And we celebrated the Earth Hour!

The drive to Bareilly was extremely bumpy, and the road replete with pot holes. But Bareilly struck us as a city of wonders, and entertained us beyond explanation!

The fun began when we had to cross a railway-cum-rail bridge, built on river Ganga. The deal about this narrow, single lane bridge was that it had a tarred road with a railway track. So when the bridge was closed for the train to pass, the vehicles would wait on both sides, and then one-by-one the traffic on each side would be let on the same bridge. After one side cleared, the other vehicles from the other side would be allowed. Hilarious!

Passport woes: I was the first to submit my passport application and the last to receive my passport. Apparently, it's more convenient to work in the reverse order, since you don't have to adjust the pile of files. Ridiculous! First come, first serve is boring. Anyway, the early bird doesn't catch the worm these days.

Only if I was a little smarter, I would have figured out that it takes only 4 to 5k to procure a passport the same day, without any documents or verification. I spent much more than that in order to obtain a verification certificate from an Inspector General of Police based in Allahabad and the necessary affidavits and documents. Pooh! 4 to 5k for a passport, that's why the bomb blasts and hijacks happen in our country.

I was told that I wasn't required to bribe since my documents were in place and complete, and at the same time I was asked if I still wanted to bribe. Excuse me?

A little bit of flash back, my bro and I submitted our passport application on the same day but he received a police inquiry while I didn't. Apparently, all pending files in the passport office had been kept on hold and only 'Haj' passports were being issued. I guess it was assumed that if someone wants her passport desperately, let her leave her job and other errands, run to Bareilly for few days and prove that herself worthy of the honor of receiving her passport on time. So much for changing my surname!

To beat it all, the passport authorities wouldn't have felt the need to verify my existence for the next few years, until I renewed my passport, if I didn't want to change my surname after marriage. But because I chose to, and they were burdened with this extra work, they decided to make the process utmost tedious for me.

With a few hours in hand, we tried to look for a mall or multiplex, the city had none. An advertisement about a local cinema hall, which was running 'Kites', in the local newspaper Dainik Jagran read, "Cooling will be provided subject to electricity". This freaked us out and we dropped the movie idea. So we tried to locate a Barista or a CCD, and were misguided to a Dominos. Indeed we felt privileged to enter an air-conditioned enclosure after riding on a manual rickshaw in the heat and humidity of the peculiarly amusing city.

Raghav was quick to observe and comment on the electricity scenario in the state, and relate it to the Earth Hour. He rightly pointed out that switching off the electricity for an hour could be a huge sacrifice for the Europeans and Americans because it is a basic necessity for them. However, for a majority of Indians, who don't get electricity for 8 to 9 hours, or even more, in a day, does the observance of the Earth Hour hold any significance at all?

1: Pushkar - the Teerthraj

A pilgrimage for pious hindu devotees, Pushkar has turned into a haven for firangs who flock the place. And hence its not surprising to find 'brushchetta' figure out as the delicacy of local cafes, akin to 'dabhas', and 'Today's Special' is an exotic variety of 'falafel' or 'fajita'!

We began our journey to Pushkar at 8 in the morning, hopping onto a state bus from Ajmer, through 'Nag Ghat' or Snake Mountain, known such due to the meandering shape of the roads crisscrossing it. During the 14 kms journey, the bus rode past Ana Sagar, the famous lake created by damming river Luni by Anaji Chauhan (the grand-father of Prithvi Raj Chauhan) in 1135 to 1150 AD, and dropped us at a walking distance from the ghats in less than half an hour.

We walked through the bustling streets, filled with cafes, garment shops and foreign tourists. The cafes, an evolved version or a second generation of 'dabhas', had taken to catchy western first names such as Hard Rock, Pink Floyd, etc, with a common, inevitable suffix 'Roof Top Restaurant', to signify that the cafe was on first floor. The garment shops buzzed with the constant sound of sewing machines as the tailor, in some cases also the owner, frantically pedalled the wheels of the machine to stitch together colorful rags into an attractive halter or a bag ('jhola').

In the meantime, we were waded to a small ghat by a localite who seemed suspiciously helpful to Raghav. He seemed to be practicing a formal introduction to Pushkar, information we were aware of, courtesy Lonely Planet, the Bible. We thanked him for his help by tipping him with a tenner but that wasn't to be sufficient. We soon found ourselves buying some puja material and sitting on the bank of the ghat for supposedly having engaged the boy for 5 minutes when I thought the boy had engaged us to practise his narration on Pushkar. On the hindsight, I can't but compare this 'tourist phishing' to an efficient assembly line process!

We were aghast when pandit demanded a dakshina of 250 bucks at the start of the puja, so we avenged him by aghasting him with our intention of paying 11 bucks. Result, the pandit deserted us on the ghat and we had no clue what to do with the coconut, kumkum, incense and flowers on our plate. It was then that our friendly boy reappeared with his suspicious big smile, and taking the plate back from us, resold it to someone else. Relieved, we took to photography instead of puja!

