Smallest but one of the Beautiful hill station in India - Matheran, Maharastra, India * It is a city and the smallest Hill Station in Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. * It is located on the Western Ghats range at an elevation of around 800 m (2,625 feet) above sea level, located around 90 km from Mumbai, and 120 km from Pune. * Matheran is an eco-sensitive region, declared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India. * It is one of the few places in the world where vehicles are not allowed, which makes the place different from others. * The other mode of transport is a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge narrow gauge railway, which links the town to Neral. * There are lots of lookout points that provide spectacular views of the surrounding hills and valleys. Matheran has a reasonably dense forest cover. * There are around 38 designated look-out points in Matheran, including the Panorma Point that provides a 360 degree view of the surrounding area, Neral town that have a breathtaking lovely view of sunset and sunrise. * The Louisa Point, which offers crystal clear view of the Prabal Fort. * The other points are the One Tree Hill Point, Hart Point, Monkey Point, Porcupine Point, Rambgh Point, and more. * Best season to visit this place is monsoon. Tourist can experience the scenic view of waterfalls.
The Mumbai Pune Expressway or Yashwantrao Chavan Mumbai Pune Expressway * It is India's first six-lane concrete, high-speed, access controlled tolled expressway. * It spans a distance of 93 km connecting Mumbai, the administrative capital of Maharashtra and the financial capital of India, with Pune, an industrial and educational hub. * This expressway introduced new levels of speed and safety in automobile transportation to Indian roads. * The expressway has reduced the travel time between the cities of Mumbai and Pune to approximately two hours. * The expressway starts at Kalamboli (near Panvel) and ends at Dehu Rd. (near Pune). * It cleaves through the scenic Sahyadri mountain ranges via passes and tunnels. * Separate tunnels for traffic in each direction. * Complete fencing to avoid humans/animals crossing the expressway. * No two wheelers, three wheelers and tractor vehicles allowed. * Provision of Petrol pumps / motels / workshops / Toilets / Emergency Phones and Breakdown Vans etc. * The expressway handles about 30,000 PCUs daily, and is designed to handle up to 1,000,000 PCUs.
Valley of Flowers National Park , Uttarakhand * It is an Indian national park, nestled high in West Himalaya, is renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty. * This richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, brown bear and blue sheep. * The gentle landscape of the Valley of Flowers National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi National Park to the east. * The park stretches over an expanse of 87.50 km² * This Reserve is in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2004. * The Valley of Flowers is an outstandingly beautiful high-altitude Himalayan valley that has been acknowledged as such by renowned mountaineers and botanists in literature for over a century and in Hindu religion for much longer. * The Valley of Flowers is splashed with colour as it bloomed with hundreds of different flowers, taking on various shades of colours as time progressed. * The valley was declared a national park in 1982 and now it is a World Heritage Site. * The locals, of course, always knew of the existence of the valley, and believed that it was inhabited by fairies. * The valley is home to many celebrated flowers like the Brahmakamal, the Blue Poppy and the Cobra Lily. It is a much sought after haunt for flower-lovers, botanists and trekkers.
'Bikers Dream', Narkanda, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India * It is a town and a nagar panchayat in Shimla district at an altitude of 2708 meters on the Hindustan-Tibet Road (NH 22) in Himachal Pradesh, India. * It is about 65 km from Shimla and surrounded by the Shivalik Ranges that span a large part of Himachal Pradesh. * Narkanda offers a spectacular view of snow ranges. This is an ideal retreat for the tourists who seek seclusion in mountains & is famous for Skiing & Winter sports. * It commands an unique view of the eternal snow line, the inviting apple orchards and dense forests. * The skiing at Narkanda was started in 1980 and since then HPTDC is conducting skiing courses every year. Narkanda is a gateway to apple country of Himachal Pradesh. * It connects Shimla with Rampur and a detour also goes to Thanedhar, the prime apple belt of Himachal Pradesh where Satyananda Stokes started the apple culture. * Hatu Peak which is at 11000 ft is 5 km from Narkanda. Kotgarh is 16 km from Narkanda and famous for apple orchards. * Today Rs 3,000 Crore direct and indirect income is generated through apple production.
