India Pilgrimage 2025
Mon, January 6 - Mon, January 20, 2025
Note: flights should be made to arrive at Chennai Airport no later than 9 am Monday morning, January 6 and to leave no earlier than 5 pm on Monday, January 20 from Cochin.
Our shared pilgrimage begins at noon on a Monday. However, we highly recommend that — if possible — participants give themselves time to adjust by arriving in India up to three days prior.
The closest International Airport is Chennai.
Included lodging begins at check into our resort in Mahabalipuram on Monday morning. For people arriving in India, in the early morning hours of that Monday, we suggest you confirm a hotel reservation near the airport in Chennai. Transportation will be provided from a central location in Chennai to the resort on Monday at 10am in the form of a single group trip. Participants wishing to take advantage of this offer will have to meet at a single central location to be decided by the organizers, based on students needing transportation from Chennai.
Day 1: Monday
Our tour, officially, starts at noon on Monday when we will meet to discuss our travels and plans for the next day. We will share a centering meditation to ground and relax following travel. The rest of Monday will be a day of rest and relaxation. We will try to be out on the beaches in the sun to get our biological clocks to adjust to the new cycle.
Meals: Lunch
Overnight in Mahabalipuram
Day 2: Tuesday
Mahabalipuram:
After breakfast, we will leave the hotel to explore the UNESCO World Heritage site monuments in Mahabalipuram that were built in the 7th Century AD. At Arjuna’s Penance nothing can prepare you for the wonderful bas-reliefs covering two huge boulders. The exquisite detail, dating from the 7th century, depicts the flow of the Ganges down from the Himalayan mountains as well as scenes from Indian daily life. The Five Rathas shrines are carved whole from an outcrop of rock. Each of the five temples is dedicated to heroes from the great epic of the Mahabharata. We will spend time admiring the detail of the carvings which include gods, humans and elephants and wonder why the temples are incomplete and were never consecrated. We will also visit the Shore Temple which and its delightful seaside location, overlooking the Bay of Bengal, with landscaped gardens, a popular place for the locals to visit. Dedicated to both Vishnu and Shiva, the decorative beauty of the temple, built in Dravidian style, has suffered erosion by its proximity to the sea. Late afternoon, we will visit children at a local orphanage, bringing simple toys, food and school supplies. Evening is free for you to relax at the beaches or explore on your own.
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Overnight in Mahabalipuram
Day 3: Wednesday
Mahabalipuram temples and relaxation
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Overnight in Mahabalipuram
Day 4: Thursday
Leave for Pondicherry.
After breakfast at 8 we will go out to explore Pondicherry. Pondicherry was designed based on the French grid pattern and features neat sectors and perpendicular streets. The town is divided into two sections: the French Quarter and the Indian quarter. Many streets still retain their French names, and French style villas are a common sight. In the French quarter, the buildings are typically colonial style with long compounds and stately walls. Afternoon/evening in Pondicherry
Meals: Breakfast
Overnight in Pondicherry
Day 5: Friday
Pondicherry
Day 6: Saturday
After Breakfast at 7 we will drive to Chidambaram at 8 in the morning to visit the famous Nataraja (Dancing Shiva) temple. There are references to this temple in literature from over 2000 years back. Around 11 we will head to visit the 1000 year old Airateeswara temple. After lunch we will head for Tanjore to visit the Brahadeeswara temple that was completed in 1035 and is another UNESCO World Heritage site. We will then head to Trichy arriving in the evening.
This is a big day! We’ll take good care of you and you will be amazed by all you see.
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Overnight in Trichy
Day 7: Sunday
Visit the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple, the largest functional temple complex in the world. From there we head back to the hotel to freshen up, relax, some may want massages, before heading back into town and to a huge sari shop. In the evening we will visit the Rockfort for a view of the city at night.
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Overnight in Trichy
Day 8: Monday
Leave for Ramanathapuram
Day 9: Tuesday
Ramanathapuram
Day 10: Wednesday
Leave for Thekkady
Day 11: Thursday
Thekkady
Day 12: Friday
Travel over the Western Ghats to Fort Kochi.