Pushkar was not on our agenda initially, and when on the agenda, it was never a priority. However, there was an unspoken silence and a divine feeling of serenity about the place. We found ourselves gazing around at nothing, and not talking much to each-other, a very rare phenomenon. Hesitantly, I moved about some adjacent ghats, out of the total 52 ghats, while Raghav continued to gaze around like a dreamy school boy who didn't care about anything but that moment.

The Brahma temple, one of the five in India, was our next destination. So we set-out, passing again through the local market, so very targeted at the firangs, and interesting noticed the considerably huge company shops set-up by Biotique and Himalaya, amongst the other local naturopathy clinics which proclaimed to sell authentic herbal medicines, cosmetics and scents besides services such as herbal massages. The temple was the first Brahma temple we had been to, and no less in importance than any other in the world, and probably that's why they didn't allow us to click inside.

It was already 11 by then, and I desired to head back to Ajmer, but Raghav's unswerving faith in our Bible saw us undertaking a trek to the temple of Savitri Devi - a 750 feet climb, after an estimated 600 steps that don't really exist, recommended by the Lonely Planet to get a breathtaking panoramic view of the town. The folk lore goes that a darshan to Pushkar is incomplete without a visit to Brahmaji and Savitri Devi, so besides the light footed firangs, we were inspired by the undaunted spirit of the pious fogies despite the afternoon sun. It took us around 40 minutes to reach the hill-top, the side of which was neatly decorated with cane chairs facing the aerial view of the town and would have made for an ideal drinking place in the evening. Having made it to the temple minutes before it was to shut for the day, we offered our prayers to the goddess and thus completed our Pushkar darshan too before heading back to Ajmer.

The one and only thing that we missed at Pushkar was being a part of Pushkar's nightlife, smoking sheesha till dawn at a part Iranian and a part Western Cafe, overlooking the morning aarti on the ghats lit with floating 'diyas'. The best of both worlds, I say!

About Pushkar's importance, and why it is renowned as Teerthraj: (also Raghav's first contribution to this blog =))

In the pantheon of Hindu deities, the Trinity has a great significance. According to the Hindu belief, of the three Gods of this Trinity, Lord Brahma is the creator, Vishnu and Shiva are the preserver and the destroyer of the universe respectively. One day Brahma realized that not only Shiva and Vishnu but also all the other major deities had earthly abodes while he did not. Mounted on the majestic wings of his heavenly mount – the white swan, Brahma flew over the earth holding the divine lotus in one hand.

It is said that while Lord Brahma was passing this spot he dropped a lotus flower. Petals fell in three spots, thus forming the three lakes. The three places are located within a radius of six miles. Senior Pushkar, where the hotels are located, is considered the most holy, because the lotus fell here first. Middle Pushkar is 3km down the road and has a small Hanuman temple and a 200-year-old banyan tree. New (Junior) Pushkar, 3km further north, has a small Krishna temple. As Brahma threw the pushpa (flower) with his kar (hand), so the place received the name Pushkar.

Brahma chose Pushkar as his abode, and it came to be renowned as 'Teerthraj' meaning the king of all the sacred places. Thus Brahma decided to perform the yajna at Pushkar. The yajna, however, could not be performed without his wife, Savitri, by his side, and she was late. Brahma therefore had to request Indra to arrange a marriage for him so that he could fulfill the religious obligations. The priest manifested a daughter called Gayatri. Because she was an untouchable, she was put into the mouth of a cow and removed from the other end, which totally purified her. Gaya means “cow” and tri means “passed through.” When Savitri arrived, she saw that Brahma had married without her permission, so she cursed him that he would be worshiped only at Pushkar.

Enraged, Savitri went and established a temple on top of Rathkagir, the hill a little south of Pushkar. It is said to be due to Savitri’s curse that Brahma is worshiped almost exclusively at Pushkar.

(@Raghav, thank you honey!)

- Namrta R (from my backpacking trip to Rajasthan)

Companions: Raghav and Lonely Planet

Also read about Ajmer, Ranthambore, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Mount Abu, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Thar
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2: Ajmer Sharif - the Holy

Ajmer is synonymous to Dargah Sharif, the tomb of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty, where people from all caste and creed come together to offer homage to the saint. The rules of the dargah are stringent, with a long a list of "Don'ts" that you have to abide by to enter into the dargah. Some of them that particularly applied to us were no shorts and skirts, no glares, hand-bags and camera, and no uncovered heads! So Raghav headed to the dargah's cloak room to deposit all that we had and deciding to do the Romans when in Rome, bought a white 'namaz' cap for himself, which made him look like a true messenger of secularism, while I frisked in my bag for my dandy bandana!

We jostled through the crowd, comprising an equal number of Hindus as Muslims and offered our 'chadar' to the pir, just in time for the dargah to close for cleaning from 3 to 4 pm. In the meantime, the 'Qawwali' singers started their melodious prayers to Allah in the dargah's courtyard; these prayers set the tone for a 'mehfil' at the Lord's darbar. We burnt incense and asked for the fulfillment of our wishes or 'mannats' while tying a thread for each mannat (supposed to be untied when the prayer is answered). I insisted on taking a few pictures, through my useless blackberry cam, and when met with hostile glares, understood that it was the time to leave!

