Pilgrimage Sites Rural Pleasures Indus Valley Great Food Year of India in Canada 2011
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Incredible Culture: Pilgrimage Sites Rural Pleasures Indus Valley Great Food Year Of India In Canada 2011 A DESTINATION GUIDE SUPPLEMENT TO THE JANUARY 2011 ISSUE OF CAD-14976-5 4C FP A380 Shower L:7x10, T:8.125 x 10.875 Canadian Traveller Magazine For too long, flying has meant compromise. Isn’t it time for a new Prepare choice? The choice to unwind with a hot shower. Close the doors to your Private Suite. Or relax in the Lounge. Choose to arrive for landing. better than you departed. Discover more at emirates.com/ca The Emirates A380. A sky full of choices. Fly Emirates. Keep discovering. emirates.com/ca Over 400 international awards and over 100 destinations worldwide. Discover frequent yer bene ts at skywards.com HK#103140 (BAR TEST) Full Page CAD-14976-5 4C A380 Shower 1/3Pg 2.25 x 10 Canadian Traveller Magazine Celebrate India Lose yourself. First Class Private Suites. Yes, celebrate India. Its culture. Its faiths. Its history. Its people, its places. Its food. Celebrate it all in the pages of this destination guide and with fellow Canadians during Stay up late. The Year Of India In Canada 2011 celebrations. First & Business Class onboard Lounge. Within these pages learn about the During the Year Of India In Canada 2011 many beliefs held by Indians and their celebrations, look for trade shows and sacred places and festivals. Learn about festivals in the city near you. Turn to the ancient civilizations along the Indus page 14 for a schedule. Valley, and the contrasts of Andhra Pradesh where Hyderabad anchors For more information on travel to India’s software industry, and early India, contact Indiatourism, Toronto at Buddhist sailors embarked to spread [email protected] or visit the word. Learn to bargain, learn to www.incredibleindia.org. For more appreciate Indian cuisine. Most of all information on the Year Of India In learn to love this complicated, beautiful, Canada 2011 celebrations, visit exciting, serene country. www.yearofindiaincanada2011.ca INCREDIBLE INDIA – A DESTINATION GUIDE SUPPLEMENT TO THE JANUARY 2011 ISSUE OF CANADIAN TRAVELLER Published 12 times a year by Cover: IndiaToursim. Sleep in. 201-2080 Hartley Avenue Coquitlam, BC Canada V3K 6W5 Tel: (604) 699-9990 Contents © 2011 by ACT Communications Inc. Business Class with lie-flat beds. All Rights Reserved. ISBN 1207-1463 Fax: (604) 699-9993 27 Canadian Traveller January 2011 INDIA TOURISM, TORONTo – celebrATING 50 YEARS OF TOURISM IN Canada 3 HK#103140 (Bar Test) 1/3 pg Having Faith Discover India’s Kaleidoscope of Sacred Sites and Beliefs by Judi Lees It is a misty morning on the Ganga River in Varanasi. As the sun sheds its early golden glow we sit in a boat to float a small candle and flower in the dark, wide water. Ghats – places of worship – border the shoreline and hundreds of Hindus are on wide steps or waist deep in the water chanting the Gayatri Mantra, an important and ancient Hindu prayer that some believe dates back 6,000 years. Eighty-three per cent of India’s population Pilgrimage Places: Bodhgaya, are the master of your own destiny. They of 1.15 billion people are Hindus, Sarnath, Kaushambhi, Nalanda, believe in karma and meditation as means however, there are also followers of Shravasti, Kushinagar, Rajgir, Vaishali to enlighten and free the soul however, Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism and Festivals: Buddha Poornima because of stringent rules such as many more faiths in this culturally rich celibacy, the “great vows” are utilized by country. Since visiting sacred places is Christianity monks and “limited vows” are prescribed a burgeoning market in tourism today, The roots of Christianity run deep in for ordinary citizens. here are some highlights of India’s major Indian culture, dating from 52, when St. Pilgrimage Places: Palitana, Ranakpur, religions and pilgrimage sites. Thomas, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, arrived Sravanabelagola, Dilwara Temple, and spent 12 years preaching the word Khandagiri Caves, Undaygiri Caves Hinduism of God. The apostle arrived in southern Festivals: Festival of Navpad Oli, Diwali Hinduism is based on the four Vedas, India and even today the majority of the world’s most ancient scriptures. Indian Christians – about 2.3 per cent Islam Hindus believe in karma, that each of the population – live there, however, With a history dating back to the 12th individual creates his own destiny and there are many places of worship of all century in India, there are close to 150 they believe in reincarnation. The religion denominations throughout India. India’s million devotees of Islam. Their beliefs are encompasses every aspect of daily life. most famous Christian, Nobel Peace based on the Quran; there are six Articles Pilgrimmage Places: Allahabad, Haridwar, Prize winner, Mother Teresa, was born in of Faith – the first stating that Allah is God Varanasi, Vrindavan, Puri, Tirumala- Albania