India is globally known for its demographic, cultural, historical and geographical diversity. Surprisingly, the history of Northeast India is not part of this diversity in school textbooks of the mainstream India. The northeast Indian states – Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Sikkim – are more popular as tourist destinations than historical parts of India as a whole. Evidently, a majority of Indians in the mainland are ignorant about the history and cultural heritage of Northeast India.

A 12-year-old Assamese girl did what activists and educationists from Northeast India could not do to draw a nationwide attention to the lack of inclusiveness in the current education system with regard to the history of Northeast India. Aaira Goswami from Assam wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to incorporate some lessons on the history of her state as well as other northeast Indian states into the school textbooks on Indian history.

Aaira Goswami from Assam is currently studying in Jaipur, the Pink City. Struck by the lack of diversity in her school textbooks and lessons on Indian history, she felt a strong urge to bring this issue to the notice of none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The following excerpt from her letter to PM Modi is a testimony to what young Indians like she from the northeastern region of the country feel in the mainland.

“…I know the history of almost whole of India; from Jammu & Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, from the Mughals to the British, from Rajasthan to Kolkata. But where is the long glory of the seven sisters? Some students don’t even know what the seven sisters are. It’s very difficult to find things about Northeast India in my school textbooks. If I could just read about the history of my state, Assam, and other states in the northeast in the schoolbooks, it would be like a dream come true.…”

Aaira Goswami also wrote unhesitatingly in her letter to PM Modi that history was her favorite subject unlike other students of her age. Yet she knew a very little about the history of her native state and Northeast India as a whole. She read a lot about the Mauryans, the Guptas, the Mughals, and the British in her school textbooks, but the same books of history taught her nothing about the Ahoms and the Borphukons who defeated the Mughals seventeen times and ruled Assam for six centuries.

12-year-old Aaira Goswami addressed herself as a little Indian citizen in her letter to PM Modi. She concluded the letter with an earnest plea to have the glorious history of Northeast India included in school textbooks, and with a hope to hear from the Prime Minister.

We at Travel Beats, a portal for Indian Diaspora by Indian Eagle, are sanguine that her eloquent letter and sincere request cut an ice with the Ministry of India so that Indian history could be taught as a whole, not in part.

The post 12-year-old Assam Girl Asks Narendra Modi Why History of Northeast India is Missing from School Textbooks appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

The Ministry of Indian Railways is up with good news for wildlife lovers and wildlife photographers. A passage for train travel to the rich wildlife of Northeast India has been proposed. Rajen Gohain, the Minister of State for Railways from Assam, has proposed a train for wildlife enthusiasts to explore the Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World heritage site in Northeast India.

Named Kaziranga Express, the proposed tourist train would run from Delhi to the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, if it gets approval from Indian Railways. The new wildlife train would operate on the lines of the Tiger Express, a semi luxury tourist train. Launched in June this year to explore the wildlife of Central India, the Tiger Express runs from Delhi to Bandhavgarh and Kanha national parks in Madhya Pradesh.

One of the best wildlife sanctuaries in India, the Kaziranga National Park is home to the world’s largest numbers of single-horned rhinoceroses and wild water buffaloes. Located in the eastern Himalaya biodiversity belt, the sanctuary also houses wild boar, eastern swamp deer, elephants, gaur, leopard cat, Bengal fox, Golden jackal, Chinese pangolin, golden languor, flying squirrel, Ganges dolphin, Assamese macaque and other animals.

The Kaziranga Express may also connect to other popular tourist places in Assam like the Kamakhya Temple, the Manas National Park and tea gardens. A road trip to Shillong may be added to the itinerary, which is yet to be finalized. A journey by the Kaziranga Express from Delhi to Assam would be a complete package including onboard food, hotel accommodation, local transport, jungle safari and other facilities. Different packages for different budgets are being designed.

To be modeled on the Tiger Express, the upcoming wildlife tourist train will have an AC dining car and semi-luxury coaches. Both Indian Railways and the Assam Tourist Development Corporation (ATDC) are working on a sustainable model to keep the train running without making financial losses in times of poor occupancy.

The Kaziranga Express is part of the national agenda to connect the isolated hilly region of northeastern states with the mainland of India through a sustainable rail network which is supposed to be completed by 2020.

The proposed Kaziranga Express would cover more than 2,000km between Delhi and Assam’s Kaziranga wildlife sanctuary. The final report on the proposal is expected by the end of October 2016.

