KASHMIR,...HEAVEN ON EARTH

Kashmir is the northernmost state in India. In the seventeenth century the Mughal emperor Jahangir set his eyes on the valley of Kashmir. He said that if paradise is anywhere on the earth, it is here, while living in a houseboat on Dal Lake. "Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast." If there is ever a heaven on earth, its here, its here, its here. In Jammu and Kashmir the most important tourist places are Kashmir, Srinagar, the Mughal Gardens, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Jammu, and Ladakh. Some areas require a special permit for non-Indians to visit.

Gulmarg

Gulmarg is well known for its amazing natural beauty and it is counted as one of the unique tourist destinations in the world. Gulmarg is surrounded by dense forest. This place is famous for its golf hikes and beautiful highland golf course. The natural beauty accompanied with clean fresh air and a beautiful environment highlights Gulmarg as a major tourist destination

Sonamarg

The way to reach Sonamarg or the Meadow of the gold is from the sindh valley. This valley also shows more amazing facet in kashmir. Sonamarg is located at an altitude of around 2730 meters from the sea level; it has Snow Mountains as its backdrop against the sky.

Raghunath Temple

Raghunath Temple is dedicated to the Hindu Lord Shri Rama. All the inner walls of this temple are covered with gold, on three sides. Galleries of this temples are covered with ‘ Saligrams’. The other surrounding temples are related to other gods from the Ramayana. This temple is located in the centre or we can say in the heart of Jammu.

Bahu Fort

Bahu fort was modified and improved by Dogra Rulers of Jammu but first it was built by the Raja Bahulochan. This fort is located at a distance of around 5 km from the main city and perhaps is the oldest edifice in the Jammu. This fort is facing the Tawi River. There is a temple of goddess kali in the fort.

Mubarak Mandi Palace

Mubarak Palace was built with the touch of three different styles, Rajasthani, Mughal and Gothic. Most famous part of this Palace is the Sheesh Mahal segment. There is a Dogra Art Museum, which is a treasure house of miniature paintings from various hill schools.

Peer Baba

This is one of the holy places for Muslim saints. Here, people from all the religions comes in large number to pray, on Thursday.

Chadar Trek

Zanskar is located at a very high altitude in Jammu and Kashmir. It is one of the best trekking destinations around the world. In Winter, Zanskar river freezes up, and get converted into an amazing adventures trek called Chadar-The Frozen River Trek.

 

Khillonmarg is another beautiful senic beauty and a favourate tourist destination . the famour liddar valley is promintnt feature .

The traditional name for the Zanskar Trek is Chadar Trek as the river becomes a snow sheet during winters due to heavy snowfall. It boasts of some of the lowest temperatures making it a challenging trek for the adventurers. The most isolated and inaccessible for nearly eight months in a year due to heavy snowfall resulting in closure of all the access passes; Zanskar has the distinction of being the least interfered with microcosms of Ladakh, and thus one of the last few surviving cultural satellites of Tibet. This geographical isolation together with the esoteric nature of Buddhism practiced here has enabled its ten thousand inhabitants to preserve and perpetuate their cultural identity.

HAJJ

 

Haj is one of the largest annually occurring pilgrimages in the world,and one of the five pillars of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so at least once in his or her lifetime. The state of being physically and financially capable of performing the Hajj is called istita'ah and a Muslim who fulfils this condition is called a mustati. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God (Allah in the Arabic language).

 

The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar used in the Western world, the Gregorian date of the Hajj changes from year to year. Ihram is the name given to the special spiritual state in which Muslims live while on the pilgrimage.

 

The Hajj is associated with the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back thousands of years to the time of Abraham (Ibrahim). Pilgrims join processions of hundreds of thousands of people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of rituals: Each person walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Ka'aba, the cube-shaped building which acts as the Muslim direction of prayer, runs back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, drinks from the Zamzam Well, goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, and throws stones in a ritual Stoning of the Devil. The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, and celebrate the three day global festival of Eid al-Adha.

