Travel to India: Extended Journeys
Travel India: South IndiaMumbai (Bombay)
Rudyard Kipling extolled her as the “Mother of Cities.” It was built expressly for trade by the British and over the years it changed hands from the fishing village of the Kolis, through the Portuguese conquest, to Catharine of Aragon who took the seven islands of Bombay as her dowry to Charles II of England. A cosmopolitan melting pot with strong colonial echoes, it is at once a center of finance, industry, Indian film and the arts. Get into its great nightlife, world class cuisine, and exotic bazaars. Ramble through its libraries, museums and cultural centers.
Don’t miss Mahatma Gandhi’s house, the bustling bazaar area around Crawford Market, the beautiful Jain temple on Malabar Hill, and the dhobi ghats—a huge open-air laundry where hundreds of dhobi-wallahs vigorously thump and scrub the city’s washing.
Elephanta Island
(half-day trip from Mumbai)
The excursion is a scenic, hour-long boat ride from Mumbai. The fabulous forested island of Elephanta, now a World Heritage site, is famous for its 7th century cave temple. The huge excavated caves feature massive carved rock columns and many Hindu shrines, including the magnificent bust of Trimurti, a 20-foot-high Shiva.
Ajanta and Ellora Caves
Explore the enormous complex of caves at Ajanta and Ellora during your India travel, one of India’s greatest destinations and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Not actually caves in the true sense, this is actually a stunning series of carvings hewn from rock on a massive scale. They are particularly noteworthy in that three major Indian religions—Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain—have laid joint claim to the caves peacefully since they were created.
The Kailasa Hindu Temple at Ellora, built over a period of 150 years, is India’s largest and most spectacular rock-hewn sculpture. The Buddhist Caves of Ajanta predate those of Ellora. The remarkably preserved walls of these 2,000-year-old caves contain vivid frescoes, as well as carvings of stupas and a reclining Buddha.
Hyderabad
Conceived by Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah in the 16th century as “a replica of Paradise itself,” Hyderabad was at the center of a flowering culture, which became known as the “Dakhni”—a blending of the Hindu and Muslim traditions. The city still embodies this culture of gracious living, gourmet cooking and stylish dressing, visible in the lifestyles of the Nawabs of the Deccan, descendants of the Nizam whose fabled wealth once made him the richest man in the world.
Check out the City Museum, with its eclectic collection of objets d’art including jade, furniture, lacquer work, fabrics, manuscripts and weapons. Stroll through the colorful bazaars of the old city, where one can buy almost anything, from wedding bangles and rose water, to herbs and spices, silver work, antiques, fabrics and pearls, for which Hyderabad has long been renowned. While in the old town, walk to the Charminar Arch and to the Mecca Masjid, one of the world’s largest mosques, built in 1598 of black granite, a true treasure on your travel in India.
Bangalore
Less chaotic and crowded than other big cities in the subcontinent, Bangalore has a decidedly upscale and modern feel—for India that is. In the past two decades many a historic building has been pulled down to make way for the high-rise, high-wired office buildings which comprise the backbone (along with Pune, near Mumbai) of India’s exploding technology industries.
The Lalbagh Botanical Gardens are lovely, well-tended, and well worth a visit. The 16th century Bull Temple makes for an interesting contrast to the cultivated gardens; the huge, ancient black bull statue within was hewn in the Dravidian style. It’s generally surrounded by devout Hindus and covered in offerings of flowers, incense and oil.
Mysore
The palaces and royal gardens of Mysore are a testament to its past grandeur. The rulers of Mysore State were connoisseurs of art and architecture and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle. Thus the Maharaja’s Palace is one of the largest in the country, stained glass, domes and turrets giving it an ethereal air. The elegant city of Mysore is also ideal for shopping, with its famous Mysore silks, printed or woven in brilliant colors and beautiful textures. Here you will find a perfect souvenir to remind you of your travel to India. And pervading the air all around is the soft perfume of sandalwood, found in temples as incense, in oil or soap, or just as a pale rose-colored symbol on the forehead.
Golconda Fort
(half day from Hyderabad)
The mighty fort of Golconda lies just outside the city. The capital of seven Qutb Shahi kings from 1518, it is protected by huge walls and gates studded with iron spikes to keep the elephants from charging in. Beyond the fort are the 82 beautiful Qutb Shahi Tombs set amid peaceful gardens. The fort was once the site of mines from where the famed Kohinoor diamond is said to have been found.
Chennai (Madras)
Chennai, the gateway to the south, was founded in 1639 by lads from the British East India Company. Colonial history buffs will find Fort St. George and St. Mary’s Church worth exploring. However, Chennai is crowded and polluted: we suggest going further afield to discover the beauty of the South.
