Best New Year Destinations: India

A new year means a lot to people. Its holiday season, it’s the spending season. All of us want to do something special, be somewhere special and feel special



A new year means a lot to people. Its holiday season, it’s the spending season. All of us want to do something special, be somewhere special and feel special. What we want is to be surrounded by happiness and a good feeling, soaked in which, we can enter into a new year.

If you are planning to welcome the New Year, staying in India there are quite a few places which can make this occasion memorable for you. December end is wintertime. The weather is perfect to set out for a journey and thus it is most sensible to make this trip the best trip possible. Let’s look at the destinations which make this New Year special for you:










1- Goa: Goa is known around the world for its brilliant beaches and vibrant culture. New Year’s Eve in Goa, means packed hotels, streets teeming with people in party mood. You have joyful music being sung by youthful singers on one side and vibrant prayers of churches resounding on the other. You can see fireworks making sky their canvas and electric bulbs of thousands of colors turn the city into a painting. The world famous beaches, the overflowing clubs and pubs, the overnight parties and festive markets can give you more joy than you can ask for.


2- Jammu: If you see Goa as the most vibrant and youthful destination of the nation, you have J&K on the other side, which is no less than a paradise. It has been called paradise by many in the past and it surely lives up to the name in the winters. Snow draped valleys of Kashmir can make you wish to spend the night enjoying by the campfires.

3- Delhi: Delhi is the heart of the country. If you can imagine it, you gotta get it in Delhi. It has all the glamour of the modern world, with touch of the Punjabi culture. If you want to party, Delhi is a perfect place.

4- Mumbai: If you talk about Glamour, you talk about Mumbai. You can be a part of overnight parties studded with stars of Bollywood or of television fame. You can have a great time at cafes, in shopping malls, on seasides, in the local markets or even at many of the concerts and parties that keep happening throughout the holiday season. Maybe you can hang out in South Mumbai or have a great time places like Essel World.

5- Kovalam: Kovalam beach is the most well known destination of Kerala. The beach is knows for its unparalleled vista, lost in which you can spend hours. If you are a couple and want your year end to be spent in the utmost romantic way, Kovalam should be your choice.

6- Bangalore: The IT city of India has a lot to offer through out the year, but on the New Years Eve, Bangalore is at its special best. Parties and celebrations are all around and you can be part of them to have a great time. The city is very developed, clean and safe and thus you can great times no matter when and where it is. If you are in Bangalore this new year, excitement will never be far away.

7- Andaman: If you want to enjoy the best beaches, Andaman is the best place for you. Connected by flights from Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi, this is a breath taking location with beaches which are amongst the best in the world. If you are looking for a peaceful, romantic and secluded new year, go for Andaman.

8- Leh: If you an adventure freak and want to do something different, Ladakh is paradise for you. You can walk on frozen rivers, skid on frozen lakes 100 kilometers wide, you can drive through deserts which are chillingly cold or even have a camel safari. The roads to Leh are closed in winters and you will have to go there by flight. But if you want to experience something out of the world and can handle temperatures as low as -50 degree Celsius, you just have to go to Leh.







9- Khajuraho: This place is known the world over for its Kamasutra. You can have a wonderfully great time here, if you want to enjoy Indian Culture, Bundelkhandi music, over the top architecture and artisan-work and of-course wildlife. You can make a trip to cover the Khajuraho, Orccha, Panna circuit, with a few other historically important locations on the way and have a great time.

10- Agra: Taj Mahal, this is mostly what Agra is known for. In India, if you think of love, you think of Taj Mahal. Most people think that this is the only thing that is worth seeing in Agra. But you have other great places like, Akbar’s Tomb which built in the middle of lush green gardens with at least a 100 deers in it, the Red Fort, the walls of which are the epitome of strength, Fatehpur Sikri, the one time capital of India and many other historical monuments. Also, you can visit Mathura, Vrindavan and Jaipur which are in the same trip circuit. All these places are near Agra and make for a perfect getaway.


Source : http://www.bukisa.com/articles/189762_best-new-year-destinations-india

Fact sheet of Jim Corbett National park

Corbett has been a haunt for tourists and wildlife lovers for a long time. Tourism is allowed in selected areas of Corbett Tiger Reserve so that people get an opportunity to see its splendid landscape and the diverse wildlife living here. In recent years the number of people coming here has increased dramatically. Presently, every
season more than 70,000 visitors come to the park from India and abroad.
General Information

Altitude: 385-1100 m above mean sea level
Annual rainfall: 1400-2800 mm.
Temperature range: 4°C in winter to 42°C during summer.
Getting There
Road:
280 km, around 7 hrs driving time
Delhi - Moradabad - Kashipur - Ramnagar - Corbett
Rail:
Ranikhet Express from Delhi to Ramnagar
Departure at 10.40 pm from Old Delhi Railway Station.
Arrival at 5.00 am at Ramnagar Station.

Tips for Travellers

When visiting the wildlife park:

Follow the rules, for e.g., do not walk around if you are not permitted to do so
Wear clothes in shades of brown and green as they are less disturbing to the environment
Avoid wearing perfumes and do not smoke in restricted areas.
Animals are extremely weary of the human voice. Don’t make noise, don’t play music and please don’t honk car horn.
Carry Personal medication and insect repellent
Carry Binoculars, Cameras, film rolls and Flashlight along with books and other reading material
Don’t leave behind any litter and plastic bags are big hazards for animals
Comfortable walking shoes are appropriate than the fashionable ones
For winter travel heavy woolens are a must especially for open jeep safaris. Cottons are apt for summer months
Rain Gear is essential for the monsoons and
Find about the habits of the animal you want to see to avoid disappointment

Source: http://www.jimcorbettnationalpark.com/corbett_fact.asp

Colonel Jim Corbett

Colonel Jim Corbett was born at Nainital in 1875, the eighth child of Christopher and Mary Jane Corbett. His father was the postmaster of Nainital. He did his matriculation at Nainital’s Philanders Smith College where he was admired by his masters for his modesty and retiring nature. He did not pursue his academics any further.

