VIBRANT RAJASTHAN- Jaipur

After overcoming the initial hitch of starting a blog, I am overwhelmed and encouraged with the instant response to continue to write and share my travel experience with others. When it comes to choosing the next place of interest, the images of vibrant Rajasthan come instantly to my mind. Though I have not had the opportunity to tour whole of Rajasthan, yet I have seen some of the important places of tourist interest .Unlike south of India which predominately has beautiful temples to boast of, Rajasthan and most of northern India have more of palaces, forts and havelis.

JAIPUR

The city of Jaipur forms the golden tourist triangle of India with Delhi and Agra .Just 240Kms from Delhi, Jaipur was built by Rajput ruler Maharaja Sawai Jaisingh (hence the name Jaipur) in the year 1727, who moved his capital from Amber to the present site. Later on it was covered in pink to welcome Prince Albert. The city has since then earned the name of `The pink city’ and has never been painted in any other colour. It is characterised by typical Rajput way of creating beautiful things and protecting them by high walls. The city has a number of beautiful palaces all protected and covered by high walls. Japipur itself is surrounded by rugged mountains on three sides and the mountains crowned with exotic forts. This capital of Rajasthan is well planned, boasts of urbanisation to the hilt, but still carries along its rich history of cavalry, its antiquity of art and culture in the form of ancient forts, palaces and other monuments.

The places I visited and recommend—

1.Moti dungri and Ganesh temple:

Moti dungri is a small hill situated in the middle of the city. The hill looks like a pearl drop, hence its name Moti Dungri which translates as pearl mount. An exotic palace, which is a replica of a Scottish castle, is perched atop the hill and was occupied by Maharaja Sawai Man singh. It has, since been a private property and not opened to the tourists. In the recent past, it served as a home for Rajmata Gayatri Devi’s only son, late Jagat singh. Among local people, the place is popular for the auspicious`Motidungri wale Ganeshji' and the temple is frequented by Jaipurites on religious occasions.

2.Albert Hall :

Just outside the walled city, there is expansive Ram Niwas Garden, which has always been a place for recreational activities. The garden dotted with small pools was basically a famine relief project but due to its beauty, it was mostly used by the British families to entertain their guests. Albert hall is present in the middle of this garden area and was opened in the year 1887. The architecture is a mix of British and Indian art and design and is known as the pride of new Jaipur. It is now converted into a museum.

3.Jaipur City Palace:

The city palace complex lies in the heart of the walled city and is a living example of the farsightedness of the founder of the city, i.e., Maharaja Sawai Jaisingh. The entire complex has many palaces and mansions, some of which were added later on by other maharajas. The architecture of the city palace is a fine example of the blending of Rajput and Mughal styles.

On entering the palace complex, first of all, there lies the Mubarak Mahal which served as a welcome or reception hall and is presently a museum mostly housing the royal costumes.

There is Maharani’s palace which has, on display, an array of the Rajput weaponry . It has an astonishing variety of daggers, knives, chains, pistols and small cannons. The paintings on the ceilings are still preserved.

The hall of public audience or Diwan-e-aam houses an art gallery now. It protects some rare original Hindu manuscripts. In addition, it holds many miniature paintings of Rajput, Mughal and Persian origin. Most interesting are the miniature copies of Bhagwat Gita made to hide and protect them from Emperor Aurangzeb’s onslaught on Hindu scriptures.

The Hall of Private Audience is an intricately arched and designed structure and has on display, a pair of the world’s largest sterling silver vessels called Gangajali. (refer pic for more info).
A Part of the Palace, Chandra Mahal, is still occupied by ex-royal family . The lower floor is maintained as an exhibition hall by the royal family and houses a majestic collection of artefacts. The gate to the court yard, the Mayure gate, itself is a fine cue to what grandeur to expect inside.

While passing from one mansion to another, I could see a collection of royal chariots, carriages and hawdas (elephant seats) - a glimpse of life in those times.

The Mukut Mandir atop the palace also offered a bird’s eye view of the city.

