Festival Of The Month: Holi
The Hindu festival of Holi marks the beginning of Spring and is celebrated mostly in northern states of India. Bidding goodbye to the chilly winters, celebrating the playful love between Lord Krishna and Radha and many other legends corroborate the good-natured raucousness that surrounds the festival.
The India Festival Calendar: April–May
Just about the time when the earth starts cracking with heat and harvesting activities commence fervently in the northern states of India, the only thing that offers respite is a number of local spirited festivals.
Festival Of The Month: Thrissur Puram
The 36 hours of Thrissur Puram glide by in a blink! One is consumed by the commotion on this day: devotees take to the streets, quickly filling the venue, Swaraj Maidan and the streets that lead to it, caparisoned pachyderms amble slowly to line up for the main function and dummers, pipers and the rest […]
Festival Of The Month: Urs in Ajmer
What is Urs: Every May, thousands of pilgrims, Sufis and tourists head to the sleepy town of Ajmer in Northern Rajasthan to celebrate the festival of Urs, to commemorate the death anniversary of Moinuddin Chisti.
The India festival calendar: July–August 2013
If you’re planning a holiday to coincide with a festival in July or August, arm yourself with a sturdy umbrella and flip flops to survive the rains dousing most of the country.
Meandering Through The Charminar Area
Built over 400 years ago, Charminar is the longstanding symbol of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty that ruled the city of Hyderabad. Intended to be a mosque, the structure became a landmark that marked the centre of the city. Four well-planned streets emanated from it and created the commercial landscape of the place. In that sense, […]
Witnessing The Nehru Trophy Snake Boat Race
The annual Nehru boat race is just around the corner and this week we take you through a practical guide of how to plan your trip to watch one of the most fantastic displays of local culture on the backwaters of Kerala. The Punnamada Lake of Alleppey resounds with cheering locals and houseboats line up […]
Motorcycle Travellers Meet
A weekend of camp life, wheels, slushy mud tracks and inspiring stories from the road unfolded in the first ever Motorcycle Travellers Meet off Bangalore on the 27 and 28 July. This was not your usual raucous testosterone heavy, beer and bravado fest. Instead, likeminded serious motorcycling enthusiasts came together for an authentic interaction with those […]
The India Festival Calendar: Sept–Oct
It’s autumn heralding a line of colourful Indian festivals and holiday season.Check this ready reckoner and plan your itineraries. In a country so rich in culture and theme, every festival celebrated here is a sight to behold. And when talking about India’s many festivals, what comes to mind is poet Rabindranath Tagore’s famous line, “You are […]
Festival Trips: Ganesh Chaturthi
The frenzied and energetic celebrations of Lord Ganesha’s birthday has reached fever pitch and if you happen to be in Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh you are definitely in for a quite a treat.Ganesha, Ganpati, Vinayaga – the endearing elephant-god known by many names is believed to bring good fortune and remove […]
Festival Trip: Mysore Dasara
The heritage city of Mysore is at its vibrant best during the 10-day Dasara festival, which continues a tradition started by the Vijayanagar kings in the 15th century. The festival starts with a procession of decorated elephants led by the Maharaja of Mysore – a grand spectacle. Every evening, the Maharaja’s Palace is dramatically lit […]
Thindi Beedi: Bangalore’s Favourite ‘Eat Street’
Barely a 300m stretch flanked by crumbling buildings, Bangalore’s ‘Eat Street’ starts stirring only after the sun sets. It begins with shutters being rolled up, massive pots being carted out of storage and pushcarts rolling into their designated spots – till slowly the perfect street food ambience takes shape.