GUJERAT & RAJASTHAN

6 - 25 February 2009 with Richard Hunt

Please note that this tour can be combined with RAJASTHAN & MOGHUL INDIA 21 Feb – 10 March 2009

A new and unusual tour to the Western state of Gujerat and finishing in the hill station of Mt Abu and Udaipur in Rajasthan. It is a varied and exciting journey through spectacular towns, villages and landscapes exploring the marvels of ancient and more modern religious, and princely art and architecture - forts, palaces, temples, mosques & tombs. We will visit more modest houses and remote mansions of merchants and local rulers, staying as the guests of former rulers in some of the palaces and castles. We see the arts and crafts of  tribal groups & search for Asiatic lions & other wild life in the Gir Forest. To gain insights into the 'real India' of small towns and villages, we hope to arrange special visits to a school & tribal and mixed caste villages. We use our own coach and driver throughout, with time to stop and look at the sights & activities along our journey. Our hotels vary from a modest (but the best available) modern hotel, to luxury tented camps and some splendid palaces, ending in a lovely lakeside hotel in the picturesque city of Udaipur in Rajasthan.

OUR TOUR HAS SEVERAL BROAD AIMS:

We visit some of the great monuments to Indian history and culture, hoping to provide insights to art, architecture and the decorative arts of some of the splendid courts of local rulers, the wonderful temples or mosques of the Hindu, Jain and Moslem religions, and to the crafts of village India.
It caters for those who wish to understand something of the 'REAL INDIA' - the India of people who live in towns and villages. We will look at their domestic lives, their work, religion & cultural traditions with the help of friends who work with voluntary agencies and by planning the tour with some time to stop and look!
This is a holiday! There is so much to see, but we cannot see everything! So we have planned an itinerary that is selective, yet offers variety and some time to explore alone or in small groups, go shopping or just relax beside a swimming pool. When we are not in transit you are perfectly free to include or omit any of the day’s activities. We do our utmost to plan carefully, but frustrations can occur with flights or hotels, which may involve changes in our programme. Indians are most hospitable, friendly and helpful and any difficulties can easily be overcome if we are tolerant and adaptable.
We hope to offer very good value for money: these are not the cheapest tours to India as we use the most convenient flights, good ground services, and welcoming, attractive hotels. The tours are rather longer, more varied and, dare we say, better planned than some that are a good deal more expensive.

GUJERAT & RAJASTHAN. The states bordering Pakistan in the west are amongst the most interesting in India. The area remained mainly under the rule of princes (many of whom were Moslem in Gujerat) during the British Raj. The rulers built walled cities, palaces, temples or mosques, mausoleums and magnificent step wells (over 120 of these elaborate wells were built, reflecting the arid conditions of much of Gujerat). Rich merchants & courtiers built beautiful town and country mansions (havelis), where the decoration of carved stone was practical as well as beautiful - deflecting the desert sands, channelling cooling breezes or providing subdued patterns of light & shade. Much of the building was in the Indo-Saracenic style - a fusion of Hindu and Muslim architecture. The large Jain community (an ancient off-shoot of Hinduism) also built a profusion of elaborately carved temples. Numerous tribal groups are to be found, each proudly maintaining their distinctive traditions in language, dance & folk culture, and especially their wonderful costumes, exhibiting the rich textiles - weaving, printing, embroidery for which the area is truly famous. The landscapes are varied and exciting – from the stark deserts to the beautiful Aravali Hills. In the villages much remains unchanged over centuries: methods of agriculture or irrigation; the buildings for people or animals; the widespread use of handicrafts. Pottery, exquisite textiles, carpets, carving, jewellery and leatherwork is found everywhere.

Our journey starts by flying to BOMBAY and on to BHUJ an ancient walled city in Kutch which provides our base for exploring the tribal belt in the ‘craft villages’ of this part of Gujerat. Tribal & nomadic people (the Rabari, Ahirs & Meghwals are distinct tribal groups), rural villages and crafts including weaving and embroidery (Kutch is famed for its embroidery of shoes, domestic items as well as clothes, decorated with small mirrors or beads, block-printing and tie-and-dye material) provide the focus for this part of the tour. At Mandvi we can see the boatbuilding yards for the traditional timber trading dhows on which pilgrims also traditionally travelled to Mecca.
4 nights in this area:
Hotel Prince or Hotel Ilark,  modest but adequate hotels for 1 night. (Best in town!) and then
1 night at Hodka Village Resort in luxury tents or ‘village huts’
2 nights on the coast at Mandvi Beach (deluxe tents on the north shore of the Gulf of Kutch, part of the Maharaos of Kutch private estate) close to more craft villages, bird life (flamingoes and the Indian Bustard)

BHUJ TO GONDAL From Mandvi we drive into the centre of Gujerat passing the small princely states of Morvi, Wankaner and Rajkot (the early home of Ghandi, whose family home is a museum) before arriving at the Riverside Palace of Gondal for 2 nights. The Palace hotel belongs to the ruling family, and we will also be able to visit the 17th century palaces, collection of vintage cars and the temples. Nearby is the Veri Lake which attracts migratory birds – pelicans, flamingos and demoiselle cranes, and the town of Jetpur, famous for its textile workshops.