He spent his summers at Gurni House in Nainital while in winters he went down to Kaladhungi in the tarai jungles. It was here he was taught how to fire a gun by his eldest brother, to. Their bungalow in Kaladhungi was inside a dense forest in which a large variety of plants and animals found refuge. The abundance of wildlife in Nainital those days can be gauged from the fact that Jim spotted tigers and leopards within a six and a half-kilometer radius of the temple of the goddess Naini. As a result of living in such exotic and beautiful surroundings he developed a spontaneous affinity with nature.


At the tender age of ten he found himself addicted to hunting, he had shot his first leopard and would just pick up and train his gun on any wild animal he encountered in the Jungle. When he was eighteen he joined the railways at Mokama Ghat in Bihar working as fuel inspector and assistant station master. He then became a labour contarctor.

When the World War I broke in 1914, he took a batch of five hundred Kumaon labourers to France. He was good at recruiting and organizing labour and was able to make them work for him willingly. He also helped the British government by training allied soldiers in jungle warfare, he then hold the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1920 after his health broke down he resigned from the job and returned to Nainital and for the next twenty-four years he served as an elected member of the Nainital municipal Board.

While serving in the railways at Mokama Ghat, he would spend his holidays at Kaladhungi. Shikar of course would claim most of his time, He had bagged two man eaters, a feat which made his name a house hold name in the far flung areas and long before he was known as a skilled jungle man leading Shikar parties for the dignitaries. It was during one such Shikar parties with three army officers the turning point came in the life of Jim – One a Shikar party somewhere in northern India they came upon a lake with thousands of water fowls. They were delighted to see the sight and shots rang echoing in the entire valley. In a matter of minutes their count stood at three hundred waterfowls. Jim could not stomach this sacrilege. From that day he developed an aversion to this type of Shikar. And while his friends were overjoyed Jim vowed never to kill a beast without a reason. After he had killed a man-eater known as the Kuara of Pawalgadh in the mid thirties he gave up Shikar as a sport. There after he shot only those tigers which had turned man-eaters or cattle lifters.

Jim considered it his duty to kill such dangerous animals, a duty he carried out faithfully till his last days. E killed his last man-eater when he was well past sixty In those days the terror of Man-eaters loomed heavy on the regions of Kumaon and Garwhal and Jim was the only man who had the guts to take on and kill such bloodthirsty beasts, endowed as he was with his superlative skills required for the job he killed man-eaters in their den, in open grassland, in dense forest and on rocky slopes. Some of his most famous encounters are published in his six books of which the man-eaters of Kumaon and The Man Eating Leopard of Rudra Prayag are well renowned.

After World War II he settled in Kenya with his sister Maggie. It was there that at the ripe age of eighty he passed away leaving behind a legacy which still reverberate in the valleys of Kumaon and Garwhal.

In all his years serving the cause of wildlife preservation and later deliverer of peace and tranquility in the man eater infested regions of Kumaon and Garwhal Jim became inherent with the wildlife conservation and the Indian Government in 1956 renamed the park – Corbett National Park in honour of Jim Corbett the powerful missionary for wildlife preservation in India. A fitting tribute to the White Saint.


Source : http://www.jimcorbettnationalpark.com/corbett_coljim.asp

Jim Corbett National Park

Prior to the years 1815-20 of the British Rule, the forests of the Jim Corbett National Park were the private property of the local rulers. Though the ownership had passed into the British hands, the government paid little or no attention to the upkeep of the park. The sole aim was to exploit the natural resources and extract as much profit as possible from the jungle.

It was only in the year 1858 that
Major Ramsay drew up the first comprehensive conservation plan to protect the forest. He ensured that his orders are followed strictly and, by 1896 the condition of the forest began to improve. Ramsays plan reflected the deep thought he had given to the science of forestry. In 1861-62 farming was banned in the lower Patlidun valley. Cattle sheds were pulled down, domestic animals were driven from the forest and a regular cadre of workers was created to fight forest fire and secure the forest from illegal felling of trees. Licenses were issued for timber and count of trees was undertaken. In 1868, the Forest department assumed responsibility for the forests and in 1879 they were declared reserved forest under the forest Act.

In a letter dated January 3,1907, Sir, Michael Keen for the first time referred to the possibility of turning these forests into a game sanctuary however the proposal was turned down. It was years later in 1934 the governor, Sir Malcolm Hailey, supported the proposal for the sanctuary and wanted the enactment of a law to give it protection. To overcome the delays that legislation would entail the area was made into a reserve forest by the Chief Conservator of forest. Later in consultation with Major Jim Corbett, the boundaries of the park were demarcated and in 1936 The United Province national Park Act was enforced and this reserved forest became the first national Park of India. And it was aptly named Hailey National Park after its founder Sir, Malcolm Hailey

Initially the park measured merely 323.75 square kilometers, but to accommodate wild animals like Tigers and Elephants, it was expanded to its present area of 520 square kilometers (core area) in 1966. The year 1973 was a landmark in the field of wildlife preservation. It was in this year that wildlife preservationist and naturalists from around the world launched PROJECT TIGER the most prestigious and biggest total environmental conservation project ever undertaken. The Jim Corbett National Park has the distinction of having been chosen the venue for the inauguration of this project.


Source: http://www.jimcorbettnationalpark.com/corbett_history.asp