Graceful Winter of India

With regards to all,

On behalf of Phila tours and Travels Pvt. Ltd., we welcome you to the time of graceful winter in India, which starts from November and till March next year, Though the winter in India is never too harsh in many parts of the country, we take this opportunity to inform you about such provinces/States where the climate will still be very pleasant and comfortable to spend time of holiday season.  Though being a much diversified country and difference in topography, India has warm weather at one place and still snow fall in different part of Country at the same time, so whatever you are looking for, everything is here in India.

The winter is very mild in the Provinces like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka in South and in Maharashtra, pleasant in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Moderate in Utter Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Haryana and you may find temperature near to single degree centigrade in some of the states of north like Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and a snow fall at the peak of winter season in Uttranchal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

So, here you are, now you have a clear Idea of winter of India has decreasing temperature in the provinces as you go from South to North, and there are various packages available for your good time to spend at any part of India, for any reason you want to, could be such as for Honeymoon or simply Family outing for few days, for Shopping or visiting new places, may be just relaxing or enjoying the view of surroundings from your hotel room balcony, trekking or adventure tours, you name it and we can arrange for you in the most comfortable way for you.

For warm weather during winter, we can suggest you to take your holidays time in southern states as mentioned above to see cities and places such as Cochin, Wayanad, Calicut, Alllepey, Kovalam, Kumarkom, Trivandrum and a hilly area of Munnar which will be a bit cooler compared to the other places, though will be pleasant. It is said that all ayurveda treatments will have more positive effects during winter and what better places can be there besides Kerala? So you can have specialized packages and tours like Ayurveda Treatments or Backwater and houseboat tour. Even if you are around Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, you still have a chance to avail the specialized Temple tour to visit famous temple and pray for peace, prosperity and betterment of life. The most important, if you like to visit the Heritage sites, this will be possible in Karnataka, with the Ancient Civilization of Hampi.


While you go still upwards in India from Karnataka, you can spend time on the lovely beaches of Goa, here, it is the best time to spend your time on the beach, for relaxing, swimming or simply strolling on the sand, Goa has numerous beaches, forts, churches and temples, and you will have all the best options to choose suitable hotels or any category as Goa is developed as tourist state.

If you are planning to enjoy your time in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, we can suggest you something beautiful related with heritage tours covering AJANTA and Ellora in Maharashtra and Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, oh and not to forget the Tiger Safari in Pench near Nagpur in Maharashtra and Banghavgadh in Madhya Pradesh, besides all other tours or holidays packages.

Similar way for Gujarat; the only Province/Region having ban/restriction on sale or consumption of alcohol drinks without proper permit occupied in advanced; here, we can also offer different bird sanctuaries, Gir Lion Safaris and Jungle Safaris along with visits to some of the world famous temple of Ambaji, Palitana, Somnath, Dwarka, besides the Proclaimed tour of Foot Steps of Mahatma Gandhi.  As Mahatma Gandhi (real name Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also called as Father of the Nation) was born in Porbander town of Southern Gujarat. 

With Rajasthan, the Province/State which has most of the Havelis and Castles, now very beautifully converted to Heritage Hotels, we have specific tours related with stay in such old palaces and Havelis while along with that you can also enjoy the Desert Safari with camel ride in Jaisalmer, Elephant Ride in Jaipur, boat rides in Udaipur or Mount Abu, and also visit the Arcitectural monuments of old palaces and temples to enjoy the fine stone work, colorful paintings on the walls and see the magnificent furniture used by the original kings during their era of rule, Oh did we mention anything about the karni mata temple near Bikaner, don't forget to visit this temple, it sure has surprise tucked in different way you would ever see in the world.

Now let us move to the moderate Winter conditions, where temperature drops even to single digit at night and during the peak winter time, an early morning fog is normal view, that can happen in the northern states of India, one of them being Bihar. Still the day temperature is very comfortable in the range of high tens to mid twenties Celsius. Here we can arrange for the Buddhist Pilgrimage tour covering cities of importance with the Buddhist religion such as; Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Vaishali, Rajgir, Gaya, Patna etc. Similar way in the Province of Utter Pradesh The Ayodhya, the birth place of Lord Rama is again a pilgrimage place for Hindu, though in the capital city Lucknow, you may enjoy sightseeing of architectural places such as palaces, mosques and other monuments erected during the Moghul Era. Another city Varanasi right on the banks of Holy Ganga River, has an importance as a sacred place for Hindu religion.

Here is the best part of India for all those who are visiting this lovely country for the first time, I am sure they will not accept to miss the famous Golden Triangle Tour, covering the Capital City of India, Delhi for its modern and medieval architectural and historical places, Agra for the top best of the Seven Wonders of the World Taj Mahal, the monument of love and Jaipur for the heritage and cultural of respect love and care, the colorful life and culture.

