Jodhpur - Poetry in Stone

     We visited Jodhpur for a short stay of a couple of days.  It is a remarkably clean and elegant city, with broad roads flanked by lush green trees and red sand-stone buildings.

     On the first day, we set off in an auto-rickshaw for sight-seeing.  The weather was slightly misty, cold and damp, but the lack of cacophony and beautiful scenery set up the perfect atmosphere for the bewitching sights that followed.

The aesthetic Shivaling

     We saw a marble temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesh.  There were also shrines dedicated to various other Gods and Goddesses nearby.  All the life-sized statues were beautifully carved in marble.  The Shivaling was aesthetically decorated with abundant red roses and other flowers and their fragrance was delightfully over-powering.

     Then we made our way to Umaid Bhawan Palace, the majestic and breath-taking palace of the erstwhile ruler Maharaja Umaid Singh.  It is built of buff-colored sand-stone, locally called ‘chittar’.  It was constructed between 1929 and 1944.  It has 347 rooms and was the world’s largest private residence in 1944.  It was partly converted into a hotel in 1972. 

Majestic Umaid Bhawan Palace

    It houses a private museum of antique clocks, furniture, arms, Chinese vases etc.  There are detailed paintings of the Ramayana, by a Polish artist on the walls.  It was the first palace to use electricity, air-conditioning and elevators!
     The USP of the palace is the vast, well manicured green lawn beyond which there is a section dedicated to about 10 immaculately maintained shiny, vintage vehicles, displayed in clear, glass enclosures.

Rich legacy - Umaid Bhawan Palace

     A small cafeteria with chairs on a lawn provided our tired legs relief.  We had piping hot tea as we chatted with 2 young doctors from AIIMS, Delhi and a couple of British tourists.

     The runway of the Jodhpur airport was pointed out to us by our guide cum auto-driver.  It appeared to be right in front of our eyes.  The guide explained that the original estate of Umaid Bhawan had been partly converted into a residential housing complex.  The palatial mansions there obviously belonged to the elite.

     As it started drizzling and became foggy, we made our way to the Mehrangarh Fort, a colossal edifice that is the pride of Jodhpur, built by the Suryavanshi Rao Jodha in 1459 on a 150- meter high hill.   The city grew around the Fort. One has to pass through 7 ‘Victory Gates’ to reach this architectural marvel.

     It surprisingly has a lift that has been thoughtfully installed, to ferry tourists up the five floors of the palace. It’s a one-way lift.  One has to climb down the steep stairs, which can be tiring for some. 

The colossal Mehrangarh Fort

Intricately carved, latticed windows

     It has intricately latticed windows, carved panels and porches of Moti Mahal, Phool Mahal, Sheesh Mahal and Sileh Khana which transport us to the magnificent bygone era of gracious and opulent living.   Each floor showcases the splendor through its beautiful display of artifacts, furniture, palanquins, royal costumes, weapons, musical instruments, paintings etc.  The cannons on the Fort’s ramparts are treats to the eye. We had great fun clicking snaps in this well-maintained fort.  

Pristine Jaswant Thada

     Next, we stopped by at Jaswant Thada, the final resting place of Maharaja Jaswant Singh, constructed in 1899 A.D.  This cluster of royal cenotaphs is intricately carved in pristine white marble, surrounded by beautifully landscaped lawns, trees; and has a placid lake flowing alongside. Some rare portraits of the former rulers of Jodhpur are displayed here.

     I realized that those were the days when the departed souls could afford to have such huge spaces dedicated to them after their demise!  The love and respect accorded to them was reflected in the elegant, artistically designed, aesthetic tombs.  No such luck for us lowly mortals!

     The security guard there was a tall and lean man who asked us amiably about our native place, etc.  He informed us that he did double duty, hence worked round the clock in 2 different postings.  We were amazed at his resilience and also felt sorry that he had to do so, to make both ends meet. 

