Kanyakumari

Famous for:
The meeting place of the 3 seas known for its beautiful rocky coastline and the temples situated on these rocks.


Video: Around Kanyakumari

Background:
Kanyakumari or Cape Comorin is located at the very tip of the Indian Peninsula, at the point where the the 3 seas, the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal meet. It has become a very famous tourist spot due to its location, the temples and the beautiful sunrise and sunset.


Video: Sunrise at Kanyakumari

What to see:
Kumariamman Temple
Location: Located on the Shore 
Also known as the Kanyakumari Temple, it is dedicated to Goddess Parvati. The temple is believed to have been built on the spot where she stood waiting for Lord Shiva to come and marry her. The idol is also famous for its diamond nose-ring whose sparkle is said to be visible even from the sea.

Sripada Parai Rock
Location: Close to Vivekananda Rock 
It is the rock believed to have been touched by the goddess feet and has her footprints imprinted.

Vivekananda Rock
Location: Southeast of Kumari Amman Temple
It is the rock on which Swami Vivekananda sat in deep meditation and attained spiritual enlightenment. A memorial was built here in 1970.

Gandhi Memorial
It is a memorial built on the spot where the urn containing the Mahatma's ashes was kept before immersion. The amazing design of the memorial ensures that every year on 2nd October (Gandhiji's birthday), the first ray of the sun falls exactly on the place where the ashes were kept.


Video: Vivekananda Rock

Sites Nearby
Suchindram
Location: 13 km from Kanyakumari
It has a dedicated to a deity representing the combined  forces of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. It also has a 6m tall statue of Hanuman (Monkey God).

Udayagiri Fort
Location: 34 km from Kanyakumari
The 18th century fort built by King Marthanda Varma.

Nagarcoil
Location: 19 km from Kanyakumari
It has a temple dedicated to Nagaraja , the king of Snakes.

Olakkay Aruvi Water Fall
Location: 34 km from Kanyakumari
A beautiful waterfall and a picnic spot.

Thiruvattar
Location: 60 km from Kanyakumari
It has one of the finest temple in the region with amazing architecture and paintings.



Video: Windmills by the road, just few kilometers from Kanyakumari 

Reaching there:
Air: Trivananthpuram /Trivandrum (87 km) has the nearest domestic as well as international airport.

Rail: Kanyakumari Station is connected to all major towns and cities of India including Jammu by broad-gauge railway network.

Road: NH 7 (Varanasi - Mangawan - Rewa - Jabalpur - Lakhnadon - Nagpur - Hyderabad - Kurnool - Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Salem - Dindigul - Madurai - Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari)) and NH 47 (Salem - Coimbatore - Trichur - Ernakulam - Trivandrum - Cape Commorin (Kanyalumari)) are the National Highways that connects Kanyakumari to rest of India.
It is very well connected with other cities like Trivandrum, Madurai, Rameshwaram, etc by good road.


Video: Ride by the coastline

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Gangotri - Gaumukh

Famous for:
A very holy center of pilgrimage and one of the Char Dham of Northern India in Himalayas.


Video: Morning Aarti at the Gangotri temple

Background:
Situated high up in the Garwhal Himalayas, on the banks of the Bhagirathi river, Gangotri is one of the 4 most holy pilgrimage center for the Hindus, which are collectively called Char Dhams (Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath).
The 18th century temple at Gangotri was built by the Gorkha General Amar Singh Thapa. Legend says that in the ancient time, King Bhagirath prayed to Ganga from here, asking her to descend on Earth. Hence the river here is called Bhagirathi, which after meeting the river Alaknanda at Devprayag becomes known as the Ganga.
Goumukh, 18 km from Gangotri temple is the source of the Bhagirathi river.
Gangotri is surrounded by forest and Himalayas and has some amazing scenery. It is also the base for many Himalayan treks.


Video: Pilgrims take bath and perform puja at Gangotri

What to see:
Gangotri Mandir
Location: On the banks of the Bhagirathi river 
The shrine of Gangotri is one of the holiest shrines for Hindus. It is about 20-feet high and made of white marble and granite. It has a natural rock Shivling of Lord Shiva and is believed to be the place where Lord Shiva received the descending Ganga in his hair locks. The evening prayer held at the temple by the river is an unforgettable experience.

Gaumukh
Location: about 18 km from Gangotri, at 4200 m
Gaumukh (Gau means cow and Mukh means mouth), has the Gangotri glacier, which is believed to be the origin of the holy river Ganges. The river here is called Bhagirathi, which after meeting the river Alaknanda at Devprayag becomes known as the Ganga. 

Nandanvan and Tapovan
Location: 6 km from Gaumukh, opposite the Gangotri glacier 
It can be reached after trekking from Gaumukh and has amazing view of the Himalayas, the Shivling Peaks, and is the base for many treks to places like Shivling, Meru, Kalindikhal, Vasuki Tal, etc. 


Video: Roaring Bhagirathi Waterfall near Gangotri Temple

Sites Nearby:
Mala and Khush Kalyan
Location: Mala is 30 km from Uttarkashi on the way to Gangotri
Mala is base for the 16 km trek through forest and mountains to the 20 km lush green meadows of Khush Kalyan. In winters the place is covered with snow and has good ski slopes.
Mala is also the base for the Gangotri-Kedarnath trek

Uttarkashi
Location: 99 km from Gangotri
Situated at the banks of the river Bhagirathi and surrounded by mountains, Uttarkashi is a very scenic and picturisque town. It is the base to go to the holy shrines of Gangotri and Yamunotri and is also known for its temple dedicated to Bhairavnathji. Trekkers going on the numerous treks in the region can stay here in the tourist bunglow.


