Terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where Americans or Westerners are known to congregate or visit.

The best reason I can think of to avoid the "beaten path" and visit parts of India that are not so popular with foreigners.

those parts must be not so popular for a reason, which is why most tourists avoid them. 

I find that foreign tourists in India have a herd mentality; probably 80% of them do the "Golden Triangle" tour (Delhi, Agra (for the Taj Mahal) and Jaipur -- those places are well set up for tourism and an experience that doesn't take much "work" on the part of the tourist.

The next step is to visit the "cult" cities of  Dharamsala (Buddhist area), Manali (pot grows on the side of the road), Pushkar (great costumes, some camels, easy town to be in) and Hampi (lots of picturesque ancient ruins) and the beaches of Goa and a couple of areas in Kerala.

I can't count the number of young people who appear to be afraid to go to an unknown beach area, or who do not stop to visit Lucknow, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad .. these are ancient and interesting cities, and because of the lack of foreign visitors, those who do stop there are treated much better than the more popular cities. It's a joy to NOT be surrounded by touts and masses of beggars, and to not have to fight hard to get a reasonable price for a 1-mile ricksha ride

Mandi ... that was just a bit more than 38 years ago, and I'd been in India for two days! We were on our way (by bus from Chandigarh) to Kulu for Dusshera, a harvest festival... stopped at Mandi for a little walk, to stretch our legs, and then continued on to Kulu. We stayed in Manali (just a few more miles up the road) for a couple of days.

Did you love the sight of the Beas River as you drove up to the mountains?

Cheap guesthouses seldom had hot water in those days, and the shower water came straight out of the Beas  -- that is, straight from the glaciers!

I love those mountain people -- girls cutting grass in the fields always wave and giggle at their own bravery and I especially love the blankets that the Kulu women wear.

Kulu is a big weaving center and their shawls (merino wool) make absolutely the best souvenirs! I believe I own a dozen of them, and wear them often on those cool San Francisco nights!

I buy fabric in India all the time ... shawls, longhis ... I have a trunk full of Indian fabric. Sometimes I even break down and USE IT! Longhis make great curtains, for example! <g>

Your rigth about that river scenery too.  Would like to see it when the water is higher

Plan for October, when the monsoon has just finished! The Beas runs high and very fast at that time.

On one visit, I was in Varanasi around the end of October, and was able to watch them cleaning the mud (deposited by the river during the monsoon) off the ghats. Imagine trying to clean 6" of drying mud off of stairs, using pressure hoses! What a mess!  

Interesting you use longhis has curtains -- I use them well, as longhis (^_^)

Well, I do that, too ... mostly in the summer, for sleeping, with some sort of tank top. My "ricksha driver outfit"! <g>

And also for a easy-to-change cover for the chair my clients use .. since the (long hair) cat especially likes that one for sleeping!

Some members of my India-travel group will be meeting in Berkeley for lunch at a South Indian place ... will think of you while I'm munching down a big dosa!

The dosa wasn't the greatest. Next time, we'll try a different restaurant. <g>

The company (6 India travellers) was great. One of us was a South Indian guy who is currently living in DC, but in the area to address an Open Software conference.

All the travellers were over 50 and a very good group for conversation.