India and Festivals - Diwali

Hello Friends, 

Here we are again from Phila Tours & Travels Pvt. Ltd. with yet another blog, giving information about India and this time we are right on time of the Festival of Diwali, also known as Deepawali. This festival is one of the most important, hugely awaited and immensely cherished also popularly known as “Festival of Lights” is celebrated with great gusto and is observed as an official holiday across India and in parts of Nepal. Originally, the name was Deepawali, which has its origin from Sanskrit, meaning “Rows of Deep”.

The Importance of Diwali: 

The festival of Diwali is not only significant to Hindus, but, has importance in Jainism, Arya Samaj and Sikhism also. It was on the birth of the new moon in the month of Kartik (Diwali Day) when Maharshi Dayananda, one of the greatest reformers of Hinduism and the founder of Arya Samaj attained his nirvana. Mahavir Tirthankar, considered to be the founder of modern Jainism also attained his nirvana on Diwali day. The third Sikh Guru Amar Das institutionalized Diwali as a Red-Letter Day when all Sikhs would gather to receive the Gurus blessings. In 1577, the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar was laid on Diwali. In 1619, the sixth Sikh Guru Hargobind, who was held by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, was released from the Gwalior fort along with 52 kings.

There are many Hindu Mythological stories over celebration of Diwali, some of them as such as: Welcoming Lord Rama with Sita and Laxman, after their 14 years of Exile from Ayodhya, another says about Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi being incarnated on this day of the Kartik month during the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthan), Also it is believed that on the day preceding Diwali, Lord Krishna killed the demon king Narakasur. The celebration of this freedom went on for two days including the Diwali day as a victory festival. Again another story goes as of Lord Vishnu, who in his dwarf incarnation vanquished the tyrant Bali and banished him to hell. Bali was allowed to return to earth once a year, to light millions of lamps to dispel the darkness and ignorance, and spread the radiance of love and wisdom according to the boon given by Lord Vishnu. It is also believed form Mahabharata Epic, it was this day when the Pandavas appeared from their 12 years of banishment as a result of their defeat in the hands of the Kauravas at the game of dice.

Even it is true that just like Christmas, Diwali also is celebrated world around, wherever Indians - Hindu are living, the Diwali is celebrated with the same enthusiasm, even, in 1999, Pope John Paul II performed a special Eucharist in an Indian church where the altar was decorated with lamps, the Pope had a ‘tilak’ marked on his forehead and his speech was bristled with references to the festival of light.

Traditional Celebration :

The Tradition of Diwali is ultimately symbolizing victory of good over evil and freedom from darkness, and it is always celebrated in such a way by decorating “Rangoli” and lighting “Diya” (earthen lamps), cleaning and decorating homes keeping doors and windows open, wearing new clothes and celebrating with fireworks. Each has its own meaning; Rangoli at door steps is for inviting good omen at home, lighting Diya is to illuminate light over darkness; cleaning and decoration of places by keeping doors and window open is to welcome Gods in the clean and pure place along with the happiness and prosperity, wearing new cloths is specially to feel the pureness and cleanliness of body and soul to pray towards Gods and Goddesses and celebrating the fireworks to thwart away the evil spirits and celebrating joy.

Though as each and every day has its own importance, Dhan Teras, is the day when tools of the trade are cleaned and given priority with worshiping, next day of Kali Chaudas, is the day when Goddess Kali had killed the Evil Asura Mahisasur, so on this day, Goddess Kali is worshiped and prayer are for keeping devotees away from the bad omen and make them safe, healthy and happy. Main days is the Amavasya, which also the last day of the Hindu calendar year and this day Goddess Laxmi’s pooja, prayer is done to show the gratefulness of the Goddess during the year which is ending and welcoming her to be with the devotees for the next year and bring the prosperity along with her. The next day, is the first day of New year, and it is celebrated by wishing near and dear for happy and prosperous new year, elders are praised and thanked for their support and guidance, young ones are given wishes to progress and happiness. The last day is Bhai Dooj, the story goes as The God of Death and keeper of Hell, Yamaraj, was invited on this day by his sister and was worshiped and served well, by this he was happy and asked for a boon to his sister, and she replied that, all bother be safe from going to Hell and sudden death, and Yama added that  if they go to Sister’s home and the sister who serves well to her brother on this day will not become widow.

Thus all 5 days are auspicious and celebrated with enthusiasm by young and old alike, New clothes are purchased for whole family, shopping of ornaments and other things are done, sweets are prepared or purchased eaten and shared along the family, friends and relatives, fireworks take place and the decoration and atmosphere becomes so lively, that without actually seeing, it would not be possible to understand,  So, we invite you to come to India during Diwali and enjoy the Festival personally and with friends and family, any information more required, do not hesitate to contact us.

Wish you Happy Diwali and Prosperous New year. May God bless you and wish you all be health, happiness and prosperity in life.

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.