Page 443 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

INTRODUCING SOUTHWESTERN INDIA  441

as well as lively resorts buzzing with bars,
cafés and discos.
Karnataka is often described as the
geographical and cultural meeting point
between India’s Dravidian south and its
Indo-Aryan north. The state’s varied
landscape and architecture both reflect
this unique melange. Karnataka’s narrow
strip of fertile coastland is backed by the
green hills of the Western Ghats, covered
with forests of fragrant sandal wood and
teak. These slope down to a vast plateau,
watered by the Kaveri and Krishna rivers.
This is the state’s historic and cultural
heartland, dotted with architectural
treasures in an extraordinary variety of
styles. They were built by local
Hindu and Muslim dynasties,
as well as by ambitious rulers
from the north, Maratha
Goan women on their way to Sunday Mass warriors and medieval
Islamic chieftains, all of
sculptures found here testify to the whom had once established
common, ancient roots of Hinduism, kingdoms here.
Buddhism and Jainism. Bengaluru, the state capital,
Many visitors travel by train from presents a sharp contrast to
Mumbai to the tiny neighbouring state Karnataka’s historic sites. As
of Goa. The Konkan Railway, which the ebullient centre of India’s
connects the two, and continues burgeoning computer
southwards to Karnataka, is a wonderful software industry, this once A Hanuman statue in
way to see the lush coastal scenery of laid-back town has been Nasik, Maharashtra
coconut groves, spice plantations and transformed into a globalized,
fishing villages. high-tech showcase for contemporary
Goa was a Portuguese colony from 1510 India. Several multinational corporations
until 1961, when it was liberated by the have opened offices here, while pubs and
Indian Army. The Portuguese departed shopping malls line its streets, catering to
peacefully, leaving behind a rich a young, cosmopolitan population.
cultural legacy in cathedrals and
mansions, music and dance,
and in its distinctive cuisine.
Another legacy of 450 years of
Portuguese rule is in religion –
almost one-third of Goa’s
population is Roman Catholic.
Tourism and related industries
are today a major source of
livelihood here. Visitors from
all over the world throng the
beautiful beaches, which offer
secluded palm-fringed retreats, The lush landscape along Karnataka’s coastline

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