Cities in India
About a quarter of India's population is urban. Numerically that is about the whole population of USA. At least 23 Indian cities have over million residents. Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai are the four main cities of India. The first three cities have over 10 million residents each.
Delhi is actually comprised of two cities, Old Delhi and New Delhi, which is the capital of India. Delhi has a large number of historical monuments and is probably the city with the largest number of historical monuments in the world. Calcutta was considered in the past as the center of Indian culture and intellectuals. Some of the famous modern India philosophers, like Swami Vivekananda, were centered in Calcutta. Today Calcutta is seen as the most polluted and poverty stricken city of India. Calcutta was also the most populated city of India. In the early 1990s Mumbai became the most populated city of India and is in many fields the center of India.
The first impression a foreigner gets of Mumbai is poverty. But Mumbai for Indians is like New York and Los Angles together. Mumbai was always the commercial, financial and entertainment center of India. Of the 23 stock exchanges in India, the stock exchanges of Mumbai are the most important. India produces the largest number of movies in the world. Until the mid-90s it had over 800 movies a year. In this field Bollywood(like Hollywood) in Mumbai is the entertainment center, even though some other cities of India, like Chennai in south India produces more movies than Mumbai.
In the last few years Hyderabad, capital of Andra Pradesh, is competing with Chennai as the movie center of India. Hyderabad is also competing with Bangalore as the 'silicon valley' of India. Bangalore is considered today as the technology center of India. Most of the high technology companies that operate in India are centered in Bangalore. Bangalore is called 'garden city'. It is very clean compared to other Indian cities. It is also seen as the most westernized city in India because of the pubs and western style shopping centers.
Most of the larger cities listed below are industrial centers of India. Cities like Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Banglore, Ahmedabad and Bhopal are filled with mills and factories. Agra and Jaipur also have industries, but their main attraction is tourism. Madurai and Varanasi are important pilgrimage centers for Hindus.
Agra Travel Guide
Agra is globally renown as the city of the Taj Mahal. But this royal Mughal city has, in addition to the legendary Taj, many monuments that epitomise the high point of Mughal architecture. In the Mughal period, in the 16th and 17th centuries, Agra was the capital of India. It was here that the founder of the dynasty, Babar, laid out the first formal Persian garden on the banks of the river Yamuna. Here, Akbar, his grandson raised the towering ramparts of the great Red Fort. Within its walls, Jehangir built rose-red palaces, courts and gardens, and Shahajahan embellished it with marble mosques, palaces and pavilions of gem-inlaid white marble. The crowning glory of the city is obviously the Taj, a monument of love and imagination, that represents India to the world.
Chandigarh Travel Guide
Chandigarh, designed by the French architect Le Corbusier, is the capital of the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. Though Simla was chosen as temporary headquarters, the need for a permanent capital, resulted in the birth of a new city at the foothills of the Shivalik hills. Chandigarh, then became the new capital of Punjab and Haryana. But the administration of the capital itself was neglected, which was solved, by making it a Union Territory under the Central Government on 1 November 1966. Covering an area of 56 square kilometres, Chandigarh is the first `planned' city of India. The city has neatly laid out roads and parks, buildings ranging against mountain peaks, boulevards and streets lined by endless rows of trees and shrubs.
Mumbai (Bombay) Travel Guide
Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, is the fastest moving, most affluent and industrialised city in India. Mumbai is part of India's beautiful west coast, that runs down from Gujarat, through Mumbai to Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. The city has a natural harbour, which was developed by the British. It is one of the most busy ports of India, handling approximately 40 percent of India's maritime trade. Mumbai (till recently known as 'Bombay'), derives its name from the local deity Mumba Devi, whose temple is still there. The Portuguese predecessors of the British preferred to think of the name as Bom Baim, the Good Bay.
DELHI Travel Guide
Delhi, the capital of India, is an amalgam of the old and the new. The ancient and the modern times are in juxtaposition here, not only in the remains of a succession of empires, but equally in present social structure and lifestyles. The name Delhi, Dehali, or Dilli is derived from Dhillika, the name of the first medieval township of Delhi, located on the southwestern border of the present Delhi, in Mehrauli. This was the first in the series of seven medieval cities. It is also known as Yoginipura, that is, the fortress of the yoginis (female divinities).
Ahmedabad Travel Guide
Ahmedabad, the largest city and former capital of Gujarat, nurtures a striking blend of the glorious past and a vibrant present. Named after a Sultan who founded it in 1411, the city is associated with Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation, whose simple ashram on the banks of river Sabarmati is now a site of national pilgrimage. Ahmedabad is a great textile and commercial centre and known as the "Manchester of India". The city is today the second largest prosperous city in Western India and a place where tradition and modernity coexist in perfect harmony.
Bangalore Travel Guide
Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of the country, the nerve - centre of India's software industry. Its other major industries include aircraft, electronics and machine tools. Despite being one of Asia's fastest growing cities, Bangalore remains one of the most elegant metropolises in India. A well - planned city, with tree - lined avenues, a large number of parks, gardens and lakes, Bangalore is aptly called India's garden city. The city attracts people in large numbers, from all over the country, and abroad, who come to look for better job opportunities, and higher education. Surprisingly, all this frantic industrial expansion and increase in the population, has not robbed Bangalore of its essential old-world appeal. It is, in the true sense, a very 'happening' city.
Pune Travel Guide
Pune, the second largest city of Maharashtra, at a relatively shorter distance from Mumbai, is also one of the major cities of India. It houses some of India's famous historical landmarks. Pune is renowned for its educational facilities and career opportunities in the information technology industry. Proud of a rich past and with a potential of shaping a bright future, Pune finds a place in the list of the major cities of India.
Bangalore Travel Guide
Officially known as Bengaluru, it is the capital city of Karnataka state and the third most populous city of India. Bangalore houses some of the most recognized educational and research institutes of India. Numerous public sector industries, software, telecommunication and aerospace industries are located in Bangalore. Its remarkable contribution to the Indian IT sector has made it the Silicon Valley of India.
