Trip of the Day: Geographic Expeditions -- Nagaur’s Sufi Music Festival with William Dalrymple
Venture into the heart of India’s rich history and culture with world-renowned India expert William Dalrymple and Geographic Expeditions.
Geographic Expeditions: Nagaur’s Sufi Music Festival with William Dalrymple
This sparkling trip takes us to Rajasthan’s Nagaur Sufi Music Festival, quickly becoming the world’s most alluring celebration of Sufi music, a lodestone for the greatest Sufi performers from India, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, and Jordan. If you find the Festival on the internet, and watch and listen to its clips, you will almost certainly want to join us. The music is that intoxicatingly gorgeous and vitalizing. And you’ll be even more tempted when you learn that we’ll be hobnobbing during our visit with renowned writer on all things Indian, William Dalrymple, whom Brian Schofield calls “ridiculously erudite…remarkably warm and open-hearted. A towering talent." We begin our journey with a thorough exploration of Delhi, old and new, then fly southeast to India’s spiritual capital, Varanasi, quite probably the most revered and spiritually electric city in the world. From Varanasi, we fly west to the magnificent temples of Khajuraho, famed for their erotic carvings, then pay a delightful visit to the small town of Orchha, home to the beautiful Lakshmi Temple. After communing with the incomparable Taj Mahal (Lord Curzon called this monument to love “the most perfect structure in the world”), we continue to the Pink City of Jaipur for a day touring its Amber Fort, City Palace and Palace of Winds, as well as an open-air dinner and elephant safari at a private nature reserve. We’re off the next day for our three-day immersion in Sufi music and culture at Nagaur. We regretfully wrap-up this invigorating journey with a good look at the Blue City of Jodhpur, and its massive Mehrangarh Fort and Umaid Bhawan Palace, where we’ll have a festive farewell dinner.
Nagaur’s Sufi Music Festival with William Dalrymple: Feb. 7-21; from $12,650.