The glory of the dargah can be traced back to the Moguls. Akbar, with his queen, used to come here by foot on pilgrimage from Agra every year in observance of a vow he had made when praying for a son. The large pillars called kose (mile) Minar , erected at intervals of two miles (3 km) the whole way between Agra and Ajmer, marking the daily halting places of the royal pilgrim, are still extant. A mosque, the Akbari Mosque, and the domed tomb of the saint had been donated by Shah Jahan, while a massive gate by the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Quite a contrast from the liberal Pushkar, where firangs flock in spaghettis to savor spaghettis, the dargah attracts only sincere, eager to get the blessings of the pir and fulfill their long standing wishes. The surroundings of the dargah have a very Islamic feel, with 'halal' meat, ‘sohan halwa’ sweet and 'chadar' shops, and make for a very interesting experience.

Savoring this visual delight, we waved to a manual rickshaw guy, who dropped us at Adhai-din-ka-jhopra, the relic of a mosque, for ten bucks. Once a popular mosque in the Moghul period and as the name suggests this was completed within two and a half days, as the name suggests, under the supervision of Mohammad Ghori. A fine example of early Indo-Islamic architecture, it was designed by Abu Bakr in 1198, by defiling an ancient center of Sanskrit learning. Raghav drew my attention to the traces of the Hindu motifs and architectural patterns, particularly the characteristic Hindu arches, lotus-shaped leaves on the ceiling and defaced human figures on the pillars.

Akbar's Palace was a thorough disappointment for us. It started with the rick guy duping us, something I don't want to elaborate upon because they do it to tourists everywhere. Once the residence of Prince Salim (later Jahangir), it presently houses a pitiful collection of the Mughal and Rajput armor and sculpture, and without any labels. However it is considered significant because Jahangir read out the firman for trade to India to the British East India Company from here, thus starting the chain of events that lead to India's colonization by the British.

The Soni Ji Ki Nasiyan, an architecturally rich Digambara Jain temple, was worth stopping by for 15 minutes. It was built more recently in 1864-1895 by Seth Bhag Chand ji Soni, the Nagar Seth of Ajmer. The main chamber, known as the Swarna Nagari (City of Gold), has gold-plated wooden figures, depicting the Jain lineage and mythology, not very comprehensible for a non-Jain but none-the-less very fascinating to look at!

We don't recommend visiting the Taragarh Fort, built by Ajaypal Chauhan, which now lies in ruins, because all that is left of the fort is the remnants of its boundary. Claimed to be the first hill fort of Asia, it was dismantled by Lord William Bentinck and converted into a sanatorium for the troops stationed at the British cantonment town of Nasirabad.

Though we had almost 2 hours in hand, we decided to skip boating at Ana Sagar, the historic man-made lake (mentioned in my post on Pushkar) and headed back to Ajmer railway station to catch our next train for Sawai Madhopur.

Adieu Ajmer!

- Namrta R (from my backpacking trip to Rajasthan)

Companions: Raghav and Lonely Planet

Also read about Pushkar, Ranthambore, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Mount Abu, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Thar
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3: Ranthambore - the Tiger trail

The tiger trail began with a budget hotel, only bed and no breakfast, with a loo as huge as the room and as clean, one of the few things Raghav and I agreed to be finicky about on this backpacking trip!

We woke-up just before noon to realize that we were too late to trek to the ruins of the then majestic Ranthambore fort (we more than made-up for it on our subsequent days), so we headed straight to the ticket counter of the Ranthambore National Park to collect our tickets for the much-awaited safari.

Convinced as I was that the chances of spotting a tiger were not slim but nil, I found myself sulking, though it didn't balk down Raghav’s spirits who avidly hoped to see the next of kin of the jungle king, aka the tiger!

We grabbed a quick home-made lunch near the ticket counter, where I could request for custom dishes, with more of veggies and less of oil, and filled our water bottles with water from ‘matkas’ (or earthen pots), and set out towards our canter. Locating the vehicle, we jumped aboard waiting for our other counterparts. Soon the canter was filled with a large group of enthusiastic firangs, and our guide welcomed us aboard while the driver revved-up the engine!

The short drive, across Vindhayas, perpendicular to Aravallis, from the ticket counter, also our pick-up point, to the national park was quite spectacular - particularly at the junction where both the mountain ranges (Vindhayas and Aravallis) seemed to form an interesting 'V'. Ah, I have an insatiable appepite for mountains! However, soon we bade goodbye to the Aravalli range and we entered the park.

The flora and fauna that co-exist in the jungle are overwhelming. We saw atleast 10 rare varieties of immigrant birds, along with commonly sighted Indian birds including a brooding partridge. I enjoy bird watching as a hobby, though I can't really stand up to the reputation of an amateur bird watcher! (Some trivia about myself :P). We saw alligators, hippos, rhinos and deer; grazing and idling in their natural habitat.

And then, we saw something very unusual. We noticed the spotted deer (known for its sharp eye-sight) with their tails up, a signal that the tiger was out and very much around. A few older deer formed a one-sided perimeter on the left-side of the younger and the weaker deer, grazing away to glory, thus keeping a vigilant watch. We also began to look in the direction of their guard, and lo and behold, we saw the tigress, identified as T-17 (3 years old, female, also known as 'bacchi' amongst the park personnel) drinking water at a pond at a considerable distance.

