The Blue city! - Rao Jodha's paradise

Having left Jaisalmer on the holy day of Holi, we were a little concerned if we would be stopped by some naughty drunken miscreant who would demand money for not coloring your face! Wow! That was a pretty long statement and the fear remained for the whole of 4 hours of our drive down to Jodhpur. We were indeed fortunate enough coz we realized that was it was the gruntled driver’s trick to hold us back in Jaisalmer till he played Holi with this family!

Fortunately for us, the musicians here, turned out to be far better than the ones in Jaisalmer. I had a chance to listen to Kamas and Pantuvarali ragas (my fav) in the traditional form. I am yet to figure the difference between Rajasthani folk and Hindustani classical. The rendering was amazing and I felt transported back in time nearly 500 years back when these songs were actually sung in front of the king in a durbar. Wish I had recorded the songs!

After a light dinner and a deep sleep, we were ready to explore the blue city! Yes the buildings of the brahmins were originally painted in blue to demarcate their homes. Over time, however most people started painting their homes blue to escape the blaze of the burning sun! And that’s why the name!

There seem to have been many fights among the various cities of the Rajputana itself while the Mughals seemed to make the situation worse. This forced the Rajputs to side with the British. This is evident from the construction of the Umaid Bhavan palace. It is a combination of both eastern and western architectural style. It was infact designed by Edwardian architect Henry Vaughan Lanchester. A part of this hotel has been leased to the Taj group. And we were shown the ensuite room which costs 4 lacs per night! What a royal night it would be!

Interestingly the father of the current king Gajendra Singh was involved with a woman who is said to have seduced him and finally brought about his death. And that is one reason why there is no reference to her or his father in the entire palace. One is reminded of the film 'Zubeidaa' where the king of “Fatehpur” played by Manoj Bajpai, gets killed in a plane crash thanks to his wife ‘Zubeidaa’ played by Karishma Kapoor. One is often left intrigued by these relationships and the effect it could have on the families of those concerned. I really wonder if Zubeidaa (or whatever was the lady’s name) had any control over the affairs of things to the extent portrayed.

Oh of course how could I forget the royal cremation ground with an attached bath. This left me wondering was not death common to all mortals, something that equals all mortals at some point. Isn’t it the for the same reason, the moment the person is death the body is placed on the ground to denote the ashes would go back to the ashes indeed. Not that it was unique to Jodhpur, but securing a place in the local church by the Western kings to bury their dead seems to reinforce the fact that death does not achieve its purpose atleast with those living.

The Mehrangarh (derived from Mihir- descendants of the sun deity) fort by Rao Jodha is an impressive of architecture atop of a hill(nearly 400 ft above the city..wow!) . What was most impressive about the fort was the way holes were carved in the 4-5 foot wall. These holes allowed hot oil to be poured over the invading enemies. The beauty of these holes enabled the gunmen to aim both horizontally and diagonally while not exposing themselves. Of all the treasures in this fort( you would find most of them on Wikipedia) the one that attracted my attention the most was the opium filter!

Opium it seems was or rather is still is a way of welcoming guests. So a host was required to invite his / her guest by feeding them with three drops of opium with their right palm. This greeting was exchanged by the guest to the host. So when I asked the importance of opium as a welcome “dose”, the guide said that it was reserved for festivities and the opium improved the rigor of the guests to carry them through the fesitvities! What intrigued me the most was the idol of Siva linga at the top of the filter! Well God was excited himself with the drug I don’t we as humans could abstain from such temptations!! Lol! Oh btw opium is still sold legally in some places in Rajasthan and illegally imported from Madhya Pradesh! Now that’s definitely interesting!

The fort does have an interesting collection of palanquins (note not dholis! …the distinction is based where the handles are fixed to the main body! ) . It is believed that the former queen of Jodhpur did not wish to be seen in public while visiting London. So a modern palanquin was made specially for her visit and she landed straight into the veiled palanquin and taken around! I would have definitely cloister phobic in that one. I wonder if that was a muse that Her Highness must have used to avert the trip to a foreign land! Looks like luck did not favor her and she got herself caught in a tight compartment !

While leaving the fort through the Fattehpol gate we noticed the handprints belonging to the wives of the queens who committed Sati over their husbands funeral pyre. These imprints are indeed touching as they remind you of people who were ready to burn themselves for a cause which could be either protecting themselves from the enemies (when the fort was in captivity) or to join their loved ones in death. Well one wonders if some of these were forced incidents, the guide reassured that the choice always rested with the wives. I was ready to believe that as the number of imprints was far less than the number of wives that a king usually maintained (sometimes 15 at a time!). The Sati practice that most women were forced into during the later years was not part of tradition, rather a result of the fear or insecurity that was carried forward through the years!

