Padharo Mharo Desh Part 10

    Day 3 of Jaipur (yes we are still only on the third day) had started by stepping back in time into the Abhaneri stepwell followed by the Harshat mata temple and the marvellous complex of Galtaji ( refer parts 8 and 9). Quite unlike us we hadn't eaten till then which was about 3 in the afternoon and  navra's stomach noises were echoing in the car. 😬 So off we went to the much recommended Laxmi Mishtan Bhandar or as it's known LMB. 

         LMB is located right in the centre of the city amidst the old market. It is one of the oldest and most famous Mishtan bhandars of Jaipur and totally lived upto its hype. We hogged on several dishes here like dahi wada, Delhi chaat and more but the stand outs were the thick lassi and ghewar topped with mango rabri. I am drooling even writing about them! 🤤(cleans the phone screen). 

    

          As I was looking at all the varieties to take back home I heard a family talking in Marathi and felt so good. This was the moment I realised I am becoming more Punekar than Mumbaikar because hearing Marathi after three days of Hindi made me all emotional. Goes without saying we had a nice chat with the family mainly about what had we seen and what had they seen because Marathi manus would want Paisa vasool trip. 😎 We ended up deciding to buy edibles to gift from Udaipur yet bought some mishri mawa to stuff ourselves later and some ladoos for our driver who gave us such a big smile 😊 

 

We still had two more locations planned for the day so decided to roam the market the next day. Off we went towards Jal Mahal, but our driver insisted on stopping at a blue pottery shop on the way (he obviously had some commission arrangement here). But it was worth stopping by, the collection was fabulous. Ye baat alag hai that whatever I liked had too many zeroes in it, kya karu choice hee Maya sarabhai jaisi hai par aukaad aur attitude Monisha jaisa! 😅 We did end up buying some stuff mainly for gifting to my dear nieces. I bagged a beautiful fish shaped flowerpot for our home, ab pata chala usme se pani leak ho raha hai! Bolo fish bhi hydrophobic nikla. 😬

           We reached Jal Mahal after this with very low expectations as our driver had already told us there is no entry inside. This was constructed around 1699 not as a palace but a hunting lodge inside the Mansagar lake. A drought led to construction of a dam because of which the lower floors of the Jal Mahal were submerged under water. It's beautiful to look at and everything but there is nothing else to do at the lakeside (which frankly reminded me of Thane ka Talao Pali). 

    

         The lake was surrounded by small vendors selling knicknacks and food stalls. Jal Mahal did give us the most hilarious memory of the entire trip. There were teenagers roaming around with a camera and rajasthani costumes which one can don and get photos clicked at the lake. One of them was pitching the same to us and when we said "nahi yaar nahi karana" he had a final sales pitch- "Madam pehenke toh dekho, Sir ko ekdum Bahubali bana denge!"  I was stunned into silence till Adi started laughing like a maniac and I followed and soon even the salesman followed till the crowd all around us were looking at three mad people laughing like crazy!  🤣

       With our laughter still echoing in the car, next we went to Patrika Gate. This is a massive structure built in pink sandstone and serves as an entrance to the Jawahar Circle garden. Unlike the rest of Jaipur which is more terracota brown than pink, this structure was actually pink. Based on the seven heritage gates ofJaipur, this is a relatively new attraction built by the Patrika group of newspapers and hence is so named. 

        The outside facade is flanked by figures of elephants, horses, and soldiers. On the inside there are gorgeous painted archways, walls and ceilings symbolising Rajasthani culture. This is mainly a photo spot and apart from clicking our own we had a gala time gossiping about and making fun of the pre-wedding shoot people (ofcourse not in front of them, amne samne only compliments were paid).

 

        We were too tired by the end of this packed day and high on our experiences. So we just decided to chill in the park for some time and were treated to a whole baccho ki toli being trained for skating. They were like 4-8 year olds and it was so much fun to see them running around, falling, helping each other up, laughing till snot came out of their noses (that's the best kind of laugh)! As we stepped out of the garden, we came across the typical "tu janta nahi mera baap koun hai" Delhi group which was ragging one of the horse ride renting guys. As I was stepping ahead in full Ma Kali avtar, navra stopped me reminding me he is not actually Bahubali 😬 and they are a group of six huge guys. All we could do is bring it to the attention of a policeman. 

