A Rajasthan Royal

Open the odd picture book selling "Incredible India" and you inevitably will be accosted with images in saffron hues set in sandstone buildings (the others will include Elephants and backwaters of Kerala and the odd Ganges/Himalayan shots). Rajasthan oddly has an out sized reputation on the tourist circuit and for an Indian not sold on the exotica it takes some appreciation to catch the bug.

What did entice me to Rajasthan was the aura of royalty packaged into a train journey across the state and it somehow snaked its rather expensive way into my imagination and it reached the top of the list choice for an early winter vacation. The website proffered a shortened itinerary from the whole hog royalty tour (which obviously would have cost the earth) and discreet enquiries much to my disappointment revealed that this itinerary wasn't available. So Royal Rajasthan by the luxury train was dutifully dropped and we settled for a humbler and rather more hands on itinerary.

Rajasthan is the largest state in India by area and that compounds the difficulty of creating a satisfactory itinerary. While Jaipur lies close to Delhi , Jaisalmer is tucked away deep into the Thar kissing the Pakistani border. The most logical approach seemed to be arching across the state starting from Jaipur and leaving from Udaipur which was nestled in the Arravallis. So a lot of web surfing and advice from other experienced travelers and we managed to cobble together a very odd itinerary. We were to skim around the state's periphery over 2 weeks

We started early Oct and our first stop was Jaipur. The low cost airline service was efficient and we stopped over at Hyderabad before landing at Jaipur a bit too late for dinner. Contrary to our expectations the weather was warm and the day temperatures were expected to be in the 40s. Thankfully the home-stay was comfortable...

Jaipur is a pleasant city for the un-initiated - the roads seem wide and the city seems to be divided into neat little grids, so an early morning start saw us getting to the Albert Hall which is a beautiful building outside the old city located in a large square and plays the role of the city museum thanks to the benevolence of Maharaja Ram Singh who seems to have been a rather forward thinking individual in the royal family. The museum itself is a fantastic exemplar of the architecture of its time, and doesn't disappoint with a rather remarkable collection of artifacts.

There are textile, miniature, sculptures, armory and a display of the costumes of the time. Its heartening to see that we have audio guides in India, though we could do with more in depth information. As with all Museums you are left with a feeling that you haven't done justice, but time was precious and we proceeded towards the old city. The old city was established by Maharaja Jai Singh in the 18th century and would have been a marvel of its time till the Prince of Wales came visiting and one of the founders descendants painted the old city PINK. Thankfully a lot of the old city seems to have lost a lot of the original colors. The city was architected by a Bengali architect per the Hindu Vaastu tradition(which obviously needs a version update to handle modern traffic).

Our first destination in the city was the City Palace which also is the home of the current Maharaja of Jaipur. Jaipur is ruled by the Shekhawati Rajputs who due to their bravery earned the tile of Sawai from the Mughals. The City Palace retains the opulent splendor of yore- the flag of the royal family proudly fluttering over the tallest terrace. The palace is expansive and has some interesting artifacts including some of the royal costumes and armory. Indulgences were all over- one of the displays has 2 large silver vessels (stated to have been created by melting down 4000 silver coins) which were used by the Maharajas to store water from the Ganga for a long trip to England. There is also a live handicraft gallery in the palace to encourage artists.

We wound our way through to the Jantar Mantar which was adjacent to the city palace and was one of the most advanced observatories of its time. The temperatures had soared and a quick lunch was followed by visits to some rather odd places - the Kanak Vrindavan which was a garden on the foothills of the Aravallis and offered a pleasant sojourn for the hot afternoon, followed by a walk along the adjoining lake from where we could get a view of Jal Mahal. Late evening saw us heading to the Chokhi Daani which is a village fair hosted on the outskirts of Jaipur. It was packed with tourists, but remarkably it thrived largely on the pandemonium created by the crowds and it seemed to be wonderfully at ease with the throngs. A magic show here, a fire dance there, camel and elephant rides and rich food to top it all. Closed the day out well.

We were supposed to visit the Aamer fort in the morning, but were somehow talked out of the idea by the taxi driver(bad decision), and instead proceeded to the next stop in our itinerary-Alwar. Alwar wasn't a logical next stop given that it was somehow off the ring tour that we had planned and its not significant enough to merit a full fledged stop, nevertheless we had a strong recommendation for an experience of an old restored fort in Kesroli, which adjoins the town of Alwar . Sandwiched between Delhi and Jaipur, Alwar didn't stand much of a chance but there were some remnants of fiefdoms one of which had left behind a fort to which we were headed. The Hill Fort Kesroli is a dilapidated old fort which has been taken over by the Neemrana group of hotels and and could easily be missed as a ruin.