It was beautiful! Raghav described it as 'majestic'!

There was an absolute hush in the canter, and all we could hear was the click of the cameras. A German couple, with a kickass DSLR got some very neat shots of the tigress, and even made a ‘tiger video’ :)

Admiring the beauty, we waited in an ambush with crossed fingers, and hoped for the tigress to walk our way. Slowly the tigress did start walking towards us, and wonder of wonders, it walked right past our canter, across us for a while (enjoying the attention I guess), and was so close that I could feed it with my hand. Then it crossed our canter’s path and got on the other side of the jungle. High and dry, we followed it for a while, and hoped that it would make a chase on a deer, which was too much to hope for. And well, the greed didn’t pay, so we finally thanked the tigress for its kind guest appearance and made our way out of the park.

It was Raghav's first ever safari, and I am glad it materialized in fulfilling the very purpose of a safari. Noteworthy is the fact that it was also the first time that I actually saw a tiger on a safari! Initially a bit disappointed, because we couldn’t manage a booking for a gypsy, but only for a canter, Raghav's joy knew no bounds. Though I still believe that a safari in a canter is an experience in itself; Ranthambore National Park is an icing on the cake; and if you get to see a tiger, its a thrill!

- Namrta R (from my backpacking trip to Rajasthan)

Companions: Raghav and Lonely Planet

Also read about Pushkar, Ajmer, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Mount Abu, Jodhpur, Jaisalmerand Thar
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4: Chittorgarh - the Mighty

A tall, proud fortress, built over an area 700 acres, with a perimeter of roughly 14 kms, instantly made me personify it as 'Ivan-the Mighty'! Plainly known as Chittor, it is the largest fort in India, and exudes charisma. A distant glimpse at the fort made us glad about the last minute inclusion of Chittorgarh in our itinerary.

As we climbed up to the mighty fort, past all the seven gates, Padan Pol, Bhairon Pol, Hanuman Pol, Ganesh Pol, Jodla Pol, Laxman Pol and the main entry gate of Ram Pol, I could imagine the royal Rajputs marching-up alongside, with their adorned horses and elephants. The climb to the fort was steep, and just before Ram Pol, the passage became narrower and the road bent, at a sharp right angle, to ensure that the enemy couldn't attack easily in huge numbers. The doors of the gates, with pointed arches, are reinforced to fend off elephants and cannon shots, and the top of these gates have notched parapets for archers to shoot at the enemy army. We also noticed the occurrence of number seven, signifying that the residents belonged to 'Suryavanshi' (worshipers of the Sun god) clan. A circular road within the fort linked all the gates and provides access to a plethora of monuments (130 temples and numerous palaces built by multiple rulers) in the fort.

We soon got down to tracing the lineage of the fort on Raghav's i-phone and here's what we discovered. The fort was constructed by the Mauryans during the 7th century and hence derives its name after the Mauryan ruler, Chitrangada Mori, as per the inscriptions on coins of the period. It was ruled initially by Guhilot and later by Sisodias, the Suryavanshi clans of Chattari Rajputs, from 7th century, till it was finally abandoned in 1568 after the siege by Akbar in 1567. In 734, Bappa Rawal, founder ruler in the hierarchy of the Sisodia rulers of Mewar, is said to have been gifted with the fort as part of Solanki princess’s dowry in the 8th century. Historical records show Chittorgarh fort as the capital of Mewar for 834 years!

The fort was sacked three times between 15th century and 16th century; in 1433 Allauddin Khilji defeated Rana Ratan Singh, in 1535 Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat, defeated Bikramjeet Singh, and in 1567 Akbar defeated Udai Singh II, who left the fort and founded Udaipur. Following the first two defeats, 'Jauhar' were committed thrice by more than 16,000 women of the Rajput heroes who laid their lives in battles at Chittorgarh Fort, first lead by Rani Padmini wife of Rana Ratan Singh who was killed in the battle in 1433, and later by Rani Karnavati in 1537. A few minutes in the fort, and it seemed as if we had flipped through hundreds of pages of history!

We stopped by at many temples, including Mirabai's, where she prayed to her beloved deity, Lord Krishna, and was even attempted to be poisoned by her brother-in-law, Vikramaditya, who strongly objected to Meera's fame, her mixing with commoners and carelessness of feminine modesty. The other temples included Kalika Mata temple, Shiv temple, Ganesh temple, Ram temple, and so on. It broke our hearts to see how the way these temples have defiled these temples and defaced deities by Allaudin Khiliji, not so much due to religious reasons, but because of their sheer historical and cultural significance. Fortunately, the beautiful carvings in these temples speak out loud for the artisans and craftsmen of that era!

