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A compleate free travel guide about famous tourrist places, cheapest hotels, luxury hotels, tours, culture of INDIA:-

India , officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by geographical area, the second most populous country, the most populous liberal democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east, India has a coastline of 7,517 kilometers (4,671 mi). It borders Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Indonesia in the Indian Ocean. Four major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated here, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam arrived in the first millennium CE and shaped the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early eighteenth century and colonised by the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century, India became a modern nation state in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by widespread nonviolent resistance. India is the world's twelfth largest economy at market exchange rates and the fourth largest in purchasing power. India is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

Important Information

Capital New Delhi
Government Federal Republic
Currency Indian National Rupee (INR)
Area total: 3,287,590 km2
land: 2,973,190 km2
water: 314,400 km2
Population 1,132,446,000 (2008 est.)
Language Hindi, English and 21 other official languages Religion Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%,
Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000) Electricity 230V/50Hz, Indian/European plugs
Calling Code +91
Internet TLD .in
Time Zone UTC+5.5

Climate

In India, it rains only during a specific time of the year. The season
as well as the phenomenon that causes it is called the monsoon. There are two of them, the Southwest and the Northeast, both named after the directions the winds come from. The Southwest monsoon is the more important one, as it causes rains over most parts of the country, and is the crucial variable that decides how the crops (and therefore the economy) will do. It lasts from June to September. It hits the west coast the most, as crossing the western ghats and reaching the rest of India is an uphill task for the winds. The western coastline is therefore much greener than the interior. The Northeast monsoon hits the east coast between October and February, mostly in the form of occasional cyclones which cause much devastation every year. The only region that gets rains from both monsoons is Northeastern India, which consequently experiences the highest rainfall in the world

Holidays

There are three national holidays (Republic Day, Independence Day, and Gandhi Jayanti) which occur on the same day every year. Most other religious holidays occur on different days, because the Hindu and Islamic festivals are based on their respective calendars and not on the Gregorian calendar.
Here is a list of important holidays. The dates given are correct for 2007. Not all holidays are celebrated with equal fervour, or celebrated at all in all regions of the country. Different regions might give somewhat different names to the same festival. Check the state or city you are visiting for information on whether there will be closures. To cater to varying religious practices, offices have a list of optional holidays (called restricted holidays by the government) from which employees are allowed to pick two, in addition to the list of fixed holidays. This may mean thin attendance and delayed service even when the office is officially open.
January 1 — New Year's day. Not an official holiday, but thin attendance because of partying the previous night. Also Eid ul-Azha, Islamic festival, might be an optional holiday.
January 15 — Makara Sankranti. Optional holiday, no disruptions.
January 20 — Muharram, Islamic new year. Might be an optional holiday.
January 26 — Republic Day. Celebrates the adoption of the constitution and the day India became a republic. Big military parades in major cities.
March 3 — Holi, the festival of color. On the first day, people go to temples and light bonfires, but on the second, it's a nationwide waterfight combined with showers of colored powder. This is not a spectator sport: as a visible foreigner, you're a magnet for attention, so you'll either have to barricade yourself inside, or put on your most disposable clothes and join the fray. Alcohol and Bhang are often involved and crowds can get rowdy as the evening wears on. Street celebrations are rare in South India, though private celebrations occur.
March 19 — Ugadi/Gudi Padwa. New year according to the Hindu lunar calendar. Some religious observances, no major disruptions.
March 27 — Ram Navami. Birthday of Lord Rama. Some religious observances, no major disruptions.
April 6 — Good Friday. Christian festival, may be an optional holiday.
April 14 — New Year per Hindu Solar calendar. Some religious observances, no major disruptions.
May 1 — Martyr's Day / Labour Day. Holiday in most offices. May 2 — Buddha Purnima, birthday of Buddha. Some religious observances, an optional holiday.
August 15 — Independence Day - Celebrates the birth of independent India
August 28 — Raksha Bandhan. Sisters tie the rakhi or the sacred thread of love on their brothers' wrists and the brothers give gifts and promises of protection in return. Holiday in Northern India.
September 3 — Krishna Janmashtami/Gokulashtami - Celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna
September 15 — Vinayaka (Ganesha) Chathurthi - Celebrates the birth of Lord Ganesha. The most important festival in Maharashtra. Festivities go on for 10 days during which the idol of Ganesha (or Ganpati) is worshipped at homes and every street corner. On the tenth day (or earlier in some cases) it is ceremonially immersed in the sea or a lake after being taken out in a lavish procession. A sight to watch, but traffic is disrupted for those days in cities like Mumbai and Pune.
October 2 — Gandhi Jayanti - birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. National holiday.
October 14 — Ramzan-Id/Id-ul-Fitr. Muslim religious observances. Holiday in many places.
October 21 — Dussera/Vijay Dashmi/Durga Pooja/Ayudha Pooja - locals worship the deity Durga and perform pooja for their objects of daily use. Workers are given sweets, cash bonuses, gifts, new clothes etc. It is also new year for businessmen, when they are supposed to start new account books. The nine nights of Navratri before this comprise the second most important festival in India. In some places like West Bengal, it is the most important festival. There Goddess Durga gets the same treatment that Ganesha gets in Maharashtra (see above). In the north Ram Lila celebrations take place and the slaying of Ravana by Lord Rama is ceremonially reenacted. In Gujarat, the festival is celebrated by dancing to devotional songs and religious observances like fasts extended over a period of 9 days. Diwali Lighting
November 9 — Deepawali (or Diwali) - Festival of lights, celebrates the return of Lord Rama to the capital of his kingdom, Ayodhya after an exile of 14 years. Probably the most lavish festival in the country, reminiscent (to US travellers at least) of Thanksgiving (the food) and Christmas (the shopping and gifts) combined. Houses are decorated, there is glitter everywhere, and if you wander the streets on Deepawali night, there will be firecrackers going off everywhere including sometimes under your feet.
December 20 — Eid ul-Azha, Islamic festival, might be an optional holiday. (Twice in 2007, because the Islamic lunar calendar has only 354 days.)
December 25 — Christmas. Religious observances, holiday.

