delhi transport corporation

Ajanta & Ellora Tour

This is a personalised tour conducted in private cars for both business and leisure travellers and can start on any day as per the choice of our guests.  

Mumbai –Aurangabad- Mumbai

Duration: 2 nights/ 3 days 
Itinerary 
Day 1: Mumbai to Aurangabad

Arrival at Aurangabad where our representative will meet you and help you check in at the hotel. Later proceed for sightseeing of the Ellora caves.

Ellora Caves (30 kms) from Aurangabad lie the finest rock cut cave temples of Ellora - 10th & 11th century, which encompasses the three religion Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Of the 34 caves that are both monasteries and temples, the most remarkable is the magnificent Kailasa temple. The entire structure was carved out of a monolith and took over 100 years to complete. The temple itself is decorated with themes and incidents from the ancient legends and puranas in a manner that leaves one in rapturous delight.
Overnight at Hotel. 

Day 2: Sightseeing of Ajanta Caves

This morning proceed for sightseeing of Ajanta Caves (100 Kms). Nestled in an inner fold of the Sahyadri hills, 100 kms away from Aurangabad are the 30 rock-cut caves of Ajanta, famous for its cave painting or frescoes of many colors. These magnificent rock-cut caves, date from 2nd BC to 7th Century AD. They are exclusively Buddhist; unique in the way they combine three forms of art - architecture, sculpture and painting. The superb frescoes and paintings depict episodes from the Jataka stories and the life of Lord Buddha. Caves 1,2,16 and 17 have the best-preserved paintings. The magnificient depictions of the bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Padmapaniin are particularly well known.
Evening at Leisure and Overnight stay. 

Day 3: Departure for Mumbai

Check out from the hotel and get dropped at the airport for flight to Mumbai.

End of Tour and our services.

Package 1	Package 2
Taj Residency/ similar	Hotel President Park / Rama International/ similar

Package includes:

2 nights stay at hotel on double occupancy basis with breakfast.

All sightseeing with an English speaking guide.

Surface transportation in an air conditioned Indigo Car.

Transfers from airport to hotel and back.

All taxes as applicable.

Package excludes:

Meals

Monument fees wherever applicable.

Any other expenses of personal nature like phone calls, laundy, tips to porter, guide, driver etc.

Day Tour Agra

This is a personalised tour conducted in private cars for both business and leisure travellers and can be done on any day except Friday  

Same Day Return Tour to Agra

Tour Code: SHT/DTTAG

Itinerary

7.00 A.M - Pick up from Hotel and drive to Agra 205 kms (Four Hour drive).

Reach Agra at about 12.00 P.M and visit the world famous Taj Mahal which is a sheer poetry in white marble and its majesty and magnificence are unrivalled. It is the one and only one of its kind in the whole world, which was the ultimate realization of Emperor Shahjehan’s dream for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.

Post lunch visit the Agra Fort. The great Mughal Emperor Akbar commissioned the construction of the Agra fort in 1565 A.D although additions were made till the time of his grandson Shahjahan. It stands at a distance of just 2 Kms from the majestic Taj Mahal, and is built in red sandstone.

Agra is famous for its inlay work on marble, and makes a good market for some beautiful arts and crafts which can be picked up as souvenirs and memorabilia.

Evening drive back to Delhi and get dropped off at your hotel or airport for onward journey click here for more details on Agra Tours.

End of Tour and our services

Cost: INR 5500 per person, min 2 persons.

Agra Tour Package includes:

• Transportation in an air conditioned car.
• Services of an English speaking local guide at Agra.
• Monument fees at Taj Mahal & Agra Fort (for one time visit only).   
• Pick up and drop from Hotel in Delhi. 
• Parking, toll tax, Inter state road tax and all other applicable taxes.

Package excludes:

• Lunch & other meals
• Personal expenses like phone calls, alcoholic beverages & tips.

Please note: This trip is not conducted on Friday as Taj Mahal is closed.

There will be extra charges for pick up from Old Delhi/ West Delhi/ East Delhi/ NCR (except Gurgaon).

source: sightseeing in delhi {www.delhiplaces.com}

delhi sight seeing

Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk ( Moonlight Square) is opposite the Red Fort and is a market that hubs with activity all through the year. The area was laid out by Shahjahan's daughter, Jahanara. More
 
Old Delhi
Old Delhi was once known as the city of Shahjahanabad. Shah Jahan established it and made it his capital.
 
