Destination Facts
Full country name: Republic of India
Area: 3,287,590 sq km (1,229,737 sq mi)
Population: 1,014,003,817
Capital city: New Delhi
People: 72% Indo-Aryan, 25% Dravidian, 3% other Language: Hindi Religion: 80% Hindu, 14% Muslim, 2.4% Christian, 2% Sikh, 0.7% Buddhist, 0.5% Jains, 0.4% other
Government: Federal Republic
President: Kocheril Raman Narayanan
Prime Minister: Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Facts for Travellers

Visas: Six month multiple-entry visas are now issued to most nationals regardless of whether you intend staying that long or re-entering the country. Only six-month tourist visas are extendable. Be careful to check whether your visa is valid from the date of entry or the date of issue.
Health risks: Cholera, dengue fever, dysentery, hepatitis, malaria, meningitis (trekking areas only) and typhoid. Many of India's larger cities are highly polluted and travellers with respiratory ailments may wish to take precautionary measures.
Time: GMT/UTC plus five hours 30 minutes
Electricity: 230-240V, 50 HZ
Weights & measures: Metric

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Money & Costs

Currency: Indian rupee
Budget meal: US$1
Moderate restaurant meal: US$1-5
Top-end restaurant meal: US$5 and upwards

Budget room: US$3-10
Mid-range hotel room: US$10-100 (double)
Top-end hotel room: US$100-200

If you stay in cheap hotels, always travel 2nd class on trains and learn to subsist on dhal and rice, you could see India on just US$10 a day. If you prefer a few more creature comforts, like a simple private room with a bathroom, a varied diet, and occasional 1st class rail travel on long journeys, count on around US$20-25 a day. Staying in mid-range hotels, eating in decent restaurants, and occasionally hiring a car and driver will cost around US$30-35 a day. If you don't want to trespass beyond converted maharaja's palaces, and five-star international hotels, budget as if you were travelling comfortably in the West.

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You are not allowed to bring Indian currency into the country, or take it with you when you leave. The rupee is fully convertible so there's not much of a black market, even though you'll constantly be haunted by offers to 'change money'. In cities you can change most major foreign currencies and brands of travellers' cheques - but you'll widen your options and save yourself hassles if you stick to US dollars or pounds Sterling and either Thomas Cook or American Express travellers cheques. In fact, it's wise to bring a couple of different brands of cheques in different currencies since some branches of some banks have particular idiosyncrasies, such as refusing to handle X-brand of travellers' cheques in pounds Sterling denomination or Y-brand in US dollars.

When changing money at a bank you'll need the patience of a saint and the paperwork skills of a ledger clerk, especially in smaller towns. The secret is to change money in large amounts as infrequently as possible and preferably in big banks in big cities. You are supposed to be given an encashment certificate when you change money at a bank or an official moneychanger. Some hotels insist you show an encashment certificate before accepting payment in Indian rupees. If you stay in India more than four months, you'll need to keep a handful of these certificates to get income tax clearance.

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Credit cards are widely accepted in Indian cities and larger towns, particularly American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa. Credit cards can also be used to get cash advances in rupees. The Bank of Baroda seems to be the most efficient bank at handling such transactions.

Indian currency notes circulate far longer than in the West and the small notes in particular become very tatty - some should carry a government health warning. You may occasionally find that when you try to pay for something with a ripped or grubby note that your money is refused. You can change old notes for new ones at most banks or save them and use them creatively as tips. Don't let shopowners palm grubby notes off on you as change - simply hand them back and you'll usually be given a note slightly higher up the acceptability scale.

Tipping is virtually unknown in India, except in swanky establishments in the major cities. Baksheesh, on the other hand, a term which encompasses tipping and a lot more besides, is widespread. You 'tip' in India not so much for good service but in order to get things done. Judicious baksheesh will open closed doors, find missing letters and perform other small miracles. In tourist restaurants or hotels a 10% service charge is often added to bills. In smaller places, where tipping is optional, you need only tip a few rupees, not a percentage of your bill.

