11 Nov

Memories of Mewar (III): Udaipur, City of Lakes and Palaces.

By Vijay Shivdasani

After visiting the Kumbhalgarh Fort, Ranakpur, the Krishna Temples at Kankroli and Nathdwara, and the Sajjan Garh Palace, we were now on the last leg of our trip to Mewar, Rajasthan, and had two full days to take in the beauty of Udaipur, the City of Lakes and Palaces. This beautiful city is also sometimes referred to as the ‘Venice of the East’, ‘Most Romantic City of India’ and ‘The Kashmir of Rajasthan’.

Udaipur was the capital of the kingdom of Mewar, ruled by the Sisodia clan of Rajputs. The founder of Udaipur was Maharana Udai Singh II, father of Maharana Pratap. Udaipur was founded in 1559, when a hermit blessed the king and asked him to build has palace at a spot on the east ridge of the Pichola Lake. In 1568, the Mughal emperor Akbar captured Chittaurgarh, and Udai Singh moved the capital to the site of his new residence, which became the city of Udaipur. As the Mughal empire weakened over the years, the Sisodia Maharanas recaptured most of Mewar district. Udaipur remained the capital of the state, which became a princely state of British India in 1818.

After India’s independence in 1947, the Maharaja of Udaipur acceded to the Government of India, and Mewar was integrated into India’s Rajasthan state.

Memories of Mewar (II): Kankroli, Nathdwara, and Sajjan Garh (Udaipur).

By Vijay Shivdasani

The temple of Shrinathji at Nathdwara is among the most sacred places of worship for the followers of Lord Krishna. The idol is made of black stone and is said to have been brought here from Mathura in 1669 to protect it from the marauding Moguls under Aurangzeb’s rule.

The temple opens its doors to the public for worship seven times a day for just about half an hour each, and there is a huge crowd always waiting to rush in. Inevitably there is some pushing and jostling and you barely get a minute for darshan before you are pushed out to the exit, just like in a Mumbai local train. This makes the whole experience quite unpleasant, and the temple authorities should take the initiative to organise it in a better way. Some touts promise to get you in through the VIP channels, but they only serve as paid guides, and can do nothing when the push becomes a shove.

An awesome trip to Ahmadabad

By Pamela

A very peaceful On a quiet stretch of the Sabarmati river is the Gandhi Ashram set up in 1917. During the lifetime of Mahatma Gandhi it was known as Satyagraha Ashram and was the center of India’s freedom movement. It was from here, in 1930, that the Mahatma began his famous “Dandi March” to the sea to protest against the Salt Tax imposed by the British. ‘Hridaya Kunj’, the simple cottage where he lived, is preserved as a National Monument.

Memories of Mewar (I): Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur.

By Vijay Shivdasani

The fort is built on a hill at a height of 1100 metres and requires a considerable effort to climb to the top. But once you are in the palace at the top of the fort, also known as ‘Badal Mahal’, you are rewarded with awesome views of the forested Aravalli hills, with the Mewar region on the eastern side and Marwar region on the west. The forests surrounding the fort comprise the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary which is home to leopard, sloth bear, monkeys, wolf, jackal, sambar, peacock, jungle fowl and a host of other birds and animal species.
[caption id="attachment_94003" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Badal Mahal.[/caption]

A visit to Kalakund near Indore, the birth-place of legendary Indian sweet

By sarthakc

Then came the most awaited phase of the trip. The Patalpani – Kalakund ghat section. One could feel the extreme beauty of it complimented by the railways. The tunnels, viaducts and being surrounded by lush green mountain ranges mesmerised the passengers. I would recommend this place to creative minds. Such views have the potential to fill their minds up with optimistic thoughts and also to photographers. This rail route was laid about 150 years ago by the British rulers. Soon admiring these charming scenes we enter the Kalakund railway station.The locomotive honks make the ‘Kalakand’ vendors become active. Kalakand is a famous sweet dish with Kalakund as its origin, it is a fine treat for all the sweet tooths. On the right side, behind the railway station building river choral flows and on the left side, on a hill we have a building for scout guide, locally known as ‘Mahal’. After spending a few hours there, exploring Kalakund we returned home. But that tranquillity had took over my heart. I have fallen in love with that place. Human needs peace from the hectic life and the minds too need peace and such places serve the purpose.

