Day
01/ Arrival Delhi
Arrive Delhi, meet assist at the airport and transfer to hotel.
Night stay in Delhi.
Day
02/ Delhi
After a leisurely breakfast sightseeing tour of Old & New
Delhi.
OLD DELHI - A sight-seeing tour of Old Delhi would entail visiting
the Raj Ghat - the memorial site where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated;
Jama Masjid - the largest mosque in India.
NEW DELHI - An extensive sight-seeing tour of New Delhi would
include a visit to the Humayun's Tomb, the Qutub Minar, a drive
along the ceremonial avenue - Rajpath, past the imposing India
Gate, Parliament House, the President's Residence and would end
with a drive through the Diplomatic Enclave. Also visit Laxmi
Narayan temple popularly known as Birla Temple. Night stay in
Delhi.
Day
03 / Delhi-Varanasi
Morning transfer to airport to connect the flight for Varanasi.
Varanasi is the world's most ancient living city. Sunrise on the
riverfront, as seen from a boat, can be spiritually uplifting
sight. Crowded with temples, and its labyrinth of streets, the
city attracts the maximum number of tourists. The religious capital
of hinduism, varanasi is the carpet manufacturing place of india.
It was previously known as kashi - the city that illuminates.
The present name is derived from the fact that the city is at
the confluence of the rivers varuna and asi. It has a fascination
uniquely its own, a quality of sublime beauty, a timeless eternal
appeal. Varanasi is the city which cannot be described, only experienced.
Arrive Varanasi and transfer to hotel. Later visit the Temples,
Aurangazeb’s Mosque and one of the biggest university of India.
Evening view “Aarti” ceremony on the Ghats. Night stay in Varanasi.
Day
04 / Varanasi
Morning boat cruise at the river Ganges to observe the way of
life of pilgrims by the Ghats. Later excursion to Sarnath, 10kms.
East of Varanasi, is one of the Buddhism’s major centers of India.
After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha came to Sarnath where
he gave his first sermon. Visit the deer park and the museum and
later back to Varanasi. Night stay in Varanasi.
Day
05 / Varanasi-Khajuraho
After breakfast transfer to airport to board the flight for Khajuraho
, Arrive Khajuraho & transfer to hotel. Khajuraho is situated
in the heart of india, in the state of madhya pradesh, khajuraho
is a fascinating village with a quaint, rural ambience and a rich
cultural heritage, honoured by the world as india's unique contribution
to human civilisation. The chandela dynasty built eighty-five
temples here. Twenty remain as embodiments of indian architectural
and sculptural art at its most evolved state. Even ten centuries
after they were constructed, the temples of khajuraho reflect
an eternal philosophy relevant to all mankind. The temples of
khajuraho is a world heritage site and belong not just to india
but to the world. Khajuraho is one of the few millennium destinations
of the world. Khajuraho has achieved fame for the sensual appeal
of its erotic sculptures. Evening free at leisure. Night stay
in Khajuraho.
Day
06/ Khajuraho-Agra
After breakfast explore the Western and Eastern temples of khajuraho
while your guide explains the intricate meaning and legends behind
each describable sculpture, Later transfer to Jhansi to board the train to Agra. Arrive & transfer to hotel. Night stay in Agra.
Day
07/ Agra-Jaipur
Morning at sunrise visit the magnificient Taj Mahal - Built by
Shah Jahan, the Taj is a white marble memorial to his beautiful
wife Mumtaz Mahal. This monument took 22 years to be completed
and was designed, and planned byPersian architect Ustad Isa. Apart
from its stunning design balance and perfect symmetry, the Taj
is also noted particularly for its elegant domes, intricately
carved screens and some of the best inlay work ever seen.
AGRA FORT - Fort built in red sandstone with its magnificent palaces,
halls of public and private audience and the beautiful gardens.
