Historical

Gadisar Lake

Jaisalmer – the city of sand, fort, ruins and a wonderful host

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Mr. Polu, fifteen years ago, was an auto driver who helped the tourists around the Jaisalmer town. His warm and helpful nature always made the tourists stay with him. During off-season, one French couple visited Jaisalmer and he chauffeured them. They asked him, what would be his plan for the future? His simple answer was that ‘I want to own and run a hotel’. That couple didn’t buy a property for him, but searched a guest house for him. Gave $2000 as a security deposit for that property and asked Mr.Polu to run that and asked him to carry on his friendly nature.

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Classic Nawalgarh, The Morarka Haveli – Anatomy of a Shekhawati Haveli

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It was gradually becoming more interesting. Though the guide could address many of my curiosity, I was still left with one more. I knew that 150-200 years ago, the motorized transportation had not begun with full swing. People used to travel on foot, on dolis, on animals etc. So, I wanted to know about their provisioning in the havelis.

“Where did they keep their horses, carts and elephants? And what were the facilities for their maintenance?” I asked. My guide took me to an open space, adjacent to the main mansion. It was the place for facilities like keeping domestic animals. There were also the rooms for servants or animal-keepers. This area was also equally decorated with frescoes. There he said, “This is called “नोहरा”. It was here they kept their cattle and other domestic animals. The means of transport like horse-carts or camel-carts were also kept here only.”

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Hindustan Ka Dil Dekho (M.P. Trip) – Part 3

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I would suggest taking the upper deck ticket (which is cheaper) instead of lower one, as it gives you a better view with open space. It was approx. one hour ride, which was full of fun and masti, people started dancing on the floor, and kids were enjoying the cruise experience. The view around was extraordinary, and we felt like lost in the sea. Total paisa vasool, one should not miss this in Jabalpur for sure.

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Charming Jhunjhunu: Top Must See 7 Monuments

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I feel that water harvesting was the most important aspect of the life in Shekhawati. Mainly three methods were used to harvest the rainfall. They constructed ornamental well near their locality to collect the water underneath the surface of the earth. They also constructed Step-well (bawri) to collect more water partly above the earth surface and partly underneath. Thirdly, they used to construct Johara, which was an alternate of artificial pond. The following picture of Johra was taken near Fatehpur.

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Top Places to see in and around Fort Kochi

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Almost every tourist attractions in Fort Kochi have a history of their own so is the Chinese fishing net. Kochi, the ‘Queen of Arabian Sea’, was once a major centre of trade with the Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and the British where everyone had left their marks. While some claim that the Chinese traders from the court of Kublai Khan set up Chinese fishing nets to shores of Kochi that dates back to 14th century; some others say Chinese explorer Zhang He introduced the Chinese fishing nets here in early 15th century. Whatever may be the correct claim, the fact is that this system is in use for more than last 500 years.

Once a fishing accessory, the Chinese fishing nets, now have become a major tourist attraction in Fort Kochi.

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Charming Jhunjhunu: Rani Sati Temple

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After paying our tribute to all the twelve sati, we went inside the main mandapam of the Rani Sati. It was huge structure similar to those found in the Rama Krishna Mission temples. Lots of space was available for people to sit and pray. There was no statue of any sati. Instead a simple trident depicting the Goddess was placed for devotees to pray before her. The walls and columns of the mandapam were again beautifully painted. Two or three purohits were helping the devotees in offering prayers there. The followers of Rani Sati trace her origin from the times of Mahabharata, in which she was the wife of Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu. Her name was Uttara. She wanted to perform the rites of sati, when Abhimanyu died in the Mahabharata battle. Then, Lord Krishna persuaded her not to do so, giving her a boon that she would get an opportunity to perform Sati in her next birth. As prophesied by Krishna, she was born in modern-day Rajasthan (Shekhawati) and Abhimanyu was born near modern-day Hissar in Haryana. Her name was Narayani and Abhimanyu’s name was Tandhan. He had a beautiful horse, which was also eyed by the King’s son. However, in the battle for the horse, king’s son was killed. Further, an infuriated king killed Tandhan in the battle. The brave Narayani, after killing the King in revenge, performed sati at the pyre of her husband. She was supported by the caretaker of the horse, named Ranaji. For his efforts, the brave sati granted Rana Ji a boon that his name would always be remembered before her vey name. Thus, the name “Rani Sati” came into existence.

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Fort Kochi – Explore Amidst the Colonial Charm

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No cannon or other displays that go along with a Fort do exist at Fort Kochi. Though there are narrow alleys but none led to any gallery or a palace of any king or queen that a fort guards. In fact there exists no fort though the name endures it. Fort Kochi is a place within the city of Kochi and lies in the peninsula. Perhaps the name takes its first part since a fort was built in this region by the Portuguese.

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Charming Jhunjhunu: Making of Lac Bangles (Shekhawati style)

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If the second craftsman was satisfied with the measurement, his next function was to join the two ends of the rolled lac to make it into a bangle. For this, he brought both the ends of the rolled lac over the coal-burner and heated it for appropriate state of melting. The lac then binds itself and both ends join together. However, to make the joining spot invisible to the naked eyes, the craftsman had to rub off the uneven surfaces and make it smooth. He used a wooden handle for that function. Now, the bangle of the basic shape and size was made. It was handed over to another set of craftsmen for designing and sticking of semi-precious or artificial stones/glass pieces so as to make it attractive.

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