While the exterior walls do look they are well beyond repair, the fort seems to have a mighty heart and when we walked in (up steep cobblestones). Sunshine beamed through a lazy garden decked with chairs dotting different parts of the forts ramparts. We seemed to have hit a jackpot and had the fort all to ourselves. Our room was right on the wall of the fort with the window being a slit in the 3 feet thick walls. Though very oddly shaped and narrow, the room was very comfortable and we pretty much had a run of the entire fort. Tea was had on an open terrace,lunch which usually is a buffet turned out to be a royal affair with the menu being suggested in the morning. Fields adjoined the fort and the view was expansive.

The day saw us taking a walk in the fields largely aimlessly digesting the heavy breakfast after I had waited out to catch a sunrise from the eastern side. Kesroli was a small village with, largely dependent on agriculture and the business that came in from the tourists visiting the fort. We had virtually lost sense of the time by the time we had to get packing off to Jaisalmer.

The Delhi Jaisalmer express stops at Alwar for exactly 2 minutes and its a looong train as it splits into 2 routes, one serving Barmer and the other one Jaisalmer. So after frantically trying to determine which part of the platform would be closest to the relevant coach, we jumped into the nearest coach in about 110 seconds and felt the train chugging out of the platform as we continued the quest for the elusive bogey. Two side berths and the other a top berth ensured a sleepless night, Jaisalmer arrived though well in time.

Jaisalmer is extreme Rajasthan and has been so since times immemorial. The founding myth involves a nobleman in search of water seeing a goat climbing a mount, intrigued he pursued and was rewarded with an aquifer. The nobleman Jaisal also met a holy man on the hills who foresaw the formation of a kingdom around the hill and Jaisalmer was born (the other half of the name is borrowed from Mount Meru). Jaisalmer is striking for its remoteness being just 100 odd kilometres of Thar desert from Pakistan. The other remarkable feature is the sandstone monotony of the buildings lending it a golden hue(preferable to pink thank you). The desert though has been banished from the city view, the city is a collection of sandstone buildings that are separated by narrow lanes with open gutters. Cows roam freely and autos toss their passengers around as they move at breakneck (they look ominous at low speeds in the narrow lanes) speeds. We settled into a barely adequate room though with a view of one of the best Havelis in town. The lodge didn't have much of a restaurant though the meal was adequate and we headed off to admire the Patwa haveli which was a stones through away.

Jaisalmer lay along one of the most profitable trade routes of its time and the rulers could command a hefty taxation amount on the traders and hence the town was rich. The Patwas were the local bankers and from the powerful Oswal Jain community and the Havelis reflect years of work by craftsmen. The Havelis though simplistic in design are extremely practical to provide shade in the interiors. This was a rich family and there are rooms displaying the vessels used, the accounting room and the room for recreation. In a queer twist of fate the building was declared a monument of national interest by Indira Gandhi which prevented the owners from either renting or selling the premises, though one of the wings is still occupied by the family. We took a walk to the lake in the evening which had an adjoining Shiv temple. The art gallery nearby hosted a puppet show which wasnt remarkable, but some of the puppets were on sale. Back to the room and the terrace of the hotel commanded a view of the fort which was lit in the dusk, sleep enveloped.

It was a blazing sun the next day and even an early October date didnt spare us, the walk to the fort was thankfully short and the gullies are rather quaint(reminds me of my college days in Benaras). The fort is called the Golden fort - a name that stuck after a Satyajit Ray movie called Sonar Killa (he is revered here as the one who put Jaisalmer on the Indian Tourist map). This is one of the oldest living forts in the world with a lot of tenements being passed on from one generation to the next. The city just seem to be one long continuum though on a different plane. The Rawals (as the Jaisalmer ruling clan were called) weren't in the best of shape as compared to their much richer cousins in Jaipur and their decline had occurred early in the 19th century when they allied with the British. The fort meanwhile has taken on the character of a hippie town with pizzerias and art houses. Notably there are a few Jain temples which again boast of some exquisite stone work. Lunch beckoned and I caught up on the news about the India-Australia match at Bangalore (India seemed to be in safe hands with Vijay and Pujara). We headed on to the Salem Singh Haveli next where we were taken on a guided tour of the Haveli by one of the descendants . The building was designed like a ship and earned the wrath of the ruling Rawal when Salem Singh raised the height above the palace height.