This is where Emperor Shah Jahan was kept under house arrest by
his third son Aurangzeb and spent the last year of his life viewing
the Taj Mahal from across the river Jamuna. one of the seven wonders
of the world surely the most extravagant expression of love ever
created. 20,000 men laboured for over 17 years to build this memorial
to Shah Jahan's beloved wife, .After lunch drive to Jaipur - en
route visit Fatehpur Sikri, a perfectly preserved Mughal city
built at the height of the empire's splendor. Arrive & transfer
to hotel. Night stay in Jaipur.
Day
08/ Jaipur
In the morning, proceed for a morning excursion to Amber Fort.
Elephant ride ascent to the fort.
AMBER FORT PALACE - Amber is the classic romantic Rajasthani fort
palace. Its construction was started by Man Singh I in 1592, and
completed by his descendent Jai Singh I. Its forbidding exterior
belies an inner paradise where a beautiful fusion of Mughal and
Hindu styles finds it's ultimate expression.
CITY PALACE - A delightful blend of Mughal and traditional Rajasthani
architecture, the City Palace sprawls over one-seventh of the
area in the walled city. It houses the Chandra Mahal, Shri Govind
Dev Temple and the City Palace Museum.
JANTAR MANTAR - This is the largest and the best preserved of
the five observatories built by Jai Singh II in different parts
of the country. This observatory consisting of outsized astronomical
instruments is still in use
HAWA MAHAL - The ornamental facade of this "Palace of Winds"
is a prominent landmark in Jaipur. Their five-storey structures
of sandstone plastered pink encrusted with fine trelliswork and
elaborate balconies. The palace has 953 niches and windows. Built
in 1799 by Pratap Singh, the Mahal was a royal grandstand for
the palace women. Night stay in Jaipur.
Day
09/ Jaipur- Jodhpur
After breakfast drive to Jodhpur & transfer to hotel. Evening
at leisure. Night stay in Jodhpur.
Day
10/ Jodhpur
Morning explore the magnificent Mehrangarh Fort-Museum, one of
the largest in India, unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur - and
a perfect example of desert variant of Rajput architecture. The
tour of the fort will be followed by a visit to the old town where
you walk through the market getting a feel of the town.Also visit
Jaswant Thada, an imposing marble cenotaph, built in memory of
Maharaja Jaswant singh II around 1899 and Umaid Public gardens.The
500 year old history of Jodhpur, the bastion of the valiant Rathore
Rajputs, bristles with conflicts and sieges, with battles and
savage skirmishes, so it is difficult to believe that they found
the time to not only build the impossibly invincible looking Mehrangarh
Fort. Its lavish and delicately embellished palaces.
Within the Fort, reached by a steep path with huge guarding at
its turns and places at angles, to prevent elephants from storming
them, are a large number of apartments where the maharaja's retainers
now serve as guides. Within, the apartments are painted and gilded
and have windows and balconies to allow them an uninterrupted
view of the desert around it, now peopled with homes. The vintage
battle arms of the royal past are well presented - swords and
daggers and spears and matchlock guns; a battle tent seized from
Emperor Jehangir; howdahs and chariots and carriages; cribs and
beds; the royal, octagonal throne; musical instruments, large
drums, even a collection of turbans. From the ramparts of the
fort, where the cannons are still mounted, the sweeping view also
takes in a huge palace located on top of another lower hill.
This is Umaid Bhavan, the palace the Maharajas set out to build
as a famine relief project, but also ambitiously as the World's
largest private residence. It was intended to and did rival the
presidential palace coming up then in Delhi. Build by a British
Architect; while the planning has incorporated the elements of
the Rajput life-style (large county yards, for example, or a zenana
wing), there is a formal western sense of symmetry and restrained
sense of ornamentation. Only in the royal suites does exuberance
take over, since a Polish artist, then traveling in India, was
given the permission to create huge paintings to suit the art-deco
theme of the architecture and furniture in the palace.
