[arjyamaj]

Upon returning from our exploration of the Jhelum Valley (Exploring the Kashmir Valley) earlier this year, my seven year old wanted to immediately start planning a road trip for his winter break. Schools in North India, particularly in the NCR have notoriously short winter breaks and I knew we had a very short window to work with. This year, that window of opportunity was the first week and a half of January 2023.

We picked Rajasthan because the seven year old hadn’t seen much of it beyond Jaipur. I had done a road trip many years ago to Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur, but had never been to Udaipur. So, an Udaipur centric trip it was.

Travelling with a seven year old and a senior citizen is challenging as I’ve mentioned in other posts before, so we knew that it would be difficult to reach Udaipur in a day. The ideal halfway point between Sonipat and Udaipur would have been Alwar, but we saw that we could push ourselves a little to reach Bhilwara on Day 1.

[arjyamaj]

Day 1 - Sonipat to Bhilwara (545 kms, 8.5 hours)

We started around 7:30 am from our residence in Sonipat, got onto the Western Peripheral Expressway and onto the Delhi-Jaipur Highway. Stopped for breakfast at a new location called Food Street on the highway near Behror. This is newly opened and I wanted to see what was available. They have a Vaango, a KFC, a Keventers and a Costa Coffee as of now. Clean bathrooms. Post breakfast, we headed towards Bhilwara. On the Jaipur bypass, I was caught unawares by eagle-eyed Rajasthan police who now wield speed guns atop their motorcycles. After paying the fine for speeding, we continued towards Bhilwara, albeit at a slower pace. There’s not much to do in Bhilwara. It is after all, a textile hub. However, we stayed at a hotel called the Ranbanka Heritage Resort. Very clean and great food. Had a proper Rajasthani laal maas after ages.

[arjyamaj]

Day 2 - Bhilwara to Chittorgarh (60 kms, 1 hour)

We had an early start the next morning for an hour’s drive to Chittorgarh. Chittorgarh lies on the Golden Quadrilateral and the roads to the city were excellent. We arrived at around 9 am in the morning, when the fort opens, and were quickly beset upon by a number of guides offering their services. It is most advisable to take a guide with you. The fort is so large that you’ll need to drive around to see the various monuments inside the fort.


View from the top of Chittorgarh Fort



The Chittorgarh Fort is the largest in India and was originally built by a local Rajput king by the name of Chitrangada Mori, who named the place Chitrakoot. The fort came under Mewar rule in the 8th century and remained with the Mewar dynasty until 1303, with the siege of Chittorgarh by Alauddin Khilji. The movie Padmaavat is based on this. The fort changed hands between the Delhi Sultanate and the Mewar kings a number of times leading to the eventual sacking of the fort by Akbar in the 16th century.

Over time, the fort has been rebuilt and refurbished, but remains a shadow of its former self. Most of the structures that remain, do so as ruins. Some notable exceptions include a few temples that have been rebuilt, the Vijay Sthambh (Victory Tower) and the Kirti Sthambh (Tower of Fame).

Kumbhshyam Temple. The temple was constructed during the rule of Rana Kumbha and is built in the Indo-Aryan style popular in those times. It bears a strong connection to the mystic poetess Meerabai, a zealous devotee of Krishna’s. She was the wife of Prince Bhojraj.




Vijay Sthambh was built by Maharana Kumbha between 1440 AD and 1448 AD to immortalise his triumph of defeating the Muslim rulers of Malwa and Gujarat. Built partly from red sandstone and partly white marble, this architectural wonder is nine-storey tower decorated with detailed sculptures.






Kirthi Stambh. This Tower of Fame is dedicated to Adinathji, the 1st Jain Tirthankara (great teacher). Adorned by the figures of the Digambars (Jain monks), this seven-storied tower was built by a wealthy Jain merchant in 12th century AD.




Gaumukh Talab - one of the many reservoirs in the fort



Rani Padmini Palace. This palace plays an important role in Rajput history. The structure is built on the banks of a lotus pool and has a pavilion that provides privacy for the women of the royal family. Ala-ud-din Khilji, then Sultan of Delhi, spotted Queen Padmini’s reflection in the pool and was so besotted by her beauty that he led his forces in battle to abduct her.



