Experiences labelled with 'rajasthan'
On the edge of the Thar Desert lies the holy little lakeside town of Pushkar, small enough to explore in one day, yet full of travelers who have changed their plans to stay indefinitely. The entire town is dedicated to the worship of Brahma, creator of all things, so it's only fitting that so much inspired creativity should take place here every year for the three day Pushkar Camel Fair held in late October/early November. What started as a venue for buying, selling and trading camels has become a spectacle of music, dance and artistry. The sheer number of camels themselves cause sensory overload, and are living canvasses for colorful textiles, embroidery, and jewelry. At first the camels' blank, oddly contented stares seem humorous in ...
India is a country rich in religion, the predominant one being Hinduism, but Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism and Sikhism have also made their mark on the subcontinent. The Hindu religion is rumored to contain upwards of 33 million gods, one can only imagine the abundance of temples in India there are for worship. Attempting to visit all of these would be foolish, but from Karnataka to Himachal Pradesh, you can visit temple after temple, from obscure to immaculate. Everywhere in India there are celebrations of the divine - on the bus a Ganesh (the elephant headed God) is surrounded by small, multi-colored blinking lights; in a rickshaw a picture of Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) is garlanded in marigolds; and a hotel lobby has a shrine ...
If you're a kite lover then you can't miss the Kite Festival in Jaipur, India on January 14th each year. Kite flying is traditional celebratory fare in various parts of India, as this day marks the the occasion of Makar Sankranti - the retreat of the winter season. Family and friends gather in throngs on top of roofs, celebrating Makar Sankranti and unleashing their kites on the sky. The band of revelers is so great, that the sky becomes almost invisible behind the mosaic of colourful paper creations. The Jaipur Kite Festival is a three-day celebration that starts on the Polo Grounds in Jaipur. Indian Air Force helicopters commence the Makar Sankranti festivities by releasing kites from the sky, while hundreds of schoolchildren release balloons ...
