If you’ve stayed in Calcutta or Jamshedpur, visiting Dimna Lake for a picnic would have been very common.  It’s a very popular weekend trip both among the tourists and local people. The lake is situated 13 km from the steel city of Jamshedpur and is located at the foot of Dalma Hills. (more…)

If you are in Mumbai, it’s unlikely you haven’t heard the term Khau galli. In Marathi, Khau means ‘food/eat’ and Galli means lane, or street. So Khau Galli means Food Street, or Food Lane. Mumbai being the haven for foodies with varying budgets, Khau gallis are found in plenty. But a word of caution, Khau gallis may not be popular with people who are too fussy about eating street food. But the actual flavor of any city exists in its street food like nothing else. (more…)

For those who want to get charged religiously and spiritually in Pondicherry, there are the temples, some of them dating back to the 10th Century AD Chola period. The Manakula Vinayagar Koil is more than 300 years old and is dedicated to Ganesha with a golden spire and walls portraying forty different forms of Ganesha. The Varadaraja Perumal Temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, is located on M.G.Road, and is believed to be the oldest temple in town, dating back to 600 AD. The temple built in the typical Dravidian style, is complete with brightly colored ‘gopuram’ and sculpted pillars. (more…)

Perched along the Vindhya ranges at an altitude of 2,000 feet is Mandu in Madhya Pradesh, which is the biggest fortified city in the world, originally the fort capital of the Parmar rulers of Malwa. Towards the end of the 13th century, it came under the sway of the Sultans of Malwa, the first of whom named it Shadiabad – ‘city of joy’. The City is steeped in history with exquisite palaces like the Jahaz and Hindola Mahals, ornamental canals, baths and pavilions, as graceful and refined as those times of peace and plenty. (more…)