* It is one of the most colorful festivals of Kerala, India. * Kollam Pooram attracts large number of people from all parts of the State. * * The Kollam Pooram, organised in connection with the annual festival of the Asramam Sri Krishnaswamy Temple, will be held at the Asramam Maidanam in the month of April. * Kollam Pooram has now assumed the status of a national festival attracting tourists in large numbers. * For the `kudamattom', 30 tuskers split into two groups of 15 each representing the Thamarakulam Sri Mahaganapathy Temple team and the Puthiyakavu Bhagawathy Temple team. * The`kudamattom' was held to the beats of a traditional`melam'. * The pooram was followed by a spectacular show of fireworks
St. Andrew's Basilica, Arthunkal, Kerala * St. Andrew's Forane Church of Arthunkal is one of the oldest Christian churches in Kerala, is about 22 kilometers north of Alappuzha town. * It was once a Buddhist temple and the name Arthungal derived from Arhant+kall (temple). Portuguese rebuilt this in 17th century. * The church, officially Arthunkal St. Andrew's Forane Church, was originally built by the Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century. * Devotees fondly referred to him as Arthunkal Veluthachan, which in English translates to fair skinned father. Fr. Fenicio died in 1632. * Eight years after his death, the church was rebuilt again, this time facing the west towards the long white-sand beach on the shores of the Arabian Sea. * In 1647, the idol of St. Sebastian, struck with arrows all over his bleeding body sculptured in Milan, was brought and placed in the Arthunkal church. * Arthunkal St Andrews Forane Church, the first Parish of the Diocese of Alleppey has been elevated to the status of Basilica on 9 July 2010. * Arthunkal Basilica will become the first Basilica in the diocese of Alleppey and the 7th Basilica in Kerala. * It will become the 3rd Basilica on the Latin Catholic church of Kerala.
Sahyādri or Sahayadri Hills, Maharashtra * It is a mountain range along the western side of India also known as The Western Ghats. * It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. * The range starts near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra, south of the Tapti river, and runs approximately 1600 km through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala ending at Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of India. * These hills cover 160,000 km² and form the catchment area for complex riverine drainage systems that drain almost 40% of India. * The area is one of the world’s ten "Hottest biodiversity hotspots" and has over 5000 species of flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species and 179 amphibian species, many undiscovered species lives in the Western Ghats. * The average elevation is around 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) having aleast 325 globally threatened species occur in the Western Ghats. * The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan Plateau having the highest known as 'Anamudi' at an elevation of 2,695 metres.
Howrah Bridge / Rabindra Setu (One of the busiest cantilever bridge in the world) * It is a cantilever bridge that spans the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India opened on 3 Feb, 1943. * Commissioned in 1943, the bridge was originally named the New Howrah Bridge, because it links the city of Howrah to its twin city, Kolkata (Calcutta). * The bridge is one of the four on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata and West Bengal. * Apart from bearing the stormy weather of the Bay of Bengal region, it successfully bears the weight of a daily traffic of approximately 100,000 vehicles and possibly more than 150,000 pedestrians, easily making it the busiest cantilever bridge in the world. * It is currently the sixth longest bridge of its type in the world.
Kerala Trip : Do not forgot to take a ride of Kettuvallams: Kettuvallams (Kettu means "tied with ropes", and vallam means "boat" in Malayalam) . The houseboats in Kerala, south India, are huge, slow-moving, exotic barges used for leisure trips are reworked model of Kettuvallams. In earlier times, these boats were used to carry rice and spices but know it is one of the Famous Tourist Attraction in Kerala Backwaters. The hull is made of wooden planks that are held together by ropes of coconut (the usual wood is 'Anjili'). The roof is made of bamboo poles and palm leaves. The exterior of the boat is painted with protective coats of cashew nut oil.
'Blue City' 'Sun City' also Known as 'Princely State' is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Some of the famous excursions area here are Mehrangarh Fort, Umaid Bhavan Palace, Jaswant Thada, Mandore, Kaylana Lake and Garden, Balsamand lake. This place is also known as 'Jodhpur' Pic Taken from Internet.
