Uniworld Passage Through India River Cruise

India is synonymous with grace, beauty and intrigue.  Be transported into this land of contrasts where bustling city streets meet languid-river villages; explore sacred temples and ancient palaces; get lost in a dizzying cacophony of sights, scents and sounds.  Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection pairs India’s Golden Triangle and the sacred Ganges River. Combine both a river cruise with an India land tour to see the best of what India has to offer.

Not sure if this type of vacation is right for you?  Follow along so that you can learn more about what you will experience on the 12night India’s Golden Triangle and the Sacred Ganges Uniworld Passage through India river cruise and land vacation.

The mighty Ganges River is among the most sacred of India’s natural wonders.  Revered by Hindus as the goddess Ganga, the river is profoundly woven into the fabric of India’s history, culture and spirituality.  Its powerful waters emerge from high in the glaciers of the Himalayas as the Chinese border, meandering for more than 1,500 miles along northeast India and ending in the lowlands of the Bay of Bangladesh.

Civilizations first flourished on the fertile banks more than 5,000 years ago and the deltas bloomed into the nation’s agricultural lifeblood. Today, the Ganges River connects all of its residents, creating a mélange of diverse religions, languages and ethos. Now you can be privy to these secreted banks where no roads lead on board Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection’s allsuite Ganges Voyager II, the sleek and luxurious river vessel being created this year specifically with this voyage in mind. (There is an artist rending of the ship to the right.  We will add actual photos when they become available.)

Acclimate to the local culture by first exploring the crowning jewels of India’s Golden Triangle during this brand-new journey in 2016. A five-night land tour seamlessly connects the cities of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, culminating each day with ultimate relaxation and ultra-gourmet cuisine inside opulent Oberoi Hotels & Resorts. An expert guide navigates you through New Delhi’s bustling urban core, where modern and ancient collide: cars share the road with bicycle rickshaws and sprawling shopping centers coexist with tiny stalls in open-air markets. The urban bustle melts away as you visit wondrous sites, such as the peaceful oasis of Humayan’s Tomb, a 16th-century UNESCO World Heritage site harkening back to the Mughal empire that ruled for nearly two centuries.

Just 125 miles away — but seemingly a world apart — is Agra, home of the splendid Taj Mahal. Bask in the glow of this graceful white marble structure as your expert guide leads you there during sunrise, and again at sunset. As you gaze at the iconic dome, now tinged with pink in the soft light, marvel over the powerful love that inspired a Mughal king to erect this everlasting monument for his beloved late wife.  Memories of this classic love story will linger as you’re transported to Jaipur, rightly known as the Pink City of India, painted entirely in pink stucco. Perhaps Donna Karen was alluding to this capital of Rajasthan when she espoused, “Pink is the navy blue of India.” The City Palace
complex serves as one of the most eloquent expressions of the city’s rose-hued architecture, built in the early 18th century and embellished with ornate terraces and cupolas. You may see the famous Rajasthani elephants, as well as the relief-alabaster and mirrored interiors of Amber Fort. Peruse the jewelry shops revered for cut gems or explore colorful bazaars, like the Tripolia Bazaar where artisan workshops brim with handcrafted lac bangles and embroidered jooti shoes.

On the sixth day of your 13-day land and river tour, you’ll become intimately familiar with why Uniworld has been regarded as the preeminent leader in luxury river cruising.  An included flight will take you to India’s second-largest city of Kolkata, the strategic port city where the gleaming new Ganges Voyager II awaits. Before embarking on your voyage, explore this eastern Indian city formerly known as Calcutta, which, as the adopted home of Mother Teresa, became an epicenter of global altruism. Go inside the Missionaries of Charity, established by the saintly nun, and spend a contemplative moment observing the humble room where she lived for 44 years. Delve further into Kolkata, weaving around cattle on the busy streets while in transit to the historic Anglican church and the marbled Victoria Memorial Hall that protects India’s largest collection of colonial artifacts.

Life on board the Ganges Voyager II is designed to immerse you deeply into the heart of India, without compromising life’s luxuries, epitomized by the 400-squarefoot Maharaja Suite. The 56-passenger luxury ship glides from port to port, passing colonial settlements interspersed with modern towns, often flanked by residents paddling along in low boats filled with livestock or mounds of produce. Evening entertainment features graceful performers clad in brilliantly jeweled costumes bringing life to ancient spiritual dances, as well as Bollywood-style performances that showcase the country’s more contemporary choreography. As you retire to your suite, lounge in a sumptuous bath laden with Molton Brown’s best products, marvel at the beautiful hand-painted murals adorning your walls and soak in the balmy nighttime air from your private balcony.

