The Royal RajasthanTravelogue... Finale

Day 7: 29thOct 08 (Mt.Abu - Ahnedabad - Kolkata)


My friend woke me up from a deep slumber… “Its morning… wake up… we have a long day ahead of us!!!” I woke slowly… as if from hibernation… and then it hit me… today was the last day of the trip… we were to travel to Ahmedabad to take the flight from there back to Kolkata.
“Its over,” I said, “time simply flew for the last few days…”
“ Yaaaa..” sighed my friend, “but what an experience!”
I smiled and nodded in agreement.
After we all finished our last round of packing and reshuffling our now bulging bags (thankfully my friend had got an extra knapsack from home… so both of us could stuff our ‘Mithai’ & ‘Namkeen’ there) we all trooped out to have our last breakfast of the trip…
As we walked uphill to the main building to have breakfast, we could still hear the noise of crakers bursting… it seemed that the people fo Mt. Abu, still hadn’t had their fill of celebrating Diwali… from the parking place in front of the main building I looked down… smog had settled all over the hillside, making it seem cloistered in cotton… as we entered the dining room, I veered over to the large glass panes… the haze had cut down the visibility to half … the sight was nonetheless awesome…
As usual I had a stuffed omelette, that had become a part of my breakfast for the whole trip…(for someone who is allergic to eggs… that’s an achievement!!!).
My friend had ordered a bit too much of food… I looked at him in astonishment…
“You gonna eat all that??” I asked…
“Will have no time to eat in between…” he shrugged nonchalantly.
How typical!! I smiled shaking my head…
None of us spoke much at the table, almost as if trying to absorb and accumulate as much memories as possible…
Seeing me a bit too quite, my friend asked, “any problem?? What are you thinking of??”
“Nothing…I just wish that time didn’t run out so fast…” I sighed.
He agreed…
Our bills had been settled the night before so as soon as we came back to our rooms, we were ready to leave.

Since we had travelled to Mt. Abu at night… I missed out on seeing the view of the scenic winding road… In the light of the day… I saw the dense vegetation; the raw hewn hillside… the towering smog covered mountain range…
As our car circled the mountain on its way down, the visibility made me aware how high up we were… with the other cars whizzing past us…I realized that one wrong move would be all it took, for us to take a tumble into the abyss!!!
Thankfully we had a wonderful driver, who not only knew the roads like the back of his hands, but was also a deft & cautious driver…
I wowed to come back again…
It was in deed a very long drive from Mt. Abu to Ahmedabad, the distance being 215 Km. I settled down with my book… while sometimes looking out to view the passing landscape… friends fell of to sleep…! I don’t know when I too fell off to sleep… The car suddenly ground to a halt…I woke with a jerk…
We had stopped at a level crossing, all the men happily got off the car to stretch their legs…! It was a 10 mins wait before the train came… and as usual, I saw people crossing the train lines, by slipping beneath the lowered bar, without an outwardly thought to their own safety (quite a common sight anywhere in India!!!)
We crossed the state border (Rajasthan to Gujarat)… our driver, Vinod… very sweetly always pointed out to anything he thought would interest us… however currently we were on the look out for a HDFC ATM… The whole state of Gujarat seemed to be in a holiday mode, it being the day after Diwali… all the shutters were down… banks were closed… we were afraid that even the ATMs would be shut…
After being on the lookout for quite some time, Vinod pointed out to an ATM across the street… an elated gang trouped out to fill their depleted wallets… (there were no ATMs in Mt. Abu).
We saw a central circle, which had tilted pot with milk pouring out… I realised it had something to do with a dairy farm… and then I saw the Amul Factory…
By this time my bladder was on an overdrive… I was desperately looking for someplace to take a leak… I saw a large shopping complex… believing it to be similar to the Malls in Kolkata… asked Vinod to stop the car… & jumped out…
As I walked into complex, past the roving eyed Romeos… I realised that even the women were looking at me… as if I had sprouted horns…!!! As I walked past the glass pane of a show-window, I looked at my reflection… I was still wearing my bulky red pullover that I had put on at Mt. Abu…( I hadn’t thought of taking it off, as it was cosy in the AC car), however the scorching heat of Gujarat was hardly conducive to such attire… no wonder people were staring!!!
Anyway… I looked around for directions, which pointed to Ladies toilets… and could see none… I walked towards a group of girls standing in a corner …
“Hi! Can you tell me where to find a toilet?” I asked politely.
They turned and gaped at me…quite blankly…
“Ladies Toilet ?” I prompted again.
One of the girls somehow understood and said “malum na thi..”
“Ok, thanks…” I said and moved ahead…
Next I decided to ask a shopkeeper…
“ Bhaiya, ladies toilet kahan hain?”
He gave me the directions promptly… I followed his directions, but couldn’t find any!! Again I spoke to a group of girls…
“Hi!” I said… they nearly ran…and then thought otherwise..
“Su chey?”
“So you know where is the Ladies Toilet??” I asked tentatively
“huh? Su boleche?”
I rolled my eyes heavenwards… what kind of a city was this? College going kids don’t know a word of English or Hindi for that matter!!
However one of the said something and they all smiled… and asked me to follow them… I did…I thought they were leading me to the toilet at last!!!
They climbed down some stairs and were moving towards the underground parking lot… I got a bit suspicious… I motioned them to ask the security there.
From what he said… I realised that the toilet was inside the Cineplex, and one could only go in if he or she had a valid ticket!!! And these poor girls were also looking for the ladies toilet themselves!!! DAMN! I have never felt so frustrated!! I waved at the girls and walked back to the car, cursing under my breath!

