Day 

Arrival

Walk

Chorten Delhi Airport airport - md

Personalized with tour

Upon your arrival, you will already be assisted by our local representatives who will be waiting with a sign with your name (or written Chörten) at the airport. We accompany the arrival of each Chörten Traveler, keeping in touch by phone with our representatives at the airport, from before their plane lands until the moment we speak, so you can be 100% confident that we are accompanying and making sure that your arrival is being taken care of . We make sure in advance, for example, if you have already contacted the hotel, informing you of your arrival time, so that your room is available as soon as possible, according to the hotel's possibilities for the day. Transfer to the hotel with assistance, located in a central region, with interesting possibilities for tours and cultural activities. On our first day, we will be arriving, adjusting to the time zone and seeking, despite the fatigue of flying hours, to sleep at the right time, not during the day like in the time zone we are used to. For these reasons, the suggestion for the first tours is that they are quite light, as well as because we are not processing the information very well yet.

Our suggested tours for this afternoon are: Rajpath with India Gate, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib and Lakshminarayan temple. If you're keen for more, we have some extra possibilities in mind. Please let us know and we'll talk.

Flights:

Specialist with tour

Upon your arrival, you will already be assisted by our local representatives who will be waiting with a sign with your name at the airport. We accompany the arrival of each Chörten Traveler, keeping in touch by phone with our representatives at the airport from before their arrival. Including making sure that they have already contacted the hotel, notifying them of your arrival, so that your room is available as soon as possible, according to the hotel's possibilities for the day. Once you meet our representative at the airport, we will contact you by phone or Whatsapp to find out if we can be of assistance in any way. The Brazilian travel specialist will already be at the hotel awaiting your arrival. Transfer to the hotel with our own vehicle, with assistance, located in a central region, with interesting possibilities for cultural tours. For those arriving on a flight in the morning, possibility of a short walk around the hotel in the afternoon.

For those arriving on a flight in the morning, possibility of a short walk around the hotel in the afternoon.

Day 

Briefing

Specialist start first day of the program

Now, with the arrival of the whole group, we will meet for breakfast and then sit down to quickly review the important travel tips in India. Traffic, food, hygiene, cultural, logistical and safety issues are some of the subjects we will have talked about before the trip and the specialist, now in loco, will remind and clarify any doubts so that you can enjoy the trip as much as possible. These are precious minutes that will help a lot every next day in this country with a vast history, millenary cultures, a knowledge and vision of the world that we still do not understand well from our backgrounds and views of the West.

Gandhi Smriti

Chorten Delhi Gandhi 025 md

Another special visit for our day is the last house where Gandhi lived, known as the Birla House. We will learn a little about this important part of the history of this nation, as well as about the life and the final moment of this great leader, an example of the practice of Ahimsa (non-violence) until today throughout the world. Today, in the form of an interactive museum, with a collection of photographs and objects by Gandhi, called Gandhi Smriti. We probably won't recommend looking at the whole museum with all the weather in the world to allow time to get to know the museum, the history of Gandhi up close, like other important places in Delhi. A walk around the museum, taking a longer look at one or another part of Gandhi's life, usually works very well.

Gurudwara bangla sahib

Chorten Delhi Gurudwara Bangla Sahib

Then, a visit to the Sikh temple, religion of the century. XVI and Punjab region in India, is certainly a good option. In the beautiful Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, we will hear your chants, we will observe how you say your prayers inside the temple and around a sacred tank. We will also be able to visit the kitchen where volunteers offer meals to thousands of people daily, regardless of social class and religion.

handcraft museum

Chorten Delhi Crafts 449 md

Lodi Garden

Mosque of Sheesh Gumbad, Lodhi Gardens

We can also take a walk through one of the parks where locals go for their walks, very beautiful, the Lodi Garden.

A walk around one of the parks where locals go for their walks, very beautiful, with mausoleums of the various sultans of Delhi, the Lodi Garden, is a great option that combines history, nature and the opportunity to observe the daily lives of local residents .

Humayun's Mausoleum

Chorten Delhi Humayun

Second of the six main Mugal emperors, Humayun (1508-1556), his mausoleum was built in Delhi, the first with architecture associated with a garden and the use of red sandstone stone on this scale in India. Thus, the predecessor and of a beauty close to the Taj Mahal, some people consider this monument even more beautiful.

National museum

A very interesting visit in Delhi is the National Museum. It is possible for us to spend many hours or days enjoying each hall and exhibition about the history, arts and people of India. A good way to take advantage of this opportunity is to visit a main hall and the Buddha relics. The backpack needs to be in a locker room before entering the museum building and then, just before going up the entrance stairs, be sure to take a look at one of if not the first human rights charter, carved in stone, according to the laws of the great Indian emperor of the century. III BC, Ashoka. Right after its entrance, one of the first rooms is the one on Mohenjodaro and Harappa, cradle of this civilization, which existed between 3500 and 1500 BC. C., with objectives of that time being the main ones: the seal with what must have come to be Shiva, and sculpture of the head of the priest and the dancing girl. Then we walked, without stopping much in order to use a shorter time of our day at the museum, through the other halls, until we arrived at the relics of the Buddha. It is common to find practitioners of this Nepali/Indian master (Sakya) method sitting in meditation around his relics. This can certainly be a beneficial mental mark that we can offer ourselves for a few minutes, in this training towards a more peaceful mind and of greater benefit to all sentient beings (simply: beings with consciousness). If you want to take a quick look at the Indian tribes' halls and the instruments on the top floor, with a certain focus and being careful with the weather, it's time!

