REGIONAL ADVISORY

Travelers to India enjoy world-class accommodations; many former palaces have been renovated into modern hotels. Gorgeous hand-crafted carvings, paintings, and textiles make your stay a treat for the senses. Strike out from your luxurious surroundings to explore one of the most fascinating cultures on Earth.

India is a richly diverse country, comprised of 22 states and the region of Kashmir. It supports a population of nearly one billion. Despite more than fifty years as a democratic nation, Indian states still retain their unique cultural and religious heritage.

Hinduism is the main religion, followed by eighty percent of Indians. It is considered the world's oldest organized religion; a complex belief system of three main gods who manifest in thousands of incarnations. India's religious tolerance has allowed a variety of other religions to flourish, including Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Islam, and Sikhism.

The echoes of British colonialism still can be felt in the structure of the Indian civil-service bureaucracy, as well as the architecture of
Colonial-era buildings.

Primarily an agrarian society, with most of the population living in abject poverty, India is a country of striking contrasts. A few wealthy families maintain a stranglehold on trade, profiting by forcing India's inhabitants to purchase their comparatively expensive and shoddy goods. It is only in the past few decades, as cosmopolitan and technology-embracing cities like New Delhi and Bangalore have blossomed, that a middle-class has begun to emerge.

Even as India is poised to embrace the future, it still preserves the ornamented treasures and artwork of its past. Overpowering in detail and meticulous craftsmanship, these man-made wonders astound and delight. The Taj Mahal, created by the toil of twenty-thousand laborers over a span of two decades, is alone worth the trip.

Come to India to relax, and enjoy a slower pace at all levels of society. Drink in a rich cultural heritage that has evolved over nearly ten thousand years of history: from Indus Valley and the Vedics, through British Colonialism and Mahatma Gandhi's fight for independence, and into the Information Age.

As many an Indian will advise: please come to listen, not to preach; come to witness, not to judge; and most importantly, allow India to change you, rather than try to change India.

 

Design by Damian Bendersky