The Great Ramayana Experience
An epic journey through real places that shaped a timeless tale For thousands of years, its verses have been recited by firelight, sung on temple steps, and performed in village squares. But beyond the page or stage, the Ramayana lives on in forests, rivers, temples, and towns that still echo the footsteps of Ram, Sita, and Lakshman.
This journey is not a retelling. It is a retracing. You will follow the arc of exile, devotion, war, and return through some of the most sacred and storied landscapes of India and Sri Lanka.
- Delhi, a fitting prologue in India’s capital, where ancient values meet modern rhythm. Begin in quiet reflection at the Bahai Lotus Temple, a contemporary symbol of spiritual oneness and awakening.
- Varanasi, the spiritual heartbeat of India. Here, the Ganga flows with memory, and temples echo with chants. Witness ancient rituals, private meditations, and the sacred atmosphere that has drawn pilgrims for centuries.
- Ayodhya, the birthplace of Ram. A city now reborn with new light and renewed devotion. Walk the streets where divinity was born human, and history became legend.
- Hampi, or what was called Kishkindha, the monkey kingdom. In these vanvas forests, alliances were formed and destinies shaped. Uncover stories carved in stone and whispered through windswept ruins.
- Madurai, one of India’s oldest cities, where myth and memory live side by side. Walk ancient streets still singing with tales of divinity, devotion, and cosmic order.
- Rameshwaram, the edge of the human realm. Where Ram prayed before battle, and stones were set to float. Stand at the threshold of Lanka and feel the pull of purpose, sacrifice, and love.
- Sigiriya (Sri Lanka), The golden kingdom of Ravana. Towering rocks, hidden gardens, and secretive temples — this is where power and poetry collide.
- Bentota (Sri Lanka), where we let the journey end in stillness. On Sri Lanka’s southern shores, take time to reflect, renew, and carry the story within you.
This is not a history tour. It is an invitation into the soul of an epic. One moment, one sacred place at a time.
Stand Where Ram Was Born
Begin in Ayodhya, where temple bells and devotion rise with the sun.
Private Meditation & Breathwork
Unwind with intimate evening meditation session, led by a spiritual practitioner.
Bathe Where Saints Still Chant
At Varanasi’s ghats, take part in timeless rituals and sacred aarti beside the Ganga.
Walk Through the Forests of Exile
In Hampi, explore the boulder-strewn landscapes and UNESCO heritage sites believed to be part of Ram’s forest exile; quiet, wild, and deeply spiritual.
Cross the Waters of Devotion
Edge of India’s mainland at Rameshwaram, where Ram is said to have built the bridge to Lanka. Stand at the edge of India’s last road and feel the wind, salt, and silence.
Feel the Echoes of Sita’s Captivity
In Sigiriya’s serene hill country, visit the landscapes linked to the Ashok Vatika, where silence speaks of strength.
Dine With Storytellers, Priests, and Pilgrims
Throughout the journey, share meals that carry memory, meaning, and myth, served on banana leaves, in temple corridors, and ancestral kitchens.
Contact us to begin your journey
| Duration: | 15 Days |
| Regions Covered: | Ayodhya, Varanasi, Hampi, Madurai, Rameshwaram (India Leg) and Sigiriya, Bentota (Sri Lanka Leg) |
| Trip Themes: | Mythology, Spirituality, Culture, History |
| Trip Themes: | October to March |
| Perfect For: | Seekers, heritage lovers, spiritual travellers, and storytellers at heart |
Itinerary
DAY
1
Delhi | Arrival and the Capital’s Sacred Heart
You arrive in Delhi, a city where dynasties have risen, legends have lingered, and devotion still pulses through its streets. Though not part of Ram’s path, Delhi offers a fitting prelude, a place where ancient values and modern rhythms coexist.
The day is designed for gentle arrival and grounding. After rest and refreshment at your luxurious hotel, you step out for your first immersive experience: a guided contemplative walk at the Bahai Lotus Temple. A striking modern structure inspired by the lotus flower, a symbol of purity and spiritual awakening, the temple invites quiet reflection across all faiths. In its silence, surrounded by gardens and symmetry, you ease into the spiritual tempo of the journey ahead.
Return to your hotel in the evening for an unhurried dinner. The epic begins tomorrow, but already, the stillness has begun to speak.
