Amer

Amer is a town 10 kms from Jaipur. The Rajput Maharajas used to stay here before the city of Jaipur was built. We visited Amer on our first day at Jaipur as a part of Rajasthan trip in March 2011.

Amer Fort

The Amer Fort also called as Amber Fort is perched upon a hill and offers a breathtaking view of the Aravalli mountains. It was built by the Kings belonging to the Meena dynasty. Over a period of time the Meenas were overthrown by the Kachwaha Rajputs. Today Amer is just a shadow of its glorious past but beautiful nevertheless.

The main gate at the entrance is the Suraj Pol (Sun Gate). This leads into a courtyard which was used for victory parades by the army when they returned victoriously from battles. A stairway from this courtyard leads you into the palace complex. Next to this stairway is a temple of Sila devi where the Kings used to worship the Goddess by offering animal sacrifices in the past.

The Ganesh Pol is a beautiful gate that leads into the chambers of the royal family. It has beautiful frescoes and paintings. Atop this gate is the Suhag Mandir (Balcony) where the ladies belonging to royal family could sit and observe the proceedings in the Diwan I Aam below through the Jharokhas (Windows with intricate latticework).

The next courtyard has some Mughal Gardens with colourful flowers. It also houses the Sheesh Mahal which is a beautiful chamber whose walls and ceiling are adorned with glass pieces.

Another beautiful sight here are the corridors featured in the cover of the Rough Guide to Rajasthan, Delhi and Agra.

The Baradari pavilion offers some shade for the weary traveller. That’s a weary me sitting down for a breather in the pic below.

There is an underground tunnel which connects the Amer Fort with the Jaigarh Fort. This tunnel was used for evacuating the royal family when the fort was under attack. Today the tunnel is closed but the initial part is open for public. It was an eerie experience to walk here!

Jagat Siromaniji Temple

An old temple in the heart of Amer town below the fort. This temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna and was built by Raja Man Singh I in memory of his son. It is said that the idol of Lord Krishna here is the same that Meerabai used to worship.

Souvenirs

We visited a shopping complex in Amer suggested by our guide. There were couple of artists there demonstrating how the Sanganeri hand block prints are made on cloth. We bought silver earrings, lac bangles, Meenakari camel and elephant figurines, Rajais, Bedspreads and dress materials. We had a look at the exquisite Kundan jewellery which is the specialty of this region. Also took a look at furniture made of Makrana Marble.

Jaipur

Rajasthan is the land of colours. The last destination of our Rajasthan trip was to Jaipur also called the ‘Pink City’ due to its pink coloured buildings.

This city was founded in the eighteenth century by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II who was a great astronomer and town planner. It is a very well planned city. We had taken the evening train from Jaisalmer and reached here early in the morning. We had arranged for our stay here for 2 days at Dera Rawatsar.

Dera Rawatsar
This is a family run hotel which is more like a home. The family hails from Rawatsar which was part of the state of Bikaner. Their ancestors were the chiefs of the Rawatsar estate and served under the King of Bikaner. This place proved to be a grand finale for our Rajasthan trip. One of the most exquisite places we have ever stayed at! We couldn’t find a single fault with this place throughout our stay. The staff was courteous and the food was great. The hostess Mrs Mandvi Ranawat personally supervises all the affairs and ensures that the guests are having a good time. Every article in the room looked as though it had been chosen with a lot of care. The decor was very artfully done.

The matriarch of this family Padmashree Rani Laxmi Kumari Chundawat is a gifted story teller. She played an important role in Indian politics and was pivotal in abolishing the purdah system. Being the avid reader that I am, I felt very happy to be gifted a copy of (English translation) of her book – ‘Love Stories of Rajasthan’.

Chowkri Modikhana
We wanted to see Jaipur in a different light other than just the normal tourist destinations. The best way to explore a city and know its secrets is to take a walk through its streets. We decided to go on the Chowkri Modikhana walk to the old city with Virasat Journeys. Anurag from Virasat took us on this walk.

We started the walk with a visit to the Kalyanji temple which is pretty old and has beautiful frescoes.

Next was a visit to the Brass Artisans Street where they were busy at work. We also went inside a ramshackle building where these artisans have stayed for generations together. The building looks ready to collapse. Already some sections have collapsed. Yet this does not deter the residents from continuing to stay there.

We then visited a unique museum called the Sanjay Sharma Museum which chiefly houses thousands of rare and ancient manuscripts as well as paintings and other relics from all over India. This is the collection of one man! No mean feat. Left us mightily impressed. This museum was being shifted to a new building constructed near Jal Mahal.

The next stop was at the Sita Ramji temple which supposedly predates the city.

Now came the time to savor some goodies. We stopped at a shop where fresh Jalebis were being fried. They tasted heavenly and we happily gorged on them :)

The city of Jaipur was planned very well by Raja Sawai Jai Singh II. He planned the city such that separate areas were allotted to people belonging to different professions. He then invited artisans and scholars from various parts of the country to come and settle in Jaipur. Even today most of these artisans have stuck to the areas where their forefathers lived. We passed through a street where lac bangle makers were busy at work. Saw some old havelis which had beautiful frescoes. Our walk ended at an antique shop, where amidst beautiful antiques from a bygone era, we had some lovely tea.

