Zindagi Everyday

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Family Trip to Haldighati, KumbhalGarh, Ranakpur Jain Temple Udaipur,Rajasthan

After the 2 Day Udaipur city excursion, we planned our day 3 to visit places outside Udaipur city which were reachable easily.

The cab arrived at 9 am in morning at the hotel. First we decided to visit Haldighati, then Kumbhalgarh fort and finally Ranakpur Jain Temple all in order of the approachable distance and same direction.Chittorgarh is in opposite direction to these so we skipped it as didn't want teh entire day to be spent in driving.

Apart from these three places few more places including Chittorgarh, Nagda and Eklingji, Nathdwara, and Jaisamand Lake are there to visit if one more day is in your hands.

Since we had only one day, we decided to give a few misses and settled with easily approachable tourist places. Here I am narrating the Day 3 of our excursion which started with a road trip to Haldighati:

Haldighati:

Haldighati holds a glorious mention in the history for the bravery and courage of Maharana Pratap and his horse Chetak . This is the place where the famous battle of Haldighati was fought in 1576 between Mahrana Pratap and Raja Maan Singh of Amber under the aegis of Akbar, the mughal emperor.

The name of this valley is gained from the yellow coloured soil which gives a illusion of turmeric(which is also yellow in colour). Haldighati is about 40km away from Udaipur city, so its better to start early in the morning. The road to reach Haldighati is in good shape and safe too. Once you enter the Haldighati valleys all you can see is yellowish mountains, it easily makes one to imagine the war , soldiers who would have stood there sacrificing their lives to retain the freedom of their motherland.

At Haldighati, a museum is set in the fort for which tickets are mandatory. The prominent historical figures, the weapons, the objects used in old days by the royals all are in display in the hallway just after entering the museum premise. After that a well informed 4-5 minutes movie showcasing the history and life of Maharana Pratap is shown to the visitors.The complete recreation of the battle of Haldighati field map along with the light and sounds, manequins is on display in the museum just like the Akshardham Temple in Delhi and is well explained by the Guide acompanying and directing the group of visitors. No doubt this museum is well maintained and tourist friendly. There is also a recreation area, some small shops to buy the souvenirs, craft work, wooden craved items, rajasthani traditional dresses etc.

All an all its nice if you want to know about history and old times, but if you are looking for some fun then this place is not for you.

The Haldighati Museum in the fort

A model of Haldighati battle map

The swords at the display, along with various wall paintings

After Haldighati, we started for Kumbhalgarh Fort, and on the way we had a great lunch of kadhi rice , sev ki sabji and hot hot fulkas. This was the most soulful simple food I had . Each one of us relished it, especially that sev ki sabji.

KUMBHALGARH FORT:

The Kumbhalgarh fort is surrounded by Aravlli mountains, but is quite accessible since the road is good. It is almost 50km away from Haldighati. We reached in about 2 hours to the fort. Our cab driver slowed the car a bit on the safer side of road and showed us the view of huge and long boundary wall of Kumbhalgarh fort which is not visible fully from any other point . The ancient architecture is mind blowing, all the wonders so strongly built and standing tall and sound even today also. This wall around the fort is approximately 36 km long and is considered second to the 'Great wall of China'. After the car is parked in the parking area outside the fort, walking is required, kids prams are not helpful in the fort, better to leave the prams and anything extra baggage in the car itself safely since to climb this fortress is a jumbo task. Don't forget to take a guide( mostly they are local people only) who will make your visit worthy with his knowledge about the fort and the significance of various places within the fort.

Kumbhalgarh fort is the birth place of the great Mewar king 'MAHARANA PRATAP'.

At the entrance of the fort there is a series of temples including Ganesh Temple, Vedi Temple, and Neelkanth Mahadev temple which has a huge shivlinga. Various other jain temples are also built in this area. This fort was built by Raja Kumbha in 15th century and was further enlarged in 19th century. This fort is the highest in Rajasthan and is never conquered. It is an example of the brilliant and strong architecture, the width of the wall of this fort is about 15-20 feet, and as per many history books, eight horses can run side by side on this wall. The wall is built on the steep mountains, cliffs and surfaces holding its guard to the fort.

We also visited the Kuldevi temple of the royals. The kings and their descendants still come on every special occassion to seek the blessings of the goddess.

Lets have a look on the pictures of this fort to treat the eyes.

