About Vijayawada
Vijayawada is the commercial capital of Andhra Pradesh and is recognized by McKinsey Quarterly as a ‘Global City of the Future.’ Vijayawada is the most central transportation point in the state and is also well connected to the rest of the country with two national highways passing through it. Pandit Nehru Bus Station in Vijayawada is slated to be one of the largest bus stations in Asia while Vijayawada Junction Railway Station is the largest railway junction in the region. The Krishna River flows to the east and west of Vijayawada while the Budameru River holds the north. Fertile agricultural land irrigated by three major canals cover Vijayawada’s central, southwestern and northwestern parts and small to medium-sized hills surround Vijayawada from the northern, northwestern and southwestern sides. The 30,000 acreKondapalli Reserve Forest provides Vijayawada with clean air and the soft wood used to make ‘Kondapalli toys,’ popularized by the celebration of BommalaKoluvu.
Vijayawada is well known for the Kanaka Durga temple that beckons busloads of devotees everyday. It is located on top of Indrakeeladri Hill, from where one may enjoy an eagle’s eye perspective of Vijayawada. Ancient epigraphs line the two routes leading to the temple, still retaining ancient stories of religious significance. According to one version of mythology, Vijayawada was GodessDurga’s resting place upon slaying the demon, Durgama. Another version recalls Arjuna receiving his holy weapon, the Pasupatha, on top of this hill. Upon doing so, he built the Kanaka Durga temple, around which the city of Vijayawada would bloom. Other sites of religious significance include the MarkataRajarajeswari Temple; the SubramanyaSwamy Temple; the MahalakshmiAmmaravu Temple; The Narasimha Temple in Mangalagiri; The HazratBal Mosque that displays a holyrelic of the Prophet Mohammed once a year; HinkarThirtha, the region’s largest Jain temple, and the GundalaMatha Shrine that hosts the annual Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, attended by hordes.
An escape route from the city life in Vijayawada leads to the 133-acre Bhavani Island located on the Krishna River. Visitors may enjoy boat rides to the island, water sports and stay at a river front resort. The town of Amaravati, 33 kms outside Vijayawada, is the site of Chintapalli, a Buddhist settlement during the reign of Asoka. A massive stupa once stood here, said to be bigger than the ones found in Sanchi. The Archaeological Museum in Amaravati boasts of exhibits dating back to the 3rd century BC. Another site of educational significance, just 8 kms from Vijayawada, is that of the Undavalli Caves that showcase the rock-cut sandstone architecture of the Guptas from as long ago as the 7th century BC.
Vijayawada’s 1.2 km Prakasam Barrage built across The Krishna River is the largest of its kind in Asia. It was first constructed in 1855 and reconstructed in 1957. The barrage irrigates over twelve lakh acres of farmland and supplies water to the thermal power plant at Ibrahimpatnam, which powers much of Andhra Pradesh.
Other places of general interest in and around Vijayawada include the Mogalarajapuram Caves, with carvings said to be the first of their kind; the hamlet of Kuchpudi, located 60 kms from the city at the birthplace of the age-old Kuchipudi dance form; The historic Victoria Jubilee Museum in Bandar Road; Gandhi Hill with a 50 ft. stupa in memorial of Mahatma Gandhi and the Kondapalli Fort, 16 kms from Vijayawada, which served as a center of commerce for many dynasties and as a training station for the British army.
About Goa
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Lotus Travels takes you to the Goa is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located on India's west coast in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast. Goa is India's richest state with a GDP per capita two and a half times that of the country as a whole. It was ranked the best placed state by the Eleventh Finance Commission for its infrastructure and ranked on top for the best quality of life in India by the National Commission on Population based on the 12 Indicators.
Panaji is the state's capital, while Vasco da Gama is the largest city. The historic city of Margao still exhibits the cultural influence of the Portuguese, who first landed in the early 16th century as merchants, and conquered it soon thereafter. The Portuguese overseas territory existed for about 450 years, until it was annexed by India in 1961.
Renowned for its beaches, places of worship and world heritage architecture, Goa is visited by large numbers of international and domestic tourists each year. It also has rich flora and fauna, owing to its location on the Western Ghats range, which is classified as a biodiversity hotspot.
Tourism is generally focused on the coastal areas of Goa, with decreased tourist activity inland. In 2004, there were more than two million tourists reported to have visited Goa, about 360,000 of whom were from abroad.