Travel Beats is a digital news magazine for Indian Diaspora by IndianEagle, a US-based leading travel organization. Subscribe to Travel Beats’ free newsletter for latest news, stories, features and interviews.

The post Proposed Delhi-Assam Tourist Train Kaziranga Express to Explore Wildlife of Northeast India appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s upcoming trip to India in April seems to dig out the skeletons of the past in connection with Princess Diana’s solo trip to the Taj Mahal in Agra in 1992, which had added fuel to the fire in her crumbling marriage with Prince Charles.

The picture of Princess Diana sitting alone on the bench at the Taj Mahal is one of the iconic moments in the history of India’s most popular and top-earning monument in Agra. But it became the image of a lonely and depressed princess, which the global media used as a fodder to feed their stories about the fall of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage. On being asked how she felt being alone at the Taj Mahal which stands for eternal love, Princess Diana made her first public statement, “It was a healing experience…very healing,” hinting at her troubled marriage.

However, the bench at the Taj Mahal became an ideal spot for posing in front of camera and many foreign tourists have got themselves photographed on the bench with the monument of love in the background since then. Now Prince William along with Kate Middleton will visit the Taj Mahal to live the “Princess Diana moment” for a while in honor of the memory of his mother. “He feels incredibly lucky to visit a place where his mother’s memory is kept alive by so many who travel there,” said Jason Knauf, the communication secretary of Cambridge.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip traveled to India and visited the Taj Mahal in 1961 – IndianEagle

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s itinerary of India includes a visit to Mumbai’s Taj Palace Hotel besides a tribute to Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal. The royal couple from England will offer a wreath in memory of the victims of the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai during their visit to the Taj Palace Hotel where they are supposed to meet members of the staff who risked their lives to protect guests during the 2008 attack.

The Duke and the Duchess will attend a charity cricket match of young slum children at Oval Maidan, a large public park in Mumbai City and meet the representatives of three charitable organizations: Magic Bus, Doorstep and India’s Childline. It will be followed by a brief meeting with the representatives of SMILE, a charity that helps young people be employable by imparting skill-developing training to them. In the evening of April 10, the royal couple will attend a glittering dinner held by the film industry of Mumbai.

April 11, the second day of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s itinerary of India will see them at the India Gate in New Delhi where they will offer a wreath in honor of the Indian soldiers. Then they will visit Gandhi Smriti, a museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, and take a walk through the last 144 days of Gandhi’s life from his bedroom to the spot of his assassination in the garden.

In the evening, the royal guest duo will grace a birthday party for Queen Elizabeth II with their presence at the residence of the British High Commissioner in New Delhi. Prince William will deliver a speech in honor of his grandmother to the invitees including VIPs from different walks of life. The next day they will attend a conference with NGOs in and around Delhi in the morning before they fly to Assam in northeast India.

On April 12, the couple will visit the Kaziranga National Park in Assam. One of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in India, Kaziranga National Park is famous for one-horned rhinoceroses. The third day of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s itinerary of India coincides with the celebration of the Assamese New Year called Bohag Bihu, one of the most popular northeast Indian festivals. The guests will be treated to spectacular music and dance performances celebrating the folk culture of Assam on this occasion.

On April 13, the Duke and the Duchess will take an open-air drive around the Kaziranga National Park and visit the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation where Prince William will speak about the scenario of rhino poaching in India. Their itinerary in Assam also includes a visit to the Kaziranga Discovery Centre build by Elephant Family that Mark Shand, late brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, had founded.

A meeting with a group of young filmmakers from Green Hub, an Assam-based local organization that imparts lessons on the art of filmmaking, will mark the end of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s itinerary of India from April 10 to April 13. On April 14, they will catch a flight to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan in Southeast Asia.

The royal couple of England will visit the Taj Mahal in Agra on return to India from Bhutan on April 16.

Travel Beats is a digital portal by IndianEagle for Indians and Indian Diaspora. IndianEagle, a leading US-India travel organization, publishes interesting stories and news about travel, culture, events, festivals and entertainment from India and USA.

The post Prince William & Kate Middleton to Live ‘Princess Diana’ Moment at Taj Mahal in India appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

Unsurprisingly, the calendar of India for the month of April is full of festivals, most of which fall in the religious and agricultural categories. In April, the list of Indian festivals begins with Mahavir Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir, and ends with Mohini Ekadashi. Mahavir Jayanti, Hanuman Jayanti, Good Friday, Easter and Ganga Saptami are the religious festivals of India in April, whereas Baisakhi and Bohag Bihu are harvest festivals. India also celebrates World Heritage Day, World Book Day, Ambedkar Jayanti, and Jallianwala Bagh Day outside the religious category this month. Thus the festivals of India in April 2015 collectively bear out to the country’s cultural diversity. Indian Eagle gives a brief picture of the major Indian festivals in April through this infographic:

About Indian Eagle

Indian Eagle is a USA based leading international travel organization inspiring tourists to travel India and booking their trips at the best prices. Book cheap airline tickets to India to explore India’s cultural diversity & tourist attractions.  