The temples in the fort

The huge wall of the fort, it also had stairs from where one can go on the wall

This was the place where the kings waited to meet Mahrana Pratap

This fort is well maintained and a must visit in your Udaipur trip. The ruins has its own charm and charisma.

After Kumbhalgarh fort we drove straight towards Ranakpur Jain Temple. There is also a light and sound show in the evening at the fort, but we couldn't attend it.

RANAKPUR JAIN TEMPLE:

It took almost 2 hours or more to reach Ranakpur from Kumbhalgarh fort. The road is single but in good condition. The temple is open for non-jain visitor after 12 at noon and cameras are allowed at the same time with charges for it. This temple is again a beauty in itself and is one of the best jain temple other than Dilwara Jain temple in Mount Abu. Its grand and built of white marbles only. The priests take visitors on the tour of the temple.

This temple was built by a jain businessman 'Dharnashah' in 15th century with the aid of Rana Kumbha. Rana Kumbha laid the condition of naming this temple on his name, hence the name Ranakpur came into existence. This temple is dedicated to Lord Adinath . The marvellous Ranakpur temple is built on a huge white marble platform. It has 1444 carved pillars yet no two pillars are same, each has distinct carving, 29 halls and 80 domes. Inspite of such a huge architecture and area, the temple is well lighted with natural light inside the complex. The temple is designed as Chaumukha which means four faces, and every face leads to the central compound of the temple.
Here comes the picture gallery of this magnificent timeless beauty

The intrinsic engraving of Kalpavriksha considered as a wish fulfilling divine tree according to Hindu mythology

One of the ceiling architecture

A closer look to the beautiful carvings done on the ceiling

One of the ceilings engraved with AKICHAKA, which represents a man with one head and five bodies resembling air, water, earth, heaven and fire.

The beautifully engraved pillars

The detailed carvings on the pillar

The marvellous and glorious Temple of Ranakpur

After the visit to this serene and beautiful place finally we wrapped up our trip and headed back to Udaipur city. After reaching Udaipur we shopped for some bed-sheets, traditionally printed palazzos and few kids traditional dresses, few pieces of jwellery including earrings, bangles and one long neck piece whose pics I missed to click. The stuff we purchased from Udaipur is of good quality and thanks to our cab driver we got reasonable prices at the shop.

Around 7 pm we reached the hotel all tired and loaded with shopping bags. Had dinner and retired for the day, so so exhausted.

The other day we had planned to visit Mount Abu, now that trip again coming in the next post, till then stay tuned. Would love to read your comments and suggestions on this travelogue. Hoping this post helped you to get some insights for the trip.

3 Day Family Trip to UDAIPUR , Rajasthan

Unknown 12:30 AM Vacation , 28 Comments

Every year we plan one family trip along with my in-laws. This time we decided to make full utilisation of our Holi vacations, and hence planned a 5- day trip to Udaipur and Mount Abu, to be precise 3 days in Udaipur and 2 days in Mount Abu.
The weather during Holi is not so hot nor so cold in North India, basically I am talking about Delhi weather here. Our big concern was the weather in Udaipur, hence did some research and thanks to google we finalised our trip. Summer season from April-June are very hot in Rajasthan, while monsoons are really beautiful in Udaipur with everything lush green. Personally I avoid monsoon travels since I hate to get drench in rains every now and then that too with kid. Had this experience in one of our trip to Nainital, resulting in a suitcase full of wet moist clothes.
Now, What's so special about Udaipur? Is it worth visiting? How is the shopping , etc for which we look forward to some honest reviews and guides. Here,I am narrating my trip , hopefully answering some of the questions which comes to the mind before making travel plan to " Udaipur, the city of lakes".