Some of the Eastern States, not yet so famous in the foreign countries for tourism purpose, but when this Country itself has so much to see, it will be unwise to miss anything, such as Jarkhand having its capital city of Ranchi and Chhatisgarh with Raipur as its Capital, there sure is lots to offer, such as Jungle Safaris, nature tours, Temples and cultural tours of local tribes. Another Province, Orissa for world famous temples of Konark and Puri and West Bengal for the lovely Sunderban River Cruise and tiger camp.

On the farther part of East, the North-East States/Provinces such as Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, have a joy of spending your time for relaxing and detoxicating yourself from the hectic life of metro cities, take a peek at those plantations of Tea and Coffee, the lovely hilly areas with the beautiful greenery view, These will be the best places to spend early or late winter with beautiful weather with low temperature and high altitude.

Though this is not the end, we have reached to the level where the winter will start showing its white shades during the peak season. In Uttaranchal Pradesh one can have the Jungle safari in Jim Corbett, also this province will be very much suitable for those who are interested in Yoga, visiting ancient temples of India and even for trekking and white water rafting in and around Rishikesh, Haridwar, Badrinath and Kedarnath. You can have a peaceful relaxing holidays in Dehradun too and Auli could be the place for skiing. From here we will move upwards to Himachal Pradesh, where now you will start seeing snow and peaks of high mountains, Kufri, Shimla, Kullu, Manali could be named few.

Finally, we come to the top of the Country, to province/State of Jammu and Kashmir, the Crown of India, with beautiful temple of Mata Vaishnodeviin Katra near Jammu and have a lovely road trip to Srinagar, with scenic view. Here is the place which would be lovely snow covered peaks and skiing possibilities in peak time of winter, Moghul era constructions of Gardens, famous Dal lake and house boat stay, all to be enjoyed in most relaxing with ease of time some of the places to see also can be mentioned as Gulmarg, Sonmarg, Pahalgam worth enjoying during Winter as well as Summer.  

Well, as the weather of India is dramatically different during the months around the year, but the best time to visit India is during the winter and the small information we provided here in the blog will give you idea where to spend your holiday during the winter as per your choice of coolness in weather as well as activities you would prefer for holidays, and all the places mentioned will have their own specific style of Food for you to indulge your taste buds too, moreover, each and every province have their own specific specialties of producing and/or manufacturing items, which can always be searched and brought to bring back with you to cherish the memories of places, in details about such special items to purchase as souvenir, we will discuss later, meanwhile you enjoy the reading and we will be back soon with more information about India. Meanwhile we look forward to have a chance to manage your tour to be much enjoyable and memorable. So do Contact Us.

India and Festivals - Navaratri and Dussehra

Hello friends, Good day to all....

After giving you some useful information about different places in and around Nashik, now we from Phila Tours & Travels take this opportunity to introduce you to one of the famous Hindu festival which is starting from 16^th October 2012 in India. It is one of the most special festivals of Hinduism in every possible way, which is important from religious, devotional, moral and materialistic ways.  This very important Hindu festival celebrated in India, which is devoted to Goddess Durga (the Goddess of Power). The festival is celebrated with great reverence and faith across the country. 

Yes, we are talking about the festival called NAVARATRI. This is a festival dedicated to the worship of a Hindu deity Shakti (Adhya Shakti or Durga). The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit, Nava meaning nine and Ratri meaning nights. These nine nights are in parise of different forms of Goddess Durga, one for each day and their names are as Shailputri, Brahmcharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandmata, Katyaini, Kaalratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhatri., the last day Dassera also known as Vijayadashmi, this festival signifies power, wealth, prosperity and knowledge and the victory of good over evil.

On the First Day of Navratri “Ghatasthapana” is an important ritual during Navratri. It literally means installing a pot which symbolizes Goddess Shakti. A Pot with image of Goddess Durga embossed on the side of it is place in the Puja room. The pot is placed on a bed of sand at the auspicious time of the first day of the Navratri. It is believed Goddess Shakti blesses the Pot with her presence. In this earthenware pot a betel nut, coconut, and silver coin are placed.

Navratri festival is celebrated in a most unique and unusual way, it holds special significance for Gujratis (from Gujarat Province/State)  and Bengalis (from West Bengal Province/State) and one can see it in the zeal and fervor of the people with which they indulge in the festive activities of the season. Dandiya and Garba Rass are the highlights of the festival, particularly in the state of Gujarat, Navratri is celebrated with the famous Garba dance or Dandiya Rasa. Apart from Gujarat, Dandiya Ras and Garba is a common feature in all over India and especially in cities like Mumbai. 

