Trip to the land to warriors
UDAIPUR
Udaipur was once the capital of Mewar kingdom. A kingdom which always fights for its sovereignty, legends of Mewar attract me towards this place. Birth place of great warriors who spend their life for the welfare and happiness of their people. According to my study the royal family of Udaipur is recorded as one of the oldest royal family in the world which is still in existence and comes at second number just after the royal family of Japan.
On 17th January we bored the train Mewar express from hazrat nizamuddin railway station at 7:15pm. Somehow we complete our journey and reached Udaipur at morning. The train was late by two hours as I expected. We reached their viva Mathura, Bharatpur, Kota, and Chittor. On our way to Udaipur from Chittor I get surprised to see the aravalli range. The thing with surprised me a lot is the rich cultivation in the area, it removes the mask from my face that there is only desert in Rajasthan. The beauty of that place was that cactus plants and cultivated plants grow parallel to each other like brothers. The aravalli is like mother who protects her children from external threat. The beauty of Rajasthan creates more curiosity inside me to study deep about this area.
When we reached at Udaipur railway station we get fresh insides the station then we moved outside. I find a big painting of Maharana Pratap at the entrance of the station and if I am not wrong the painting was of the battle of Haldi Ghati. The station was so clean and the area around station was also well maintained, if you want to know how clean a city is, just visit near station area because according to my observation areas near railway stations are the dirtiest place in the whole city. But cleanness was maintained at that station. We first reached a small shop for breakfast we take kachories and tea and discuss about the places where we had to visit that day.
GULAB BAGH
Sajjan Niwas garden is known as Gulab Bagh. It is situated below the embankment of Pichola Lake and is spread through 100 acres. The garden was laid by Maharana Sajjan Singh. It has zoo and Victoria hall and is opened in 1890 by the viceroy, lord Lansdowne to commemorate the 1887 Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Different gardens are appointed different names. When we reached near public library we saw families enjoying picnic and children playing games senior citizens sitting on bench, that was crowded place and it was obvious because of Sunday. I and Haris went inside the library to see but come back from the entrance as we thought there was nothing for our interest. Then we move further towards Karni Mata temple viva zoo. After getting exit from Gulab bagh I asked through the tea seller about the route of Karni Mata Mandir, and we follow the direction suggested by him. Actually the gardens of Gulab bagh didn’t attract me so much because that type of gardens are there in Delhi and nothing new was there for me accept public library.
Now from Gulab Bagh we moved toward Karni Mata Mandir via Lake Pichola. We stopped at Doodh talai and on just few meters away, there is Lake Pichola and from Doodh talai other road cuts for Karni Mata Mandir.
Lake Pichola
Lake Pichola took its name from the small village of Picholi nearby and was originally created by a Banjara. A man who arranged for the transport of grain in the 15th century during the reign of Maharana Lakha. Usually the name of common people, who are related with some big event, incident or structure, lost in the pages of history and seemed neglected in front of popular names but here name of Banjara is preserved. This is the beauty of this place, loyalty about its history. It is said that the Banjara, find that his pack-bullocks could not fort the stream which flowed at the southern end, thus he built a dam across which they were able to walk. In 1559 when Maharana Udai Singh moved his capital to Udaipur he strengthened the dam and greatly enlarged the lake. Apart from two island palaces, the present Lake Palace Hotel and Jagmandir, there are several small islets. To the west of the Lake Palace is one known as Arsi Bilas whish is crowded with trees in which a variety of water-fowl have their nests. A small platform rising out of the west of Jagmandir is known as Natni-ka-Chabutra. A somewhat unlikely legend has it that a girl of Nat caste, a professional tight rope walker, was promised half the kingdom of Mewar if she could walk across from the village on west bank of the lake to the main palace on the east bank of lake. When she accepted the challenge and seemed to be doing well and the ministers of Maharana get worried that she might complete the task so they cut the rope. The chabutra marks the spot where the girl fell into the water and was drowned.
At the northern end of the lake is the old town with its Ghats and ceremonial gate where the picturesque Gangor festival took place amid fire-works and illuminations. The miniature painting of this festival is depicted on view in the City Palace.
Along the eastern bank is the long range of the City Palace and the south is the hill known as Eklinggarh on which the old outer city wall can be seen snaking along the crest and down the banks of the Pichola. A great dam holds the water back from the Samor Gardens.