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Culture

Religion seeps into every facet of Indian life. Despite being a secular democracy, India is one of the few countries on earth in which the social and religious structures that define the nation's identity remain intact, and have continued to do so for at least 4000 years despite invasions, persecution, European colonialism and political upheaval. Change is inevitably taking place as modern technology reaches further and further into the fabric of society but essentially rural India remains much the same as it has for thousands of years. So resilient are its social and religious institutions that it has absorbed, ignored or thrown off all attempts to radically change or destroy them.

India's major religion, Hinduism, is practised by approximately 80% of the population. In terms of the number of adherents, it's the largest religion in Asia and one of the world's oldest extant faiths. Hinduism has a vast pantheon of gods, a number of holy books and postulates that everyone goes through a series of births or reincarnations that eventually lead to spiritual salvation. With each birth, you can move closer to or further from eventual enlightenment; the deciding factor is your karma. The Hindu religion has three basic practices. They are puja or worship, the cremation of the dead, and the rules and regulations of the caste system. Hinduism is not a proselytising religion since you cannot be converted: you're either born a Hindu or you're not.

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Buddhism was founded in northern India in about 500 BC, spread rapidly when emperor Ashoka embraced it but was gradually reabsorbed into Hinduism. Today Hindus regard the Buddha as another incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. There are now only 6.6 million Buddhists in India, but important Buddhist sites in northern India, such as Bodhgaya, Sarnath (near Varanasi) and Kushinagar (near Gorakhpur) remain important sites of pilgrimage.The Jain religion also began life as an attempt to reform Brahminical Hinduism. It emerged at the same time as Buddhism, and for many of the same reasons. The Jains now number only about 4.5 million and are found predominantly in the west and south-west of India. The religion has never found adherents outside India. Jains believe that the universe is infinite and was not created by a deity. They also believe in reincarnation and eventual spiritual salvation by following the path of the Jain prophets.

There are more than 100 million Muslims in India, making it one of the largest Muslim nations on earth. Islam is the dominant religion in the neighbouring countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh, and there is a Muslim majority in Jammu & Kashmir. Muslim influence in India is particularly strong in the fields of architecture, art and food. The Sikhs in India number 18 million and are predominantly located in the Punjab. The religion was originally intended to bring together the best of Hinduism and Islam. Its basic tenets are similar to those of Hinduism with the important modification that the Sikhs are opposed to caste distinctions. The holiest shrine of the Sikh religion is the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

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India is as close as the world comes to Babel. There's no 'Indian' language per se, which is partly why English is still widely spoken almost half a century after the British left India. Eighteen languages are officially recognised by the constitution, but over 1600 minor languages and dialects were listed in the 1991 census. Language is a heavily politicised issue, not least because many state boundaries have been drawn on linguistic lines. Major efforts have been made to promote Hindi as the national language and to gradually phase out English. A stumbling block to this plan is that while Hindi is the predominant language in the north, it bears little relation to the Dravidian languages of the south. In the south, very few people speak Hindi. The Indian upper class clings to English as the shared language of the educated elite, championing it as both a badge of their status and as a passport to the world of international business. In truth, only about 3% of Indians have a firm grasp of the language.

Indian art is basically religious in its themes and developments, and its appreciation requires at least some background knowledge of the country's faiths. The highlights include classical Indian dance, Hindu temple architecture and sculpture (where one begins and the other ends is often hard to define), the military and urban architecture of the Mughals, miniature painting, and mesmeric Indian music. The latter is difficult for visitors to appreciate since there is no sense of harmony in the Western sense, but don't be put off by this.

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Indians love the cinema and the Indian film industry, centred on Bombay, is one of the largest and most glamorous in the world. The vast proportion of films produced are gaudy melodramas based on three vital ingredients: romance, violence and music. You'll know what to expect from the fantastically hand-painted cinema billboards that dominate many streets. Imagine Rambo crossed with The Sound of Music and a Cecil B De Mille biblical epic, and you're halfway there. It's cheap operatic escapism, extremely harsh on the ears, and should not be missed.

