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Historic Sivasagar reverberated by bihu performers
Sivasagar, the power seat of the Ahom rulers was echoed by the vibrant performances of 1,000 Bihu ‘nasonis’ (female dancers) and ‘dholivas’(drummers). As a ‘Swagadew’ (Ahom King) played the royal audience to this massive concert here on April 15, 2009.

This site was shifted from the historic Rang Ghar to Sivasagar. The Ahom Kings used to enjoy the Bihu celebrations at the historical site of Rang Ghar earlier. This tradition was maintained up till now.
Due to the space consideration the venue was shifted to Talatal Ghar as the organizers this year bringing together 1,000 dancers and drummers, the venue was transferred to Taltal Ghar, which is also known as the administrative complex of Ahom rulers.

All the diversified tribes of the state were invited to be the part of the celebrations. Bankim Buragohain, a leading veteran citizen of the town, was crowned the symbolic king for the day. He reached the venue on the elephant while a cultural procession trailed him.

Ancient temples to discover buried in hills
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) here has taken the excavation and discovering work of disappeared temples at Khajuraho on 15 April 2009.
ASI Superintending Archaeologist A K Shukla said ''In 2000, the village's mountain was excavated and a vast 'Beejamandal' of 10th century was found whose size was bigger than any other 'Beejamandal' in the temples here.''

He further informed that the idols of Saraswati and Parvati with archaeological importance were found at Beeja Mandal.

There was a grand Shiv temple, which was being established from the bottom and was completed up to the 'Beejamandal'.

''A proposal of excavating rest three hills is sent to the government and the excavation will be started after getting the approval,' Mr Shukla said.

During the 9th to 11th century, Chandel dynasty rulers ruled Khajuraho and they built 85 temples. But with the passage of time all these have buried under the earth.

Presently, there are only 22 temples, which can be seen, and ASI claimed the rest. In a bid to protect the temples against the frequently changing weather and time a drive for cleanliness was carried out. Under this drive, temples were being cleaned with chemicals and basic salts, and the algae being deposited on the outer layer were washed thoroughly.

ASI Chemical Department Assistant Conservators, H K Asthana and Surendra Agrawal said, ''a chemical named H D is used with the soft brush made of 'date fruit tree' to remove the salts''.

The tourism ministry is discussing the theme with all-important hospital chains like Apollo, Manipal, Moolchand, Fortis, and Wockhardt to provide this complementary offers to the tourists.

According to the plan, tourist coming for a surgery or some other major treatment in India would be provided a free smaller additional treatment.

For example- suppose if a patient coming for a bypass surgery could be given a free skin treatment or something special as per the patient’s preference.

The numbers of tourist have been declining since those devastating Mumbai attacks in November last year. However, tourist number somewhat picked in February due to various promotional schemes launched by the government with the assistance of tour operator, hoteliers and airlines.

Under the current promotional schemes, free air passage for the companion is attracting several tourists around the world, provided they fly with Kingfisher, Jet Airways or Air India. The tour package also involves extended stay at hotels and complimentary sight-viewing tours to rural eco-holiday destinations. All these measures are part of ‘Visit India 2009’ plan.

This summer, the tickets in the AC II-tier compartment running full, air traveling seems to be a highly effective option. What is more interesting is that the difference between the land travel and airways travel is between Rs.100 to Rs. 500. In addition to this, travel websites in conjunction with bank credit cards, are offering cash back option for the tourists as well.

Lets take an individual who wishes to travel from Delhi to Mumbai on 1st May 2009. There is no chance of getting Rajdhani Express in Ac tier –II compartment tickets unless one is willing to take risk while waiting for the waitlisted tickets, which has a very low chance of confirming. The cost would be Rs. 2000. If the tatkal option is used, then it will cost the traveler another Rs. 300 extra making the cost Rs. 2300. While a ticket in Ac coach will cost Rs 3,305. In comparison to this, the interested traveler can get an Indigo Airlines ticket for Rs. 2,291 including all the taxes. While traveling with Jet Airways and Kingfisher Red would cost you around Rs 2,810, which is still low than first class AC coach.

A flight ticket for June 30 between Mumbai and Kolkata will cost Rs 2,600. While the train would involving a journey of 30-hour and it would cost you Rs 2,000 by second class AC. In the same way, a train ride from New Delhi to Chennai will cost Rs 1960, while one can get a flight ticket for the month of June for Rs 2,728. These tracking can certainly transfer the rail travelers to switch over to air travel.