To the west of lake is a hunting lodge known as Khas Odi, which also contains the old miniature paintings of Mewar. It was first built by Maharana Sangram Singh II in the 18th century but was enlarged by Maharana Fateh Singh. At the centre of the building is a square pit where fight took place between tigers, leopards, bear, wild boar, spectators watching from the top of the surrounding walls. Further along the direction of the town and spreading down towards the edge of the lake is another large walled enclose known as Hari Das-Ki-Magri where wild boar and few species of dear are allowed to run free. The place where we stands get a clear view of Sajjangarh Palace at the top of the hill, when I was standing there are observing the whole place It was absolutely same that I have imagined in my childhood while studying the fairy tales. Only thing that I want at that time is to preserve the view of that place in my eyes for life time.
Then we move upward for Karni Mata Mandir I actually not aware about any historical significance of this temple but as per my observation it is famous because of ropeway. We have to go there through ropeway. The statue of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was there from where we have to take ropeway. For ropeway drive we moved towards left direction, Instead of turning left if we follow the road towards the statue of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya there was a sunset point, it was noon time that’s why we didn’t go there. Karni Mata Mandir is situated at the top of the hill so the clear view of the whole city was easily viewed.
There are three things to see at that hill Karni Mata Mandir, Dargha, and a small palace. From the Mandir through binocular, I saw many places. Actually now most of the places are changed into hotels and thus we didn’t had enough budgets to visit these hotels as they were so costly and as student it was difficult for us to afford. I saw Leela Palace where the nuclear deal took place between India and USA.
Jagmandir
It was developed by Maharana Karan Singh the grandson of Maharana Pratap. When he extended and raised the level of the dam about 1620. It served for short time in 1623 as a refuge for the Mughal Prince Khurram when he was revolted against his father, the Emperor Jahangir. And it was Udaipur where prince Khurram was first saluted at Shahajahan. It is interesting to note that he may well have been influenced by the small domed palace of Jagmandir, with its fine in-lay work, in the design for the Taj Mahal. As a mark of gratitude Prince Khurram exchanged his orange turban, the symbol of brotherhood, with the Maharana. It is preserved at Udaipur for three centuries.
During the first revolt against British in 1857, the chivalrous Maharana Swaroop Singh protected the British women and their families and they refuge at Jagmandir. According to him the fight is among men, women and innocent children should not be involved into this. It is named on the name of Maharana Jagat Singh who made several additions to it.
Lake Palace Hotel
It was made by Maharana Jagat Singh in 17th century. Its originally named as Jagniwas. The present Maharana Arvind Singh converted it into hotel and renamed as Lake Palace Hotel and opened it as hotel on Feb 1963, which brings Udaipur as a major tourist spot at worlds map.
Then from Karni Mata Mandir we walk to have lunch. We went to a small restraint at Surajpol for lunch. Stay there for some time and then move to City Palace via Jadish Mandir. We than start follow the GPS to reach our destination. And finally we reached the Jadish Mandir.
Jadish Temple
It is situated in the town near from Tripolia (three arched) gate of the palace. This is 80 foot high edifice and was built by Maharana Jagat Singh in 1651. A flight of thirty two steps rises to the large central temple which is ornamented with much excellent carving, among which can be found a black stone image of lord Vishnu as Jagan Nath. The entrance in an enclosed shrine is a fine bronze figure of Garuda. A big edifice is present at the centre and four other similar structures at four corners of the main edifice present. The heights of these four temples were not big as that of central one. From the entrance, the temple at right side is of lord Shiva, temple at left side is of lord Ganesha, and at the back side of main temple the temple at right side is of goddess Durga and temple at left side is of sun.
Naroo Barhat was the legendry personality of that temple. It is the courageous attempt made by Naroo Barhat, a member of the bardic community, to defend the temple from the destructive hands of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. After the battle of Debari on January 4th ,1680 between the Mughal army and the combined forces of Mewar and Marwar, the whole of central Mewar, including the capital Udaipur was laid waste. Maharana Raj Singh, hurrying back to defend his capital, as he was hurrying to protect his capital those loyal to Mewar remaining within the town put up what resistance they could and Naroo Barhat organized a small force to defend the temple this courage and determination in the face of enemy have gained him a place in Mewar’s history.
From Jadish temple we moved towards City Palace. Which were few meters away from temple, At City Palace we take tickets on the bases of students group by talked to the manager.
City Palace
The entrance of the palace was so amazing with artilleries and the beauty can’t be compared with that of that of red fort. The palace was formed and maintained with great care. The guards of the palace were in red uniform. The palace was so spacious and the architecture was amazing. There were shops of antiques and Rajasthani traditional items at one side and the wall is present at other side from where the clear view of whole city was seen. As we move forward there was a small restaurant and happy hour was also there, this indicates this was maintained from the high profile point of view.
