India Buddhist Tour | India Individual Tours | Pyala Travel - Travel Program
Follow the footsteps of Buddha on this Individual India Tour in the north of India. Custom India Tour from Pyala Travel.
North-India 'In the footsteps of Buddha' journey
private tour
A journey to the most important places of Buddha's life in India
India is the cradle of Buddhism. On this North-India journey you will follow the footsteps of Buddha. Important places of this life, such as his birth place in Lumbini, the famous Bodhgaya, Sarnath and the caves of Ajanta and Ellora.
from 1795,-
16 days
Tabs
Day 1 Arrival Mumbai
Arrival in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). At the waterfront of Mumbai Harbour, you can find the 'Gateway of India', an unusual triumph arche located at the place where the English people set foot for the first time, a long time ago. You can also find the gigantic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel here, the most expensive hotel of India, which shows an Arabic character with its arches.Take a walk to the Victoria Station to experience the dizzing human crowd, or to visit the Crawford Market to do some souvernir- or grocery shopping. This market will definitely leave you with many impressions.
Along the quiet and shadowy avenues of Colaba you can see beautiful colonial buildings. However, underneath the galeries along the Colaba Causeway, it's very crowded day by day because of the small market stalls that rise here early in the morning. You can still see the red English dubble-decker buses going around in the streets of Colaba, Fort and Churchgate.
Other highlights are, for example, the Hanging Gardens and the Towers of Silence at the Malabar Hill, the Mosque of Haji Ali which is located in the sea, the Mahalaxmi Temple and the nearby located ‘Dhobi Ghat’ (the communal outdoor laundry services).
Day 2 Mumbai - Aurangabad / excursion Ellora
In the morning you will head back to the airport to take a short flight to Aurangabad. After a check-in in your hotel, you will leave for a interesting excursion to the caves of Ellora. The 34 caves of Ellora are famous all over the world for their beautiful rock architecture. Buddhist caves, as well as Jain and Hindu caves can be found here. The most famous cave is cave 16, the Kailasanatha temple. This temple is carved out of an enormous cliff in the 8th century.Note: the caves are closed at Tuesdays.
Day 3 Aurangabad / excursion Ajanta
Today you will visit the caves of Ajanta for the entire day. These caves are all Buddhist caves and are divided in two groups. The oldest group is inherited from the 2nd century before christ and belongs to the Hinayana tendency. The youngest group is inherited from the 5th-6th century and belongs to the Mahayana tendency. No figures of Buddha where found in the oldest group, only symbols. Enjoy the amazing figures and wall-paintings in the caves of Ajanta.Note: the caves are closed on Mondays.
Day 4 Aurangabad - Mumbai
In the morning you will take a flight to Mumbai, followed by an interesting city tour. The old Bombay is nowadays the most cosmopolitan city of India and perhaps better known as the big Indian film industry; Bollywood. This entry harbour to India has about 15 million inhabitants. Therefore it's not a suprise that you can find an impressive Port at the Gateway of India, which awaits ships and passengers. Bombay knows many colonial buildings dating back to the British times. The most impressive one is the Victoria train station.
Day 5 Mumbai - Agra via Bhopal and Sanchi
An early morning flight to Bhopal, the capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh. From here you visit Sanchi, where you can find one of the most important Buddhist highlights of India. For ten centuries this used to be an enormous monastery complex, founded by Ashoka, the emperor who spreaded Buddhism in India. You can visit several stupas and monasteries. In the afternoon you will continue your trip by train (the Shatabdi express 14.40 / 20. 25 uur) to Agra, where you arrive in the evening.
Day 6 Agra - Varanasi
In the morning you will have a trip through Agra, where you will visit one of world's most famous buildings, the Taj Mahal. This mausoleum is build by the Moghul emperor Sjan Jahan in the 17th century for his favorite wife Mumtaz. The marble building is surrounded by a beautiful garden. The Agra Fortess is also worth visiting, from where you have a beautiful view of the Taj Mahal. You can also visit the Itimad-ud-Daulah, a tomb for a Persian nobleman. The Taj Mahal is based on this marble tomd in some way. In the evening you will hop on the train to Varanasi, where you arrive the next morning.
Day 7 Varanasi / excursion Sarnath
Enjoy Varanasi (Benares) in the morning.Around noon you will take a trip to Sarnath, the place where Buddha gave his first lessons. In the so-called ''Deer-park'' he preached about the Dharmachakra, better known as the Wheel of Law. Amidst the park you can find the gigantic Dhamekh stupa.
