To start this writing about the travel planning in India, the first and foremost thing which strikes me is booking affordable and cheap travel tickets. Especially in India it is most important to plan your trip in advance to avoid the rush of the ticket counters. Online Travel Industries are a solution for long queue, but availability and rising price of air tickets is a big headache for most of the budget travelers. This article is drafted in a way where you can find useful information about the rush period for tickets and higher fare seasons of air tickets.
To plan a travel trip in India, there are two main deciding factors i.e. Festivals and Vacations. Most of the travel trips and journey happens based on these two. So it is quite obvious that availability of tickets faces a big crunch particularly in those periods. We will try to give an overview of both these factors separately and also will try to give a way out for you to plan a pleasant and peaceful travel trip.
Festivals of India:
The Colorful mosaic of Indian festivals and fairs - as diverse as the land, is an eternal expression of the spirit of celebration. Observed with enthusiasm and gaiety, festivals are like gems ornamenting the crown of Indian Culture. They are round the year vibrant interludes in the mundane routine of life.
Every season brings along new festivals, each a true celebration of the bounties of the rich traditions followed for time immemorial. That's not all! The birthdays of Gods and Goddesses, saints and prophets, great historical happenings and the advent of the New Year, all find expression in colorful festivities. The same festival, though celebrated differently in the various parts of the country, exhibits an eternal harmony of the spirit of celebration.
Here are some main festivals of India –
Diwali:
About: Diwali is the most well-known of the Hindu festivals. The word Diwali means 'rows of lighted lamps'. Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops and public places are decorated with small earthenware oil lamps called diyas. For many Indians this five day festival honors Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. People start the new business year at Diwali, and some Hindus will say prayers to the goddess for a successful year. Lamps are lit to help Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, find her way into people's homes.
Duration/Periods: Diwali is celebrated for 5 days in Northern part of India and 2 days in South India. As decided by the luni-solar Hindu calendar, this festival generally happens in end of October or starting of November.
Travel Planning: In this period the ticket availability for the major cities faces big crunch as lot of people travel to their native to attend the functions at home. If you are planning a travel trip with family or friends, ideal places would be beaches, low altitude hill stations and forests. If you are a religious man you can also plan to visit famous goddess temples like - Kamakhya temple in Assam, Vaishno Devi in Jammu, Kalighat/Dakshineshwar in Kolkata etc.
Dasara:
About: Dasara is also known as Navaratri, as in the first nine days the Divine Mother Goddess Durga is worshipped and invoked in different manifestations of her Shakti. The 10th day is in honor of Durga Devi. The basic purpose behind this festival is to worship feminine principle of the Universe in the form of the divine mother to remind the teachings of the Taitareeya Upanishad, "Matru Devo Bhava." Essence of the navaratri celebration at social level is to remind & respect all the women, who are the guardians of the family, culture, and national integrity, to take lead in times of crisis to guide the humanity towards the path of social justice, righteousness, equality, love, and divinity.
Duration/Periods: Dasara is celebrated in the lunar month of Ashwin (usually in September or October) from the Shukla Paksha Pratipada (the next of the New moon day of Bhadrapada) to the Dashami or the tenth day of Ashwin.
Travel Planning: Ticket scarcity is almost same as Diwali time. So for Dasara time you have to start your planning from June or July. Exciting places to visit during Dasara are – Mysore in Karnataka (known for famous Dasara procession), Madikeri in Karnataka (Dasami puja and dasara procession), Kolkata in West Bengal (known for Durga Puja celebration for 5 days) and Gujrat (for Navaratri and Dandiya dance)
Christmas:
About: Christmas is an International festival which is celebrated in India with lot of enthusiasm and joy. As everybody knows, Christmas is celebrated in the joy of birth of Jesus Christ on 25th December. India celebrates Christmas and New Year eve together for seven days (i.e. last week of December)
Duration/Periods: Christmas celebration starts from 25th December and ends with New Year party. In this period most of the schools/college and organizations declares holiday and thus it is a hot pick season of travel in India.
Travel Planning: In December last week, as the weather use to be chill in India, beaches are the main place to plan a New Year party. Goa is most visited place in this season, so if you are planning to visit Goa, you have to start looking for tickets and hotel bookings in early October.
To book tickets for any festival, you should see the calendar early and plan travel dates at least 3 months before. For Cheap Air Ticket you can look online sites like – via.com and check the air fare calendar to have an idea about the flight ticket price. Nowadays railway opens their booking counter 3 months before so you can also book your railway tickets advance (railway reservation is crucial because for metro cities like – Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi, tickets window goes to waiting list even before 2 months of Diwali). For bus and rail tickets you can check different OTA’s website, I would prefer a site like via.com, as it gives me all (flight, train and bus) info in one place. You can also check different travel deals and hotel booking offers online.
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