[KishoreC]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I'm sure your thread has many silent admirers. I've been enjoying it very much, from the details of the drive to the details of the palace

Thank you.
Your comment really inspired me. So after couple of days gap, I'm to continue the story today.

[KishoreC]

The day was bright and pleasant.
It took us couple of hours to see City Palace. We thoroughly enjoyed her beauty.

We came out through Tripolia onto the streets and planned to sit at the cafe for a while. Two hours of continuous walking have tired us a bit.

Next destination Jagadish Temple.

I have never been fond of Temples, where Puja still happens regularly. In my opinion any Temple older than couple of hundred years should be taken over by ASI. It should be preserved for the knowledge and enjoyment of generations to come. The only way that could be done is by not letting people perform Puja inside the temple. But ASI has been unsuccessful in most of the cases as this is a very sensitive issue for the local population and mostly creates wide spread protest and anger.

Suitable examples would be the Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameshwaram which has been built between 12th and 16th century, or the Virupaksha Temple in Humpi.

In Rameswaram the temple had a mind-blowing structure, but when you go inside the crowd control structures and such, don't at all please your eyes. The walls of the temple have been soaked in oil and other materials, which slowly discolors the rock. It really saddens me seeing people abuse these extraordinary structures of historical importance. We know very well that, no matter how much we spend, we cannot rebuild any of these marvelous structures of the past.

Anyway, Jagadish Temple was only a few paces away from the cafe. So after a short break and a cup of coffee we stroll down to Jagadish Temple.

After safely putting our shows away at the designated place, we enter the temple and spend the next 20 or so minutes inside.

Here are some photos of the same.

















Where should we go from here ?
Let's check our Moti Magri.
Isn't that the hill where Rana Pratap memorial is ?
Yes, and it is next to Fateh Sagar Lake.

So it is decided that we will go to Moti Magri next and roam around Fateh Sagar in the late afternoon.

Continued...

[KishoreC]

After seeing Jagadish temple, we started walking to the same direction we went last evening. We notice Bagore Ki Haveli on the left and then a ghat on Pichola lake.We spend a few minutes there. On the Ghat this couple wa selling musical instruments. There was another family, with couple of kids. The father was giving lessons to his kids on how to curve idols from stone. Wife buys couple of Ganesha idols from there.







Moti Magri :

A quick auto ride to Moti Magri costs us 50 bucks. On the way we crossed lakes couple of times and finally came out to Fateh Sagar Lake.

We were dropped off in front of Rana Pratap Memorial entrance. No car, so we have to walk up. Camel ride was being offered in front of the entrance. I take a couple of photos.





At the ticket counter one small incident happened.

There was a queue of around 10 people after me at the ticket counter. When it was my turn suddenly a lady comes from nowhere and puts her hand into the window opening.

Excuse me, we are in queue, you should also be.

She murmurs something about separate queue for ladies.
Four five people from behind me also protests.

All saying the same thing. There is no separate queue for women, and she should get in the queue like everyone else.

She didn't budge an inch. Against all the protesting men, she managed to get the tickets (for 5) from the counter.

Then she walks back to the waiting Scorpio. Inside were four men, she gets in and the Scorpio goes through the gate.

I kept thinking, It was a big mistake to be a man.

Bought tickets at the gate and started to go up the hill. We take the shorter route meant for pedestrians rather than following the main road. It's not steep, but quite a climb up to the top.









At the top is Rana Pratap memorial. Rana Pratap on Chetak is the icon of the bravery of Mewar. The memorial has a beautiful garden with it. You can see Fateh Sagar lake from here.



















A little down the hill is the Museum. Inside there is a model of Chittaurgarh Fort and Arms and Ammunition Gallery and couple of photo galleries.

















After visiting the museum we walk down the main road. On a side road there was a memorial of the Head of the Bhil tribe. This tribe was Rana Paratap's ally and helped in the fight against Mughals.





We continue down the main road and come out of the gate.

Our plan was to roam around Fateh Sagar. We've noticed the beautiful road along side the lake. Problem is, it's not yet late afternoon and Sun was quite high in the sky. It would be quite tiring to stroll down that road at this
time of the day. So, instead of passing time at Fateh Sagar, we think of going back there after checking out the Vintage Car Museum.

Next.. Vintage car museum...

[musafir_blr]

Traffic was a nuisance. I don't have strong enough adjectives in my dictionary to describe the kind of driving I saw on this road.

Most of the vehicles had MH or GJ number plates naturally. They seemed to enjoy this portion of road, which was full of flyover construction sites. They drove with absolutely no regards to any traffic rule. I saw hundreds and hundreds of private vehicles (or maybe I counted less) using the oppposite lanes in the very first opportunity they get. No one wanted to stop or slow down in a road with ultra heavy traffic and road constructions everywhere. It seemed to be a norm than an exception on this road.

Hi KishoreC,

I was traveling on the NH8 (for the first time) on 26th Dec to reach Ahmedabad. Even I had the same feeling regarding the traffic of that road! .

by the way, which GPS you were using? I tried to use the ovi maps of Nokia to pass through Mumbai in the leg Pune - ahmedabad. Unfortunately I had to beleive that the ovi maps is not the best option (if not the worst one!!!).