Rana Ratan Singh (II) Palace - eminently explorable on foot



We completed our tour of the fort, which took around 3 hours. Note that we took our time with each monument that our guide took us to. The last stop was an overpriced handicrafts/ handloom shop in the fort which undoubtedly offered a commission to our guide. Inadvisable to buy anything from these shops. We then checked into our hotel - the Elegance Resort. While the grounds of this hotel were nice, the service, food and cleanliness let us down big time. Unlikely to be recommending that hotel ever.

We tried going back to the fort in the evening for the sound and light show, but being the 1st of January and a Sunday, there were excessive crowds. We turned around to go back to our hotel. Perhaps another time.

[arjyamaj]

Day 3 - Chittorgarh to Udaipur (111 kms, 2 hours)

Our hotel in Chittorgarh was very close to the Golden Quadrilateral and we had no issues getting out. 2 hours later, we arrived at Udaipur. As usual, roads in Rajasthan are fantastic. Arriving in Udaipur at around 11:30 am, instead of checking into our hotel, we decided to use the rest of the day to explore the City Palace.

The Udaipur City Palace is the home to the House of Mewar. There are complicated rules for getting into the palace, particularly if you’re coming by car. There are two entrances - the Tripoliya Pol (‘Pol’ = Gate) and the Badi Pol. Badi Pol works best if you’re coming in on an auto or a cab - parking is limited. Badi Pol also involves a lesser climb. However, if you’re driving on your own, Tripoliya Pol is advisable. First, you’ll need to temporarily park your car below the palace. There’s a ticket window where you’ll be able to buy tickets for the general palace grounds and the interiors. A separate window sells parking tickets. A third window sells tickets for golf carts that ferry people up and down the palace ridge. It’s all suitably confusing.

Be prepared for a decent walk up if you’re not taking a golf cart. But the views of the Lake Pichola while walking up are worth it.



At the entrance to the palace, there is a separate wing that houses the Durbar Hall and the Crystal Room which are part of the Taj Fateh Prakash. There are separate tickets for this. We got to the Durbar Hall which houses an impressive chandelier, amongst other artefacts. It is beyond doubt one of the most majestic halls in India. It has witnessed formal Durbar or Royal Court sessions ever since it was built in the early 1910s during the reign of Maharana Fateh Singhji.



Photography is not allowed in the Crystal Room and they will ask you to leave your phones behind.

We then proceeded to the main palace grounds and interiors. At yet another ticket counter within the grounds, you can rent audioguides. We prefer audio guides since they allow us to meander through a museum at our own pace.



The palace facade. Built in granite and marble, the City Palace complex is worth admiring for its perfect blend of Medieval, European and Chinese architecture



And here's what it looks like at night.


A painting depicting the famous Battle of Haldighati between Mewar, led by Maharana Pratap and the Mughals, led by Man Singh I of Amber.



The Hall of Mirrors, aptly named Manek Mahal



View from the top of the palace



Zenana Mahal. It is located at one end of the The City Palace, with the large spacious court or the Laxmi Chowk in the centre.



There is also a Silver Gallery.



We were done with the City Palace interiors by around 3 pm and after a quick lunch, we checked into our hotel - Shree Vilas Orchid. This is a wonderful hotel right on the lake. The rooms are essentially tented villas with brick and mortar walls and tent canvas roofs. Very jungle safari meets heritage hotel. There are plenty of hotels near the Pichola but be warned, this part of the city has some very narrow lanes and anything larger than an Alto will find manoeuvring difficult. We found this very similar to the ghats of Varanasi. Most hotels in this area ask their guests to park at parking lots with whom these hotels have a tie-up. Our hotel arranged for an auto to ferry us to and from the parking lot.


Sunset at the Shree Vilas Orchid.

[arjyamaj]

Day 4 - Mount Abu (320 kms, 9 hours)


We did a day trip to Mount Abu. We ought to have started earlier, around 8, but ended up starting out of Udaipur at 10 am. Our goal was twofold. 1) to reach the highest point on Mount Abu - the Guru Shikhar and the Physics Research Laboratory (PRL) observatory and 2) to visit the Dilwara Temple complex. Roads are great all along the NH 27 which leads to Abu Road. From Abu Road, it’s a moderate climb all the way to the top which will take a shade over an hour. We weren’t allowed to enter the PRL.