Let me elaborate on Khiliji's wrath. The legend says that Padmini's mahal (or palace) is where Khilji saw a glimpse of Rana Ratan Singh's beautiful wife Padmini, known for her captivating looks. While the queen was standing at the edge of her 'Jal Mahal' or the Water palace (which is surrounded by water on all sides; also queen's summer palace), her reflection in the water was reflected back in a mirror mounted in a room where Rana Ratan Singh was entertaining Khilji. The queen's beauty caught Khilji’s fancy; mesmerized, he attacked Mewar, hoping to win over Padmini. Rana Ratan Singh was killed in the battle, while Padmini set herself ablaze in the largest Jauhar of India, along with thousands of other queens and soldiers' wives, to save themselves from dishonor at the hands of Muslim invaders. When Khilji captured the fort, he just found Padmini's ashes, and enraged he ordered the destruction of all the temples. (Well, Padmini or no Padmini, I don't think Khiliji, his predecessors or his successors had spared any temple in any territory conquered by them!) Jauhar ground, at Chittorgarh fort, is a testimony to this. The Sati ground, not distant from Jauhar ground, also speaks of the horrific ancient Rajput customs, though the Rajputs yet refer to them proudly as an esteemed sacrifice.

By then the afternoon sun shone loud and bright, and was bent on dulling our spirits. Undaunted, we headed to the Vijay Stambh (also the Victory Tower) or Jay Stambh built by Rana Khumba between 1458 and 1468 to commemorate his victory over Mahmud Shah I Khalji, the Sultan of Malwa, in 1440. We climbed the 167 steps of the defiled monument tower to reach its top and by then, exhausted our camera batteries along with ourselves.

After goofing around at the Vijay Stambh for quite a while, we headed to pay our tribute to 'Gaumukh', where water from an unknown source flows out through a cow's mouth carved on a cliff, and falls directly on a Shivling carved beneath it. This was also the prime water source during the various sieges.

Then we set to visit the ruins of numerous palaces including Rana Kumbha's palace, Fateh Singh's palace, Padmavati's palace, Ratan Singh's palace, etc. We also saw the room where Panna Dai scarified her own son to save the life of infant Udai Singh, who later founded Udaipur. The story goes back to 1527 when Rana Sangram Singh died in the Battle of Khanua against Babur. Rana's brother Banbir was regent and wished to usurp the throne by killing the only son of Sangram Singh, thus wiping out his brother's lineage. Panna Dai clad her own baby in Udai Singh's clothes and placed him in the royal cradle while the gardener could escape with Udai Singh to Kumbalgarh through a hidden tunnel. After Udai Singh attained youth he Banbir and ascended on the throne of Chittor.

Kirti Stambha (or the Fame Tower), our last treat for the day, was a 22 m high tower adorned with Jain sculptures on the outside. Built by a Bagherwal Jain merchant Jijaji Rathod in the 12th century, it is dedicated to Adinath, the first Jain tirthankar. Jain religion has two orders, namely the Svetambara and Digambara; Digambara monks reject all forms of clothing and live naked or ‘sky clad’ while the Svetamabara monks wear thin white robes. We were forbidden to climb the narrow stairway which led through the six storeys, however, we could visit the beautiful temple adjacent to it.

A very memorable visit! The fort, even today, houses around 5000 people - the descendants of commanders, chiefs, courtiers, soldiers, etc of the Mewar kings.

Way back, between 7th and 16th century, the city of Chittor was limited to the ‘garh’ or the fort, and everyone including the commanders, chiefs, courtiers, soldiers and even the subjects, stayed within the fort perimeter. As was customary, the kings when pleased with some, often favored them by granting them gold, property, etc. So when the fort was acquired by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India), around 500 odd people provided documentary evidence of some or the other piece of land being granted or gifted to them by the ruler, and hence were permitted to continue their occupation. Today, these 500 people have multiplied to around 5000, along with their extended families.

These guys have signed an agreement with the government that they would evacuate the fort instructed in lieu of an adequate compensation. However, they have time and again refused to honor it because the fort not only means a house for them, but also a livelihood. These guys earn their bread and butter from the tourism in the fort.

So we could catch glimpses of the men drinking in a cool, quiet corner of Ratan Singh's palace, adjacent to their house – and the young boys taking a dip in the pond, again adjacent to their house! Needless to say, these residents throw their domestic waste, degradable or non-degradable, in their neighborhood, which happens to be the fort’s premises! The memorable visit therefore ended with a grave concern, and hope that Chittorgarh, quintessence of tribute to the nationalism, courage, medieval chivalry and sacrifice exhibited by the Mewar rulers of Sisodia and their kinsmen and women and children, could withstand the attack of ‘plastic’ and stand as tall and proud in the years to come!

- Namrta R (from my backpacking trip to Rajasthan)

Companions: Raghav and Lonely Planet

Also read about Pushkar, Ajmer, Ranthambore, Udaipur, Mount Abu, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Thar
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5: Udaipur - Venice of the East

Google for Udaipur, and you will see pages on romance, leisure, culture and heritage pop-up. A fine example of shrewd marketing and perfect positioning, some websites even make it sound like a ‘Wonderland’ waiting for its ‘Alice’, which could be you!

Not paying heed to Raghav's advice of substituting Udaipur with more significant Kumbalgarh (an important citadel of Mewar, second in importance to only Chittaurgarh) and Ranakpur (renowned Jain temples of the 15th century), I fell for these marketing gimmicks and suffered the fate of a tourist. Thanks to City Palace in Udaipur which helped me justify this visit!