Let's begins the journey from Delhi -> Udaipur-> Mount Abu ->Delhi

Delhi to Udaipur:-

We decided airways to save time, and hence booked air tickets from Delhi to Udaipur via MakeMyTrip.com .This website has been our trusted partner in all vacation plans, never faced any issues with ticketing, hotel reservations, and other information relied upon. Booked an 11 am flight since we were travelling with our little girl and I swear, to reach airport on time cutting through all the traffic on the roads and yeah with kid hanging around is an achievement in itself. I would love to pat my back on this as I had always reached on time, thanks to Mr. husband for whom punctuality is something uncompromising.
So on the D-day we reached the Delhi airport. Here comes the shocker, we had forgot my father-in-laws trolley bag at home. Now what, we cannot go back home to pick the trolley neither can anyone drop it as all family is at the airport, what next? Well, thanks to the shopping area at airport, we got all needed stuff, clothes etc from the airport shops. By the way, when everybody was busy helping my father-in-law in getting stuff, my dear daughter pulled me to the Hamley's toy store ending up with something called Cash Register Toy. This game saved our trip as she was fully engaged in playing with it.
I found that toy on Amazon too though not of Hamley brand. Even after almost 2 years, the Hamley one is still in her toy room and in surprisingly good condition.
The flight was Delhi to Mumbai with Udaipur as the stop. We landed at Udaipur in approximately one and a half hour .The airport is about 20 km far from the city, so we booked the cab at the airport taxi counters to reach our already booked hotel 'Radisson Blue', some pretty good deals were going on hotel bookings at that time and we just got lucky. It was already afternoon by the time we reached hotel and the moderate weather made us thank our vacation timing. We spent next few hours in the hotel, settling kid, exploring the hotel, and activities of kid's interest there, and voila we found the swings, play area, swimming pool, pool table which helped us in keeping her entertained. During the evening hours the hotel use to host 'Puppet Show' which was really good. Thanks to this show, my little girl found one playmate of her age. The side effect of it, every evening I was dragged to the Puppet show area in search of that playmate who had already checked-out the next day.
The enjoyment of my kid at the hotel can be seen in these clicks, ensuring good time for kids as well as parents.

The Udaipur city tour consists of visiting following places:

1) City Palace

2) Bagore Ki Haveli

3) Taj Lake Palace

4) Lake Pichola

5) JagMandir

6) Jagdish Temple

7) Fateh Sagar Lake

8) Saheliyon ki Bari

9) Vintage Classic Car Museum

10) Mansapurna Karni mata temple/ Karni Ropeway
11) Gulab Bagh and Zoo

Outside Udaipur also some places are a must to visit:

1) Haldighati

2) Nagda and Eklingji

3) Nathdwara

4) Jaisamand Lake

5) Jain Temples at Ranakpur

This whole trip will be covered in multiple posts as one single post will take ages to read. The first post is on the places we visited within Udaipur city, and the next post will be places visited outside the city.

Lets start with Day 1 of the Udaipur City tour.

DAY 1:

BAGORE KI HAVELI:

After getting energised we decided to visit Bagore Ki Haveli, have already read about the famous light and dance show put up in the evening here. The Haveli is situated on the Gangaur Ghat of Lake Pichola, the lake side sunset view is a treat to watch. Though the Haveli was closed for visitors, we reached on time for the dance and light show popularly known as 'DHAROHAR Dance Show'. This show needs tickets both for people as well as camera, make sure you reach before 6 pm and manage getting tickets as there is huge queue. Show timings are from 7-8 pm everyday. The show is hosted in an open space within the haveli also known as 'Neem Chowk', getting its name with a huge Neem tree standing in between the haveli. The seating arrangement is planned nicely with mattresses to sit, almost 100 or may be more people were present to watch the show. The music played was with traditional instruments like tabla, harmonium, and dholak. After watching the show, just one word I could say "FABULOUS". One gets a perfect feel of Rajasthani culture here.

The artists who palyed the instruments

The host was really good, kept on explaining the acts in both languages English and Hindi, as there were many foreign visitors too.

The Host of The Show

The artists performing the show wore bright coloured lehengas, traditional jwelllery, and a complete showcase of Rajasthani culture, their ages varying from young girls to an outstanding 71 year old lady performing 'BHAVAI Dance' , for me this last dance was the best part.I have never witnessed such colourful, daring, and engaging performance in so simple yet alluring setup.

The show included various traditional rajasthani dance forms some of which are as listed below:

The Chari dance with fire flaming pots

* Chari dance: where the young dancers performed with brass pots on their heads with flames burning, and mind it those pots were not glued with any tricks , as the artists did put the pots down on the floor. The poise, the ease and the grace with which this dance was performed is something to marvel upon.

CHARI Dance

*Terah Taal Dance- In this form, the two dancers tied 13 (thirteen) manjiras on their legs, and a dagger gripped in their mouth. Manjira is a kind of semi circular bells which when stroked together produces high pitched rythmic sounds depending on the hand movements done while striking. The balance, the musical sound and the performance is unforgettable. All these dances were real balancinng acts with beautiful presentation.