 

PARIS

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel tower is acknowledged as the universal symbol of Paris and France. It was originally designed by Émile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin. In March of 1885 Gustave Eiffel , known primarily as a successful iron engineer, submitted a plan for a tower to the French Ministre du Commerce et de l'Industrie. He entered a competition for students studying at the university. The winning proposal would stand as the centerpiece of the 1889 Exposition. Eiffel's was one of over 100 submissions. Eiffel's proposal was finally chosen in June of 1886. Even before its construction, the Tower's uniqueness was noticed. The Eiffel tower, was finally inaugurated on March 31, 1889. Currently about 6.9 million people visit the Eiffel tower each year

Centre Georges Pompidou

Centre Georges Pompidou was officially opened on January 31st 1977 by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The designers of Pompidou are Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, and Peter Rice.  The Centre Pompidou has had over 150 million visitors since 1977. Centre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais. In 1997 renovations had begun to drastically change the interior spaces of the Centre Pompidou. The renovations were still preserving the celebrated and original tubular design  The internal refurbishment was mainly done to enable the building to deal with the pressure of increasing visitor numbers. The renovation also developed the centre's capacity to host the performing arts and increased the display area of the Museum of Modern Art.

The Musée d'Orsay

The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine.It started to be constructed in 1897 and was designed by Gae Aulenti, Victor Laloux, and Émile Bernard. The Musee d'Orsay is an art museum for works from 1848 to 1914 and has an emphasis on French Impressionism artwork.  One can walk through the museum room by room. There are sections on Symbolism, Naturalism, Impressionism, Pont Aven School, and Art Noveau to name just a few. The museum is the culmination of nearly ten years of government commitment and dedicated team-work  By visiting this museum it is possible to get some idea of what was happening in France in the fields of painting, drawing and sculpture, opera design, architecture, photography, metalwork, furniture, ceramics and textiles.

LAS VEGAS

The major attractions in Las Vegas are the casinos and the hotels. Most of the hotel casinos are in the city's downtown area, which has been the focal point of the city's gaming industry since its early days.

Most casinos are downtown on the Fremont Street Experience, of San Diego, the goal being to attract a different demographic than the Strip attracts.

 

VENICE,

Venice is one of the most important tourist destinations in the world for its celebrated art and architecture.[42] The city has an average of 50,000 tourists a day (2007 estimate).[43] In 2006, it was the world's 28th most internationally visited city, with 2.927 million international arrivals that year.[44] It is regarded as one of the world's most beautiful cities.

Tourism has been a major sector of Venetian industry since the 18th century, when it was a major center for the Grand Tour, with its beautiful cityscape, uniqueness, and rich musical and artistic cultural heritage. In the 19th century, it became a fashionable centre for the rich and famous, often staying or dining at luxury establishments such as the Danieli Hotel and the Caffè Florian. It continued being a fashionable city in vogue right into the early 20th century. In the 1980s, the Carnival of Venice was revived and the city has become a major centre of international conferences and festivals, such as the prestigious Venice Biennale and the Venice Film Festival, which attract visitors from all over the world for their theatrical, cultural, cinematic, artistic, and musical productions

 

Today, there are numerous attractions in Venice, such as St Mark's Basilica, the Grand Canal, and the Piazza San Marco. The Lido di Venezia is also a popular international luxury destination, attracting thousands of actors, critics, celebrities, and mainly people in the cinematic industry. The city also relies heavily on the cruise business.

 

However, Venice's popularity as a major worldwide tourist destination has caused several problems, including the fact that the city can be very overcrowded at some points of the year. It is regarded by some as a tourist trap, and by others as a "living museum". Unlike most other places in Western Europe, and the world, Venice has become widely known for its element of elegant decay. The competition for foreigners to buy homes in Venice has made prices rise so high that numerous inhabitants are forced to move to more affordable areas of Veneto and Italy, the most notable being