Heritage Tour Of Central India

Day 01 : Bhopal

Arrive Bhopal.Check in your hotel.Evening proceed for short city tour of this "City of Lakes" (385 kms / 7 hrs)
Bhopal offers an uncommon blend of Hindu and Muslim cultures, a unique web of northern and southern influences. Except the lake of Raja Bhoj, little remains of the ancient city. The city is built at the fringe of the Malwa Plateau on a slope, like an amphitheatre. It is generously endowed with landscaped gardens and pools.Visit Taj Ul Masjid,Moti Masjid,Birla Temple,Museum Of Man & Upper lake.

Day 02 : Sanchi & Udaigiri caves

Full day excursion to Sanchi & Udaigiri caves. Excursion to Sanchi and witness the masterpieces of Buddhist Art which speaks of the story of Emperor Ashoka's becoming follower of Buddhism.

Sanchi is known for its Stupas, monasteries, temples and pillars dating from the 3rd century B.C. to the 12th century A.D. The most famous of these monuments, the Sanchi Stupa 1, was originally built by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, the then governor of Ujjayini, whose wife Devi was the daughter of a merchant from adjacent Vidisha. Their son Mahindra and daughter Sanghamitra were born in Ujjayini and sent to Sri Lanka, where they converted the King, the Queen and their people to Buddhism.

13 km from Sanchi and 4 km from Vidisha are a group of rock-cut cave sanctuaries carved into a sandstone hill that stands sentinel-like on the horizon. An inscription in one of these states that it was produced during the region of Chandragupta II (382-401 AD), thus dating these caves to 4th-5th century AD.

Day 03 : Bhojpur & Bhimbetka

Excursion to Bhojpur temple & Bhimbetka rock shelters.
Surrounded by the northern fringe of the Vindhyan ranges, Bhimbetka lies 46 km South of Bhopal. In this rocky terrain of dense forest and craggy cliffs, over 600 rock shelters belonging to the Neolithic age were recently discovered. Here, in vivid panoramic detail, paintings in over 500 caves depict the life of the pre-historic cave-dwellers making the Bhimbetka group an archaeological treasure, an invaluable chronicle in the history of man.

Founded by the legendary Parmar King of Dhar, Raja Bhoj (1010-1053), and named after him, Bhojpur, 28 km from Bhopal, is renowned for the remains of its magnificent Shiva temple and Cyclopean dam.The temple which has earned the nomenclature of the Somnath of the east, is known as the Bhojeshwar Temple. The temple was never completed and the earthen ramp used to raise it to dome-level still stands. Had it been completed, it would have had very few rivals. As it is, even with the ravages of time, it remains one of the best examples of temple architecture of the 11th - 13th centuries.

Day 04 : Ujjain

Drive to Indore enroute visiting the holy city of Ujjain,we visit the historical sacred temples and experience the spiritual essence of the place .Check in the hotel (Bhopal-Ujjain: 190 kms & Ujjain-Indore: 55 kms)

Modern Ujjain is situated on the banks of the river Shipra, regarded since times immemorial as sacred. The belief in the sacredness of Shipra, has its origins in the ancient Hindu mythological tale of churning of the Ocean by the Gods and the Demons, with Vasuki, the serpent as the rope. The ocean bed first yielded fourteen gems, then Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, and finally the coveted vessel of Nectar. Then began the wild scramble for immortality with the demons chasing the Gods across the skies, and in the process, a few drops were spilt, and fell at Hardwar, Nasik, Prayag, and Ujjayini. Hence the sanctity of the waters of the Shipra.

Day 05 : Omkareshwar & Maheshwar

Drive to Mandu via Omkareshwar & Maheshwar.Check in the hotel. (250 kms)
Maheshwar was a glorious city at the dawn of Indian civilization when it was Mahishmati, capital of king Kartivarjun. This temple town on the banks of the river Narmada finds mention in the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Revived to its ancient position of importance by the Holkar queen Rani Ahilyabai of Indore. Maheshwar's temples and mighty fort-complex stand in quiet beauty, mirrored in the river below.

Omkareshwar, the sacred island, shaped like the holiest of all Hindu symbols, 'Om', has drawn to it hundreds of generations of pilgrims. Here, at the confluence of the rivers Narmada and Kaveri, the devout gather to kneel before the Jyotirlinga (one of the twelve throughout India) at the temple of Shri Omkar Mandhata. And here, as in so many of Madhya Pradesh's sacred shrines, the works of Nature complement those of man to provide a setting awe-inspiring in its magnificence.

Day 06 : Mandu

Morning at leisure to rejuvenate in the fresh environment of this green city.Then we proceed for the sight seeing includes many monuments singing the glory of this beautiful land "City of Joy" as it is said to be.

Perched along the Vindhya ranges at an altitude of 2,000 feet, Mandu, with its natural defenses, was originally the fort capital of the Parmar rulers of Malwa. Towards the end of the 13th century, it came under the sway of the Sultans of Malwa, the first of whom named it Shadiabad - 'city of joy'. And indeed the pervading spirit of Mandu was of gaiety; and its rulers built exquisite palaces like the Jahaz and Hindola Mahals, ornamental canals, baths and pavilions, as graceful and refined as those times of peace and plenty.Each of Mandu's structures is an architectural gem; some are outstanding like the massive Jami Masjid and Hoshang Shah's tomb, which provided inspiration to the master builders of the Taj Mahal centuries later.

Day 07 : Mandu-Burhanpur

Drive to Burhanpur for o/n stay. Evening visit Fort.

Day 08 : Chanderi - Depgarh - Chanderi

Deogarh is a village near the town of Lalitpur in Lalitpur district, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is known for the monuments, on and near, the hill fort on the right bank of the Betwa River. A plethora of ancient monuments of Hindu and Jain religions are found within and outside the walls of the fort.The hill fort contains a cluster of Jain temples the oldest of which date to the 8th and 9th centuries.

Day 09 : Ajanta

Morning drive to Aurangabad enroute visiting Ajanta caves.Check in the hotel (Mandu-Ajanta: 350 kms/ 7 hrs & Ajanta-Aurangabad: 100 kms /2 hrs).

Day 10 : Ellora

Excursion to Ellora caves & Daulatabad.Evening board flight for Mumbai.