THE GIR FOREST is a wild life reserve - the last home of the wild Asiatic Lions (mentioned in the Bible as the Lion of Judah). Our wild life visit allows us 4 safaris by jeep into the forest to look for these elusive animals (and lots of other wild life). On our last visit I was unwell and remained in the tented camp, while the others all went out and saw three lions!
2 nights at the Lion Safari Camp (luxury tents) on full board

We travel to BHAVNAGER with time to relax for  2 nights at the Nilambagh Palace Hotel. This was the guest house palace of the Maharajahs of Bhavnager (a small independent state until 1947, and the first to join the newly independent India). Modest but comfortable. Swimming pool in the garden of the nearby Palace where the family reside. For the energetic, a day excursion takes us to visit PALITANA where an amazing 863 Jain temples have been built on the sacred hill of Shatrunjay. Some are quite recent, others date back over 1000 years. We will NOT visit them all (!) but the ascent (either on foot - 4 kilometres of steps!! or being carried!!!) gives wonderful views.

TO AHMEDABAD The journey to Ahmedabad takes us close to Lothal  ‘The mound of the Dead’, an archaeological site of a planned city and port of the Indus Valley civilization c.2500 – 1700 BC. [The more famous site of this period is Mohenjandaro, near Karachi, 700 kms away].
AHMEDABAD is the capital city of Gujerat. Within the old city is much of interest. It was founded in 1411 by the Moslem invader, Ahmad Shah I, who proclaimed himself King of Gujerat, and set about building a great new city, protected by bastions and a great citadel. The city has numerous mosques [the Jami Masjid – Friday Mosque is regarded as the finest in India], exquisite tombs, the havelis of nobles and merchants and fascinating bazaars. It was supplied by waterways & wells, and outside the city (which was on important trading routes) is a wonderful step well and caravanserai. In 1615, Sir Thomas Roe, English Ambassador to the Moghul court, compared it favourably to London. Today Ahmedabad has several important museums, including the exceptional Calico Museum, which traces the history of Indian and especially Gujerati textiles, with wonderful displays of carpets, costumes, embroidery and weaving.
3 nights at the Taj Residency Ummed Hotel 5* Very comfortable with all amenities.

MODHERA, PATAN to MOUNT ABU. Leaving Ahmedabad, we start a long but very interesting day as we drive to Balaram & Mount Abu. The 11th century Sun temple of Modhera is one of the finest Hindu temples in western India. Its sanctum is so designed that the sun’s rays fell on the bejewelled statue of the Sun God, Surya, specially at sunrise during the equinox. The exterior of the temple is heavily carved with depictions of various gods & goddesses, friezes of the Mahabharata & Ramayana epic stories, and some highly erotic scenes, rivalling those at Konarak or Khajurao. After visiting Modhera, we proceed to Patan. This was the Hindu capital of Gujerat until the Moslem invader Ahmed Shah built Ahmedabad. Here is the magnificent eight storey step-well, built in the 1050’s - the oldest and grandest of all the step wells of Gujerat. It is carved with Hindu gods and goddesses and contains chambers, where the royal families came to rest in summer, the water from the well skimming some of the heat from the breezes, & the whole acting as a natural air-conditioned refuge from the heat of the summer. It is thought that the area must have had royal palaces, but these have not yet been excavated. A little further away are the remains of many Hindu and Jain temples, on the banks of the holy river Saraswati. Patan is almost the last of the centres of the complicated weaving technique of double ikat, involving the tye-dyeing of both weft and warp silk thread before weaving into the most expensive and beautiful saris (nowadays only afforded by film stars or wives & daughters of wealthy industrialists!). From Patan we climb through the Aravali hills to spend an overnight halt at
The Balaram Palace (1 night) A lovely small Heritage Hotel, on a small hill by a river.
Next day, if time permits we will visit the Jessore Bear Sanctuary before we leave Gujerat, climbing higher to the RAJASTHANI Hill Station of MOUNT ABU. Another centre of Jain pilgrimage, the 11th century marble temples here are again famous for their intricate carving and we are able to vist them this afternoon. In the early 19th century the fashion for hill stations had been developed by the British. Mount Abu was the nearest breath of cool air to which the well-to-do could escape from the heat of the Rajasthan desert &  many of the Maharajahs of Rajasthan built summer residences here
1 night at the Palace Hotel, Bikaner House, former summer palace of the Maharajahs of Bikaner

UDAIPUR:  Leaving Mount Abu we travel through the Aravali hills to the city of Udaipur stopping at villages & Persian wells (bullock driven irrigation systems) on the way. The city of Udaipur was created by the Mewar clan in 1568 following their defeat by Akbar, the great Moghul emperor, at Chittorgarh. It is a city of palaces, pavilions, gardens and lakes (replenished in the monsoon of 2005). We intend to spend about two half days discovering the city - its enormous and spectacular palace and museum, working temple, the beautiful garden of the 'maids of honour', the folk museum and open air museum of buildings and crafts. Ajay Paul will help us to explore village India; we also have time to explore alone or in small groups - wandering in the bazaars or among the lakeside pavilions, boating on the lake (water permitting), dining at the Lake Palace, snoozing beside our hotel pool...

3 nights at the Fateh Prakash Palace. Located near the heart of the city, with rooms and a wonderful open-air dining room overlooking the famous Lake Palace, this was the guest house of the Maharana of Udaipur (who still owns it).

PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO CONTINUE THIS TOUR WITH A FURTHER JOURNEY THROUGH RAJASTHAN & MOGHUL INDIA, ENDING ON 10 MARCH 2008
We travel through some of the most picturesque areas of Rajasthan, staying in some of the most delightful and charming of palace hotels, as well as visiting the cultural highlights of Jaipur, Agra & Delhi.
VISITING RANAKPUR, KUMBULGARH, DEOGARH, SAMODE, JAIPUR, BHARATPUR, AGRA & DELHI.
The combined cost of the tour from 6 February to 10 March is £3975. Please ask for details.