"You can stroke people with words."
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

Travelogues

Andaman Islands Andhra Pradesh Bihar Chandigarh
Chattisgarh Daman-Diu Delhi Haryana
Jharkhand Goa Gujarat Himachal Pradesh
Jammu-Kashmir Karnataka Kerala Lakshadweep
Maharashtra Madhya Pradesh North East Orissa
Pondicherry Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim
Tamil Nadu Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh West Bengal
General On the Road Neighbouring Countries Travels Abroad

West Bengal

Calcutta-Character & Emotions ~ Romola Butalia
Calcutta is where it all began for me. It is the city of my birth, my childhood, my school days. For me it will always be a city of warmth, of friendship and of nurturing. Read More...

Tarapitha - the Seat of Tantra~ Subhasish Chakraborty
Tarapitha is a supremely sacred Tantik place of pilgrimage. It is not only one of the 51 Shakti Pithas but also a Mahapitha. Read More...

Shantiniketan: Tagore's Abode of Peace ~ Pallavi Bhattacharya
In 1901, Devendranath's son, Rabindranath Tagore started a school at Santiniketan modelled on the lines of the ancient gurukul system, which later became Vishva Bharati. Read More...

Sundarban, West Bengal: Captive in Sundarban ~ Subhasish Chakraborty
"Within 15 minutes the haunting beauty of Sundarban began to unfold like a veil slipping from the face of a beautiful woman. We could see the lush green mangrove forests on either side of the bank." Read More...

Jorasanko Thakurbari ~ Pallavi Bhattacharya
A tourist visiting Kolkata must drop into Jorasanko Thakurbari - the ancestral home of poet, philosopher and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Read More...

West Bengal - Ruins of Pandua ~ Shahana Banerji
At the best of times my father becomes a tyrant when he drives. No intake, no output is his philosphy. Read More...

Toy Train to Darjeeling ~ T.T. Shringla
One fine morning the ring of the telephone connected me to Mr.McNamara. I had lost touch with him since my six month stay in Paris way back in 1993. He was with the UNESCO Headquarters. Read More...

Darjeeling-Home of Himalayan Ambitions ~ Ashish Kaul
Just another visit and yet I call it home. Home of Himalayan ambitions. Home to stubborn ambitions that doggedly resurface time and again.Read More...

Darjeeling with a Capital Tea ~ Manohar V. Rakhe
It is said that the best tea in the world comes from India. It will not be too much of an exaggeration to say that the best tea in India comes from Darjeeling. Read More...

Mirik-Nostalgia Sullied ~ Ashish Kaul
It was raining as if nature intended to cleanse the earth and remind man of her existence. It was misty like only mountain clouds can be when they sweep human senses in the open air of the mountains. Read More...

Andaman Islands

Islands in the Sun ~ Shyamala Sathiaseelan
Travel, is a bug that was in me when I was born, probably inherited from my father. In 24 years of travelling widely through India, I have been most fascinated by those little islands that dot the Bay of Bengal off the East Coast of India. Read More...

Orissa

Tigers at Simlipal, Orissa ~ Subhasish Chakraborty
A a wildlife enthusiast and environmentalist, shares his deep concern for the tigers' dwindling numbers. Read More...

Dhavalagiri - Wonder, Awe and Beauty ~ Binu Jose Philip
Dhavalagiri was to be a stopover on the way to the grand destination of Konark. About an hours journey from Bhubaneshwar you can see the unassuming, quiet and unadorned place: a shrine, a temple on top of a hill, or call it a mini-mountain. Read More...

Puri - Holy Beach Resort ~ Sumanta Roy Chowdhury
One would have to be extremely fortuitous to find a Bengali who hasn't visited Puri at least once. Rarely does one come across a place outside Bengal that is so closely associated with the Bengali ethos. Read More...

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Maharashtra

Awestruck in Aurangabad ~ Monami Guha Das
The writer visits Ajanta and Ellora and several other historical sites in Aurangabad district in Maharashtra and remains mesmerised by the splendour of the rock-cut architecture, the visual sense of history and transition, and an undefinable serenity and peace. Read More...

Sivaji Market Pune ~ Radha Nair
The Indian vegetable market is a colourful interaction of many kinds that a super merket will never provide. Read More...

Potholes of a Different Kind ~ Moumita Bhaatacharya
The shore along the Kukdi river boasts of Asia's largest potholes. It is indeed a treat to witness. Gigantic holes on the earth that seem to lead into the bowels of the Earth. The locals call the potholes, Kund. Read More...

