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.
Rajasthan’s 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.

Udaipur Diaries Continues …Part-2

Udaipur Diaries Continues …Part-2

By

We left “Sajjangarh” at around 2.15 p.m. for “City Palace”. On the way we wanted taste rajasthan variety snack and ballubhai rightly stopped and one of very famous food chain joint JBM. Never forget to try Dal Kachori and Pyaj Kachori here, it’s affordable with great taste. At around 3.15 we were at “City Palace”. Entry tickets for city palace is Rs.330/- (which includes entry for must recommended visit to museum). Believe me at first sight I was wondering why to pay so much for palace, but once we were inside felt it’s worth.

Read More

मेरी पुष्कर यात्रा – पुष्कर मेला 2017

By

पर्यटकों को लुभाने वाली तमाम जगहों से भरी राजस्थान की धरती में पुष्कर का एक अलग स्थान है, क्योंकि बाकी जगहों की तरह यहाँ कोई रेगिस्तान, महल या किला नहीं है, पुष्कर पूरे विश्व में अपनी पहचान रखता है अपनी धार्मिक और सांस्कृतिक विरासत के लिए I पूरे विश्व में ब्रह्मा जी का अकेला मंदिर पुष्कर में ही है, इस कारण हिन्दू धर्म में पुष्कर का एक बहुत ख़ास स्थान तो है ही पर उसके अलावा पुष्कर की इस विश्व स्तरीय पहचान के पीछे, हर साल कार्तिक के महीने में आयोजित होने वाले पुष्कर मेले की अहम् भूमिका है I साल के वो आठ दिन जब ये मेला चलता है, तो पुष्कर देश ही नहीं पूरी दुनिया के मानचित्र में होता है I

Read More

Bienvenue à Jaipur: Ville Rose

By

It was Wednesday evening when Sourabh came & asked to go out of Delhi on Weekend. Immediately everybody started looking at him & responded yes in a very strange way. This reaction was not due to the short notice for outing but everybody was surprised that he is not going home on the weekend. Without giving any thought to this idea, everybody said Yes & then asked where you want to go? Ultimately Jaipur was selected & we planned to leave early morning of Saturday.

Read More

A visit to Taragarh Fort, Ajmer

By

Hakim requested me to park the car in his locality where a local lad would be taking care of the car. But, it was not easy to believe a total stranger and so I did not heed to his request and parked the car in the official parking lot which was very congested. It required great skill to park and more to retrieve the vehicle. Somehow I did it. After parking the car, we went to see the dargah along with Syed Abdul Hakim. He introduced us to the nearest structure as Karbala built in memory of the Mohammed Ali, who was the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed and who was martyred by the Khalifa. Every year they mourn his killing in the Karbala. It was a settlement of Shia Muslims. According to Hakim, the population of that place was about 5000 for which a separate polling booth is arranged during election time.

From Karbala, Hakim took us to his shop-cum-office, where his relatives were selling the Chadar (Shawl), Flowers and incense sticks etc. and persuaded me into purchasing the items from their family shop. Though his shop was not cheap by any means, we had no option but to purchase from there itself. So, we purchased the items from Hakim and his relatives carefully choosing the items that were being sold at the lowest rates and proceeded towards the dargah. My son, Ruchir looked good when he walked upto the Akbar gate carrying the chadar on his head. After entering the premises, we saw a massive silver sword at the top of a building. Hakim told us that it was Jafarani sword given to the Dargah by Mughal Emperor, Akbar.

Read More
Wildlife Trails- A trip to the Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur

Wildlife Trails- A trip to the Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur

By

The main attractions are the peacocks, deers and jackal sightings around the restaurant during night time together with the boisterous cacophony of the ecstatic birds through the day. Imagine how exciting could it be living that close to animals we only witness on wildlife channels and breathing the fresh intoxicating cool breeze in a moonlit night.

Read More

Goaing – from Goa to Delhi

By

After the mandatory getting-lost-and-going-round-in-circles-before-finding-the-destination that we seem to do in most new cities, we reach our destination after 2 solid hours of wandering the drowning streets of Ghatkopar in a downpour worthy of …. Mumbai! The thing to note is that more time was spent in negotiating the traffic (read: stuck in traffic) than driving!

Read More

Jaisalmer – Top 10 things to see and do

By

Located 18 km away from Jaisalmer, the way to desert Kuldhara village is known as the ghost village. Lying abandoned from the past few centuries, this village has no signs of human life and is also known as one of the haunted places in Rajasthan. A clan of eighty-five villages, Kuldhara was once inhabited by the Paliwal Brahmins, but due to some adverse happenings, the natives evacuated the village within a night. It is also said that while leaving the village, the villagers put a curse on it.

