RAJASTHAN & MOGHUL INDIA: SLOWLY OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

3 February – 1 March 2010 with Richard Hunt

This is a new and unusual tour to Rajasthan, visiting some lesser known of the Rajahs’ forts & palaces & ending with the Moghul wonders of Agra and Delhi (including the Taj Mahal, of course). It is a varied and exciting journey through spectacular towns, villages and landscapes exploring the marvels of ancient and more modern religious, princely and Imperial 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. To gain insights into the 'real India' of small towns and villages, we hope to arrange 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 include a variety of forts, palaces, hunting lodges, & superb colonial splendour at the Imperial Hotel in Delhi.

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 the splendid courts of the great Moghul Emperors & some of the Rajahs & Maharajas, 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 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.

RAJASTHAN After our flight to Delhi, we drive immediately to Kesroli Fort in Rajasthan (the flight arrives at about 11am and we drive for about 2 hours to our palace-hotel). RAJASTHAN is one of the most fascinating and colourful of India's states, which remained mainly under the rule of Rajas and Maharajas until after Independence in 1947. Their great wealth built impressive cities, forts and palaces. Rich merchants and 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 and shade. 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. WARNING: India is a great shopping temptation!

KESROLI. Our tour starts by driving approximately 100 kms from Delhi airport to Kesroli Fort. This is a small fort-palace built by a Rajput ruler and now converted to a heritage hotel, where we can start to relax after the flight from England. The fort has impressive fortifications, fine gates as well as just a dozen bedrooms with attached bathrooms – so we may have the fort to ourselves! The food has been praised by our travellers! We walk up through the village and fortifications to the hotel - a wonderful first night halt. 1 night at Fort Kesroli.

 SAMODE PALACE:  We drive to the Samode Palace -  the very fine fortified palace of the Samode family who were hereditary chief ministers of the Maharajah of Jaipur - lying in a cleft of the Aravali hills and dominating the charming small walled town of Samode. The palace has a series of courtyards with some frescoed rooms and galleries and a magnificent Durbar Hall. Nearby (3 kms) is the lovely formal walled garden that once served as the pleasure garden for the Samode princely family and their ladies. The garden comprises lawns, trees, flowers, fountains and pavilions. This is a place to relax, walk into the nearby interesting village, drive (or ride a camel) in to the town of Samode where we hope to have a private dinner party on the roof of the palace.
2 nights at Samode Palace, grand rooms, lovely swimming pool.

NIMAJ – CHHATRA SAGAR. From Samode we drive west to the small town of Nimaj – seat of another Rajput feudal family. In the town is the small palace, but we stay in the countryside in wonderful luxury tents, erected on a damn overlooking a lake, which is also a bird sanctuary. From here we plan visits to local villages, a bird watching expedition, and opportunities to  understand something of the rural life of central Rajasthan.
2 nights in tented accommodation with full board.

DEOGARH MAHAL is another grand palace located in the centre of the fascinating small town of Deogarh. Our hosts are members of the princely family who have converted their stately home into one of the loveliest heritage hotels (the family now live in a house beside the lake). During our stay we should take advantage of their ‘rural rambles’ and picnics at some of their outlying small forts, and we can also make an interesting journey by a small local train that descends through the very picturesque ‘Ghat (literally ‘steps’) Section’ of the Aravali Hills between Udaipur and Jodhpur. Often in the evening the unusual entertainment takes the form of a local folk opera!
2 nights at Deogarh Mahal, comfortable and interesting rooms, swimming pool.