“Done?” my friend asked raising an enquiring eyebrow.
“@########@@$!!!” I said, finally giving vent to my bubbling irritation!
“Whoa… what happened?”
I narrated my encounter… he didn’t know whether to laugh or to empathise with me….
Vinod said… “ Aage ek Dhaba hain.. wahan pe mil jayega”
Sure enough, when we reached the water park, opposite that was a dhaba, which had a ladies toilet… albeit a bit dirty & covered with cobwebs… but I wasn’t complaining… the need was too great for me to be turned out by creeping arachnids…
After Vinod had his cuppa tea… we proceeded towards the airport…
A signage caught my attention…‘Amdavad’ spelt this way… I guess the locals wrote it the way they pronounced it…
A smooth drive along wide well planned roads…and we at last reached the airport…
The car stopped, and we were nearly at journey’s end I was indeed feeling very nostalgic… the past few days; I had been living a dream…almost like a romantic sojourn into the pages of history…
We bid adieu to our faithful & deft charioteer… he too became nostalgic and said, “Jaipur House mein Diwali ki shaam mere liye bahut yaadgaar rahega… ab jab kabhi Mt. Adu aaunga… aapsaab yaad aaengey…”
My friend replied with a smile, “Next time, jab desert ghoomney jayege, Hum aap ke liye request karengey..”
Vinod was gone with a wave after we got our luggage out… we entered the airport and had a lot of time to kill till our flights left.
We had sandwitches… walked about in the lounge…
Suddenly my friend said… “are you sure there is no security check happening?”
“I’ll find out..”, I volunteered.
I went up to the security personal… and to my astonishment… though there was no announcement for our flight’s security check… people were actually checking in…
I ran to inform… and quickly made our way back for the security check.
While we were going through the metal detection by the guards of the CRPF, our hand baggages were being passed through the X-Ray machine.
I came out of the cubicle to get my backpack… only to find my friend, standing in front of the baggage desk… his backpack was sitting aside on another table beside the security personnel… I knew something was wrong…!
“What happened?” I asked
“They want to check my bag again”, he said with a sigh
“Ah… Its because of the metal idol…isn’t it?”
“Yep” he said.
“What if they ask for the bill? The shopkeeper didn’t give us any.. and hadbari mein we forgot to ask… ” I whispered.
“I have that guy’s number.. I will have these guys talk to him…” he replied.
“Lets hope it wont come to that..” I said
In the mean time… we could see the security guys looking at the bag and whispering amongst themselves… and our flight also announced its boarding (without announcing security check.. mind you!!)
“Kya hua bhaiya?” my friend asked.
“Iss mey ek murti hai..” remarked the personnel…
“Hain… ek aasht dhatu ki Ma Laxmi..” replied my friend…
“Zaara.. kholkey… dikha denge???” requested one of the personnels…
“Jaroor…” replied my friend… immediately opening the bag… and removing the packaging …to expose the exquisite goddess…
To my utter surprise… the personnel, actually looked shameful… he touched the goddess’s feet and crossed his hands while touching his ears…
“Maaf ker dijiyega.. ye hamari duty hai…”he said…
“Aare nahi nahi bhaiya… its ok” we replied in union…
we picked up our bags and moved away… when we were out of earshot… I said, “Lesson learnt. Never buy anything like this without a bill…!!!”
“Yes… I agree!” My friend replied… as we walked towards the boarding gate.
We all said goodbye and went off to board our respective flights…

The flight back was without any hassle… filled though it was with wonderful, unforgetable memories…

As the flight neared Kolkata... I looked down from the window...