Ishwar Lat
This charming minaret near Tripolia gate in the old city was built to commemorate the King Sawai Ishwari Singh’s victory over the Marathas and other Rajasthani rulers. It is a nice place to get an aerial view of the pink city. It has seven storeys and around 200 odd steps to climb to the top. Having climbed to the top, we spent some time soaking in the views :)

City Palace
The City Palace is a palace complex in the old city. The royal family still resides in one part of the palace while the other parts are open to public.

Some parts of the palace like the Diwan I Aam or the Hall of public audience have been converted to museums for displaying the clothes, weapons and other artifacts belonging to the royal family.

One of the sections of the palace has been used for displaying the works of various talented artisans.

The Diwan I Khas which used to be a private hall of the Maharajas is a marble floored building adorned with exquisite chandeliers. This houses a couple of huge Silver Urns as well as a nice model of the layout of the entire pink city and around.

A beautiful inner courtyard in the palace depicts the four seasons of the year namely summer, spring, autumn and winter! I would love to go back to the palace just to see this courtyard again :) I don’t think any picture can do justice to it’s glory.

Chandra Mahal is where the royal family reside now. The flag of the Jaipur Kingdom flies atop this building.

The Baggi Khana houses the collection of old carriages (Baggis) and palanquins owned by the royal family.

The Govind Dev Ji temple next to the palace complex dedicated to Lord Krishna was built by the Jaipur Kings. It is said that the King could see the idol here from his chamber in the palace. Since our visit here was close to the time of Holi, this place was swathed in festivities. It looked very colourful. We paid our respects to Lord Krishna and sought his blessings :)

Jantar Mantar
The Jantar Mantar is an observatory which houses astronomical instruments. It was built by the King Jai Singh II in the early part of the eighteenth century when he shifted his capital from Amer to Jaipur. There are around 15 instruments here which serve various purposes like determination of time of the day, altitude of a place, times of eclipse and so on. It is difficult to capture the scientific beauty, if one can call it that, of this place in words. Let the images do the talking.

Hawa Mahal
The Hawa Mahal or Palace of Winds is a pink coloured palace complex in the centre of the old city. The striking feature of this place is its exterior which resembles the shape of a beehive. There are more than 900 jharokhas (windows) across five storeys here with intricate latticework. The ladies of the royal family who had to follow strict purdah used to sit near the windows and watch the goings on outside unobserved. As we reached here around closing time, we could not go inside though we had tickets.

Jal Mahal
The Jal Mahal which translates to Water Palace is a palace situated in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake between Amer and Jaipur. This palace has been restored recently and might have been opened to public now. The lake which had got polluted by sewage for so many years has been cleaned as part of conservation programme initiated by the State Government of Rajasthan. We spent some time observing this beautiful palace from outside.

Nahargarh Fort
This fort atop the Aravalli Hills on the outskirts of Jaipur is close to Amer Fort. Nahargarh translates to the fort of the Tiger. This was the hunting residence of the Kings. Unlike the other forts, this fort is sadly in a neglected condition. Added to this, lot of the unscrupulous elements have booze parties here and litter the place with broken glass and plastic. This place became popular when a song from the Bollywood movie ‘Rang De Basanti‘ was shot here. We spent some time by the ramparts here and did not venture inside the fort to see the palace.

Jaigarh Fort
The Jaigarh Fort (translates to Victory Fort) overlooks the Amer Fort. We could not go here due to lack of time. However managed to catch a glimpse of it from afar on the way to Amer. The chief attraction of this fort is the ‘Jaivana’ which is one of the largest cannons on wheels.

Amer Fort
Undoubtedly the jewel among the forts of Jaipur, Amer was where we spent a good deal of time. Its splendor and beauty knows no bounds. My next post will be dedicated exclusively to Amer.

Apart from the above mentioned places, there are a plethora of other places in and around Jaipur which we could not cover due to lack of time. Some of them are Albert Hall Museum, Vidhyadhar Gardens, Sisodiya Rani Bagh, Galtaji temple, Chand Baori in Abhaneri, Chokhi Dhani, Parshwanath temple in Sanganer and Sambhar Lake.

We did not get to try the chats and sweets of Jaipur. Our plan to pay a visit to LMB (Laxmi Mishtan Bhandar) in the old city did not materialize.

Beyond Jaisalmer

Beyond Jaisalmer lies the Thar desert. Some of the lesser known places here are what this post is going to be about. Places where you will hardly find any tourists. When we went to these places, most of the times we were the only people around. I will talk about these places in the order in which we covered them over a period of two days.

Bada Bagh
Bada Bagh aka The Big Garden is midway between Jaisalmer and Lodhruva (the old capital of the Bhati Rulers). The cenotaphs of the kings of Jaisalmer have been built here on top of a small hill. A serene and calm place for the departed to lie in peace! The sight of windmills behind the cenotaphs make the place look like the blend of both past and present. The panoramic views of Bada Bagh make good pictures.

Khabha
Khabha is one of the 84 villages which was abandoned by the Paliwal Brahmins overnight in the eighteenth century. They left the villages overnight leaving behind all their wealth and property. They never returned back. Kuldhara is the most popular of these villages amongst tourists. As we wanted to go to unconventional places, Prince Vikram Singh of Nachana Haveli where we stayed suggested Khabha instead of Kuldhara.