The Ghats
The city has many important political figures'''' souls resting in peace like the Raj Ghat of Mahatma Gandhi, Shanti Van of Jawaharlal Nehru, Shakti sthal of Indira Gandhi and many others Which are located Along the banks of Jamuna.
 
Rajpath & India Gate
India Gate, a majestic structure, 42 metres high, is set at the end of Rajpath, perhaps the most beautiful area of New Delhi with plush green lawns in the backdrop.


Humayun's Tomb
This tomb, built for the second Mughal emperor, launched a great Mughal architectural legacy -- even the Taj, which was built by Humayun's great-grandson, was inspired by it. 

Old Fort
The ruins of this fort are located on a small hill which once stood on the banks of the Yamuna river. 

Safdarjung Tomb
Built in 1753-54 as the mausoleum of Safdarjang, the viceroy of Awadh, (a place near Lucknow, famous for its delicious Mughlai food),under the Mughal Emperor, Mohammed Shah. 

Jantar Mantar
Few minutes walk from Connaught Place is a strange collection of solomon coloured structures. These were built by Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur and is actually an observatory.

Red Fort 
Red Fort or lal qila as it is more popularly known is a masterpiece of architecture and one of the most haunting spots for tourists from both India and abroad. 

Qutab Minar
Qutub Minar, after the Red Fort is the most sought after spot by tourists who come to Delhi.It is 72.5 metres high and one has to climb 379 steps to get to the top.


Jama Masjid
Commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1656, this mosque took 5,000 laborers 6 years to complete and is still the largest in Asia, accommodating up to 25,000 worshippers during holy festivals such as Id.
 
The Bahai Temple
Bahai's Temple Is a very recent architectural marvel of the Bahai faith and is visible from several spots in south Delhi.
 
Nizam-Ud-Din Shrine
Nizamuddin's Dargah in the west Nizamuddin area has alarge number of tombs, shops and crowded lanes and bylanes and by far one of the most magnificent structures is the dargah of Nizamuddin which is constantly thronged by crowds of devotees.
 
Lakshmi Narayan Temple
Lakshmi Narayan Temple Built by the well-known industrialist, R.D. Birla in 1938 , the temple is dedicated to Laxmi ( the goddess of wealth) and Narayana( the preserver).
 
ISKCON Temple
It stands at Hari Krishna Hill, Sant Nagar Main Road, East of Kailash.The magnificent temple has sikharas at a height of 90 feet above the ground level. The hall of the temple is centrally air-cooled with a capacity to accommodate about 1,500 people.
 
Chattarpur Mandir
Less than four kilometres away from Qutab Minar is the massive and elegant Chhatarpur Temple with the main temple being dedicated to Goddess Durga. It is a modern building with lots of marble being used and built at a fabulous cost.
 
Bangla Sahib Gurudwara
Located again close to Connaught Place, it is a sacred place of the Sikhs which is visited by people from other religions also.
 
Sisgunj Gurudwara
Near the Police Station, Chandini Chowk the beautiful golden domes of the Gurudwara Sisgunj immediately strike your eye

The Gardens Delhi Development Authority is trying best to provide the residents of Delhi with some greenery by construction of parks and gardens. Moghul Gardens The famous Mughal Gardens is located in the premises of the Rashtrapati Bhavan - the official residence of the President of India. Rose Garden National Rose Garden is situated in the Chanakya Puri area of the capital. This garden has some of the rare and imported rose variety. Lodhi Garden Adjoining the India International Center is the Garden, around the tombs of Sayid and Lodhi rulers. delight of joggers, picnikers and those wishing to romance with their friends or fiancees, Lodi Gardens is a huge area which has room for all kinds of people. The Zoo The Delhi Zoo, close to Purana Qila, was set up in 1959 and is spread over an area of 214 acres. It is regarded as one of the finest zoos in Asia and efforts have been made to provide an almost natural habitat to the animals and the birds.