4. Jantar Mantar :

The largest of the five observatories built by Maharaja Jaisingh in North India, is situated to the east of Chandra Mahal in Jaipur. This has been described as `the most surrealistic and logical landscape in stone. The hugely built instruments, looking like `a giant’s playthings’, measure the local time, the Sun’s declination and altitude, other stars’ and planets’ declination and determine eclipses. The 9-metre high dais maintains an accuracy that is remarkable even today.
I recommend to keep at least half a day for this place to observe various astronomical phenomena if you are really interested in Astro-physics.

5.Hawa Mahal :

Built by the King Sawai Pratap Singh, this palace of winds is the most well-known landmark of Jaipur city. It is a part of the city palace complex but is best viewed from the road outside. A five storied monument overlooking the city market, Hawa Mahal is an excellent example of Rajput architecture with its intricately designed, honey-combed jharokhas carved in pink sandstone.. It was basically built for the Maharanis to sit behind the screened windows and view various processions and other activities of the city.

One should go to the city market to have the best view, but one can climb to the top from the palace side to view the city from the latticed facade.

6.Jaigarh Fort :

The Jaigerh fort is one of the three hill-top forts of Jaipur. It was a major weapon producing centre during Mughal and Rajput period and is one of the few military establishments of medieval India which is well maintained. The fort is known for its largest cannon on wheels in the world, called Jai Ban. It does not have the usual embellishments of very luxurious palaces, and is instead a true fort in design and being the most imposing of the three forts it is rightly known as the victory fort or Jaigarh. The fort was built to protect both Jaipur as well as Amber. It has a granary and a mint to make ashrafis (coins).

It was the royal treasury for many years. A very steep road takes one to the main gate named Dungar Darwaza to give a beautiful view of the city.

7.Nahargarh Fort :

Also called as the Tiger Fort, it gives a spectacular view of the city. Nahargard means a dwelling place of tigers and was built to further protect Amber. The legend has it that the name Nahargadh was given after late Prince Nahar Singh whose spirit would not allow any construction and stalled any progress. On an advice from a saint the fort was named as the Nahargarh fort to appease Nahar Singh’s spirit. The palace or the Madhvendra Bhawan is an awe inspiring structure with intricate frescos on the ceilings. It was used as summer palace by the royal family.

8.Amber Fort and Palace :

Amber was the original capital of the Kachhwahas for six years before the birth of Jaipur. Amber stands atop a range of craggy hills, 11Kms away from jaipur. The fort is picturesque because of its grandeur of surroundings and fascinating mansions inside. The antiquity of the citadel is established to at least, as back as 10th century.

The palaces inside are constructed in red sandstone with pavements of white marble and richly decorated walls and ceilings with paintings, carvings, mirrors and gem stones. There are beautiful lush green gardens on all sides that compete well with the inner decor and luxuries. Maota lake was created in the foreground of the fort to ward of the enemy and to bathe elephants and horses. The elephants still bathe here and are used to ferry interested tourists right up to the palace. A flight of staircase or a winding uphill road takes one to the main gate called as Suraj Pol.

Inside, the palace has four symmetrical parts. From Suraj Pol one enters Jaleb chowk (refer pic) , a huge courtyard . There is a Kali temple known for its silver doors and lions. Another stairway leads to a courtyard of the fort, where one can see Diwan-e-aam.
This is a huge pavilion of double row of beautifully carved columns with a latticed gallery and an exquisite Ganesh gate leading to residential royal apartments, Char Bagh, Sukh Niwas and Diwan-e-Khas.Diwane-e-Khas or the hall of private audience or Sheesh Mahal or Jai Mahal is a house of mirrors and is famous for its inlaid floral designs filled with mirrors all over and guarded by sandalwood doors inlaid with ivory and is considered the best chamber of mirrors in the world.

Many of the ancient structures have been ruined but those dating from the 16th century onwards are well preserved to a great extent.

9. Other places :

Before I come back to a very interesting place, I would suggest a quick dekho at the following places, if one has some more time to spare (I could manage )---

a) Kanak garden : This is a recently restored (in 1988) garden but well landscaped with a temple, carved marble columns and lattices and lies on the way to the forts of Jaipur.

b) Birla temple: Made in white marble, a grand place.

c) Lake palace or Jal Mahal

d) Galtaji: Dedicated to the Sun God, it also provides a beautiful view of the city.