The exact reasons for this surprising act of the Paliwal Brahmins is not known for sure. There are many stories and versions of the same stories as well. One of the popular stories as to why they deserted these villages is as follows. When Salim Singh (the vile minister in the court of the Jaisalmer king) was passing through one of these villages, he saw a beautiful Brahmin girl drawing water from a well. He wanted to marry her and went to meet her father to talk about this proposal. The father did not agree to this as Salim Singh was already married and also of a community that ate meat. Irked by this Salim Singh threatened that he would wreak havoc on the villagers if they did not get her married to him. The people were petrified as Salim Singh was responsible for all the tax collection for the kingdom and held an important position in the King’s court. The queen treated him like a brother. When the girl got to know about Salim Singh’s threats, she decided to end the problem at once. She committed suicide. When the villagers saw this, they decided to abandon these villages and leave all their wealth as they did not want anything from this land. The villages were deserted overnight and the people migrated to different parts of the country. When the kings of neighboring kingdoms heard of this incident, they appealed to the Maharawal of Jaisalmer to intervene and make the people come back. The king tried in vain but the people refused to budge from their stand. Salim Singh was taken to task by the King and lost his importance gradually. He ended up being murdered upon the orders of the king as he had become impossible to handle and threatened him.

At present one can see the ruins of the Khabha fort and the small houses around. We hiked up to the fort which is on a hillock strewn with ruins. Some of the artifacts found here have been kept inside the fort ruins. There was not a soul in sight except for us and our driver.

Here is a picture of the caravan of camels that we saw en route Khuri from here.

Khuri
A small village in Jaisalmer district. The gateway to the Sand dunes of the Thar and the Desert National Park. An alternative to the Sam Sand dunes which is very crowded and throngs with tourists and camel carts. In Khuri we had the dunes to ourselves. We were there from late afternoon till sunset. We spotted black bucks from afar and they were warily looking at us. Watching the sunset from atop the dunes was a pleasant experience.

Lodhruva
The old capital of the Bhati rulers before moving to Jaisalmer. An important Jain centre. The place where Princess Moomal and King Mahendra’s love story (a popular Rajasthani folk story) took place. A place where the Kak river used to flow. Today this place is isolated and the ruins depict a mere shadow of its glorious past.

An old Jain temple dedicated to Bhagwan Parshwanath is intact. The entrance to the temple is flanked by beautiful arches. Like most of the Jain temples in Rajasthan, this temple also has intricately carved walls. Another important feature of this temple is a 10 meter high artificial Kalpavriksha made out of wood and metal.

Amar Sagar
Amar Sagar is a water reservoir built by Maharawal Amar Singh in the seventeenth century. It has a Jain temple, summer palaces and gardens. The water had dried up when we were there. We spent some time in the temple next to the dry lake bed.

Desert National Park
The Desert National Park is one of the largest national parks in India and a place to watch some unique flora and fauna supported by the ecosystem of the Thar desert. It takes close to 2 hours to reach here from Jaisalmer. One of the few places where the extremely endangered and elegant Great Indian Bustard which is the state bird of Rajasthan can be seen. They say that this bird was considered for the National Bird of India. However it lost out to the Peacock because of its name and the possibility of it being manipulated to mean something else :| We were lucky enough to spot both male and female birds.

Other sightings included a conglomeration of various types of vultures who were hunched up together on a sand mound, Common Kestrel, Tawny Eagle, Steppe Eagle, Grey Francolin and Larks.

We were the only ones there apart from our driver and the camel cart driver who took us on the safari in the park for two hours. Prior permission is needed to visit this place. This has to be arranged from the forest department office in Jaisalmer. Our driver took care of this for us. The infrastructure in the park is not developed yet. There are no jeep safaris. Probably a good thing anyway that it remains like this. Else we humans will destroy what remains as well!!

Jaisalmer

When someone says “Rajasthan”, the first image that springs to my mind is that of the dunes of the Thar desert and the colourful people of the desert region. Right at the heart of that desert, sits the “Golden City” of Jaisalmer. Here is my take on this jewel of the desert. The city gets its name from the founder namely Raja Jaisal. It is known as the golden city due to its yellow sandstone houses and the imposing fort which acquire a golden hue when sunlight falls on them. Not to mention the lovely people of Jaisalmer, it also has many beautiful Havelis and ornate Jain temples.

We had taken the early morning train from Osian and reached around 12 in the afternoon. As our Rajasthan trip (which started with Jodhpur) progressed further, the temperatures where also climbing. It was pretty hot in Jaisalmer. We had arranged for our stay in Nachana Haveli – again based on TripAdvisor ratings.

Nachana Haveli

This eighteenth century haveli is a heritage property and belongs to the cousin of the current Maharawal of Jaisalmer. The family still occupies one portion of the property and the rest is let out as rooms for the hotel.

The rooms are divided across two beautiful courtyards. Every room is named after a family member who had stayed here in the past. The rooms were surprisingly cool considering temperatures outside. This was probably because of the usage os the yellow sandstone to build them. The rooms also had many a relic from the glorious past. We felt transported back to a bygone era of Kings and Queens when we entered the room for the first time. We were so enchanted that we even forgot to take a picture of the room. Duh!

