Festivals of India Cultural Tour (7N/8D)

Description

India's festivals are not spectacles staged for visitors; they are the calendar around which the country actually organises itself, and joining one properly changes what you understand about the place. This eight-day itinerary is designed to be scheduled around a specific festival, most commonly Holi in March, Diwali in October or November, or the Pushkar Camel Fair in late autumn, with the surrounding days spent in the North Indian cities where the celebration is at its most vivid.

For Holi, the tour centres on Braj, the region around Mathura and Vrindavan associated with Krishna's childhood, where the festival lasts more than a week and takes forms found nowhere else. The Lathmar Holi at Barsana, where women drive men away with long sticks in a ritualised reversal, and the flower Holi at Banke Bihari Temple are among the most extraordinary events in the Indian calendar. Jaipur and Delhi provide colour-throwing celebrations in more manageable settings.

For Diwali, Jaipur is unmatched. The entire old city is illuminated, markets compete in decorative lighting, and the effect from the Nahargarh ramparts across the lit city is spectacular. Amritsar's Golden Temple during Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas is equally remarkable, with the entire complex lit by candles and reflected in the sacred tank.

For the Pushkar Camel Fair, the itinerary shifts to Rajasthan's most photographed gathering, where thousands of camels, horses and cattle are traded on the dunes outside a sacred lakeside town, alongside moustache competitions, folk performances and a large religious pilgrimage. Whichever festival you choose, we secure accommodation early, since these dates fill many months ahead, and we build in the quieter mornings and rest periods that make an intense festival experience sustainable.