Then after have some water. We entered into the museum, at the entrance of the museum the logo to Mewar kingdom was present at the top of the entrance. In the logo shield over which Sun is made is supported by a Rajput warrior at one side and by a Bhil from other side. It is said that Bappa Rawal took the leadership of Chittor from Mori king of Malwa with the help of Bhils. Bhils elect him as their paramount chief i.e RANA, and one of these Bhils applied with his own blood the tika, the mark of sovereignty, on his forehead. In the museum weapons are present which were used at that time in Mewar by the warriors and the kings. From there we visited the whole palace it was little bit crowded but the architecture of the palace was so much attractive that I didn’t bother about the crowed. Thing of interests in palace were its room with mirrored glass floor with wall decorated with glass designs and miniature paintings. There are also many small passages present inside the palace.
The construction of palace was started by Maharana Udai Singh when he shifted his capital from Chittor to Udaipur. It is said that when one day Maharana Udai Singh went for hunting. He encountered by a holy man and when we went for his ‘darshan’. The holy man told him if he build his palace round then this place fortune would favour the family. Maharana accepted his advice and first erected a small shrine. This is the oldest part and is now known as Dhuni Mata. The latter rulers of Mewar added other things in palace as per their requirement.
After visiting the city palace we closed that days plan and decided to stay here for a night and cover other places early in the morning the very next day. I asked for room in few hotels near palace but they were so costly, finally by taking advice from a barber we decided to Surajpol for room. We decided if we would not get room then we stay in dharamshala. But on our way we find a hotel near palace and they agreed to provide us room at affordable rate.
We decided to leave the hotel latest by 7:30am and by 12:00 noon we will cover as possible places in Udaipur and then we will move to Kumbhalgarh. We were half an hour late by our sedual, firs we visited the lake Fateh Sagar.
Fateh Sagar Lake
It is present at the north of the Pichola Lake connected by a canal. It was originally built by Maharana Jai Singh, but when the old embankment was damaged by heavy rains, the lake was reconstructed by Maharana Fateh Singh. The foundation stone of new embankment was laid by the Duke of Connaught, the son of Queen Victoria in 1889. A small island is made by government of Rajasthan, which is a public park with fountain.
We reached there early and on our way we also see the statue of Swami Vivekananda. On the other side of it there was a solar observery, but we didn’t visit that side and bored the auto to reach the monsoon palace.
Monsoon Palace
Monsoon Palace is originally known as Sajjangarh Palace. It was built by Maharana Sajjan Singh in 1884. It is clearly seen from Lake Fateh Sagar. During monsoon time Maharana with his family shifted to Monsoon Palace to enjoy monsoon. From the palace panoramic view of the city’s lakes, palaces and surrounding countryside can be seen. The place is also the wildlife sanctuary. The palace was used in 1983 James Bond film Octopussy. The area is now comes under the government of Rajasthan.
When we reached Monsoon Palace we decided to reach there with the help of our legs by walking instead by taking government car. We then started to give our foot prints to the road which leads us towards palace. By enjoying the beauty of nature and under the manifold of Arawali hills which surrounds that place we reached our destination by the continuous walking of 45 minutes. The panoramic view of the whole city from that place attracts me like electric field to stay here for life time. It was not monsoon time but I was trying to imagine how it looks during monsoon season. The place was just like what we studied in fairy tales during our childhood days. In actual we enjoyed a lot during our traveling towards monsoon palace. Beauty of monsoon palace really gives us the most beautiful memories of Udaipur.
From there we reached directly to hotel me and Haris directly went to hire the cab and other guys went to the hotel to take our bags. We asking with many travel agents finally one agreed at affordable price. But driver delayed a lot to come and we were getting more and late finally other driver was arranged by travel agent and with the delay of two and half hours we started our journey for Kumbhalgarh via Haldi Ghati.
Haldi Ghati
In July 1576 the famous battle of Haldi Ghati took place between forces of Mewar and Mughals. The general of Mewar was Hakim Khan the descendant of Sher Shah Suri, and the general of Mughals was Prince Man Singh of Amber.
At the entrance of the museum of Haldi Ghati there was a big bronze statue of Maharana Pratap with his horse attacking on Man Singh who was on his elephant. We entered the museum where we find many intrusting things but the most interesting thing which attracts me was the armor of Maharana Pratap which he uses during his childhood times. Then there was a short movie about the life of Maharana Pratap. From there we went to a place where the main incidents of the life of Maharana Pratap were picturised through dummies and through sound system the incidents were described. Then we moved out, there were shops for many things but when everyone was busy in photography I went to one book shop and searching for book which might be useful for me and finally I buyed a book. The driver told us to visit this place fast if we have to go to Kumbhalgarh. The driver then showed us the place where the battle of Haldi Ghati takes place we had seen the place which is now called ‘Rakt tarai’. It is said that when the fight ends with the blood sheds the whole region was colored red with blood and thus the whole region is now known as Rakt tarai. Then we went to the small passage where the color of the sand is yellow as that of turmeric and thus the place is named Haldi Ghati. It is said that the rajputs make tilak on their forehead with the sand of Haldi Ghati, the place is so important for rajputs.