DAY
2
Varanasi | India, 14,000 BCE
You fly to Varanasi, not just one of the oldest cities in India, but perhaps the oldest in the world. The air here doesn’t move quickly. It lingers, thick with incense, river breeze, and memory.
After checking in to your hotel, a regal haveli by the Ganga, and the day unfolds gently. There is no rush to see or do. You’re here to shift into the energy of the yatra.
As the sun dips below the river, you gather for an intimate evening meditation session, led by a spiritual practitioner. It’s not about silence, but presence. Afterward, over a thoughtfully prepared dinner, our Ramayana expert introduces the path ahead. Not just where you’ll go, but why. The forests, the bridges, the exiles, the reunions. You begin to see how this is not just a story to be followed, but a frequency to be tuned into.
Tonight, you rest in a city where even dreams seem older than memory.
DAY
3
Varanasi & Ayodhya | The City Where It All Began
After an early breakfast, you set out on a full-day excursion to Ayodhya, the city where it all began.
The drive takes you through rural Uttar Pradesh, a landscape slowly waking up to prayer, harvest, and dust trails. On arrival in Ayodhya, you’re greeted by a local guide who walks you through the city’s most sacred spaces. This is not just Ram’s birthplace. It is a living shrine. You’ll explore key temple complexes, listen to stories tied to each site, and feel the pulse of a place that breathes devotion in every corner.
By late afternoon, you return to Varanasi. But the day isn’t done. As twilight sets in, you join a local food expert for a guided street food walk through Varanasi’s vibrant alleys. Here, memory and spice mix freely. From kachoris stuffed with warmth to sweets that dissolve like old stories on your tongue.
DAY
4
Varanasi | The City Where Even Ram Prayed
As the sky begins to pale, you step into a temple courtyard for an early morning meditation and yoga session. The air is cool. The city is quiet. It’s a sacred kind of stillness, the kind that ancient sages once moved through before sunrise.
Afterward, you are granted VIP access to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, one of the most revered shrines in India and a place even Ram is said to have bowed before. Here, you don’t just visit. You participate with personalised rituals guided by a priest who brings meaning to every gesture, chant, and offering.
As evening arrives, you are escorted to Dashashwamedh Ghat for a private viewing of the iconic Ganga Aarti. Thousands gather here every day, but tonight, it feels personal. Fire, chant, devotion, and dusk, all rising together in one of the most moving spectacles of faith on earth.
DAY
5
Varanasi to Hampi | The Forest, the Ascetic Life, and the Trigger That Changed the World
You leave the sacred city of Varanasi behind and fly south to Bengaluru, before continuing by road to Hampi, the ancient city nestled in the rocky heart of the Deccan.
The landscape begins to shift. Temple spires give way to giant boulders and rust-red earth. You are now in what many believe was once Kishkindha, the monkey kingdom of the Ramayana, and the setting for one of its great turning points.
On arrival, you are welcomed into your luxury retreat, a place of stillness, stone, and slow beauty. A therapeutic massage awaits, grounding you gently after a day of travel. It is your first taste of the forest life Ram embraced.
In the evening, you sit down for a quiet, gourmet meal in the Kishkindha valley, prepared with local flavours and laid-back elegance. As you eat, your Ramayana expert unfolds the stories that echo through these hills. The many years that Ram, Lakshman, and Sita spent in exile, Sita’s kidnapping, Ram’s meeting with Hanuman, the forging of an alliance, and the moment the search for Sita began.
Tonight, you rest under the same stars that once watched over an exiled prince and a rising war.
DAY
6
Hampi | The Monkey-God and the Mountains That Remember
You leave the sacred city of Varanasi behind and fly south to Bengaluru, before continuing by road to Hampi, the ancient city nestled in the rocky heart of the Deccan.
The landscape begins to shift. Temple spires give way to giant boulders and rust-red earth. You are now in what many believe was once Kishkindha, the monkey kingdom of the Ramayana, and the setting for one of its great turning points.
On arrival, you are welcomed into your luxury retreat, a place of stillness, stone, and slow beauty. A therapeutic massage awaits, grounding you gently after a day of travel. It is your first taste of the forest life Ram embraced.
