Exciting India - Bikram Grewal Exciting Series

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dance in Chennai. A view of the desert city of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan-the ramparts of Jaisalmer fort can be seen in the background. A streetside shopkeeper displays his wares-bales of colourful wool.

      mARK TWAIN'S DESCRIPTION more than a century ago—"the land of dreams and contrasts, of palaces and hovels... of giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, of cobras and the jungle, the country of a hundred nations, of a thousand religions and a million gods,"—encapsulates the wondrous variety and bewildering contradictions that are still true of India today. Bustling cities alongside dusty villages where elders sit in council under the shade of the banyan, slums that hover at the fringes of high-rises, camels and cows and wild-haired sadhus—these are but some of the elements that make India a fascinating travel destination.

      Men sitting around campfires at India's largest cattle fair, in Pushkar, Rajasthan.

      A sadhu in ashes meditating at the banks of the Ganges at Benares.

      A solitary boatman on the Ganges.

      a rich

       historical record

      Successive waves of settlers-sometimes bringing goods for trade, sometimes armies to conquer territory, and sometimes in search of land and peace-have left an indelible mark on the landscape and cultures of India.

      Terracotta cart, Harappan civilization, c. 2700 BC. Sculpture depicting the Didarganj yakshi. Painting showing the tantric deity Tara, late 19th century.

      tHE EARLIEST KNOWN INDIAN CIVILIZATION is that of the Indus Valley (c. 3rd millennium BC) centred on Harappa and Mohenjodaro, now in Pakistan. The Aryans from Central Asia were the first invaders: they spread through north India to Bengal, displacing the Dravidian inhabitants. The Aryan religion based on the Vedas was incorporated into Brahminism or early Hinduism. Alexander the Great invaded the Punjab in 327 BC, but the Greeks were driven out by Chandragupta of the Mauryan empire. Hinduism was the state religion until the reign of King Ashoka, who replaced it with Buddhism.

      On Ashoka's death, the Mauryan empire disintegrated and northern India was then governed by a succession of dynasties until it succumbed to the Turks and Persians under Mahmud of Ghazni. These separate Muslim kingdoms were in turn subdued by Babur (1526), the founder of the Mughal empire. During the reign of Akbar (1556—1605), Mughal power was extended to most of northern and central India. Mughal architecture reached its peak under the rule of Shah Jahan (1627-58), but the empire disintegrated after the reign of Aurangzeb (1658-1707).

      Stone Buddha head, Sarnath, 5th century. An ancient Hindu seal. Unicorn seal, Harappa civilization, c. 2700 BC. The ramparts of an ancient fort.

      European interest in India began with Vasco da Gama's arrival (1498) at Calicut. During the 1600s, the British East India Company established trading posts at Surat, Bombay and Calcutta, driving off Portuguese and Dutch opposition. With the rapid decline of the Mughals, the British and the French extended their influence over the native states in the 18th century. This gave rise to Anglo-French conflict, which culminated in the expulsion of the French by the military victories of Clive. By 1850, the British Raj covered the whole of India.

      Sword of Tipu Sultan, Srirangapatnam, AD 1795.

      Detail of marble inlay work on the sandstone gateway of Akbar's tomb at Sikandra, Agra.

      Gold coin of Mughal emperor Shahjahan.

      Illustrated folio of the Baburnama, depicting a royal hunt. The manuscript chronicles the life and times of the first Mughal emperor, Babur.

      The still waters of a river reflect the fort built on its bank.

      Early missionaries from Portugal came by sea to Goa on the western coast of India.

      A view of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, built in Indo-Saracenic style by Corbusier and Baker.

      tHE INDIAN DESIRE for self-government led to the formation of the Indian National Congress (1885), and after the First World War, Mahatma Gandhi led a national movement of passive resistance against British rule that finally brought independence to India. Soon thereafter, on August 17, 1947, the subcontinent was partitioned between India and Pakistan.

      A decorative element of the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta, conceived by Lord Curzon as a monument to Queen Victoria.

      'Court House Street', Calcutta, a painting by James Baillie Fraser.

      The camel-borne Border Security Force of India at Beating Retreat, a ceremony that celebrates the significance of the armed forces in the Republic of India.

      a nation of dazzling

       ethnic diversity

      The diversity among India's billion-strong citizens is mind-boggling, and the numerous ethnic and cultural variations make for an incredible array of humanity.

      Women at the Tarnetar fair in Gujarat.

      Children dressed in holi colours.

      Bismillah Khan-India's renowned shehnai player.

      A Sikh Nihang warrior.

      A young woman in traditional dress and jewellery.

      iNDIA IS A LAND of over a billion people but it is impossible to characterize a typical Indian, given the immense diversity of its peoples. Centuries of conquests and colonization,

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