Hill Forts of Rajasthan

[RooFlyer]

Just as I came out of my room going to breakfast, a troop of black-face monkeys traversed across the hotel:

 

[RooFlyer]

The destination today was the Jain temple at Ranakpur, said to be one of the largest and finest of the Jain temples.

Admission payable, and an audioguide is available.





It was began about 1389 and finished well into the next century. Although not obvious from the pic, the temple is constructed as a number of pavilions around a central shrine, with many finely carved pillars. No to pillars are the same.

 

[RooFlyer]

A few more carvings ...











We then drove onto Udaipur, famed for its situation on Lake Pichola. A few sights along the way:







My hotel, the Jagat Niwas is inaccessible by car at this time of day (too narrow streets, too much traffic and on foot), so we parked a few km away and tuk-tuked it.

 

[RooFlyer]

We originally tried to book the 'Chunda Palace', which @Jacques Vert stayed at, but it was full with a wedding, so the Jagat Niwas it was. Right on the lake, with my room overlooking the lake (abt A$300/night)





View from the office That's the famed Lake Palace Hotel If you wonder how much it costs, you can't afford it.



Around my hotel:

 

[RooFlyer]

This is the type of view all breakfasts should have:

Or, in a more static way:









Then it was time for a tour of Udaipur with a local guide.

First stop, the Jagdish temple, very close to the hotel. It was completed in 1651 and has been in use since then.



I'm afraid i can't enlighten too much more, other than this carving, which you see variations of in most temples of the kind, represents the progression of re-incarnation from the wild spirits at the base, thorough animals to humans on the upper rows. I've probably dreadfully misrepresented the stories, so any clarification welcomed.

 

[RooFlyer]

Then to the City Palace, an enormous series of structures on the shore of Lake Pichola (which is an artificial empoundment). The palace was begun in the mid-1500s and was added to over the next 400 years. Maharana Udai Singh II inherited Chittor as his capital (visiting that tomorrow), but after many attacks by the Muslim Mughals of the north, he shifted his capital to this site, and began afresh. From Wikipedia:

The Mewar kingdom was flourished initially in Nagda (30 kilometres to the north of Udaipur), established in 568 AD by Guhil, the first Maharana of Mewar. In the 8th century, the capital was moved to Chittor, a hilltop fort from where the Sisodias and Choudharys ruled for 800 years. Maharana Uday Singh II inherited the Mewar kingdom at Chittor in 1537 but by that time there were signs of losing control of the fort in wars with the Mughals. Udai Singh II, therefore, chose the site near Lake Pichola for his new kingdom as the location was well protected on all sides by forests, lakes and the Aravalli hills. He had chosen this site for his new capital, much before the sacking of Chittor by Emperor Akbar, on the advice of a hermit he had met during one of his hunting expeditions.

After Udai Singh’s death in 1572, his son Maharana Pratap took the reins of power at Udaipur. However, he was defeated by the Mughal emperor Akbar at the Battle of Haldighati in 1576 and Udaipur fell under the Mughal rule.[13] After the death of Akbar, Mewar was given back to Maharana Pratap's son and successor Amar Singh I by Jahangir.[14][15]However, the Mughal army sent many expeditions against the Mewar empire, culminating in a peace treaty between both rulers.

But with the increasing Marathas attacks by 1761, Udaipur and the Mewar state were in dire straits and in ruins. By 1818, Maharana Bhim Singh signed a treaty with the British accepting their protection against the other empires. After the Indian independence in 1947, the Mewar Kingdom, along with other princely states of Rajasthan, merged with the democratic India, in 1949. The Mewar Kings subsequently also lost their special royal privileges and titles. The successive Maharanas, however, retained their ownership of the palaces in Udaipur and converted parts of the palace complex into heritage hotels.

Indeed, there are two hotels within the palace complex, as well as being the residence of the current Maharana and the public areas, which is the museum that can be visited. the pics will be somewhat random - you can't get an overall sense of the complex, as its so big, with much off-limits to the pblic, although the view from the lake a bit later will help a bit.

This part of the palace is built around a hill - hence the solid lower wall.





Every good palace needs an elephant ?rolling station - or five and pegs to tie your elephants up on.



This gives an idea of the size of the joint - what I've just photographed is at the far right.




This kingdom worshipped the sun. When it wasn't sunny, you obviously couldn't worship, so the Maharana had this one made for when it wasn't sunny (plus he had made a private one for his own worship):



Inside the palace, with the trees growing on the top of the hill that is enclosed by it.





in the middle distance, at the left you can see the temple we visited first.



