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So rich is the history of the land that every roadside village has it's
own tale of gallantry and sacrifice to tell. Since I took a month break
, it was quite easy for me to cover entire Rajasthan. I almost visited
every nook and corner of the land.
I covered some of the exotic cities, that offered me some of the
breathtaking monuments to explore. The first city that I delve into was
Jaipur....... off course. “Why?” This was place where my
ancestors used to live. More over I chose Man Singh hotel, Jaipur as my
resort to stay.
Breathtaking!
Popularly known as the city of palaces and forts, the city endorsed
monuments like City Palace, Amer fort, Hawa Mahal. In fact, I was
mesmerized by the enthralling Hawa Mahal, that had around 900 peepholes.
My guide, Ranvir, told me that Hawa Mahal was built in 1799 by Sawai
Pratap Singh. By going through the brochures I came to know that city
was laid by Sawai Jai Singh II and was planned by Vidyadhar
Bhattacharya., a brilliant architect, from Bengal. He designed the city
in accordance with, Shilpa Shastra, ancient Hindu treatise on
architecture.
My next destination was Ajmer, and it took me around 3 hrs to reach the
place as it is 132 km from Jaipur. I wanted to explore this place
particularly to see the world famous Ajmer Sharief. I was escorted by my
guide, Ranvir and he told me that the city was founded by Raja Ajay Pal
Singh in the 7th century.
Close to Ajmer was Pushkar and it was a 2 hrs journey to the site.
Pushkar is special a heaven for tourist who wants a respite from day to
day life. Well, I was quite enthralled after exploring the only Brahma
mandir in the world. Brahma is a famous Indian god. Well, this place is
famous for it Pushkar festival.
Enchanting!!
From Pushkar I traveled to Jodhpur, the largest city of Rajasthan. The
enchanting city was founded by Rao Jodha in 1459. We, my guide and I ,
visited the colorful bazaar of the city. “ Mike! you can buy some
embroidered leather shoes from here” informed Ranvir.
With the fond memories of Bikaner, I popped in Bikaner. My escort
informed me that the exquisite city was founded by Rao Bhikaji in 1498.
I also explored its famous Junagarh fort built by Raja Rai Singh in
1593. The other interesting site I visited was the Lalgarh Palace, Karni
Mata temple and ganga Gol Jubilee festival.
From the localities, I came to know about its famous Camel festival
that is held every year. The festival includes camel races and camel
dances. There are also several folk performances.
As I was going through net, I noticed the famous Jaisalmer city,
popular for its Desert festival held in January- February. Ranvir told
me that desert festival showcases the performing art of the region.
Since I visited the abode in November, I happened to miss two exotic
festival of the cultural Rajasthan.
The other city I excavated were Jaislmer, Mount Abu and Udaipur. And
believe me! all these cities were equally rich in cultural as well as
architectural heritage.
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Rajasthan
Cities
