 |
|
|
Gangtok: To
beat the scorching heat of summer and feel the serenity and tranquility
of Mother Nature, Sikkim is a visitor's dream come true. Tucked away
in the foothills of the Himalayas, Sikkim is a hilly wonderland with
its lovely views, exotic orchids, and forest- trails. It resembles
a virtual Shangri -La overlooked by the incomparable Mountain Kanchenjunga,
the world's third highest peak. Sikkim is attractive equally for the
sightseer, the adventure sports enthusiast and those interested in
Buddhist religion. The valley offers breathtaking views, colourful
lifestyles, Buddhist shrines, adventures, water sports, exquisite
flora and fauna. Sikkim offers her visitors an exceptional and unique
experience. "The valley and the hills appears to be very good. Construction
of the buildings particularly I felt very happy. And the weather is
very moderate," said a tourist. "Since Kolkata is very hot these days
this is a very nice place to spend the summer vacations. Lots of people
from West Bengal come to spend their vacations," said , another tourist
from West Bengal. The state capital, Gangtok, the "Lofty Hill" or
the "Hill made flat to build the Gangtok monastery in 1716". Gangtok
is a city, which, till one sees it, one would believe exists only
in picture-story books. In the mystery-laden mists prayer flags whip
in the breeze; wheels spin in the hands of Lamas mumbling invocations
to God, in the distance are the snows, on the streets amidst brightly
painted pagoda roofed houses, lined with friendly smiling people are
silver, silk and spice and jewellery to gladden an maiden's heart,
from across the seven seas are gadget and goods to delight the collector
of "imported goods', while directly overlooking the city is the hill
Lukshyma, the 'Mother of Pearl' citadel of the magic mountain, Khang-Chen-Dzod-Nga.
An air of enchantment hangs over the city, indeed the whole valley;
the mysticism, the stupas, the monasteries reach out as soon as one
crosses the border. While across the hills and valleys comes the sounding
of the long trumpets by robed lamas. The last village on Indo-Tibet border gets a make-over (Go to Top) Badrinath:
Mana village, the last human habitation point on the India-Tibet
border in Himalayas, is being developed as a tourist destination by
the Uttaranchal government. Mana, a tribal village situated 4 km away
from Badrinath, was declared as a "tourism village" by the government,
giving it a total makeover from construction of roads to guesthouses
for tourists. "All the basic amenities required by a tourist will be
made available in the village. This will increase the influx of tourist
and pilgrims in the area," said Anusuya Makhuri, Vice Chairman, Char
Dham Dev Council, the council of management committee for the four pilgrimage
in the Garhwal. The village in the upper reaches of Himalayas, which
remains snow-bound for over six months, is mainly inhabited by the Bhotias,
a tribe of the Indo-Mongolian race. As soon as the gates of Badrinath
temple open in summers, the Bhotias come and live in the village and
during winters, when the doors of the temple are closed, they move to
the valley. Mana is also the base point to start your journey to Vyas
Gufa, Ganesh Gufa, Bhim Pul and Vasundhara Falls in the surrounding
areas, places linked to epic Mahbharata. A quaint, mystic place hanging
by the clouds in a picturesque setting, Mana has the charm to win the
hearts of its visitors. However, the pilgrims feel that the government
should build better roads and have better transport facilities to the
village. "The government should have a good bus service here because
the tourists are scared of coming to such an altitude with such bad
roads. It is wonderful here. I feel as though I am in heaven," said
Kusum Saklani, a tourist. Badrinath dham is considered as one of the
most sacred centres of pilgrimage situated in the lofty Himalayan heights
in the Tehri- Garhwal hill tracks at the height of 10,248 feet above
sea level. Located on the right bank of river Alaknanda, Badrinath is
one of the four Dhams, a devout Hindu believe should visit to attain
salvation. It was founded by Shankaracharya, in the ninth century. The
temple, also known as Badri Narayan, is dedicated to Vishnu, who is
said to have done penance in the mythical Brindavan, that once covered
the mountains of Uttaranchal.