The courtyard outside our room was home to two cute inhabitants – a star tortoise who took naps in the cool recesses here and a white eared bulbul who had built a nest amidst the vines in the net used to cover the courtyard. In the outer courtyard, a sunbird was busy building its nest :)

The Saffron rooftop Restaurant here has good views of the Jaisalmer Fort and the Badal Mahal (also Mandir Palace Hotel) where the current Maharawal of Jaisalmer stays.

The owner of the hotel, Prince Vikram Singh helped us build an itinerary for going around and arranged a cab for us while going outside the city. The landmarks within city are at walking distance from the hotel. I would recommend anyone visiting this place to take a walk in the narrow by-lanes here. More on the streets later in this post. First let me talk about the Jaisalmer fort – Sonar Kella!

Jaisalmer Fort – the Sonar Kella

The yellow sandstone fort which represents Jaisalmer is a treat to the eyes. Satyajit Ray,the note Bengali film maker and writer was so captivated by this fort which he fondly referred to as ‘Sonar Kella‘ (Golden fortress) that he wrote a book on it with the same name and later made it into a movie.

The fort was built in the twelfth century by Raja Jaiswal who shifted his capital from Lodhruva. Ala-ud-din Khilji had attacked this fort in the thirteenth century and captured it. In order to protect their honour, the Rajput women of the fort committed Jauhar. Some of the Bhati Rajputs from here migrated to Punjab and Sindh. The interesting fact here is that the ones who migrated to Sindh (which is in Pakistan today) took the name of Bhutto!

Jaisalmer was one of the important points along the caravan trade route until the sea route opened and the port of Bombay took over. There was a point of time when all inhabitants of Jaisalmer lived in the fort. Gradually they had to move out and settle around the fort as the fort was packed to the full. Today one of the major concerns about this fort is that its foundations are getting corroded due to the excessive water usage within the fort. The water usage is predominantly due to the influx of tourism. Jaisalmer and the land around it is a desert and the people who built the fort therefore had planned for a situation where water is heavily conserved and very rarely let into the ground. Then when government started pumping in water, tons of it, for tourism purposes, all the water started going into the ground. Of course the fort’s structure is not able to handle it, it was never meant to, and is therefore weakening by the day! After having read up about this, we had decided to do our bit in protecting this priceless monument by not considering any stay options housed inside the fort. Many efforts have been made to evacuate the inhabitants of the fort but this has been met with stiff opposition by them. No new construction is allowed within the fort.

Some of the main attractions of this fort are the beautiful Jain temples with their intricate carvings and the city palace.

Jain Temples

The Jain temples built from yellow sandstone inside the fort dedicated to Thirtankaras are a marvelous example of the Dilwara style of architecture. The intricate carvings and sculptures depicting humans as well as animals are beautiful. The temple complex also has a library housing rare and ancient manuscripts.

Royal Palace

The Royal Palace is where the Maharawals (Kings) used to stay previously.

Some parts of the palace have been converted to a museum today housing various artifacts belonging to the royal family. A painting shows the family tree of the Bhati Rajput rulers and they believe that they have descended from Lord Krishna. One more unusual display in the museum was an idol of a bearded Lord Rama.

From the top of the palace one can get a good view of the city and beyond.

Just before exiting the palace we saw a yellow sandstone model depicting the map of Jaisalmer fort.

Inhabitants of the Fort

The hustle and bustle of vendors inside the fort trying to sell their wares to the tourists is a common sight. Mirror-work bed sheets, blankets, dresses, puppets, musical instruments, souvenir shops. Name it you will find it. Our guide took us to an artist’s shop where paintings of Rajasthani folklore, birds and Hindu gods and goddesses were sold. With deft strokes of the brush the artist was able to bring out every single detail in the scene being depicted in the painting. We were amazed by his creativity and bought some paintings depicting Rajasthani folklore. He told us that his work was showcased on TV as part of the Jaisalmer episode of a programme aired in Fox history channel.

Havelis of Jaisalmer

The havelis of Jaisalmer belonged to the jain merchants and ministers of the King’s court. Some of the important havelis are Patwon ki Haveli, Salim Singh ki Haveli and Nathmalji ki Haveli. These havelis have intricate designs in the outer walls.

Colourful puppets are sold at a lot of places here. Here is one picture from Patwon ki Haveli.

Gadi Sagar Lake/Gadsisar Lake

This scenic lake on the outskirts of Jaisalmer is a water conservation tank built in fifteenth century. It used to be the single source of water for the entire city at one point of time. During the celebration of the Gangaur festival, devoted to Goddess Parvati, a procession is taken here. The lake is surrounded by small temples and shrines. An ideal place to while away the evening!

Badal Mahal

The residence of the current Maharawal of Jaisalmer. It was built in the early twentieth century. A part of this palace is now a heritage hotel called Mandir Palace. A small portion of the palace however is open to the public. The palace is a fine example of the Indo-Saracenic architecture combining both Rajput and Isalamic style of architecture that was brought in from the middle east due to the Caravan route passing through here. The Jawahir Vilas built by Maharawal Jawahir Singh is a splendid section of the palace. The beautiful tiles and the green curtains along with the intricately carved golden hued yellow stone of course gives a magical look to the place! Inside this section there is a museum housing exhibits from the royal family.