but became an Indian citizen and – and they follow the Five Pillars of Faith, Tirupati, Katra-Vaishno Devi Temple, made her life work in Calcutta. rituals that must be adhered to as part of Rameswaram, Dwarka, Mahabalipuram, Pilgrimage Places: Basilica of Bom their religion. Islam is the second-most Kanchipuram, Tanjore, Trichy, Madurai. Jesus, Church of St Cajetan, Church practiced religion in India, with more than Festivals: Holi, Dussera and Diwali. of the Sacred Heart, Santa Cruz 13.4 per cent of the population adhering Basilica, Cathedral Church of to its beliefs. Buddhism St Thomas, Little Mount, Basilica Pilgrimage Places: Jama Masjid-Old Believed to be the worlds oldest religion, of Our Lady of Good Health Delhi, Ajmer Sharif, Haji Ali-Mumbai, it is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Festivals: Easter, Christmas Fatehpur Sikri, Moti Masjid-Bhopal Gautama, known as the Buddha. Festivals: Ramadan The basics of Buddhism include Jainism the Middle Way (following a path One of the many doctrines of Jainism of moderation) and the Four Noble is to regard every living being as you Truths (the fact that life means suffering do yourself – in other words, be kind to and how this should be handled) and others. The members of this faith – OURISM T meditating to reach Nirvana. Today 3.2 million in India – that dates back NDIA I between 360 and 500 million people are to the 6th century believe in non- : followers and about three per cent of violence, controlling your mind HOTOS P Indians are Buddhist. and senses and that you The Ghats, Varanasi, one of Hinduism’s holiest places. 4 INDIA TOURISM, TORONTo – celebrATING 50 YEARS OF TOURISM IN Canada January 2011 Canadian Traveller 28 Christianity came to India in 52, with St. Thomas, Sikhs consider the Hari Mandir, or Golden one of the apostles. Temple, the holiest shrine of their faith. Sikhism It teaches that fire, water, air and earth Festivals: All of the traditional Jewish This unique Indian religion was founded are sacred and therefore the dead are festivals are celebrated not buried or cremated but simply left by Guru Nanak in northern India some Animism 500 years ago. The followers live under in a high tower – Tower of Silence – to Not a religion itself, Animism can be found the guidelines of the Holy Granth, the disintegrate. While this sounds heathen, in the believes of many religions around writings of 10 gurus who followed Guru many Parsis have been instrumental in the world. In India the tribal cultures, Nanak. Sikhs, easily recognized by the developing modern Indian industry. found mainly along the Himalayas, in the turban-wearing men, believe in one God, Pilgrimage Places: Sanjan hilly areas of central India and scattered karma and reincarnation. They negate Festivals: Sadeh throughout western and southern India the caste system of the Hindu belief and Judaism believe spirits live not only in humans, but they do not go on pilgrimages or fast Jewish traders arrived on the southeast in the natural world around us. and take part in rituals. About two per coast about 2,500 years ago, first cent of India’s population is Sikh, mostly For more information on pilgrimage settling in Cranganore. Today, the living in Punjab. travel in India, contact Indiatourism, majority live in Mumbai, Mizoram Pilgrimage Places: Hari Mandir (Golden Toronto at [email protected], and Manipur. The Manipur Jewish Temple), Five Takhts, Anandpur Sahab or visit www.incredibleindia.org community consideres itself to be the Festivals: Baisakhi, Hola Mohalla descendants of the Manasseh (Menashe) Zoroastrianism Tribe, one of the 10 lost tribes. Parsis, followers of Zoroastrianism, Pilgrimage Places: Synagogue of number around 90,000 in India and most Mattancherry, Pardesi Synagogue, Tifereth are settled in Mumbai. Founded perhaps Synagogue, Magen David Synagogue, Neveh Shalome Synagogue Three per cent as early as the 6th century in Persia (Iran), of India’s the religion believes population in one God. follows the teachings of the Buddha. 29 Canadian Traveller January 2011 INDIA TOURISM, TORONTo – celebrATING 50 YEARS OF TOURISM IN Canada 5 Digging Through Time The Cradle Of Indian Civilization Slowly Reveals its Secrets By Mark Sissons India’s history begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization, which dates back to around 3000 BC, and rivals Sumer and Egypt as humanity’s oldest. In fact, all the ancient Egyptian mummies that have been excavated have been wrapped in Indian cotton – indications that the Indus Valley Civilization could be older. In its prime this early society spread from the present borders of Iran and Afghanistan to Kashmir, Delhi and southern Gujarat, covering an area larer than its contemporary civilizations Sumeria, Egypt and China. Hailed as the land of urban culture, the Indus Valley has captured the imaginations of generations of historians, Today, visitors to India can visit some of its excavated cities and explore the mysteries that continue to surround its origins, culture and decline.