Madurai
Like the ghats of Varanasi in the north, the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Madurai is at the spiritual heart of south India, and a visit to this riotously colorful temple will put your finger on its pulse. One of India’s oldest religious centers, its temples, surrounding courtyards and shrines were described by Greek ambassadors 400 years before Christ; astonishingly, the scene appears not to have altered in two and a half millennia. It’s as though a visitor could walk into the Acropolis today and find crowds of robe-clad worshippers making offering at a perfectly preserved Temple of Athena.
The walled complex consists of over a dozen temples, classics of the Dravidian style, with thousands of carved and brightly-painted figurines adorning four sides. A lotus pool cleanses the devout, while elephants perform tricks for a rupee and stall owners hawk everything from flowers to sweets to posters of the colorful gods in the Hindu pantheon.
Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)
(half day from Chennai)
The small seaside village of Mamallapuram, 40 miles from Chennai, was once the main port of the Pallava dynasty from the 5th to the 9th centuries. Its exquisite rock-cut temples and carvings are some of the finest in India and have been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Kanchipuram
(half day from Chennai)
Lying 45 miles southwest of Chennai, Kanchipuram, the Golden City, once had a thousand temples and was a great center of artistic and architectural learning. The temples still tower above the narrow streets and it remains the holiest Hindu city in south India, attracting Saivaite and Vaishnavite pilgrims alike.
Thekkady/Periyar
Columbus was after spice. A mere dusting of a dish with the precious substances could transform sustenance into cuisine, and some spices in his day were literally worth their weight in gold (today, saffron still is). He would have given his right arm for the sea route to Thekkady. Spend a day on a serenely calm guided walk through a plantation, and revel in the richness of India’s spices. Don’t expect tidy rows of crops, ala a Nebraska corn field: the plantation is really a lush, undulating jungle growing an astonishing 36 varieties of spices, including black pepper, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, vanilla and fiery green chilies. The scents are enchanting, and you may sample each in turn, but beware those chilies!
The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is next to Thekkady, and is home to monkeys, antelopes, sambar, plenty of bird life and elephants. There are also a few tigers but it’s very rare to glimpse one. On this part of your India tour, take a boat trip on the lake or a guided jungle walk to look for wildlife.
Munnar
At almost 5,000 feet in the Western Ghats, Kerala’s major tea growing centre has an Old World Anglo-Indian atmosphere. Stay among tea and cardamom plantations, in colonial bungalows and guest houses. Visit the nearby Nilgiri Tahr Sanctuary to see South India’s endemic goat-antelopes in their natural habitat.
Kochi (Cochin)
This port town on the ancient spice route boasts a wealth of cultural and historical influences. A succession of Portuguese, Dutch and British colonialists competed for control of its port and lucrative spice trade, each leaving their own architectural legacy in the city. Visit the oldest Jewish synagogue in India, with its oil-burning chandeliers and elaborately carved Ark, that houses four scrolls from the Torah. The tiny Jewish community that remains (the number may be down to seven) can trace their ancestry in India back 2,000 years. Follow that up with a look at the church of St. Francis, the first European church to be built in India, where the great seafarer Vasco da Gama was originally buried.
Cruise around Kochi’s (aka Cochin) harbor for a full impression of this beautifully situated city, passing by the famous Chinese fishing nets. A most graceful sight suspended from their arced poles, the nets are said to have been introduced to the region by the court of Kublai Khan.
Kochi is a great place to catch an evening performance of the entrancing Kathakali dance, an important and ancient ritual of southern India. The plays are based on the three major Hindu epics, acted out with elaborate hand gestures, facial expressions and choreographed movements set to music. Performances tend to last all night, but an act or two may be enough for the uninitiated, and it’s not rude to leave during intermission.
Goa
A beautiful and historically rich stretch of coastline extending between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, Goa offers miles of beaches set against a backdrop of swaying palm trees. A former Portuguese colony, the area has a distinctly Mediterranean flavor and it is an ideal place to relax. Sand, surf and sun are the backdrop for an indulgent, even hedonistic, “travelers’ scene” for which Goa is well known, but the area can also boast gleaming churches, crumbling forts, coconut groves, delectable seafood, a laid-back tropical aura and some lovely resorts. Goa is a recommended destination if you want to experience pure relaxation on your luxury tour to India. If you go in February don’t miss the three day Carnival.
Kerala Backwaters (Alappuzha [Alleppey] and Kumarakom)
A two- to four-hour drive from Kochi, the Backwaters are 135 square miles of inland canals and lakes, that are becoming Kerala’s most celebrated destination. Enjoy boat excursions in native kettuvallam floating craft to water bird sanctuaries. Stop en route in villages built on floating islands, to walk among the residences and rice fields. Note how clean and prosperous the area appears. See children in their smart school uniforms wave and shout greetings in unison as you drift by. Discover local methods of fish farming, tapping of coconuts for toddy, and the making of coir from coconut fibers. >>India Travel Information
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