Tazia Tower

This five storeyed structure near the Badal Mahal is a fine example of Muslim architecture. Each floor has a balcony with beautiful designs. This was built by Muslim craftsmen from wood and gifted to the king in the nineteenth century.

Bylanes of Jaisalmer

The by lanes of Jaisalmer have their own charm. Especially within the old walled city. The streets are narrow and full of vigour. The shops in the Bhatia Bazaar are a sight by themselves. There were many gypsy women who come in to the city daily bringing unbelievably fresh, given that it is in midst of a desert, vegetables to sell.

We also witnessed another interesting tradition. On the walls of many a house there was a painting of Lord Ganesha with the date and names of the bride and groom of the last wedding in that house. What a brilliant way to celebrate the new couple :)

Gastronomic Delights of Jaisalmer

Everyone will tell you what to see in Jaisalmer. Not many however will tell you what to eat :) The Ghotua Laddoo and the Panchadhari Laddoo of Jaisalmer are fabulous. The best of these are available at Dhanraj Bhatia Sweets and in one word, heavenly :) We liked it so much as to make a second trip there to buy some for carrying home all the way back to Bangalore. While you are at it, you should also try the fresh fruit juices at R K Juice Centre. Mind you, it is a very small shop in the Bhatia Market and easy to miss. So ask for it. We were directed to it by the owner of Dhanraj Bhatia Sweets. Incidentally it so happens that the shop next to RK Juice Centre is another Bhatia – Bhatia News Agency.

Yellow Stone Factory

Our guide took us to a yellow stone factory where you get varieties of souvenirs all made from yellow stone/fossil stone. A huge portrait of Satyajit Ray was hung here. We bought a model of Jaisalmer fort as a token of memory of our trip to this lovely city. We also bought a model of the fort for our friends in Gurgaon. Both of these were to be couriered to us. However, we were disappointed by the packaging they put in place for these heavy stone artifacts. In fact the gift to our friends in Gurgaon arrived broken :(

I hope you enjoyed reading about and watching pics from Jaisalmer as much as I did writing about it. Do let me know your thoughts. Jaisalmer is of course much more than just the city and fort. There is so much to see Beyond Jaisalmer. Stay tuned for more on that front!

Osian

This post is on a quaint place called Osian near Jodhpur in Rajasthan. We planned our Rajasthan trip starting with this place since Club Mahindra had a special arrangement with Camp Thar at Osian. We had planned to spend 2 nights here. This place would be the first to give us a glimpse of sand dunes and a feel of the desert. It is at the mouth of the Thar desert. We took a cab from Jodhpur to go there and it took us around 2-2.5 hours to reach. The terrain changed notably during the journey. We saw black-bucks and peacocks roaming freely in fields. Some stretches had vegetation while some had dry thorn bushes and sand.

Osian is an ancient city and was once an integral part of the caravan route. Merchants from as far as the middle east came here to ply their trade. It was also an important religious centre as can be seen even today from the number of Jain and Brahmin temples here. Some of them have been there for centuries together and still stand strong to the winds of the time. The people who used to live here primarily belonged to the Oswal Jain community and Paliwal Brahmins. Today Osian is slightly unknown and has diminished in size. Most of the visitors are pilgrims who come to visit the Sachiya Mata temple which is an important landmark of Osian.

Legend of Osian

There are many legends about this place. One of them is that the son of the ruler of this place was grievously ill and a Jain saved his life. The ruler embraced Jainism and lot of the local people(brahmins) followed en-suite. This angered the principal goddess of this place(Sachiya Mata) who cursed that prosperity would not prevail upon the converts who stay there. Eventually a lot of these people migrated to various parts of India. Even today none of the Oswal Jain pilgrims dare to stay overnight here. They visit the temple reverently and leave the town hastily before the sun sets.

Camp Thar

Camp Thar is located on the outskirts of Osian and the picturesque tents are a delight to the eyes.

Glimpses of Thar

After having lunch,we spoke to the manager of the place and decided to go on a sand dune safari to the villages of Bhikamkor,Dabri and Khetasar which are close by. We were all excited as we would be seeing the sand dunes for the first time. We met a couple and their daughter from Mumbai who would be joining us on the safari. The manager accompanied us and off we started. We sighted a lone black-buck on top of a mound of sand looking towards the horizon with its back towards us. What a sight!

Children, Women and Men of Thar

As we entered the village, we could see colorfully clad Rajasthani Ladies walking back home after a hard day’s work in the fields.

We stopped at an oil mill and the people excitedly told us that they extract oil from a plant that grows locally.Not able to recollect the name though!

We went to a potter’s home next and a lot of children from the village gathered watching us excitedly. They started demanding for money or gifts! This is something that we experienced throughout our vacation in this state. We got to know from the resort manager that a lot of foreign tourists started giving the children money or other nick-knacks. The kids have got used to this so much so that they supposedly run out from their classrooms in school when they hear the sound of a vehicle. We refused to give them money and our friends decided to buy them some biscuits from a small shop nearby.

