Mystical and spiritual, chaotic and confounding, India overflows with riches. Staying at excellent hotels, your small group travels the classic Golden Triangle: bustling New Delhi; Agra’s Taj Mahal; and the sandstone “Pink City“ Jaipur. The 17-day journey begins with Old and New Delhi’s important sights like Qutb Minar and Lal Qila. Travel south to Jaipur to see the stunning Hawa Mahal palace, Amber Fort, and a home-hosted dinner with a Rajasthani family. Search for the elusive Bengal tiger on game drives in Ranthambore National Park, then meet people of the Meena community in pastoral Kalakho. In Agra, encounter the awe-inspiring Taj Mahal, tour imposing Agra Fort, and take an Indian cuisine cooking lesson. Experience life along the sacred Ganges in Hinduism’s holiest city, Varanasi, and visit nearby Sarnath, one of Buddhism’s holiest sites.
Day 1: Depart U.S. for Delhi, India
Day 2: Arrive Delhi
Day 3: Delhi
Day 4: Delhi
Day 5: Delhi/Jaipur
Day 6: Jaipur
Day 7: Jaipur/Sanganer
Day 8: Jaipur/Ranthambore
Day 9: Ranthambore
Day 10: Ranthambore/Gadoli
Day 11: Gadoli/Agra
Day 12: Agra
Day 13: Agra/Delhi/Varanasi
Day 14: Varanasi/Sarnath
Day 15: Varanasi
Day 16: Varanasi/Delhi
Day 17: Return to U.S.
Moderate
- This trip involves considerable walking.
- In-country travel will be on some lengthy bus coach rides.
Faculty
Reiko Ohnuma is the Chair of the Department of Religion and the Robert 1932 and Barbara Black Professor of Religion. She is a specialist in the Buddhist traditions of South Asia (with a particular focus on narrative literature, hagiography, and the role and imagery of women), but also teaches courses on Hinduism. She holds a B.A. from the University of California (Berkeley) and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). She is the author of Head, Eyes, Flesh, and Blood: Giving Away the Body in Indian Buddhist Literature (Columbia University Press, 2007); Ties That Bind: Maternal Imagery and Discourse in Indian Buddhism (Oxford University Press, 2012); and Unfortunate Destiny: Animals in the Indian Buddhist Imagination (Oxford University Press, 2017).
Her talks on the tour will be drawn from the courses she teaches at Dartmouth on Buddhism, Hinduism, and/or Hindu/Muslim relations in medieval and modern India.