Water was precious in Jaisalmer and before the construction of the Indira Gandhi canal, the sources of water were scarce. One more Haveli completed the city tour-Nathmal Haveli. This is currently lived in by a rather extensive joint family and needs special permission to tour, which gauging by the looks we got from the owner , we were not going to get. The Haveli had an interesting facade with the apparent symmetry hiding the individual touches of two competing sculptors. The last stop and most anticipated was the trip to the desert. Sam is a village which is probably is one of the last stops before the border and is a good 40 kilometers from Jaisalmer, we took a package from one yuppie entrepreneur who ran a tacky lodge to which a swimming pool was going to be added. The trip to the desert took an hour and it was interesting to note that there were some traces of farming taking place. The rains had been way above expectations for the year and there were wheat farms. We got a camel ride that we had signed up for and for a few extra bucks we were taken a bit deeper into the desert. Our camel owner was Akram Khan and the camel with the outlandish name of Rocket. Rocket was all of 4 years old and complained loudly about my weight and both of us were relieved when we dismounted to watch the sun go down in the sunset. The sand was fine and cool and the walk back to the car park was well worth the effort. The tented accommodations that we had rented for the night boasted of an entertainment program which had a couple of local women gyrating to a few local and finally the ever popular Bollywood hits. The night was still and without any breeze it was remarkable that I did manage to get any sleep at all. The afternoon train was to take us to the next stop on the itinerary -Jodhpur

Jaisalmer to Jodhpur is a 8 hour journey and this time it was way better than trip coming in, though strangely there were absolutely no refreshments served. We reached Jodhpur at around 9:30 and found the lodge pretty easily. The lodge was magnificent and was a pretty large mansion converted into a series of rooms rented out. We moved around the lodge early in the morning and it was replete with trees, a lotus pond and a swimming pool. The restaurant served up a pretty good breakfast. Jodhpur is the land of the Rathore clan and they have been a reasonably successful princely state, as was obvious from the palaces and the size of the city. Jodhpur looked fairly well planned and had wide roads to boot. Our first stop was the Mehrangarh fort which is located on a hill towering over the city and by far this was the best experience of Rajasthan that I was about to get.

The fort stood out magnificently towering above the rest of the city. Jodhpur was founded in the mid 15th century by Rao Jodha and the area of Jodhpur is officially known as Marwar which is eponymous of the business community that comes from this region. Jodhpur lay on a key trade route and all its rulers did well to cultivate the Oswal Jains who hail from the town of Osian which lies very close to Jodhpur. Mehrangarh meanwhile though established with the city has been an evolving fort throughout. Delightfully this fort is by far one of the best maintained one that I have seen. A lot of the rooms and courtyards look like they could still be functional and the amenities for the tourists are excellent. We picked up a very knowledgeable tour guide who took us via an elevator which has been dug out in one of the towers of the fort. The city view is breathtaking from the top. The Brahmins usually paint their houses blue and a lot of the neighborhood around the fort was swathed in a pale blue. There was a display of houdah's, artwork- an entire dancing room swathed with glass and gold foil. This was a rich kingdom. The fort was cursed as it evicted a holy man from the hill. To placate the gods the king buried a man alive in the foundations.

The tour culminated at a very well stocked museum store with some great t-shirts and books. The current Rajah had also organized a few shops which sold local handicrafts. Post the tour we had lunch at the cafe in the fort where we were offered a seat by a historian from London studying the armory of the fort. The conversation led to the inevitable question as to whether the British rule had been beneficial and Pax Brittanica. Interestingly the callousness of the Indian government to history was appalling - swords from the Jodhpur armory were used for railway bridges as is. Hindsight permits judgements on a cafe table. The fort is currently held by a trust and which is one of the reasons the maintenance has been stellar by standards of other museums in India. The royalty meanwhile have moved to the much more extravagant Umaid Bhavan which towers over the city. The palace is remarkable for the style of architecture used, modern yet with a lot of its Indian inspirations showing through. Architected by a notable Englishman, this was projected as the Jodhpur New Deal - it provided employment to an army of workers during a famine. Though its grandeur holds a lot of promise, a majority of the palace is now a hotel leased to the Taj group and all tourists get is a peek to a small wing of the hotel.

The next morning we took a tour of the Bishnoi village area just on the outskirts of the town- a potter first , followed by a farmer (who offered a traditional welcome of Opium diluted in water), a weaver who had met Prince Charles and George Soros. A stopover at a outlet for textiles and I hit upon a camel bone chess set which became an obsession for the next few days (landed up buying everything except that). The evening caught us heading back to the Mehrangarh fort for a dinner in the garden terrace. The setting was beautiful with the blue city lit in the foreground and the fort providing a golden backdrop. Pitifully the food didn't quite live up to the setting. The next morning we had to move on to Kumbalgarh

Kumbalgarh is a 4-5 hour drive from Jodhpur and heading south breaks a lot of cliches about the terrain. South East Rajasthan is quite different from the dusty flat monotony of the landscape, the Arravallis providing for some relief. We had barely entered the Arravallis and we had a stop at the remarkable Ranakpur Jain temples.