City Palace was built by the Maharana Udai Singh as the capital of the Sisodia Rajput clan in 1559, after he moved from Chittor. Located on the east bank of the Lake Pichola, on a hill top, the palace offers a panoramic view of the Jag Mandir on another island in the lake, the Jagdish Temple close to the palace, the Monsoon Palace on top of an overlooking hillock nearby and the Neemach Mata temple. The palace exhibits a fusion of the Rajasthani and Mogul architectural styles since the Moguls were a contemporary ruler of north India and had considerably influenced over the art and architecture of the era, and were avidly constructing in Agra and Delhi.

Raghav, the movie buff, could recall the James Bond movie Octopussy, which features the Lake Palace and the Monsoon Palace. It was the film which subsequently publicized Udaipur as "Venice of the East".

We spent a good half day at the museum, carefully reading the inscriptions, labels and other information about the articles on display. Interestingly, the palace had the most expensive Entry and Audio Tour fee amongst all the palaces or museums we had been to, in India or abroad – which helped us figure out that the palace was privately held, and not managed by the state government or the ASI (Archaeological Society of India). I must admit that this was also reflected in the commendable up-keep of the museum!

Amongst the other political, social and cultural memoirs in the palace, some artifacts narrated the tales from the iconic battle of Haldighati fought between Rana Pratap and Akbar. Rana chose Haldighati, a narrow mountain pass in the Aravali range, so that only a few Moghul soliders could enter the valley at any given point of time and the Rajputs could employ guerrilla warfare techniques from a vantage point - as the Rajput army was no match against the mighty Mogul army, either in strength or in ammunition!

Though the battle’s outcome was indecisive, it immortalized Man Singh, Maharana’s commander-in-chief, as also Chetak, Maharana’s loyal horse. Even though Chetak’s fore leg was wounded, it ran through the mountains for five kms, crossing over a stream (then a chasm) near Balicha village (now a two-lane highway) before it gave-up. Enthused, we decided to drive down to Haldighati, 40 km from Udaipur, sidelining the lunch at Fatehprakash palace, now a luxury hotel.

Haldighati, unbelievably, has a turmeric yellow-colored soil and hence the name! We visited the Haldighati museum and the spot where Chetak died. (This spot now has a tomb and a memorial stone). We noted that Chetak is one of the most famous animals in history with mention in documentaries, books and museums. It has a train, connecting Udaipur and Delhi, named after itself, besides a number of eating and shopping joints in and around Rajasthan. We also saw a documentary on the battle of Haldighati, with a special section on Chetak, in the museum!

After Haldighati, with a few hours in hand before dusk and nothing very interesting to explore, my religious companion, promised me an 'off-the-beat' religious experience - and took me to two ancient temples on the outskirts of Udaipur.

Nathdwara, located in the Aravali hills, on the bank of Banas river, around 45 kms north of Udaipur, houses the Shrinathji, a 12th century "infant" incarnation idol (murti) of Lord Krishna. I found it very hard to escape the charisma of Lord Krishna’s idol, which has a diamond studded in the throat. The idol was moved in the 17th century from Govardhan hill, near Mathura along holy river Yamuna, to protect it from the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's campaign against Hindu worship in his empire. The Haveli of Shrinathji (as the temple is called), was once a royal palace of the Sisodia Rajput rulers of Mewar.

Our subsequent destination, Eklingji (a form of Lord Shiva), 22 kms west of Udaipur, was believed to be the Ruling deity of Mewar princely state and the ruler Maharana ruled as his Dewan (or Commander-in-Chief). Begun in 971, the temple was built by the Guhila (later called Sisodia) dynasty of Mewar, and includes 108 temples. The main temple, which dates to the 15th century, houses a four-faced image of Lord Shiva in black marble. Another temple in the complex is the Lakulish Temple and is the only temple of the Lakulish sect in India. We said our prayers, and sat for sometime in the temple before heading back for Udaipur.

We reached Udaipur by dark and were in two minds about attending the evening Light and Sound show at City palace. Basing our judgment on our previous experience with such shows (though mostly at the Red Fort in Delhi), we instead chose a quiet and romantic dinner in ‘Venice'. Raghav was convinced that we were more acquainted with the history of Mewar than any Light and Sound show could elaborate on, so we instead splurged on a drinking binge, our first in Rajasthan, and proposed a toast to Mewar.

We regretted for not being able to visit Kumbalgarh and Ranakpur, and even contemplated extending our trip by a trip. But then we found some consolation in the fact that we were visiting Chittorgarh and Delwara, the better versions of Kumbalgarh and Ranakpur respectively.

Travel to Udaipur did do some good to us! Shatabadi, connecting Chittorgarh to Udaipur, provided me with ample time to compile my memos about the travel and Raghav a chance to read-up more about Mewar, catch-up on his sleep and savor the local 'poha’.

Interestingly, in most cities of Rajasthan, the rick guys also double-up as a tourist guide and a commissioned agent for hotels and shopping arcades; these shopping arcades often add the suffix 'museum' to their name for attracting footfalls! So the rick guys carry cards, the size of a business card, printed either by hotels or shopping arcades, listing around seven to ten supposed tourist attractions on one side (some of them being public gardens and picnic joints), and publicize either a cheap hotel or free entry to the museums (or shopping arcade) on the other. Raghav theorized that their real earnings accrue from the commission that they receive by adding to the footfalls, and not by driving the rick!