Read More

पुष्कर की यात्रा : कबीरा मन निरमल भया….

By

न्दिर से बाहर आ जायो तो ये शहर वही है, जिसका तिलिस्म आपको चुम्बक की तरह से अपनी और आकर्षित करता है | शहर की आबो-हवा मस्त, गलियाँ मस्त, जगह-जगह आवारा घूमती गायें मस्त और सबसे मस्त और फक्कड़ तबियत लिये हैं इस शहर के आम जन और साधू | हर मत, सम्प्रदाय के साधू आपको पुष्कर की गलियों में मिल जायेंगे, हाँ, ये बात अलग है कि असली कौन है और फर्जी कौन इसकी परख आसान नही | मोटे तौर पर सबकी निगाह फिरंगियों पर होती है और फिर फिरंगी भी बड़े मस्त भाव से महीनो इनके साथ ही घूमते रहते हैं, पता नही भारतीय दर्शन के बारे में कितना वो जान पाते होंगे या कितना ये बाबा लोग उन्हें समझा पाते होंगे पर इन्हें देखकर तो पहली नज़र में कुछ यूँ लगता है जैसे गुरु और भक्त दोनों ही भक्ति के किसी ऐसे रस में लींन हैं जिसकी थाह पाना आसान नही, जी हाँ पुष्कर इस के लिए भी जाना जाता है | वैसे, ये बाबा लोग अपने इन फिरंगी भक्तों पर अपना पूरा अधिकार रखते हैं और आपको इन से घुलने-मिलने नही देते |

इस शहर की धार्मिकता, और आध्यात्मिकता के इस बेझोड़ और आलौकिक रस में डूबे-डूबे से आप आगे बढ़तें हैं तो घाट के दूसरी तरफ ही गुरु नानक और गुरु गोबिंद सिंह जी की पुष्कर यात्रा की याद में बना ये शानदार गुरुद्वारा है, पुष्कर में आकर इस गुरूद्वारे के भी दर्शन ! और ऊपर से लंगर का समय ! लगता है ऊपर जरुर कोई मुस्करा कर अपना आशीर्वाद हम पर बरसा रहा है…ज़हे नसीब !!!

Read More

मेरी जैसलमेर यात्रा , यूथ हॉस्टल एसोसिएशन फॅमिली कैम्पिंग

By

तनोट से 52 किमी दूर लोंगेवाला जाने का सौभाग्य मिला जिसका सर्वश्रेष्ठ फिल्मांकन “बॉर्डर” सिनेमा में देखा था
ये वही जगह है जहा मात्र 120 सैनिको के पाकिस्तान के 2000 की फ़ौज और 100 से अधिक टैंक को सारी रात रोका और फ़ौज को जैसलमेर तक पहुचने से रोका था,यहाँ उन वीरो का स्मारक भी बना है और जब्त किये पाक टैंक भी…देशभक्ति से दिल भर गया यहाँ आकर…उन वीरो को श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित कर वही साथ मिले लंच पैकेट से लंच कर हम लोग वापस कैंप में लौट आये.

Read More

Road Travel Reminiscences – Delhi to Ajmer via Jaipur

By

So, we moved ahead and found the third jewel of this marvelous city, i.e., Hawa Mahal. Standing tall and illuminated, this Mahal had seen off the day of crowded markets and polluted vehicles. The Hawa Mahal told me… “O Traveller! I was built for providing cool air and shelter. My structure was befitting the queens. Pollution is that I am smoking everyday and night, days after days, years after years and generations after generations.” I consoled him in my mind and said “O worthy Palace! Soils made you and soils you would become….The respect you get is the respect you deserve. Stand tall till your strength permits”.

After meeting with the three jewels of this great city, we drove ahead towards the new township. The Janpath of Jaipur leads to the mighty building of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, the seat of power in democracy. It was almost 11 pm and we had to take rest for the journey next day. Still, I stopped in the middle of the Janpath. The building was trying to say something. It told me… “O Travellor! I am the power today. Don’t you agree? Or, dare not disagree.” I smiled in my mind and replied “O worthy building! Come to me after 150 years. I will see you with pride and anoint you with my tears, if your power still remained intact”.

Read More
Chand Baori Abhaneri

Neemrana to Bundi: In search of Indian step wells – Part 2

By

This part of the city is flourishing (economically) because most travelers here are from Europe, I mean I met with more euro backpackers rather than travelers from India. So locals have turned their homes as B&B, guest house and those who have big mansions, they have turned them into haveli’s. After realizing this, I must say that I made a big mistake by booking hotel in Kota, rather than staying in a heritage Haveli’s in this part of Bundi.

Read More