Trip to Jaipur, Udaipur & Chittorgarh

I and my wife were thinking of a short break from the hectic life of Delhi. Visit to our dream city of Udaipur immediately occurred to the mind and visit to pink city of Jaipur was the obvious choice. So obtained train reservations for journey. Hotel reservations were also made for two nights each at Jaipur and Udaipur. For the visit we prepared bags with summer clothes, medicines routine as well as preventive medicines for fever, loose motions etc.

About 20 km from Jaipur is Chokhi Dhani an ethnic village based on culture of Rajasthan. Here we enjoyed rides of camel, elephant. Tempting Daal baati churma, Bajra roti & other Rajasthani food were tasted.  Throughout evening we were entertained with live performances by the artists with folk dance, music, aerobics on bamboos and puppet shows. Besides shopping of articles based on Rajasthan culture in the complex we saw persons taking services of fortune-tellers. It was really a memorable evening.

In the morning visited Hawa Mahal a five storied building with more than 

150 decorated Jharokhas (windows) built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. The monument is surrounded by markets antiques, quilts etc. Other famous markets of Jaipur for pottery, wood, brass work, tie & dyed sarees/dress material are Johri Bazaar and M I Road (Mirza Ismail Road).

City Palace is quite near to Hawa Mahal. Entry to the monument was from 9.30 AM to 4.45 PM with fees only. We went through Diwane-Aam and Diwane Khas overlooking beautiful gardens in fort. Collection of costumes, weapons were also on display.

Another monument in the same vicinity is Jantar Mantar with timings from 9 AM to 4.30 PM & entry was on fee. This observatory was built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh (2^nd) for measuring time, tracking movements of constellation and stars. This is a marvellous piece of architecture of erstwhile era.

Jal Mahal is a lovely place to see on the outskirts of city within a lake by the side of road with a small garden for relaxing.

Amer Fort is another worth seeing monument at Jaipur built by Raja Man Singh in red stone & white marble pavilion. Its reflection in lake at the foot of hill gives a beautiful sight to the visitors.

Jaigarh Fort is at the top of a hill built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh. Here one big canon on wheels is installed. Timing of visit to fort was 10 AM to 4.45 PM. It was informed that there was a canon foundry inside fort of erstwhile era.

During Jaipur visit Albert Musuem and Laxmi Narain Temple are also worth visiting places. Here we stayed at Hotel Umaid Bhawan. Considering their service, upkeep, food and cleanliness we rate the hotel at 4 on the scale of 5.

Udaipur has many lakes and is also popularly known as city of lakes. City has been named after its founder Maharana Udai Singh. 

Lake Pichola is very big and main lake of city as all lakes merge in this. Lake has a number of Ghats around it. One has to take motor boat for enjoying its beauty. We also took ride in motor boat which already had 20 persons. Lake Palace was built by former ruler on Jag Niwas Island in Lake Pichola. This palace has now been converted into a five star hotel being operated by Taj Hotel of Tata Group. 

Fateh Sagar Lake is within Lake Pichola and is big enough for ride on motor boat. Our boat also passed through this lake and took a brief halt at Nehru Garden within lake and is full of greenery, flowers of various varieties. It was inaugurated in 1967 on the birth anniversary of beloved first Prime Minister of India late Jawahar Lal Nehru. City Palace is also on the banks of Lake Pichola exhibiting traditional furniture and antiques. Karni Mata Temple (a female sage) on Malcha hill between to mountains on the bank of Lake Pichola. This hill is also connected by a ropeway from Deen Dayal Park at Doodh Talai at the other end. Timing of ropeway is from 8 AM to 9 PM. 

Jagdish Temple is also worth visiting beside Last Breathing Point, at the place Chetek the famous horse of Maharana Pratap died. Even today people give regards to the horse at this place. 

A beautiful garden is at this place. Sahelion-ki-Bari built by erstwhile rulers for their personal use with fountains and four pillars in black marble by the side of a pond along with one in white marble at its centre. Each pillar has images with water coming from fountains on terraces. A very good collection of dolls, dresses, musical instruments are at Bhartiya Lok Kala Kendra.

 In evenings there are beautiful live cultural and puppet shows by artists.

One of the famous religious places at the outskirts of Udaipur is Nathdwara. It is believed that fearing invasion of Goverdhan (at Mathura) by foreign invader Aurangzeb, the priest of temple took the idol of Lord Shrinath Ji to Mewar and was installed at this place by Maharana Raj Singh. Devotees in large numbers offer prayers at this place believing as if they are praying at Goverdhan.

There are a number of temples around Udaipur but Ek Ling Ji is a unique temple with marvellous architecture about 25 km on the outskirts of Udaipur towards Chittaur (also known as Chittaurgarh). This is a double storied temple of Lord Shiva made from hard rock at Kailashpuri & enclosed by long walls. Here shiv ling has four faces i.e. Rudra (Shiva), Vishnu, Surya (Sun) and Brahma with Linga at the centre. Ek Ling Ji is considered to be the deity of the then rulers of Mewar. Idol of Parvati  Ji beside three idols of Nandi Ji (in silver, brass and stone) are also in this temple.