Then we moved to the place where Chetek the loyal horse of Maharana Pratap crosses the barrier of 22 feet by jump to protect him, and it runs up to 500 meters and then died. The place where it died, its Samadhi is formed there and is known as Chetek Samadhi.
Then we moved directly towards Kumbhalgarh fort. The roads were so up and down, passes between the hills of Aravalli. We passed through many villages. The place was so beautiful and adventurous hills and hills are everywhere. By crossing the blankets of Aravalli hills we finally reached our destiny the Kumbhalgarh fort. Many beautiful hotels are present near the fort.
Kumbhalgarh Fort
When we reached Kumbhalgarh Fort it was closed so we buy only the ticket for lightening and sound show. The show starts from 6:30pm and was nice show the story which they told confused me little bit because at some places what they told was different from what I read about that place. But at the end the show was nice.
Actually the fort of Kumbhalgarh is present in the deep in the hills on the border of Marwar, sixty miles north-west of Udaipur. The fort was built by Maharana Kumbha in 1458. It is 3,568 feet above sea level it gives the impressive view of the rugged Arawali ranges and the sandy deserts of Marwar. The fort is spread over the hill for the distance of almost eight miles.
When we enter the fort through the great fortified gateway we can see on the right the temples of Nilkanth Mahadeo and Kumbhswami and the Chatri of Kunwar Prithviraj, Maharana Raimal’s son. Maharana Kumbha erected total thirty two fortresses for the defense of Mewar and Kumbhalgarh. And it is said that Maharana Kumbha built the fort over the site of ancient fortress traditionally ascribed to Samprati a Jain prince of Mauryan dynasty.
We all now get so tired and then we directly landed to the hotel. Don’t know about others but I slept immediately. We planned to visit remaining places of Udaipur the next day and by the train of evening we would depart for Delhi.
Next day we moved to Bagore ki Haveli.
Bagore Ki Haveli
We went to the Gangori Ghat which is present on the bank of Lake Pichola. Actually it was built in 18th century by the prime minister of Mewar Amir Chand Badwa. After the death of Amir Chand Badwa the haveli comes under the state. The beautiful architecture of Bagore Ki Haveli attracts tourists towards it. It is now renovated and is completely changed in museum. There are many types of museums present in the haveli which reflects the rajputana customs and architecture. We first visited to the place where puppets are exhibited. Various types of puppets are exhibited which are used in puppet shows and indicated the royal court of Mewar.
Then we moved to the museum where the traditional things of that time are exhibited. Like the showcase of various types of turbans used at that time. I was amazed to see that at that time the identity of people by their turban. For different community different types of turbans are used, and all these turbans are exhibited there. There are mirror rooms, structures made by thermocole. The decorating items of royal families are exhibited, kitchen, musical instruments. And from there I come to know that the word ‘tabla’ of musical instrument comes from the Arabic word ‘tabal’ which means drum.
Then we moved to the wedding museum, there by dummies and paintings they tried to show how royal weddings were taken place at that time. The traditions and various steps of wedding process were showed by them in very sequential way. Then we moved to weapon area where various types of weapons are exhibited used at that time various types of talvars, bhalas, teer Kaman, guns, rifles, armored, etc.
Now from Bagore Ki Haveli we decided to move to Sahelion-ki-Bari. As we have lot of time so we decided to go there by walk. But it was present at the outer of the city and we walked more than we expected.
Sahelion-ki-Bari
Sahelion-ki-Bari was built by Maharana Sangram Singh II, but was damaged and the gardens were reconstructed by Maharana Fateh Singh in its present form. There were fountains in the garden and flowers well maintained with one science museum which was established by the government of Rajasthan. We walk in the garden for sometime nothing was so historic there to see.
Then we take auto and went to the celebrations mall, the only famous mall of Udaipur. The architecture of the mall was totally inspired by the architecture of the historical buildings of Udaipur, with dome above it. That’s our last destination in Udaipur then we moved towards hotel to collect our bags because the time for train was near. With some shopping and eating birryani we were on our way to hotel but I and haris went to buy hat and that hat shop was our last destination in Udaipur. Then by collecting our items we marched towards railway station we a cup of tea.
With never ending memories of Udaipur we leave that place in the hope that someday I will definitely visit this place again and give the tribute to the warriors who always give priority to safeguard their motherland. The land always remind us what, sovereignty is and nothing in this world is as prestige as our motherland and our sovereignty
