Rajasthan

The state of Rajasthan is a blend of the traditional and the modern, with somewhere a medieval ambience still lingering on. The heritage monuments and traditional costumes rub shoulders with modern infrastructure and luxuries. Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan is known as The Pink City and is a treasure house of palaces, fortresses, monuments, museums, temples and gardens. The lakeside city, Udaipur, set in a valley surrounded by lush hills, is famous as The Venice of the East. Jaisalmer situated in the heart of the Thar Desert, has a massive fort in yellow sandstone while Jodhpur lies at the foot of the soaring Mehrangarh fort. Jodhpur, Chittaurgarh, Bundi, Bikaner and Bharatpur all have a long and colourful history resounding with sagas of valour and heroism.
The Dargah of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, at Ajmer, Brahma Temple at Pushkar and the stunning Jain temples at Ranakpur and Mt. Abu are holy places in Rajasthan.
Rajasthans nature reserves cover a broad spectrum with habitats ranging from the verdant and hilly Mt. Abu to the arid desert wastes of Thar. Some of them are Sariska Tiger Reserve, Desert National Sanctuary, Sambhar Salt Lake, Ranthambhore National Park and Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary. Rajasthan is well connected on the vast network of Indian railways and connected by well-maintained National Highways to its neighbouring states. The cities of a Jodhpur, Jaipur and Udaipur have airports. The best time to visit Rajasthan is during the winter months from October to March.

राजस्थान यात्रा – बीकानेर से जयपुर और जयपुर –

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पहले हिस्से में सूरज पोल से जाने पर मिलता है जलेब चौक जहां सैनिकों के रहने के लिए बैरकें बनी हैं| जीत के जश्न को देखने के राजसी महिलाओं के लिए झरोखे भी बने हैं| इस हिस्से को सवाई जय सिंह के कार्यकाल में बनवाया गया था| जलेब चौक के बाद इस हिस्से का प्रांगण है जिसके एक किनारे पर शिला देवी का मंदिर है| मंदिर का दरवाजा काफी प्रभावशाली है और इस पर तरह तरह की बनावटें हैं| इसके पीछे कहानी यह है कि राजा को सपने में देवी ने दर्शन दिए थे और उसके उनहोंने बंगाल के राजा को युद्ध में हराया था| देवी की मूर्ति को समुद्र से एक पत्थर लाकर उस पर नक्काशी करके यहाँ स्थापित किया गया था, इसीलिए नाम पड़ा शिला देवी| नवरात्री के दिनों में यहाँ बलि की प्रथा भी है| हम मंदिर के अंदर नहीं जा पाए क्योंकि पट बंद थे|

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Jodhpur->Jaisalmer->Bikaner in 5 days : Part-2

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Jaisalmer was our next destination and on our return journey we planned to cover Bikaner. We decided to start after getting fresh in early morning so that we do not end up wasting time in Jaisalmer. We reached Jaisalmer by around 8:30 AM, luckily found a local guide and took some guidance from him and by 10 we were in the Jaisalmer fort. Took a guide (he was just hovering around there) there and started the fort visit. We booked the tickets for the Swiss camp in the Sam sand dunes from the fort only.

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Gagron Fort , Jhalawar —- Water on all Sides

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After visiting the Mahadev shrines near Kota and returning back to my friends house, where we unanimously voted for Gagron Fort in Jhalawar (a part of the Hadoti region of Rajasthan) to be our next. Gagron Fort is so obscure but at the same time it is such an outstanding embodiment of great architecture in terms of design,structure and strategy coupled with the bravery and chivalry of the erstwhile Rajput Rulers and warriors.

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Jodhpur->Jaisalmer->Bikaner in 5 days : Part-1

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Since quite some time I have been thinking “what an amazing experience it will be drive through the Rajasthan deserts and barren lands”. I have only seen those in movies but to do it on my own is something I have always been dreaming for. Unfortunately because of our professional life, it is not always an easy job to plan such kind of trips. But then you get a chance and you have to reap the advantages then and there on. Exactly that is what I did, and made a quick plan of visiting Jodhpur, Jaisalmer during the republic day leave on 2012. Took two additional days leave and planned the whole trip. And as we found out later, it was not a bad decision at all. Here’s a small description on the entire trip that I had and I hope this will be really helpful to those who are actually planning for such trips. Although 5 days is a bit tight for visiting these places, I tried to cover the maximum things that can be visited within this schedule.