Terah Taal Dance

Ghumar: A group of ladies performed this dance form. As mentioned by the host this dance is performed by the ladies when the Rajput warriors come back home after long wars.Its kind of welcome dance to these warriors, and the wives celebrating the return of their husbands. Ghumar imbibes well known act of 'Phugdi' which we use to play in our childhood, the facial expressions, the twirlings in those colourful lehengas all made it worthy to watch.

Dancers playing Fhugdi in Ghumar

Play of Maa Amba and Rakshas : The artist in the getup of Maa Amba (Goddess Durga) put smoking charcoal pieces in his mouth without getting injured, well that was quite daring.

Play of Maa Amba and Rakshas

The Puppet Show: The pupppet show was quite funny and engaging one, and the fine finger work the artists do with strings of the puppet is commendable. It was a treat to watch.

And the last BHAVAI Dance: This I felt is the most fascinating and challenging dance form where a series of earthen pots needs to be balanced on the head of the artist while she performs gracefully, sometimes on just a small piece of cloth, sometimes on the Thaali(palte), and also on the pieces of glass. The series of pots start increasing from 1 to 13 and in every increase some more difficult moves kept on adding to the dance. Hats off to this 71year old lady performing this act with so much zeal, energy, poise and smile on her face.

The graceful Bhavai Dance

With this performance the show ends. After the show one can buy various puppets, and other traditional dresses, jwellery kept in the corridors for sale.

All in all it was a worthy watch , I am glad we didn't spent our evening just lazying in the hotel. Its a treat for eyes and brain. Lovely Rajasthan, lovely colours, and lovely dances.

After the Darohar show, we went out heading to have dinner at rooftop cafes, but sadly all the exquisite ones were full with foreigners and pre-booked travellers. We tried our luck at the famous 'Ambrai Restaurant' for lake view dinner, but of no use. If you plan to have dinner here, do book the tables in advance, else there is no chance to get table with just walking in.

So finally we settled with some other available restaurant which also offered lake view , and its awesome, a treat to eyes watching the reflection of the lights on the water while relaxing. Must to do if you are in Udaipur.

The roads in Udaipur are same as other Indian cities, same congested lanes, chowks, but what makes the city different is its era of Rajasthani rulers, forts, royalty and lakes of-course.
Finally day 1 ended up well exploring udaipur.

DAY 2:

KARNI MATA TEMPLE:

For day 2, we booked a cab with local travel agent to visit this beautiful city and I must say that was a wise decision since whole family was with us and its not feasible to explore local transports, comfort of family has to be taken care of.
Udaipur is also called as 'City of Lakes' established by Maharana Udai Singh. The city is surrounded by Aravalli mountain ranges, along with Lake Pichola and Fateh Sagar Lake which adds to its beauty.
Our second day tour started with visiting Karni Mata temple. For reaching there, Ropeway ride is to be taken. The ride is awesome, well managed, clean, and in order. The views from the ropeway ride are breathtaking overseeing the beautiful lakes and the city of Udaipur. In monsoon it is surely an oasis amidst the Rajasthan deserts.
Posting some pictures taken while visiting the temple.

WE :)

The city view from the top

Lake Palace on Jagniwas Island, Lake pichola

Udaipur City View

On reaching the temple, need to take some stairs to reach the goddess idol. The temple was in under construction stage. But that will not cause any obstruction in reaching the temple premise.

The white rats are kept here, which are believed to be sacred and are protected.
Photography is allowed , so go on and click as many pics as you want. The place is peaceful and not at all crowded, no foreign visitors were there so rates were also reasonable for eatables available in the cafeteria at the Ropeway.

The white rats in the temple premise.

After having darshan at the temple, one can have snacks at the cafeteria, which is hygienic with good seating arrangement. One can have tea, coffee, snacks etc and then can board the rope-way ride to reach back to the city. Some people do prefer the walk way to reach the temple which has well built staircases.

The walking way to reach Karni Mata temple

UDAIPUR CITY PALACE

After taking blessing at Karni Mata temple, we headed towards the Udaipur City Palace. Its huge, marvellous and rich in architecture. The best way to enjoy the tour of City palace and get insights about the glorious history of it is to take the guide. Make sure you reach the palace within its timings which are from 09:30 am to 05:30 pm. Tickets are needed for people as well as shutterbugs( camera).
The magnificent view of Lake Pichola along with the City Palace is something magical.One can enjoy the boat rides in this beautiful lake At the entrance gate of the Palace, there is Crystal Gallery, unfortunately it was closed on the day we visited.