     Enroute to our hotel, we saw the beautifully lit up Albert Hall. (More on the inside of this was in Part 1). I was so tired by now and the injured foot had given up completely, so I didn't even get out of the car to click a pic and navra had to do it. Out of the 15 he clicked I got one which was not out of focus or shaken 😅. Post this we searched around for a washing soap because we had forgotten one despite of the elaborate lists and hotel laundry bill is not something Monisha can digest. 

        We had decided to order room service after the hectic day but thanks to the newly bought sabun ki tikkiya all our underwear was displayed on the varied antique furniture to dry 😬 so we had to go to the hotel's rooftop resturant and bless our chaddis, it was such a romantic experience! Live folk music was playing, a light drizzle fell suffusing the terrace with petrichor, as we sat under a beautiful canopy having some traditional lal maas. 

Watch out for the next part  to know about our last half day at Jaipur, Vande Bharat journey to Udaipur and the Udaipur travelogue. 

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Padharo mharo Desh part 9

 On our way back from Abhaneri with the blessings of Harshad mata and hearts filled with abha (refer previous post in series) we visited the Galtaji temple near Jaipur. We hadn't read about it or seen photos so weren't expecting much and what a wonderful surprise it turned out to be! It's a whole complex of beautiful temples carved into the Aravalli hills, like it literally looks like an ancient town hidden amidst the hills! 

    It was an onslaught on the visual senses, I couldn't figure out where to focus; there were grand pink sandstone temples, intricate carvings, painted ceilings, mythological frescoes, and macaques and langurs so many of them! At the entrance itself we saw several small one can say castles made of bricks and stones like sand castles kids make on beaches. I approached the women making them and asked what are they for but they all just smiled coyly and left from there. Ye mystery aage jake solve hui. (So you have to continue reading 😛)

    Our driver had informed us that this temple is also called "Monkey temple" and warned us the monkeys here are notorious and snatch edibles and even mobile phones but we reached there well into the afternoon and the monkey population was more interested in their afternoon siestas than troubling us (or maybe looking at us they figured ye humari hee biradri ke lag rahe hai so baksh dete hai 😬) 

     The Galta Ji Temple is regarded as a highly sacred pilgrimage place, it was built in the 18th century by Diwan Rao Kriparam, who was an attendant at the court of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II. Near the entrance are two huge haveli like temples of Ram and Krishna but navra decided let's first explore ahead and come back to them. Explore ahead toh batati hun but letting you know how navra was wrong is more important! By the time we came back those magnificent temples were closed for entry because Gods also need to have an afternoon nap! Goes without saying that navra got darshan of Chandika Devi 🤪

        Further inside the complex and a little uphill is the temple dedicated to Galav hrushi, who it is believed did penance here for a thousand years. The Gods then blessed this place with abundance of water directly from the Ganga. There is a natural spring which flows from the top of the hill filling about 7 sacred kundas of which the Galta kunda it is believed has never dried up till date. Pilgrims can wash away their sins in this kunda but goes without saying it was only males bathing in it and faltu ka underwears ka ad dekhna pada! Vaise bhi we women don't have any sins to wash off 😎

           Uphill from Galav hrishi temple, we were told by the locals is a Surya temple with views of entire Jaipur from the top. The injured foot had started making lot of agony filled awaz by then so I decided to sit it out while navra explores the temple. But the locals were having none of that! They sold us on the bike service jisme double seat bethke upar le jayenge. It had been years since I sat on a bike and in the famous words of Shree Baburao Ganpatrao Apte - "mereko toh aisa dhak dhak ho rahela tha"! It was a steep, uphill road and the bikes looked from baba Azam ka zamana. The driver on the whole path up was telling me how he has taken people fatter than me without any mishaps. At this point, my brain couldn't figure out whether to be insulted or relieved. 

