SOUNDS OF AN INDIAN WEDDING

You are invited to the wedding of Alistair Arani and Swati Yadav     preceded by dinners at The Maharaja of Jaipur's Palaces

Delhi, Jaipur, Agra (Taj Mahal), Khajuraho and Varanasi 

Departure: 12 January 2010 - 15 days.
Return: 26 January 2010

Please call for further information.

Day 1. January 12. (D)* UNITED STATES - DELHI
Depart this evening aboard any airline of your choice to Delhi, India. Dinner and light breakfast served on the plane.

Day 2. January 13. (B,L,D). DELHI
Continue flying on your airline to Delhi. Lunch and dinner on the plane. Late night arrival at the Delhi International Airport where we meet you outside the customs and transfer you to the TAJ PALACE HOTEL, to stay three nights.

Day 3. January 14. (B,D). DELHI
Morning free to relax and to get over the jet lag. Afternoon tour of the Old City to see the Qutb Minar built in 1210, Jama Masjid built by Shah Jahan in 1658 and the Raj Ghat, site of the cremation of three of India's most revered leaders, Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, Indira Gandhi (no relation to the saintly man) in 1984 and her son Rajiv in 1991, all three assassinated by fanatics. Briefing and Gala Welcome dinner at the hotel.

Delhi is a sprawling metropolis of 10 million, with a stunning backdrop of ancient and modern architecture. Geographically as well as historically, it consists of seven successive cities, with the British-built New Delhi making an eighth. Monuments in marble and sandstone are dotted around the Old City, whereas the colonial-style buildings from 1911 and the modern architecture after Independence on August 15, 1947, are found next to each other in New Delhi, which has been the seat of the central government since 1931. Delhi's brand new metro system, designed by American engineers Parsons, Brinckerhoff, opened the first phase in December 2002 and is expected to be completed in 2020. In the meantime, one has to weave a path through bicycles, auto-rickshaws, mopeds, cars, buses, trucks, cows, bullock carts and hand-pulled trolleys to flow with the traffic, looking at Hindus and Moslems dressed in orthodox clothes, women wearing colorful saris or businessmen dressed in suits and ties going about their daily ordeals.

Day 4. January 15. (B). DELHI
Morning free to relax. This afternoon we visit New Delhi built with wide boulevards epitomizing the spirit of the British Raj, Humayun's Tomb whose lovely gardens offer an escape from the heat and the Red Fort, Delhi's most famous monument.

Day 5. January 16. (B,D). JAIPUR
This morning we will drive west to the Pink City of Jaipur, where we stay five nights at the incomparable RAJ PALACE HOTEL, built as a palace in 1745 A.D. In the evening we are invited for a formal dinner at the City Palace of the Maharaja of Jaipur as part of the pre-wedding ceremony.

Jaipur, the chaotic capital of the state of Rajastan, is known as the 'Pink City,' because of the rose pink color wash applied to its palaces and monuments when the city was spruced up for the visit of Prince Albert from England in 1876.

Day 6. January 17. (B,D). JAIPUR
Morning sightseeing of the AMBER FORT, swaying up to the top of the hill on the back of an elephant. This afternoon we will drive to Samode Palace outside of Jaipur. After visiting the beautiful palace gardens and having 'high' tea, we will be taken to the palace in camel carts, followed by a band and Indian music. Dinner, dance and fireworks program at the palace for a Gala evening as part of the pre-wedding ceremony. Late evening return to Jaipur. 

Day 7. January 18. (B,D). JAIPUR
Morning sightseeing of the Jantar Mantar Observatory built in the 18th century and the City Palace museum. This evening we will witness the Engagement Ceremony of Alistair and Swati with elaborate Rajasthani rituals in the presence of the Hindu Lord Ganesh (with the face of an elephant) where the bride's family apply Tikka on the foreheads of the groom's whole family and give them gifts of Rajasthani clothes to wear for the Wedding Ceremony two days later. Dinner at the hotel.

Day 8. January 19. (B,L,D) JAIPUR
Morning drive to DERA AMER, a private farm house of a Noble Rajput family, where we can ride on elephants in the countryide. Lunch at the farm. Return to the hotel and join the Mehandi Rasam ceremony where all ladies from both groom and bride's sides paint their hands with henna. Dinner with Indian music at the hotel.

Day 9. January 20. (B,D). JAIPUR
Today is the day to see the Indian wedding of Alistair Arani to Swati Yadav, to whom he became engaged in Copenhagen, Denmark, this past May. The ceremony starts at noon, with music played continuously on drums, accordions and alto-clarinets, to entertain hundreds of invited guests dressed in colorful saris and Jodhpur suits. It is a unique event never to be forgotten in the minds of families, friends and foreigners who see the groom coming to his wedding riding an elephant, dressed in a white tunic, and decked with garlands. Dinner at the venue.