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Overnight in Fort Kochi
Day 13: Saturday
Explore Fort Kochi
Overnight in Fort Kochi
Day 14: Sunday
Overnight in Fort Kochi
Day 15: Monday
Fly out of Cochin
Prices
Ultra early for the first 4 people: Deadline: July 1, 2024
We have a total of 3 singles and 4 doubles
Ultra early - July 6
$3500 (double room - two available at this rate. Must have a person to register with) ONE LEFT
$4000 (single - we have one room available at this rate) SOLD OUT
Early registration: September 6
Deadline: September 6
$3850 (double room)
$4350 (single)
Regular registration:
Paid after September 6:
Double: $4100
Single: $4600
Payment plans available. Begin with a $500 non-refundable deposit and then we work with you to create the payment plan that fits your budget and timing.
Your payment plan total will depend on when you complete the plan. If you complete the plan by early registration date, you will pay the early registration rate. If you need more time, you will pay the regular registration rate and can complete payment anytime up until the first day of the trip.
The history of our pilgrimage:
Our tip began as the idea of Molly’s long time student and friend, JK Jaganathan, who had the idea and desire to bring students to his native country and the birthplace of yoga. He asked Molly if she would help to coordinate, offer the classes and container for the students, and be the “face” of the tour. Molly agreed as long as she could bring her husband, Sasha, along. JK agreed, and we were off on our first incredible adventure.
JK took us to meet his family, to the school he attended as a child, to the various temples and ashrams that his family frequented. JK, also a docent at the Seattle Art Museum, planned for stops at various UNESCO world heritage sites, and was our ambassador and translator. It was a life changing trip.
Two years later, we decided to do the trip again, but this time we added in half south India and half north India. JK was once again our fearless leader, our cultural steward and our model for customs and rituals. This time Sasha played a huge role as our navigator and “herder,” making sure all the students were together, gathering passports, and negotiating hotels. We ended up giving him the name of “Gopal” - a reference to Krishna as the cowherd.
Two years went by, and we decided to do it again, but realized that the two part trip was too hectic and we would stick to the original itinerary of South India, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. This time, as the trip approached, JK found out he could not take the time off of work. At first Molly and Sasha bowed out too - it didn’t feel like it made sense for two white Americans to lead a tour to India. But JK felt very differently and encouraged us to go. He was (and is) passionate about yoga students seeing the country where their practice came from and believed that with the contacts and friendships we had made, that we could do the trip with integrity and ease. We were nervous, and sad to be honest to not have JK, but we did it anyway, and once again, it was magical.
We went again two years later, solidifying friendships, refining the tour and giving our students the journey of a lifetime.
Then….pandemic. And everything stopped. Here we are again then, ready to go, and ready to take you with us, to introduce you to our friends, to give you opportunities to connect and share with local communiities, to learn more about yoga and India and rituals and customs and FOOD! Oh, the delicious food!
Join us. We will take such good care of you, and you will come back forever changed through your connection to the magical, mystical, intense and beautiful land of India.
Extra support and info
We also wanted to let you know that we offer a ton of pre-trip support, and have done this exact route three times, and a variation of this route once. What that means for you is that we know the landscape, we can foresee any issues that might arise, and that we are returning to homes and friendships we have established since 2013.
This trip promises, absolutely, to be the trip of a lifetime.
Our trip is also a little more expensive than others, but that is because we have learned, starting from our very first trip with our dear friend JK Jaganathan, who was the original inspiration and guide for the trip - bringing us to his birthplace and community - that it is worth it to stay in a very nice place when we first arrive. It's such a long trip, and India is intense. Landing at a gorgeous higher end hotel really eases us in, as we prepare for the next two weeks of travel and exploration, where accommodations are varied - ranging from ashram living to modest hotels to a houseboat.
We have a dedicated Facebook page: Wander, Wonder, Wellness that you can check out here for past comments and questions and to add your own. There is a ton of info on what to pack, how to eat, how to travel, etc.
We also hold monthly info calls to meet each other, ask questions, learn details and share ideas .
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