RANAKPUR & KUMBULGARH:  From Deogarh we drive across part plain, along the edge of the hills before arriving at the famous RANAKPUR JAIN TEMPLE. This is a beautiful 15th century marble building with intricately carved pillars supporting numerous domes, built by the Jain minister of the ruler of Udaipur. We explore the temple and later look at the Durry weavers (flat-weave cotton rugs) and spend
1 night at Fateh Bagh, a new hotel in a lovely setting close to the Ranakpur temple, built from a dismantled palace!
Next day we travel on through lovely scenery to the remote and huge 15th century FORTRESS OF KUMBULGARH, built by the Mewar rulers of Udaipur, to dominate the enemy kingdoms of Jodhpur and Gujerat. Inside the ramparts are palaces, temples, cenotaphs, wells, and all the requirements to withstand a siege (though it fell once to the Emperor Akbar!) On leaving Kumbulgarh we drive on to Udaipur through the picturesque hills of craggy rocks and small fields of wheat, exploring the intriguing ‘Persian Wheel’ irrigation system, where the bucket chains are raised by bullocks. 

UDAIPUR: The fascinating and beautiful city of Udaipur was created by the Mewar clan in 1568 following their defeat by Akbar, the great Moghul emperor, at the fortress of Chittorgarh (which we visit later in the tour). It is located along a series of lakes, situated in the beautiful hills which contributed to the defence of the city. 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. 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),  snoozing beside our hotel pool...
4 nights at the Fateh Prakash Palace Hotel. Beside the main city palace, overlooking the famous Lake Pichola and the Lake Palace of the Maharana of Udaipur (who still owns it). There is a lovely terrace for breakfast or dinner looking out over the lake, with the palaces floodlit at night.

DUNGARPUR. A two hour drive from Udaipur brings us to the charming small town of DUNGARPUR – near the border with Gujerat. Another seat of a princely family, we stay at the very comfortable Udai Bilas Palace, a 19th century palace built on the lakeside. Above the palace hotel is the ancient 15th century palace, no longer inhabited, which has frescoed rooms – some of a licentious character - and an extraordinary Rajah’s bedroom with mirrored ceiling and floor!
2 nights at Udai Bilas Palace, comfortable rooms, infinity swimming pool looking over the lake.

CHITTORGARH TO SHAHPURA BAGH. After leaving Dungarpur our route takes us close to Udaipur once more en route for the great fortress of Chittorgarh, which we explore in the late morning. This was the capital of the Mewar dynasty of rulers before the fort was taken by the Moghul Emperor Akbar. This is the most famed of all Rajasthan forts, for here the forces of Mewar, rather than submit to the Moghul power at the end of a heroic siege, rode out to their deaths while their women committed ‘johar’ or self immolation. From here the Mewar rulers retreated to build the city of Udaipur. Chittor certainly looks like an impregnable fortress - huge and imposing along a long cliff. [Access to it has always proved a challenge for our driver!]
After the visit to the fortress we set off for our hotel at Shahpura Bagh – a lovely small luxury hotel, run by a Rajput family, set in the midst of forests and lakes. The hotel has only 10 rooms, so we may again find that we are a private ‘house party’ during our stay. The family can arrange bird-watching, farm visits etc.
2 nights at Shahpura Bagh

JAIPUR After two nights at the Bagh, we drive down into Jaipur for sightseeing in and around the city. Jaipur is the present day capital of the state of Rajasthan. It has grown beyond the walled "Pink City” built by Maharaja Jai Singh II in 1727, when he moved his capital from nearby AMBER. We visit the ancient fort at AMBER by elephant - set dramatically in a pass controlling the plain. This huge complex is a wonderful example of the fusion of Hindu and Muslim architecture and decoration. In the Pink City we explore the palace museum with its splendid collection of paintings, carpets, textiles; the fascinating Observatory built by Jai Singh, the Palace of the Winds (an elaborate screen from which ladies of the harem could watch public events) and the bustling bazaars with a bewildering variety of crafts including silver, jewellery and carpets. In the nearby small craft-based town of Sanganer we can see all the processes for the fine block-printed cotton: wood carvers producing the intricate blocks, the hand printers setting out the patterns, as well as the processes of hand made paper and Jaipur blue pottery.
3 nights at Samode Haveli - the family town house of the Samode princely family. The Haveli is inside the walled Pink City of Jaipur - another delightful small palace - the dining room and some of the bedrooms have exquisite mirror work and paintings dating from the 17th century. Beautiful swimming pool and small gardens.