The city slowly floated into view... as if rising from the dark abyss of the sea...

It glowed with a golden hue from, the twinkling lights of thousands of sodium lamps, that lit the city streets...

She looked like a beautiful lady bedecked in jewellery, awaiting her lover's return...

Landed at the Kolkata Airport to a huge queue at the Luggage conveyer belt… due to too many flights landing at the same time… Ah… the joys of a mega city…!
My faithful maroon suitcase came moving in, after a fashion… with that done… I ran towards the pre-paid cabs counter… having told dad not to come and pick me up…my turn came after a long wait… and with the receipt in hand I left the airport building, for the last leg of my journey home…

It was a bitter-sweet feeling to be back home... I was glad to be back to my City of Joy...!

Portraits...

"Star light, Star bright..." AT SHEESH MAHAL, AMBER FORT, JAIPUR

"Freefall"...AT AMBER FORT, UDAIPUR

"Riot of colours"... AT GANESH POL, AMBER FORT, JAIPUR

"Scent Of a Woman"... AT SUHAAG MANDIR, AMBER FORT, JAIPUR

"Guardian Angel"...AT JAIGARH FORT, JAIPUR

" Queen of all I survey"...CITY PALACE, JAIPUR

"Riding the Waves"...AT LEHARIYA GATE, PRITAM NIWAS CHOWK, CITY PALACE, JAIPUR

"Stand by me"... AT MUBARAK MAHAL, CITY PALACE, JAIPUR

"And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made"... AT JAL MAHAL, JAIPUR

"See-Saw"... A CAMEL RIDE, AT JAIPUR

"Finger-licking good"... AT CHOKHI DHANI, JAIPUR

"Underneath the arches"... AT CITY PALACE, UDAIPUR

"The Royal Salute"...AT FATEH PRAKASH PALACE, UDAIPUR

"The Cheetah Girl"...AT MONSOON PALACE, SAJJANGARH, UDAIPUR

"Dont let the Sun go down on me"...AT SUNSET POINT, MONSOON PALACE, SAJJANGARH, UDAIPUR

"Standing Tall"...AT VIJAY STAMBH, CHITTORGARH FORT

"Yellow, yellow, burning bright"... AT THE PLAINS OF HALGHATI

"Up above the Wall so high"...AT KUMBALGARH FORT

"Sultana of Swing"...AT JAIPUR HOUSE, MT. ABU

"Wish you were here"...AT JAIPUR HOUSE, MT. ABU

"I didn't start the fire"... AT JAIPUR HOUSE, MT. ABU

The Royal RajasthanTravelogue... Part 2

Day 2: 24thOct 08 (Jaipur)
I woke early in the morning on an unfamiliar bed… it took me a while to re-orient my thoughts… and then I was up… we needed an early start, if we had to complete whatever had to be done. We rushed for breakfast… ate with a gusto… because we were unsure as to when we would be able get our next meal…
Our car was waiting outside… before boarding the car, we double checked our gear… Thankfully every thing was in order…

Our car progressed through the still sleeping city… only a few people were seen moving about… we entered the old Jaipur city or ‘ Pink city’ as it was called, through the high archways called ‘Pol’. I was under the impression that the whole city was made out of pink rock… I was a bit disappointed, to see that was not the case, instead… the walls of the city were uniformly painted with a brickish –pink colour, and some beautiful motifs were done across them in white…
HAWA MAHAL
Our first stop was Hawa Mahal… I got out of the car, almost in the middle of the road in my haste to feast my eyes on the building. Standing upslose, I had to crane my neck to absorbe the gracefully balanced, five storied piece of architecture in red and pink sandstone, highlighted with white quakeee quick lime. I crossed the road to shoot the full building...The beautiful façade was created, with an amazing symmetry. The delicate workmanship made it seem like a magical structure, straight out of the pages of the Arabian Nights. Despite its towering height and length, the structure seemed wispy… almost as if Aladdin’s genie had conjured it out of thin air… It has numerous arches, spires and a mind-boggling 953 latticed casements and small windows. The sheer delicacy of the ‘Jharokhas’ made them seem like hand woven crochet…It was built by Sawai Pratap Singh and designed by Lalchand Usta in the year 1799, in the form of Lord Krishna’s the crown.... It forms part of the City Palace and extends the Zenana Mahal. This structure was created to facilitate the women of the palace to observe the royal parades and processions on the street, without being seen.
Next we saw the Tripoliya gate….this was the exclusive entrance of the royal family to the city palace.
After this we headed straight to Amber fort (or Amer Fort, as it is often called) which was 11 Km away from the city. On the way we saw Jal Mahal… but we didn’t stop, because the light was not right to shoot the beautiful structure…

