The journey started with a drive from Pune to Mumbai and an afternoon flight to Jaipur. The first evening was at my uncle's place. First off we had to buy mufflers and caps to protect us from the biting cold.
The rest of the evening was mainly spent with my sis Seema and Reena shopping for Jaipuri clothes and me and my dad giving our valuable inputs :)
11th December
We start the road trip driving down to Churu. The desert state has been blessed with good rainfall for a few years now. The irrigation system has taken a few big leaps and my dad was quite fascinated to see greenery where all he'd ever seen was barren desert. Along the way, naturally growing kairiya (a shrub) and Khejri trees (that grow a pea like seed called sangri) were found in abundance. These are used to prepare Kariya Sangri - a Marwari delicacy. At some toll booths we found vendors serving fresh freshly peeled and washed radishes and carrots sprinkled with some masala. Wow, that was so refreshing!!
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| Desert shrub - used to prepare the tangy "akde ki goli" |
We arrive at Churu by noon and start with some social meetings. Our driver Babulalji did a great job with navigating our rental Innova through some of the streets that were no more than 12 feet wide. Churu is full of beautiful havelis. The murals (a lot of them gold plated) have quite a few stories to tell. Being our first visit since we got married, Reena and I have a little ceremony at our family temple that completes Reena's induction in the family. Finally we reach our ancestral home. We open up the dusty rooms and appreciate various antique belongings that represent our family's heritage. We admire some pictures of my great grand father in the days of his youth and go back in time.
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| Our home in Churu built about 70 years ago |
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| Ceiling art work in our ancestral haveli |
I recollect spending summer nights on one of the terraces often waking up to peacocks roaming around us. Many havelis like ours, are all characterized by a large open area in the middle and the rooms built around this area. Although this makes going from one room to another in the scorching summer heat or chilly winter nights inconcenient, my dad explains the reason behind this design. Rajasthan has extreme temperatures (Churu has 0 to 50 Celcius) and havelis never had any electronic air conditioning. The flow of air in the open central part of the house alongwith some other design considerations of each room results in every room having a natually regulated temperature. The best example is two rooms on the ground floor in our home, one of which is always cool (even on a June afternoon), and the room right next to it which is always warm (even on a December night)
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| Havelis and narrow lane |
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| Road in Churu |
Thats all the time we have here and in the evening we drive to Sardarshahar, where my mom grew up. Mamaji and mamiji host us for our stay. Again we have a few social visits and then retire for the night.
The temperature drops to a chilling 1.9 Celcius this night. The next morning we enjoy a lovely breakfast, courtesy Mamiji - Laddu, Katli, Mogar and Tikdi (yeh, breakfast..) We also carry some Phini with us - its a speciality of Sardarshahar. In Rajasthani cuisine, we start the meal with the sweets rather than ending with sweets! Mamaji explains that the natural conditions in Rajasthan (dry weather, the water etc.) lead to its inhabitants having a remarkable digestive system. The foods here are very spicy, overloaded with ghee and oil, yet obesity is nowhere to be seen. In general, health problems are rare in Rajasthan - no matter how much of the rich food you consume!
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| Cute rickshaw - the driver stopped to strike a pose :) |
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| Train in Sardarshahar made us wait 30 mins at crossing! |
12th December
We leave for Bikaner. On the way, we stop at Gangashahar to pay our respects to Acharya Shri Mahashramanji, the supreme head of Svetambar Terapanth, a sect of Jainism. He was travelling through Rajasthan and luckily our paths crossed here. We met some family friends in Bikaner after that, where I learnt that Bikaner is famous for its Kachori and Rasgulla - and it was indeed mouth watering! We stopped to visit Junagarh fort and then left for the most anticipated part of the trip - Jaisalmer!
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| Junagarh fort |
13th December
Jaisalmer, was built to be a civilian cum military fort. An entire city thrived within the defenses of the fort. And the city still thrives within the fort today - the only one of its kind in the world. We spent the first night in a heritage hotel - Garh Jaisal, a historic haveli, that is along one of the boundaries of the fort. From our rooms, we could see all of the Golden City, a truly spectacular view.
