Deccan Odyssey – Cultural Odyssey

Delhi, India’s capital, is a compelling mix of the ancient and modern. It holds the vestiges of at least seven great centres, with crumbling Afghan mausolea adorning traffic roundabouts; millennia-old fort walls stand next to eight-lane expressways; and Sufi shrines the huddle beside concrete flyovers.

More impressive still is the fact that so many cultural transmissions from Delhi’s past eras endure. Five-star hotels host recitals by ghazal singers, sarod players and kathak dancers whose arts have been painstakingly preserved since the days of the Mughals. Echoes of the British Raj abound, too, from the 1930s elegance of the Imperial Hotel to the uniforms of the sentries strutting down Raj Path.

The most evocative place to get one’s bearings has to be the Jama Masjid, the magnificent sandstone and white-marble ‘Friday Mosque’ constructed by Emperor Shah Jahan in Old Delhi. Climb one of its minarets for a matchless view over the surrounding roofscape to the ramparts of the Red Fort, where the Mughals held court in a hidden world of cusp-arched pavilions and pillared audience halls. You may want to make the most of the city’s clean, efficient metro to travel across town to the National Museum, with its priceless collection of antiquities, or go onto Delhi’s southern fringes, where the exquisitely carved Qutub Minar has dominated the skyline since 1202 AD.

You’ll be pampered by porters and the smiling staff of the Deccan Odyssey train from the moment of your arrival. Once checked in, guests are treated to a ‘Welcome Aboard’ drink in the restaurant car and shown to their luxury cabins. Settle in and enjoy dinner onboard as the train makes its way out of Delhi.

Ranthambore National Park was created in the 1970s to spearhead 'The Save the Tiger Project' and remains a shining example of conservation. As a result of this and several subsequent National Parks, India's Tiger population in the wild has grown from under 1000 in 1970 to over 4,500 today.   

The park lies on the margins of the Aravalli range of hills amid a tract of dry deciduous forests and grassland and offers the perfect terrain for these magnificent animals. Close to the park entrance sits a long flight of stone steps that winds up to the ramparts of a medieval fort, affording fine views over the reserve and its much-photographed lake. On your search for the Tiger, you will also get to see several other animals, including Sambar deer, Chital, Hyena and wild Boar and the elusive Nilgai, a blue-hued cow. Around eighty Tigers currently survive in reserve, and your chances of spotting one here are better than average.

Jaipur is a swirl of life and colour, and its numerous monuments and markets provide the focus for the day. You’ll visit the famous City Palace complex, which includes the much photographed ‘Hawa Mahal’, or ‘Palace of Winds’, a five-storey façade of elaborately screened windows from where the women of the royal household used to watch processions in the streets below.

Arriving at Agra Station, you disembark for a tour of the city in the company of a local specialist guide. The tour will start with the Taj Mahal, the Jewel of India and one of the world's great architectural wonders.  Among the first to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, the mausoleum was built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved wife of Emperor Shah Jahan, in 1632. Crafted entirely of white marble and decorated in elaborate geometric forms, screens cut out of solid marble and delicate pietre dure inlay work showcasing elaborate plants, flowers and fruit, so admired by the Empress, the Taj Mahal is so perfect in its geometry and artistically accomplished that it took 22 years and over 20,000 craftsmen to complete

Ancient inscriptions on shrines carved from the long, narrow, sheer-sided escarpment soaring above the city of Gwalior, show that the hill has been of religious and strategic importance for many centuries. Huge round towers crowned by domed cupolas punctuate the façade of the mighty citadel, embellished with bands of blue-green tiles. Inside, the magnificent Man Mandir is the most remarkable of dozens of superbly well-preserved medieval buildings, ranging from temples to bathing tanks and tombs. 

Orchha often turns out to be the unexpected highlight of tours across India’s northern plains. Now little more than a sleepy village, the site on the banks of the rocky Betwa River served in the 16th century as the capital of the redoubtable Bundela Dynasty, arch foes of the Delhi Sultans. A superb collection of deserted palaces, temples, havelis and cenotaphs remain from this era, most of them in an advanced state of neglect, with weeds growing from their domed cupolas and spectacular sanctuary towers.

The temples of Khajuraho owe their survival to their remote location, which ensured they escaped the attentions of the Muslim armies that ravaged the area in medieval times. Erected between the 10th and 12th centuries, they are famous above all for their sensuous stone decoration, much of which is uncompromisingly erotic! The intricacy of the carving, with figures sporting delicate jewellery and elaborate hairstyles, is astonishing, while the pretty pink hue of the sandstone they’re carved from looks especially gorgeous in the hour before sunset.

On the banks of the Ganges, Varanasi (‘Kashi’ or ‘Benares’ as it’s also known) is among the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth. Streams of Hindu worshippers still come here today to bathe in the sacred waters of the river, believed to wash away the sins of past lifetimes.

Disembark at Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station, where a Transindus representative will receive you and transfer you to your hotel. The rest of your day will be at leisure, to relax, visit museums, or secure a last-minute bargain.