10. Gatore :

This is the cremation place for the kings of the royal family and is situated on a narrow slip road which diverts from Jaipur- Amer road. There is a separate cremation place for the queens which is opposite Jal Mahal and the place is still used for the royal family. Commonly known as chhatriyan (umbrellas), these cenotaphs are covered with domes on beautifully carved pillars.

The main attraction at Maharanion ki chhatriyan is the cenotaph of Queen Jadon which is a five domed structure with four kiosks at the corners with intricately carved pillars.

Comparatively, I found Gatore,where kings’ chhatriyan lie, grandeur and more expansive with a very large number of umbrellas ( I lost count after twenty ).
Rich in Rajput style architecture, this place is a must for every tourist. I was surprised to know that Gatore ki chhatriyan is a rarely visited monument and even the person, a Jaipurite, who accompanied me around was not aware of its existance and was pleasantly surprised to `discover’ the place. Gatore ki chhatriyan are in very good condition, the reasons could be that- most people have no idea of their existence, and that this place does not fall on the route to other famous sites.

P.S. When in Rajasthan, must eat traditional meal of daal-bati, churma and gatte ki sabzi and other delicious specialities.

Shoppers must go to the pink city and scavenge for Jaipur Jadau jewellery and tie- and- dye fabric in Johari, Bapu and Tripolia bazaars.

TIRUPATI AND MORE...

Every day, thousands of tourists and devotees head towards the hilly town of Tirumala --- situated in the Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh --- to express their devotion to, or to merely catch a glimpse of the famous murti of Lord Venkateswara.

Having heard so much about the myths and glory surrounding it, I began looking for an opportunity to visit this famous temple. Some talk of a business-trip to Chennai got me hunting for guidance on the hows and dos of getting to Tirupathi. During this search, I came across valuable information about some other interesting places in the proximity of Tirupathi. With the help of an experienced friend, I drew out an elaborate itinerary covering many of the various beautiful and myth-laden temples near the more popular one at Tirumala. My pilgrimage --- for it cannot be called anything else---( I am glad that I tried to be greedy back then) covered the maximum possible sites in a period of two days The devotee inside me feels blessed and the tourist inside me has been left enamoured, and I hope that my fellow-devotee-cum-tourists can experience the same. Here is the details of the route I followed from Chennai to Tirumala and back, together with some useful gyaan on the interesting stops you can make en route.

1.Sri Kalahasteeswaraswamy temple, Kalahasti

Kalahasti is some 100 Kms from Chennai .The temple is a very old ,beautiful and serene place enshrining Lord Dakshinamurty or Sri kalahasteeswaraswamy. The inner temple was built in the 5th century and the outer temple was built in the 12th century. Later some more gopurams were also built by the devotees. This temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is one of the pancha bhuta stalams( Vayu as one of the five primary elements here).

Srikalahasti's name originates from the legend that a spider(sri), a serpent(kala) and an elephant (hasti or haathi) worshipped Shiva with great devotion .The spider worshiped the Shiva Linga by weaving a web over it while the snake offered it a gem. The elephant showered flowers and leaves and sprinkled water to bathe the linga. Due to their selfless devotion , lord Shiva was pleased and granted them the boon of moksha and they became one with Shiva. At the foot of the linga one can see a spider, two elephant tusks and a five–headed serpent to remind devotees of this act of supreme devotion.

This temple is also associated with Rahu and Ketu; in fact, it is the only temple where one can perform a puja to overcome the ill-effects (doshas) of Rahu-Ketu. The puja should be performed during the Rahu kalam of the day. There is a simple chart to calculate the Rahu kalam for all seven days of the week. The first letter of each word in the following sentence gives the day of the week and every day Rahu kalam is of one and a half hours duration.

Mother saw father wearing the turban slowly
Mon Sat Fri Wed Thu Tue Sun
7.30a 9.00a 10.30a 12n 1.30p 3.00p 4.30p

The puja can be arranged in consultation with one of the priests there.

