Meet Your Guides: Jessica and Jaya Priya created Journey India from a mutual desire to share the potent experience of India from both their individual and shared perspectives. Jaya Priya's background in intentional communities led her to an extended stay in Auroville, India, while later traversing the continent to meet more of India's diversity and culture. Jessica will make her sixth trip to India after her initial stay at Hope Village Orphanage in 2003. She led her first trip to India in 2011 and is happy to partner up with Jaya Priya to share what they both consider to be some of the most powerful and beautiful places on Earth.
Journey India 2017
In July of 2017, we will be leading a dynamic trip to India, exploring the aspects of India that let you feel part of the greater reality and not just a viewer from the outside. Although, every step you take while in India seems to give way to something deeper and greater, in our visits to that sacred place, we have found there are a few places/experiences that should not be missed. If you feel the call inside to go to India, to break away from the familiar and to discover some things about yourself that you may have never realized were there, then I hope that you will make this journey with us.
First stop! · CHENNAI
We will be landing in the coastal city of Chennai, from there we will depart to Nellore.
· NELLORE
Nellore is the home of Little Hearts Orphanage, and it will be the children of Little Hearts who will capture ours. We will spend the day playing games, singing, dancing and sharing ourselves with the kids at Little Hearts. It is here that you will have the great opportunity to experience the richest blessing or India, its people!
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· HAMPI
Hampi is an ancient village in the south Indian state of Karnataka and the former capital city of the Vijayanagara Empire. Today, Hampi remains a religious hub with temples and ruins that are considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hampi is also said to have one of the most spellbinding landscapes in India’s south. With richly forested hills and heaping boulders over miles of rolling terrain; banana plantations and paddy fields; ancient temples and the rich preservations of an ancient empire, Hampi should not be missed.
· JAISALMER
Next we head to the “Golden City”! Jaisalmer is the remote dessert city of Rajasthan, often referred to as the “Golden City” because of the Thar Deserts golden sands, yellow sandstone and complementary golden fort. Jaisalmer was once a medieval trade center and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its palace and ornate Jain temples. The citadel is truly a breathtaking site; a massive sandcastle rising from the desert sands, surrounded by roaming camels, bustling trade posts, shops with bright and rich embroidery, narrow stone streets and intricately carved havelis (traditional townhomes). We will spend time leisurely roaming the infinitely unique streets of the fort city, shopping in the rich bazaars for Rajasthani textiles and leather goods, and hopping onto camel back for more adventurous hours in the desert sands.
Next we head to the “Golden City”! Jaisalmer is the remote dessert city of Rajasthan, often referred to as the “Golden City” because of the Thar Deserts golden sands, yellow sandstone and complementary golden fort. Jaisalmer was once a medieval trade center and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its palace and ornate Jain temples. The citadel is truly a breathtaking site; a massive sandcastle rising from the desert sands, surrounded by roaming camels, bustling trade posts, shops with bright and rich embroidery, narrow stone streets and intricately carved havelis (traditional townhomes). We will spend time leisurely roaming the infinitely unique streets of the fort city, shopping in the rich bazaars for Rajasthani textiles and leather goods, and hopping onto camel back for more adventurous hours in the desert sands.
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· VARANASI
Legend says that Kashi, "the City of Light," was the first of all cities, built by the first king, in a forest carpeted with sacred kusha grass. Kashi is the holiest place on earth in Hindu culture: a principal place of pilgrimage where one hopes to die. The old city of Kashi is situated along the western bank of the Ganges and extends back from the riverbank ghats in a labyrinth of alleys called galis that are too narrow for traffic. Lord Shiva himself is believed to live here, and the entire city, with its two thousand temples, is dedicated to him. Kashi is also the city of ascetics, yogis and sadhus. Their whole purpose in life is to break the fetters of karma and seeking to attain moksha, or true freedom. During our time in Kashi, we will experience arti to the mother Ganga, take a boat trip along the river, visit a variety of the cities ancient temples, observe sacred cremation rituals, and make sure to get lost in the alleyways of the old city.
· AMRITSAR
Amritsar is one largest cities of the nothernwestern state of Punjab. At the center of the city is the sacred Golden Temple. The Golden temple is the considered to be the holiest gudwara of the Sikh faith. The Golden Temple accomplishes the astounding feat of feeding an average of 100,000 people a day for free. Even more amazing, is the entire operation is run by volunteers doing 'seva' or sacred service. Here we will have the incredible opportunity to experience not only the beauty of the physical temple but of being a part of seva through different volunteering opportunities.
• LEH, LADAKH
Our last destination is Leh; the ancient capital of the Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom of Ladakh. Historically, Leh was an important stopover for trade routes between Tibet, Kashmir, India, and China, leaving behind many relics of Tibetan culture and design. Today, Leh is a part of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir. The village is overseen by the ruined but spectacular Leh Palace; the former mansion of the royal family of Ladakh, built by King Sengge Namgyal in the 17th century. Perhaps even more spectacular is the natural landscape. Leh sits at an altitude of 11,562 ft. and is dominated by towering Himalayan mountains, arid and jagged terrain, and a picturesque Tibetan Buddhist monasteries perched on cliffsides. With high mountain road passes as the only access points to Leh, we will be making our trip during the only window of the year in which Leh is accessible to tourists. This makes Leh a special destination and the perfect close to our journey through India.
This trip will keep with its schedule and its many destinations, but the real journey will happen in the unexpected moments and just being in each place you are at. What India can teach you about yourself cannot really be described in words, but there is a deep trust that I have developed in the ways of this country. The energy of this place that is so potent.. no one whose eyes are open and whose heart is willing will ever be the same.
Wishing you a Happy Journey,
Jessica and Jaya Priya
Jessica and Jaya Priya
