Nimad, Madhya Pradesh
Eight days in and around Nimad, the Narmada valley of western Madhya Pradesh, closing as guests at a traditional Hindu wedding. From Indore you travel by car to Mandu, the fifteenth-century hilltop capital of the sultans of Malwa; to Maheshwar, the river town from which Rani Ahilyabai Holkar ruled, still known for its handloom saris; and to a village home, where you stay with a local family. The last days are the wedding itself — the haldi, the baraat, the varmala and the seven pheras — with a translator beside you to explain each rite as it happens. Rooms, meals, a car with a driver, and the translator are arranged for the whole journey.
The eight days
Eight days in and around Nimad, the Narmada valley of western Madhya Pradesh, closing as guests at a traditional Hindu wedding. From Indore you travel by car to Mandu, the fifteenth-century hilltop capital of the sultans of Malwa; to Maheshwar, the river town from which Rani Ahilyabai Holkar ruled, still known for its handloom saris; and to a village home, where you stay with a local family. The last days are the wedding itself — the haldi, the baraat, the varmala and the seven pheras — with a translator beside you to explain each rite as it happens. Rooms, meals, a car with a driver, and the translator are arranged for the whole journey.
Mandav, Dhar district — on the edge of the Malwa plateau
A walled city on a ridge of the Vindhya hills, high above the Narmada valley. Mandu was the capital of the sultans of Malwa in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who called it Shadiabad, the City of Joy. Its palaces, mosques and tombs stand among lakes and baobab trees, inside walls that run for more than thirty kilometres.
Maheshwar, Khargone district — on the north bank of the Narmada
A temple town on the Narmada, and from 1767 to 1795 the seat of Rani Ahilyabai Holkar, who ruled the Holkar state from here. Her fort stands above long stone ghats lined with temples and carved memorials, and the handloom weaving she encouraged still fills the town's workshops.
A village home in Nimad
A stay with a family in their village home in Nimad — a tiled-roof house with a veranda and a courtyard, among fields of cotton, wheat and chilli. You eat what the household eats, cooked on a clay chulha, and live for a while at the pace of the village.
The family home and the wedding ground, Nimad
Two days as guests at a traditional Hindu wedding in Nimad, from the haldi to the bride's farewell. Each rite is carried out by the families in the order custom sets, and your translator explains what is happening and what it means.
What happens, hour by hour
16:00
Sun 15 Nov
45m
Built in 1508–09 by Sultan Nasir Shah, as an inscription at the palace records, on the hill slope beside the Rewa Kund reservoir. It is named after Baz Bahadur, the last independent sultan of Malwa and a celebrated musician, who took to it for its nearness to the Rewa Kund, which Roopmati often visited. Halls and terraces surround a central courtyard and pool.
17:00
Sun 15 Nov
1h
A pavilion at the very edge of the plateau, some 365 metres above the Nimar valley, which seems first to have been built as a watchtower. Tradition connects it with Roopmati, the singer loved by Baz Bahadur, who is said to have come here to look out over the sacred Narmada. On a clear day the river can be seen on the plain far below.
09:00
Mon 16 Nov
1h
The Ship Palace, built in the late fifteenth century under Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din Khalji. It stands long and narrow between two lakes, Munj Talao and Kapur Talao, so that from the water it looks like a ship at anchor. On its roof are open pavilions and a pool, once filled through stone water channels.
10:15
Mon 16 Nov
45m
The Swinging Palace, beside the Jahaz Mahal. Its side walls slope steeply inward, which makes the building seem to sway when seen from an angle — hence the name. It is thought to have served as an audience hall, and its broad, gentle ramps are said to have let the sultan ride in on an elephant.
11:30
Mon 16 Nov
45m
Begun by Hoshang Shah and completed in 1454 under Mahmud Khalji. A broad flight of steps leads up to a domed entrance porch and into a large courtyard, enclosed on every side by colonnades roofed with rows of small domes.
12:30
Mon 16 Nov
45m
The tomb of Hoshang Shah, who made Mandu his capital early in the fifteenth century. Faced in white marble and crowned by a single dome, it is regarded as one of the oldest marble buildings in India. An inscription at the entrance records that in 1659 four architects sent by the emperor Shah Jahan came to study it.