-May 23, 2005 25,000 varieties of rose add charm to Ooty's beauty (Go to Top) Ooty:
Ooty recently hosted the fourth annual rose show, displaying over
25,000 varieties of roses from across 165 countries. The event, organised
by the Department of Horticulture, was started a few years back as part
of the summer season festivities to commemorate the first flower show
organised in south India in 1896. Today the rose show is held annually
in the summer season at the famous Centenary Rose Park of the picturesque
hill station in Nilgiri mountain range, also called the blue mountains.
The park permanently houses over 2,200 varieties of roses from different
part of the world, making it the biggest rose garden in Asia. "In 1995
when we started the rose garden, it housed only 1,990 varieties of rose
flowers. Now we are conducting the fourth rose show in this garden.
Now, this year we have added 500 more varieties of rose flowers from
165 countries from all over the world." said C. Vijayakumar, District
Collector. The terraced rose garden with its different varieties of
roses and serene surrounding attracts tourists from all over. With roses
in full bloom, coupled with good weather, the show, which concluded
last week, was an instant hit with the tourists. "It's really very nice
to look at all these flowers and the way they have maintained them is
also very good. It's really very attractive and also the way the roses
are arranged is very beautiful," said Suja Rajan, a visitor. About two
million tourists are expected to visit the Nilgiris this summer season.
A toy train, tea gardens and a lake in the valley are the main attractions
of Ooty. Facelift to Rameshwaram's 90-year old rail sea-bridge (Go to Top) Pamban (Tamil
Nadu): The Railways have started renovating the world famous
Pamban Bridge, an engineering marvel built into the sea. The replacement
of the girders of the bridge, linking the mainland to Rameswaram
island, is being done after a gap of 25 years to convert the meter
gauge tracks into broad gauge. The girders, which are the strength
of the bridge, have been badly damaged due to sea corrosion. They
are being given an anti- corrosion coating also. The renovation
of the bridge is part of the on-going gauge conversion project between
Madurai city and Rameswaram. The 146 girders of the bridge interconnect
with each other making the total length of the bridge to 2,057.5
meters. R.N. Mitra, Chief Engineer of Southern Railway said, completely
galvanised girders are being installed and the bridge would also
get an anit-corrosive coat once in five years. "We have changed
the designs. Previously you will see the girders reverted, steel
structures are reverted. Now you will see we have introduced the
welded girders, no revert is there. Now the welding technology has
improved so much plus these girders are completely galvanised, so
that the corrosion is less. Previously we used to do normal or sometime
epoxy paint but now we are doing galvanising so that the corrosion
is less," Mitra said. Of the proposed 25 girders, 19 have already
been installed, he dded. The officials have also had sent proposals
to the Railway Board for replacement of 25 more girders. The present
replacement works will be completed in three months following which
the Broad Gauge conversion works from Madurai to Mandapam will commence.
It took more than three years to construct the Pamban bridge across
the sea. The construction work of this bridge commenced in August
1910 and continued till December 1913. The rail traffic started
in February 1914. The bridge was badly damaged by a severe cyclone
that hit the area on December 22, 1964. Towards the centre of the
bridge is a draw bridge designed by German engineer Scherzer, which
facilitates boat traffic along the strait. References: Lucknow,
the City of Nawabs, beckons tourists Wood carving industry dying a slow
death in Uttaranchal Agra takes to pigeon flights after 20 years, Auli
beckons tourists, India, India News, Newspaper, Indian, News, Travel
News, India Travel Times, Travel,Tourism, Tour, Tourist, India, Times,
News, Hotels, Airlines, Ayurveda, Yoga, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Cuisine, Festival,
Temple, Trekking, Hindu, Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Odissi, Dance, Shimla,Varanasi,
Kullu, Manali, Dehra Dun, Mussourie, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Hardwar, Rishikesh,
Nainital, Delhi, Goa, Kovalam, Darjeeling, Bodh Gaya, Kancheepuram,
Kanchipuram, Thekkady, Badrinath, Amar Nath,Vaishno Devi, Tirupati,
Sabarimala, Guruvayoor, Kanyakumari, Kodaikanal, Ooty, Chennai,
|
Home
Contact Us
NOTE:
Free contributions of articles
and reports may be sent to editor@indiatraveltimes.com
DISCLAIMER
All Rights Reserved ©indiatraveltimes.com