We ended-up hiring a fancier version of the rick on our way from the station to the city. This rick was equipped with a fancy music system, playing popular Bollywood tunes, and with halogen lights that kept flashing and flickering through the entire way! As expected, the rick guy flashed tried to sell and push the tourist attractions on his card onto us, and even offered us a better (and cheaper) hotel than where we were booked. As he kept bettering his deal, we kept refusing politely, repeatedly :)

Udaipur was the last capital of Mewar, and also the last Mewar state that we visited. Fondly saluting the Rajputs of Mewar, we offer our tribute to their patriotism, courage and sacrifice.

- Namrta R (from my backpacking trip to Rajasthan)
Companions: Raghav and Lonely Planet

Also read about Pushkar, Ajmer, Ranthambore, Chittorgarh, Mount Abu, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer an Thar
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6: Abu - the Mount

Mount Abu for us was Delwara, the five legendary marble temples built between the 11th and the 13th centuries and considered the most beautiful Jain pilgrimage site in the world.

The five temples – Vimal Vasahi, Luna Vasahi, Peethalhar, Khartar Vasahi Temple and Shri Mahaveer Swami temple, are in the midst of a range of forested hills and have an opulent entranceway, the simplicity in architecture reflecting Jain values like honesty and frugality.

The main temple, Vimal Vasahi temple (or also Adinath temple), was built in 1021 by Vimal Shah, a minister of Bhimidev I, the Chalukya King of Gujarat. It is dedicated to the first Jain Tirthankara (teacher or guide), Adinath. This temple is carved entirely out of white marble and has numerous cells which contain tiny images of Jain Tirthankaras artistically carved on marble stone minutely. The artisans who carved this temple were paid in gold worth the weight of the marble dust that they collected while sculpting. We spent hours admiring the richly carved corridors, pillars, arches, and 'mandaps' or porticoes of this temple!

Luna Vasahi temple (or Shri Nemi Nathji temple), was built in 1230 and is dedicated to Shri Nemi Nathji (also famous as Arishth Nemi) who was the 22nd Jain Tirthankar of present age. According to Jain beliefs he lived some 5000 years ago. He lived during the legendary Mahabharat war and was cousin of Lord Krishna. This temple was built by two Porwad brothers - Vastupal and Tejpal, both ministers of a Virdhaval, the Vaghela ruler of Gujarat. Appatently, they had found a hidden treasure during their pilgrimage to Delwara and decided to use that money to construct the temple, in the vicinity of Vimal Vasahi. Since their wives oversaw the construction of the temple, it is also referred to as the ‘Devarani-Jithani’ temple. It has one hall named Rag Mandapa which has 360 tiny, minutely crafted idols of Jain Tirthankar and among all these white marble idols the idol of Shri Neminath Ji is made up of black marble. The pillars of this temple were built by Maharana Kumbha of Mewar.

Peethalhar temple (Shri Rishabdaoji temple) was built by Bhima Shah, a minister from Gujarat dynasty. The main idol in this temple is composed of 5 equal portions or 90 kg each of gold, silver, copper, brass and aluminum.

Khartar Vasahi Temple (or Shri ParshavNath temple) was built by Mandika clan between 1458 and 59. This temple has the tallest shrine and the carving on the pillars of this temple is yet another example of architectural superiority.

Shri Mahaveer Swami temple was constructed in 1582 and is devoted to Lord Mahaveer, the 24th Tirthankara. This temple is relatively small but equally exquisite, and the temple's upper walls have pictures of the porch painted by craftsmen of Sirohi in year 1764.

Delwara was the most beautiful thing we had ever seen, and I can’t find enough adjectives to describe it! The detailing in sculptures was intriguing, and made me wonder if they are more perfectly chiseled than the human figure itself. The artisans haven’t ignored even the minutest of details such as the eyelashes, bangles, sari border, etc, and the carvings just seem to be coming alive any moment. The only disappointment at Delwara was ‘photography not allowed’.

Gleeful after this visit, we sped across the town on the rented bike to the other places of interest in Mount Abu, aka Nakki Lake, Toad Rock and the Sunset Point – and didn’t really find anything interesting about them! We savored the local dish ‘dal bati’ on the bank of Nakki lake. Lonely Planet recommended the romantic ‘shikara ride’, which would have been truly romantic and worth trying if the lake was a little less dirty and the sun a little less bright.

We also rode to the Toad Rock, a peculiar rock formation overlooking the lake, which seems like a toad ready to jump-off in the lake, and then headed to the Sunset Point where we experimented with the ‘Sunset’ mode of our cam. A popular attraction at the Sunset Point seemed to be a to and fro horse-ride from the foothill, availed by most tourists while we decided to walk up (hand-in-hand :)

The sun set after a long wait and thereupon, we set out for Abu Road (the nearest railway station) from where we had to board our next train for Jodhpur!

