South India tourist spot - Holiday trip

Indian cuisine:
India is renown for its variety of cuisine, differs even from state to state. In north India you can get wheat based food whereas in south it is rice based. North Indian favourities are visually chapatti or roti with a side dish of dhal gravee. In south you can get spicy delicious varities. South India is famous for chettinad variety, which is spicier and more delicious. Indian food habit falls thrice a day as breakfast, lunch and dinner a very few people like some tea time snack. Most of the foreign tourists love to take Indian foods and it has the magic of enchanting people with its taste.

Tamil nadu epitomizes south Indian cuisine wth meals based on rice dhal and sambar. Other famous dish here is idlis and dosas accompanied with sambar. Pondicherry, a French union before independence provides a very different French-indian fusion in cuisine.
Kerala is known for sea foods and their aapam (spongy rice pancake) with coconut stew or fish curry. Karnataka cuisine is largely vegetarian and their core diet is simple rice, dhal and rasam, along with various masala dishes. The mysore dosa is a delicious, spicy, crispy dish with vegetable stuffs, Andhra cuisineis famous for its fiery not taste. Pickles and chatnis (combination of spices, dhal and chilles) are integral to Andhra cooking.

Indian culture:
                     Indian culture is mainly religion based and rely more on the family set up. Hinduism is the wide spread religion in India over some centuries and it has its own impact in the tradition and culture of India. Through there is some interventions of Christianity and other religions, their culture doesn’t affect the society much. Very small groups of city people are attracted with the western culture. But still tourists can have the aesthetic nature of traditional and Indian culture. Most of the tourists to India who has been practiced to unit families fascinated with the family set up in Indian society and they observe the way of Indian culture from birth to death.
                          Indian society prefers a boy than a girl. Hindu parents for their children perform four important aspects. First they cast horoscope, then comes the naming ceremony, third is giving first solid food and then comes the shaving head ceremony which takes place at 5-10 years of age. Marriage is an important ceremony in Indian culture which takes place for two to three days. According to Indian tradition and culture the marriage once done is permanent and could not get divorce easily unless under certain circumstances, such as when one of the partners is mentally ill or incapacited. It is a common practice in India that bride’s family giving dowry before marriage.
                        Funeral ceremonies are similar in all hindu communities. Cremation is the common practice of funeral. The body is washed, laid on a bier and covered with a shroud. The chief mourner (usually the elder son) also bathes, and then friends or members of the family carry the body to the funeral pyre and walks three times around it with a pot of water before standing at the head of the pyre. On the third day after the cremation the chief mourner, consigns the ashes of the cremation to water.

Indian philosophy:
             “Philosophy is the study of truths underlying being and knowledge”
                         If it is being so India is a very old country and it has enough number of philosophical ideas sculptured by great thinkers and ideologists like kautilya, sankara and more. According to them a person has to strive for four goals in his life and they are economic resources or, ‘artha’, regulation of social order or ‘dharma’, physical pleasures or ‘kama’ and salvation or ‘moksha’.
                                The main aspect in most of the indian philosophy deals aboutr the fourth goal (i.e.) “moksha” or salvation. Six schools of philosophy were developed in India after the beginning of Christian era. They are samkhya, yoga, nyaya, vaisheshika, mimasa and Vedanta. Samkhya philosophy says that any presence of divine agency is not require for the creation of world obtained through yoga and meditation. Accordingly to nyaya salvation can be attained through the acquisition of knowledge. Mimasa deals with the reasoning and interpretation and the attainment of salvation through one’s performance. Vaishshika gives importance to the discussion of material elements or “dravya”. Vedanta philosophy linked with the theory of “karma” which means belief in previous birth’s impact in present and rebirth. Indian philosophy even has the ability to attract the foreign over this subject. Indian philosophy is like an ocean and one who drown deeply could find some valuable pearls.

Indian sculpture and architecture:
        India is a heaven of architecture and it is a place for foreign observers who were interested in art and architecture. India has Stone Age architectures like Harappa and Mohenjadaro. It has great forts like mysore palace, vellore fort in tamilnadu which stands even after the strong destructive movements by british colonies. Traditional buildings such as temples has a inest sens of architecture, whether perched on a boulder strewn hill or standing by a large artificial reservoir or tank. The British architecture has its impact in cities like chennai, banglore and hyderabad. Hillstations like ooty that has neo-classical british bungalows.
                Indian sculptures have a very great historical importance though we have some stone age records like ajantha and ellora caves. In India sculpture is closely related to religion. Sculpture ix generally religious in nature and isn’t generally an art form through which individuals express their creativity. Mamallapuram in south near chennai is a finest example of the creative sculpture in India. Arjuna’s penace at mamallapuram is a renowm wexample for the 7th century sculptures. Chola shrine sculptures evidences the 9th century sculpturs. The legacy and tradition of sculptures from the pallava dynasty lives on in mamallapuram.

Indian dances:
         Indian dances once a prestigious art within the kings with their troop of dancers.
India is not only a multi lingual country but also has a variety of dances for each state. Indian dances are mostly categorized under classical, folk and popular. Folk dances are as many in number and usually it is practiced in villages. Some of the famous folk dances are oyilattam, mayilattam, puliyattam and so on. Classical dances include bharathanatiyam, which is a world famous art. Following this kuchipudi, mohiniyattam, kathakali, odissi, yakshagana are the famous classical dancesin India. Indian dances are meant not only for entertainment, it also conveys a theme through it. Moreover Indian dance practice keeps the mind and physique clean and fresh.

Indian dresses:
        Like language and dance, dresses too has a wide range of varieties in India. Hindus wear mostly sarees and in this we have lots of varieties and many patterns are followed in wearing this costume. Sarees comes in different materials such as silk, cotton, poly cotton and so on. Sarees are now a world fashion. Churidars and salwars are other type of dress for women in India. It is a costume with loose pants and tops with a long shaws. Salwars too has a lot of designs and patterns.
      Gents usually wear shirts with pants or dhotis. Dhotis are a large white material tied up over the hip. Shirts and pants also vary in different materials of clothes ranging from kadhar to jeans. Western impact in dress seen in many cities like chennai, hyderabad and banglore.

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