The Journal
The Journal is first-hand, recurring-access storytelling on spiritual and cultural India, written by the guides who are actually there — the continuous version of the one-off feature the media publishes and the 'ultimate guide' the OTAs never attempt.
Reviewed by Experience My India Editorial Team · Updated 1 Sept 2026
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Hidden gems in Kerala
Beyond the well-travelled backwaters and tea estates, Kerala has quieter corners worth the detour: Vagamon's rolling meadows, Gavi's forest inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve, and Wayanad's less-visited edges. Most need a car and a bit more planning than a standard itinerary, and a local guide is genuinely useful for Gavi, which is permit-controlled.
Travel guidemakar sankranti 2026 date time significance and rituals
Makar Sankranti 2026: date, significance and rituals
Makar Sankranti marks the sun's transit into Capricorn and the start of the harvest season across India. It is fixed by the solar calendar, so it usually falls on 14 January, occasionally 15 January, and is celebrated differently by region — kite-flying in Gujarat and Rajasthan, holy river dips at Sangam and Ganga Sagar, and harvest feasts of til-gud sweets and khichdi in the north.
Travel guideblog explore kerala tourist places for one day trip
Kerala tourist places for a one-day trip
With a single day in Kerala, stay close to your base rather than chase the whole state: an Alleppey backwater cruise from Kochi, a half-day walking Fort Kochi's old town, or a short hop up to the Periyar hills near Thekkady are all realistic. Munnar and Wayanad are worth a full day each but are a long drive from Kochi, so plan around your actual base.
Travel guideram navami 2026 date timings festival complete details
Ram Navami 2026: date, timings and festival details
Ram Navami marks the birth of Lord Rama and falls on the ninth day of the bright lunar fortnight of Chaitra, usually in March or April. Because it follows the Hindu lunar calendar, the Gregorian date and the exact madhyahna (midday) puja timing change every year, so check a current panchang rather than assume a fixed date. Ayodhya, Rama's traditional birthplace, is the most significant place to experience it.
Travel guidehanuman jayanti 2026 date and puja timing tithi significance fasting rules
Hanuman Jayanti 2026: date, puja timing, tithi and fasting rules
Hanuman Jayanti marks the birth of Hanuman and is observed on a lunar date (tithi) that shifts each year — most of India marks it on the full moon (Purnima) of Chaitra, though some regions observe it on a different date in their own calendar.
Travel guiderajasthan famous food
The famous foods of Rajasthan
Rajasthani food is shaped by its desert climate: dishes lean on lentils, gram flour and dried vegetables that keep without refrigeration, cooked with generous ghee and spice. Dal baati churma, laal maas and gatte ki sabzi are the dishes most worth seeking out, ideally at a haveli restaurant or a home-style thali in Jaipur, Jodhpur or Udaipur.
Travel guiderajasthan mount abu
Mount Abu, Rajasthan: what to see
Mount Abu is Rajasthan's only hill station, cool relief from the desert heat, best known for the marble-carved Dilwara Jain temples, boating on Nakki Lake and the state's highest point at Guru Shikhar. A day covers the highlights; two lets you add the wildlife sanctuary and a proper sunset at Sunset Point.
Travel guidekerala tour and packages discover the beauty of gods own country
Kerala tours and packages: discover God's own country
Kerala earns its 'God's Own Country' tagline from packing backwaters, tea-covered hills, beaches, wildlife and Ayurveda into one small state. A well-paced Kerala tour usually runs 6 to 10 days, pairing a backwater houseboat night with a hill-station stop such as Munnar and a beach or Ayurveda finish.
Guides
Travel guidemaha shivratri 2026 date best places and celebration guide
Maha Shivratri 2026: date, best places and celebration guide
Maha Shivratri is the great night of Shiva, marked with an all-night vigil, fasting and temple worship, usually in late winter (February or March). Because it follows the Hindu lunar calendar, the exact Gregorian date for 2026 changes every year — check a current panchang rather than assume a fixed date. Varanasi and Ujjain are among the most atmospheric places to experience it.
Travel guidedelhi to udaipur distance how to reach best options
Delhi to Udaipur: distance and how to get there
Udaipur is roughly 650km southwest of Delhi by road, a drive of around 10 to 12 hours depending on the route and stops. Flying takes about 1.5 hours and is the practical choice for most travellers; the overnight train is the comfortable option if you'd rather not fly.