AMBER FORT
The first glimpse of Amber fort… held me spell-bound! Named after Goddess Amba…the fort rose from in-between the mountains… like a golden crest. The fort was started by Raja Man Singh in the 16th century and brought to its present state by is successor Raja Jai Singh. We stopped our car at the point where the jeeps were parked to take tourists up to the fort… bubbling with excitement… we got out and started clicking photos…after the initial euphoria subsided a bit… I observed that there was a humongous gap between the road way and the hill on which the fort stood… later I learned that is was the Maotha lake, which had dried up due to lack of rainfall, this year…

I looked around to suddenly spot a snake-charmer, with his pet cobra… “ paas aake choo lo…kuch nahi karega…” he offered… averse to all things slithery… I preferred to steer clear physically… I did shoot a couple of photos though…

We boarded the car again… it was a steep climb… with twists & turns amidst extremely narrow lanes… it was chaotic… on the way we saw elephants carrying tourists to the fort… the elephants were caparisoned in royal colours of red, blue and gold, their foreheads pained colourfully… the mahouts were dressed traditionally, in white clothes & colourful turbans… the lucky tourists got to sit on the ‘Hawoda’, atop the elephant… I wish I could too… but I was told that it took half an hour for the climb on elephant back… & time was something we were running short of…

We reached the fort gate… I was out of the car in a flash and was trying the best I could to take the photographs of the old palace ruins and the city skyline as visible from the ramp... I took a shot of the Jaigarh Fort from this point…

and also one, of the beautiful Jagatsiromani Temple dedicated to Lord Krishna. This shikhara (spired) temple was built by Man Singh in memory of his son Jagat Singh…my friend looked at my enthusiasm and smiled at me… he was carrying one of those pro cameras with these huge lenses… while I was shooting with my small digital camera… (Nonetheless, I feel that I competed with him, for some of the best shots we took in the trip!!!)
We then got hold of a guide and entered the fort through ‘Jai Pol’…

into the courtyard, called ‘Jaleb Chowk’. This gigantic courtyard was ment for the marching army…

My nose crinkled at the fetid smell from the elephants… the elephants entered through a different gateway called ‘Suraj Pol’.
We were upset when we saw a huge queue at the ticket counter… our guide somehow managed to work around it.. He was back in a couple of minutes…

within this time I shot some photographs of the elephants…

We followed the guide around, listening to his explanations about the palace and the history behind it… the sun was at its blazing best, but I didn’t hear a whimper from anyone… which shows how captivated every one was…

I just stood at the base of the first flight of stairs and gaped… as my vision was arrested by another lofty, beautifully painted gateway…
Constructed of white marble and red sandstone, the walls of the interior of the fort are covered with murals, frescoes, and paintings.One can only wonder at the intricate patterns on the painted walls… the usage of vegetable dye is very prevalent here. Who would have thought that the craggy, defensive outer walls of the citadel, cocoons such a breathtakingly beautiful palace?
As I climbed the stairs, to the gigantic archway (Singh Pol) of the fort, I knew that this trip would be one of the best trips I have ever made in my life… for more than one reasons…
As we entered the courtyard, I saw tourists, mostly foreigners milling around in groups… it was good to see that the tourism in Rajasthan was doing so well…

‘Diwan-i-aam’, is the central, forty pillared, red sandstone pavilion with intricate carvings, it is said that the Raja used to hold is ‘darbar’ here… it sat facing the ‘Zenana Mahal’ in the southwardly direction, so that the women could see the proceedings of the court, from behind the louvered ‘Jarokhas’. We could only admire the hall from outside as the interior was out of bounds…The ornate, lavish interiors are influenced by both Rajput & Mughal styles of ornamentation.

‘Ganesh Pol’ is an imposing gateway, exotically painted with typical Rajasthani motifs. It was the entrance to main living quarters of the king and his queens. The total structure of the gateway was one of genuine architectural brilliance… the vibrant colours… the lofty arches…


The Suhaag Mandir situated on the upper storey of the ‘Ganesh Pol’ was created specifically for the Maharani to sit and watch the proceedings of the court from behind the marble filigreed ‘jharokas’ . The queen is also said to have showered rose petals on the King from here, when he entered the residential complex…all these small romantic insights added to the glorious charm.