Sonamarg, Golden Meadow of Kashmir

By Anupam Chakraborty

We enjoyed the morning amidst the splendour around the hotel and decided to see the view points in the afternoon. Here, all the viewpoints come on the way to its main attraction ‘Thajiwas Glacier’. To reach the glacier, one may go either by riding pony from Sonamarg town or by a cab which drops near the spot “Ram Teri Ganga Maile”. A nice motorable road is available upto this spot and thereafter one has to hire pony or walk down to the base of Thajiwas Glacier. Walking from there is much preferable to riding pony because it is only a short distance to cover and walking is mainly through the plain roads.

Like most tourists places, pony rides as well as the cab rates are overpriced here and one has no other option but to accept an unreasonable price after much bargaining. How tough it was to agree with a price of Rs.2100/- for a ride of 6kms, to and fro! But did we have any option?

We started the journey and soon saw the beautiful Sonamarg Club, a popular staying option for the bollywood stars when they are here for shooting. Surrounded by the giant conifers and beautiful mountains it locates on a hillock by the side of the road to Thajwas Glacier.

Rambha and Barkul – The flavours of Chilka

By Sumit Chowdhury

A few were really very nice. Having spent our time at Kalijai we hopped back into the boat and returned to panthanivas. After lunch we took a Tata Iris van and moved on to take a llok at some local places of interest. First we went to Nirmaljhar temple 11 kms away. Inside the small gate there is a small pond in the centre, a small temple on the left and the main temple on the right. A stream flowing from the Easter Ghats has been directed here into a small kund, The sweet sound of flowing water was the only one that could be heard. There was no other living being inside. At the rear, there are small deities of ‘Dashabatara’. Though the temple has immense significance we hardly saw any signs of maintenance. We moved on to Narayani Mata temple 10 kms away. This temple is situated atop Valerry hill. After ascending the loopy road our car came to an abrupt halt. There were several cars and busses ahead of us caught in a fierce jam. Each was having its free run with restless crowd of people don’t know from where created a ruckus. The lone traffic police stood helplessly. After failed attempts by our driver to make a way through, he asked us to make the rest of the journey on foot and parked the car. We started walking past the vehicles and crowd and made our way up the steep road.

I could not understand what we so many people doing here. The area was surrounded by jungle with ‘saal’ and other trees. As we climbed further up the road we saw groups of people cooking food on giant pots. That’s it! These local people are having a picnic, and what a place to choose – a jungle. Never before I had seen so many people (thousands) picnicking in a forest. After walking further we came into a clearing with several steps. There were few shops selling puja items. Manu devotees were buying these for offering to the goddess. After climbing one more flight of stairs we reached the temple sitting amidst the forest with trees and boulders hanging over it. There were lots of monkeys prancing around and I had to be very careful with my cameras. My son was however very amused. The temple complex had a small ‘kund’ and one side there were a few fallen tree trunks (courtesy phailin).

Delhi – Sangla … journey through the verdant valleys of Himachal

By Naturebuff

As we go further, this road climbs higher till it reaches sheer cliffs of stark, unadorned rock where the road is but a scooped out C-shaped tunnel embedded in the vertical cliff side. While we enjoy the drive along the banks of the Sutlej in all its moods, I am almost willing the road to start climbing to this, one of the most celebrated and recognised sections of this route. And when we do hit that stretch, we are all spellbound! Such is the precarious nature of the road that there are precipitous drops on the only open side and encased in solid rock on the other three sides.

Home Of Serenity – Chail, Himachal Pradesh

By shefali26

After breakfast we proceeded to Chail Palace Hotel, once owned by Bhupinder Singh, Maharaja of Patiala. Well known for its architecture, the palace has now been converted to a heritage hotel. Many films have been shot here. You can also enjoy delicious food at their restaurant. Do try their cold coffee..it was yum!!! There is also a drinks bar for those who love to booze. We came back to the town after spending some time at this beautiful place and proceeded to Kali Ka Tibba temple. Kali Ka Tibba is a must visit place in Chail. Being located at a hill top it , you can enjoy mesmerized view of Chail valley and breathe cool and fresh air. The road leading to the place is very narrow and poor in condition making it quite an adventurous experience. It was around mid of the day and our next destination was Chail Cricket Ground. It is being used as a play ground of the Military school in Chail. We were disappointed with the place as entry to the playground is restricted to everyone except school staff and students. We came back to our resort after strolling for some time and buying wooden souvenirs from Chail Mall Road. Compared to Shimla’s crowded long Mall Road, Chail Mall Road only has a few shops and eating joints. There was nothing much to purchase in Chail but you know it is a custom in our homes that if any family member goes on a trip, they have to bring gifting specialties of that place.

