Travel guide North India

A place dedicated to meditative retreat, inner search, spiritual practice and community life. It is here that the guru teaches his art and knowledge to his disciples. Most Western visitors come to ashrams to practice and learn yoga and meditation intensively.

The most common word for a market. These stalls sell all kinds of goods (fabrics, food, religious objects, fruits and vegetables, jewelry, clothes...), and you will take the opportunity to learn how to bargain. In each city and each village, the bazaar is a real place of life, cultural mix and meetings.

A contraction of Bombay and Hollywood, it is the world's leading location for film shooting and production: between 1,500 and 2,000 films a year, broadcast throughout the country and the world. The most popular genre is the masala, which blends several genres in one film (musical, romance, action, etc.) for over three hours.

THE national drink! It is impossible not to taste the Indian spicy tea, the masala chai. It will be offered to you at the locals', in the stalls, in the street, in the stations, in the trains... It is traditionally prepared with milk, sugar and spices (ginger, cardamom, cloves, pepper... depending on the recipe).

This peaceful pachyderm is often associated with Ganesh, the elephant-headed god of Hinduism. A sign of wealth and power, it was once part of every royal procession and was used by the maharajas to hunt tigers. Nowadays, it blesses the faithful in the temples. The country would count approximately 27 000 wild elephants.

This mythical river, sacred to the Hindus, takes its source in the Himalayas, crosses the North Indian plain, to flow into the Bay of Bengal after a journey of nearly 3,000 km. The faithful, especially in Varanasi, come to wash their sins by immersing themselves in it, and scatter the ashes of their dead to free their souls.

The "abode of snow" (Sanskrit) is a mountain range separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan plateau. The result of the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates, this massif is the source of the country's main rivers. India is home to the world's^3rd highest peak, at 8,586 m: Kangchenjunga in Sikkim.

Traditional Indian drink, based on fermented milk from the churning of yogurt. It can be plain, salty, spicy or sweet. They can be flavored with mango, dried fruits... or even cannabis like the famous bhang lassi. Alkaline like all dairy products, it is very appreciated after a strongly spiced dish!

In Sanskrit, the term raja is used to designate any monarch or prince. The maharaja is a "great king", a title reserved for the overlords of several rajas. Muslim rulers were called nawab, which gave rise to the French nabab. They all lost their privileges and territories when India became independent.

The word namaste literally means: I greet you. The gesture (hands joined at heart level and head bow or hands joined at forehead level and lowered towards the heart), symbolizes faith in the divine spark in each of us, located in the heart chakra. It is an expression of deep respect.

The world's largest wild cat is India's national symbol. After almost disappearing due to intensive hunting until 1970, the country now boasts the world's largest population of Bengal tigers. Shiva is depicted wearing a tiger skin, and Durga, the eighteen-armed goddess, has a tiger for a mount.

A philosophy of life encompassing hygiene, diet, physical exercises (postures or asanas), meditation and moral asceticism, with the aim of achieving the unification of the human being. Many Westerners come to India to learn or perfect their practice, particularly in Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world.