NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) -- India, best known on the world tourist map as the home of the Taj Mahal, is now marketing its villages as exotic holiday destinations where tourists can draw water from a well and churn butter in earthen pots.

More than 50 villages -- from the palm-fringed coastline of Goa to camel safari hubs in the desert state of Rajasthan -- have been selected under the new rural tourism plan, Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury told Reuters in an interview late on Monday.

Away from the grandeur of palaces of former maharajahs, colorful elephant rides and tiger safaris, tourists will live in the heat and dust of villages where they can learn local art, crafts and customs.

"We will encourage people to come and stay with Indians -- the way Indians live and (also) learn from the masters ... This will bring the world to the villages," Chowdhury said.

"We are encouraging churning of butter, drawing of water from a well. This will be a return to to the roots."

She said there was also a plan to revive tourism in the violence-scarred Himalayan region of Kashmir with adventure camps to attract people interested in rock climbing and trekking.

Tourism in India, Asia's third-largest economy, has been on an upswing after tensions with Pakistan subsided following peace moves two years ago.

The country has launched an "Incredible India" campaign to woo more tourists and an estimated 3.37 million foreigners visited last year, up from 2.7 million in the previous year.

But little benefits have trickled down to India's teeming poor -- an estimated 260 million of the 1.1 billion people -- most of whom live in abject poverty in mud houses dotting the vast rural landscape.

Many of these areas have no electricity or clean drinking water and primary health and sanitation facilities are scant. People defecate in the open and diseases that can be easily prevented by vaccinations often assume epidemic proportions.

Chowdhury said the plan to bring tourists to the villages would build greater civic awareness in local communities and also enable villagers to sell their crafts directly to tourists.

Adventure in Kashmir

The tourism ministry is also planning to have the army hold adventure camps in Kashmir to lure young tourists to the scenic Himalayan region.

"We can have the army open adventure camps for youngsters where they (will) live as the army does, look at historic sites and go trekking," she said.

Kashmir has been torn by an Islamic insurgency since 1989 in which tens of thousands of people have died. But in recent years as violence has fallen, it has seen a record flow of tourists, especially domestic tourists.

About 186,670 people, mostly from other parts of northern India, visited the state in the first five months of this year, compared with 98,613 in the same period last year.

"Kashmir is a success story," the minister said. "It's a revival story (and) I salute the spirit of the people."