Old Delhi

Chorten India Delhi Old Delhi 2

We will begin our tours with what is actually one of several Delhis, which have existed at different times and empires in a succession of neighboring cities. The last and eighth Delhi is where we stayed, built by the British, called New Delhi. The seventh was built by Shah Jahan, one of the great Mughai emperors, the same one who built the Taj Mahal, then known as Shajahanabad. Today we call it Old Delhi or Old Delhi. We will visit the great mosque of the Emperor, the Jama Masjid. In it, for those who want, there is the possibility of a walk up the minaret! From where we have a view of the city and the Red Fort from above. Talk to your guide. He doesn't need to go up. Just be very careful on the platform above, please.

Then we will walk through the alleys of its old bazaar. There is a very old shop, which passes from father to son for a long time, with essences (sandalwood, etc) and incense called Gulab Singh Johri Mal, which in itself is a tour. You can buy an oil in a box together with one of the typical bottles of this Muslim region of Delhi. Following the walk through the alleys of the bazaars, most guides like to do a bicycle rickshaw. We highly recommend that you take the tour on foot, to have more contact and to be able to see the bazaar better. Possibility of visiting a small temple of Jainism, very old, with beautiful paintings. There is more than one Jain temple in the region, this one is in a small village called Naughara Gali, in the Kinari Bazaar. We follow until we arrive in front of the Red Fort, where the important Lahore Gate is. It was there that important talks about the history of India took place, such as the independence of this country, today the largest democracy in the world, where ancient values ​​and customs coexist at the same time with extremely modern knowledge and technologies.

Raj Ghat

Chorten 4 Delhi 03 - md

On the way back to our hotel area, we will pay tribute to the memorial where Gandhi was cremated, Raj Ghat. We will see what was his last word, a sign of great accomplishment on his spiritual path. Those who like photographs, look for images made by Cartier-Bresson, one of the great photographers that ever existed, who was in Delhi that day.

Rajpath

Chorten Delhi Rajpath

Next to our hotel is the terrace built by the English in the XNUMXth century. XX, called Rajpath (Raj: king, path: path). In it is the India Gate, a landmark of the city, built in honor of the combatants in the great war.

Red Fort

Chorten Delhi Red Fort

We will save our visit to one of the Red Forts for the one in Agra, with more history, prettier and better preserved.

We will visit the Red Fort, built in red sandstone and white marble in the 200th century. XVII, also by Emperor Shah Jahan. Used by the Mughal Empire for approx. XNUMX years, we will understand how they lived, with their gardens, rooms, public and private audience halls. We will see that it was also used by the English army.

Hare Krishna Temple

chorten delhi iskcon

In this same region, we will also visit a temple belonging to the famous ISKCON organization, known as Hare Krishna. Devotees of this eighth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, this is an opportunity to observe how this tradition practices its method, with a lot of music, here in India.

Lakshmi Narayan Temple

Chorten India Delhi Lakshmi Narayan

Also nearby in the area of ​​our hotel is the Hindu temple Lakshminarayan, also known as Birla (important Indian family) Mandir (temple in Hindi). We will see many Hindu temples during the trip, from the smallest on the sidewalks and in front of the houses, to the larger ones, as in this case. They are opportunities for us to learn and reflect a little about the knowledge, wisdom and method of learning that has been practiced for millennia throughout the Asian subcontinent: from the Hindus River Valley (from Mt. Kailash in Tibet to Pakistan), extending across the Gangetic Plain ( from Rishikesh to Kolkata) via the entire Himalaya to South India. Take the opportunity and ask your guide about your doubts and curiosities about Hinduism, as well as the temple goers, including the priests here. We heard different responses, under different approaches and levels of understanding of this knowledge, from the most beginners to the most accomplished, from the most popular to the most academic.

Lotus Temple

Chorten Delhi Lotus

Further south of the city, we will visit the beautiful Lotus Temple. Built in the format of its name, it belongs to the religion called Bahá'í, founded in the XNUMXth century. XIX, in ancient Persia, when visiting it everyone is invited to be silent for a moment. An interesting experience in the middle of this big bustling city. After visiting the sometimes open temple, further along the exit path (before turning right to the street gate), there are stairs that lead to an exhibition about the history and work of this religion. Interesting to take a look and have contact with brief statements about your thoughts.

We will check the cultural agenda of the city for this end of the day, as a possibility of a special activity, where great artists of the country perform.