Holy Peaks & Sun Temples (Eastern India)
India
is a vast country and one of its chief attractions is the bewildering diversity contained
within its borders. A short holiday in India can only scratch the surface of this most
complex of countries. However, this tour we feel gives the most that a short trip can
provide and yet concentrates on some of the less well-trodden paths from a tourist
perspective.
The
tour begins in Calcutta, once the hub of Empire now the great centre of Bengali culture, a
seething city bubbling with activity and boasting everything from outstanding neo
classical architecture to the Kali temple, the terrible manifestation of the female force
in the universe.
Darjeeling,
in the shadow of the Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world is in many ways the
finest of all the Old British Hill stations and of course a tea centre without peer. From
Darjeeling we undertake a short but rewarding trek on the Singalilia ridge, which marks
the border between India and Nepal. We can say without reservation that the views are the
finest panoramas of mountains anywhere. I think you can see seven of the eight highest
mountains in the world from this vantage point.
After
the trek we return to Darjeeling to recuperate before flying back to Calcutta and onward
to the holy city of Puri, home to Lord Jugganath and his siblings and one of the most
revered cities in the whole of Hindu India. The city and its surroundings boast some
exceptional temple architecture as does the capital of the state, Bhubaneshwar, which is
the last stop on this exceptional tour.
We can think of not other
itinerary, which gives you major city, hill station, mountain trekking, architectural
appreciation and an experience of a major Hindu holy site in a period of two weeks. |