A photo of the palace complex; again, the area being visited first is at the right.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just a number of shots within the Palace/museum:

Elephants were used in battles, trained to carry swords with their trunks and slash enemy horses. A defence was to 'disguise' the horses as elephants:





Unfortunately the air quality started to deteriorate from about mid day and would be poor tomorrow until the end of the trip. Taj Lake Palace Hotel:



The Maharana's personal sun replica to worship to:





After the Palace museum we made our way down to the waterfront for a lake cruise. Our vessel:



I don't think it was called Monrovia, or even registered there!!



Going down part of the Palace complex - the museum part, built around the hill, to the left.

My hotel, the Jagat Niwas; my room top right corner.

 

[RooFlyer]

More of the cruise:

We went past the Taj Lake Palace (hotel), seen in pics above, but the destination was Jag Mandir, an island and palace created between 1551 and 1650 by three successive Maharanas. It was also made famous in the James bond film Octopussy The lake was created at this time also. this entry from Wikipedia notes the connection between the Jag Mindir and the Taj Mahal:

Jag Mandir's history begins with the Maharana Karan Singh's benevolence shown to Emperor Shahjahan (1605–1627). Shahjahan, before he was crowned as Mughal Emperor, was known during his young days as Prince Khurram. As Khurram, he rebelled against his father Emperor Jahangir in 1623, because he wanted to be the heir to the Mughal throne. Faced with the danger of getting thwarted in his campaign, he sought refuge in the Mewar Kingdom at Udaipur where he was given safe haven by the then Maharana Karan Singh (it is said that this courtesy was extended because Khurram's mother was a Rajput Hindu lady). He was initially kept in the City Palace along with his wife Mumtaz Mahal and his two sons, Prince Dara and Prince Aurangzeb. Later they were shifted to the Gul Mahal, as a safe refuge, in the midst of the lake (this place since then has also been called Khurram's Palace). Gul Mahal is a domed pavilion that was specially built for Khurram by Maharana Karan Singh. It was later enlarged by his son Jagat Singh into a huge palace and named as the Jag Mandir Palace. Khurram remained under Mewar's protection during 1623–1624.

The palace had such an impact on Prince Khurram who later became Emperor Shah Jahan that it went on to become the inspiration for one of the most magnificent Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Lake Palace hotel:



Landing spot at the Jag Mandir:





The place's attraction as a wedding venue is pretty obvious:

 

[RooFlyer]

I settled down to watch the sunset ... and as the evening drew on, the hippies sidled in.

 

[RooFlyer]

The next day marked the start of my return to Delhi, over a couple of days. I was originally going to fly after a day touring the district, but decided to take the car, since I'd be charged for the drive back anyway!




The air quality was poor today and the next day. That's the sacrifice you make for cooler conditions at that time of year. Delhi gets foggy and the surrounding area can get smog/light fog.



The highway between Udaipur and Delhi has many stretches of construction. As the road goes through villages, they demolish houses either side to make way for 4 lanes and the current traffic wends its way through the construction as best it can. Sections are begun and seemingly just stop in mid-construction ... I was told that depending on who gets elected, road upgrades in certain areas proceed or stop. This was near the turn-off to Udaipur airport - which if you ever have to use it, is a good 60 minutes out of the city. No current work going on here - its just abandoned, mid-project.



I mentioned up-thread that most of the highways are tolled. The tolled road system is moving to e-tags in about 10 days from my trip. Any car has been able to use any lane up to today - but today they started restricting cash payers to just a few of the lanes, so it was pretty slow (we didn't have a tag). When it is fully implements, it will be tag ONLY, except for 1 lane per barrier, and it will cost double if you pay cash.



The main attraction today is Chittorgarh, or, strictly the fort at Chittor. Its one f the largest forts in India and World Heritage (a number of the others are WH too; I just forgot to mention it). From Wikipedia:

It sprawls over a hill 180 m (590.6 ft) in height spread over an area of 280 ha (691.9 acres) above the plains of the valley drained by the Berach River. The fort precinct has several historical palaces, gates, temples and two prominent commemorative towers.

Beginning in the 7th century, the fort was controlled by the Mewar Kingdom. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the fort was ruled by Paramara dynasty. In 1303, the Turkic ruler of Delhi, Alauddin Khalji defeated Rana Ratan Singh's forces at the fort. In 1535 Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat, defeated Bikramjeet Singh and took the fort. In 1567 Akbar defeated Maharana Udai Singh II's troops. The fort's defenders sallied forth to charge the attacking enemy but yet were not able to succeed. Following these defeats, the women are said to have committed jauhar or mass self-immolation. The rulers, soldiers, noblewomen, and commoners considered death preferable to the mass rape and pillaging that was thought to occur following to surrender to the Sultanate forces.

Yes, jauhar again - more of it later. The fort was abandoned in the 16th Century after these multiple attacks and sackings by the Muslim forces of India, and the capital was moved to what is today Udaipur.