     Then we returned to our guest-house after lunch at a restaurant that also served lip-smacking ice-cream.  The rain was lashing the auto, by then.  We spent the evening, cozily watching ‘Night in London’ on T.V.  The weather certainly seemed to mimic London’s damp and frosty weather, right then!

    

Breath-taking, Mandore Garden

The next day we visited Mandore, which was the former capital of the rulers of Marwar and saw the Mandore Garden which is roughly a 40-minute drive from Jodhpur. En route, we were dismayed to see rampant mining of the beautiful, precious yellow sandstone for construction.

       The garden’s landscaping is magnificent; with tall trees, shrubs, fountains, surrounded by the hills and rocky outcrops and terraces.

     There are lots of intricately carved, awe-inspiring chhatris (cenotaphs) of the erstwhile rulers of Marwar, made from red sandstone, resembling temples, which have been numbered and designated as heritage structures; in this garden. The magnificent chhatri of Maharaja Ajit Singh was built in 1793.

Sandstone Chhatri - An ode to the departed souls of yore!

    The summer palace of the Queens of Jodhpur, the Zanana Mahal and the Ekthamba Mahal occupy one corner of the garden.  It has well-laid out fountains (now non-functional).  A small Govt. museum nearby has an impressive collection of antique statues and artifacts of that era.

    Nearby is the 'Hall of Heroes' that commemorates popular folk heroes of the region and contains 16 figures chiseled out of a single rock. Adjacent to it is a larger hall called "The temple of 33 crore Gods" which has colorful images of various Hindu Gods. We saw a newly-married Rajasthani couple performing a havan and other rituals there, accompanied by traditional instrumental music.

The quaint Ekthamba Mahal

    Wandering through the neat paths in that garden which was surprisingly devoid of noisy tourists, we felt very peaceful and relaxed.  I say “wandering” as each stretch of pathway unraveled a new wonder there; a cenotaph or a monument. 

     As my camera clicked non-stop, I overheard a local guy murmuring to his companion, ‘’This girl is clicking each and every flower and leaf of this place!”  Little did he realize that we big city-dwellers were starved of such vast and tranquil green lungs and just wanted to capture all our memories vividly to relive those precious moments, at leisure.

Architectural Marvel - The Zanana Mahal

     We were delighted to meet a couple who had been with us during our Jaipur City’s sight-seeing trip.  They were also enthusiastically clicking snaps of that place.

     We washed off our tiredness, with some snacks and tea in a cafeteria within the garden’s premises.  It is located atop a hillock and provides a good view of the garden below. 

     We bought a small marble statue of Lord Ganesh from one of the shops nearby, boarded a local bus and returned to our guest-house. 

     In the small bus, the seats ran throughout the sides of the bus and people could stand and occupy the entire vacant space in-between.  A lady in typical Rajasthani attire with lots of silver jewelry captured my attention.  She even saw me admiring her attire and remarked ‘Kya dekh rahi ho?’ amusedly.  How I wish I could have clicked her snap!  I didn’t dare to photograph her as I realized that she could be conservative and wouldn’t like me to click her picture. 

      Well, some things need to be captured in one’s mind’s eye and I did just that!  Even now when I close my eyes and try to visualize her, I can vividly see and describe her, right down to the last detail.  Wonder why I was wasting my energy clicking so many snaps then!  To enable others to enjoy my experience, I guess!

     We visited a unit that manufactured beautiful lamps and glass items in the evening.  We also visited a huge store selling textiles, bags, bed-sheets etc.  I bought a double bed-sheet at a very reasonable price from there.

     For dinner we had the authentic Rajasthani Thali with churma bati, phulkas, etc.

     Thus ended our short stay in Jodhpur, but hubby and I will surely visit it again for its ambience and spell-binding beauty.  Till then, we will make do with our endearing photos and pleasant memories. 

The copyright of this travelogue and photographs is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.

This travelogue was published in the Spice Edition of Sakal Times dated 4th January, 2015.