India's most notable cities

Delhi — the capital of India for a thousand years and the heart of Northern India.
Bangalore — The garden city, once the sleepy home of pensioners now transformed into the city of pubs, technology and companies .
Chennai — main port in Southern India, cradle of Carnatic Music and Bharatanatyam, home of the famous Marina beach, Automobile Capital of India and a fast emerging IT hub. Cochin — gateway to the sandy beaches and backwaters of south west India.
Jaipur — the Pink City is a major exhibit of the Hindu Rajput culture of medeival Northern India.
Kolkata — the cultural capital of India, Kolkata is home to numerous colonial buildings. It is known as The City of Joy. Mumbai — the financial capital of India, "Bollywood" (Indian Film Industry) hub.
Shimla — the former summer capital of British India located in the Himalayan foothills with a large legacy of Victorian architecture.
Varanasi — considered the most sacred Hindu city, located on the banks of the Ganges, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities of the world. [edit] Other destinationsIndia has many outstanding landmarks and areas of outstanding beauty. Below is a list of nine of the most notable:

Famous Places

Taj Mahal — the incomparable Taj Mahal in Agra
Bodh Gaya — the place where the Buddha Sakyamuni attained enlightenment.
Ellora/Ajanta — spectacular rock-cut cave monasteries and temples, holy place for the Buddhists, Jains and Hindus.
Goa — an east-west mix, beaches and syncretic culture.
Golden Temple — Sikh holy site located in Amritsar
Hampi — the awesome ruins of the empire of Vijayanagara Khajuraho — famed for its erotic sculptures
Lake Palace — the Lake Palace of Octopussy fame, located in Udaipur
Meenakshi Temple — a spectacular Hindhu temple in Madurai

Language

India has 22 official languages, namely Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. There are also other less prominent languages like Tulu, Bhojpuri that are the main spoken language of some places.
Hindi, spoken by 30% of the population, is the primary tongue of the people in Northern India. Many more people speak it as a second language. If you can afford only one phrasebook, pick up the Hindi one, as it will enable you to get by in most of India. The exceptions are the extreme south - Tamil Nadu,Karnataka, Kerala and the Northeast.
In any case, you are better off picking up as many words of the local language of the place you are going to - people are proud of their culture and language and will appreciate it if an outsider makes an attempt to communicate in it.
English is widely spoken in major cities and around most tourist places, and acts as the lingua franca among all educated Indians. English has been spoken by Indians long enough that it has begun evolving its own rhythm, vocabulary, and inflection, much like French in Africa. Indeed, much has recently been made of subcontinental writers such as Arundhati Roy, Vikram Seth, and Salman Rushdie. The English you are likely to hear in India will be heavily influenced by British English, although spoken with the lilting stress and intonation of the speaker's other native language. Indians can usually tell regional English accents apart

Mobile

India uses both GSM and CDMA and mobile phones are widely available, starting from Rs. 500. Major operators include BSNL, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance India Mobile, Tata Indicom, Aircel, Spice and Vodafone. Roaming between states is seamless and roaming charges may vary between Re. 1 - Rs 1.50 per minute for incoming - Rs. 1.50 - Rs 2.60 for outgoing calls: prepaid starter kits are available for around Rs. 500, including several hundred rupees of call time, and local calls cost as little as Re. 1 per minute. Bring along your passport when applying and get ready to pose for a photo (or bring your own). Beware that talk time (unexpired minutes of talk time) and validity (the date that the sim card expires) are considered separate and you have to keep both topped up, or otherwise you may find the Rs.500 you just recharged disappearing in a puff of smoke when the one-month validity expires. Usually, when you extend the validity, you will also get extra minutes but you can buy minutes for less without extending the validity.

Restaurants

Indian restaurants run the gamut from roadside shacks (dhabas) to classy five-star places where the experience is comparable to places anywhere in the world. Away from the big cities and tourist haunts, mid-level restaurants are scarce, and food choice will be limited to the local cuisine, Punjabi/Mughlai, "Chinese" and occasionally South Indian. The credit for popularizing Punjabi cuisine all over the country goes to the dhabas that line India's highways. Their patrons are usually the truckers, who happen to be overwhelmingly Punjabi. The authentic dhaba is rather plain, but serves up a tasty dish of roti and dhal with onions, and diners sit on cots instead of chairs. Hygiene can be an issue in many dhabas, so if one's not up to your standards try another.
In Southern India, "Hotel" means a local restaurant serving south Indian food, usually a thali -- a full plate of food that usually includes a kind of bread and an assortment of meat or vegetarian dishes -- and prepared meals.
Although you may be handed an extensive menu, most dishes are served only during specific hours, if at all.
Tipping is unusual outside of fancier restaurants where 10% is appropriate.