India's Golden Triangle & the Sacred Ganges

Fly from the UK to New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport and transfer to the Oberoi New Delhi hotel.

India’s sprawling capital city is colorful, confounding and captivating. Your expertly led city tour provides an ideal first foray into this fascinating land. To cap your day taking in the sights of scenic New Delhi, relax this evening over a delicious dinner at the Oberoi.

This morning you will check out of your New Delhi hotel and head south via motorcoach to Agra, the site of Shah Jahan’s best-known building project, the exquisite Taj Mahal. You’ll visit the Taj Mahal this afternoon and stay for sunset, as the monument’s changing colors draw comparisons to the shifting mood of the late Emperor’s wife.

Is the Taj Mahal best seen at sunset or sunrise? It’s an impossible question to answer, so Uniworld guests have the rare pleasure of experiencing both. Wake up early this morning to see the white marble monument aglow with the rosy tinge of dawn. Transfer to Jaipur where you’ll spend your next two nights at the beautiful Oberoi Rajvilas. The luxury hotel sits on 32 acres of landscaped gardens and is built around an ancient Shiva temple.

Pink is the color of hospitality in Rajasthan, which gives you an idea of what to expect in the “Pink City” of Jaipur. Today you'll tour the Amber Palace, followed by a visit to another of Jai Singh II’s architectural projects, the Jantar Mantar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site devoted to astronomy. Each of the curious structures, called yantras, in this observatory without telescopes enabled court astronomers to study the heavens, measuring various celestial phenomena—eclipses, the position of stars—or the time of day. Some of these instruments are still used by astrologers to determine which days will be auspicious for weddings or other important events. Take the afternoon to explore on your own: Shuttles will be available to carry you to and from the hotel to the major shopping district. Jaipur’s bazaars are famous for their traditional Rajasthani crafts—jewelry, pottery, hand-printed textiles and carpets—so go and enjoy the swirl of colors even if you aren’t interested in buying some souvenirs.

Fly to Kolkata and settle into your beautifully appointed suite aboard the Ganges Voyager II in Kolkata.

Kalna, once an important trade port on the river, is best known today for the magnificent Hindu temples built by the maharajas of Bardhaman— which you’ll experience today. After marveling at the astonishing Rajbari temple complex, you may opt to walk with your guide through the colorful local market. Stroll along the streets of Kalna as you head to the Rajbari temple complex. The Pratapeshwar Temple, built in 1849, is embellished with exceptional terra-cotta carvings depicting myths and rituals, as well as scenes of everyday life (see if you can spot the girl in typical Victorian dress with a violin among the hundreds of figures). Lalji, the oldest temple in the complex, dates to 1739; the three-storied structure is topped with 25 distinctive pinnacles. Next to it is Krishna Chandra, built in a similar style. Across the street you’ll find the amazing Naba Kailash, two concentric circles of intricately carved temples dedicated to Shiva. The inner circle is made up of 34 white temples symbolizing pure thought; the outer circle contains 74 temples symbolizing the everyday world.

Your ship serves as a time machine today, transporting you hundreds of years into the past, as we travel to the authentic artisan village of Matiari. Artisans have been making ornamental brass objects— vases, lamps, figurines, platters—in Matiari for more than a century, so it’s no wonder that production is so well-organized and the craftsmen so skillful. Scrap metal is melted in the village foundry and pressed into new sheets of brass, which are then turned into various objects. Each craftsman specializes in a different step of the process, so one artisan might cut the metal, while another shapes it into a wide tray, and yet another etches an intricate pattern onto the surface. The sound of hammer on brass will fill the air as you stroll from workshop to workshop to see each step of the fascinating process.

Today’s adventures take you to a duo of Bengali towns—Murshidabad and Baranagar—each one boasting surprising and beautiful architectural monuments closely linked to the ruling families of the area. Climb aboard a horse-drawn buggy for a ride to Katra Mosque, built in 1723 by the first nawab, Murshid Quli Khan, who gave his name to the town. The huge mosque was damaged by an earthquake in 1897, losing two of its four great towers, but it is still a remarkable sight. Your visit continues in Murshidabad, long ago the capital of Bengal and an important administrative center during the Raj—a fact that comes clear as the ship rounds a bend in the river and you behold Hazarduari Palace. This massive neoclassical building was erected in the mid-19th century for British officials, who lived and had their offices in its 114 rooms. One might wonder why the architect, Colonel Duncan Macleod of the Bengal Corps, thought the building needed a thousand doors, but that’s how many it has—900 of them are real doors, and the remaining 100 are false. It is now a museum, which you will visit. Return to the ship for lunch and cruise to the town of Baranagar, where Rani Bhabani built beautiful brick temples in the 18th century. Goats frolic among them now and vines attempt to take them over, but the terra-cotta carvings are considered among the best in Bengal and the temples are well-tended. After your tour, if time and weather allow, you can learn a bit about one of the Raj’s enduring legacies in India: a passion for that most British of all games, cricket. It remains India’s favorite sport, and the national team, nicknamed the “Men in Blue,” has won the Cricket World Cup more than once. The game is played in schools, in fields, even on village streets; watch it in action and discover the meaning of terms like “long leg,” “fast bowler” and “run-out.”

One of the world’s most sacred bodies of water, the Ganges River flows through a myriad of small villages and highly populated cities throughout India and Bangladesh. Take in the remarkable scenery as you sail and be on the lookout for a rare sighting of the endangered Ganges river dolphin. Also today, watch as a skilled practitioner of mehndi demonstrates how the intricate henna patterns are created, and discover the meanings of the traditional motifs. Khusbagh, which literally translates to “Garden of Happiness,” is the garden-graveyard of the Nawabs of Bengal. Several historic rulers of this region, including Siraj ud-Daulah and Alivardi Khan, were laid to rest here. Take a walk through the village here, with a visit to see the mausoleum and the arcade verandah that surrounds it.

Few places of worship exist on such a head-spinning scale as what you will witness today in Mayapur, the center of the international Hare Krishna movement and home to the new Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, still under construction. Most students of history know a thing or two about the British colonial powers in India, but few are aware that the French had colonies here as well. You’ll visit this former French outpost today. This evening, enjoy a Farewell dinner and take in a lively cultural dance performance, complete with music and dancing.

The city of Kolkata is synonymous with the enduring legacies of Mother Teresa and the colonial-era British Raj, both of which you will get better acquainted with today.

Your incredible Indian adventure ends early this morning, as you disembark and transfer to the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport for your flight home or extend your journey with an optional extension to Varanasi.