Dr. Charles Metelka - University of Wisconsin-Stout

variety and contrast ranging from world's longest and highest mountain system known as
Himalayas in the north to plateaus, tropical rain forests; vast areas of desert and large
stretch of palm fringed beaches and coastline. India covers an area of 1269,219 sq miles
and its main land regions are Himalayas in the north, northern plains and Deccan plateau
in west and desert in the east. It has three main seasons: cool season, hot season and
rainy season. The Cool season lasts from Oct to Feb with temperatures dropping to 32 F
in most places, the hot season lasts from March to June with soaring temperatures
reaching maximum of 123 F while the rainy season reigns from June through September
bringing about monsoons with N.E India receiving the heavy downpours with an annual
average of450 inches .The world's heaviest recorded rainfall was in Cherrapunji in
province of Punjab which received 1,042 inches of rainfall in 1860. India is the largest
democracy and second only to China in terms of population and is also most densely
populated in the world. (Lal, 2006, 109)
Apart from topographical variations, India is rich with cultural and religious
diversities as a result of its long and colorful history as of Pakistan which goes back to
3,200 BC. People belong to a variety of ethnic and religious groups with hundreds of
languages and dialects. Hinduism is the religion of the majority with large population of
Muslims as well followed by Sikhism, Buddhism, Christianity and zorashtrism. (lal,
2006, p.l11)
India's tourism industry is thriving due to an increase in foreign tourist's arrivals
and visitors are pouring in from all over the world: Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and
Australia. Some tourists come from Middle East countries just to witness the monsoon
rains in India as well as its diverse culture and heritage. There are various reasons for the
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