India Beat went to check out the new Leela in Delhi last week. We loved the mix of architectural motifs that evoke Delhi’s colonial history and the incredibly luxurious interiors. Lunch at the Qube was superb and after a look around the rooms and a drink by the pool we decided Delhi has a new contender for best hotel. Personally we still love the ambiance and history of the Imperial but if you want up to the minute luxury with out feeling like you are in a business hotel the Leela is the place to be. For bookings and other ideas in Delhi contact India Beat.

The 18th edition of the Footprint Travel Guide to India is out and recommends India Beat! Here’s what they have to say about us:

“Winner of the Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist Award for the last few years, you are in good hands with Victoria and Bertie at India Beat. They offer a unique insight into India and have a reliable team to help you with tours all over India.”

To visit their website and buy the new guide book click here.

India Beat travelled to Ellora and found such an extraordinary temple that you have to ask the question: is this place real? Carved over a period of more than 100 years the main Kailasa temple, wasn’t built but instead was sculpted from the roof down out of a solid basalt mountain.

Bertie and Victoria Dyer of India Beat have won the Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist Award for the fourth year in a row! Here’s what Condé Nast Traveler had to say about us in the December 2011 edition of the magazine:
Flexible, energetic, and dead honest, the Dyers are Brits who are enjoying a long love affair with India and who have a particular knowledge of Rajasthan, the temple- and art-rich region in the country’s north. They rarely outsource any of the trip-planning process to local agencies, allowing them to pass the savings along to their clients. The duo will appeal most to those who want to get outside the luxury hotel bubble and experience more of the real India. In Jaipur, Victoria leads clients on a shopaholic’s dream tour, into the local gem markets and through the city’s best jewelry and silk boutiques

For more information about this award click here.

Condé Nast Traveler magazine is also on Facebook

India Beat were excited to help out with this beautiful photo shoot in and around Jaipur. Check out the video and stills from the shoot.

http://www.louisvuitton.co.uk/front/#/eng_GB/Collections/Women/Travel/stories/Travel-to-India

One of India’s most spectacular sights, the Ajanta Caves, are hidden away on the side of a remote gorge in Maharastra. India Beat travelled to Aurangabad to explore the caves that were once home to thousands of Buddhist monks. Occupied since the 2nd Century BC monks carved huge cave temples and prayer halls into the cliff face and decorated them with astonishing paintings and carvings. The caves were abandoned shortly after the 5th Century and were only rediscovered in 1819 by Captain John Smith who was on a tiger hunt in the area. The paintings inside the 27 caves are the most complete representation of early Buddhist life and worship in India and are absolutely stunning.

May 2011 sees the launch of “From the edges of the Thar” the first solo exhibition by renowned Scottish sculptor Katy Poett. Inspired by her recent travels to the Thar Desert, India, her new collection portrays a selection of bronzes including animals, architecture and figures.

Whilst exploring parts of the Thar Katy was deeply inspired by the people and animals who co exist in the harsh tapestry of life in this environment. The result is sculpture that reflects the emotional aspects of a province described as, ‘unforgiving, arid and wild’.

The collection includes goats, peacocks, porcupines, monkeys, people of the desert, and the cows and camels seen at the annual Nagaur fair. It reflects a passion to capture spirit and beauty in three dimensions.

Katy traveled with India Beat, for more information contact Katy at katypoett.com or for holiday ideas in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert contact India Beat.

Jaipur is world renowned for it’s fabulous palaces and forts, over the centuries generations of stone masons labored away to create these extraordinary buildings. Frozen Music was established more than a decade ago to bring the skill of these artisans to the world. India Beat went to have a look at their workshop in Jaipur’s Mansarovar district and was blown away by their astonishing work. We loved the marble jali screens and intricate inlaid pietra dura tables each of which takes a year or more to complete. India Beat arranges visits to the Frozen Music’s factory where you can buy smaller pieces or commission a masterpiece!

Floating serenely on the Mansagar Lake, Jal Mahal is to open to visitors for the first time having undergone a dramatic transformation. The superb restoration of one of Jaipur’s most picturesque buildings has taken more than six years. India Beat were  invited to see the results of this iconic project before it opens to the public in a few weeks time. Mansagar Lake has been transformed by a comprehensive program of cleaning and the lake is now home to huge shoals of fish. We boarded our launch at the newly constructed jetty and were spellbound by the view of Jal Mahal and it’s astonishing backdrop of the Aravali Hills and the majestic Jaigarh Fort. After a trip around the Jal Mahal we stepped on to the 200 year old pleasure palace and began to explore. Numerous alcoves and arches on the lower levels provide the perfect place to take in the views before heading upstairs to the charbagh, a traditional kind of garden popularised by the Moghul emperors in the 16th Century.  Beautifully proportioned domed chattris and pavilions surround the fountains at the gardens center. All have been brilliantly restored to their former glory. Local artists specialising in the Jaipuri school of miniature painting have been working for months to decorate the arched ceilings of each pavilion and the results are breathtaking. Jal Mahal is surely Jaipur’s brightest jewel and a brilliant example of how Rajasthan’s heritage can and must be saved for posterity. Contact India Beat for more information on how to visit Mansagar Lake and the Jal Mahal.

India Beat worked with Town and Country to create a “Honeymoon of  a Lifetime.”

The magazine chose India as the perfect choice for “Culture Vultures”.

Northern India

Romantic and definitely opulent, northern India contains the sort of rich, brilliant culture that sates architecture feinds, history enthusiasts and shoppers alike. Begin in New Delhi at the Imperial, a grand old hotel where mohogany furniture sits under lofty beamed ceilings. After a night’s rest, you’re off to take a bicycle-rickshaw tour of Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi’s intensely bustling market. Lunch is at Karmim’s, famous for authentic Muglai food for almost a century. Make some more buys (everything from eyeglasses to saris) at the slightly westernised Santusthti Market, and enjoy dinner at the moodily lit Aman resort. The next day you will drive to Agra and arrive in time to see the sun setting behind the Taj Mahal. Gaze out at it, too, from your room at Oberoi Amravilas, where Moorish domes and Venitian chandeliers combine to make Agra’s most beautiful hotel. Then head to Jaipur to have artisans custom pieces in as little as a few hours from massive rubies and emeralds (for a fraction of the cost you would pay back home). Continue to the eastern countryside to wander the village and farmlands that surround Chhatra Sagar resort; fill up on delicious khada masala and local maans, and nod off each evening in your ornately outfitted tent. Next stop is the city of Jodhpur, where you can pick up quilts, copper and bangles at a quiet bazaar, then explore Mehrangarh Fort, which holds treasures from the Moghul period and still feels alive with colonial troops. Next spend 2 nights on the outskirts of town at Mihirgarh, a castle-like retreat (moat, turrets, and all) in the desert sand and brush. Take a picnic lunch on a camel safari, then cool off with a dip in your plunge pool. The trip ends in Udaipur with strolls through hibiscus-fringed gardens, meals on lakefront palace verandas, tours of ancient temples and cooking lessons from the lovely Jyoti Jasol. While there, you’ll live like royalty at the Taj Lake Palace, a white-marble 18th Century edifice afloat on the lake.

Best time to go: October to March. Trip Length: Fifteen days. Priced from $6,000 per person. Book through Victoria Dyer of India Beat; 00 91 141 651 9797 or victoria@indiabeat.co.uk