In the evening, you sit down for a quiet, gourmet meal in the Kishkindha valley, prepared with local flavours and laid-back elegance. As you eat, your Ramayana expert unfolds the stories that echo through these hills. The many years that Ram, Lakshman, and Sita spent in exile, Sita’s kidnapping, Ram’s meeting with Hanuman, the forging of an alliance, and the moment the search for Sita began.
Tonight, you rest under the same stars that once watched over an exiled prince and a rising war.
DAY
7
Hampi | Stones That Speak and Villages That Sing
Today, you explore Hampi not only as a sacred landscape but as a living, breathing heritage site. With your expert guide, you walk through the ruins that once formed the capital of the mighty Vijayanagara Empire. Stone temples, towering gateways, carved pavilions, and open markets come alive with stories of kings, gods, and commoners who once walked these very paths.
But Hampi is not a museum. Around the ruins, daily life carries on in the villages. Children play in courtyards. Farmers tend to fields. Women draw rangoli at their doorsteps. It is this blend of the ancient and the everyday that makes Hampi unlike anywhere else.
If you wish, end your day with a coracle boat ride on the Tungabhadra River. The round boats drift slowly between boulders, as the setting sun casts a golden light on centuries-old stones.
Evening is yours to rest, reflect, or simply sit under the open sky that has seen it all.
DAY
8
Hampi to Madurai | The Journey South
You begin your day with a relaxed breakfast before departing Hampi. The road back to Bengaluru is long but scenic, offering time to watch the landscape shift from boulder-strewn hills to the lush, temple-dotted plains of Karnataka.
In the evening, you fly into Madurai, one of South India’s oldest and most sacred cities. This is where temples rise like mountains and devotion moves with quiet confidence.
After check-in, a welcome massage awaits at your hotel. The treatment is unhurried and calming, designed to release the fatigue of the day’s travel and prepare your body for the sacred spaces ahead.
You may wish to rest early or take a short stroll through your hotel’s heritage corridors before retreating to your room.
DAY
9
Madurai | Where Every Street Has a Story
Your day begins with a sunrise yoga session, held in a quiet space within the city or at your hotel’s garden pavilion. As the city wakes up, your breath slows down. It is a soft and grounding start to a place layered with power, devotion, and myth.
After breakfast, your storyteller-guide leads you through Once Upon a Time in Madurai, a guided experience that is part history walk and part treasure hunt for meaning. You explore the city’s ancient markets, quiet shrines, and alleys where stories hide in plain sight. You visit the majestic Meenakshi Amman Temple, where legends rise with every tower and devotion moves in ritual rhythm.
Madurai has been a thriving market town since at least the second century BCE, a seat of kings and gods alike. But the stories here are not all grand. Some are small and strange. A man who lost his home becomes the name of a street. A bad case of sniffles changes the course of politics. A little toad brings the dreams of a king to a halt.
By evening, the city takes on another rhythm. You are guided through a curated banana leaf dinner, tasting some of Madurai’s finest dishes, served with traditional grace and local flair.
Tonight, you sleep in a city that does not whisper its stories. It sings them.
DAY
10
Madurai to Rameshwaram | The Bridge Between Two Worlds
You leave Madurai early this morning and journey south to Rameshwaram, the island where land meets sea and the epic shifts from exile to action.
On arrival, you are guided through the sacred Ramanathaswamy Temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas in India. Its long corridors, ancient pillars, and the rhythmic chants of priests create a space where time feels suspended. Here, Ram is not just a prince. He is a warrior preparing for war and a devotee seeking Shiva’s blessing before crossing to Lanka.
You also visit Ram Darbar and Velundee Teertham, places tied to the moments of resolve and reflection before the great battle. With your guide, you pause to reflect on the story of Ravana, the ten-headed king of Lanka. His tale is not only one of arrogance and abduction but also of devotion, knowledge, and complexity.
By evening, you settle into your hotel. The sea is near. The air smells of salt and sandalwood. And the story is moving toward its climax.
DAY
11
Madurai to Sigiriya | Crossing Over
Your morning in Madurai is slow and restorative. You may choose to join a yoga or meditation session, allowing your body to settle and your mind to gently absorb all that this journey has revealed so far.
Later, you board a flight to Colombo, where a new chapter begins. On arrival in Sri Lanka, you are driven directly to Sigiriya, a region rich with Ramayana legends and breathtaking natural beauty.