The terrain is harsh in these villages and the womenfolk lead very hard lives. Most of the girls start work at a very young age and are mostly illiterate since their parents do not want to send them to school.

We next stopped at a dhurry maker’s home. The dhurries/carpets are made from Camel Hair and supposedly last for a long time. Here too we could see small children at work. We made the children who followed us here to sing a song taught in their school. And they felt very shy to sing but managed. An old woman told us proudly that the piece of land belonged to her and asked us to sit there.

Creatures of Thar

We then resumed our journey and bid farewell to the village. We stopped the jeep upon sighting a pair of peacock and peahen. While we were busy looking at them, a small creature came out of its burrow popping its head out. This was the desert mouse/gerbil. We were excited to have spotted it since this region had lot of burrows on ground but we had not seen the mouse till then.

The next sighting was of a pair of Ravens ravishing what seemed to be a dead dove.

Golden dunes of Sand

The dunes came into view suddenly. Till then we had been driving on a mud road and the terrain changed so soon! Unlike the Sahara desert which is continuous,the thar desert does not have sand dunes throughout. We spent a considerable amount of time walking over the dunes and waited for the sunset. We spotted a desert beetle(dung beetle?) crawling over the dune leaving behind tiny footprints!

After watching a memorable sunset we went back to the resort.

Sounds of the Desert

A couple of musicians who have been hired by the resort entertained us with their amazing and lively Rajasthani songs! Some of the memorable songs being Nimbuda and Dumadum mast kalandar. Here is a video we took of them performing.

It was dinner time. The cooks here managed to give us a feel of the local cuisine after we gave them feedback and we were really thankful for this. Chatted with our new friends before retiring for the night. In the ethereal moonlight I felt that the whole place looked like a setting from Arabian Nights!

Kheechan – Demoiselle Crane Paradise

Nagesh woke up early to see if he could get sunrise pictures. We had heard the manager say that Kheechan was around 60 kms from Osian. I had initially added Kheechan in our travel plan. But I had removed it later as it was 100+ kms from Jodhpur and we would not have had time. The possibility of going from Osian had not struck my mind! Since Osian is midway between Jodhpur and Kheechan, the distance got reduced by half :) We decided to ask for a cab and visit Phalodi as well.

After breakfast we spoke to the manager and he felt that the trip was doable and arranged for a cab. Off we went all set to meet the thousands of Demoiselle Cranes who migrate and descend upon this village in winter. The villagers feed them and protect them. They are called Khurcha in the local dialect.

We reached Kheechan around 11 AM and were suddenly gazing at hundreds of these cranes as we turned away from the main road near a tank bund. What a sight it was. We were very lucky to have come here on that day as the migration period was almost over and some flocks of birds had already left. Despite this the numbers left behind were staggering. Not sure how the place would be when all of them are present :) The cranes paraded happily and preened themselves unmindful of our presence. We had the place to ourselves. A lone Sandpiper was the odd man out amongst so many cranes.

Suddenly the Cranes decided to show us their aerial skills and started flying above us. What an experience it proved to be! Imagine lots of Cranes flying right above you not too high!

Phalodi – Forgotten yet Beautiful

We spent some time there watching the Cranes and then started towards Phalodi. We had read up about the Parsnath Jain temple built by the Oswal Jains in the 1800s. This is a beautiful and colorful temple.The inside walls are adorned with colored Belgian glass and have paintings and frescoes.

After spending some time in the temple, we started on our way back to Osian. We saw few old and beautiful havelis in Phalodi. The people of this state are so artistic and love colors.

We were back at the resort by two in the afternoon. Post lunch and the noon siesta,we had planned to visit the Sachiya Mata and other temples of Osian. Our friends would also be accompanying us. We sought the services of Bablu Guide at Sachiya Mata temple and he agreed to take us around to some Jain temples as well.

Sachiya Mata – Resident Goddess of Osian

Sachiya Mata temple has stood witness to the testaments of time. The seven arches leading to the temple are a marvelous sight.We could not capture the archway in its full glory since some renovation work was in progress there. As we were climbing the steps one of the pilgrims offered us prasad which turned out to be Lapsi(a sweet dish which was in my list of things to be tried on this trip).

After offering our prayers to Sachiya Mata we went around the temple. Our guide explained about the history of Osian and the significance of Sachiya Mata and so on. This temple also has erotic sculptures due to which Osian is supposedly called the Khajuraho of Rajasthan.

We went to a Jain temple next which had beautiful architecture.

We reached the resort around 7 and spent some time listening to the music being played by the musicians. After dinner we sat and chatted with our friends. It was nearly 10 when we bid them goodbye and retired for the night. We had to catch an early morning train to Jaisalmer the next morning.

Maps

Jodhpur to Osian

View Larger Map

Osian to Phalodi – http://g.co/maps/f9u66

Phalodi to Kheechan – http://g.co/maps/g4534

Unfortunately Google maps calls this place Kinchan!

