Indian Travel Tourism

The world’s leading travel and Tourism Journal, “Conde Nast Traveler”, ranked India amongst top 4 preferred holiday destinations in the world! There are number of factors responsible for the growth of Indian tourism at global level. India is a peaceful country without any political disturbance except for few destinations where a tourist is required to get special permission from local authority to enter into that area. The country has a federal structure with elected Governments in States. There are 28 states and 7 Union Territories administered directly by the Central Government. There is healthy competition of tour packages among all the states to attract the tourists from all over the world for speedy economic growth and employment generation. Not only this Ministry of Tourism and Culture has recently launched a campaign called ‘Incredible India!’ in order to encourage different types of tourism in India.

Types of Indian Tourism

All types of tourism in India projecting India as the ultimate tourist spot. The reason why India has been doing well in all types of tourism is that India is a multilingual, multicultural and multireligious with tremendous geographical diversity, hospitality, uniqueness and charm. The different types of tourism in India are as follows:

Religious or Pilgrimage Tourism

India is famous for its temples and that is the reason that among the different kinds of tourism in India, pilgrimage tourism is increasing most rapidly. Narayan Sarovar, Sudamas Porbandar, Kabirvad Shuklatirth, Kayavarohan, Bhadrakali, Haridwar, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Varanasi, Gangotri and Yamunotri, Rishikesh, Shamlaji, Bodh Gaya, Ajmer, are important pilgrimage destinations which have kept alive the religious sentiments of the people where lakhs of pilgrims from all over the world make their religious tourism every year.

Archaeological Tourism

There are a number of places of archaeological importance which can be broadly classified as Stone Age, Indus Valley, Neolithic-Chalcolithic, Megalithic-Early Historic and Late Historic periods. Famous archaeological sites of the Stone Age are abound in Peninsular India, more prominently at Pallavaram in Tamil Nadu, Hunsgi in Karnataka, Kuliana in Orissa, Didwana in Rajasthan, and Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh. The sites of Neolithic-Chalcolithic Age are Inamgaon, Walki, Navdatoli, Ahar, Balathal, Gilund, Budhihal, Sangankalur, Maski, Brahmagiri, Utnur, Golbai, Pandu-Rajar-Dhibi, Chirand and Burzoham etc. Famous sites of Indus Valley Civilisation are Indus and Ghaggar river valleys, Kutch and Saurashtra, Dholavira, Kalibangan, Lothal, Surkotda and Rakhigari. Famous sites of Megalithic Phase are Brahmagiri, Maski and Rajan Kalur, Bhagimari, Gadabas etc. Excavations at Kosambi, Saranath, Hastinapura, Vaishali, Rajgir and Bodh Gaya, Chandraketugarh, Sisupalgarh etc. have revealed fortified cities dating back to this period. Famous sites of Buddhist Phase are Sanchi, Saranath, Ajanta, Kaneheri, Amravati, Sanati and Lalitgiri. Sites of Jainism Phase are Khandagiri-Udayagiri, Mathura. Some Islamic Archaeological sites are Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Hyderabad, northern Karnataka, Aurangabad, and Bhopal.