Top

MUSEUMS

National Rail MuseumThe 150-year long history of Indian railways with all its developments phases is well represented in the National Rail MuseumThe Rail Transport Museum is a must for rail buffs. National Museum Museums are a showcase to the past and the present. Art lovers would certainly love the splendid display of contemporary art in the National Gallery of Modern Art at Jaipur House while one can glimpse the relics and artifacts ranging from the times of Indus Valley Civilization to the present at the National Museum. Museum of Natural History The focus in this museum is on ecology. The various galleries visitors through the gamut of the earth's natural resource. Nehru Museum & Planetorium Situated at the erstwhile residence of Late Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, Nehru Museum & Planetarium is the best place to learn about the history of the Independence Movement of India. Crafts Museum Crafts museums is at Pragati Maidan Grounds. Open from 10am-5pm daily. The Crafts Museum at Pragati Maidan display Indian handicrafts and offer first-hand experience of craftsmen at work. Gandhi Darshan & Gandhi National Museum Gandhi Darshan & Gandhi National Museum is across Rajghat and Gandhi smriti is on Tees January Marg). Dara Shikoh Library Dara Shikoh Library. Located in the grounds of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi, near the General Post Office, is the Dara Shikoh Library of the Department of Archaeology Delhi Administration. Dolls Museum There are about 6,000 dolls in Shankar's International Dolls Museum, collected from over 85 countries. A unique museum of Dolls is located near the ITO crossing on the Bahadur Shah Jafar Marg . National Science Centre Designed specially for kids, the National Science Centre Museum has a large collection of working science models to educate children about the scientific facts and how things work and awaken their curiosity to know more. source: sightseeing in delhi {www.delhiplaces.com}

Mount Abu Tourist Place

History of Mount Abu 

The history of Mount Abu is as diverse as the city itself. It was once a part of the Chauhan kingdom of Rajasthan and served as a summer resort for the Rajput kings of the region. After that, it was leased by the British government from the then Maharaja of Sirohi for use as the headquarter of the resident to Rajputana (another name for Rajasthan).

Mount Abu was the home of many saints and sages in the old days. Legend has it that all the 330 million gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon used to visit this holy mountain. It is also the place where the great saint Vashishth lived and performed a yagna (sacrificial worship on a fire pit) to create four Agnikula (four clans of fire) to protect the earth from demons. The yagna was supposed to have been performed near a natural spring, which emerged from a rock shaped like a cow's head. According to another legend, once sage Vashishth's cow Nandini was trapped in a deep gorge and could not free herself. The sage appealed to Lord Shiva for assistance. The Lord sent Saraswati, the divine stream, to help flood the gorge so that the cow could float up. Vashishth then decided to ensure that such mishaps did not occur in future. He asked the youngest son of Himalaya, the king of mountains to fill the chasm permanently. This he did with the assistance of Arbud, the mighty snake. This spot came to be known as Mount Arbud and was later changed to its present form - Mount Abu. This place is held in reverence by Jains as well since Jain scriptures record that Lord Mahavira, the 24th Jain Tirthankar (spiritual leader), also visited Mount Abu and blessed the city. 

It was here that an elderly mystic, Balam Rashiya, fell in love with a nubile teenager. The parents of the adolescent girl were bothered by the unreasonable demand of the sage. They soon devised a plan, according to which they placed a condition in front of the aging spiritualist. They told him to dig a lake with his fingernails, before sunup,

 failing which he would not get the hand of their daughter as his bride. The aging guru accepted the stipulation and earnestly went to work to win over his bride. Seeing the sage succeeding in his mission, the parents went to the gods, beseeching them to save their daughter from becoming the bride of a very old maharishi. The gods betrayed the sage by imitating a cock, which crowed too early to announce the daybreak. The sage was heartbroken, thinking that he had failed in his stipulated mission and would not have his much adored teenager as his wife. In the divine process the love lake Nakki was born.

It is in the old scripture, Mount Abu is named after the mythical snake Arbuda. It has been described as the most sacred place on earth. According to Padma Purana one night’s stay at Mount Abu has the blessing equivalent to the charity of giving one thousand cows. It was considered the abode of great saints and Gods. Mount Abu finds mention in the Puranas, like Skund Purana, Upanishads, and Mahabharata and in the travelogues of Magasthanese, Col. Todd and many others. It was here that the four, fiery Rajput clans were born from the fire of Havana performed by the sage, Rishi Vashishta. The place was plagued by incessant tremors. Once again Lord Shiva came to its rescue. He pressed his big toe at the sacred Achalgarh to steady the mountain. Likewise, the peak of Mount Abu came to be known as Guru Shikhar after the guru of the Devas, Dattatreya Muni. Similarly, Gaumukh, the Vashishta Ashram, became famous as the precincts of the sacrosanct fire, which gave birth to the four Rajput Agnikula clans.