         We finally reached the top after the adventurous bike ride, I took some time to walk straight again. We were told this is a wish fulfilling temple and to ask for mannat and come again next year when it's fulfilled. Ab itna budget toh hai nahi to go to same place again next year so we just folded our hands to say thank you and left mannat to SRK. The view though was worth the dhak dhak bike ride! 

     As we saw more stone castles here, this time we asked the bike gang and they explained the belief here that if you want your own makan you build a little one and you will get a large scale version of it! This has turned into a ritual for all mannats, whatever your wish you say it while building a small stone castle but not say anything to anyone to have it fulfilled. This was the reason the local ladies didn't tell us anything as they quietly built their makans. The bike ride down was equally scary, the slope was so steep that the bike was turned off and only gravity took us down. My only mannat was reaching the ground safe with all bones intact (but i smartly asked for this mannat to my own ghar ka bappa).

      On our way out a pujari called us inside the closed temple complex and took us inside a cave like structure. We walked for several minutes in darkness inside a cool, damp place. Needless to say the dhak dhak was back but we finally reached a small Hanuman temple inside the cave. This we were told is called the "Akhand Jyoti" temple because the flame supposedly has been burning for 500 years! 

      As we kept some dakshina there pujari toh full Josh mein aa gaya, a small jhadu was moved over us (I could hardly contain my laughter) and then sacred threads were tied to our wrists. I mean to each his own but we both don't believe in jhadus and threads and such so the whole experience was a little funny. Having said that one does tend to feel spiritual in a dark cave like space with a big jyoti burning there as mantras are chanted making one almost believe it's been aflame for 500 years.

            But bhagwan aur spiritualism ek jagah aur bhook ek jagah! We hadn't had lunch yet so after soaking in the space for a short time we left the land of hidden shrines, intricate carvings, mythological paintings, natural springs, hill top temples, mannat castles and sleeping monkeys to move on our further exploration and food! 

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Padharo mharo Desh part 8

 As I started writing this I realised it's just day 3 of the trip and the first 7 parts described only the first two days! Iss rate se Udaipur ka number anetak shayad next trip ho jaye! Day 3 was a weird mix of a temple full of monkeys, an adventurous bike ride, a pink gate, kids skating, bahubali boy, and much more but it started with us stepping back in the 8th century not inside a palace or a fort this time but a stepwell. 

       Abhaneri stepwell was some distance out of the city and the driver tried to dissuade us a lot saying "kahan firangiyo ka plan follow kar rahe ho, yahan Indian nahi jate". Stubborn headed as I am, I wanted to stick to my plan and thank God we did because it was definitely a hidden treasure and I advice you all or rather command you all to include it in your Jaipur itinerary. The highway was amazing (navra oohed and aahed about it and haat mein driving ki khujli ho rahi thi usko), the landscape was green as opposed to our idea of Rajasthan. 

       Just like at Amer as we reached Abhaneri we were surrounded by firangs with just a few Indian guides in the mix. Driver uncle had a "told you so" smirk on his face whilst I gave him a "so what" hair flip (neck pained for the rest of the day). "Awe" is the only emotion one feels at the first sight of this marvel. Known as "Chand Baori" because it was built by King Chanda in the 8th-9th century, it is one of the oldest, largest and deepest stepwell of India and perhaps the world.

           It has 3500 steps (over 13 stories) that extend about 20 metres into the well and the total depth extends to approximately 100 feet into the ground. It is constructed in an upside down pyramid style. I can't do justice to it with my words, photos dekh lo par asli mein it's even more marvelous. I mean symmetrical, double flight of steps so deep imagine the mathematical precision it would have needed!The design was made with the intention to conserve as much water as possible. It is built out of porous volcanic rocks which enables the water to seep through the stones and reach to the bottom of the well. 

         On one end is a multi-storeyed pavilion with two projecting balconies enshrining sculptures of Mahishasurmardini and Ganesha. It has intricately carved jharokhas and supposedly a stage and sit-in which was used to put on shows in the olden days. The stepwell it's said was not just for conserving water but also a community meeting and entertainment place. Around the well is an arcade where beautifully carved stone idols are exhibited. 

