India is the world's largest democracy, and is home to the descendants of one of the world's oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley civilization. It is a country showing many contrasting shades in every aspect of life. Right from snake charmers to farmers to high tech engineers there is oppulence of variations. If in one part rice is staple diet than a few thousand miles away, it might be wheat bread. If there is desert in the west then the world's rainiest place lies in the east. The country is rich in natural resources. It has rich natural resources, a civilised history, and now acclimatising to the growing technology. To know about this country for traveller, let us divide it into 5 regions and throw some insight about each region. If on one side we have snow clad mountains, to the other there is a hot desert and if on one side we have the mountain ranges then we have coastal plains too.

First to the North, we have Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal which are at the foot of Himalayas. Known for scenic beauty, flowers, gardens, lakes, snow covered hill stations like Shimla, Kulu, Manali, Mussourie. There are plenty of oppotunities for snow games like skiing. Also river rafting, mountaineering, trekking are some other sports of interest. Apples, saffron(flower) and apricots are grown in this region. Aptly, this region is also called the Switzerland of Asia.

Then we move on to the Western region of India, with major states like Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat. Rajasthan is mostly a desert and temperature running to 50 degrees Celsius during summer. Even to this day, camels are used for transportation. Jaipur, called the Pink city, Udaipur, Ajmer are places of interest. Jaipur is called the Pink City because a variety of Pink Stone is used for the Palaces constructed by the olden days Kings. Udaipur is called the City of Lakes. People are called Rajputs here...being very brave by nature. Punjab is rich and fertile. Chandigarh, a well planned city with Nek Chand's Rose Garden and a park /sculptures made of broken procelain/glass pieces are worth seeing. Mostly the people here are Sikhs. Amritsar, the Golden Temple is situated in this state which is a holy place to Sikhs like Mecca to Muslims.

Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat...is a flourishing business centre with the people belonging to the very rich community. It is famous for textile industry. Dwaraka, childhood spent by Lord Krishna, Surat is the city of cloth manufacturing and Ship building makes this State very rich in resources. Perhaps there are the richest community in India.

Maharashtra is yet another state on the west of India, with Mumbai as its capital. Mumbai is known as Hollywood of India, Economic and Commercial capital of India. It is said that people who come to this city never return empty handed because Lakshmi..the Goddess of Wealth resides here. The beautiful Marine Drive is also called as the Queen's Necklace is worth seeing in the night when it is lit. There are many island caves near Mumbai.  Elephanta caves are very famous in this regard. Konkan region in Maharashtra has got tremendous tourist potential. Ratnagiri district in this region has come to world map becuase of its Alphanso mango. Lot many beaches including religious places attracts many tourists all over the world to Konkan region.

Goa is a small state which was ruled by portugese until 1961 and so one can find their influence on every street of this state. Known for its beaches and churches, Goa , the name itself is a boost for tourism.

Then we move on to the Eastern part of India. We have many smaller states like Sikkim, Bengal, Assam, Nagalnd, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. All these states are rich with tea plantations. Kolkata in Bengal, the capital is the first city where the Britishers established their East India Company. Even to this day, we can see the buildings in British Style on many streets of Kolkata. Darjeeling, with its a century old toy train is one of the main attraction hill station. Then we have thick forests with Rhinos, Tigers and one will be surprised to find that the grass in these forests are more than 7 to 8 feet, almost covering vehicles on the move. Sikkim is a land of Buddhists with many monastries while the other smaller states like Tripura, Mizoram have Christians.

Now the Central India. here, we find the Vindhya mountain range across three states comprising parts of Orissa, Andhra and Madhya Pradesh. Puri in Orissa, is a holy place for Hindus with Lord Jagannath's temple, the Sun God temple and a vast stretch of beaches. Asia's largest lake called the Chilka lake is in Orissa where many birds migrate from other parts of the world. Then Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra, also known as one of the twin city, the other being Secunderabad. This part of the country is dominated by Muslims who live in utter harmony with the Hindus. Hyderabad pearls are world famous. Tirupati, the abode of Lord Venkatesh is here and it is this temple which brings in the most revenue on comparison to any other place in India.

Finally, to the Southern part comprising of the states of Karnataka, Kerala and the historically interesting state of Tamil Nadu. Tamilnadu is famous for many stone sculptured temples. Karnataka is once again a land with greenery and a combination of HIndus and Jains. Being the largest producer of Sandalwood, Mysore is called the city of sandalwood. Then we move on to Kerala, the land of coconuts, backwaters, beaches and ayurvedic centre for medical treatment and health spa.

There is too much to see in India to speak of in this brief introduction. In order to make the information more easily accessible, we have divided India in regions according to the 25 states of India. Check out the different states for the most interesting places and set out on a trip that gives you a touch of everything for the time being and be willing to accept your defeat: you’ll have to come back to India again and again to understand this beautiful country of vividity.

This article is written by contributors of  world66.com, modified by travelers-online.com editors and licensed under a Creative Commons License .

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