Garba is the most colorful form of the dance. The performers, both men and women, would clad themselves in colorful and magnetically attractive traditional attire. The women wear their vibrant, mirror-work ghaghras and cholis in different styles and the men in their traditional attire; a decorated pot with attractive designs is ceremoniously placed with a light inside and the women folk dance in a circle around it, singing 'traditional songs' or 'garbas'. The Garba of Gujarat is the most popular women's folk dance of Gujarat. The word "Garba" by which the pot as well as the dance is known is etymologically close to the word “Garbh” meaning womb. In this context the lamp in the pot, symbolically represent life within a womb. In older times, Navratri was associated with the fertility of Mother Earth who feed us as her children. The Dandiya Ras or the dance as this is called is played with dandiyas or small decorated wooden sticks. 

Basically the dance form known as ras garba or dandiya ras, which uses small wooden sticks, comes from Lord Krishna's worship rather than Goddess worship, from the “Gop” culture of Saurashtra and Kutch. Stories of relationships between Krishna and the Gopis, and their emotions, also often make their way into the ras garba music.

In different parts of India, different legends and mythology describe the history of Navaratri:

Western India: 

Navratri' is the festival of worship of the Goddess Shakti. It is a period of nine days, when the Goddess fought the Demon 'Mahishashura'. The demon Mahishasur, after being given a boon by the fire god Agni that he wouldn't be killed by weapons bearing masculine names, caused grave destruction and terror. The gods sought the help of Lord Shiva, who advised the invocation of the goddess Shakti. With the gods' prayers, a divine luster sprang from the heart of Lord Shiva and the bodies of all the gods and formed the goddess Adhya Shakti (the Original Pure Power). The gods gave her ornaments, arms and a lion as a vehicle. She fought with the evil Mahishasur for nine long days and nights, and at last, resulted in the beheading of Mahisasur on the tenth. The nine nights came to be known as Navratri, while the tenth day was called Vijaya Dashami, the tenth day that brought the triumph of good over the evil. Thus performing of Garba and the 'Dandiya' are forms of worship of the Goddess. 

Eastern India: 

As per the legend prevalent in East India, Daksha, the king of the Himalayas, had a beautiful and virtuous daughter called Uma (one of the reincarnation of Goddess Durga) . She wished to marry Lord Shiva, since her childhood. In order to win over the Lord, she worshipped him and managed to please him as well. When Shiva finally came to marry her, the tiger-skin clad groom displeased Daksha and he broke off all the relationships with his daughter and son-in-law. One fine day, Daksha organized a yagna, but did not invite Lord Shiva for the same. Uma (another name most commonly known as Parvati) got so angry at her father's rude behavior towards her husband, that she decided to end her life by jumping into the agnikund (Fire Place) of the yagna, where she was united with eternity (since then, she came to be known as Sati). However, she took re-birth and again won Shiva as her groom and peace was restored. It is believed that since then, Uma comes every year with Ganesh, Kartik, Saraswati and Laxmi and two of her best friends or 'sakhis', called Jaya and Vijaya, to visit her parent's home during Navaratri. 

In Northern India from Ramayana:

Yet another legend of Navratri relates to the Hindu epic Ramayana. It goes that Lord Rama worshipped Goddess Durga in nine aspects, for nine days, in order to gather the strength and power to kill Ravana. He wanted to release Sita from the clutches of powerful demon king Ravana, who had abducted her. Those nine nights became to be known as Navratri and the tenth day, on which Lord Rama killed Ravana, came to be called Vijayadashmi or Dusshera, signifying Rama's (good) triumph over Ravana (evil). Even today the statues made of fireworks are prepared Ravana and burnt on 10th Day with a spectacular view to see. 

In Southern Parts of India:  

South Indians spiritual focus appears to be slightly different from that of others. Though the nine nights of Puja are devoted to goddesses Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswati equally. In Kerala, on 10^th day children are initiated into learning. This day marks the beginning of any type of learning. Dance and music concerts are performed in the nine nights of Durga Puja. In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Dolls are arranged at homes, shops and temples, called "Golu". Music and dance festivals are organized, tiger dance is performed. Performers paint themselves like tigers in bright yellow, red and black, and dance to the beats of instruments. In Karnataka, Mysore Dasara, the royal festival depicting the triumph over evil, is of legendary splendourt dates back to the Wodeyar dynasty. The entire Mysore is decorated and illuminated. The elephant rides are held as part of the festival which is world-famous. Sports events, exhibitions, poets meet, and other cultural events by world famous musicians are also held.

All in all, this is the festival celebrated all over India in one or the other way of praising the Goddess Dugra and triumph of Good over Evil. This whole 9 nights celebration comes to an end by the 10^th day with the blessings from Godess and faith in her. With this, here we are leaving you to have advantage of the prayer (aarti) of Godess Durga and with the wish that May Godess Dugra give you courage to fight all evil and have better life for yourself and your loved ones. For any further information and packages, feel free to contact us anytime.