Superb escorted journeys to the lesser known areas of the Indian sub-continent...

We are showing a selection of the journeys on offer with the month shown which has the best temperature and climate for the relevant region.

TEXTILE AND CRAFT TOUR OF RAJASTHAN INCLUDING THE PUSHKAR CAMEL FAIR
This is a very special journey including the spiritual festival of Kartik Purnima in the Holy City of Pushkar. This takes place on the first full moon of November every year and is the time when all the tribal groups of Rajasthan gather to pay homage at the Brahma temple (the only one in India), to buy and sell camels and cattle and to arrange marriages for their children. It is a riot of colour, music and dance – a MUST for those who love camels and textiles. This journey has a focus on art and textiles (and camels) and is led by textile designer, weaver and block-printer PIE CHAMBERS who has lived and worked in India for several years and has a wealth of information about daily life and many aspects of the tribal and conventional cultures to share.

The journey starts in New Delhi and travels to Jaipur through Pushkar to Jodhpur – then visiting the beautiful desert city of Jaiselmer and a visit by camel to the legendary maker of superb camel girths, ISHWAR SINGH .We spend some time at the desert resort of Manwar visiting farms and villages then proceeding to the Royal Castle at Ghanerao allowing us to visit the lovely Jain Temple complex at Ranakpur. Our journey ends at Udaipur – city of Lakes and home to a particular and very beautiful style of miniature painting.

Most suitable months for visiting this region: November.

TEXTILE AND CRAFT TOUR OF RAJASTHAN AND GUJARAT
This is a journey not to be missed for all those interested in Textiles and Crafts - ideal for a first visit to INDIA. Rajasthan and Gujarat are well known centres for all that is rich and diverse in Indian embroidery, applique, blockprinting, dyeing, carpet and dhurry weaving, pottery and blanket weaving.

India had perfected the art of dyeing and mordanting centuries before Europe and the various processes amazed early travellers to the sub-continent. It is fascinating to begin to understand the reasons for the use of the various textiles and to recognise the tribal people by the clothes and jewellery with which they adorn themselves.

The journey will be led by Pie Chambers, weaver, dyer and blockprinter, whose knowledge and love of India, its culture, traditions, food, dance and music make these journeys an unforgettable experience.

We start our journey in Delhi for the annual crafts festival at Surajkund where craftsmen and women come from all over India to demonstrate and sell their crafts - we then travel to Agra to see the wonderful monument to Love, the Taj Mahal.

From Agra we drive to Jaipur, the pink city and capital of Rajasthan, the marketing centre for all that is wonderful in jewellery, textiles, block printing, handknotted carpets and pottery.

We leave Jaipur for Pushkar for an overnight halt en route to Jodhpur where we will visit the marvellous Mehrangir fort and the villages of the Bisnoi tribe to see weaving, pottery and blockprinting. From here we drive to Jaiselmer, wonderful desert city full of tribal textiles. From here we drive to Udaipur staying two nights en route, one at a desert camp and the other at a Royal Palace near Ranakpur so we can visit the amazing Jain temple complex. Udaipur is called the city of lakes and is the centre for miniature painting and puppet making.

After leaving Udaipur we drive to Ahmedabad through the beautiful Araveli mountains to visit the important textile museums there. We then drive to our desert camp at Zainabad in the heart of the Wild Ass sanctuary in Eastern Kutch and from there we end our journey in Bhuj - the Rann of Kutch. We will spend several days exploring this desert region and the tribal villages where the most beautiful embroidery is produced. From Bhuj we fly to Bombay to connect with our International flight to Heathrow.

Most suitable months for visiting this region: February.

NORTH EASTERN CRAFT AND TEXTILE TOUR INCLUDING A VISIT TO THE MOUNTAIN KINGDOM OF SIKKIM AND THE TEXTILE/CRAFT AREAS OF ORISSA

This is a very special journey - occasionally in this rapidly shrinking world one finds a special place where time and a certain amount of progress has stood still and Orissa is definitely one of these - a unique and fascinating land that is rarely visited by Western travellers. We will make many village visits to see the stone carvers art, toy making, applique, bell metal work, lost wax casting of brass and weaving of the highest order.

We are combining this with a sojourn into the mountain kingdom of Sikkim, high in the Himalayas where you will see an abundance of Tibetan and Bhutanese crafts and textiles - we will also visit Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Calcutta in West Bengal. Calcutta is a crowded but fascinating city that was the British Capital for 300 years. Whilst in Darjeeling we will see the sun rise over the world's highest mountain, Everest, and visit Tea Gardens, monasteries, temples and orchid nurseries. In Calcutta we will visit British monuments, the Kali templew and Mother Theresa'a house and experience the Bengali culture.

Month most suitable for these areas: November

CRAFT AND TEXTILE JOURNEY IN ORISSA INCLUDING A VISIT TO THE TRIBAL AREAS IN SOUTH WEST ORISSA

Recently the Indian Government partially lifted the ban on visiting Tribal areas and to celebrate this event TULSI regularly organises special journeys to the remote tribal areas in the South West of the State combined with the usual cultural and textile/craft focus around Bhubaneshwar, Puri and Konark.

We start the journey in Calcutta and after a short sightseeing tour of the city we take an overnight train to Puri spending some time on the beach and visiting temples and textile emporia. We then visit Bhubaneshwar visiting several textle/craft villages en route and also visiting the more important temples of the city.

