Tourism in India

India, located in Asia is Bounded by the Himalayan ranges in the north, surrounded by the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean). In 2006, about 4 million foreign tourists visited India and spent US$ 8.9 billion. [ [http://unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/barometer/unwto_barom07_2_en.pdf Microsoft Word - UNWTO_Barom07_2_en.doc ] ]

Tourism by state

:"The states of India are sorted in alphabetical order."

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh has a rich cultural heritage and a variety of tourist attractions. The state of Andhra Pradesh comprises scenic hills, forests, beaches and temples. Andhra Pradesh is the home of many religious pilgrimage centres, one of them being 'Tirupati', the abode of Lord Venkateswara, which is the richest and most visited Hindu temple in India.Hyderabad is known for its rich history, culture and architecture representing its unique character as a meeting point for North and South India, and also its multilingual culture, both geographically and culturally.

Also known as The City of Nizams and The City of Pearls, [4] Hyderabad is today one of the most developed cities in the country and a modern hub of information technology, ITES, and biotechnology. Hyderabad offers many attraction to the tourists. It is famous for its delicious "Hyderabadi Biryani".

Andhra Pradesh is the home of many religious pilgrim centres. Tirupati, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, is the richest and most visited religious center (of any faith) in the world. Srisailam, the abode of Sri Mallikarjuna, is one of twelve Jyothirlingalu in India, Amaravati's Siva temple is one of the Pancharamams, and Yadagirigutta, the abode of an avatara of Vishnu, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha. The Ramappa temple and Thousand Pillars temple in Warangal are famous for some fine temple carvings. The state has numerous Buddhist centres at Amaravati, Nagarjuna Konda, Bhattiprolu, Ghantasala, Nelakondapalli, Dhulikatta, Bavikonda, Thotlakonda, Shalihundam, Pavuralakonda, Sankaram, Phanigiri and Kolanpaka.The golden beaches at Visakhapatnam, the one-million-year old limestone caves at Borra, picturesque Araku Valley, hill resorts of Horsley Hills, river Godavari racing through a narrow gorge at Papi Kondalu, waterfalls at Ettipotala, Kuntala and rich bio-diversity at Talakona, are some of the natural attractions of the state. Kailashagiri is situated adjacent to sea in Visakhapatnam, it is one of the beautiful sight which shows the entire beauty of visakhapatnam having other side sea. A Beautiful park is developed on the hill top of Kailashagiri, the city boasts of having a Park on hill top that has a luxurious toy train, ropeway and beautiful view of beach front into which Eastern Ghats merge into the sea. Further, Visakhapatnam is home to many tourist attactions like INS Karasura Submarine museum ( The only one of its kind in India), the most beautiful and the longest Beach Road in India, Yarada Beach, Araku Valley (Known as poorman's Ooty , a lot of movies are shooted here), VUDA Park, Indira Gandhi Zoological Gardens,etc.

The weather in Andhra Pradesh is mostly tropical and the best time to visit is in November through to January. The monsoon season commences in June and ends in September, so travel would not be advisable during this period.

Places to visit:

*Hyderabad: The capital of AP, it is a melting pot of various cultures, known for its historical monuments as well as modern marvels. The places to visit are-Charminar, Mecca Masjid, Salarjung Museum, Hussain Sagar, Lumbini Park, Snow world, Ramoji Film city, Water world, Hitech city, Golconda, Paigah tombs, Falaknuma palace
*Visakhapatnam:Undoubtedly the most beautiful city on the east coast, it boasts of natural and man-made beauties. It is fast emerging as the country's best tourist and party destination.The places to visit are- Kailashagiri, R.K.Beach, Rushikonda beach, Simhachalam temple, Vizag-Bhimili Beach Road, Bojjannakonda, Thatlakonda, Appikonda Beach, Yarada Beach, Bhimili Beach, Gangavaram Beach, Borra Caves, Araku valley, Tenneti Beach Park, Ross hill church, Dolphin's nose mountain, Submarine Museum, Aquarium, Indira Gandhi Zoological Gardens, Duduma waterfalls and Red sand hills.
*Tirupati: India's most famous and richest temple. Lord venkateshwara temple, Tirumala, Deer Sanctury, Horsely Hills, Sri Kalahasti Temple, Lepakshi
*Sri Prasanti Nilayam: Abode of puttaparthi Sai Baba
*Vijayawada: Commercial hub of AP. Places to visit are- Kanakadurga Temple, Gandhi hill, Prakasham Barrage, Krishna River bank, Mangalagiri Temple

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Assam

Assam is the central state in the North-East Region of India and serves as the gateway to the rest of the Seven Sister States. Assam boasts of famous wildlife preserves – the Kaziranga National Park ("pictured") and the Manas National Park, largest river island Majuli and tea-estates dating back to time of British Raj. The weather is mostly sub-tropical. Assam experiences the Indian monsoon and has one of the highest forest densities in India. The winter months are the best time to visit.

It has a rich cultural heritage going back to the Ahom Dynasty which governed the region for many centuries before the British occupation. Other notable features include the Brahmaputra River, the mystery of the bird suicides in Jatinga, numerous temples including Kamakhya of Tantric sect, ruins of palaces, etc.