The grounds of the palace are huge and towards the back, there
is a bougainvillea garden, perhaps the only of its kind in the
world, and at the end, a Baradari, a pillared pavilion where the
maharajas held Mehfils, entertainment courts. Within the palace
the courtrooms are more formal, while the ballrooms resounded,
till recently, with the sounds of revelry, now captured in the
whispered conversations of tourists.
Early in the evening you will be taken on a short safari to immaculately
kept villages of Bishnoi tribals who are known for their belief
in the sanctity of plant and animal life. A variety of deer roaming
freely is the attraction of these villages. Night stay in Jodhpur.
Day
11/ Jodhpur- Udaipur
Morning drive to Udaipur. En route visiting Ranakpur - the largest
and most beautifully preserved Jain Temples in India. Later proceed
to see the fort of Kumbhalgarh. If Ranakpur is beauty and grace,
Kumbhalgarh is all about power. Arrive Udaipur & transfer
to hotel. Night stay in Udaipur.
Day
12/ Udaipur
Morning city sight seeing tour.The city of Dawn, Udaipur is a
lovely land around the azure lake, hemmed in by the lush hills
of the Aravallis. A vision in white drenched in romance and beauty,
Udaipur is a fascinating blend of sights, sound and experiences
and inspiration for the imagination of poets, painters and writers.
Its kaleidoscope of fairy-tale palaces, lakes, temples, gardens
and narrow lanes strewn with stalls, carry the flavor of a heroic
past, epitomizing valor and chivalry. Their reflection in the
placid waters of the Lake Pichhola is an enticing sight. Built
in 1559 A.D. by Maharaja Udai Singh, the city has been described
as the most romantic spot on the continent of India by Col. James
Todd. Visit the City Palace museum, the Jagdish temple, Sahelion
Ki Bari ( Queen’s resort for their friends) Bhartiya Lok Kala
Mandir ( Folk art museum) and the Pratap Memorial. Evening at
leisure.Night stay in Udaipur.
Day
13/ Udaipur-Bombay-Aurangabad
Morning transfer to airport to board the flight for Bombay to
connect the flight to Aurangabad. Arrive Aurangabad & transfer
to hotel. Night stay in Aurangabad.
Day
14/ Aurangabad
The city of Aurangabad was founded in 1610, on the site of a village,
Khirki by Malik Ambar - the Prime Minister of Murtaza Nizam Shah
II. When Fateh Khan, Malik Ambar's son turned successor in 1626,
he gave the city the name 'Fatehpur'. Later in 1653, when Prince
Aurangzeb became Viceroy of the Deccan, he made the city his capital
and called it Aurangabad. Aurangzeb added the walls that enclose
the central part of the city in 1686 in order to withstand attacks
from the Marathas. There are four principle gateways to the city
- the Delhi Darwaza, the Jalna Darwaza, the Paithan Darwaza and
the Mecca Darwaza. Nine secondary gateways also formed a part
of the defensive system of this city. Aurangabad district has
always been a prominent region on the Deccan plateau. Having been
inhabited since the Stone Age, it has a long artistic and cultural
history - to which several dynasties have made major contributions
over the years. Maurya rule marked the arrival of Buddhism in
Maharashtra. Aurangabad today is a bustling city of Maharashtra
with diverse big and small industries, fine silken textiles, and
exquisite hand woven brocades of silver and gold fabrics, Himroo
of world frame. To scholars and lovers of art and culture the
city is more familiar as the gateway to the ancient caves of Ajanta
and Ellora, both famous as treasure houses of Indian Art and Sculpture.
Today explore the caves of Ajanta which offer a rich tapestry
of images that speak of palaces, royalty, cultures and tales of
everyday life of ancient India. Long buried in the debris of time,
these 30 caves were built to offer seclusion to the Buddhist monks,
who lived, taught and performed rituals.Night stay in Aurangabad.