BHARATPUR.  From Jaipur we drive first to the fascinating Abhneri Step Well and nearby ruined temple. The large step well was used by the camel caravans that traded across this region, and was also the site of a magnificent Hindu temple, supposedly destroyed by Muslim invaders. Partly restored, the exquisite scultures of Gods and goddesses survive. From here it is NOT a very interesting road to Bharatpur, but we hope that the upgrading to a 4 lane highway will speed our progress. Next morning we visit the BHARATPUR bird sanctuary, former duck-shoot of the Maharajas of Bharatpur and now one of the major bird sanctuaries of India. Our visit, accompanied by a naturalist, may be by punts (if the monsoons have replenished the lakes) or on foot and cycle rickshaw (equally rewarding). On previous visits we have seen a wide variety of deer, turtles, monitors, as well as migratory and native birds. 1 night at The Bagh Hotel –set in a lovely formal garden, rooms are comfortable, the food is good and there is pleasant swimming pool.

FATEHPUR SIKRI & AGRA.  After our morning visit to the bird sanctuary we drive the short distance to Fatehpur Sikri, a magnificent red sandstone complex, built by the Moghul Emperor Akbar just 37 kms from his capital at Agra. The site was chosen to honour a Muslim saint who predicted the birth of Akbar's son (the saint's tomb is in the mosque courtyard) and the large complex of buildings - palaces, pavilions, stables - was probably a place of ceremony and ritual rather than a capital city. We reach Agra by dusk and visit the city next day. Agra was capital to the Moghul emperors in the 16th and 17th centuries. The seat of government was Akbar's magnificent red fort. This was elaborated by his son Jehangir, and his grandson, Shah Jehan, who built the marble palaces within the fort that look across the River Jumna to the Taj Mahal - tomb of his beloved wife.  As well as the Taj Mahal (always more wonderful than you can imagine) there is the exquisite small tomb of Itmud-ud-Dullah, built by Nur Jehan, wife of the emperor Jehangir, in honour of her Persian father. 2 nights at The Trident Hotel. A modern luxury hotel, with garden and swimming pool.

DELHI.  We leave Agra for Delhi, stopping at Sikandra to look at the tomb of Akbar. DELHI was not always the capital, but has played a vital role in Indian history over the past 5000 years. Successive waves of invaders have conquered and rebuilt the city; others just pillaged!  There are the remains of seven cities in the environs: they were built by Hindu rulers; successive Muslim conquerors who swept in from Turkey, Persia and Afghanistan; and the British, who declared Delhi capital once more in 1911 and soon began the building of New Delhi. The result is an enormous variety of monuments: the Q'Tub Minar complex (Tower of victory 1193) celebrated an Afghan invasion, but used much older Hindu & Jain temple stone; the Moghul masterpieces include the tomb of emperor Humayun, Shah Jehan's Red Fort and marble palaces and his huge mosque, the Jama Masjid. The British built the modern Imperial city of Sir Edwin Lutyens. There is much else to see: a superb crafts museum and village where crafts from India are practised; narrow streets and bazaars of the old city; the National Museum; the shops!!! It may well be that several members of the group have visited Delhi before! We must pick our itinerary with care!
3 nights at the Imperial Hotel. Very luxurious & well located in the centre of New Delhi, it was built in the 1930s & has been recently beautifully renovated. There is a wonderful collection of 18th and 19th prints and drawings in all the public rooms as well as the bedrooms of the hotel (we hope the art curator, Mr Chowdhary, will give us a private conducted tour), a charming garden (where breakfast, lunches and tea are served on the terrace) & large swimming pool. An excellent place to end our tour!