Rajasthan Trip Planning

For those of you who may be interested, we have “open sourced” the plan we put together for our Rajasthan trip. It is in the form of a spreadsheet on Google Docs. Covers the desert circuit mainly. Jodhpur, Osian, Jaisalmer and Jaipur.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aloy8PjEIdH1dG5zbjA0TFktQVRzUWZyMkZkNXlHNEE&hl=en_US

Our implementation of this is coming through as blog posts on this blog. You can read them on the following pages:

1. Jodhpur
2. Osian
3. Jaisalmer
4. Beyond Jaisalmer
5. Jaipur
6. Amer
7. Agra – Yeah, yeah, it’s not exactly Rajasthan, but then it’s in the plan and so, there it will be :)

Have queries on the plan or any of the places we visited/stayed at etc? Leave a comment here and will do our best to respond :)

Jodhpur

This post is on Jodhpur/Blue City known for its blue houses,Bandhani prints,Jodhpurs and Polo to name a few. We had been to Rajasthan on a 2 week vacation in March 2011. Our first stop was at Jodhpur, the capital of the Marwar (Land of death) Kingdom. We had taken the overnight train from Gurgaon.

The first sight that I remember as we went to the hotel was the mesmerizing view of the Mehrangarh Fort which looms over the old city. We had booked a room in Hotel Haveli Inn Pal for 3 nights. This is part of the haveli that belonged to one of the aristocrats.

The rooftop restaurant of this hotel has an amazing view of the fort. After a sumptuous breakfast we were lucky to get the Fort View Room as someone who had been there for quite some time had just vacated when we came. The room lived up to its name. It was nice to relax in the room taking in the view of the fort!

After lunch we took the Bishnoi Village Safari. Our first stop was at a potter’s home where he was busy at work. We bought some of his wares.

We next stopped at a Bishnoi home where we were offered drops of opium tea! Though we were skeptical about tasting it we went ahead as we did not want to offend them. The people of Bishnoi Community apparently spend most of their earnings on opium. The owner explained that opium tea is a must at every wedding and they spend a substantial amount on it. Opium apart the Bishnoi people worship nature and protect all animals and birds around. They spoke to us about Salman Khan’s black-buck incident.

Our last stop on the safari was at a carpet weaver’s home. He and his wife were making a Jodhpur Blue colored carpet with a beautiful design. I couldn’t take my eyes off it! We ended up ordering the same type of carpet :)

All along we saw the collared doves by the dozen. They are all over the place. The sight of peacocks roaming around freely in the fields was nice. I was reminded of ‘Morni Baaga mein bole’ song from the Bollywood movie Lamhe. We also spotted a lone Nilgai in one of the fields. Also managed to get a glimpse of the Rosy Starling which we had not seen before.

The sight of the setting sun behind the fields and happy women walking back home after a hard day at work waving bye to us saw us back on the road to Jodhpur.

After having a candlelight dinner consisting of delicious Ker Sangri(a desert vegetable curry) in the rooftop restaurant watching the lit fort we retired for the night.

Day 2
We woke up early the next day with the excitement of going to Mehrangarh fort. We managed to reach the fort after a memorable autorickshaw ride through the narrow lanes of the old city. After having spent some time admiring the beautiful ramparts of the fort and the paintings which adorn the gateway we went inside to buy tickets and the audio guides. I would recommend anyone going there to take the audio guide as it is very good and helps one to know everything about the history of Mehrangarh.

The word Mehrangarh stands for ‘Fort of the Sun’. Described by Rudyard Kipling as the work of angels and giants! The fort was built in 15th century when Rao Jodha, the then king of Marwar shifted his capital from Mandore to the current site of Jodhpur. The fort was unconquerable. The beautiful facades of the fort and the glimpse of the blue city/Brahmapuri were beautiful. Brahmapuri was inhabited by the Paliwal Brahmins who painted their houses blue to ward off the incessant heat.

Almost every part of the fort has its own story to tell. One of the little known facts is about the foundation of this fort. When the site of the fort was chosen, a hermit who had been meditating there was forced to leave and he cursed that the land would always have shortage of water. To protect the fort, a human sacrifice would be needed and Shree Rajaram Medhwal came of his free accord to sacrifice his life for this fort. He was buried alive in the foundation. Imagining how it would have been sends a shiver down the spine.Today a small plaque on the walls of the fort commemorates the incident. The fort has seven gates of which the famous ones are Jai Pol, Fateh Pol, Dedh Kamgra Pol (still has cannon ball marks on it) and the Loha Pol (has the handprints of the Ranis who committed Sati in the nineteenth century).

Our next stop was at the coronation courtyard which houses the throne and is surrounded by windows in the floors above with intricate lattice work. Apparently the womenfolk of the royal household would sit here behind the curtains and watch the proceedings in the courtyard below. One of the rooms in the courtyard houses the palanquins of different types used by the Marwar Rulers and their families. Another room houses treasures like paintings, weapons, turbans, folk music instruments and other items from the Royal collection. An old man seated in a small chamber in the courtyard was demonstrating the opium smoking apparatus.

This was followed by some of the most beautiful parts of the fort namely the period rooms which are mind boggling! First one being the Sheesh Mahal (Hall of Mirrors) which is a room whose walls are adorned with pieces of glass on which there are paintings. It was a sight to behold.

Next in line was Phool Mahal(Palace of flowers) which is so colorful that it is difficult to take your eyes off it. This is one of the grandest rooms and was used as a place for pleasure. A place where the dancing girls performed.