As a avid collector of Ganesh idols, the central painted piece of artwork enamored me.

As we entered through the Ganesh pol… our guide showed us a painting on the ceiling… it was lined with gold… I could only stare at it open mouthed…

A view from Ganesh pol

Walking in further.. my eyes were drawn to the beautifully manicured central garden, created in the Mughal ‘charbagh’ style… this was called the ‘Dil-e- Araam’ according to our guide….the raja is said to have ordered this ‘kesar kyari’ here, so that the mildly sweet intoxicating smell of ‘kesar’ would sood the temperament of his queens & keep them happy… unfortunately the extreme temperatures of the terrain did not support the growth… the design of the garden can be seen repeated on a sandal wood door with carved ivory inlays …

The walls of the ‘Sukh Niwas’ were carved and colourfully painted with wine glasses… “This was the official bar… were the Raja entertained his guests…” remarked our guide, smirking…

He the showed us the air conditioning process… a very innovative thing indeed in those times!!! The water flowed from the water reservoir into the room over a marble slope… the air in the room cooled due to this… the water was then recycled and channeled to water the garden in front of the room…

At the Zenana Mahal, the louvered ‘Jharokaha’… the palanquin pathways… all created with the safely, respect and comfort of the palace womenfolk in mind… the women of the palace, including the queen could move about unhindered through the innumerous alleyways… The interior walls of the palace were made out of a mixture of limestone & egg shells… it felt smooth & cool to touch…

Diwan-i-Khas or Jai Mandir showcases a supremely rich symbiotic blend of Rajput & Mughal artforms… .

Some of the walls are covered with intricate marble carvings, depecting Flowers & Insects.... In fact, our guide showed us quite a few things that could me made out from one of these marble carved flowers... An Elephant head, A Scorpian, A Crab and others...

coloured glass mosaic work

The Diwan-i-Khas also refered to as the ‘Sheesh mahal’ got its name from the minute mirror work on the walls & the ceiling of the palace. It is said that the flame of one candle was enough to light up the whole place. The palace shimmered and twinkled like millions of stars put together…

Our guide added another romantic tit-bit to it… it is said that the King and the queen spent a considerable time here… the queen had once remarked to the king, “you show me stars everyday… what about the moon??” To this the King remarked “you are the moon”… Awwww…. That’s so romantic….!!!

Jas Mandir is built above the Diwan-i-Khas… has louvered Jharokhas.. which allow the passage od air & light into Jenana Maha, without the ladies being seen...

through its latticed windows one can see the panoramic vistas of the rolling landscape…

the ramparts of the fort…

The well-tended ‘charbaag’-on-Lake Maotha… this too was meant for growing 'Kesar'... the climate of the terrain proved to be a villain

My friend takes a parting shot of the ‘Singh pol’… while I shoot ‘Jaleb Chowk’…

A couple of Saarangi Players at Jaleb Chowk... their colourful native attires & their musical instrument is a big hit with the tourists...

Right after this we went to visit the Anokhi Museum, where I promptly did the touristy thing of buying a painting, some cushion covers and a couple of coloured strings… I could have spent some more time there… but my friend revolted…
“Listen… we don’t have the whole day… its getting late…!!!We are waiting in the car for you…”
“I am just paying up…” I said and hurried to the car after him…
JAIGARH FORT
Our next stopover was a notch higher…The Amer fort was monitored carefully by the hawk-eyed gaze of its dark sentinel, the Jaigarh fort. Perched on the ‘Chill ka teela’ at an advantageous position of 400ft above the Amer palace, the impregnable Jaigarh Fort was build as the military reinforcement.
We entered through the massive south facing ‘Doongar Darwaza’. This red sandstone fort is almost intact, infact I was extremely surprised to see, the fort so clean… and devoid of debris…

It plays the host to the world’s largest cannon… The‘Jai Bhan’. Weighing 50 tons with an 8m barrel and a trajectory of about 20km. This mammoth cannon has a delicate scrollwork of birds, foliage and a roaring elephant at its mouth. It was never used, but only test fired once… with heavy losses. One wonders at the money spent uselessly, just for the sake of it… this also sheds light on the lavish lifestyle of the Rajput Kings…
This fort is said to have been looked after by a race called the ‘Minas’… a ferocious warrior tribe. They were the caretakers of the ‘Gupt Shahi Khazana’. Raja Man Singh and his successors used to dump all the treasures won during war, inside a water reservoir. Unaccounted for centuries… the late Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi, is said to have received a blueprint of the place, and during a 36 hr operation with the help of the army, brought out the treasure… it took 7 trucks to carry out the stuff from there… (The versions vary… each local has a different thing to say or add to the story…)

After we walked through the ‘Jaleb Chowk’ we reached ‘Vijay Garh’, the fort's armoury… photography was prohibited here… it has a huge collection of swords and small arms including time bombs, there's an interesting treasury lock with five keys and big wine and oil jars as well as a 1681 map of Amber .