P.S. The Rajagopuram or main gate of the temple collapsed on the 28th of May ,2010. The deep vertical crack that had been developing for 25 years was left unattended by the authorities concerned. The fissure grew deeper and, eventually, spelled doom for the elegant–looking gopuram. I consider myself lucky enough to have seen that structure just a few weeks before its collapse. The gopuram was built by Sri Krishnadevarya, a king of Vijaynagar, in the 15th century

2.Sri Padmawati temple, Alamelumangapuram or Tiruchanoor

From Srikalahasti, just 30 kms. away, on road to Tirupati, one can reach Alamelumangapuram, where this temple of Lord Venkateswara’s consort, Sri Padmavati, is situated. In this temple, Lord Vishnu’s murti is not present. This also has an interesting story behind it. The legend says that the lord, despite his reverence towards the sage Bhrigu Maharshi, was insulted by him by being kicked by the sage on the chest in a fit of anger. After hearing this, the lord’s consort --- Sri Mahalaxmi --- reached Patala loka and immersed herself in the river Swarnamukhi in penance for twelve years. In the thirteenth year, during the month of Kartik, Sri Mahalaxmi emerged from a golden lotus as Sri Padmavati. A temple was constructed for the goddess and it is said that a visit to Tirupati is fruitful only after visiting this temple.

3. ISKCON temple, Tirupati

Situated at the foot of Tirumala hills, this temple has been recently built by the followers of the ISKCON with the support of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD ) which controls and is responsible for the maintenance and planning of this temple town.

This is a beautiful temple displaying unique architecture. The outermost towers are in gold and white. Inside, all the carvings of deities are done in a very intricate style. The basic design and decor of the temple is inspired by the ancient architecture prevalent in the region. The images of dasha-avataras in wood carvings on the pillars, painted glass panels depicting Krishna leelas and Tanjore art on the ceilings ensure that the temple merges well with the existing beauty of the hill region. This is also the only Krishna temple where a special place has been allotted to ashta sakhis of Krishna along with Radha in the main prayer hall.
A master plan is already underway to carry out the mission of teaching the science of the Vedic knowledge. This temple project (a centre for Vedic culture and Theology) will further strengthen the spiritual base of India.

4. Shilatoranam Gardens, Tirupati

Situated on the road that leads to Dharmagiri, the main attraction of this garden is of geological interest. This place offers the only geological arch in Asia and one of the three such arches in the world. It derives its name from the words - 'shila' meaning rock and 'toran' meaning arch.

This formation presents a very rare geological fault and is estimated to be 2500 million years old. This rock arch has been formed by intensified weather conditions. A large part of the land around the arch has been developed into a beautiful botanical garden.

5. Sri Varahaswamy temple, Tirupati

One’s visit to Balaji temple begins with a visit to this temple. This temple is dedicated to lord Varahaswamy, who, it is said, owns the entire region of Tirupati. Lord Varahswamy , accommodated Lord Venkateswara here on his request. Therefore , the customary feeding of the lord and other such rites are performed here before being performed at the Venkateswara temple.

6.Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple, Tirupati

The famous Balaji Temple or Lord Venkataswara temple is situated on the tip of one of the seven sacred hills --- symbolic of the seven hoods of the mythological serpent Adishesha of Lord Vishnu --- which lie on the southern banks of the sacred river Pushkarni. The temple has a unique sanctity in Indian religious lore, attracts thousands of devotees every day and gets the maximum pecuniary offerings among all such religious places in India. The origin of the temple is not very clear, but there is ample testimony to its antiquity as it has been worshipped by many ruling dynasties of southern peninsula.The main dome is completely gold plated, a fine example of the ancient architect inside and the hilly area provides an ideal, picturesque and tranquil ambience to the temple.

The Brahmotsava is a grand annual festival denoted by a series of prayers and rites and the arrival of the `sacred Umbrella’ (Tirupati Kodai) from numerous temples from far and wide. Another important and saced tradition is the tonsuring of the head of the devotees. The laddu prasadam and other rice preperations as prasadam are much sought after and a must have.

