Easy Tours of India

Easy Tours of India is the only boutique agency with the highest ratings for Luxury Toursin India. We are a United States Corporation with Ten Operations offices in India & two Guest Relations offices in the US. We use the term ‘Tours’ for want of a better word. We provide unique and immersive luxury experiences tailored around your preferences.

Chennai (Madras) Dance and Music Festival

The Chennai Dance and Music Festival is held in December in the Southernmost Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The dates of the festival coincide with the traditional Tamil month of'Margazhi' (December). Marghazi is considered a sacred month for Hindus in Tamil Naduand is considered a time for worship and spiritual devotion.

Kathakali Dance PerformanceSouth Indian classical music, popularly known as Carnatic Music as a genre, has its roots in religious worship. For many centuries, music and dance have been used as a vehicle to depict zealous devotion to the Gods and has been encouraged in its traditional forms in temples and religious institutions of learning across India. The Chennai Dance and Music Festival celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the region. The festival is held at multiple venues in the city by a number of organizations and averages performances by over 2,000 participants. It is an amazing experience to visit Chennai during the course of the festival as the city transforms itself into a hub of culturalactivities as opposed to its traditional role as a bustling commercial metropolis. The Chennai Dance and Music Festival was originally started in the year 1927 and was titled the Marghazi Festival of Dance and Music. The Chennai Dance and Music Festival features performances by both upcoming and established performers in many languages including Kannada, Telgu and Tamil. There are a number of concerts using traditional musical instruments that have been of great interest to foreign visitors. The high point of the Chennai Dance and Music Festival however is the dance performances that are held during the festival. The ancient dance form has its roots in the Natya Shastra art form which was conceived in the 2nd century by the Hindu sage Bharat. Natya Shastra as an art form is used to depict drama through a combination of dance, mime, speech as well as music.

Kerala crosses the Atlantic for successful Road-showsKerala is one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in India. Branded as “God’s Own Country”, the state attracts visitors from around the world who come to see its dynamic culture, rich history, immersive art scene and progressive literary-scape.

Tourism Roadshows – Taking the wonders of Kerala to the world In an effort to build on the successes of the state government in many foreign markets, the Kerala Tourism Board organized a series of roadshows across three major cities of theUnited States of America.The roadshows were held between October 21 to 24 in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. This schedule was planned in a bid to cover all major US geographic markets and make it easy for all relevant tourism industry professionals to come in and get oriented with “God’s Own Country”. Easy Tours of India Inc. was the only US based travel company to have been invited to participate at the Kerala Tourism Roadshows. Easy Tours was represented at all the roadshows by our Marketing Director Mr. Pierce Haney. The United States represents the fourth largest market for tourism to Kerala, surpassed only by the United Kingdom, France and Germany. In 2011 and 2012, 55,741 and 57,807 tourists originating from the USA visited Kerala respectively. The Roadshow included a detailed presentation and conference session for participants highlighting the many tourism attractions in Kerala. Also on hand were a large number ofrepresentatives of the Kerala Tourism Board, local DMCs as well as service providers of the state for networking opportunities with leading US tourism industry players. The Delegation at the roadshows was led by the Minister for Tourism, Kerala, Shri A.P. Anil Kumar.

Speaking at the occasion of the roadshows the Tourism Secretary, Mr. Suman Billa said, “Americans are one of the top global travelers today and therefore it makes sense for Kerala to make inroads into the vast market offered by the United States of America”.

Jaipur positioning itself as a center of Culinary TourismRajasthan state constantly sees a steady stream of visitors coming in to marvel at the various attractions of the state. International tourism industry experts claim that the success of Rajasthani tourism has been primarily because the state government and tourism board has been hard at work to constantly improve the tourism offerings in the state.

Tourism in Jaipur – continuing the march of tradition and excellenceWhile Rajasthan attracts tourists primarily due to its rich heritage, glorious monuments aswell as great events, the tourism board is now working assiduously to put the state capitalJaipur as one of the major centers of Culinary Tourism in India.As part of this initiative, the tourism board is organizing Culinary Tours by established experts mostly at their residences to give visitors an authentic feel for the Indian culinary experience. Indian cuisine is catching on in many parts of the world and is gaining popularity to the richness of its taste, the variety of its options as well as its many medicinal and health benefits. Officials at the Rajasthan Tourism Board claim that culinary tourism was always popular in the state with many visitors taking culinary lessons impromptu at local residences of friends and acquaintances. The idea now is to bring these tours into the mainstream and associate them with experts to give visitors to the state a real value proposition. The Rajasthan Tourism Board also hopes that the increase in culinary tourism in the state will have significant spin-off benefits for other industries as well including makers of traditional cooking utensils, food ingredients and condiments as well as the general hotel and hospitality industries.

Travel Experts share their favorite tips to get the most out of a Taj Mahal visit!Much has been written about the Taj Mahal and the immense feelings that visitors get when touring the eternal monument to love. Recently a panel of tourism experts put together a list of what visitors can do to get the most out of their Taj excursion:

Taj Mahal – India’s most visited tourism treasure• The Taj Mahal is closed on every Friday in honor of the Muslim Sabbath. Arriving

on Fridays is the most common tourism mistake made by tourists visiting the Taj Mahal.

• Get a professional guide to show you around. The beauty of the Taj Mahal is in thedetails of its design and architecture so it pays to have someone who can make youappreciate the little intricacies.

• Rise early and beat the crowds. Sunrise (along with Sunset) is the best time to photograph the Taj Mahal in the various hues of soft light.

• When arriving for a sunrise visit, be sure to get into the main cenotaph chamber early and hear the “sound of infinity” which is the sounds of the air that moves through the ventilated dome.

• Expert photographers claim that there are over 300 angles to get unique photos of the Taj Mahal. They however claim visitors should focus on enjoying the monument. To find great locations for the best shots ask either your guides or lookat expert photographers with the fancy equipment and follow their trail.

• The least known unique locations for some great shots of the Taj Mahal include the benches at the Southern end of the complex as well as the Mehtab Bagh (Moonlight Garden),across the Yamuna for some great vantage shots.

The National Museum Institute to document cultural heritage across India!The National Museum Institute (NMI) has embarked on a major exercise to develop an archive of the performing arts across India’s diverse cultural landscape. The idea behind

the initiative is to document each and every one of these art forms in painstaking detail sothat their survival can be better ensured for the benefit of future generations.

According to National Museum Director General, Mr. Venu V. “The projects, being undertaken in different parts of the country, will take time. The NMI wants to develop a robust format and is creating a few models (to ensure better documentation and study).” As the first phase of the project, the NMI has commenced the documentation exercise in Meerut as well as in Jammu and Kashmir. The NMI hopes that its work in documenting the intangible heritage of these two regions will serve to provide the required formats andcase studies for the project to be rolled out to other parts of India as well. The management of the NMI stated that it understands that the effort to document all of these performing arts along with their superbly detailed aspects will be a Herculean task, however it is optimistic that once the framework is established particularly in the challenging terrain of Ladakh, Western UP as well as Jammu and Kashmir, the study can be easily replicated across the country. The NMI hopes to involve local communities as well as elders in villages across India thereby ensuring that the project gets the necessary support and quality input on the ground. To keep interest alive in the project, the NMI will continue conducting studies at the community level and during specific events around the year, where traditional artists are more likely to participate thereby ensuring comprehensive cataloging of Indian indigenous performing arts as well as other cultural heritage. Source: - Easy Tours of IndiaWebsite: - http://www.easytoursofindia.com/