Travel to Rajasthan: Pushkar Fair

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  France – DELHI

  Traditional welcome at the airport by our representative and transfer to the hotel. Night at the hotel.

• day 2

  DELHI – MANDAWA

  After breakfast, departure towards Mandawa. Stop en route at Narnaul to visit the "Hanuman" monkey temple. Lunch at a restaurant on the way. In the evening, free visit of a steppe region that wealthy merchants have endowed with a splendid architectural heritage (forts and havelis decorated with frescoes - 18th-19th centuries). Check-in at the hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.

• day 3

  MANDAWA – BIKANER

  After breakfast, drive to Bikaner in the Thar Desert. Lunch. In the afternoon, visit the Junagarh Fort. From the Mughal era, temples and palaces, including the exquisite Karan Mahal (late 17th century), were built in red sandstone and marble. They reflect the enlightened "cosmopolitanism" of their patrons. In the main courtyard, a basin and a Carrara marble kiosk add a touch of languid hedonism to this imposing complex. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 4

  BIKANER – NAGORE – PUSHKAR

  After breakfast, drive to Pushkar, one of the holiest cities for the Hindu religion. Stop en route at Deshnok to visit the Rat Temple. Then, drive to Pushkar. Lunch at Fort Nagaur, visit of the fort. Check-in at the hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.

• day 5

  PUSHKAR

  After breakfast, you have the entire day dedicated to the Pushkar fair. We recommend spending a lot of time in the stadium, as there are several types of competitions. Don't miss the day's competitions: the turban tying, then the mustache competition. At the end of the day, you can attend the newlyweds contest. In the evening, you have the opportunity to attend a dance performance in a temple. Dinner and overnight at the hotel. Pushkar: Pushkar is one of the oldest places in the country, arranged all around a small sacred lake (sometimes – and, unfortunately, more and more often – dry). It is believed that the lake is the miraculous product of a lotus flower that fell from the hands of Brahma, the Creator God, and that it was a drop of Amrit, the nectar of the gods, which made its waters holy. Most devotees claim that, during the full moon of the month of Kartika, the 330 million Indian gods are present simultaneously in Pushkar, because it is actually the home of one of the rare temples throughout India dedicated to the Hindu creator god of the Trimurti. If this fact surprises you, try to list the number of basilicas, cathedrals, or Christian churches you know that are simply dedicated to God. But during Kartika Purnima, which usually falls between October and November, an important religious pilgrimage takes place. Here too is held one of the most famous and oldest livestock markets of the Indian subcontinent, and probably the largest in the world. As every year at this time, there is the Pushkar cattle fair, a classic part of Rajasthan, characterized by the colors, sounds, and liveliness of the people: shepherds, street vendors, artisans who enliven the event throughout the festival. This year, the fair will be held from October 24 to November 02.

• day 6

  PUSHKAR – JAIPUR

  After breakfast, visit to the Brahma Temple and the sacred lake. Free time in the lively Pushkar bazaar. Then, drive to Jaipur, the historic capital of Rajasthan, nicknamed the "Pink City" because of the color of the sandstone used for its buildings. Planned before being built, Jaipur is a regular city. Lunch in town. On the program: at the end of the afternoon, a rickshaw ride in the "Pink City" so full of life. In the streets, cows, elephants, bicycles, and taxis cross paths in a great cacophony of horns; it’s a very friendly crowd bath. In the evening, a must for jewelry lovers: it's hard to miss the workshop, where you can find both simple rings and necklaces made of precious and semi-precious stones. Exclusive and Privilege for you: In the evening, tasting and demonstration of Indian cuisine at a Hindu family’s home (note, typically Hindu, not touristic). Overnight at the hotel.

• day 7

  JAIPUR – AMBER FORT – JAIPUR

  Breakfast at the hotel. Then visit the Amber Fort, the capital of the former Rajput empire. Ascent to the top of its ramparts on elephant back. The palace halls and a small temple dedicated to the goddess Kali are located around a pleasant Mughal garden. Return by 4x4 to the bus parking lot. Late in the morning, sari fitting demonstration in a shop. Lunch at a local restaurant. Visit of Jaipur, the “Pink City”, built in the 16th century. Jaipur is one of the most colorful and picturesque cities in all of India. The “City Palace”, the Maharajah's palace, famous for its weapons and beautiful collection of costumes, as well as the “Jantar Mantar”, an astonishing observatory built by a prince passionate about astronomy, are visited. You will pass by the famous “Hawa Mahal”, Palace of the Winds, undoubtedly the most well-known monument in Jaipur, an architectural fantasy, an immense baroque pink sandstone façade (which is viewed from the outside). Dinner and overnight stay.

• day 8

  JAIPUR – FATEHPUR SIKRI – AGRA

  Breakfast at the hotel. Departure by road to Agra. On the way, visit Fatehpur Sikri, the former and astonishing capital built by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1571 and abandoned after a few years. It is one of the most remarkable places from an artistic and architectural point of view that you will discover. The imperial city contains a great variety of palaces, colonnaded buildings, pavilions, courtyards and pools, mosques, caravanserais. Its buildings, both sober and baroque, form an extraordinary synthesis of the most varied architectural forms. Lunch. Agra is one of the high places of Mughal art and architecture. Its two most prestigious monuments, the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal, illustrate the aesthetic perfection reached by Indo-Muslim art under the Mughal dynasty. Visit of the Red Fort. This fort, whose high massive pink sandstone walls dominate the Yamuna, contains palaces, true jewels of white marble and carved red sandstone inlaid with colored stones, audience halls, gardens, and houses pools and mosques... Founded by Akbar, it marks the birth of the imperial Mughal style. Shah Jahan was imprisoned there by his son and, from his cell, he could admire the Taj Mahal, the tomb of his beloved wife. Dinner and overnight stay. Note: The Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays.

• day 9

  AGRA – DELHI – DEPARTURE

  Breakfast at the hotel. Visit of the Taj Mahal, a luminous white marble mausoleum built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his late wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is undoubtedly the most famous monument in India. It is said to be the eighth wonder of the world and the most famous monument in India. Built in a garden on the banks of the Yamuna, this marvelous monument, with its inlays of semi-precious stones set in white marble, celebrates the memory of a woman and immortalizes the love the emperor had for her. Departure by road to Delhi. Visit of Delhi, capital of the Indies and of the Indian Union since 1060, when the Rajput Tomara clan chose it to establish their government. Formerly Indraprastha, its origin is lost in Vedic times. Discovery of Qutb Minar, a famous minaret, a fantastic 73 m high monument that rises in a park where many turquoise parrots nest; it is one of the oldest monuments in Delhi (12th century). Visit of the Sikh Temple and orientation tour of New Delhi. You will see the India Gate triumphal arch and the Presidential Palace. Dinner and transfer to the airport, then flight back on a scheduled flight.