Bihar

Bihar (Hindi:बिहार, Urdu: بہار, IPA2|bɪhaːr, audio|Bihar.ogg|pronunciation) is one of the oldest inhabited places in the world with history of 3000 years. The rich culture and heritage of Bihar is evident from the innumerable ancient monuments that are dotted all over the state in eastern India. Bihar is home of many tourist attractions. Bihar is visited by scores of tourists from all over the World all the year round. [http://www.tourism.gov.in/survey/BIHAR%20TOURISM%20ANNUAL%20STATISTICS%20%20REPORT%20Final.pdf Statics Tourism in Bihar on Indian Government's [http://www.tourism.gov.in tourism website] ] .Around total 6,000,000 (6 million) tourist visits Bihar every year. [http://www.tourism.gov.in/survey/BIHAR%20TOURISM%20ANNUAL%20STATISTICS%20%20REPORT%20Final.pdf Statics Tourism in Bihar on Indian Government's [http://www.tourism.gov.in tourism website] ]

In the earliest day, tourism in region was purely based Educational tourism as Bihar was home of some prominent ancient universities like Nalanda University & Vikramaśīla University [Wriggins, Sally Hovey. "Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim on the Silk Road". Westview Press, 1996. Revised and updated as "The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang". Westview Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8133-6599-6.] [http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/f/fa-hien/f15l/ A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline] ". Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: New York, Paragon Book Reprint Corp. 1965. ISBN 0-486-21344-7] .

Bihar one of the most sacred place of various religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism & Islam, Many tourist travel to Bihar to visit their pilgrimage.

Mahabodhi Temple, a Buddhist shrine and UNESCO World Heritage Site is also situated in Bihar.Mahatma Gandhi Setu, Patna, is one of the longest bridge in the world.

Historic monuments

The Taj Mahal is one of India's best-known sites and one of the best architectural achievements in India. Located in Agra, it was built between 1631 and 1653 by Emperor Shah Jahan in honor of his wife, Arjumand Banu, more popularly known as Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal serves as her tomb.

The Golden Temple is one of the most respected temples in India and the most sacred place for Sikhs. The Golden Temple is located in Amritsar, Punjab, India.

The Bahá'í temple in Delhi, was completed in 1986 and serves as the Mother Temple of the Indian Subcontinent. It has won numerous architectural awards and been featured in hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. ("It is also known as the Lotus Temple".

The Victoria Terminus in Mumbai was built by the British and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Taj Mahal Palace is an icon of Mumbai.

Rural Tourism

India is a country of rich culture and heritage. With above 70% population residing in around 6 million plus villages, real India has its roots right inside this simplistic structure.

Nature Tourism

India has geographical diversity, which resulted in varieties of nature tourism.
* Water falls in Western Ghats including Jog falls (highest in india)
* Western Ghats
* Kerala backwaters
* Hill Stations
* Wildlife reserves

Wildlife in India

India is home to several well known large mammals including the Asian Elephant, Bengal Tiger, Asiatic Lion, Leopard and Indian Rhinoceros, often engrained culturally and religiously often being associated with deities. Other well known large Indian mammals include ungulates such as the domestic Asian Water buffalo, wild Asian Water buffalo, Nilgai, Gaur and several species of deer and antelope. Some members of the dog family such as the Indian Wolf, Bengal Fox, Golden Jackal and the Dhole or Wild Dogs are also widely distributed. It is also home to the Striped Hyaena, Macaques, Langurs and Mongoose species.
India also has a large variety of protected wildlife. The country's protected wilderness consists of 75 National parks of India and 421 Sanctuaries, of which 19 fall under the purview of Project Tiger. Its climatic and geographic diversity makes it the home of over 350 mammals and 1200 bird species, many of which are unique to the subcontinent.

Some well known national wildlife sanctuaries include Bharatpur, Corbett, Kanha, Kaziranga, Periyar, Ranthambore and Sariska.The world's largest mangrove forest Sundarbans is located in southern West Bengal. The "Sundarbans" is UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Hill stations

Several hill stations served as summer capitals of Indian provinces, princely states, or, in the case of Shimla, of British India itself. Since Indian Independence, the role of these hill stations as summer capitals has largely ended, but many hill stations remain popular summer resorts. Most famous hill stations are:
* Araku, Horsely hills in Andhra Pradesh
* Gulmarg, Srinagar and Laddakh in Jammu and Kashmir
* Darjeeling in West Bengal
* Munnar in Kerala
* Ooty and Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu
* Shillong in Meghalaya
* Shimla, Kullu in Himachal Pradesh
* Nainital in Uttaranchal
* Gangtok in Sikkim

Beaches

main|List of beaches in IndiaIndia offers a wide range of tropical beaches with silver/golden sand to coral beaches of Lakshadweep. States like Kerala and Goa have exploited the potential of beaches to the fullest. However, there are a lot many unexploited beaches in states like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. These states have very high potential to be develop them as future destinations for prospective tourists.Tourist beaches are:
* Beaches of Vizag, Andhra Pradesh
* Beaches of Puri, Orissa
* Beaches of Digha, West Bengal
* Beaches of Goa
* Kovalam Beach in Kerala
* Marina Beach, Chennai
* Beach Temples of Mahabalipuram
* Andaman and Nicobar Islands
* Beaches in Mumbai
* Lakshadweep
* Beaches of Diubeaches in Mandar Mani(Midnapur,West Bengal)

Adventure Tourism

* River rafting and kayaking in Himalayas
* Mountain climbing in Himalayas
* Rock climbing
* Skiing in Gulmarg or Auli
* Boat racing in Kerala
* Paragliding in Maharashtra