More about Mount Abu:
Mount Abu was the home of many saints and sages in the old days. Legend has it that all the 330 million gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon used to visit this holy mountain. It is also the place where the great saint Vashishth lived and performed a yagna (sacrificial worship on a fire pit) to create four Agnikula (four clans of fire) to protect the earth from demons. The yagna was supposed to have been performed near a natural spring, which emerged from a rock shaped like a cow’s head.

According to another legend, once sage Vashishth’s cow Nandini was trapped in a deep gorge and could not free herself. The sage appealed to Lord Shiva for assistance. The Lord sent Saraswati, the divine stream, to help flood the gorge so that the cow could float up. Vashishth then decided to ensure that such mishaps did not occur in future. He asked the youngest son of Himalaya, the king of mountains to fill the chasm permanently. This he did with the assistance of Arbud, the mighty snake. This spot came to be known as Mount Arbud and was later changed to its present form – Mount Abu.

This place is held in reverence by Jains as well since Jain scriptures record that Lord Mahavira, the 24th Jain Tirthankar (spiritual leader), also visited Mount Abu and blessed the city.

- Namrta R (from my backpacking trip to Rajasthan)
Companions: Raghav and Lonely Planet

Also read about Pushkar, Ajmer, Ranthambore, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Thar
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7: Jodhpur - the Subservient

We began our journey to the immortal state of Marwar with Jodhpur. It was was founded in 1459 by Rao Jodha, a Rajput chief of the Rathore clan. Later, Jodha succeeded in conquering the surrounding territory and founded a state which came to be known as Marwar.

Early in history, Jodhpur became a fief under Mogul empire, and later British empire, enjoying internal autonomy while owing fealty to these foreign invaders. It was ruled by Moguls for almost two centuries until Aurangzeb’s demise and the subsequent decline of Mogul kingdom. Jodhpur entered in a subsidiary alliance with British as early as 1818, thus prospering under peace and stability while the rest of the country was struggling for freedom.

Interestingly, Maharaja Umaid Singh laid the foundation stone of Umaid Bhawan Palace, biggest private residence in the world with 347 rooms, in 1929 - the same year in which Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt dropped a bomb at the Central Legislative Assembly, the All Parties Muslim Conference formulated the Fourteen points under Jinnah's leadership, and the Lahore session of INC adopted the goal of complete independence or 'Poorna Swaraj' for India.

The construction of this palace took place over a period of 15 years when the freedom movement was at its zenith. Oblivious of the freedom struggle between 1929 and 1944, the unaffected Maharaja Umaid Singh, also the president of the British Royal Institute of Architects, built not only one of India's most imposing palaces but also among its most recent! The palace was apparently built as a public relief and employment project during a long period of drought and employed around 3000 artisans. Over one million square feet of the finest marble was used in the construction of the palace. A special type of sandstone, called Chittar sandstone, has been used in its construction, which gives the palace a special effect. (It is also referred to as Chittar Palace by the locals). Its style of construction, with beautiful balconies, charming courtyards and stately rooms, makes it a fine example of Indo-Saracenic architecture.

In 1977, the royal family segmented the palace into the Royal residence, the Heritage hotel and a museum. The hotel is operated by Taj, which possesses 98 air-conditioned rooms elegantly decorated with antique furniture. We were flabbergasted by the pictures of lavish art deco of the Royal residence, and wondered if some of the millions spent on this palace could be routed to the Indian freedom movement!

Contrary to the modern Umaid Bhavan is the majestic Mehrangarh Fort, top a 125 m high hill, started by Rao Jodha in 1459 and sings the glory of ancient Marwar. Some of the extant fort dates back to the period of Jaswant Singh between 1638 and 1678, and houses an exquisite collection of palanquins, howdahs, royal cradles, miniatures, musical instruments, costumes and furniture and cannons (in the ramparts of the fort).

The massive main gate (or pol) exhibits well-preserved cannon shots and hand prints of the royal widows offered to their husband's pyre as 'sati'.We opted for an Audio tour of the fort as recommended by our loyal companion and guardian, Lonely Planet, and dived back into time. We listened patiently to our Audio guide that drew our attention to the only room with special Belgian tiles. These tiles had patterns of pretty English ladies amongst the other floral designs, thus signifying that the room was used for the 'entertainment' of the British. Entertainment of-course has been a very vague term since the means of entertainment vary diversely! The fort also makes for a breath-taking panoramic view of the city. Jodhpur is also referred to as the Blue City due to the blue-painted houses around this iconic Fort.

Jaswant Thada, at an approachable distance from Mehrangarh, is an architectural landmark found in Jodhpur. It is a white marble memorial built in 1899 in memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. (Within this cenotaph, there are also two more tombs). The marble used is extremely thin and polished so that they emit a warm glow when the sun's rays dance across their surface. However, i0f you visit this memorial after Delwara, the visual experience may not be as aesthetic.

This was all Jodhpur had to offer to our appetite for art, history and culture. So we decided to get a flavor of the local spice market! A walk and a snuff in the bazar tickled our senses, a feeling which lingered on through the rest of our trip.

- Namrta R (from my backpacking trip to Rajasthan)

Companions: Raghav and Lonely Planet

Also read about Pushkar, Ajmer, Ranthambore, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Mount Abu, Jaisalmer andThar
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