The post Infographic: Major Indian Festivals in April 2015 appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

Diversity is the only word that best describes the geography, demography, culture and festivals of India. Let a festival come, and you will see the diverse ways of celebration in different parts of the country. Diwali and Holi apart, Makar Sankranti is the festival that Indians celebrate in different names and different fashions. Everything from delicacies to rituals reflects the diversity of India on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, which has different names such as Pongal, Bihu, Uttarayan, and Lohri across the country. Indian Eagle takes on the culinary diversity of Makar Sankranti celebration in India.

Til Ke Ladoo

Til or sesame is one of the main harvests of winter season all over India. Til ke Ladoo is a traditional flavor of Makar Sankranti that most of Indian households are identified with this time. It is made from a mix of til and jaggery. It is said that those who eat til ke ladoos speak sweet words.

Sakkarai Pongal

South India celebrates Pongal Festival on the day of Makar Sankranti. Sweetening mouths and treating guests with Sakkarai Pongal is unique to the way Pongal is celebrated in South Indian states – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Jaggery and rice are the main ingredients of this traditional Indian sweetmeat.

Jaggery Roti

There is another Maharashtrian delicacy prepared and consumed on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. It is Gulachi Poli or Jaggery Roti stuffed with a mix of jaggery and gram flour. It is prepared like flat bread roasted in pure ghee.

Til Chikki

When it comes to celebrating Makar Sankranti with platefuls of sweets, Gujarat has its own variety. Til Chikki (a sweet of sesame seeds, peanuts and jaggery) is the Gujarati version of the Makar Sankranti delicacy.

Kurmure Chikki

Maharashtra has its own traditional sweet delicacies to boast of during Makar Sankranti. Kurmure Chikki is the Makar Sankranti special Maharashtrian dish. This delicacy is a blend of puffed rice and jaggery. It is an auspicious custom for the people of Maharashtra to prepare Kurmure Chikki.

Til Pitha

If the focus is turned to the Makar Sankranti celebration in Northeast India, Assam is present on the traditional culinary map. The Assamese are known for their gastronomic preparation that is Til Pitha, a pancake made of rice and til mixed with jaggery.

Patishapta Pitha

India owes its most delicious Makar Sankranti sweetmeats to Bengalis. Makar Sankranti is known as Pous Sankranti in West Bengal where multiple ingredients including milk, rice, khoya, coconut, date palm jaggery, dried fruits, rose water and rose petals are used to make varieties of Pitha and Patishapta. Puli Pitha is a sweet dumpling dipped in creamy milk syrup, while Patishapta is stuffed with different fillings.

Rewari 

Rewari is a most popular Makar Sankranti dish in Punjab and Rajasthan. Especially Punjabis are much fond of this delicacy. Unlike the Makar Sankranti sweets in the rest of India, Rewari is a hard candy type.

Are you missing the flavor and atmosphere of Makar Sankranti away from home in India? Don’t worry! Indian Eagle is offering the cheapest airline tickets for flights to India for Holi festival this year.  

Click to Get the Cheapest Flight for Your Holi Celebration in India

The post Makar Sankranti Sweets are as diverse as India appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

Many Indian Americans have already circled the dates of important festivals and business events on the calendar to fly to India on, in 2014. Indian Eagle got in touch with some of them in the USA and Canada to know their New Year wishlists of travel in India. Karthik Naidu, one of our NRI customers in Miami, shares his wishlist with us.

Shopping for pearls in Hyderabad

Hyderabad is popularly nicknamed the “City of Pearls” in India and abroad. If Biriyani is a must taste, pearl is a must buy in the capital of the bygone Sultani era. Pearl is an integral part of the semi-precious jewellery that steals the show with travelers in the city. The Hyderabadi pearl is the purest find in the whole country. “I can’t afford to miss buying a pair of pearl earrings or pearl bangles in the City of Nawabs.”