You check in at your serene resort, nestled among forested hills and ancient rock outcrops. Over a quiet evening, your expert offers a soft introduction to the Sri Lankan leg of the Ramayana. Here, the story turns inward. The battles intensify, but so do the questions of dharma, loyalty, and choice.
This is where Sita waited. Where Hanuman leapt. Where Lanka rose, not just as a kingdom, but as a mirror to Ram’s own journey.
Tonight is for stillness. The island will speak tomorrow.
DAY
12
Sigiriya | The Rock, the Kingdom, and the Waiting
Your day begins with sunrise yoga at the resort. As the sun rises over the jungle canopy and mist clears from the distant hills, you stretch and breathe into the silence. The island is fully awake now, and so are you.
After breakfast, you head out on a guided hike or e-bike ride to Sigiriya Rock, an ancient fortress rising dramatically from the earth. This is no ordinary climb. As you ascend, your guide weaves together myth and history. Some say this is the site of Ravana’s palace. Others believe it holds echoes of Ashok Vatika, the garden where Sita waited.
Whether legend or landscape, the rock holds its own energy. At the summit, you take a moment. The view stretches far, but the story stretches further.
In the afternoon, you may choose to join a cooking session with a local Sri Lankan family. It is a window into everyday island life. Recipes passed down. Spices ground fresh. Stories exchanged with hands as much as words.
Evening is unplanned. Let the land tell you what it wants you to do.
DAY
13
Sigiriya to Bentota | From the Forest to the Sea
You begin the day in Sigiriya with a gentle yoga session, held in the quiet of the morning while the forest stirs to life. It is a final breath in the highlands before your journey turns coastal.
After a relaxed breakfast and some time at leisure, you depart by car for Bentota, the island’s southwestern shoreline where the pace of life slows to the rhythm of the sea.
The drive is scenic, winding through rural landscapes and tropical countryside. By late afternoon, you arrive at your seaside retreat. The air is warmer here. The sounds of the jungle are replaced by waves. You have crossed into a softer ending.
Check in. Unwind. Walk barefoot on the sand if you like. This is where the journey prepares to close, not with a final act, but with a letting go.
DAY
14
Bentota | A Day to Just Be
Today is yours to enjoy at your own pace. After a journey filled with temples, rituals, stories, and movement, this is a day for stillness.
Wake when you wish. Walk by the sea. Swim, read, or simply watch the waves come and go. You are on sacred ground still, even if the day holds no plan. Sometimes the deepest part of a journey happens when you stop and let the meaning arrive on its own.
Lunch and dinner are at leisure. Choose to dine at your resort or explore a quiet beachside café nearby. No schedule. No rituals. Just rest.
DAY
15
Bentota to Colombo | The Road Home
After breakfast, you check out and depart by car for Colombo International Airport. The drive traces the coast in reverse, taking you through small towns and fading palms.
You may feel a little quieter than when you arrived. That is expected. The Ramayana has travelled with you, not just across miles, but across moments.
You return, not just having visited sacred places, but having walked through them with presence.
This was never just a journey through India and Sri Lanka. It was a walk through a story that still shapes the soul of a subcontinent. You traced exile, devotion, battle, and return, not as a spectator, but as a listener moving through the landscapes where it all began. These places will continue without you, but you leave with something quieter. A rhythm. A remembrance. A sacred echo that stays.
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1
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2
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3
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India: One story, one plate, one journey at a time
At Anahat, we craft journeys that go beyond the itinerary. Rooted in luxury, story, and soul, each experience invites you to encounter India as it truly is: layered, intimate, alive. We work with scholars, monks, chefs, naturalists, and artisans to create meaningful immersions, in places both iconic and hidden. Handcrafted journeys designed with utmost care.
What sets us apart
Storytelling at the Core
Every journey is built around a story, not just a route. From rivers to recipes to rituals, we thread meaning into every moment.
Luxury, Redefined
We believe true luxury is space, stillness, and access. Our partners are India’s finest heritage homes, boutique retreats, and soulful hideaways.
Deep Local Wisdom
We work with spiritual teachers, forest guides, cultural anthropologists, and legacy artisans, not tour guides with scripts.
Wellness, Woven In
Whether it’s a guided meditation at dawn or slow, grounding meals, your journey with us nurtures body, mind, and spirit.