          We didn't hire a guide here because we had read about it and there were information boards but we did do the very middle class thing of tying to overhear other guides as we tactfully strolled towards their groups. Par kya popat hua hai because the very local looking guides were spouting German and Japanese with such élan! All we could understand was that it was German and Japanese. 

       Here are some legends which I read though - folklore says the entire well was built in one night by djinns and further one person has never been able to use the same stairs to go down and come back up, also noone has ever been able to step on the same stairs twice! Ye sab ajmane nahi milta because the well is roped in. 

    After spending considerable time here marveling, eavesdropping and clicking a hundred photos we went to the Harshad Mata temple next to the stepwell. This was built by the same king around the same time in Mahameru style of architecture. Harshad Mata as the name suggests is the Goddess of happiness who spread brightness (abha) around the village and hence it was called "Abhanagari" which later became "Abhaneri". 

   The original temple is believed to have been built in the "panchyatna" style with a central shrine surrounded by four other shrines but it was destroyed and damaged by Ghazni. Nonetheless, what stands today too is beautiful with intricate sculptures all around the exterior niches and inside the temple dome on the ceiling. It does break one's heart to see the sculptures with their faces destroyed. There was some soothing mantra chanting going on and even under the noon sun it was cool inside the temple.

          Abhanagari definitely lived upto its name and we left with our hearts filled with joy and wonder.

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Padharo Mharo Desh part 7

 After running away from Jaigarh due to Bhai's darr (refer previous post) we arrived at Nahargarh jiska naam bhoot ke darr se pada! It is believed that Nahar Singh Bhomia's spirit haunted the place and obstructed construction of the fort so to pacify him a temple was built in his memory and the fort was named "Nahargarh"! 

        The fort was built in 1734 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh, further extended in 1868 and the Madhavendra Bhavan was built by Sawai Madho Singh. But before we reached the main palace we were fooled like most other tourists into seeing the wax museum and fake Sheesh Mahal. The way it's advertised by salesmen there you feel like itne durr aye hai toh dekh hee lete hai aur pocket ka ched bada ho jata hai. The wax museum was a total bor (humare lonavala ka aake dekhiega) but the fake Sheesh Mahal though gaudy does look beautiful with the myriad colored mirrors, even a mirrored floor and ceiling. Par itna paisa deke photu bhi nahi kheechne dete, matlab social media pe dala nahi toh kya hee matlab uss kharche ka (not-so-subtle commentary on my obsession with posting) 

            We got a guide at the Madhavendra Bhavan who first laughed in our faces for falling in the trap of wax museum and Sheesh Mahal. Then he proceeded to test us on what we learnt at Amer and Jaigarh. Navra was more than happy to shining marofy and five mins later these two guys were bffs! 

            The palace had identical suites for the queens and a head suite for the king. There's an optical illusion in the architecture as well, one can see three suites each on the left and right and one at the front from the ground level but from one level above one can count not 7 but 9 identical suites as two are built hidden at the back. As per folklore, the guide said it was built for seven queens and two concubines but as per his knowledge it represents 9 grahas with the two harmful ones been hidden. Whatever the story the place was an architectural marvel! It's a mixture of Hindu, Mughal and European styles. There are some excellent frescoes here. 

              All the suites were linked by corridors and there was a dedicated corridor for the king to move such that no queen would know with whom he is spending the night. Each suite was huge with a room for maids, bedrooms, kitchen, storage areas, modern toilets, different sections for summers and winters and a terrace! There were even symmetrical talking and listening pillars where one can whisper into a pillar at one side and the other person can listen from the pillar at the other side. Goes without saying us kids spent quite some time doing this! 