Playing Holi in Shantiniketan

The Holi Festival is a colorful extravaganza celebrated with unlimited fun and frenzy the country over. Holi festival celebration is a distinct cultural statement in Shantiniketan, home to Visva Bharati University that the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had established in West Bengal. Girls dressed in yellow saris with green border, and boys dressed in yellow or white kurtas celebrate the festival of colors through folk music (mainly Rabindrasangeet, the songs composed by the Bard of Bengal) and dance. Mr. Naidu wishes to make Holi 2014 in India an experience to be cherished forever.

Having parathas & lassi in Amritsar

“Relishing the flavors of Punjab through bites of delectable parathas and sips of lip-smacking lassi in Amritsar is on my India travel wishlist 2014,” shares Mr. Naidu uninhibitedly. The mouthwatering taste of makki di roti (flat breads made from popcorn flour), aloo parathas (pan-fried flat breads stuffed with spiced potato mash), and lassi with cream (a curd special drink) makes travel to Amritsar a foodie’s delight.

Traveling by train in Konkan Region

The Konkan Railway is the lifeline of travel and transport in Konkan Region spreading over Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra states in India. The Konkan is a coastal stretch of land with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Sahyadri Hills to the east. The railway track, an engineering excellence in the face of geographical odds, runs through rolling valleys and soaring mountains of the region. A train journey in the Konkan region is like a flight to the Paradise. “Traveling on the Konkan Railway is a long-cherished wish of mine on the list of things to do in India.”

Listening to the Rajput stories in Rajasthan

“Since childhood I have been wishing to leaf through the history of Rajputs in Rajasthan. I am looking to fulfill this wish of mine in 2014,” says Mr. Naidu to Indian Eagle. Dotted with historic forts and palaces, the state of Rajasthan is a book of stories related to the Rajput kings of Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Mewar, Amer, Bikaner and Chittorgarh. The history of Rajasthan is a compilation of Rajput stories of bravery and chivalry, royalty and gallantry.

Strolling on the beaches of the Andamans

The Andaman and Nicobar, an archipelago of islands with pristine beaches, coral reefs, dense rainforests and mirror like waters, is the best of all seaside destinations in India. To be precise, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a paradise of natural beauty in the Bay of Bengal. Unlike the crowded beaches of India, the beaches of the Andamans retain purity and virginity. Of the things to do in the Andamans, strolling on the beaches in the solitude of peace during sunrise and sunset is a soulful delight. “I want to feel the warmth of sands and waters beneath my feet in the Andamans,” expresses Mr. Naidu eloquently.

Visiting the temples of Tamil Nadu

The history of Tamil Nadu ranging from the royal era to the Sultani age to the British period is treasured in the temples of the state. Dotted with temples of different times across Madurai, Mahabalipuram, Kanchi, Tanjore, Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu is righty nicknamed the state of temples in India. Built in such different empires as the Chola, the Chera, the Pallav, the Pandya and the Vijaynagar, the Shore Temple, the Meenakshi Temple, and the Brihadishwara Temple are a few eminent names. “I wish to visit the temples of Tamil Nadu and write a travelogue based on it,” Mr. Naidu brims with delight.

Exploring the Himalayan region of Leh

Leh is the largest town in Ladakh, a Himalayan region of mystic wonders including flora and fauna, folk music and dance, fairs and festivals in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Ladakh is the highest plateau in this northernmost state of India, spanning from the Karakoram Range of mountains to the Himalayas. The Pangong Lake in the solitude of snow is a beautiful manifestation of nature in Leh. Another attraction of this place at the altitude of around 6,000 meters is the Ladakh Festival. “The thrill of exploring the unexplored always fascinates me. Therefore, my travel wishlist 2014 includes a visit to Leh in India,” says Mr. Naidu with exuberance.

Wandering in the tea estates of Assam

“I have watched the videos of a few Bollywood songs filmed in the sprawling tea estates and gardens of Assam at the Himalayan foothills in east India. Hope, 2014 will come with an opportunity for me to take a tea tour of Assam,” Mr. Naidu bares his mind to Indian Eagle. With most of the tea estates and gardens in the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam is the largest producer of tea in India. The flavor of Assam tea has traveled far away outside of India.

Booking the cheapest flight to India

“My New Year travel wishlist will meet with reality if IndianEagle.com offers me the lowest airfare to India. Booking the cheapest flight for my India tour is the first wish of mine that Indian Eagle fulfills every year. I am looking forward to having the same favor in 2014 too.”

We wish all the best to Karthik Naidu and our other NRI customers for their New Year travel wishlists.

The post Travel Wishlist for First-time Travelers to India appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.