Historically this mountain terrain has been the sanctuary for regional warriors. It was because of this strategic topography that the invaders could never defeat the local rulers. As the attackers would attack, the local warriors would climb the familiar mountain ranges and from the top would assault the aggressors and force them to retreat. Accurate historical information is not available on the early history of Mount Abu; only mythology. We learn of the Bhillas and the Nagas who, according to legend, lived here in ancient times. The latter worshipped the Godess Durga, which points to the existence of a fertility cult, traces of which remain even in historic times. After this we come across the name of the first kings. First ruler, Dhumraja, established the Parmar (The slayer of the enemy-the name given by the sage Vasistha) dynasty in 916 AD. They were the important rulers of the region. They were the tribute paying vassals of the powerful Solankis (who influenced the architecture of the region, whose examples are the older Delwara temples) of Gujarat, the neighboring state of Rajasthan. After a fierce war between the two, Bimal Shah of the Solankis was filled with penitence and desired penance. He met a Jain hermit who told him that there was no such thing as penance for a willful sin, yet he could make his life better by constructing temples to lessen his guilt. He soon went about to construct Dilwara temples, the exquisite poems in marble. The two tycoon brothers, Tej Pal and Vastu Pal, who were then considered to be the biggest builders in the country, ably helped him. If there was something like a record book like the Guinness then they would have been included in it.

The conquest of Mount Abu in 1311 by Rao Lumba of Deora-Chauhan dynasty brought to an end the reign of the Parmars and also marked the decline of Mount Abu. He shifted the capitol city to Chandravati in the plains. After the destruction of Chandravati in 1405, Rao Shasmal made Sirohi his headquarters.

These mountains are the oldest ranges in India, as old as water and as fresh as thirst. Their contemporaries are the Appalachians of North America, together with which they constitute the oldest mountain systems in the world. They are older than the Nilgiries; they are older than the Himalayas yet they exult eternal youth. Mount Abu is the highest peak between the Vindhias and the Himalayas. It is the proud abode of the verdant, salubrious forests, habited by leopards, wild boars, Sambhars, monkeys, porcupines, snakes, civet cats, hares, bears and many exotic birds, highly praised by the great, renowned Indian ornithologist Mr. Salim Ali, after whom there is an observation tower in the jungles. With the passage of time Mount Abu was declared a sanctuary and a very big area, the Trevor’s tank, too was demarcated, named after the British officer Mr. Trevor; just like the beautiful walk, the Bailey’s walk, was named after another British officer Mr. Bailey.

It was left for the British to rediscover Mount Abu. Col. Todd was surveying the then Rajputana state and now the Rajasthan state and stumbled upon Mount Abu. His master, the Resident, the local representative of the British Viceroy in India, selected Mount Abu, as the summer capital of Rajputana state. This made Mount Abu an important destination for the royals of Rajputana. They made their palaces and the ‘Vakalat Houses’ for their lawyers, who accompanied them to plead their cases in the court of the Resident. Many of theses royal edifices have been converted into heritage hotels or prestigious schools or army or paramilitary cantonments.

After the Second World War there was rapid growth in tourism in Mount Abu. The single bus service from the railroad, Abu road, known in the olden days as Kharadi, was gradually increased in frequency and the number of the vehicles plying too swelled. By 1954 Mount Abu was merged with Rajasthan from Bombay province. By the eighties, tourism multiplied in geometrical progression, crossing the 1.2 million mark per year by late eighties.

Lodi Tomb

Evidence of the sixth city, said to have been built by the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties is found only in the tombs and mosques in the famous Lodi Gardens, which is a favourite point for early morning walkers from the posh south Delhi coloniesLodi Tomb Situated about 3-kms to the west and adjoining the Indian International Centre are the Lodi Gardens.History has it that the tombs are remnants of another city that was sought to be built in Delhi. Muhammad Shah's tomb built in 1450 is a prototype for the later Mughal style tomb of Humayun, a design that would eventually develop into the Taj Mahal.

Other tombs include those of his predecessors Mubarak Shah -1433, Ibrahim Lodi - 1526 and Sikander Lodi - 1517. The Bara Gumbad Mosque is a fine example of its type of plaster decoration.

source: sightseeing in delhi {www.delhiplaces.com}