          The view from the terrace were spectacular, one can see the whole city bathed in the golden light of dusk. After clicking a hundred pics here we remembered our friend Madhura had suggested to go to the Padao restaurant on the fort for viewing the sunset. Phir yahan se dekhe ya wahan se, jaate jaate doob gaya toh aisa faltu discussion was had and finally we ran (langdat) towards Padao and got a lovely table right near the wall of the fort! The view was fantabulous and we ordered chai, pakodas whilst clicking a hundred pics again. After the initial enthusiasm lowered I picked up the universally hated smell of a public toilet which was as we then learnt right below our lovely table 😬 matlab pata tha sab kuch itna acha woh bhi humare saath thodi na ho sakta hai! 

              As I was cribbing a little (a lot) about the smell saying probably we should have waited on the palace terrace Adi showed me the sunset scene from "Yeh Jawani hai Deewani" where Dipika's character tells Ranbir's character "kitna bhi try karlo Bunny life mein kuch na kuch toh chootegahi so jahan hai wahi ka mazza lete hai na" while they sit on a fort wall, overlooking the city, watching a sunset in Rajasthan! It was so perfect, the timing, the setting, the sentiment that I fell a little more in love with navra 🥰

          Sunsets I still feel are best on the beach but this gave tough competition! There were about 5-6 colorful kites swaying in the clouds as if the kids there were putting up a special show for us. As it turned darker and lights were lit, another show was put up - stars twinkled above in the sky and below the city twinkled! A couple of beers were had, cool breeze was felt, re-falling in love was happening, as some fine urinary smell permeated the atmosphere 😬

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Padharo mharo Desh Part 6

After walking on badals (refer previous blog), with our eyes shining from the resplendent Sheesh Mahal of Amer Palace, and a short stop to fill our tummies the next stop was Jaigarh fort. Just like Hawa Mahal we were told nothing to see here but a big ass canon but just like Hawa Mahal kahani kuch aur hee thi and "aya hun toh sab dekhke jaunga" attitude drew us towards a security guard who quite happily became our guide and walked us through the bhulbhullaiya that's Jaigarh. Amer was the royal residence whereas Jaigarh, built by Mirza Raja Jai Singh was for the military, overlooking Amer Palace and guarding it. There's a secret passageway connecting the two from where the royalty would come in times of threat. It was also used as a summer spot owing to its altitude. 

One of the main attraction here is the world's biggest cannon on wheels called "Jaivan" cannon. During the reign of Shah Jehan, Jaigarh was the most important cannon foundries due to abundance of iron ore mines near the fort. The Jaivan canon weighs approximately 50 tonnes and is 31 feet long. It is said that over 100kgs of gunpowder was needed to fire it through which a 50 kg cannonball is fired. The recoil itself is four feet. Having said all this, it was never used in any actual battle as the Rajputs of Amer had a friendly relationship or rather compromise with the Mughals. It is said it was fired once and the cannonball landed 35 kms away where a small lake was created by the impact. The cannon itself is beautifully decorated for a weapon of mass destruction! It has motifs of elephants, peacocks, birds, and a lotus motif frames the mouth of the barrel (the symbolism speaks for itself in our current times, I hardly need to give any commentary)

After clicking a hundred pics of the cannon thinking aur kuch toh hai nahi yahan, we met the security guard with his lambi mucche and the cutest smile contradicting the harsh mucche. I was ready to walk with him even if there was nothing to see but the fort was massive with beautifully kept gardens, watch towers , queen residences, dinning halls with life sized statues depicting the food and clothes of yore. There were statues showing the village life as well and the views, oh the views from the top were magnificent! One can see the fort's wall to the Amer Palace and it's gardens to the old city. We were under the burning sun but the breeze at that height was so soothing that I stopped bothering about it messing my curls and making it look like a "gharta". We were given a lot of information about the water harvesting and storage of this fort which was highly advanced for those times with artificial lakes and tanks been created, I remember the mention of one undeground tank which could store 6 million gallons of water! 

As we were getting out of the fort, a huge stage was been set up and there was a lot of shooting equipment around, when enquired someone said Salman Bhai ka shoot honewala hai. Hearing the words 

"Salman Bhai" and "shoot" in one sentence we concluded it was time to leave. 🏃🏃🏃

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