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| Reena at Garh Jaisal hotel |
The staff had hospitality in their blood - a hallmark of the people of Rajasthan. The state has perhaps the nicest of people to be found anywhere, who take pleasure in "Manwar" - serving and entertaining guests with delight. The warmth puts even a complete stranger at ease very quickly.
The next morning, breakfast was served on the terrace. Fresh and hot parathas, porridge and juice, all prepared on the spot just for us. By now, I was totally in love with the foods of this state.
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| Jaisalmer Fort |
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| Jaisalmer - the Golden City! The golden color is from the local sandstone |
We went walking around in the fort and stopped by the five Jain temples, quite unlike any other I've seen. The temples have in all 6666 idols of the 24 Tirthankars. There were about 5000 Jain families within the fort at one point of time and as most of them left to other parts of India in pursuit of business, they donated their idols to the temples.
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| Intricate sculpting at the Jain Temple |
The markets here were the best we came across, offering splendid artifacts of all kinds as well as garments. Unfortunately, due to recent water supply systems, more water has been used here in the last few decades than the rest of the fort's history. The resulting erosion is putting the future of the fort at risk.
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| He was a real crowd pleaser with his melodious music! |
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| Safa's on sale |
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| Colorful puppets |
Next stop was Patwon ki Haveli. Built by a wealthy merchant, its the most magnificent of all the havelis in Jaisalmer.
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| Patwon Ki Haveli |
After spending some time in the new Jaisalmer (outside of the fort), we left for Sam (pronounced Sum) sand dunes near the Pakistan border. We checked out our lovely tents where we were to camp for the night (remember how cold it is..)
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| Camping in the desert |
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We had a camel safari in the sand dunes, played around in the sand and enjoyed the beautiful sunset. A few Kalbelia dancers and some musicians (I'm guessing they were either Langas or Manganiars) entertained us.
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| Relaxing on the sand! |
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| Fun at the dunes |
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| Folk music |
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| What a sunset! |
We had dinner by the sand dunes accompanied with some more folk performances. Gatta, kair sangri, bajri ki roti and gud were in order!
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| Kalbelia dancers |
14th December
After spending the night in our tents, we headed to Jodhpur, the Blue City.
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| Camels by the roadside feeding on ber (berries) |
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| Artisan on the go with his family to sell hand made grinding machines |
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| Marwari lunch at Manvar Resort |
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Mehrangarh fort, the royal family's residence is the main attraction in Jodhpur. It is 12 stories high and has a great collection of the weapons of the days. The royal family moved from the fort to Umaid Bhavan Palace in the 1940's. The palace is today, one of the largest private residences in the world. A part of the palace is converted to a hotel managed by the Taj group.
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| Jharokha at Mehrangarh fort |
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| Jodhpur - the Blue City |
15th December
We start our journey back to Jaipur. On the way we stop at the Dargah in Ajmer. Ajmer is synonymous with secularism - people of all religions co-exist here peacefully. As this was during Muharram, we witnessed the Taziya or Mourning of Muharram.
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| Colorful sarees |
From Ajmer, we left for Pushkar, to visit the only Brahma temple in the world. We performed prayers at the Pushkar lake, it's quite a mystical place! Stalls serving Dal Bati - another Marwari favorite were lined up all over the place.
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| Pushkar Lake |
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16th December
Sightseeing day for Jaipur! We visit Hawal Mahal (Palace of Winds), Jantar Mantar (an astrological wonder) and City Palace.
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| Hawa Mahal - Palace Of Winds |
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| Sun Dial at the astrological wonder - Jantar Mantar |
The main excursion for the day however, is Amer fort, another fort packed with history and architectural beauty..
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| Splendid Amer fort |
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| Inside Amer |
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| Jal Mahal (Water Palace) |
17th December
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| A great road trip! |
Other than the sightseeing, the last two days have been a lot of fun with Babaji, Barima, cousins and their kids, not to mention the sumptuous home made meals!
We're on our way back, mesmerized with the sights, the hospitality and the foods of Rajasthan. As the plane takes off of the tarmac, I see the city of Jaipur and reminiscing in the events of the last 8 days, I wonder when we'll visit this majestic state again.....