Chittaur was the capital of Mewar under Rajputs with seven gates known as Pols. 

Three main pols are Ram Pol, Hanuman Pol and Ganesh Pol. Chittaur was invaded a number of times by Allauddin Khilji, a Muslim invader, as he coveted Maharani Padmini. Ultimately Maharani Padmini and other women of Chittaur collectively committed suicide (Jauhar) to escape Khilji as he had laid siege of the fort and supplies of essential items ran out of stocks. 

Chittaur Fort is at the higher place with trench all along it, making it impregnable for the outsiders. Thus the erstwhile rulers lived in this fort which is in a big area enclosed with high walls, wide enough for patrolling by mounted soldiers. Kirti Stambh – Adinath temple belonging to Jainism sect, Maharani Padmini’s palace, 

Vijay Stambh – a nine storied monument built by Maharana Kumbha to commemorate his victory over Muslims, near to this tower is Kumbha’s Palace at this place Udai Singh (founder of Udaipur) was born. Museum in the fort is worth visiting.       

Trip for Ajmer, Pushkar & Abu

Ajmer is one of the religious places in India, just 400 km from Delhi and visited by a large number of people from all walks of life throughout the year, so we decided of starting our pilgrimage from this holy city. From here Pushkar city is 15 km and Mt. Abu is about 360 km. Both these places were also added to our itinerary. After train reservations, hotels were booked for two days at Ajmer & for three days at Mt. Abu for me and my wife. One day extra was kept for hill resort to enjoy its beauty. Two bags were packed with summer clothes for Ajmer, while winter clothes for Abu.  

A tomb of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty is at Ajmer and popularly known as Ajmer Sharif or Dargaha Sharif. The shrine is commonly called as Khwaja Garib Nawaz. In the evening a handful of visitors were at Dargaha during Ramzan-the holy month in which Muslims observe fast, so this is the best period for 

visiting the shrine. Due to security concerns camera and mobile phones are not allowed inside the tomb, while shoes can be left in shop outside Dargaha. Nearby is Dhai Din-ka-Jhopra-ruins of a mosque stated to have been built in two & half days. Soni Ji ki Nasiyan-

a Digamber Jain temple depicting their tradition in gold lined figures is also in same vicinity.

Pushkar is a holy city surrounded by lakes from three sides while sand on the fourth side and famous for temple of Lord Brahma, the creator of universe. It is believed that some petals of Lotus flower were dropped by Brahma Ji while flying over this place & a lake emerged from these petals. Brahma Ji had to conduct Yagna at this place for which presence of his consort was necessary. But his wife was not with him, so he married a Gujjar girl. During the Yagna,

consort of Lord Brahma came and cursed him that he (Brahma) will not be worshiped. Around the lake are more than 150 ghats. This lake is considered to be as holy as Lake Mansarover near Mount Kailash and a dip here is equal to visit of four Dhams, thus known as Tirath Raj. Pind dan are also performed at this place in memory of their beloved ones. Pushkar city is full of temples, but Varha (Vishnu) Temple, Savitri (Parvati) Temple and Mahadev Temple are worth visiting.

Mt. Abu is about 30 km road drive from Abu Road Station through hilly track & dense forest. The road was in good condition and night driving was full of excitement as we were told that bear can be seen on this road. 

Mt. Abu is the only hill station of Rajasthan in about 230 km area and declared as protected area. Nakki Lake is the main attraction of this hill station. Source of this lake is rain water. At the time of our visit boating was stopped in lake due to low water level, yet there was no dearth of natural beauty all around. Our hotel Lake Palace was just opposite this lake giving the perfect picturesque scenic view of lake and its surroundings. Morning view was such a beauty as if our room was on cloud. Location of hotel, food, service, upkeep and its environment force us to rate the hotel as the perfect place to spend holidays and we give it full marks. We wished to have spent some more days at this place.

Headquarter of Brahm Kumari sect at this place is in a big area. In the prayer hall 1000 persons can gather at a time. Unique thing about this hall is that there are no pillars to support its ceiling and known as Universal Peace Hall.  It is believed that water is coming from the mouth of cow at

Gomukh Temple. Idols of Cow, Lord Rama, Guru Vashisht, Lord Krishna and Nandi are in this temple.
At Lover’s Point nature has carved the mountain rocks in arch shape. Dilwara Temple is a temple with brilliant Jain statues. Nemi Nath Temple is also temple of Jain sect. It is believed that Lord Shiva put thumb of his foot at Achleshwer Temple to stop the earth going into neither world (i.e. Patal). Now a pit is at this place. Guru Shikhar is the highest point of Rajasthan at 5676 ft. 

Temple of Guru Datta Treya – incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva is at this peak. According to one belief divine trinity gave themselves in form of son named Datta Treya to Rishi Atri and his wife Ansuya. One can reach this peak by stairs or palkis. In the evening there was great rush, as if whole of Mt. Abu was at that place, to see sun set at Sun Set Point

on the other end of Nakki Lake. Shopping of almost all articles e.g. antiques, clothes, crafts can be made from Chacha Musuem.