Guru Shikhar



The Mount Abu ridge with PRL on the left and the gurudwara atop Guru Shikar on the right




Lovers Point



Winding roads of Mount Abu




Driving through the Aravalis on the NH 27



We also stopped at the Dilwara Temple complex. This is a group of five temples made completely of marble. These temples have carvings that I thought were impossible. The gold standard in marble based architecture is said to be the Taj Mahal. I’ve been to the Taj, and the Taj is nothing compared to these. I love the Taj and it’s design. But I also had an epiphanic theory.

The Quran forbids the depiction of any animals or humans in pictorial form. Which is why there are no pictures of the Prophet Mohammad. For the same reason, the intricate work in the Taj is restricted to floral and geometric patterns. But Hindus, Jains and Buddhists have no such restrictions. So, Hindu, Jain and Buddhist places of worship that have survived the ravages of time are bound to have richer architectural details. But this is of course, opinion.

The Taj has brilliant inlay and filigree work. I’ll still say that the Dilwara temples are a mile ahead. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures inside or anywhere near the temple. I guess people have to see it in person. We were back in our hotel by a little past 7 pm.

[arjyamaj]

Day 5 - Local sightseeing in Udaipur


After 4 days of continuous movement, we felt that we had earned ourselves a day of local sightseeing. There were three primary objectives. The first was the ropeway to the Karni Mata Temple. The ropeway and the temple offer fantastic views all around the city.

To get onto the ropeway, you first need to buy a ticket. Tickets can be bought for individual persons or you could book an entire gondola to yourselves (this is more expensive, of course). Then you need to get a number. This is your sequence number. You then go to a waiting area and wait for your number to be pinged on a screen. Get in line and off into the gondola.



At the top, there is a restaurant along with arcade games and activities for kids. The process of getting your number and have it pinged happens at the top as well.





We then proceeded to the Pichola for a boat ride. There are three boat operators that presently offer their services to the public. The first is through the City Palace. This is an option which will take you to Jag Mandir which is an island on the Pichola and now made famous into a wedding destination. The second is a ‘sunset’ special boat tour which operates once a day around sunset. The third is operated by the Udaipur Municipal Corporation. They have two options a 30 seater and a 10 seater. We opted for the 10 seater since it’s more accessible for senior citizens.







We then proceeded to the Vintage Car Museum which is located fairly close to the City Palace. A very limited collection of cars, but still worth taking a look.















Thanks to Instagram, my former students remain in touch with me. One of them who is from Udaipur, got in touch with me the moment she knew we were in Udaipur. She gave us a number of recommendations for traditional food and shopping. Upon her recommendation, we had thalis at the Traditional Khana Restaurant Rajasthani Cuisine. Excellent food. The daal and gate curry especially blew me away.




We closed out our city adventures with a spot of shopping at Hathi Pole - known for textiles, apparel and handicrafts. In the evening, we went back to the city palace for their sound and light show which begins at 7 pm. Tickets are sold from 6 pm onwards. We thought the show itself was very ordinary. But the palace is very pretty with the lights on in the evening.

[arjyamaj]

Day 6 - Udaipur to Kumbhalgarh (87 kms, 2 hours)

We bade our goodbyes to the city of lakes, and set off towards Kumbhalgarh. The road to Kumbhalgarh is mostly State Highways and MDRs. You do meander through villages and hills and there will be the odd rough patch. We arrived at our hotel - Fateh Safari Resort around lunchtime. The plan was to grab a quick lunch and then head out to explore the fort and its surroundings. We were told by the hotel staff that apart from the fort, Kumbhalgarh has developed quite a few attractions. There is a Ganga Goverdhun Museum, boating on Lakhela Talab, a local jungle safari and a few other places. We did some boating at the lake before moving on to the fort.







The Kumbhalgarh fort is one of the most imposing structures I’ve ever come across. Originally built by Mauryan king Samprati, it was vastly expanded by Rana Kumbha in the 15th century. While the other hill forts had some embellishment and architectural intricacies, the Kumbhalgarh fort was meant for a singular purpose, to keep invading armies out.

The first view of the fort comes a few kilometres up the hill. I’ve often wondered what soldiers of an advancing army would feel when they looked up at the imposing structure.