शिव और सावन – एक मनोरम स्मृति।

By Arun Singh

सावन के महीने का आगमन दिल्ली में हो गया था किन्तु बारिश की बूंदो का इंतजार अब भी बाकि था, लग ही नहीं रहा था की इस बार दिल्ली में बारिश होगी भी या नहीं। आख़िरकार है तो यह दिल्ली ही न, रोजाना यहाँ वहां की खबरों को सुनते हुए यह पता चल जाता था की सलमान की एक-एक फिल्म 100 करोड़ कमा रही है किन्तु पूरी दिल्ली में 100 लीटर भी पानी बरस जाये तो गनीमत होगी।

हिमाचल डायरी : दो पल के जीवन से… (Sirmour, Camp Rox)

By Avtar Singh

कुछ क्षण पहले तक जिस स्थान पर हमारे बीच मौन का साम्राज्य था वहाँ अब चुहलबाजी शुरू हो गयी है | जल में डूबे और उभरे पत्थरों पर बड़े ध्यान से पाँव जमा जमा कर, जगह बनाते बनाते तीनो इधर से उधर जा रहे है | नदी का ठंडा पानी, सुबह की शाँत, नीरव और पवित्र शान्ति और इस सबके बीच जिन्दगी की ख़ुशी और किलकारियाँ, शायद इससे बेहतर एक नये दिन की शुरुआत की परिकल्पना आप नही कर सकते !
कैम्प में लोग जाग रहे हैं, सुबह की चाय बन चुकी है, चाय की चुस्कियों के बीच टीवी पर समाचार चल रहे है कि यहाँ वहाँ पहाड़ो पर भारी बरसात जारी है और भूस्खलन से 50 से ज्यादा जाने जा चुकी हैं, तो उधर मैदानी क्षेत्रों में यही पानी बाढ़ का प्रकोप धारण कर तबाही मचा रहा है | इधर, इस हाल में जितने लोग हैं उनकी बातचीत का केंद्र भी यही परिस्थितीयां हैं | एक समूह इस बात से चिंतित है कि उन्हें आगे नारकंडा जाना था और कहीं अगर बीच राह में इस भूस्खलन की वजह से मार्ग ठप्प मिले तो ? बहरहाल, चाय के बाद अब समय है नहां धोकर तैयार होने का, जिससे दस बजे तक सब नाश्ते के लिये तैयार हो जायें | आज नाश्ते में आलू के परांठे, ब्रेड-जैम, उबले अंडे और चाय है | नाश्ते के बाद का समय एक्टिविटीज के लिए नियत है | ग्यारह बजे के लगभग, जो भी गेस्ट इसमे रुचि रखते हैं, एक नियत स्थान पर एकत्रित होना शुरू हो जाते हैं | जहाँ पहले सबको सुरक्षा उपकरणों पर एक डेमो दिया जाता है, और फिर एक के बाद एक पाँच ऐसी एक्टिविटीज हैं जिन से सभी प्रतिभागी गुजरते हैं, दो एक्टिविटीज शाम को चार बजे करवाई जायेंगी | एक्टिविटीज पूरी होने पर जलजीरा का पेय हाजिर है, जिसकी एक एनर्जी ड्रिंक के तौर पर सभी को बहुत आवश्यकता भी थी |

Weekend Drive to “The City Beautiful” Chandigarh

By Mala Raman

The Rock Garden in itself is a maze of tunnels, arches, narrow passages and galleries. At one point of time one would feel there is no further way ahead and suddenly a narrow walkway will open out of nowhere.

With astute sculptures of men, women, Gods and animals, the garden is indeed a delight. Not only vivid sculptures, the garden houses multiple waterfalls, fish aquariums and swings or jhulas that we all have loved swinging on during our childhood days.
Men, women and children of all ages without any tinge of hesitation swing their way through these swings, happily remising the good old childhood days!

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