Day
15/ Aurangabad -Bombay
Morning explore Ellora caves. Carved between fourth and fifth
century, the rock temples and monasteries of Ellora represent
the three major faiths of India - Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Like Ajanta, Ellora caves too are a fine example of cave temples
with almost 34 caves with intricate interiors and ornamental facades.Later
in the evening transfer to airport to board the flight to Bombay
, Arrive Bombay & transfer to hotel. Night stay in Bombay.
Day
16/ Bombay- Madurai
Morning transfer to airport to board the flight to Madurai , Arrive
Madurai & transfer to hotel. . All activity in Madurai is
centred round Sri Meenakshi Temple in the heart of the told town.
There are four entrances to this amazing temple complex set in
6 hectares. Beat some of the stone pillars in the complex with
any hard object and feel incredible on hearing sweet metal sounds.
The total number of pillars in the temple is a staggering one
Thousand. Watch the evening AARTI at Meenakshi Temple .A riotously
baroque example of Dravidian architecture. Night stay in Madurai.
Day
17/Madurai- Tanjore-Trichy
Morning drive to Tanjore. Also called a city of temples, Tanjore
is dotted with no fewer than 74 temples - the most famous of which
is the Brihadeshwara temple. The temple is capped by a monolithic
cupola made of a single granite block weighing 80 tons which was
taken to the top with the help of a 6 km long ramp- an old technique
used by the Egyptians for building pyramids. Visit this fascinating
temple and the Thanjavur Palace before continuing your drive to
Trichy.
Visit the ancient temples dedicated to Lord Ganapathi, 434 steps
cut out into the rock side and interspersed with shrines, lead
to the temple. Visit SRIRANGAM, a massive temple dedicated to
Lord Vishnu sprawled on a Island in CAUVERY RIVER which contains
within its walls a Bazaar (TRADITIONAL MARKET OF INDIA) as well.
Gaze up at the twenty-one magnificent towers of the temple surrounded
by seven walls. The town of Trichy is another small place of South
India which is littered with innumerable evidence of the region's
excellence in art and architecture. In the evening explore the
city including spectacular Rock Fort Temple.Night stay in Trichy.
Day
18/ Trichy- Madras
Morning transfer to railway station to board the train for Madras
- a fascinating city with its ancient temples and unique culture,
golden sandy beaches and a marvelous tradition of music and dance.
Arrive Madras & transfer to hotel . Later visit St. Thomas
Church, Kapaleshwar Temple, Fort St. George and drive past the
Marina Beach. Night stay in Madras.
Day
19/Madras -Kanchipuram-Mahabalipuram
Morning excursion to Kanchipuram & Mahabalipuram. Kanchipuram
known as the Golden City of a Thousand Temples, is one of the
oldest towns in India. It is famous for both its temples, many
of them remarkably well preserved and for its hand-woven silks.
Kanchipuram is one of the seven sacred cities of India and it
is the only one associated with both Shiva and Vishnu. Visit Ekambareshwar
Temple, Kailashnath Temple, Kamakshi Temple, the Vaikunthaperumal
Temple, all built in the 7th and 8th centuries. With a weaving
tradition dating back to the Pallava era (when silk was the royal
cloth), Kanchipuram is justly famous for its particularly fine
silk saris, embellished with stunning patterns. Visit the local
homes of the weavers and watch them create magic out of silk thread
into saris. Mahabalipuram is a small, quiet seaside resort with
a unique 7thcentury Shore Temple, a lovely beach and some of
the most beautiful rock cut temples in the world.Situated on the
shore of theBay of Bengal, Mahabalipuram was already a famous
seaport in the 1st century AD. This, town was a workshop for temple
building. Visit the seven pagoda style shore temples, lashed by
the waves of the sea and the seven rathas or temple chariots,
a group of monolithic monuments & animal figures carved out
of solid rock, the earliest known examples of Dravidian architecture.
They were constructed in a single century long burst of creative
enthusiasm, starting in the reign of Narasimhavarman 1 (AD 63068).
End the visit by photography of the beautiful Shore temples at
sunset. Night stay in Madras.
Day
20 / Departure
Transfer to airport to board the onward flight.