We have put together some ideas on what to experience either before you leave or while you visit this beautiful and enchanting country. From literature to cuisine, accommodations to historical attractions, or simply souvenirs, you will find it here. Simply click on a link below to read more about the topic.
Arundhati Roy
Her first novel, The God of Small Things, which won the Booker Prize for the year 1997 become an international literary sensation and a bestseller as soon as it came out.. Roy, was paid a total of 500,000 pounds in advances by 18 publishers worldwide thereby creating history in the publishing field. Brought up in Kerala, Roy, trained as an architect in New Delhi, where she still lives with her film-maker husband, Pradeep Kishen. She wrote screenplays for television and films, her most successful feature film being Electric Moon, before locking herself away to write The God of Small Things. Drawn from experiences in Roy's life, it tells the tragic story of a Syrian Christian family from Aymenem, in Kerala, riven by internal jealousies and divided by social prejudices. Its unique structure and lyrical prose makes for an brilliant debut.
Her first novel, The God of Small Things, which won the Booker Prize for the year 1997 become an international literary sensation and a bestseller as soon as it came out.. Roy, was paid a total of 500,000 pounds in advances by 18 publishers worldwide thereby creating history in the publishing field. Brought up in Kerala, Roy, trained as an architect in New Delhi, where she still lives with her film-maker husband, Pradeep Kishen. She wrote screenplays for television and films, her most successful feature film being Electric Moon, before locking herself away to write The God of Small Things. Drawn from experiences in Roy's life, it tells the tragic story of a Syrian Christian family from Aymenem, in Kerala, riven by internal jealousies and divided by social prejudices. Its unique structure and lyrical prose makes for an brilliant debut.
A popular attire of women in India is the salwar-kameez. This dress evolved as a comfortable and respectable garment for women in Kashmir and Punjab, but is now immensely popular in all regions of India. Salwars are pyjama-like trousers drawn tightly in at the waist and the ankles. Over the salwars, women wear a long and loose tunic known as a kameez. One might occasionally come across women wearing a churidar instead of a salwar. A churidar is similar to the salwar but is tighter fitting at the hips, thighs and ankles. Over this, one might wear a collarless or mandarin-collar tunic called a kurta.
Ajit Bhawan
Amid the vast and serene desert milieu Ajit Bhawan, the first heritage Hotel of India, stands as an oasis of hospitality, pageantry and Rajput charm. Built exclusively, for Maharajadhiraj Sir Ajit Singhji the younger brother of Maharaja Umaid Singhji of the erstwhile Jodhpur state. Ajit Bhawan, a legacy of Rajput heritage is vibrantly alive with the personalised hospitality, provided by the late Maharaja's family, whose home is still is.
Rooms
Amid the vast and serene desert milieu Ajit Bhawan, the first heritage Hotel of India, stands as an oasis of hospitality, pageantry and Rajput charm. Built exclusively, for Maharajadhiraj Sir Ajit Singhji the younger brother of Maharaja Umaid Singhji of the erstwhile Jodhpur state. Ajit Bhawan, a legacy of Rajput heritage is vibrantly alive with the personalised hospitality, provided by the late Maharaja's family, whose home is still is.
Rooms
- Deluxe rooms: Comfortable with a period style the deluxe suites offer a homely atmosphere.
- Garden Villas: Sprawled out in the peaceful gardens, are the divine little villas. Some of these deluxe villas over look the swimming pool, others blend with the "bare" trees dotted with millions of birds that nest in the trees by night.
The Hindu vegetarian tradition is widespread in India, although many Hindus eat meat now. The Muslim tradition is most evident in the cooking of meats. Mughlai food, kababs, rich Kormas (curries) and nargisi koftas (meat-balls), the biryani (a layered rice and meat preparation), rogan josh, and preparations from the clay oven or tandoor like tandoori rotis and tandoori chicken are all important contributions made by the Muslim settlers in India.
Jama Masjid
Situated in the ancient town of Old Delhi, the Jama or Jami Masjid is the final architectural extravaganza of the Mughal Emperor, Shahjahan. This monument was built between 1644 and 1658 by five thousand artisans. Originally called the Masjid-i-Jahanuma, or "mosque commanding view of the world", this magnificent structure stands on the Bho Jhala, one of the two hills of the old Mughal capital city of Shahjahanabad. On the east, this monument faces the Lal Quila (Red Fort) and has three gateways, four towers and two minarets. Constructed of alternating vertical strips of red sandstone and white marble, the Jama Masjid is the largest and perhaps the most magnificent mosque in India.
Broad flights of steps lead up to the imposing gateways in the north and the south. The main eastern entrance, probably used by the emperors, remains closed on most days of the week. The main prayer hall on the west side, fronted by a series of high cusped arches and topped with marble domes, houses a niche in a wall that shelters the prayer leader. Worshippers use this hall on most days but on Fridays and other holy days, the courtyard is full of devotees offering namaaz.
Near the north gate of the mosque stands a cupboard containing a collection of Muhammad's relics - Korans written on deerskin, a red beard-hair of the prophet, his sandals and his footprint, embedded in a marble slab.
Situated in the ancient town of Old Delhi, the Jama or Jami Masjid is the final architectural extravaganza of the Mughal Emperor, Shahjahan. This monument was built between 1644 and 1658 by five thousand artisans. Originally called the Masjid-i-Jahanuma, or "mosque commanding view of the world", this magnificent structure stands on the Bho Jhala, one of the two hills of the old Mughal capital city of Shahjahanabad. On the east, this monument faces the Lal Quila (Red Fort) and has three gateways, four towers and two minarets. Constructed of alternating vertical strips of red sandstone and white marble, the Jama Masjid is the largest and perhaps the most magnificent mosque in India.
Broad flights of steps lead up to the imposing gateways in the north and the south. The main eastern entrance, probably used by the emperors, remains closed on most days of the week. The main prayer hall on the west side, fronted by a series of high cusped arches and topped with marble domes, houses a niche in a wall that shelters the prayer leader. Worshippers use this hall on most days but on Fridays and other holy days, the courtyard is full of devotees offering namaaz.
Near the north gate of the mosque stands a cupboard containing a collection of Muhammad's relics - Korans written on deerskin, a red beard-hair of the prophet, his sandals and his footprint, embedded in a marble slab.