The palace is huge. For people visiting with their kids, till premises its fine, but the corridors inside the palace are not pram friendly.You can submit the prams on the counter near to water cooler. The palace provides amenities like hygienic and cold drinking water, clean washrooms.There is also a restaurant called 'PAANTYA RESTAURANT' at Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel. The other part of the palace is with royals and not opened for public. To explore the city palace, it takes about 2-3 hours.
Here one can witness the colourful glass jharokhas (windows), the armour of the king, the famous glasses worn by Sir Ben Kingsley in movie 'Gandhi', the cage for carrier pigeons, and other antiques. A glimpse of life the royals had in this marvellous architectural beauty can be seen here.

The entry gate to the Palace, with ancient lamp hanging

The famous glasses

The palace is identified by different names, the entrance gates of the parts shows the names for each segment , some of them were Fateh Pol which is the main entrance gate open for the people, Fateh Niwas, bhopal niwas, Zanana Mahal for royal ladies and many more. There is also a roof top garden known as 'BAADI MAHAL' which was designed as a summer house. It offers an exquisite view of the Udaipur city.

View of Udaipur City from Jharokha

The carved walls, the sculptures,the arch and domes, the symmetrical corridors, the room made of glass, the huge ivory doors, the king's room, the meenakari work, mirror work, the huge vessels used in the royal kitchen, the royal paintings depicting the wars, and lives of the kings, the artistically carved and engraved ceilings, the wall paintings at every door, the ancient canons (top in Hindi) and everything the place has to offer is royal in itself.The royal swing is also in display. Many of the items are not allowed for touching and that's why the shine and sheen of this priceless heritage is still intact. Right now I am quite confused how to post the pictures of all what I could capture there. It would be like a picture gallery for the palace But a travelogue is incomplete without pictures, so posting some of the pics of the beautiful City Palace.

Mor chowk(patio of the peacocks) is built of pieces of mosaic green, blue, crystal, gold and mirrors depicting the various movements of peacock.

The vessels used in the palace

The beautiful wall paintings

The Canyon

After the City palace, the cab driver took us to the Gulab Bagh, its a huge peaceful garden with people relaxing in the shade of trees. We were tired of walking in this garden, so you can imagine how much area it occupies.There are not much of the roses, but yes some part of it is very nicely maintained with variety of flowers blooming. As for the zoo part, we could spot only few chinkaras,ducks and monkeys. One of the attraction of this garden is the toy train and library called as 'Saraswati Bhawan'.

TOY TRAIN

Garden flowers

A few Chinkaras

After enjoying the toy train ride with our kid, we headed straight for lunch as it was already 1 pm. Our cab driver took to a restaurant , don't remember the name of it, but was very hygienic, not so crowded and the food better to say the Dall bati churma thaali was so huge and delicious. This was the best daal baati churma I had till date, and the butter milk along with it was so yum. The service quick and polite. I so wish I could have the name of that restaurant to refer to.

VINTAGE CAR MUSEUM:

Finishing our lunch, we headed to the famous Vintage Car Museum. This place is a must visit for the Car lovers. Almost every vintage car including Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Ford, Chevrolet, Buick Super,Cadillac is standing proudly in the royal garage. Each car is well maintained here, and is in working condition.

Tickets are needed to visit this museum, and no extra charges for camera. The staff is courteous.

A glimpse of Vinatge beauties

After a walk from the past, we headed towards motorboat ride on Lake pichola, and it was great, got to see Jagmandir Palace , we didn't stopped here, as kid was getting cranky after whole day of exertion.

Hence we winded up our day 2 after the boat ride and reached hotel back to relax and get rejuvenated for the next day since its going to be a long day. We couldn't visit Saheliyon ki Baari, due to time constraint while Fateh Sagar lake was offering quite a view from our hotel terrace, so we wrapped up our within Udaipur visits, and planned for out of city places. Our day 3 plan included visiting Haldighati , Kumbhalgarh Fort, and Ranakpur Jain Temple.

I will be covering these places in my next post, stay connected.

Hope you had a good read and information to plan your vacation to Udaipur. Would love to have inputs which can make this travelogue more useful.

Zindagi Everyday

New year Gifts to my family