Saturday, 21 June 2014

Rajasthan- royalty and romance- through the eyes of Diya Biswas


Jaisalmer Fort or Sonar Kella

The Rani mahal
 Rajasthan even 11 years after (I went in 2002 - 2003) should look same as here, inside the Forts time stands still. U will remember stories of Mirabai singing in praise of Lord Krishna, and just close your eyes to visualize.
In front of Jaisalmer Fort. Anyone saw the famous movie by Satyajit Ray called Sonar Kella? It was based on this fort. Later on many other movies came to be shot here. It is golden, made with golden coloured sandstone, peacocks roaming in abundance like stray dogs. This fort looks a bit different from other forts, it is not built on a high ground & people actually still live inside the fort.
View of city from the fort


The Rani Mahal inside Jaisalmer Fort. This is where the Queen & her friends stood to look down at the courtyard below during celebrations.
Rajasthan in all its glory & color shows how diversified our culture is. Since nature has not been very kind to them, they have brought color & spice in their attire & food. The people are generally helpful & kind towards tourists. Jaipur is full of roadside eateries, some strictly vegetarian & some selling tandoori chicken which is done on the front on an open mud oven. U can try them. Do have tea in Jaipur, the milk tea is really tasty. Jaipur is again a shopper's paradise selling camel skin beautiful jootis, I still have the one I got from there, for aux jewelries of gala & kundans. Beautiful jhollas, potlis, scarves adorn the shops. Beware of camels & the cow goddess roaming the city on their own free will blocking roads & pavements.
Haldighati. How many times have we read about the Battle of Haldighati? Rana Pratap Singh allied by Raja Mansingh of Amber fought it against the Mughal ruler Akbar. It was fought only for 4 hours but so much bloodshed had happened in that time that the battleground came to be known as Rakta Talab. At the end it was an indecisive battle.
When you see a desert u understand why desert people are with certain characteristics, they are different because the environment is different.


Sunset Point at Mt Abu. If you are ever visiting Rajasthan please don't forget to visit this tiny hill station. From the heat & rough terrain of desert, you enter the cool & pleasant Mt. Abu. Surrounded by hills and a tiny place. See Dilwara Jain Temples, i couldn't take any photo s as it was not allowed inside the temple. The camera had to be submitted. Some people do smuggle it in but I am very much against it. It is made of pure white marble with intricate carvings. Take a walk in the evening to see the setting Sun from the Sunset Point. You can sit there & enjoy a cup of tea. The place is any photographers delight. After dark take a walk on the Mall of the hill station. Colourful shops of knickknacks and mementos, scarves & woollens, handicrafts would enthral u. Things are more costly here as it is a hill station. U would find the same things in Jaipur at less price. Just do some window shopping if you want. There is beautiful cafeteria at the end of the Mall, with a glass facade & a view of the Mall. Sit there enjoy your coffee & cookies & the market place.
A city within a city - chittorgarh fort
the magnificient sand dunes

Krishna Temple - Mirabai used to worship here

I remember while traveling to Sam on a mini bus with the group, the bus broke down in the middle of the highway, luckily there was a petrol pump near by from where mechanics came. Near by was a vegetable stall where we went and sat down while the bus was being repaired. The man had the biggest of the big turban on his head, with a bigger mustache which frightened my little son. He was selling chillies, bigger than french beans, which was only Rs2 a kilo. They make pickles with it to have it with thick rotis. Those days Rajasthan was passing through a severe drought problem with  very minimal produce

But my husband was furious with the tour manager & the bus driver. We wanted to see Sun set at Sam. The driver was very polite & gentle. He said he would make sure that we see it. Ap log yeh dekhne ke liye itna dur aye hein??? For him it was difficult to digest perhaps. But he did take us to Sam before dusk. Rajasthan had smooth as butter highways (those days Bengal didn't have it), covered the 3hrs journey in 1 1/2 hrs flat.

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