7. Sri Kalyan Venkateswaraswami temple, Narayanavanam

After an early morning darshan of Sri Balaji, my journey back to Chennai by road started, but not without a visit to some more places of tourist interests.
Some 40-45 kms. from Tirupati, we reached Narayanavanam town, an old time capital place, considered a holy place due to the presence of this temple. The legend has it that this is the place where lord Venkateswara married goddess Padmavati, the daughter of king Akasaraja. Padmawati’s brother built this temple to commemorate their wedding and it is here that one can see both the lord and the goddess in one temple complex. Again the temple is very old and rich in architectural heritage.

8.Kailasanathakona waterfalls

This perennial waterfall is located in the Nagiri hills valley and is 43 kms. away from Tirupati, an offshoot from the main road. The origin of this picturesque fall is from a crack in a sheet rock. The water is clear and has substantial mineral and medicinal value

9.Lord Vedanarayana temple, Nagalapuram

65 kms. away from Tirupati, the town boasts of a beautiful temple built by Krishnadevarya and his mother Nagamba. The temple is dedicated to lord Vedanarayan, an incarnation of lord Vishnu.

The temple’s design is an astonishing example of the advancement of architecture at that time. During the annual Brahmotsva ( Surya puja) festival day only, the sun rays fall on the holy feet, navel and the forehead of the deity in turns as the day progresses, symbolising worship of the lord by the Sun God Himself.

10.Kaalbhairava temple, Ramagiri

Further 5 kms. Down the road lies a small hamlet named Ramagiri, surrounded by mountains. There are two temples, one at the foothill --- Kalabhairav temple and the other at the top of the hill dedicated to lord Muruga (another name of Kartikeyan).The presiding deity of the foothill temple is Kaalbhairav - one of the several forms of Shiva and the place, therefore, is also called Bhairava Kshetra.
In addition to the Kaalbhairav statue, there is a shiva linga in the temple premises. In fact, and interestingly, in front of the linga stand the murtis of Lord Anjaneya and Nandi, the bull.

According to a popular legend, once Hanuman was carrying a Shiva linga from Kashi to Rameshwaram to be installed there. He was not supposed to keep it down anywhere on his way to Rameshwaram to install it successfully. Kaalbhairav wanted this linga to be installed in this temple. Suddenly hanuman faced adversely hot, dry and windy weather and had to land at ramagiri to drink some water. He searched for water but found it difficult to drink it by keeping the linga on his shoulders, and did not know what to do. Surprisingly at that time a small boy appeared on the scene and offered help by holding the linga for him, but only for a stipulated short time. When Anjaneya returned after quenching his thirst he saw the Linga kept on the earth and the boy was nowhere to be seen. Hanuman was quite anguished and ran to lift the linga. He tried hard but in vain. Then he put his tail around the linga and tried to uproot it by pulling it with his mighty tail but again no luck. At this juncture the boy reappeared and showed his true form i.e., of Kaalbhairava, smiled at Hanuman and told him about his intention of keeping the Linga at ramagiri. Even today we can see that there are horizontal marks of Hanuman's tail on the linga and it is tilted on one side.

Outside the temple, there's a sweet water tank which gets water from the mountains . The water flows into the tank through the mouth of a nandi bull sculpted beautifully on the side of the tank.

11.Suruttapalli

About 12 kms. from Nagalapuram lies this holy place which again houses a shiva temple on the banks of river Arani.

The temple is rich in architecture and has uniqueness of its own. This is the only temple in India where one sees Lord shiva as a deity in a human statuesque form instead of normal linga form.
It is said that Lord shiva took a brief rest here after consuming poison that came from the ocean during the Samudra Manthan .Here, we see the Shiva's statues in a reclined posture with his head on the lap of Goddess Parvati. There are goddess parvati and other deities also in the complex.

My pilgrimage culminated at this temple and it was already the fag end of the second day. I reached Chennai a very content devotee and a very happy tourist who had the opportunity to see some really unique heritage structures. I am glad to share my information here but I am sorry to be unable to present visual pictures of the interior of the most of these temples as the authorities , in most of the places, prohibit photography. I personally feel that if simple photography is allowed, more tourists and devotees will be attracted to these places to admire the magnificence of these majestic sites.