Jaipur and Pushkar - desert jewels of Rajasthan!
Trip Start
Mar 21, 2009
1
13
39
Trip End
Mar 20, 2010
Pushkar,
Rajasthan,
India
Saturday, May 16, 2009
After a couple of hours after arrival, I was ready to see the town and first made my way to Jantar Mantar (1728): an observatory which houses a large display of what looks like modern art sculptures. But on closer inspection, these whole ranges of carefully constructed objects are methods of calculating time, eclipses and the determined astrological star signs. It was impressive. I went on to the Royal Gaitor: stunning architectural buildings housing the interred remains of Hindu Maharajah Jai Singh II, his 2 sons (aged 17 & 20) who died from typhoid or malaria and tiny tombs of 14of the family’s small children. These cenotaphs were splendidly carved thro’out, which was surprising considering the low focus of interest they receive. We stopped by the Water Palace, passing the Nahargarh (Tiger Fort), overlooking the city from its northern ridge. This was the first Indian city I’d seen with hills!! The Water Palace has 3 storeys showing above the water line (including a roof garden with trees) but it actually has 5 floors, including 2 underground, designed to keep the place cool. It’s presently being revamped for tourism.
After a quick peep at the process of block printing with vegetable dyes (an old local process very much being revived at present), I visited the Temple of the Sun God (aka the Monkey Temple) in Galta (2.5kms away). This involved a 200m climb to see amazing views of the entire city, altho’ I was a little uneasy at the number of beggars, a woman thrusting a large snake at me and a number of young men who looked quite menacing. It wasn’t a busy temple, so there were few people around on the ascent and descent. I was glad to be back on terra firma at the bottom and even happier when I returned to the city and enjoyed a good North Indian thali for 35 rupees (73 to the pound). I’m still a little wary where I eat, but I’m eating more and more in very local eateries now. The food is half the price of the same meals in more touristy restaurants and I’m mixing with the people I came here to see/
A cut in electricity during the night (2 hours and quite common) meant the fan died and perspiration went into overload! After a second shower within an hour, I rushed out to find some warm wind to cool me down. The local buses helped, as they have no windows and I needed to take 2 to get to Amber Fort and Palace. Amber used to the ancient capital of Jaipur and, altho’ still housing a sizeable population, has a splendid fort and palace set in the hillside. This is Rajput area, where maharajahs reigned and M’a Salwai Jai Singh II founded Jaipur (ie was the warrior/astronomer who had Jantar Mantar built), moving from cramped Amber. This looked really impressive on arrival and didn’t disappoint at all. From the road, the whole complex looks a monster, taking a commanding slice of the surroundings. In the palace grounds below the fort were outer meeting room areas, separated for men and women and a roof garden that used to grow saffron, on the top of a structure in the middle of a huge lake. There was also an impressive 3-tier water system for the palace.
Thro’ the palace exterior walls, there was a huge courtyard and horse stables – all designed for the army’s constant presence on the premises. There was the usual Diwan-i-Am (public hall), followed by the Diwan-i-Khas (private hall), with the Val Mandir (Hall of Victory) resplendent in beautiful carvings, all inlaid with glass/mirror fragments reflecting light. There were large hooks around the underside of archways and ceilings, demonstrating how veiled and heavy curtains provided discretion over the arches. There were lovely carved flowers & butterflies in pietra dura marble around the base of the pillars and walls, with an intricately designed ceiling. The Summer Palace was located overhead and altho’ very beautifully designed, wasn’t open to the public. The Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure) opposite, was where guests would take refreshment and ladies could discreetly watch the activities of the men in Sukh Niwas, as they were cooled by the water engineering feats (originally designed by the Persians), where water channels ran thro’ the building. Beaded curtains made from grasses also had water trickling down them from water channels above, which aided guest cooling when the wind would gently blow the cooler vapours thro’ the grasses.