Parking is available outside the fort walls. One could say that this is Wall Street.





The hike up the hill takes a good hour if you’re going slowly to take in the sights. We certainly did. Let the pictures speak for themselves.



















On hindsight, we were fortunate to get the fort towards the late afternoon, during the golden hour.

We stayed back for the sound and light show which starts at 6:30 pm. The locals told us that the show was suspended for more than a year post Covid and only recently has been revamped. I’ve seen many sound and light shows at Orchha, Khajuraho, Amer, etc and I must say, this one has the potential to outshine them all. The new sound and light show at Kumbhalgarh uses better lighting and better audio systems. Moreover, it approaches the history of the fort through an anthropomorphic lens - as if the fort is a living being capable of memory and emotion. I found this to be a novel concept not used in other shows. However, the show is free for now since it continues to struggle with technical issues. Due to these technical issues and the biting cold, we left halfway through.

However, before I close this episode on Kumbhalgarh, I must note with some excitement at the potential for Kumbhalgarh to become a destination by itself. Usually, Kumbhalgarh is seen as a day trip from Jodhpur or Udaipur, or in our case, a stopover between these two established destinations. However, I noticed that the fort itself was clean, dustbins every 20 metres or so, mostly disabled friendly. Due to the low levels of outside tourists, there are few guides and no audio guides yet. However there is tremendous possibilities with the fort and its surrounding areas. I have already mentioned the jungle safari, the boating and the museum earlier. There are decent hotels springing up on the road to the fort. I am certain that with a bit of effort, Kumbhalgarh tourism will pick up.

[arjyamaj]

Day 7 - Kumbhalgarh to Jodhpur (196 kms, 3.5 hours)

We set off early from our hotel. The plan was to head to Jodhpur stopping over at the Ranakpur Jain Temples and pay our respect to Om Banna or Bullet Baba as he is more commonly known. The road from Kumbhalgarh to Jodhpur starts with patchy village roads eventually giving way to a slightly challenging loopy section before merging with SH 32. About an hour out of Kumbhalgarh and you come to Ranakpur and the first temple that greets you is the Suryanarayan temple. Don’t be fooled, this isn’t the real thing. Again, photography wasn’t permitted inside the temple. And yes, there are security cameras.









You'll notice how intricate the marble work is on the outside. The inside is even better.

A few minutes ahead on the same road and you’ll come across the main Ranakpur Jain Temple. Famous for its intricate carvings and unique architecture, the Ranakpur temple is one of the largest and most important temples of Jain culture. There is parking available in the temple complex. There are two entrances. One for general public and another for the elderly. Upon asking nicely, the temple guards will direct you to what they refer to as the South Gate of the temple, which involves fewer stairs to climb.









I must say, while I fell in love with the Dilwara temple, Ranakpur is even better. Much like Dilwara, each part of the ceiling is intricately carved in various motifs depicting nature and Jainism. I could have spent hours there. Again, no pictures allowed inside the temple. However, a couple of the guards told me that post 12 noon, pictures inside the temple are allowed. Prayers are held daily pre-noon. However, we were on a schedule and had to get to Jodhpur by lunch. Waiting till noon at Ranakpur with still another 3 hours to go would be stretching it.

Out of Ranakpur and past a few towns, we finally joined the NH 62 towards Jodhpur. About two hours from Ranakpur and we found ourselves at the Om Banna temple. I won’t go into the details of why this is significant for us travellers - this thread says it all. [https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...a-temple.html] (Om Banna: The Bullet Baba Temple)



Another hour from Om Banna and we were at Jodhpur, at a homestay called the Almond Tree, overlooking the Umaid Bhavan Palace.

[arjyamaj]

Day 8 - Mehrangarh Fort and Umaid Bhavan Palace


I’d been to Jodhpur before, so this was revision for me. We visited Mehrangarh fort first. This imposing structure covers nearly 1200 acres in Jodhpur. The main approach is through a few narrow lanes, be prepared for traffic snarls, especially when drivers in haste will try to overtake on an undivided single carriageway. Your car will go all the way up to Jaipole, the entrance to the fort. Parking is about 100 meters below the main entrance. It is recommended to get a guide. I took one the last time I was here, around 9 years ago and remembered most of the points of interest.





This is the first of many turns you’ll have to climb up. There is also a paid lift that takes you to museum level.