The Jaigarh cannon foundry, built by Bhagwan Das in the 16th century, is one of the few surviving medieval foundries in the world. It has a furnace, lathe, tools and a collection of cannons. Man Singh I, the adopted son of Bhagwan Das brought the secret of gunpowder from Kabul in 1584 where the latter was the commander-in-chief of Akbar's army.

The highest point in Jaigarh is the seven-storeyed ‘Diya Burj’… if the King is in the City, every evening a lamp glows from its height…
The water supply and storage system of the fort, a real marvel of planning, since water supply was scarce, especially at this height.

The entrance to the palace complex is done up in bright yellow... and red boders...

Entrance to the temple...







The open pillared hall, Subhat Niwas.

Puppets for sale....

The Lakshmi Vilas Palace is a beautiful experience, with some lovely frescoes in blue and the remains of an old Mughal garden. It also has a little 'theater' hall where the rajas had their share of entertainment – dance, music recitals and puppet shows.
Almost lunch time… we decided to grab a quick bite before forging on… we ate at a small restaurant inside the fort premises, which was run by the palace cook of Sawai Man Singh… the aged gentleman showed us an album containing pictures and paper cuttings… Ah well… we had ordered for Biriyani…. the food, I am sorry to say was very common…and not to my taste… (and believe me I am not very choose when I am travelling) It was a hodge – podge between pulao and fried rice…!!!! Any way with sun beating down on my head… I really wasn’t feeling too hungry…, just took the edge of my hunger… My friend suggested… “Mangsho ta kheye ney… bhat ta chere dey…” That too I couldn’t do… ended up giving it to him… But when the old gentleman, came asking about the food… none of us had the heart to tell him, on his face, that the food was sub-standard!!! We left after this, on our way to City Palace…

CITY PALACE, JAIPUR
Where the Rana resided was a huge complex… while bargaining with the guide… we laid down a few terms and conditions… we told him, that we will not haggle and pay him his fees on condition that he will not hurry us through the place, and will not disturb us while we were taking photographs… the guide agreed…

Mubarak Mahal - This two storeyed building was built in 1890 by Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob as a resthouse for Maharaja Madho Singh II (1880-1922) to entertain his guests. It was later used as the ‘Mahakarma Khas’ . This now houses the ‘Tosha Khana’ of the museum. We saw some beautifully hand woven royal attires here made of fine Bengal muslins, Benares silks, local handprinted cottons and embroidered coats from north India.
I gaped at the ‘atamsukh’- a long quilted robe, of Madho Singh I (1750-68). The coat was made from gold-encrusted raspberry pink silk and covered the huge frame (6.6 feet and 225 kilos) of Madho Singh I. Quite a FAT Raja .. I must say…!!!
There is a robe, which is decorated with bluish-green pieces of a ‘Jugnu’s’ body… They must have killed thousands of ‘ jugnus’ to make the attire…!!!!
A beautiful gold encrusted lehanga-choli worn by one of the Jaipur queens at her wedding.
However, the one I loved the best was a ‘Lehariya’ lehanga-choli that was on display…

Maharani's Palace/Anand Mahal - This was built as the common room of the harem, and has a beautiful view of the Chandra Mahal from its first floor windows.
This part of the palace now houses The ‘Sileh Khana’ - Arms and Armour Museum. It has a fine collection of Indian antique weaponry – pistols, blunderbusses, flintlocks, swords, rifles and daggers. The weapon collection also includes the massive sword of Maharaja Man Singh I that weighs at least 11 pounds, a turban shaped helmet belonging to Mirza Raja Jai Singh I and the unique dagger that has two miniature pistols built into its handle.
My friends kept pointing out things me… I, however had only one thought… what a wastage… the rich Rajas must have spent astronomical amounts on the weapons… handles made of gold… encrusted with precious & semi-precious stones …just for the heck of it…!!! According to our guide…there was a sword, which had a unique property… it shining blade, held up and warmed in the morning rays of the sun… and then touched to the temple of a person suffering from Migraine…helped cure it!!!

Rajendra Pol - Opposite this building stands the ornamentally crafted archway made of marble and having coloured glass inlay work…

Two monolithic marble elephants stand guard to this entrance .