The fort occupies this hill, unfortunately you can't see it very well.



A bit closer, just a section. its massive.



As with other forts, you go up the hill through a series of switch-backs and gates.



View of the town from the top of the hill/fort:

 

[RooFlyer]

The fort was abandoned in the 16th century, so you'd expect that most of it is ruins, which is what turned out. In fact it was surprising how much was left.

Royal Palace and surrounds:







Next, a Jain temple Tulja Bhvani dating from the 16th century:

 

[RooFlyer]

Moving right along, one of the highlights, the Vijaya stamha, or Tower of Victory. It was constructed in 1448 to commemorate a military victory and to be used as a lookout. It is, generically a Kirti stamha, or 'Tower of Fame' and it gets confused with another tower in the fort. Its 37 metres high and can be climbed, although I didn't, put off by the crowds and the fact that the steps are very high!









There are temples nearby, which I didn't bother with, but near the tower are a couple of square features which don't look much, but at the tops of the now in-filled jauhar pits - where great fires would be lit and the women and children would sacrifice themselves by the thousands when the fall of the fort was imminent. They are the rectangular features in these pics:





There are a number of reservoirs in the fort complex - this one is fed by a spring:

 

[RooFlyer]

A view to another reservoir, with a palace building in it ...





This is the Kirti Stambah, or Tower of Fame, a 22m tower on the other side of the hill, built by a Jain merchant in the 12th Century.



Of course there is a Jain temple nearby -





And that wrapped it up for Chittor Fort. We had a long drive ahead and I must admit I was flagging in respect of temples and forts.



We stopped for a stretch and again, i was amazed at the productiveness of random ground next to the highway:




Destination this day was my hotel near Pushkar. Late in the day we circled around the lake at Ajmer

 

[RooFlyer]

The hotel in Pushkar I booked myself - the Horizon Brahma Hotel, a modern one. I'm guessing was among 5 guests in the hotel that night. Everyone was very attentive - the 2 guys on the reception desk shot to attention every time I walked through the lobby. Upgraded to a suite:







View:



Pushkar wasn't part of my arranged tour, but my driver, ever obliging, agreed to take me down to the lake for a quick view. Its a pilgrimage site for Hindus and Sikhs with bathing in the lake, and offering prayers and gift.



My driver warned me not to accept any flowers, and to avoid religious scammers. Of course I forgot and accepted a marigold from a nice lady. That seemed OK, but then a self-appointed holy man came up to me and started the hard sell. I mean really hard sell. I asked then told him with more and more force to go away etc etc, but he wouldn't let up. Eventually he took it upon himself to do the flower devotion thing and toss onto the lake himself, and then asked for a 500 rupee donation. When I refused, and walked away, the best way to describe his reaction was that he went 'ape-cough'. For a few moments I felt pretty threatened, but by that time had made it back to where quite a few people were, and then where the car was.

other than that it was quite nice, but it was just a 'hit and run' visit - there was lots more to see, but we had to hit the road again.







Pushkar is a major hippie destination ...

 

[Jacques Vert]

Enjoying the TR Rooey. Takes me back to our trip in 2018!

 

[RooFlyer]

We headed for Jaipur to see Magan, the tour organiser and to pay for the tour and hotels. Some more 'sharing' of the road. I think we can squeeze in there, somewhere:



Magan has been unwell and is currently holed up on the top floor bedroom of an unfinished 3 level house in Jaipur.



His view:





I'd been to Jaipur before, so there were no tourist stops, just everyday scenes:








Tonight's hotel was the Neemrena Fort Hotel. As with some of the other places, the approach to the hotel was through some pretty uninviting back-streets. You'd never get a coach up there.



Entrance to the fort



First sight - this wasn't half of it ...

 

[RooFlyer]

As the name implies, the hotel is a converted fort - actually more than that - half is the old fort, the other half is built new.

This is a place where you definitely don't want to carry your bags. After reception, it was probably 150m and umpteen steps and ramps to the room. Best let the young man do what he does:





To be honest, the room was a bit grotty in detail. But it is occupying a straight-out 15th century fort, so one can't have everything.







View:



Terrace:

 

[VPS]

I'm not sure I want to ask why there was a bucket and jug - if it's gross just ignore the comment

 

[samh004]

We originally tried to book the 'Chunda Palace', which @Jacques Vert stayed at, but it was full with a wedding

Hilariously, that is where my sister and mother are winging their way to right now, via a few nights in Delhi. My sisters friend is having a wedding there this coming weekend.

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm not sure I want to ask why there was a bucket and jug - if it's gross just ignore the comment

Yes, I was wondering too. I assumed for anyone who wanted to bathe sitting down. Sit on the white thing, collect water in the bucket, ladle it over yourself with the jug.