How do you celebrate India? Through festivals, through food, through its landscapes and seascapes, through music and art, through tradition and innovation, through sights and sounds⦠There are so many ways to enjoy India, we cannot list them all.
To mark India's 76th Republic Day, here, in no particular order, are 76 of the best experiences in India. Varanasi draws thousands of visitors every year to witness rituals, faith and belief. Take a boat ride and watch the locals take a dip in the river , pray and meditate by the ghats as the sun rises.
Orange and yellow marigold flowers and large oil lamps float down the river, and the best views of the rituals are from a boat on the water. A cruise down the wild, untamed Brahmaputra river offers a unique perspective of Assam from the water. Disembark for craft tours, savour local cuisine, explore tea gardens, partake in village walks, visit ancient temples, and spot the Indian one-horned rhino in its natural habitat.
Assam Tourism and private operators such as Assam Bengal Navigation offer luxurious multi-day cruises along the Brahmaputra. India lives in its villages, Gandhi said. This organic farm is home to horses, cows, sheep, rabbits, dogs and a cat and also grows radishes, strawberries, basil and more. Indulge in stuffed parathas, local curd and mango lassi with a view of the fields. In Sikkim , the Sikkim Bon Farmhouse is surrounded by cardamom fields and forests with edible bamboo shoots and ferns.
Learn how to cook local delicacies such as gundruk fermented spinach and enjoy fresh, farm-to-table meals. There are so many more! Love the smell of the Earth with the first downpours of the season? Take the attar trail in the town of Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, famous for the distilling of scents. It is a hotspot for rose water, tobacco and other perfume distilleries.