While we went to Mehrangarh in the morning, this spot is great to take a picture during the golden hour. The red and ochre sandstone really shines at sunset. Here are a few pictures from my previous visit.






Mehrangarh fort offers much. Inside the fort is a museum housing a number of artefacts that would have been used in pre-British times.







There is a section devoted to elephant howdahs, palanquins and the armoury.









Some artefacts are one of a kind. Such as Akbar’s sword at the Daulat Khana (treasury).



As you climb higher, you come across Sheesh Mahal, or the Hall of Mirrors.



And the Phool Mahal with its gilded ceiling.





You’ll also come across Takhat Vilas, the bed-chamber of Maharaja Takhat Singh (1843-73) is decorated from ceiling to floor with paintings on a variety of subjects; from Hindu gods and goddesses to European ladies. Even the ‘carpet’ on the floor is painted. Especially noteworthy are the lacquer paintings on the wooden ceiling. Takhat Singh, a great patron of the arts, was the last of Jodhpur’s Maharajas to wholly reside in Mehrangarh.



As you descend through the museum, you’ll come across Moti Mahal, which is is one of the oldest surviving period rooms in the fort. It was built in the 16th century by Sawai Raja Sur Singh (1595-1619) as a Hall of Public Audience. The walls of the room are lustrously polished with ‘chunam’ (shell lime and sand) and decorated with niches in which lamps once flickered. The ceiling is beautifully embellished with mirror and gilt.





As you exit the museum from Moti Mahal, you’ll come across a rather overpriced museum shop. Post the museum, you could climb further to the highest ramparts of the fort which showcase an impressive array of cannons.






Post the Mehrangarh Fort, we headed to the Umaid Bhavan Palace. Umaid Bhawan Palace is one of the world's largest private residences. A part of the palace is managed by Taj Hotels. It is named after Maharaja Umaid Singh, grandfather of the present owner, Gaj Singh.

Compared to the Mehrangarh Fort, I thought this was entirely missable. While the palace itself is gorgeous, made out of yellow sandstone, it mostly houses artefacts belonging to the Jodhpur Royal Family. Of interest were a couple of frescoes.





Our day ended back at our homestay, post a late lunch.

[arjyamaj]

Days 9 and 10 - Jodhpur to Jaipur (339 kms, 5 hours) and Jaipur to Sonipat (290 kms, 4.5 hours)


This was to be our return leg. We had a late start from Jodhpur, around 10 am and reached our hotel near Man Sagar lake in Jaipur round 4 pm, with a leisurely lunch near Ajmer. While the roads between Jodhpur and Jaipur are great and you should constantly be able to do triple digit speeds (watch out for speed guns along the way), as you get closer to Jaipur, the traffic gets worse. It isn’t uncommon to find three trucks racing with each other across all three lanes. Since we had all been to Jaipur multiple times before, we decided to simply do nothing the rest of the day.

As I write this from my hotel room in Jaipur, I cannot help but reflect on how wonderful Rajasthan is as a roadtrip destination. The sights are breathtaking, the roads are (for the most part) triple digit speed worthy, the food is great and the hospitality, legendary. That said, there are destinations like Kumbhalgarh that show immense potential for further growth and many of the established destinations such as Mehrangarh and Chittorgarh could benefit from a few tweaks.

I am aware that there are a number of other forts in Rajasthan that we couldn't cover. Particularly the 'Sonar Kella' in Jaisalmer and Junagarh in Bikaner. Perhaps next winter?

[Aditya]

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[vaibhav_a_a]

Originally Posted by arjyamaj

[b] I’ve seen many sound and light shows at Orchha, Khajuraho, Amer, etc and I must say, this one has the potential to outshine them all. The new sound and light show at Kumbhalgarh uses better lighting and better audio systems. Moreover, it approaches the history of the fort through an anthropomorphic lens - as if the fort is a living being capable of memory and emotion. I found this to be a novel concept not used in other shows. .

Very true - it is a good show. I attended in 2019 so maybe the equipment is upgraded. If i recall correctly it had Raza Murad's voice (?)

Regd the place being portrayed as a living being, its the same in the S&L show of Ross Island aka Netaji Subhas Bose Dweep (A&N). That show has even better production values (as of Sept 22).