Day 8 Varanasi - Bodhgaya
In the morning you will take a beautiful boattrip at the Ganges along the famous ghats of Varanasi. Next is a city tour of Varanasi, where we make a cultural trip from Buddhism to Hinduïsm. Varanasi is India's most holy city for Hindus and every Hindu wants to take a swim in the Ganges here once in his life. For this reason, you can see that the daily life takes place at the waterfront here. Pelgrims take a bath, dead people are cremated and float down the river. In the city itself you find several temples, of which Vishwanath is the most important one.In the afternoon you will continue your journey to Bodhgaya, a 6-hour drive.
Day 9 Bodhgaya
Bodhgaya probably is the most important Buddhist place in the world. Buddha was enlightened here underneath a bodhi tree where he meditated. You will visit the Mahabodhi temple, which is build around the bodhi tree. The city is located near the Niranjana rivier and there are many temples for all pelgrims from all over the world: Japan, Tibet, Bhutan, Thailand, etc.
Day 10 Bodhgaya - Patna via Rajgir and Nalanda
Along the way to Patna, you will visit Rajgir and Nalanda. Rajgir is a holy place for Jainism as well as for Buddhism. Buddha spend some time here in the mountains to meditate. You can find temples, hot springs and the Saptaparni caves here, where the first Buddhist Council took place.In Nalanda you can find a Buddhist university, which dates back to the 5th century. This university was destroyed in the 12th century. However, the ruines are still very impressive.
Patna used to be one of the most important cities in Asia, located at the Ganges. Nowadays, it's the chaotic capital of the sate of Bihar.
Day 11 Patna
A free day in Patna. Even though Patna is located next to the Ganges, compared to Varanasi the daily life of Patna can't be found at the waterfront. The interesting local museum houses some archaeological findings, early Buddhist figures and according to some people, you can also find some remains of Buddha here. Gandhi Maidan is a big park in the northern part of the city near the Ganges. In the corner you can find the striking Golghar, a gigantic beehive-shaped silo, built by the British after a famine in the 18th century. Special about this silo are its 250 stairs that lead to the top, from where you have an extraordinary view of the Ganges.Day 12 Patna - Kushinagar via Vaishali
You will continue your trip to Kushinagar, a long travel day of about 7 hours. Along the way you visit Vaishali, which is also an important place for Jaïnism as well as Buddhism. It has been said that Buddha gave his last preaches here. Overnight in Kushinagar, where Buddha passed away in 486 before Christ. You can find a memorial stupa here.
Day 13 Kushinagar - Lumbini
Today you will take a trip to the beautiful Nepal and visit the birth place of Buddha Lumbini. Buddha was born as Siddharta Gautama in 566 before Christ. Lumbini is one of the four holy Buddhist places, together with Sarnath, Kushinagar and Bodhgaya.It's an important place of pelgrimage for Buddhists from all over the world. You will have one-and-a-half day free time to explore Lumbini and taste the special ambiance here.
The local museum is dedicated to Buddha's life. It contains many images and photos of Buddhist places all over the world, from Kathmandu to Kandy. If you're interested in meditation you also have the possibility to follow some meditation clases. The protected area World Peace Pagoda nearby is worth a visit as well, where you can find a nature reserve with many crane birds.
The center of Lumbini is the Maya Devi Temple, located at the exact place where queen Maya Devi gave birth to her son Siddharta Gautama. In the surrounded garden you can find Ashoka’s pillar and ruines of different stupa’s and monasteries.
Also many monasteries and meditation centres can be found in the so-called Lumbini Development Zone. The temples and monasteries are divided into the different departments of Buddhism.
The area with monasteries is quite big and the best way to explore the area is by bike or rickshaw. Monasteries are open as long as there is daylight. In Lumbini you can also find one of the World Peace Pagoda’s, which are scattered at different places in the world. These Pagodas are founded by a Japanese monk (after the nuclear bombs) to create peace propaganda. The Pagode here has a golden Buddha sculpture.
Day 14 Lumbini - Balrampur
You head back to India and spend the night in Balrampur. It's only a four-hour drive, but bear in mind that there can be a delay at the border.Day 15 Balrampur - Delhi via Lucknow
Travel to Lucknow. Here you will get the train to Delhi, where you arrive in the evening.
Day 16 depart Delhi
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