16:00
Mon 16 Nov
30m
Named after an old Shiva shrine that once stood here, and a place of worship again today. The present building of red stone is a pleasure house built in the sixteenth century by a governor of the Mughal emperor Akbar, as an inscription records. Water is led through a spiral channel cut into the floor before it spills into a pool.
11:00
Tue 17 Nov
1h 30m
The fort above the river, from which Ahilyabai Holkar governed. Inside are the Rajwada — the modest residence where she held court — temples, and gateways and walls carved with figures and friezes. From the ramparts the ghats run below you along the water.
12:45
Tue 17 Nov
1h
Stone steps run down to the Narmada along the length of the town, and people come to bathe, pray and wash at every hour. Along them stand temples and chhatris — carved stone memorials to members of the Holkar family — and stone figures of Nandi, the bull of Shiva.
15:00
Tue 17 Nov
1h
Weaving in Maheshwar goes back to the eighteenth century, when Ahilyabai Holkar brought weavers to the town. You watch saris being woven on handlooms, thread by thread. A Maheshwari sari is light, in cotton or silk and cotton, and is known for its reversible border, which can be worn either way out.
16:30
Tue 17 Nov
1h
A boat out onto the river, which Hindus revere as one of the holiest in India and call Narmada Maiya, Mother Narmada. From the water you see the whole length of the fort and the ghats, and the small Baneshwar temple standing on an island in the middle of the stream.
18:00
Tue 17 Nov
45m
At dusk the evening aarti to the river is performed on the ghat, with lamps, bells and chanting. Afterwards small leaf boats carrying a lamp and flowers are set on the water, and you are welcome to float one yourself.
20:00
Tue 17 Nov
1h
The family meets you at the door. You are welcomed in the traditional way, with a tilak on the forehead and a cup of chai, then shown your room and left to settle in.
11:30
Wed 18 Nov
1h 30m
Meals in a Nimadi home are cooked on a chulha, a clay stove fired with wood. You can sit with the cooks while they work — rotis of wheat or jowar, dal, and vegetables of the season — and try rolling a roti yourself.
19:30
Wed 18 Nov
1h 30m
Evenings are spent outdoors, on a charpai in the courtyard or on the veranda, talking with the family over dinner and chai. Nothing is scheduled, and your translator is there to help the conversation along.
08:00
Thu 19 Nov
2h
A walk through the lanes, past the temple and the well, and out to the fields with someone from the family. Nimad's black soil grows cotton, wheat and chilli, and depending on the season you may see them being sown, tended or harvested.
09:00
Fri 20 Nov
2h
A paste of turmeric is applied to the bride and the groom, each in their own home, by relatives in turn. It is meant to bless and purify them before the wedding, and the yellow ends up on everyone present, guests included.
15:00
Fri 20 Nov
3h
Henna is drawn in fine patterns on the bride's hands and feet, and on the hands of the women of the family. It is left to dry and darken, and a deep colour is taken as a good sign for the marriage. Guests are welcome to have theirs done too.
18:00
Sat 21 Nov
2h
The groom's procession to the bride's home. He rides a decorated horse, with family and friends dancing ahead of him to a band and the dhol. The bride's family receives the baraat at the gate.
20:30
Sat 21 Nov
30m
The bride and groom place garlands of flowers around each other's necks, as a sign that each accepts the other. It is greeted with cheering, and a good deal of friendly teasing from both families.
23:00
Sat 21 Nov
2h
The marriage itself. Under the mandap the bride and groom walk around the sacred fire seven times while the priest recites mantras in Sanskrit, each round sealing a vow. The hour is fixed in advance by the muhurat, the auspicious time, and can fall late at night.
06:30
Sun 22 Nov
1h
The bride's farewell as she leaves her parents' home for her husband's. Before she goes she throws handfuls of rice back over her shoulder, wishing prosperity on the household she is leaving. It is the most emotional moment of the wedding.
What is arranged
Getting yourself to Indore — Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport or Indore Junction railway station is the only arrangement you make. Everything from there onward is included in the price.
Every guest is given a private room for the whole stay.
Every meal is included, from arrival to departure.
One air-conditioned vehicle with a driver, for the whole journey.
A translator travels with the group and stays with you throughout.
A photographer covers each ceremony. Every photograph you appear in is yours, in full.
A pagdi, tied for you before the procession by someone who has done it for years. Yours to keep.
Before you ask
Join the Journey
15 – 22 November 20265 of 5 places left₹2,20,000 · $2,303