The third room is the Takhat Vilas which was the room of King Takhat Singh who was the last ruler to have stayed in Mehrangarh. This room has a blend of both traditional and British style depicted by the Christmas glass balls which are hung from wooden rafters.The walls are adorned with colorful paintings.

Another important collection of the museum is the cradle gallery which is filled with cradles of various designs used for infants of the royal family.

The fourth and last period room is the Moti Mahal(Pearl Palace). A place where darbars were held. There are 5 hidden balconies in this room where the Queens could sit and listen to the proceedings. The walls of this room have a pearly sheen. Supreme quality lime plaster with crushed shells was used to create this effect.

We then proceeded to the Zenana Deodi or the Women’s Courtyard. This is where the womenfolk of the royal family spent most of their time and were guarded by eunuchs. The carvings in the windows adorning this courtyard are splendid.

After browsing the Museum curio shop we decided to have lunch and headed to the Mehran Cafe inside the fort. Lunch was followed by a walk along the ramparts where the cannons are housed soaking in vistas of the blue city below.

Next came the Chamunda Devi temple. This is the temple dedicated to Chamunda Devi who was the favorite Goddess of Rao Jodha,the founder of Jodhpur. The idol was brought from the old capital Mandore and installed here. As per local mythology the goddess protected the fort from a Pakistani bomb attack by appearing as a huge Kite during the Indo Pak war.

Now it was time to head towards Chokelao Bagh where Flying Fox conducts zipline tours. We were contemplating whether to try zipping or not since both of us had never been into adventure before. Though we had planned long back that we would try it in this trip, there was some hesitation before getting in. Finally we decided to give it a try :) And it was definitely worthy!

The zipline here consists of six zips around the fort. We were a group of five and there were two instructors accompanying us. After some initial practice next to their office, we embarked on what would be one of the most thrilling moments of our lives. I took a deep breath and started the first zip and just enjoyed it. Nagesh tried to back out as he was the last one in the group and the rest of us had reached the other end. But the instructor managed to make him do it and he lost his fear :)

The sights we got to see when zipping were amazing and it was a wonderful feeling. One of the zips is over the Maharani lake which looked so pristine. The pic below is of yours truly zipping over the Maharani Lake :)

The view of the fort before taking the last zip was picture perfect.

It was finally time to leave.We got into an autorickshaw and stopped en route at Jaswant Thada where the cenotaphs of the Kings are housed. It was already closed by then but the driver took us to a spot from where one can get nice pictures of the reflections of this place in a nearby lake.

Now it was time to savor some local delicacies about which we had researched quite a bit :) We went for a walk towards Nai Sarak which was at a stone’s throw from the hotel. The first pit stop was at Shahi Samosas where we had heavenly Mirchi Wadas and Samosas. After the spicy food, it was time for some sweets and we headed to Mishrilals near the clock tower where we tried the famous Makhaniya Lassi and Mawa Kachori (sweet). This small place lived up to its reputation.

We went back to the hotel and had a light dinner consisting of some amazing Kadi Pakora prepared by the cook.

Day 3
We started our next day pretty early to get a glimpse of sunrise near the fort. After breakfast we had planned to cover other places in the city like Umaid Bhavan palace, Jaswant Thada and then head towards Mandore.

Umaid Bhavan is on the outskirts of Jodhpur. This palace was completed in the 1940s and the current Maharaja stays here. Once this palace was built the royal family abandoned Mehrangarh which fell into a state of disrepair for quite a while. In the 1970s Maharaja Gaj Singh returned from Oxford and made considerable efforts to restore the fort back to its glorious past. Since then there has been no turning back and the fort generates quite a bit of revenue I am sure. Getting back to the main thread, Umaid Bhavan is divided into 3 sections. The private residence of the royal family, a 5 star hotel and a museum (public section). The palace is beautiful and surrounded by lush green lawns and garden. We went into the Museum which houses items from the royal collection. Most notable were the old clocks which came as gifts to the Kings from various countries.

We bought some souvenirs from the museum shop and proceeded towards Jaswant Thada named after the King Jaswant Singh whose wife got the main white marble cenotaph constructed when he died.This place is so serene and was devoid of tourists when we went. An apt place for the cenotaphs.

We went to Mandore next which was the capital of the Parihar rulers before Jodhpur. It is 7 kms from Jodhpur. It houses the remains of Mandore fort, gardens with ruined temples and cenotaphs. There is a small museum showcasing paintings and various stone sculptures. In addition to these there is a hall of heroes to commemorate the popular heroes from the regional folk tales.

It was time for lunch and our driver had been suggesting us to go to Jodhpur’s best restaurant ‘On The Rocks’ which according to him should not be missed by anyone visiting the city. Ambiance was good at the restaurant. The food was pretty normal (the only highlight being a moong gravy dish which was very tasty). Lunch was followed by some shopping for bandhani dress materials and sarees.

It was time for us to start packing up. We were taking a cab the next day to Osian the next morning which is around 65-70 kms from Jodhpur. Before winding up dinner we walked to Nai Sarak again and tried some “gulab jamun ki sabzi” which was pretty good. The fried gulab jamuns are put into a gravy instead of sugar syrup.