Glimpses of India

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.