[KishoreC]

Originally Posted by musafir_blr

Hi KishoreC,
by the way, which GPS you were using? I tried to use the ovi maps of Nokia to pass through Mumbai in the leg Pune - ahmedabad. Unfortunately I had to beleive that the ovi maps is not the best option (if not the worst one!!!).

I bought a cheap Chinese device from dealextreme.com and then put satnav's destinator with oneindia map in it.

It's been more than a year now and it performs quite well.

[ajman28]

@Kishore - Thank you I am planning to do a very similar trip in the near future and your log will definitely be a lot of help.

[KishoreC]

A quick auto ride to Vintage car Museum, again 50 bucks. My guess is it would cost much less in off peak season.

We see Chetak Circle on the way. We pass through couple of main junctions of Udaipur and spot a big sweet shop "Jodhpur Misthan Bhandar" on one junction. We will go back there tomorrow.



We saw the museum while driving to the hotel the previous day. We also spot a Barista and a CCD close by.

Vintage Car museum :

The museum is attached to Garden Hotel, a luxury hotel.
Entry fee was quite high and entry with lunch was also available. We take tickets only for the car museum. You get a complimentary fruit juice with every ticket.

Anyway, straight to the courtyard where the cars are parked. My camera's battery is almost out, so I take couple of pictures quickly.

Next one hour we spend appreciating each of the beauty parked in there.
Our favorite was the 1946 Buick Super Salon.



























































car museum continued...

[KishoreC]

Battery is almost out and the camera will switch off any moment. I try to capture as much as possible.





I could catch the board for the couple of Morris but the camera switched off right after that.



There was a prehistoric petrol pump at the entrance. We could not take picture of it.

We come out of the museum and after having coffee at Barista, walk back to the hotel.

Fateh Sagar has to wait for the next day. Both of us are quite tired and we also don't want to miss evening on Pichola.

We have dinner at the hotel's rooftop restaurant and go to bed early.







Our plan is to see Bagore Ki Havelli and Fateh Sagar the next day.
Continued...

[KishoreC]

Another lovely day in Udaipur. The day is bright and we are full of energy.

We get ready quite early and head to our favourite breakfast destination. After breakfast and a thorough reading of local newspaper, we start walking to Pichola. destination Bagore Ki Haveli.

Bagore Ki Haveli :

An impressive gate, and an old style building invites us inside. We buy ticket and proceed inside.





As soon as you enter, you get an overall idea about the massive Haveli by looking at the model.



We proceed inside.









First the puppet room. One person shows us the way and switches on the lights inside the room. It is a riot of colors in there. Our eyes get dazzled. We take snap of almost anything and everything. A glimpse of colorful Rajasthan in this room.

















After coming out of the puppet room, we proceed on as per direction given. The Haveli is located next to Pichola lake. We spend some time outside and enjoy the views of Pichola once again.












Bagore Ki haveli Continued...

[KishoreC]

Following the direction and after some walking on the roof we come to the entrance of the museum.



We strolled from room to room, reading boards and getting a peak into the daily life of the owners of this Haveli.



Living Room




Ladies' room




Game room


Pooja room


Manually operated Fan


Bed room


We later came to know that this Haveli was in a very poor condition and some portions of the structure was about to collapse. That is when a huge amount of restoration work was done, to restore the past glory of the building. As part of that process almost everything from the Haveli has been preserved, and presently it is in very good condition.

Before Restoration


After Restoration


On the first floor we spent some time taking photos before going back down to ground floor.













Next up : The turban room..

[pankaj_sachdeva]

Beautiful log and great pics. We spent 3 days in Udaipur last month and the place is absolutely gorgeous.

Did you saw the evening cultural show at Bagore ki Haweli?

[aviorp]

Excellent TL Kishore. The details that you have provided, is sufficient enough to anyone, to travel all the way to Rajasthan, without loosing track.

[KishoreC]

Originally Posted by pankaj_sachdeva

Beautiful log and great pics. We spent 3 days in Udaipur last month and the place is absolutely gorgeous.
Did you saw the evening cultural show at Bagore ki Haweli?

Thank you. We missed the cultural show as we went there early in the morning.

Originally Posted by aviorp

Excellent TL Kishore. The details that you have provided, is sufficient enough to anyone, to travel all the way to Rajasthan, without loosing track.

Thank you.

[KishoreC]

Couple of more shots from the ground floor before we enter into the exhibition area.





Turban Room :
Who knew they wear it differently in different states?







Collection of Turbans:

Each of the professions had their own way of wearing turbans.









Clothes on display :



Music Room :



The ancient Rudra Vina :





More antiquities :















Finally this Teracotta Idol of Lord Ganesh was the best :

Simple yet extraordinary



Next up.. Touching Saheliyon Ki Badi

[Thad E Ginathom]

Continuing to be amazing. stuff like that simple white wall with coloured glass blocks is so modern, mixed with the amazingly complex stuff that we usually associate with that sort of building.

Would be interesting to see the turbans. I wonder why the turban went out of fashion here in Chennai. Oh well, I can remember all the London City guys wearing bowler hats --- and then, suddenly, almost nobody wearing them: I guess things just change.