Picture: Balak Das, Bairagi Sadhu. Haridwar, April 1998.

Daily Itinerary

Wed. January 3: Orientation at Carthage  (Class Powerpoint).

Thurs. January 4: Orientation at Carthage (Class Powerpoint). 

Fri. January 5: Orientation at Carthage (Class Powerpoint).

Sat. January 6: Afternoon departure for O'Hare Airport.

Sun. January 7: En route to India. 
Mon. January 8: Delhi--Free Day (other than reconfirming return tickets). For early risers, a visit to the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib.
Tues. January 9: Delhi. Visits to the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Gurudwara Sisganj (site of the martyrdom of Tegh Bahadur, the ninth of the ten Sikh gurus) and Chandni Chowk (the traditional commercial bazaar).  The first two were built by the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan (reigned 1627-58), and the area around them both is still heavily Muslim. Delhi's Jama Masjid was built to hold all of the city's faithful for the Friday prayer, and is one of the largest mosques in Asia (can hold 25,000 people).

Wed. January 10: Delhi. Visits to sites in south Delhi--the tombs of Hazrat Nizam-ud-din and Humayan, the Baha’i Lotus Temple, and others. 

Thurs. January 11: Morning train to Haridwar.  Informal walking tour through the old city, visit to Mansa Devi temple, and viewing evening ceremonies at the Ganges.
Fri. January 12:  Visit to the neighboring town of Kankhal, to view the Daksha Mahadev temple, and the burial shrine of the Hindu mystic Anandamayi Ma. 

Sat. January 13: Haridwar. Morning free.  Evening celebration of Lohri (festival foreshadowing the arrival of the hot season) 

Sun. January 14: Makar Sankranti (Bathing festival day).  Afternoon meeting with Virendra Kumar Kaushik, a local pilgrimage priest, for information about the traditional relationship between priests and their pilgrim clients.
Mon. January 15: Morning excursion to the Chandi Devi temple; afternoon free (shopping in the bazaar). 

Tues. January 16: Afternoon visit to the shrine of Piran Kaliyar in the town of Rourkee (30 minutes drive), the tomb of the Sufi saint Ali Ali'uddin Sabir (d. 1292).

Wed. January 17 Day Free.  Evening departure for Amritsar on the Haridwar-Amritsar Passenger train.

Thurs. January 18: Morning arrival in Amritsar.  Visit to the Harmandir (also known as the Golden Temple), the holiest site for the Sikhs, and to the Akal Takht (the adjoining complex of buildings seen as the locus of the Sikh guru's temporal power). 
Fri. January 19: Field trips to nearby historical sites. 

Sat. January 20: Visit to the Durgiana temple, further visits to the Harmandir, as desired.

Sun. January 21: Visit to Jallainwala Bagh and other sites associated with the independence struggle, afternoon departure for Agra on the Chattisgarh Express. 

Mon. January 22: Morning arrival in Agra, Morning visit to the Taj Mahal; afternoon visit to the Agra Fort.

Tues. January 23: Excursion to Fatehpur Sikri, an abandoned city which was the Moghul emperor Akbar's imperial capital, and which also contains the tomb of the Sufi saint Salim Chishti.  Late afternoon and evening free.

Wed. January 24: Travel to Pushkar in Rajasthan (by deluxe bus), via Jaipur and Ajmer.
Thurs. January 25: Early morning trip to the Brahma temple in Pushkar, then an excursion to the Savitri Temple. 

Fri. January 26: Day trip to Ajmer to see the tomb of the Sufi saint Mu-in ud-din Chishti.

Sat. January 27: Morning free, afternoon journey to Delhi on the Ajmer-Delhi Shatabdi Express. 

Sun. January 28: Delhi. Shopping day; late evening departure for the airport.
Mon. January 29: Arrival in Chicago, journey's end

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Last modified 28 August 2002