Though high on the Jain pilgrimage circuit, and very well maintained, the place isn't very tourist friendly and it could do with a few guides who can provide a tour of the place. We headed on to the resort which took another hour. Kumbalgarh is located at the peak of the Arravallis and the climate makes it a resort town of sorts. This is the land of the Mewar region of Rajasthan. Mewar is one of the proudest regions of Rajasthan and has largely been the bulwark against Muslim occupation of much of the region, though even they couldn't fend off the British. Kumbalgarh is not too large a fort but has one of the longest boundary walls (its a distant second , but still the second largest man made wall after the Great wall of China). The fortress towers over the valleys below which contain a natural reserve park. A late evening walk and I gazed down at the sunset from the peak watching swarms of birds swooping down into the valley below, the Mewar kings must have had inspirations of freedom watching the same sight. Late evening and we caught up with the light and sound show which was fairly well orchestrated. The resort was luxurious but somehow lacked any connect with the surroundings. We chose to cut the Kumbalgarh sojourn early and head out to Udaipur which was the last stop in our circuit

Udaipur is again an accidental choice for a capital for a Kingdom. After the Mughals had captured Chittor, Maharaja Udai Singh established this on the directions of a hermit who met him on the location. Ringed by mountains , it was blessed with a natural fortification from the Mughals and has since been ruled by the Sisodia clan , albeit with a lot of help from the British.

The drive to Udaipur took about 3 hours and while we entered the old city it seemed way different from whatever we had seen till date at Rajasthan. Tourism had changed the place drastically and this is the hub of the coffee table books on Rajasthan royalty. Two man made lakes provide Udaipur with prime real estate to establish some World class hotels and Lake Pichola is the host for some of the most opulent hotels in the world, the Lake Palace in the middle, the City palace which is an extension of the royal residence and the Oberoi Udaivilas which is built on the royal hunting grounds.

The lake offers some remarkable viewpoints. We wandered the streets looking through some of the boutique stores, though expectedly this is comparatively way more expensive than either Jodhpur or Jaisalmer. The palace tour was interesting though given the crowds it wasnt as enjoyable an experience as Jodhpur by far. The state of Rajasthan owes its existence to the rulers of Udaipur largely because they were one of the first to accede to the Indian union and additionally managed to convince the remaining princes including the Jodhpur royalty to accede to India. Lake Pichola is one of the side benefits, though the land belongs to the Indian government and the waters largely monopolized by the royalty (no boating allowed by private operators). The evening boating offers spectacular views of the buildings lining the shore. The lake was the lifeline for the city. The next day we took a dekko of the crystal room which is a collection of crystal objects ordered by Maharaja Sajjan Singh.

Sajjan Singh died before the collection was delivered and the current Maharajah opened it. The collection is spectacular and while the jury is out on whether the 30 minute tour justifies the 1500 Rs entrance fee (per head) , well you may never see opulence on this scale. There are sofa sets and beds made of crystal, beautiful glasses and perfume casks, humongous chandeliers adorn the ceilings. To soften the blow we were served a cup of tea served on royal cutlery.

We were at the fag end of the trip and I had wanted to end the trip on a high, hence the last stop on the tour was the village of Devigarh.

Devigarh lies along the route between Udaipur and Jaipur and is known for its proximity to the Eklingji temples that is the chief deity of the Mewar rulers. The village lies ringed by the Arravallis and except for the fort-hotel there's not much to attract tourists. The hotel itself is a spectacular act of reconstruction and is delightfully done. The rooms were spacious and the weather was fantastic.

Looking at the restoration pictures, we seem to have been put up in the erstwhile soldiers quarters, but nevertheless the rooms were one of the most luxurious that I have lived in. A couple getting married from South Africa provided for some good background music. We stopped by the Eklingji temple before heading for the Udaipur airport to catch our flight home.

Rajasthan had been thrilling, tiring, dusty and uplifting. I had just had a peek into a land which was pivotal to the history of the country , a buffer zone that had dissipated the energies of invaders and a land which thrived on the trade routes of yore. As the royalty declined and the princes and nobles wore a more accessible avatar much like the shifting sands in the Thar, somewhere in Sam village Akram Khan was grazing his camel Rocket for the next wave of tourists oblivious to the march of history.