Goa has two main tourist seasons winter and summer. In the winter time, tourists from abroad (mainly Europe) come to Goa to enjoy the splendid climate. In the summertime (which, in Goa, is the rainy season), tourists from across India come to spend the holidays.
With the rule of the Portuguese for over 450 years and the consequential influence of Portuguese culture, Goa presents a somewhat different picture to the foreign visitor than other parts of the country. The state of Goa is famous for its excellent beaches, churches, and temples. The Bom Jesus Cathedral, Fort Aguada and a new wax museum on Indian history, culture and heritage in Old Goa are other tourism destinations.
1) Vagator Beach.
Historic sites and neighbourhoods in Goa
Goa has two World Heritage Sites the Bom Jesus Basilica and a few designated convents. The Basilica holds the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier, regarded by many Catholics as the patron saint of Goa (the patron of the Archdiocese of Goa is actually the Blessed Joseph Vaz). Once every twelve years, the body is taken down for veneration and for public viewing. The last such event was conducted in 2004. The Velhas Conquistas regions are also known for its Goa-Portuguese style architecture. There are many forts in Goa such as Tiracol, Chapora, Corjuem, Aguada, Gaspar Dias and Cabo de Rama.
In many parts of Goa, mansions constructed in the Indo-Portuguese style architecture still stand, though in some villages, most of them are in a dilapidated condition. Fontainhas in Panaji has been declared a cultural quarter, showcasing the life, architecture and culture of Goa. Some influences from the Portuguese era are visible in some of Goa's temples, notably the Mangueshi Temple and the Mahalasa Temple, although after 1961, many of these were demolished and reconstructed in the indigenous Indian style.
Museums and Science Centre.
Goa also has a few museums, the two important ones being Goa State Museum and the Naval Aviation Museum. The Aviation museum is the only one of its kind in the whole of India. Also, a place not well known to tourists is the Goa Science Center, which is located in Panjim. The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) is also located in Goa at Dona Paula.
The Coolest Place in India’ is Goa.
Now our road takes us to the magnificent kingdom of Goa…The people of this kingdom are strong, prudent and very hardworking… The kingdom of Goa is the most important in India…It is civilized, having famous orchards and water. It is the coolest place in India and it is the most plentiful in foodstuffs.
‘The white people make a practice of going to the kingdom of Goa to enjoy the shade and the groves of trees and to savour the sweet betel.’These revealing remarks on Goa come not from the hippies or ‘flower power’ generation of the sixties and early seventies who thronged the beaches of Anjuna, Vagator and Arambol in search of salvation and ‘peace’. These remarks were made over five centuries ago by the Portuguese Ambassador to China who visited Goa around the year 1511. They serve as a vivid precursor to the generations that followed in our times to the fabled land of Goa.In those tumultuous and rebellious times in the sixties, it was then not the ‘sweet betel’ that was the prime attraction but a different kind of ‘weed’. But Goa, since those days of the angry generation, has moved on to attract a multitudinous, peaceful and cosmopolitan school of visitors from all around the globe. Down the corridors of time Goa has been different things to different people. To the Portuguese conquerors it was ‘Golden Goa’, the El Dorado, the ‘Rome of the East’Such was its beauty and grandeur, that a traveller was moved to remark ‘Whoever has seen Goa, need not visit Lisboa’—Lisbon, which was then the grand epicenter of the Portuguese dominions. Some decades later, the early 17th century French traveller Francois Pyrard wrote ‘Whoever has been in Goa may say that he has seen the choicest rarities of India, for it is the most famous and celebrated city, on account of its commercial intercourse with people of all nationalities of the East who bring there the products of their respective countries,articles of merchandize, necessaries of life and other commodities in great abundance because every year more than a thousand ships touch there laden with cargo.’Pyrard continued with near prophetic veracity ‘…as for the multitude of people, it is a marvel to see the number which come and go every day by sea and land on business of every kind…One would say that a fair was being held every day for the sale of all sorts of merchandise.’While the contemporary traveller may not come to modern, thriving Goa ‘for the sale of all sorts of merchandise’, the ‘fair’ is still very much on. The traveller is here to find something different a balm on the busy mind, to enjoy days of freedom on Goa’s magnificent beaches, to parasail or swim with the tide of fellow visitors from all around the globe, to savour its unique cuisine and imbibe its spirits, to take a long and invigorating trek in its unexplored interiors, to marvel at its majestic temples and churches, in short, to be at one with the most friendly people in the country.
Lotus Travels takes you to the Goa and makes the journey comfortable.