Of Cannons and Things

It seems that the 'Land of the Kings' has a certain charm that has pulled me  thrice in the past year (always leaving me yearning for more!) . The forts standing high and majestic atop hills soothed by the melodies of Rajasthani music and  the scrumptious food- Yes! this is the land that dreams are made of. The land that beckoned to us last weekend.

After having postponed our sojourn from one weekend to the next, we were finally able to hit the road (figuratively!) last Friday. Our trip began on an excellent note, all thanks to the hilarious antics featured in The Interview (do watch it just for the laughs). A sleepless night behind us, we settled down to sleep at 5 a.m. on the train to Jaipur. Six hours later we were at our destination! A quick change of clothes and we were off (And hungry). Our first task was to satiate our aching stomachs. This was duly fulfilled at LMB in Johri Bazaar after a long ride to the other part of town. One huge Rajasthani meal later, we were ready to go explore the forts.

Rajasthani Thali (Hand for scale!)

We had less than eleven hours in Jaipur and we made good use of the time with visits to three forts ending up with the Birla Temple. Our first brush with the magnificence of  Rajput architecture was Amer Fort. High walls looking down upon a huge lake housing palaces and gardens - the Kings had it nice in the days of old!

Amer Fort

View from atop the Fort

The Travellers!

The sheer brilliance of wonders inside the fort like the Sheesh Mahal left us mesmerized. Add to it plenty of nooks and crannies to explore and we spent quite some time exploring the fort. Our joy had to be cut short as time was running out and we directed the autowallah to take us to Jaigarh Fort next. The fort in itself wasn't spectacular but it housed the largest cannon in the world - Jaivana and this piece of information had me all excited (ask S.!) The cannon was a monster! 

Jaivana - That is a 20 foot long barrel!

Jaigarh was dilapidated and vandalized to the extreme by seemingly romantic couples who probably wish to have their names etched into history. More on vandalism later. As the sun began to take the southward plunge, we directed our auto toward Nahargarh Fort - the one with a beautiful panoramic view of the city. True to hearsay, the ramparts of Nahargarh provided views that would have brought any photographer to his/her knees (literally!) We went around the outer wall till we reached the palace and in this way circled a good part of the fort keeping in view the amazing expanse of Jaipur below all along.

Sadly, he didn't jump!

The city through the outer wall

We were both running on low battery, hence a dearth of good pictures from Nahargarh. The craze for cannons continued here as is evident from the collage below! This was a smaller cannon placed outside the palace gates.

Cannon(ified)

The Madhvendra palace was a beautiful piece of symmetry! Symmetrical doors, halls and walkways all around made it a stunning spectacle.

Inside Madhvendra Palace

S. tired and forlorn (looking)

Roof of the Palace

As the sun disappeared below the horizon, we too descended from the hills and headed to Birla Temple. A quick stop followed by pani puri and kachori ,it was time to head to base. 

The iconic Birla Mandir

With a delicious dinner provided by a senior (Thank you sir!), it was time to bid adieu to Jaipur. The train for Udaipur left at 11 p.m. and we were now entering the second stage of our journey.

The City of Lakes - Stage II

Now , while the trip to Jaipur had been planned by us, the itinerary of the Udaipur leg had been graciously spelled out in detail by a friend of S. So, after a ridiculously expensive breakfast, we walked to the City Palace, Udaipur (Note: S. and I walk a lot and normally treat a 5 km distance as walkable). The City Palace though boasting a beautiful construction turned out to be a tad too boring (it being a museum!) It was good to walk around though (in search of the Hawa Mahal!)

City Palace (Just look at this beauty!)

Inside the City Palace, Lake Pichola in the background

This was followed by a trip on the Karni Mata Ropeway. A temple, a dargah and an abandoned fort atop a hill provided us with plenty of photography material. The view of the city especially Lake Pichola was magnificent from the ramparts of the fort. As we contemplated descending the hill using the outer wall of the fort instead of the rope way, P. arrived and the plan had to be cast aside. (Sadly or not so!)