Video: Gaumukh glacier the origin of Ganga

Reaching there:
Air:
Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun (275 km) is the nearest airport. However Delhi (473 km) has airports, which are more convenient with better connection to different places.

Rail:
Haridwar (273 km), is the nearest railway station.

Road:
Gangotri is connected to Haridwar and Rishikesh via Uttarkashi - Tehri Garhwal. Private taxis, Jeeps, buses and tempos are available to reach Gangotri.


Video: The amazing trek from Gangotri to Gaumukh


Video: Evening aarti at the Gangotri Temple


Video: Gaumukh, the origin of River Ganga


Video: Uttarkashi, 99 km from Gangotri


Video: Driving to Gangotri in heavy rains


Video: The small town near Gangotri Temple

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Dwarka

Famous for:
Holy place of Pilgrimage for Hindus.


Video: Dwarka temples


Background:
Situated in the extreme west of the Indian state of Gujarat in the Saurashtra peninsula on the Arabian Sea, Dwarka is an important pilgrimage center for the Hindus, and is associated with the life of Lord Krishna.


Video: Dwarka

It was known as Kushasthali or Dwaravati in the Puranic times. It is believed that after slaying Kansa, Lord Krishna with his Yadava community, left his abode at Mathura and traveled to a town and named it as Swarnadwarika.
Dwarkanath, also known as Trilok Sundar, was built by Vajranabh (Successor and grandson of Lord Krishna) and it is believed that the town was erected in one night.
In this region, the original inhabitants are said to be Kabas, Modas, and Kalas, The Kabas and Modas now seem to be extinct, but the present-day Vaghers are said to have descended from the Kabas.
Dwarka is also known as the seat of Adi Shankaracharya, who has established four seats (maths) in four different directions in the country.
Sharad Peetha in Dwarka is the place where research work in Sanskrit was carried.

What to see:
Jagat Mandir
Location: North bank of Gomti Creek.
Rukmini Temple
Location: 1.5 km to the North of town.

Sites Nearby:
Shankhoddar Island
Location: 32 km from Dwarka

Reaching there:
Air: Jamnagar Airport (150 km) is the nearest airport which is linked to Mumbai, Bhuj and other cities of India by Indian Airlines.
Rail: Dwarka Stn is on the Ahmedabad - Okha broad-gauge railway line. It is connected with Mumbai and other cities of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The frequency of trains however are not very good.
Road: NH 8B (Bamanbore - Rajkot - Porbandar) is the nearest highway to Dwarka.
Dwarka is well connected with a good network of roads to Porbandar and nearby towns. Both private and government buses service the region. Luxury coaches are available to and fro with different cities of Gujarat.

Courtesy : Indiatourist
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Bhubaneshwar

Famous for:
Capital of Orissa, also known as "Temple city of India"


Video: Drive thru streets of Bhubaneshwar

Background:
The Capital of the state of Orissa, Bhubaneshwar, is also known as "Temple City of India."
The word Bhubaneshwar is combination of 'Bhuban' meaning World and 'eshwar' meaning God. It is an important Hindu Pilgrimage centre and is seat of Tribhuvaneswar, or Lord Shiva.
The Orissan style of temple architecture flourished from here. Once, it had more then 1000 temples, but today few hundred remains. The famous Kalinga war, after which where Emperor Ashoka embraced Buddhism was fought here.
The new Bhubaneshwar is a modern city with all the comforts and aminities for travellers.

What to see:
Parashurameshwara Temple
Vaital Deul
Mukteshwar Temple

Video: Orissa tourist places (Mukteswar Temple)

The Rajarani Temple
Brahmeswara Temple
Location: 1 km east of main road
Orissa State Museum
Handicrafts Museum
Location: Secretariat Road
Chilika Lake

Video: Chilika Lake, India's largest salt water lake

Bindu Sagar Lake

Video: Bindu Sagar, Bhubaneshwar

Sites Nearby
Nandankanan Zoo
Location: 20 km from Bhubaneshwar

Video: White Tiger at Nandankanan Zoo

Udaygiri and Khandgiri caves
Location: 7 km from Bhubaneshwar
Dhauli
Location: 8 km from Bhubaneshwar, on the Puri-Konark Highway, on banks of River Daya

Video: Shanti Stupa at Dhauli

Sun Temple
Location: At Konark, 65 km from Bhubaneshwar

Video: Sun Temple,Konark

Puri
Location: 60 km from Bhubaneshwar

Reaching there:
Air: Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneshwar is well connected to all the major Indian cities.
Rail: Bhubaneswar is an important rail junction on the South-Eastern railway and is connected to Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Guwahati, New Delhi and Mumbai.
Road: NH 5 (Junction with National Highway No. 6 near Baharagora - Cuttack - Bhubaneshwar - Vishakhapatnam - Vijayawada - Chennai) is the National Highway passing through Bhubaneshwar. Another highway is the NH 42 (Junction with NH - 6 Sambalpur -Angul Junction with NH - 5 Near Cuttack), which can be used to reach Bhubaneshwar.
Bhubaneshwar is well connected by state highways with rest of Orissa. Daily bus ply between Kolkatta and Puri via Bhubaneshwar and Tatanagar (Jamshedpur).

Courtesy : www.India-tourist.com
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