We then start our safari to the tribal areas visiting the weekly markets of the various tribes returning for a bit of well earned luxury via Gopalpur on Sea to Bhubaneshwar for our flight to Calcutta or Delhi and return to Heathrow.

Visitors to the Tribal Region can now experience more than adequate hotel accommodation. New hotels have been built during the last few years and although not luxury, are far from basic.

Most suitable month for visiting this area : January

CULTURAL AND PAINTING HOLIDAY IN THE SOUTH OF INDIA

A delightful journey in Kerala visiting Trivandrum, Cochin, the backwaters and Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary high in the Cardomom Hills with visits to Spice Plantations and Tribal Villages included. As we spend several days in each location the journey adapts itself very well to a painting holiday with a resident tutor to help and advise.

We end the journey with a few days in an Ayurvedic Beach Resort with an opportunity to experience Ayurvedic Massage and Yoga if desired. Otherwise there is a private beach to enjoy the ocean.

Most suitable months for visiting this area: December/January

TRIBAL TOUR OF ARUNCHAL PRADESH including a visit to the WILDLIFE SANCTUARY OF KAZIRANGHA in ASSAM

This is a very exciting tour of the tribal areas in Arunchal Pradesh which have only just become open to foreigners. Some of the areas are ONLY open to foreigners, not other Indian people. It should be emphasized that this is an exploratory journey, some of the accommodation is basic and for this reason some of the travellers who come on this journey may prefer to bring their own sleeping bags or sheets. We will be staying in the best possible accommodation where it exists and we will be travelling with a known person (a good friend of Pie Chambers' who knows the area well. We will also be using local interpreters and guides where necessary). A brief description of the area, and the tribes that we will encounter, follows.

The population of Arunchal is scattered over 12 towns and 3649 villages and falls into three cultural groups on the basis of their socio-religious affinities. The MONPAS and SHERDUKPENS of Tawang and West Kameng districts follow the lamaistic tradition of Mahayana Buddhism. Noted for their religious fervour, the villages of these communities have richly decorated Buddhist temples, locally called 'gompas'. Though largely agriculturists practising terrace cultivation, many of these people are also pastoral and breed herds of yak and mountain sheep. Culturally similar to them are MEMBAS and KHAMBAS who live in the high mountains along the northern borders.

Khamptis and Singphos inhabiting the eastern part of the State are Buddhists of Hinayana sect. They are said to have migrated from Thailand and Burma long ago and still use ancient scripts derived from their original homeland.

The second group of people are ADIS, AKAS, APATANIS, BANGNIS, NISHIS, MISHMIS, MIJIS and THONGSAS who worship the sun god and the moon god, namely Donyi-Polo and Abotani, the original ancestors for most of these tribes. Their religious rituals largely coincide with phases of agricultural cycles. They invoke nature deities and make animal sacrifices. Adis and Apatanis extensively practice wet rice cultivation and have a considerable agricultural economy. Apatanis are also famous for harvesting two crops of fish along with each crop of paddy.

The third group comprises NOCTES and WANCHOS and adjoin Nagaland in the Tirap District. These are hardy people known for their strictly structured village society in which the hereditary village chief still plays a vital role. The Noctes also practise an elementary form of Vaishnavism.

SHORT EXTENSION TO THE KANHA WILDLIFE RESERVE IN MADYA PRADESH

Kanha National Park is one of Asia’s finest wildlife reserves. It was established in 1933 and later enlarged to an area of 940 sq. km. with a similar sized buffer zone. Its spectacular sal and bamboo forests are interspersed with grasslands, ravines and hills. Kanha offers unparalleled opportunities to photograph Indian wildlife and is considered to be the best place in the world to see tiger. The birdlife is equally rich and nearly 300 species have been recorded.

Kipling Camp was established in 1981 on the edge of Kanha National Park in Central India and is open to naturalists, conservationists and those who wish to relax in idyllic surroundings. It is also the home of TARA, the much loved elephant who starred in Mark Shand’s best selling book ‘Travels on my Elephant’. Kipling Camp has cottages with comfortable double rooms all with attached bathrooms, recently the subject of extensive redecoration and upgrading. There is electricity and excellent home food. Nights will be cool (hot water bottles are provided if necessary) so bring some warm clothes (including jacket, hat, socks and gloves) for the early morning and evening drives to the Park. Avoid bright colours in the Park, binoculars are useful and please take adequate film since this is not available locally.

PRACTICAL WORKSHOP JOURNEY TO THE BANNI REGION NORTH OF BHUJ IN THE RANN OF KUTCH IN GUJARAT INCLUDING A VISIT TO THE CAPITAL OF INDIA, NEW DELHI
This is a journey that has often been requested by visitors to this region on the annual Textile Tour of Rajasthan and Gujarat, “If only we could stay here longer and just sew” - so here it is - six days in Bhuj learning how to master the Indian embroidery stitches of Pakka, Karek, Soof, Rabari, Ahir with the Indian women who do this for their livelihood, blockprinting with the Muslim azrakh printers, weaving with the Rabaris in Bhujodi.

Topped off with the necessary visit to the Calico Museum in Ahmedabad and a small shopping spree in New Delhi! A marvellous trip for those who have been to India before with a chance to bring back all those things you wish you had bought but didn’t!

Most suitable months for visiting this area: November or January