I managed a peek into the Summer Palace, which also had lovely inlaid panels/mirrors, and saw the nearby dance area on the roof, where monthly family dances (ie for the M’a and his 12 wives and children!). There were impressive-looking octagonal watchtowers with amazing views close by. A fourth courtyard for M’a Man Singh contained 12 separate apartments for his wives and had his own palace in the corner of the courtyard, where he would call for a selected wife to attend him. Both the M’a and his senior wife used hand-pulled wheelchairs (I was told they weren’t infirm), so ramps had been built everywhere, including thro’ some of the cool, inner passageways. There was a clear infusion of Hindu &Muslim architectural designs here, with Persian gardens alongside and clearly reinforced the religious tolerance that was so apparent in the 15th to 17th centuries.
The servants’ quarters, kitchens, a welcome window (centrally located in an overhead bridge building) surrounded by latticed marble and hammams (baths) could all be seen here, along with several Hindu temples Jai Singh had built in Amber town. This was a huge complex and very grand in its day. Amber Fort sat above the palace area and was started by M’a Man Singh (the Rajput commander of Akbar’s army in 1592). Apparently a goat used to be sacrificed at the small Kali temple every day from the 16th century until 1980 when the practice was finally outlawed!! I could have walked up to the fort itself and would have done, but a number of locals said there wasn’t much to see there and I’d see more in the nearby old town. So in addition to seeing this fantastic fort complex, I also enjoyed the old backstreets and alleyways of Amber.
I returned to see the City Palace in Jaipur, first seeing the impressive Hawa Mahal. It’s also an imposing high, salmon-pink sandstone building (1799), built by M’a Sawaj Pratap Singh so that his royal ladies could discreetly watch daily life and festivals from behind discreet shutters placed over tiny windows. Like Amber, the City Palace is a fusion of Rajasthan and Mughal architecture, altho’ the Mubarak Mahal (Welcome Palace) combines Islamic, European & Rajput styles. At its rear, the M’a Sawai Man Singh II museum contains an array of royal clothing, including polo outfits & headgear (incl turbans). Also displayed were gowns (including the gargantuan 250kg M’a Sawai Madho Sing I’s robe – he was 12m wide!), Kashmiri pashmina shawls and the maharani's (female consort of the M’a) royal outfits and traditional jewellery.
The armoury, located in the original quarters of the maharanis, looked really impressive, but was totally lost on someone so ignorant & disinterested, other than the variety of ivory, leather, jade & other beautiful gunpowder containers. There were fantastic gold-inlaid & mirrored ceilings, but like so many places in India now, interior photography is no longer permitted. The usual Diwan-i-Am and Diwan-i-Khas audience buildings held manuscript collections and 2 colossal silver containers respectively. Madho Singh II, being a devout Hindu, unbelievably had them made to contain Ganges holy water, to accompany him while he was in England. They’re supposedly the largest such objects in the world!
Pretty gates (under restoration) reflecting the 4 seasons, could be found in the Pitam Niwas Chowk courtyard. Behind this building is the Chandra Mahal private palace. In a final huge reception hall, India’s largest chandelier sits above a huge length of worn Persian carpet, headed by the M’a 'throne seat’. All is flanked by a framed chronology of maharajahs thro’ the ages, with several Hindu pictures in between. Many other beautiful objects were on display and I spent some time studying the family tree and fine porcelain etc before returning to the busy roundabout nearby and getting a local bus back to the station (near my local eatery and hotel). It was here that I bought a local SIM card so that I could keep in touch with the family back home and quickly text everyone the number. Stewart was to ring me back shortly afterwards and it was great to have a good chat and catch up on all the local news! But it was also time to move on. I’d really enjoyed my visit here, especially Amber Fort, but the old Pink City also had a special appeal.
A 9.30am bus to Pushkar got me to the town/village at 2.30pm and I was immediately taken to a nice room in a family home. I was so excited to be here, as this was an impulsive extra visit, due to its strong recommendations by a fellow tourist couple. I took a long walk thro’ this really quaint town and thought it lovely! It’s just a great little place right on the edge of the desert, where camels pull carts and little alleyways cluster round Pushkar Lake. There are over 500 small temples here (some tiny shrines in the alleyways), with a Brahma temple said to be one of the few in the world. I absolutely loved it here and went to a tourist restaurant to eat (there were no local eateries to be found – only snack bites which I loved). It was fantastic to be able to have a tofu vegetable salad, a mango lassi (lassi drinks very popular in India) and a delicious fruit salad. Unfortunately salads of any kind aren’t good to eat in restaurants here, as they’ve usually been washed in local water, but this was a tourist restaurant, where all food is rinsed in mineral water. What a joy to be able to eat 'light’ food!!