The Ganges River Delta follows the corridor of West Bengal, a state in the eastern region of India where various religions coexist peacefully. Explore the holy mosque of Hooghly Imambara in Bandel, a gleaming tribute to Bengali architecture.
Further along the river, the town of Ambika Kalna pays tribute to the powerful Hindu goddess, Kali. This “City of Temples” is home to entire complexes of terracotta temples, including two concentric circles of 108 intricately carved structures, echoing the sacred number of beads comprising a mala, the Indian rosary.  While many holy towns dot the landscape, few are more internationally renowned than Mayapur, the birthplace of the Hare Krishna movement. Built in 1880, the main temple’s stark white façade with tangerine edges glows on the banks with spires and layers of vaulted ceilings. This structure will someday be rivaled by the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, largely funded by Henry Ford’s great grandson. When completed in 2016, this domed monument will be twice the size of St. Peter’s Basilica and vast enough to accommodate 10,000 worshipers of Krishna.

The garden tombs of Bengali rulers in Khushbagh lie along the Bhagirathi River, a tributary of the Ganges River, where you can amble amid the terracotta temples within the quiet village of Baranagar.  Anchoring just downstream on the shores of Murshidabad, a horse cart delivers you to the city’s iconic Katra Masjid, a Muslim mosque and tomb that can house 700 readers of the Quran simultaneously.  Nearby, the Greek-influenced Hazarduari Palace Museum brims with antiquities hidden behind a thousand doors —900 of them purely ornamental to confuse marauders. Along the banks of another Ganges River tributary, the Hooghly River, discover the handiwork of the brass craftsman that’s become synonymous with the village of Matiari. Your guided walking tour will lead you into various ateliers and into a home workshop to observe these brass artisans crafting everything from spiritual relics, lamps and knobs to ornate serving vessels. In Matiari you might also experience first-hand one of the most enduring bonds between India and Britain: a pickup game of cricket.

Traces of the 200-year British occupation can be detected throughout the course of your journey and expert onboard lecturers help you recognize unmistakable signs of imperialism through fascinating insight. But British influence is replaced by remnants of a French Colonial past in the city of Chandannagar, typified by the French governor’s residence and the Roman Catholic Sacred Heart Church. Proustian memories are evoked by the aromas from a corner bakery that uses the same baking stone since this era, which lasted 275 years, between 1678 and 1950.

India is perhaps most celebrated worldwide for its fragrant, spice-imbued cuisine, which you will experience in abundance. Delhi’s streets waft with the scent of roast chickpeas and samosas (fried pastries with savory fillings) prepared at vendor carts while sweets such as channa poda (a caramelized cheese ball soaked in a sweet syrup) and chana dal ka halwa (a sweet yellow lentil pudding) are Bengali menu staples. All are flavors that your chefs recreate for you on
board Ganges Voyager II, preparing both Indian and Western meals sourced from local ingredients, accented with exotic spices like tamarind, saffron and cardamom.

For those venerating the waters of the Ganges River, Varanasi is the true essence of India. It is the signature destination for India’s devout spiritual pilgrims and, coincidentally, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth. A three-day post-cruise tour of Varanasi, also known as Benares, leads you to the most sacred entry point into the Ganges River according to the Hindu faith. For it is here believers uphold that the dead are delivered to moksha, Hindu’s rendition of nirvana.  A sunrise boat ride takes you past the country’s most famed crematoriums, where families ceremonially cover the swathed bodies of departed loved ones in flowers and prayers. Pilgrims fill the riverfront steps known as ghats, leading to the water’s edge, where they greet the morning sun with praying hands and ritually purify the senses with the holy waters of the Ganges River. At dusk, the colors of yellow, red and orange from the sky give way to the fiery oil lamps swirled by sadhus, holy men performing aarti evening prayer ceremonies ringing with bells and chants. Float down the Ganges River to visit an aarti ceremony yourself. Led by a Hindu priest at sunset, this spellbinding devotional ritual is performed in honorof the goddess of the river, a spectacle you’ll remember for the rest of your days.  While it seems nothing could match the spiritual reverence found in Varanasi, the silk brocades and gossamer-fine cotton fabrics of this region are worshiped worldwide. You may see the shops of the finest weavers and experience firsthand the craft which has held an esteemed reputation for more than 2,000 years — the telltale flair that embellished 16th-century royal Mughal costumes with silver and gold threads remaining ever present today.

Like the silk with two sides, India is constantly maintaining a delicate balance of beauty and imperfection, opulence and simple existence, modernism and veneration It is this beautiful contrast and the openness of the people that will forever imprint India on your soul.

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