And thus ended our trip to Rajasthan and we took a flight back to Delhi! (flights are pretty cheap from Delhi ..could be as low as Rs. 3,000 if booked early)

The Golden City of Jaisalmer

Call it coincidence or whatever word that may suit you! Landing up in Jaipur by flight when trains were available and cheaper seemed to be a stupid thought. It could not have been worse and once I booked my flight tickets I was wondering what had come over me! Then it happened. I was swamped with a meeting which would have never let me catch the train. Added to it, when I reached Jaipur I realised that all the trains from Delhi towards Rajasthan has been canceled due to the Jat Andolan! What? How did I miss that? Indeed Lucky!

So at midnight my friend and I were scheduled to take the train to Jaisalmer from Jaipur. The train arrives at 1130 pm and I had booked the first class tickets hoping that I would not have to search for the coach in the middle of the night. The biggest shock of our lives was yet to come. The first class compartment was hardly clean. Gone were the days when it was pleasure traveling by the Indian Railways. Things were so clean and orderly. So the cleaning team was hastily summoned and they were asked to quickly clean the compartment. These guys did a half hearted job and were finally given the compartment hardly five minutes before the departure. What a hassle! It turned out to be exactly 180 deg opposite to what I planned to achieve through booking a first class AC ticket.

Having waited for half hour, sleep was evading us till 2 am. Finally we settled in and slept dreaming about the golden sands of the desert.

Godi Sagar Lake

We reached Jaisalmer the following morning. Taking the cab (accompanied by a gruntled driver) we reached the Godi (/ Gadi) Sagar lake. It was scorching hot and we reached the banks. It was quite picturesque and considering the fact it was a man made lake to collect rain water, the lake was indeed impressive.

What really amazes me of the people of the north is the attitude. While we clicking the pictures of two little boys, the mother sneaked up from behind took our water bottle. What! That was ours and we were dying of thirst! When I tried to reason with her, she told us we could also drink the water and that she did not have any issue with it! Lol! I wanted to despy thank her for her kindness ..a kindness that flowed from the fact she had become an proud owner of a water bottle (in a desert) and thereby commanded a better position than those around her. What a transformation!

Sonar Quila

(Ref: Wikipedia)

Popularised by Satyajit Ray, the Jaisalmer Fort was built of golden sandstone by Rawal Jaisal. Sipping in a cup of masala chai and looking at the architectural splendour of king's and queen's chambers was a heavenly experience. As you walk to the canon points (which had a range of 5 km!..commendable as the fort was constructed in 1156 AD) the view of the golden city is breathtaking. Interestingly, the fort still houses 25% of the city's population. I wonder how one would feel living inside a fort and being seen by tourists as they pass by. This place is known for golden sandstone and by striking a good conversation with people around one could discover a myriad of untold stories.

The Royal Camps at Sam

(Ref: Tripadvisor)

During the desert safari in Dubai I always wondered how people would fare in a desert. Thanks to Jaisalmer I had a near living experience by staying in a tent close to the sand dunes. What an experience! When I first heard of it I could imagine listening to the Rajasthani folk music under the moon was what I had in mind. Well somehow we have a knack of making things not so beautiful sometimes. People from all camps were grouped together and the cultural program started. The music was not upto the mark. Considering the fact that these artists usually can reach amazing pitches, this was a let down. However we were compensated by a nice walk around the camp in the desert under the twilight. That was the very night when the moon decided to be really close to the earth and our first night in the desert was indeed rewarding. With the spring breeze touching your face and with the moon at its brightest, if there was something called heaven, it was indeed this...

Camel Safari
After the short camel safari at Dubai I was looking forward to an actual camel ride in the desert. On the day of the Holi we awoke full of expectations for the camel ride. We notice a camel waiting for us at a distance accompanied by its 10 year old master. Upon approaching it we realised it seemed to be more of a calf. We asked the master if it could handle the weight. He said of course.Really? We boarded the camel and travelled upto the dunes. What a sight! waves and waves of sand with little footsteps of other animals that inhabited the place. We got down and we could feel the soft sand slipping away as if it were a shy kid trying to find a place to hide.

Upon our return we were confronted by something really strange.. the camel half way through had decided that it had enough of us. It just fell on the ground kicking the ground like a little kid. And where were we? U guessed it right, we were lying on the sand with the camel by our side! We did not have a clue to what we were doing there along with the camel. We felt sorry for the camel and started walking towards our camp shaking our head in disbelief. As I turned back I could see the camel running away happily, holding its head held high,along with its little master on its back!

After a sumptous breakfast, we left for Jodhpur- leaving behind the golden city for the blue one!