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Chambal Ki Ghati — Kota Gorge through the Hadoti Belt

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So far i had traversed to places having familiarity with the social mass but this time i thought of cherishing and exploring the obscurity of the Chambal Gorge, created by the mighty and the pristine Chambal River ,who oblivious of my encroachment is busy streaming and gushing.

December was the month back then two years ago ,when i thought of going down to the South Eastern frontier of Rajasthan surrounding Kota and Jhalawar, from Delhi. The region is situated on a tableland being a part of the Malwa Plateau which encapsulates the whole Northern Madhya Pradesh along with the Vindhyan Ranges and enscrapments.

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A Taste of Salt – Sambhar Lake

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Sambhar Lake is India’s larget inland salt lake. We keep moving on the road but dam was nowhere in picture. It should be around 5 km from the place we started and we have already crossed more than that. I check on map that we were moving far from lake so we decided to return. We realized that there was no connecting road to dam and we have to find a entry point. We found a dusty track which was going towards the lake. It must be used by tractors and other vehicles. Finally we were inside the lake and it was amazing to drive bike in the lake :).

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राजस्थान यात्रा: भाग २ (बीकानेर)

राजस्थान यात्रा: भाग २ (बीकानेर)

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खैर हम पहले अपने होटल गए क्योंकि सब लोग ४-५ घंटे की सड़क यात्रा के बाद थक से गए थे और कुछ खाने पीने की ज़रूर दिखाई दे रही थे| होटल एक हवेलीनुमा मकान था, जो कि बाद में हमने देखा कि वहाँ आम बात है| किसी रिटायर्ड सरकारी अफसर का घर था जो कि उसने होटल में बदल दिया था| ये एक अच्छा व्यापार है बीकानेर में जहां यात्रियों, खासकर, विदेशी डालर यूरो वाले, की संख्या ज़्यादा है और लोकल लोगों के लिए ये पैसा कमाने का अच्छा ज़रिया है| होटल बहुत सस्ता तो नहीं था, करीब १५०० रुपये प्रति रात डबल बेड के लिए (घुसलखाने के साथ) लेकिन ठीक-ठाक था, सफाई ठीक थी और ऊपर एक रेस्तारेंट भी था जहां से नजारा काफी अच्छा था| लेकिन जिस बात ने हमारा पहुँचते ही मूड आफ किया वो ये थी कि स्टाफ विदेशी लोगों में ज़्यादा मशगूल थे और भारतीय ग्राहकों को नज़रंदाज़ कर रहे थे| इस बात को लेकर हमारी थोड़ी कहा-सुनी हुई और फिर स्टाफ का रवैया एक दम बदल गया| रात को खाना खा-पीकर हम बिस्तरों में घुस गए क्योंकि अगले दिन कई सारी जगह देखने जाना था|

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Kesaria Balam Padharo Mhare Desh- A Journey through the majestic “Blue City”, Jodhpur

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The grandeur of the city is difficult to baroque in words, the wide roads, the glimpse of the unique architecture, the hospitality of people; everything is entrancing to transport one back to the ancient Rajput era. The popular song, “Kesaria balam padharo mare desh….” epitomizes the true spirit of the people of Jodhpur who inspite of being proud of their lineage and cultural heritage welcome everyone to their city with an equal amount of humility and love.

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राजस्थान यात्रा: भाग १

राजस्थान यात्रा: भाग १

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पुष्कर एक छोटा सा कस्बा है जहां राजस्थान में होने की वजह से धूल ज़्यादा है, हरियाली न के बराबर है और आबादी भी ज़्यादा नहीं है| जगह के बारे में किवदंती है कि ब्रह्मा ने राधा कृष्ण की झलक पाने के लियी साठ हजार साल लंबी तपस्या की थी और ये जगह अपनी झील या तालाब के लिए जानी जाती है| यहाँ देखने के लिए कई सारे मंदिर भी हैं जिनमें कि मेरी कुछ खास दिलचस्पी नहीं थी| पुष्कर पहुँचने के बाद होटल तक पहुँचने में थोड़ी मुश्किल हुयी, क्योंकि पहले हमको किसी ने उलटा रास्ता बता दिया  और हम पुष्कर के बाहर ही चले गए लेकिन फिर किसी भी तरह से पूछपाछ के होटल तक पहुंचे| होटल तक पहुँचने में शाम हो गयी थी और अंधेरा लगभग होने लगा था| होटल अच्छा था, पीछे एक पहाड़ी थी जिसको देखते ही मुझे तो तुरंत ही इस पर चढ़ने की तमन्ना हो गयी |

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