Category: News

The Prayagraj Kumbh mela, the grand congregation of Hindu devotees that takes place four times over a course of 12 years, begins today. The festivities commenced with the ‘shahi snan’ or the holy dip with sadhus from 13 akhadas (tent) taking a dip in the rivers along where the mela takes place. The ritual of Shahi Snan dates back to centuries. It is believed that the tradition of a Shahi Snan meaning a royal dip, began during the 14th-16th century. Today, millions of pilgrims, plunged themselves into the cold waters during the first Shahi Snan, that began at around 4am. ... Read more

SATTE – photo from 2018 event Kashmir Tourism department is participating in a number of promotional events and exhibitions within and outside the country with a view to promote the tourism products of the state. As per a statement issued by the department on Monday, the department will showcase its tourism products at SATTE (South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange),  South Asia’s largest travel and tourism event, to be held from January 16- 18 at Greater Noida. The event will be followed by another Road Show at Pune on January 21, where the department will be interacting with the media ... Read more

Indian temples are known for its own unique offerings and rituals. If you are anywhere near the Brajeshwari temple in Himachal Pradesh, you would be lucky to see the installation of a butter idol during Makar Sankranthi, which is tomorrow. Every year the preparations for installing the butter idol begin on Makar Sankranti, which is celebrated as a week-long festival at the temple. The goddess idol will be made of 2,500 kg of clarified butter in a famous temple in this Himachal Pradesh town. The idol of Goddess Brajeshwari Devi, being prepared by using ‘desi ghee’ after purification with holy water 101 times ... Read more

Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore This year, Pongal – the festival of Tamil Nadu- will be celebrated in collaborating with Isha Yoga Centre, Coimbatore. This year’s festivities will take place on the centre’s premises in Coimbatore from 3pm to 6pm on 16th January 2018. “People from across the world with distinct culture and religion will join the Pongal celebrations that will include Pongal pots, sugarcane, rangoli and traditional games,” stated a release from the Yoga center. On the occasion of Mattu Pongal, 15 varieties of native cattle breeds like Kankarej, Kangayam, Sahiwal, Gir and others will be exhibited to depict the ... Read more

Almost all of us have multiple Instagram accounts – one for self and one for business. Managing those accounts have been a headache all these times. But, now Instagram, with an aim to simplify the lives for multi-Instagram account owners, has begun rolling out a new feature that lets users post their pics to multiple accounts simultaneously. The ‘self regram’ feature is available and can be accessed at the last stage of posting a photo or video. Users will now be able to choose accounts they wish to publish their post simultaneously on. However, the new feature will not allow ... Read more

As per statistics form the tourism department, during the tourist season – from October to April, 26 luxury ships with around 35,000 tourists have arrived in Kerala. Where the projected number of tourists for the season was around 50,000; the number of tourists arrived within two months is considered to be a positive sign in the cruise tourism sector. The Cochin Port Trust has got Rs 3 crore as of now. Cruise tourism is proved to be beneficial for the local market. It is reported that a tourist spent approximately Rs 25,000 per day on major tourism centers in Kerala. ... Read more

Japan-based All Nippon Airways (ANA) is planning to launch its direct daily flight from Tokyo to Chennai starting from October. “We are focused on building the relationship between India and Japan. For this, ANA is planning to launch its operations from Tokyo to Chennai. Though this is the initial phase of discussion, but if it materialises, it will be a daily flight,” said Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism at the reception of 3rd Meeting of India- Japan Tourism Council. All Nippon Airways operates in Delhi and Mumbai. Chennai is the third line in India. If the plan is ... Read more

Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram voted the ‘most welcoming place in India’ as per a poll conducted by Booking.com. According to the 7th annual edition of the Guest Review Awards survey, five destinations from Kerala got place in the total 10 most visited places in India. Varkala came first, in the Top 10 list in India, followed by Kochi (Kerala) and Jaisalmer (Rajasthan). Thekkady (4th Place in India), Alappuzha (6th) and Munnar (8th) are the other three destinations from Kerala got enlisted in the top ten list of India. Jodhpur in Rajasthan (5th), Puducherry in Tamil Nadu (7th), Udaipur in Rajsthan (9th) ... Read more