A grand brass door leads to the inner courtyard.

The palace guards were a jovial lot… dressed in their Royal white uniform & vibrant red turbans… they happily let themselves be photographed…

Diwan-I-Khas - As we entered through this gate my eyes caught on to the pinkish-peach, large, marble pillared hall at the center of the courtyard with white floral motifs that echoed throughout the ‘Pink City’. . There are several arches that support its decorated pavilion roof. This was a hall meant for private audience, now known by its Sanskrit name ‘Sarbato Bhadra’. It has two sterling silver vessels on display and they are acclaimed to be the world's largest silver vessel. These vessels were made for Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II to carry water from River Ganga to drink on his trip to England. Apart form this there were arrows, shields & guns on display…and the were all arranged in the formation of the ‘Surya Chopad’, denoting their lineage…‘Surya Vanshis’

Diwan-I-Aam – This hallwas meant for public audience. The ceiling was painted in the 1870s and is highly decorated with floral motifs in gilt, green, and red. This hall was designed for durbars and banquets and has jali screens behind which ladies in purdah could watch the ceremonies. It has a picture gallery with an exquisite collection of Persian and Indian miniatures, royal carpets and also an extensive collection of manuscripts. The Diwan-i-Am also houses one of India’s largest chandeliers.

To the north of this hall is the Carriage Museum inside a building.

The four storied Ridhi Sidhi Pol leads to the most beautiful courtyard in the complex – Pritam Niwas Chowk.

The Pritam Niwas chowk or the Peacock Courtyard has four beautiful gates ...

‘Peacock’ Gate- Monsoon Season

'Lotus' Gate- Summer Season

‘Rose’ Gate- Winter Season

‘Leheriya’ Gate- Spring Season
adorned with stucco relief figures and painted motifs, more akin to tilework. Each door is crowned with a marble deity above it
I even wanted to visit the actual enclosure where the current Rana, Sawai Bhawani Singh stays with his family… but that had a separate ticket of Rs.2500/- it was a bit too steep… and I wasn’t carrying that kind of cash on me…I could see a lot of foreigners up there… and wish I could too…
Our Guide described the interiors to us...

Chandra Mahal- is regarded as the best part, out of the whole tour to City Palace. It has seven stories and each story is known by a different name.
Sabha Niwas -The ground and the first floor of the Chandra Mahal are a part of the Sawai Man Singh II Museum and houses weapons, carpets and rarities.
Sukh Niwas – 2nd & 3rd Floor – A duplex furbished in Victorian style serves as the drawing and dining area of Chandra Mahal
Shobha Niwas – 4th Floor - exudes an extraordinary beauty because of its remarkable decorations of mirrors, gold leaf and mica all over.
Chavvi Niwas – 5th Floor- paints a calm serene picture in Turquoise & Indigo with white floral motifs. It has polished, eggshell stucco floorings.
Sheesh Mahal – 6th Floor – as the name suggests has beautiful mirrored ceiling.
Mukut Mahal - 7th Floor – this crowns the Palace… A beautiful curvilinear Bengal styled roof built along the lines of ‘Jas Mandir’ of Amber fort … from its towering height, the royal flag flutters in the breeze.

A bottle of water was an immediate requirement after completing a full circuit of the
City Palace.
Inside the car we saw a cloth hat… on asking the driver… he replied that he had bought the hat for my friend as he had heard him complaining about the lack of it…
My friend was thrilled to bits…

JAL MAHAL, JAIPUR
The sun was quickly moving towards the end of his day’s journey… and we urged the driver to take us quickly to the Jal Mahal, as it was the perfect time to shoot it…

Situated amidst the tranquil Mansagar lake, was built by Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799 AD, for royal duck shooting parties. Rolling hills & the Nahargarh Fort surrounds it; This is a haven for migratory birds during winter…
We reached the lake, which had been transformed into a beautiful place to chill out…
people were milling about... sitting around with families & friends… vendors selling their wares… papad, bhelpuri, berries… we reached the most advantageous position of the lake from where we could bet an unbarred view of Jal Mahal… The building rose from between the lake, the transient rays from the setting sun seemed the make the yellow coloured building glow with a golden aura… after we had taken enough photograph to appease our photographic senses…

We took a breather… not being the one waste time… (basically, wanting to make the most of it) I spotted Camels and Elephants and immediately wanted to take a ride… everyone laughed, they thought I was going mad… but when I was adamant, my friend accompanied me to place. I wanted to ride a camel, having never done it before… It was FUNNNNNNNNNN!