Travel guidemadurai to rameshwaram distance
Madurai to Rameswaram: distance and how to get there
Rameswaram is roughly 170km southeast of Madurai by road, a drive of about 3 to 3.5 hours across the causeway to Pamban Island. Direct trains and buses also run the route, making a day trip possible, though an overnight stay lets you see the Ramanathaswamy Temple's dawn rituals without rushing.
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Frequently asked questions
Who writes the journal?
Founder Gurudutt Kaushal carries the lead byline today. Other local guides will carry bylines once their profiles and consent are real — we don't invent authors.
Does the journal ever publish 'best of' lists?
No — that belongs to our destination hubs, not the journal, so the two never compete for the same search.
How often is new content published?
We haven't committed to a fixed publishing schedule — we publish when a story is properly researched and checked, not to a filler schedule.
Are festival dates on this journal exact?
Lunar festival dates change every year; we say so rather than print a fixed date, and point you to a current panchang or official source for the exact date.
How are distances checked?
We use only well-known road and rail figures, and mark anything we're not fully certain of as rather than invent a number.
About The Journal
The Journal is first-hand, recurring-access storytelling on spiritual and cultural India, written by the guides who are actually there — the continuous version of the one-off feature the media publishes and the 'ultimate guide' the OTAs never attempt.
What the journal covers
- First-hand narrativewhat it is actually like to be there
- Photo essays and portraits of festival, ritual and people
- Culture, festivals, ritual and history deep-dives
- News-pegged coverage of a festival happening now
- A guide's own story, and what happens behind it
What the journal will never write
- 'Best destinations for…'that belongs to a destination hub
- 'Best time to visit', trip cost, itinerarieshub spokes cover those
- '{destination} packages'that's what our tour pages are for
- 'Things to do in {city}'the destination guides cover that
Four themes
- Pilgrimage storiesthe walk, the queue, the river at four in the morning; what a pilgrimage asks of the people who make it.
- Festivals & ritualHoli in the Braj villages, Dev Deepawali on the Varanasi ghats, the river fairs, reported in the week they happen.
- Culture & everyday lifethe trades, the music, the food and the ordinary morning on the steps.
- Guides' own storiesthe people who show you all of this have their own version of it.
Series in progress
- Braj through the yearVrindavan, Mathura and Barsana across a full festival calendar, told by people who are in Braj every season.
- The rivers of pilgrimagethe Ganga from Rishikesh to Varanasi, and the Yamuna through Braj.
- The people of the ghatsportraits from the Varanasi waterfront, photographed and named with consent, never as spectacle.
How a story gets published
- Every claim is checkedevery ritual, date, place and historical claim is verified against a real source or first-hand knowledge before publish.
- Reviewed by someone from the traditiona guide from the community reads anything touching faith or ritual, for accuracy and for respect.
- Consent, and never spectaclea photo essay about real people needs their consent for both the image and the story.
- Corrections in daylightwhen something is wrong we publish a dated correction rather than quietly editing it.
How stories age
- Evergreenupdated in place and kept indexed; the date moves only when the story really changes.
- Annualrefreshed each year into the current edition at the same address, so one story keeps its authority.
- News-peggedtime-stamped and left standing as a record afterwards, out of the featured slot but never back-dated.
- Retiredredirected into the stronger story rather than left to decay the topic around it.
Who writes it
Gurudutt Kaushal, founder of Experience My India and a Vrindavan guide before that, carries the lead byline. Experience My India works with a panel of 500+ local, third-generation guides, and they are the authors this vertical is built around — but a byline is a person, and no guide-author appears here until their name, their bio and their own profile are real. The same honesty gate our guides vertical uses applies to a credential on a byline: no 'licensed' claim without a verified licence number.
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Dhruv Patel
Ahmedabad, Gujarat · Couple · Verified trip
5/51 week agoBooking was easy and the communication was clear at every step. No hard selling, no last-minute shop stops, just a full day of the things we actually came to see.
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Wei Ling Tan
Singapore · Family · Verified trip
5/51 month agoOur guide's local contacts opened doors we did not know existed — a block-printing workshop, a temple kitchen at prasad time. The itinerary on paper was good; the day itself was far better.
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Pune, Maharashtra · Couple · Verified trip
3/51 month agoMixed feelings. The sites were spectacular and the driver excellent, but our guide's English was harder to follow than we expected and we missed some of the detail. The office apologised quickly when we mentioned it.
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San Diego, USA · Group · Verified trip
5/52 months agoWe have used a lot of tour companies over the years and this was among the best organised. Every hotel was as described, every transfer on time, and one phone call fixed the single hiccup within minutes.
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