The government of India is constructing 44 strategic roads along the border with China at a cost of nearly Rs 21,000 crore and over 2100 km of axial and lateral roads in Punjab and Rajasthan, abutting Pakistan. According to an annual report (2018-19) of the Central Public Works Department, the agency has been asked to construct 44 ‘strategically important’ roads along the India-China border to ensure quick mobilisation of troops in case of a conflict. The nearly 4000-km-long Line of Actual Control between India and China touches areas from Jammu & Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. The report comes at a ... Read more

Arrival of winter in Kashmir helped the tourism sector valley, as most of the hotels and guest houses in Kashmir’s Gulmarg and Jammu’s Patnitop are full, as tourists from across the country have been flocking to enjoy the cold weather and snow. “Today both Gulmarg and Patnitop are witnessing 100 per cent occupancy. Over 1500 rooms of hotels, guest houses and government huts are occupied in the famous ski resort Gulmarg,” said Rigzin Samphel, Tourism Secretary, to the media on Sunday. “The Patnitop hills and its adjacent resorts are also chock-full with local visitors as well as from north India ... Read more

The main entrance of the temple Considered as a most important pilgrimage site in Kerala, the iconic Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram has been the prime attraction for the domestic tourists and devotees in and outside the state over the years. And, with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting this richest temple in the world, the authorities are expecting a major thrust in religious tourism in the capital city. The Padmanabhaswamy temple has been witnessing a footfall around 10-15 lakhs pilgrims annually, where the occupancy rate of hotels and lodges is always 100 per cent almost round the year. The temple hit headlines ... Read more

Start the New Year by exploring new cultures, relaxing on the beach, or enjoying a city break in popular destinations across Emirates’ extensive network. Fulfil your 2019 dreams of a city break in New York or visit family in Cairo by booking tickets starting today until 22 January 2019 for travel from 10 January until 30 November, 2019. Emirates passengers travelling to the Middle East, Europe, Africa, America, Asia and the Pacific can enjoy Economy Class and Business Class fares starting at: Travellers can also book with Emirates Holidays and enjoy a five-star holiday experience for an additional spend starting ... Read more

Turkey’s Hasankeyf and its surrounding limestone cliffs are home to thousands of human-made caves, 300 medieval monuments and a unique canyon ecosystem. But, the 12,000-year-old town is doomed to disappear in the coming months. An artificial lake, part of the Ilisu hydroelectric dam project, will swallow it up. The dam has been built further downstream the Tigris. Ilisu is a central element of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), a land development plan to boost the economy of the long-neglected region, through hydroelectric energy and irrigation. The dam will be Turkey’s second largest. It has been built further downstream of the Tigris ... Read more

SpiceJet has announced the launch of 12 non-stop flights and frequencies from January 20. “With the new flights, passengers from Dehradun, Jammu, Jaipur, Amritsar, Varanasi, Madurai and Vijayawada can now easily travel to a host of other cities,” the airline said in a statement. “SpiceJet will be the first Indian carrier to introduce daily direct flights on the Dehradun-Jammu, Dehradun-Jaipur and Dehradun-Amritsar routes,” it said. The airline has also enhanced frequencies on the Jaipur-Varanasi (2nd frequency), Chennai-Madurai (4th frequency) and Hyderabad-Vijayawada (3rd frequency) sectors. The flights on all the routes are daily, except on the Chennai-Madurai route, where the flights ... Read more

AccorHotels has opened the 189-room ibis Kolkata Rajarhat, marking the debut of the brand in the City of Joy, Kolkata. This is the group’s 50th property in India, taking the brand’s total inventory in the country to over 3,000 rooms. At the launch, AccorHotels also announced the arrival of a new strategy for the ibis brand, designed keeping in mind the demands of today’s travellers. “The ibis brand and hotels in India have been successful in integrating into the hearts of Indians and our partnership with InterGlobe Hotels has been integral to this success. Last year we launched ibism, a campaign ... Read more