditation. Living here we will enjoy the simple comforts while tasting life as it was lived in ancient times. The fort's picturesque battlements are walled in on all four sides and create a small and intimate structure, large enough to accommodate 30 people. It is built from the typical sand-colored stone of the region and encloses a decorative courtyard surrounded by a colonnaded walkway - an ideally secluded location for intimate courses and private workshops.

  There is no electricity or running water so we will get our light from torches mounted on the walls and hot baths scooped from giant bowls heated by fire. Batteries powered by Solar panels provide the electricity for the sound equipment.

  We will erect a bedouin tent in the courtyard to provide extra shade. There will be Arabian-style seating arrangements on cushions for our meals. Provision will be made for fresh hygienically prepared vegetarian food.

  From the fort we will venture out into the desert on camels and take cultural trips to Jaisalmer. At dinnertime we can enjoy dancers accompanied by live music, listen to poetic readings from old Sufi stories, or take the opportunity to make our own song and music events in a celebrative atmosphere. A fresh breeze blows across the fort all year round, and from the turrets - where it is also nice to sleep - we have a panoramic view over the desert.

  The Fort has been a significant location for the shooting of eight different movies, including a British Frog Production called The Warrior. The Maharaj has offered us the exclusive use of the entire fort, for any period of the year.

India is a country that is rich in culture. The individuality of the country is evident in its people, buildings and cuisine. As you walk through the streets, you will be tantalized by the aromas of fresh food cooking from the stalls and be enticed to buy beautiful jewellery and clothing that has been hand made. The people are friendly and want to impress you with everything they know. Come visit the temples and forts to see the passion of the people.

The Independence Day: its significance and feelings attached to the day

Sprucing up at the border post at WagahEven a great visionary, like Nehru could not have had the slightest idea of what lay in store for India, as he hoisted the tri-colour amidst mixed feelings of pride of independence and pain of partition.

India welcomed the dawn of independence, on 15th August 1947, with a formal swearing in ceremony of the Government, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, then called the Viceregal Lodge. The tri-colour was proudly hoisted by the Prime Minister, at the Council House, with a 31 gun salute, symbolising the birth of an independent Republic. The first Public Flag Salutation Ceremony was held at the War Memorial at the India Gate, New Delhi.

As the first Indian Flag went up the flag mast, there was a sudden shower, as if the rain gods were also showering the blessings. The flag was later hoisted at the Red Fort, from where the Prime Minister addressed the nation and fondly mentioned Netaji's dream of seeing the tri-colour flying atop the Red Fort.

The eyes of millions of Indians were filled with tears of happiness and pride, as they were rapt in attention to the first Prime Minister of Free India. As one witness fondly remembers: "No Indian must have slept that night; thousands thronged the roads that led to the Red Fort; those who couldn't, were glued to their radios for the minute-to-minute relay of the proceedings."

For the thousands who sacrificed families, love, education, and even their lives for the great cause; freedom of their nation. Independence meant much more than liberation from foreign rule - it meant the realisation of a dream, victory of truth and hope, reign of peace and harmony and the dawn of a new tomorrow.

More than half a century later, one can not help but wonder what significance this day holds for modern Indians. For some of us it means a lazy holiday, with a barrage of patriotic songs, playing in some friendly neighbourhood slum shaking you rudely out of deep slumber. Switch on the TV sets and you are greeted with the live telecast of the Flag Hoisting Ceremony at the Red Fort or the PM's address oozing with optimism and promises of a bright future. Some minutes of watching, and resume the usual channel- surfing. Whom do we blame for this general apathy and indifference? And why should anyone be blamed?

We, the People of India, are today free people, backed by a constitution, which empowers us with fundamental rights to freedom and individual liberty. However, we choose to ignore our fundamental duties. Independence, freedom, and liberty- the reasons for the nation's existence and identity, today sound like political gibberish to us. We curse the system, the government, the politicians, and all of them, very rightly so, but always forget that it is we that are part of these, and in effect, we create them.

It is also most of who don't pay taxes, encourage bribery and accept dowry. We complain of misrepresentation, but most of us don't bother to vote. More painful is the fact that it is in this secular nation, that families are burnt to death by fanatic mobs, where couples are killed mercilessly, ostensibly as a punishment for marrying into some other caste or religion, where girl children are abused, or denied birth. It is in this nation that gruesome, inhuman deeds are done in the name of protection of religion and national identity and to some extent, it is we who let it all happen.

This Independence Day, let all of us recount of the school days, when the day held the aura as a child to all of us. The kind of innocent excitement we kids used to feel, just in practising the group songs, preparing tableaux, skits and waiting for the flag to be hoisted. Our innocent minds knew no hatred, no discrimination and for us, Independence Day was more than just a celebration; they were the celebration of true spirits of innocent love and coexistence our our little hearts held.

Since this is the monsoon season, many times it happens that the flag is hoisted amidst showers. As the National Anthem is sung in unison, it starts pouring down, and as if the rains gods are also saluting the Indian flag. There's the most beautiful rainbow shining above the flag! Maybe even the heavens are too celebrating the Independence Day, in the true sense. because only then we could celebrate the true spirit of Indianness - of love of peace, tolerance and humanness.

This Independence Day, let us take a pledge that we shall strive for peace, prosperity and communal harmony.