At the Karni Mata mandir

P.'s arrival infused new energy into the trip and the fun continued during lunch by the Fateh Sagar Lake and in Nehru Park (where we swapped stories about things and stuff and were 'brozoned' by a couple of ladies, that is the correct term I presume.) Nehru Park and the Fateh Sagar shore provide quite a sight in the evening characterized by a soothing and peaceful scenery. After a midway retreat to Fateh Sagar (on account of having forgotten P.'s luggage) we reached Bagore Ki Haveli for the evening cultural show.

Nehru Park

Boat ride back from Nehru Park

At the shores of Fateh Sagar

Yeah, he is trying to eat the Sun (or something)

Bagore Ki Haveli - Cultural Show

The traditions and folk culture of Rajasthan was epitomized in this hour long collection of displays that began with the favorite Kesariya Balam and included a Kathputli dance. The audience comprising of multiple nationalities all swayed to the beautiful tunes of Rajasthan in synchronicity.  This was the highlight of our day.

While you are in Udaipur you cannot miss the Chowpatty at Sukhadia Circle where scrumptious food is available till late and we were sure to try this out. A four kilometre long walk succeeded this. It was safe to say that at the end we were tired (Dead tired in P.'s case) but happy as we settled down to sleep.

The last day though unplanned had two items on our list - Sajjangarh Fort and a meeting with our 'absent' yet extremely helpful guide! The Fort situated again on top of a hill had roads that reminded me of the turns of the hills of Kumaon. It was the Nahargarh to Udaipur with a bird's eye view of the city and the surroundings.

Sajjangarh Fort

Look at the view beyond - both Lake Pichola and Fateh Sagar are visible

A two hour long stay on top of the hill , with echo calls (not exactly successful!) was a brilliant one. S. was intent on endangering the 'last of his kind' (pun intended!) as he climbed on edges and ledges all around the fort. P. on the other hand was looking to socialize. Apart from our private eccentricities (sadly there were no cannons for me) we had an enjoyable trip to the Monsoon Palace.

Our penultimate port of call was a meeting with our guide, who was unfortunately unavailable to join us for a meal afterwards.A meal was lost and another found as we reached the suggested restaurant too late (It was 4:20 p.m.) and were lucky to find another - Cafe Satori nearby.

It was time to say goodbye after this meal but not without some further action. Running late, we asked a young and energetic autowallah to drop us at the railway station (S. and me) and bus depot (P.) . He certainly had nitro boosters installed for we zipped across the city (clinging on for our lives) and though we were able to reach the railway station on time, the bus had departed by the time P. reached the bus depot. What happened with P. afterwards is a tale for another day.

At 6:15 p.m. as the train left the Udaipur railway station, we peered out to get a glimpse of the city - a marvel in its own right and as the darkness took over the scenery, we could only hold the thoughts inside and find contentment in the happiness of the weekend past.

At Hazrat Nizammuddin 6:40 in the morning!

The next morning we woke to another reality, it was Delhi again! Plenty to look forward to after a refreshing trip. It was time to go and man the cannons now. While I focus on the journey and struggle that lies in the days ahead, a part of me wishes to head back and venture out once more into this amazing land called Rajasthan.

To Udaipur

A city magnificent, riddled with lakes
Thank you, for the beautiful memories.
the calmness and contentment, one takes
the joy, the happiness, the sweet hazelnut coffee.

Thank you lady, for the plan -so perfect
We missed yet plenty to look forward to.
I bet there is some of it lying unchecked
To discover; next time we'll get those few.

The forts, the lakes, the palaces and food,
Dear Rajasthan, thank you too.
Another  page to my memoirs glued,
To be cherished and daily felt anew.



Until we meet again!


P.S. Special thanks to K.M. for her suggestions regarding Jaipur.