Home » Special Tour Packages » Indian Textile Tour

Duration : 20 Nights / 21 Days
Destinations Covered : Bombay - Mundra - Bhuj - Zainabad Wildlife Snctuary - Mumbai - Villages of Kutch - Udaipur - Jaipur - Agra - Delhi

Day 1: Arrival Bombay
Flight to Bombay. I will meet you at the airport. Transfer to hotel.

Day 2: Bhuj
Flight to Bhuj. Check into Hotel Prince. After lunch, visit to Bhujodi village weavers, who produce blankets and cloth for the local community. Visit to Rabbari textile collector.

Day 3: Anna Mahal Museum
Visit to the restored Anna Mahal museum. After lunch, workshop with Mochi (fine hookwork) embroiderer. Day 4: Visit to Mundra for workshop in wax-resist block printing and felt-making.

Day 5: Bandani (tie-dye)
Morning workshop with master craftsmen in Bandani (tie-dye). Afternoon - visit bazaar or continue with workshop. Own dinner.

Day 6-8: Village in KutchA highlight of this tour is our stay in a village in Kutch. It is a real privilege to be amongst these people and have a chance to onserve the pastoral life of these gentle people, as well as having demonstrations of bellmaking, woodcraving and lacquer work and a full-day workshop in gold and silver-thread embroidery.

Day 9: Bhuj
Return to Bhuj. After lunch, workshop with master craftsmen in block printing.

Day 10/11: Wildlife Sanctuary Of Zainabad
Travel to the wildlife sanctuary of Zainabad. We will see the abundant birds here and the wild ass (found nowhere else in the world). We can also view local embroidery.

Day 12: Patan
Travel to Patan to see the weaving of Mushru and of Double Ikat.

Day 13: Calico Museum
Morning visit to the Calico Museum, the finest collection of Indian textiles in the world. In the afternoon you can make a second visit or relax in the hotel, which has a pretty garden and a swimming pool. Own dinner.

Day 14: Mumbai
For those leaving the tour a day to relax before taking the flight to Mumbai to connect with international flight. Early start for Udaipur. We will stay in an attractive lakeside hotel or in the hunting lodge of the Maharaja. This is an excellent place for overnight tailoring and dressmaking - bring something to be copied. Optional own cost dinner in the Lake Palace Hotel.

Day 15: Udaipur
Visit to the miniature painters - they will show us how they grind pigments and produce their work. Visit to see (and perhaps buy) Banjara embroidery from merchant whose extensive stock ranges from inexpensive trifles to masterpieces of museum quality. Optional (additional cost) boat trip on lake. Take evening train to Jaipur.

Day 16: Jaipur.
Morning tour of city - Jai Singh Observation (built 1728, City Palace (a museum with a fabulous collection of textiles, furniture and artifacts of the court, jewellery etc.), characteristic local architecture. Afternoon visit to jewellers (a trade for which Jaipur is famous) to see stones cut and polished and to textile merchants and factory for hand-woven carpets.

Day 17: Jaipur.
Visits to Sanganer and Bagroo - handmade paper workers, block printing, indigo dying, and a potter producing the famous blue pottery of Jaipur. Visit to Anouki Farm design complex. Special dinner at Palace Hotel.

Day 18: Jaipur.
Early start for Amber Palace - we ride uphill on elephants! After viewing this magnificent example of Mogul architecture, we continue to Fatipur Sikri, the ruined sandstone city of Emperor Akbar. Own dinner.

Day 19: Agra
Visit to Taj Mahal. Visit to craftsmen who do the same sort of 'pietra dura' (inlaid cut-stone) work that decorates the Taj Mahal. Continue to Delhi. Day

20: Delhi
Visit to Delhi Mela, 'a Fair' to which textile craftsmen from all over India come to sell their wares. Afternoon visit to Crafts Museum, which has a formidable collection of historic textiles, statues and other traditional work.

Day 21 : International Departure
International flight home.