Day 10. January 21. (B,D) RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK
This morning we drive southeast to Sawai Madhopur, where we will stay one night at the TAJ LODGE HOTEL. In late afternoon we will go on a safari, hopefully to see a tiger inside India's most popular park where wild animals and exotic birds abound. Dinner at the hotel.

Day 11. January 22.  (B,D). AGRA
Early this morning one more safari will be made inside the National Park. This afternoon we drive northeast through the colorful villages of Rajasthan where the modes of transport range from wagons pulled by elephants, camels, bulls, horses, donkeys, buses, trucks, cars, open-air taxis, tricycles and motorcycles carrying up to 5 members of a family. We arrive in Agra, where we stay one night at the MOGHUL SHERATON. Dinner at the hotel.

Agra, the capital of India under the Moghul is the third apex of the 'Golden Triangle.' Jaipur and Delhi are the others. It fully merits its status due to the magnificent Taj Mahal, which was best described by the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as a 'tear on the face of eternity.' It is above all, a mausoleum built by the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan (meaning 'Ruler of the Universe') over the tombs of his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1631 and later his. Only he, of all his predecessors, had experience since the age of sixteen in designing monuments, and the recent discovery of an enigmatic diagram inscribed with numerous Islamic scriptures on the façade, leads scholars to believe that his tomb was intended as a reproduction of God's throne in Heaven.

Day 12. January 23. (B,D). AGRA - DELHI
This morning we drive to see the most alluring monument, The Taj Mahal built of white marble, with inlaid precious stones on its facades shining like multi-colored garlands around one of mankind's greatest creations. This afternoon we will visit the Agra Fort built by the great Moghul emperor Akbar and augmented by successive emperors until the last one Aurangzeb who imprisoned his old father Shah Jahan here. We will see Shah Jahan's beautiful Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) and his Peacock Throne encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. We continue our drive to arrive in Delhi where we stay one night at theTRIDENT HOTEL. Dinner at the hotel.

Day 13. January 24. (B). VARANASI
This morning we board our flight to Varanasi where we transfer you to stay one night at the deluxe RADISSON HOTEL.

VARANASI is one of the oldest living cities in the world, best described by Mark Twain as 'Older than history, older than traditions, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of those put together.' It has attracted pilgrims and sages including Buddha for millenniums, from all over India and the world.

Day 14. January 25. (B,D). VARANASI - KHAJURAHO
This morning we visit one of the Ghats, a chain of stone steps along the river waterfront, to see Brahmin priests offering puja, people practicing meditation or yoga and some families burning dead relatives on funeral pyres and throwing the ashes in the holy River Ganges. This afternoon we will board our flight to Khajuraho where we transfer to stay one night at the CHANDELA TAJ HOTEL. Dinner at the hotel.

Khajuraho temples are famous wolrdwide for their forthright eroticism of sculptures which were erected between the 10th and 12th centuries and abandoned since then. The artisans used incredible skills to carve the buff colored sandstones to show exquisite details of ornaments and hairstyles, down to manicured nails of gods and goddesses and to make them stand out in a three-dimensional high-relief form.

Day 15. January 26. (B,D). KHAJURAHO - DELHI - U.S.A.
This morning we will visit some of the temples in the Western Group, which are the most spectacular sculptures in the world, left in their original place. This afternoon we will board our flight to Delhi where we transfer you to the TAJ PALACE HOTEL for the Gala Farewell dinner. Late evening departure on your flight back to U.S.A. See you soon on another H.A.T. Tour.

(B)*-Breakfast, (L)-Lunch, (D)-Dinner

International Airfare is not included. Individuals make their own international flight arrangements. We urge you to check airline cancellation penalties before purchasing airline tickets since international departure times and flights can change. H.A.T. Tours does not accept liability for cancellation penalties related to international airline tickets.

The group is limited to twenty persons maximum. The Managing Director Grethe Arani and Aspee Arani will personally escort this tour. Local English-speaking guides are provided in each of the cities visited.

Please Note: This tour will be very special for all the participants because of the close personal connections Grethe and Aspee Arani have with this part of the world. Aspee Arani was born and raised in Mumbai. He received his education at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology before going to Europe for advanced engineering studies and on to the U.S. where he became a citizen and started his business. Grethe Arani conducted extensive tours of India for Alumni Flights Abroad before launching H.A.T. Tours with Aspee in 1982. They are both specialists in conducting tours worldwide and extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of India.

Please send your deposit to:
H.A.T. Tours
PO Box 46876, St. Petersburg, FL 33741
Phone toll free (800) 472-4448 or Fax (727) 360-8459
gnahat@EuropeanOperaTours.com
www.EuropeanOperaTours.com