The following day I actually indulged myself with admin, sewing, shopping and walking around the town. I had more nice meals and spent a few hours on the internet, but didn’t actually visit anywhere! Quite something for me!! So I was keen to get up early the following day and rose at 6am. My first stop was the Jagatpita Shri Brahma Mandir – Pushkar’s biggest attraction. It’s the only existing temple dedicated to Lord Brahma. Built in 14th century, it has a sliver turtle on the floor of the garbha griha (sanctum) and the marble floor around it has hundreds of silver coins embedded into it, with donors names engraved on them. They’re also on the walls, along with hundreds of memorial plaques on the floor and walls. Lord Brahma features as a 4-faced image and a peacock (vehicle of goddess Saraswati) adorns the temple wall. Like many temples, there were no shoes allowed, no bags or photography.
I decided I’d take treks up the 2 hills either end of the town, with the first being to Pap Mochani Temple (locally known as Garyatri Temple). This northern outpost provided great views from the top, with real evidence in the valleys of the desert ahead. I shunted directly across town to trek to the op of the higher Savitri Temple. Thankfully this latter 3hr hike only took me 30 mins to climb, but it was quite steep & fairly trying, as the temperature was over 40 degrees and there was no shade. With a red spire and goose symbol above the gateway (Brahma’s), this temple is dedicated to his first wife. Panoramic views of this sun-kissed desert state of Rajasthan could be seen from the top, along with the whole town and other hilltop. I really felt like I’d actually done some exercise!
Pushkar is a famous pilgrimage site, where 52 bathing ghats adorn the edges of Pushkar Lake. Water around each one is said to possess special powers, like the Naga Kund (for fertility), the Rorp Tirth (for beauty & charm – must go!) and Kapi Vyapi Kund (leprosy) etc. Vishnu appeared at Warah Ghat, Brahma bathed at Brahma Ghat and (some of) Gandhi’s ashes are sprinkled at Gandhi Ghat (formerly Gau Ghat) – I’m told they were divided up and scattered at 5-6 holy sites in India. Again, there was no photography at any of the ghats, as the area is deemed holy, despite this not being a problem in Varanasi. Gau ghat was opposite the alleyway I used to access my digs, so I walked down to have a look at just one of them, as I’d been warned by fellow tourists that you’re almost attacked for money the moment you set foot on the hallowed ground! I was quickly greeted by a friendly guy who allegedly looked after the temple. He explained about the distribution of Gandhi’s ashes and then clamped rose petals into my hand. He took me down to the ‘holy waters’ edge and insisted I sat down on the bitty, brown sand. He said prayers and I threw my rose petals onto the edge of the water, as he asked me to repeat Indian mantras. Immediately afterwards and to my absolute horror, he sprinkled foul ‘holy water’ over my hands four times! He said I would have a long, happy and healthy life etc and then asked if I’d make a donation of US$50 or US$100!!! I kept smiling as I walked back up to the top of the temple and then gave him 20 rupees (73 to the pound). He was absolutely horrified! I turned around and walked straight into a freshly produced huge cow pat!! Then I remembered that he hadn’t said I would be lucky!!!
After rushing to a nearby stall to wash my hands thoroughly, after cleaning up my foot and sandal, I spent further time on the internet, before returning to pick up my stored bags. I walked to the bus stop at 10pm for my 10.30pm sleeper bus, only to find that the bus wouldn’t be arriving until after 11pm. This was fine, except that Pushkar by this time had gone to bed and there are very few street lights in small towns!!! I sat in the dark waiting until 11.10pm, when I finally boarded the bus. In a horizontal mattress section above the standard half-reclining seats below, I slept a bumpy sleep. With glass panels and curtains providing privacy, these sleepers should be ideal, but it’s the roads that make sleep far more unpredictable than trains! It was certainly a much quieter journey than what I was to encounter after my arrival in Jaisalmer!