We wanted to see the Amber Fort at night… so we sat in front of Jal Mahal discussing the evening’s plan. We were all tired… but non of us were willing to fore-go any opportunity for sight seeing… “Aapko Chokhi Dhani jana hai??” asked the driver. “Wahan kya hai??” we asked in union. “ek resort hai…wahan aapko rajasthani traditional sab dekhney ko milega…” we looked at each other in askance…

“Kitna duur hai?”
“Kitna time lagega?”
“Yehi.. koi.. 20km hai… aadha ghanta time legega janey mein…”
“Ok…we will go to Chokhi Dhaani!!” we decided after a lot of discussions, as we also had a train to catch…
We sat chitchatting, as the darkness fell & then high-tailed out of there... on our way to Amber fort.
We came to the same place we stopped in the morning… the only difference… it was all dark…and shrouded in mystery…
Then suddenly the lights came on…at once the Amber Fort was cast in a golden aura… glowing like a beacon amidst the darkness…it was indeed a beautiful sight.
Above it… high up in the Jaigarh Fort… glowed a lamp…exclaiming the presence of the Raja in the City…

CHOKHI DHAANI, JAIPUR
With this part of the sight seeing done… we rushed into our cars for a speed rush towards Chokhi Dhaani… we were thinking of just seeing the place & rushing back to our hotel…
Situated at a distance of 18 km from the city centre... this resort was supposed to be a replication of a quintessential village…We reached there… asked our driver to wait… and went in…
Music greeted us on arrival…there was traditional aarti & tilak for people going in.
A queue met us, as we neared the main entrance… we became undecided at that point… wondering what to do as… we were on the clockwatch…
Nonetheless… we got the tickets & went in… since dinner was included with entry… we to eat first.
What we got there… was an experience to be remembered…!!!
The waiters who were serving us… was doing it with such a gusto… happiness…charm…that we were enthralled! The food was traditional…but awesome…
I never would have thought that I would enjoy a vegetarian meal so very much…

After our meal… (I was Stuffed!!) we ventured a little into the complex… watched a couple of dances… & it was time to leave…

A lady who offered us water to wash our hands....

We sped back to town as fast as we could… there was huge pile up as the over bridge construction site… we spent some nerve-wracking 20 mins caught in the mess…
We kept looking at our watches…
On seeing me a bit agitated… my friend said… “Don’t get tensed.. we will be there on time… so chill…”
I assured him I wasn’t tensed… but I was… I didn’t want to miss the train…!!
At long last.. the congestion let up a bit and our car was able to inch slowly forward and take a swift left… then we were home free!!!

We jumped out as the car ground to a halt in front of our hotel… my friends went up.. while I cleared a food bill…
One of the gang members wanted to find out whether the train was on time or not, but couldn’t.
I got back to my room to do some last minute packing…with that done…we all met at the lobby… to leave the hotel…
We were all in a chatty mood… talking about our experiences… and since the hotel was very close… we reached fast…
After paying off the driver… we entered the station… not a single coolie was to be seen…the train was on time…
We dragged our luggage ourselves…
My luggage, had by then become quite heavy as I had done a lot of shopping in Jaipur… and on seeing the over bridge which I had to climb in order to get to our platform… made me sceptical… but being a ram that I am.. I forged on without asking for help…I climbed a flight of stairs and walked over the bridge… however while climbing down… my foot caught on a steel plate at the edge of a stair… and I would have taken a bad tumble had it not been for my friend, who managed to grab hold of me…
“Are you ok?”
I shook my head to a positive… but my throat was chocked…I had strained my shoulder… it was hurting like crazy…
My friend didn’t believe me… so he carried my suitcase down the rest of the stairs…“Shit… man.. you scare me.. when you look like that… are you ok???”
“I’ll manage” I said with tears in my eyes…
After some time… in the due course.. we came to know that our train was running late… so we sat & relaxed…
As the train pulled into the station.. I got up…
“Don’t strain yourself…” I was cautioned
We got on the train… and there was a major confusion with the seats… we went into the 1st Class coupe…by mistake…(LOL…)
Things were sorted out.. we got our seats…& heaved a sigh of relief…
There was a MLA travelling with us… I was amazed to see the kind of service he got from his caretaker/ partyman/security… (I don’t quite know what…)
The poor guy actually made the beds for the whole family!! (would you believe it!!!)
Anyway…I decided to read for some time, before I fell off to sleep…

I consider my self a very light sleeper... but the day's hectic sightseeing took a toll on me... I was asleep before me head hit the pillow...