Guided by his Bradshaw's 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, Michael Portillo travels across India. He embarks on a classic rail journey from Amritsar to Shimla. Along the way he helps to feed the thousands at the world's largest free kitchen and travels the railway routes used by millions of migrants during Partition. He gives his trademark colourful wardrobe an Indian twist, and reaches the foothills of the Himalayas, where the epic Kalka to Shimla hill railway carries him to the former summer seat of the British rulers of the Raj.\n\nPublished when the British Raj was at its height, Michael's guide leads him to some of the key locations in India's 20th century story, from the massacre in Amritsar in 1919 to the bloody events of Partition.\n\nBeginning in the Sikh holy city, Michael is dazzled by the beauty of the Golden Temple and awed by the scale of its langar - the world's largest free kitchen.\n\nHis route then takes him through the Punjab, India's breadbasket. Michael samples traditional chapattis, has a colourful kurta made up in one of the Punjab's biggest cloth markets, and can't resist the foot-tapping rhythms of Punjabi bhangra dancing, made famous by Bollywood. Portillo's journey also reveals surprises. He uncovers a pioneering women's medical college in Ludhiana, before plunging into Chandigarh, designed by Le Corbusier as a modernist expression of India's post-independence future.\n\nAt Kalka, Michael glimpses the Himalayas for the first time and joins the 1906-built mountain railway for a stunning climb to Shimla. There, he relives the days when the crème de la crème of expatriate society went to socialise and rule - their exploits recorded by a young Rudyard Kipling.
Source: BBC 2
Series 1: 4. Lucknow To Kolkata
On an epic railway journey from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh to Kolkata in West Bengal, Michael Portillo uses his Bradshaw's 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, pu ...
10-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 1: 3. Mysuru To Chennai
Michael Portillo's Bradshaw's 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel leads him on railway journey through the modern south Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nad ...
09-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 1: 2. Jodhpur To Delhi
Bradshaw's 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel in hand, Michael embarks on a stunning rail journey from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan to the Indian capital, taki ...
05-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 1: 1. Amritsar To Shimla
Guided by his Bradshaw's 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, Michael Portillo travels across India. He embarks on a classic rail journey from Amritsar to Shiml ...
04-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 6. Lucknow To Kolkata Part 2
Michael Portillo resumes his rail journey from Lucknow to Kolkata following his 1913 Bradshaw’s Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel. He visits the Buddhist mo ...
05-03-2019
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 5. Lucknow To Kolkata Part 1
Steered by his Bradshaw’s 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, Michael Portillo embarks on an epic railway journey from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh to Kolkat ...
04-03-2019
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 4. Jodhpur To Delhi Part 2
Michael Portillo resumes his rail journey from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan to the Indian capital, New Delhi, his Bradshaw’s 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial ...
28-02-2019
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 3. Jodhpur To Delhi Part 1
Bradshaw’s 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel in hand, Michael Portillo embarks on a stunning rail journey from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan to the India ...
27-02-2019
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 2. Amritsar To Shimla Part 2
Clutching his Bradshaw’s Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, published in 1913, Michael is en route to Shimla, the former summer seat of the British Raj.\n\nA ...
26-02-2019
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 1. Amritsar To Shimla Part 1
Guided by his Bradshaw’s 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, Michael Portillo embarks on a journey through time from the British Raj to the India of toda ...
25-02-2019
BBC 2
Series 1: 4. Lucknow To Kolkata
On an epic railway journey from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh to Kolkata in West Bengal, Michael Portillo uses his Bradshaw's 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, pu ...
10-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 1: 3. Mysuru To Chennai
Michael Portillo's Bradshaw's 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel leads him on railway journey through the modern south Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nad ...
09-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 4. Jodhpur To Delhi Part 2
Michael Portillo resumes his rail journey from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan to the Indian capital, New Delhi, his Bradshaw’s 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial ...
28-02-2019
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 1. Amritsar To Shimla Part 1
Guided by his Bradshaw’s 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, Michael Portillo embarks on a journey through time from the British Raj to the India of toda ...
25-02-2019
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 2. Amritsar To Shimla Part 2
Clutching his Bradshaw’s Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, published in 1913, Michael is en route to Shimla, the former summer seat of the British Raj.\n\nA ...
26-02-2019
BBC 2
Series 1: 1. Amritsar To Shimla
Guided by his Bradshaw's 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, Michael Portillo travels across India. He embarks on a classic rail journey from Amritsar to Shiml ...
04-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 3. Jodhpur To Delhi Part 1
Bradshaw’s 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel in hand, Michael Portillo embarks on a stunning rail journey from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan to the India ...
27-02-2019
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 5. Lucknow To Kolkata Part 1
Steered by his Bradshaw’s 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, Michael Portillo embarks on an epic railway journey from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh to Kolkat ...
04-03-2019
BBC 2
Series 1: 2. Jodhpur To Delhi
Bradshaw's 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel in hand, Michael embarks on a stunning rail journey from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan to the Indian capital, taki ...
05-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 1 Reversions: 6. Lucknow To Kolkata Part 2
Michael Portillo resumes his rail journey from Lucknow to Kolkata following his 1913 Bradshaw’s Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel. He visits the Buddhist mo ...
05-03-2019
BBC 2