Contrary to popular belief, not all Hindus are officially vegetarians. Although you'll find vegetarians everywhere, strict vegetarianism is most prevalent in the south (which has not been influenced by meat-eating Aryans and Muslims) and in the Gujarati community. There are considerable regional variations from north to south, partly because of climatic conditions and partly because of historical influences. In the north, much more meat is eaten and the cuisine is often 'Mughal style', which bears a closer relationship to food of the Middle East and Central Asia. The emphasis is more on spices and less on chilli; grains and breads are more popular than rice. In the south, more rice is eaten, there is more vegetarian food, and the curries tend to be hotter. Another feature of southern vegetarian food is that you do not use eating utensils; just scoop the food up with your fingers - though not with those of your left hand.

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Events

India is blessed with a huge number of festivals, and several are so spectacular that you would be a fool to miss them if you were remotely within spitting distance. They start with the secular Republic Day Festival in Delhi each January, which includes elephants, a procession, and plenty of military might and Indian princely splendour. Holi in February is one of the most exuberant Hindu festivals in the north of India. It marks the end of winter and basically involves throwing coloured water and red powder over as many people as you can in one day.

The 10-day Shi'ite Muharram festival commemorates the martyrdom of Mohammed's grandson. It's marked by a grand parade and dedicated penitents scourge themselves with whips in religious fervour. It's best seen in Lucknow, the principal Indian Shi'ite city and takes place in April/May for the next couple of years. The massive Kumbh Mela festival commemorates an ancient battle between gods and demons for a pitcher (kumbh). During the fight for possession, four drops of nectar fell from the pitcher and landed in Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain. The mela is held every three years rotating through these four cities. The next festival takes place in Allahabad in 2001.

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Don't mistake the great car festival Rath Yatra for a rally race. This spectacle in Puri in June/July involves the gigantic temple car of Lord Jagannath making its annual journey, pulled by thousands of eager devotees. One of the big events of the year in Kerala is the Nehru Cup Snake Boat Races on the backwaters at Alappuzha (Alleppey), which take place on the second Saturday of August.

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi in August/September is dedicated to the popular elephant-headed god Ganesh. It's celebrated widely, but with particular enthusiasm in Maharashtra. Shrines are erected, firecrackers let off, clay idols are immersed in rivers or the sea, and everyone tries to avoid looking at the moon. September/October is the time to head for the hills to see the delightful Festival of the Gods in Kullu. This is part of the Dussehra Festival, which is at its most spectacular in Mysore and Ahmedabad.

November is the time for the huge and colourful Camel Festival at Pushkar in Rajasthan. Diwali (or Deepavali) is the happiest festival of the Hindu calendar and is celebrated over five days in November. Sweets, oil lamps and firecrackers all play a major part in this celebration in honour of a number of gods. It may be a tired old scene, but a beach party in Goa is still the only place to be for Christmas.

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Climate

Climate varies greatly, from the arid deserts of Rajasthan to the cool highlands of Assam, allegedly the wettest place on earth. But basically India has a three-season year - the hot, the wet and the cool. The heat starts to build up on the northern plains around February and by April it becomes unbearable. The first signs of the monsoon appear in May with high humidity, short rainstorms and violent electrical storms. The monsoon rains begin around 1 June in the extreme south and sweep north to cover the whole country by early July. The monsoon doesn't really cool things off, but it's a great relief - especially to farmers. The main monsoon comes from the south-west, but the south-eastern coast is affected by the short and surprisingly wet north-eastern monsoon, which brings rain from mid-October to the end of December. The main monsoon ends around October, and India's northern cities become crisp at night in December. In the far south, where it never gets cool, the temperatures are comfortably warm rather than hot.

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When to go

India has such a wide range of climatic factors that it's impossible to pin down the best time to visit weather-wise with any certainty. Broadly speaking October to March tend to be the most pleasant months over much of the country. In the far south, the monsoonal weather pattern tends to make January to September more pleasant, while Sikkim and the areas of north-eastern India tend to be more palatable between March and August, and Kashmir and the mountainous regions of Himachal Pradesh are at their most accessible between May and September. The deserts of Rajasthan and the north-western Indian Himalayan region are at their best during the monsoon. The trekking season in the Indian Himalaya runs roughly from April to November, though this varies widely depending on the trek, altitude and region. The ski season is between January and March. The dates of particular festivals which may determine the timing of your visit are listed in the events section.

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