North India

Endowed with sheer natural beauty and a rich cultural heritage, North India beckons you for a travel experience of a lifetime. The beautiful region of North India is pulsating with magical attractions and boasts of diverse dominant geographical features. Northern India has gorgeously moulded the course of India’s historical and cultural evolution over the last 3500 years. Visiting Northern India is an experience of a lifetime. The three major religions of India – Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism; the origin of sacred river Ganga, Yamuna and sources of many other important rivers are in Northern India.

Home to some exceptional historic, majestic and entertaining destinations, North India will charm you with its beauty and enthrall you with its magical feel. Adorned with the Himalayas and bordered with the Thar Desert and the Indo-Gangetic plains spanning the states of Punjab, Haryana and UP, North India offers a vivid array of nature and manmade wonders.

People

The women traditionally wear salwar kameez, ghagra choli and saree, while the men wear Kurta, Kameex and Sherwani for upper garment, lower garments include dhoti, churidar, salwar and Lungi. Men also wear headgear such as topi, turban or pagdi which are considered as honor.

Culture

Everything about North India reflects its rich culture. The customs, values, beliefs, heritage and arts etc, of North India is the legacy of its affluent past. Since the region was ruled by several dynasties in the past, the influence of their reign is what prevails in the ethnicity here. Invaders like Aryans, Huns, Greeks and Afghans captured different parts of Northern India, and ruled it for years. The unique architectural heritage monuments and various religious places of worship also mirror the cultural diversities of the region.

Cuisine

The staple food of Northern India is wheat, which is consumed in the form of rotis or chapattis with sabzi or curry. The majority of the North India people prefer vegetarian diet except the Kashmiri. Lassi, Sarson da Saag, Dal Makhani, Rajma, Choley, Kadhi Pakora, etc, are some of the popular dishes of North India, mainly in Punjab.
Popular Rajasthani cuisine includes Daal-Baati Churma etc. Besides many relishing desserts are also popular in North India like Halwa, Gujia, Kheer, Imarti, Petha (specially petha from Agra), a very famous dessert called Bal Mithai from Kumaon are a few.

Music and Dance

Shastriya Sangeet is the classical music of North India. Around the 12th century, Hindustani classical music diverged from what eventually came to be identified as Carnatic classical music. The rhythmic patterns of Indian Classical Music are called Taal and Ragas are the melodic foundations of classical music.

The different folk dance styles of North India reflect the cultural diversity of North India. The folk dances of Punjab, Bhangra for men and Giddha for women are very famous. From Kathak in Uttar Pradesh to Ghoomar and Kalbeliya dance form in Rajasthan, each of these dance forms is remarkably unique in itself.

Kathak is one of the eight classical dance forms as conferred by Sangeet Natak Akademi. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers.

Synopsis

If you wish to explore ancient cities and traditions, North India is where you should be. Explore the cultural diversities, rich heritage, forts, temples and monuments, lakes and palaces, enjoy watching exotic wildlife in the reserves and national parks, go for adventurous rides in the snowy Himalayan Mountains and rivers of Northern India or seek traditional therapies and get healed from within in the midst of nature in North India.