Wink at Taj ~ Maya Lekhak
A drink is a drink is a drink. Then what is so special about the cocktails at the bar at Taj President? Finding out the art of bartending. Read More...

Gondeshwar Temple ~ Kamal Kumar Bandyopadhyay
Weathered by the wind and sun, this blackstone temple built in the Hemadpanthi style of architecture at the north east of Sinnar town, 26 kms from Nashik and 190 kms from Mumbai. A treasure trove of history. Read More...

Sacred Groves of Konkan ~ Shaiontoni Bose
On a field trip, the writer documents her impressions, offers a scattering of local legends, and a reminder that "we need to recognise that for the sake of our own survival as a species, we must live with nature, rather than imagine we can live without it." Read More...

Legend of a Bollywood Extra ~ Will Marks
Author of The Highway, Will Marks writes about his 15 minutes of fame as a Bollywood extra in The Legend of Bhagat Singh. Read More...

Bhima Shankar Jyotir Lingam ~ Romola Butalia
The thick veil of mist and the surrounding dynamic mountains in the dense unpopulated forests of the Bhimashankar Wild Life Sanctuary, are deeply reminiscent of some of the well-hidden regions of the Himalayas where worshippers of Shiva seek his darshan. Read More...

Elephanta - The Monolithic Majestic Marvel ~ Rachita Gupta
It was a golden Sunday morning in January last that we, a group of 3 office colleagues in Mumbai, set sail from the Gateway of India to the world famous Elephanta Caves. Read More...

Life in Mumbai ~ Rinki Varindani
For comic relief, all you have to do is watch the BEST buses roving the city. Some passengers sit snoozing, dead to the world - while those who could not get seats stand irritably glancing at their watches from time to time. Read More...

Chronicles of a Bombay Local Rat ~ Siddhartha Butalia
When you first come to Bombay, you hear horror stories about the frog experiments. Oh! You haven't heard that one. Lemme have the pleasure of telling you. Living in Bombay (Mumbai) is like the experiment of the frog in the boiling water. Read More...

Mumbai-City of Hope ~ Manjula Rao
The nerve centre of India, where Bollywood thrives, is always on the move, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Read More...

Mumbai-Little Boxes ~ Romola Butalia
Little boxes, people on people, concrete humanity. A city where it all works, a city within which people strive for excellence or they could not stand the pace of desperate living here. Read More...

Bollywood-Dream Capital of the World ~ Manohar V. Rakhe
The nerve centre of India, where Bollywood thrives, is always on the move, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Read More...

Kamshet-Circus in the Sky ~ Astrid Rao
The monsoon has finally departed and a group of flight thirsty paraglider pilots are off to Kamshet hoping desperately for good flying conditions. Read More...

Sahaydri in the Monsoons ~ Somit Doshi
Soaking wet under the rains, I was washing away all my pain, As God played with water again... Read More...

Lohagarh Fort ~ Brig (retd.) Xerxes P Adrianwalla
Enjoying the many splendid forts of Maharashtra, the monsoons add their own sense of adventure, mystery and romance. Read More...

Koraigarh Fort ~ Brig (retd.) Xerxes P Adrianwalla
The writer spends a day in the monsoons driving from Lonavala past the many waterfalls that line the drive to walk up to Koraigarh fort. He recommends it as a perfect family outing. Read More...

Weekend Getaway from Mumbai - Lonavala to Dhak ~ Vijay Jakhmola
Mumbaikars take fun seriously. The weekend trek turned out to be an ideal weekend. Read More...


Goa

Goa-Reason to Return ~ Rajiv Butalia
We first visited Goa in 1979. The armies of Flower Children were reportedly in retreat but you would not have believed it from the numbers that were still hanging around the beaches like they had grown roots there. Read More...

Goa-Quite Another Ambience ~ Romola Butalia
There is something in the air in Goa that speaks of holidays...of relaxation and of letting down your hair. Read More...

Barracuda-Poetry in Motion ~ Rajiv Butalia
I have done 5 dives on this particular shipwreck. Suzy's Wreck lies off Sao George Island, accessed from Dona Paula beach in Goa. Read More...


Lakshadweep Islands

Islands of Adventure ~ Manuel Fernandes
The land gradually receded before our eyes even as the small fishing boats raced back with their day's catch, the gulls soaring and darting noisily above them, laying claim to their share of the fishermen's labour. Read More...


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Editor: Romola Butalia       (c) India Travelogue. All rights reserved.