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By Root 1999 0

“land of princes”—epitomizes the romance of India. Whether you choose to linger in the untainted medieval atmosphere of little towns like Bundi and Shahpura, browse the bumper-to-bumper shops in Jaipur, track tigers in Ranthambhore, overnight on the lake in the beautiful city of Udaipur, or explore the world’s oldest living fort in Jaisalmer, you will want to see it all. Meanwhile, Gujurat, immediately south of Rajasthan, is where you can explore a number of intriguing ancient sights in and around the capital city of Ahmedabad, including the magnificent Modhera Sun Temple and the 900 beautiful Jain temples atop the holy mount of Shatrunjaya. And you can venture into the remote, arid, barren, bleak and beautiful province of Kutch, a part of Gujarat where you’ll encounter several distinctive ethnic tribes, including the nomadic Rabari people who are known for their intricate embroidery and ornamental adornments.

HIMACHAL PRADESH & LADAKH Bordered by Tibet to the east, Himachal Pradesh incorporates great topographic diversity, from vast, bleak tracts of the rust-colored high-altitude Trans-Himalayan desert to dense green deodar forests, apple orchards, and cultivated terraces. Together with Ladakh (known as “Little Tibet”), this is also where you’ll find India’s largest concentration of Buddhists, their atmospheric gompas (monastic temples, including Tabo, the World Heritage Site in Spiti) a total contrast to the pageantry of Hindu temples. An easy—and highly recommended—detour from the region is to Amritsar to view the Golden Temple, arguably the most spiritually satisfying destination in India.

UTTARAKHAND Comprising the pre-Vedic territories of Garhwal and Kumaon, the mountains of the central Himalayan state of Uttarakhand are riven with ancient Hindu pilgrimage routes, and offer wonderful trekking routes. Nonhikers come here to practice yoga at Rishikesh on the banks of the holy river Ganges, or to take a road trip through the less-traveled parts of Kumaon, possibly ending their sojourn looking for tigers in Corbett National Park, which vies with Ranthambhore for accessibility from Delhi.

KOLKATA (CALCUTTA) & THE EAST Kolkata, the much-maligned capital of West Bengal, never fails to surprise the visitor with its beautiful albeit crumbling colonial architecture, sophisticated Bengali culture, and wonderful restaurants and hotels. From here you can either head north to the cooling breezes of West Bengal’s hill station, Darjeeling, famous for its tea, and on to the Buddhist state of Sikkim (in many ways even more remote than Himachal Pradesh); or head south to Orissa to visit the monolithic Sun Temple at Konark, yet another of India’s awesome array of World Heritage Sites.

4 The Religions of India

The diversity of religious belief and practice in India is both unique and somewhat confounding. What follows is a very brief introduction to the religions that took root in India; this will hopefully provide some insight into the patterns and diversity that exist. Tribal religions, ostensibly pagan, often mixed with elements and practices of mainstream religions, still exist in isolated pockets, but are declining rapidly and are not covered here.

HINDUISM To begin the unending journey of studying India, you need to take the first step toward understanding Hinduism, the religion of some 80% of India’s population. It can only be a “first step,” for like India itself, Hinduism defies attempts to clearly define or categorize, and what may be described as universal Hindu religious practice in one place may very well be contradicted by others elsewhere.

Hinduism has no ecclesiastical order, nor is there a central religious book. (While many religious texts like the ancient Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita exist, they are not the “word of God” as the Bible or the Koran.) It is not possible to convert to Hinduism; you are born Hindu, usually into one of the four main hierarchical castes (Brahmin, or “priest”; Kshatriya, or “warrior”; Vaisya, or “merchant”; Sudra, or “peasant”) or—at the very bottom of the social order—you are born Dalit,