Ahmedabad In a Day

The World Heritage City, just in a day? Possible? No, its not. But who is stopping you from taking multiple trips to this vibrant city that has heritage safely preserved in its caring palms and modernity taking it to the global platform? We will give you day-plans for all of your multiple trips. Lets start with the first one.

Arrive Ahmedabad in the evening and spend time at the Sabarmati River Front - it is more than what you can imagine. Peaceful, tranquil and the sound of water lapping up against the river bank humming a soft lullaby. Yes, it is as peaceful as can get to meditate or to catch a nap. Cool breeze and the gentle sound of water - Welcome to Gandhiji’s Ahmedabad.

Sleep well in your cozy hotel room and next morning be ready by 7 am but for a change, do not eat breakfast. You read that right, do not have breakfast. The reason is that we want you to indulge in some scrumptious Gujarati delicacies for a yummy breakfast treat but not before some much needed exercise in the form of a 2.5 kms long Heritage Walk. 

Our day begins at the Swaminarayan Temple at Kalupur. You are in the World Heritage City and if you do not explore this city on foot, wouldn’t it be an incomplete experience? Our heritage walk starts from the Swaminarayan Mandir, a detailed account of the same is given here. The hour long walk culminates at the Jama Masjid. From here we go to the hundred year old Chandravilas Restaurant - the restaurant that boasts of Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Kishore Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and other eminent personalities among its patrons. You saved up your appetite for the most delicious breakfast that would be served here. Fafda and Jalebi combo is a must to start with and a masala tea is a must to wash down your meal with, the in betweens can be anything from Puri Bhaji, Paranthas, Dhokla, Khaman, Sandwich or the other items listed on their menu which is rattled out at supersonic speed by the many “Chhotus” who serve here.

We now have time to either explore Jhulta Minar, Teen Darwaza, Rani Sipri Mosque onto Sarkhej Roza or another set of monuments and go to Adalaj Vav and Gandhi Ashram. Then there are the museums too , Calico museum being a must-visit place on the checklist of every traveller and The Akshardham Temple. As we said, you can not cover everything in just a day hence we divided the monuments in these sets. Let us choose to go onto Adalaj and Gandhi Ashram route today. The other monuments will feature in our next articles “Ahmedabad - again” and “Ahemdabad - yet again”. 

Step wells are an unmissable and integral part of Gujarat’s culture. These were the source of water in the semi-arid zone and also served as a cultural hub for many cultural and traditional gatherings and celebrations. Women would gather here to de-stress and have a casual chat with other friends while on their way to fetch water for their daily domestic chores. As you step inside the step well you would notice that it is much cooler inside the well as compared to the temperature outside. This temperature difference is due to the way the vav was constructed. Talk of engineering marvels!! A detailed account on the Adalaj Vav is soon coming, watch this space.

After spending some time exploring this beautifully carved wonder of a step well, we head towards the Gandhi Ashram. Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram… reverberates in the peaceful environs of the Ashram which feels more like a quaint peaceful village than a Sanctuary. Spread out across the banks of Sabarmati with Neem Trees purifying the air, this home of The Father of The Nation beckons one and all. You would see many school children beelining for the visit through the Museum. The museum showcases life and times of the Mahatma. But before you reach the museum you would notice the Ashram Shop on the left. This is a storehouse of literature about India, Her Freedom Story, Freedom Fighters, Freedom Movement, Mahatma Gandhi and many other national leaders. Handmade notebooks and diaries and miniature versions of the spinning wheel or Charkha are the best souvenirs and gifts from your visit to The Gandhi Ashram. Gandhiji’s “My experiments with truth” and his biography are the fastest selling books here and are available not just in Hindi and English but in other Indian languages too.

Moving ahead you would come across Vinoba Mira Kutir, the small cottage once inhabited by Mahatma’s greatest devotee Mira who was a foreign national but was so influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings that she decided not only to become a follower but also to re-christen herself and staying on in India for the rest of her life. Seeing her devotion towards Mahatma Gandhi she was given an Indian name and that too of Mira Bai- the ultimate devotee ever! It is known that Mahatma Gandhi would keep the most hardened criminals here, close to himself and would gradually reform them and re-introduce them to the society. 

Overlooking the Sabarmati is Mahatma’s living quarters - The Hridaykunj. A small tour of the insides of this beautiful abode is a must. See the humble home and kitchen of the Greatest Man who ever lived and sit in the verandah outside to soak up the surroundings which are home to many birds and squirrels. Parrots squaking around and soft murmur of speedboats taking people on joyrides on the Sabarmati are the only sounds that would interrupt your thoughts.

You can leave The Gandhi Ashram but a visit to The Gandhi Ashram will never leave you - a memory and an impression to last a lifetime.

We are on the other side of the noon and its time to grab a bite. You could sit at one of the popular places or a fine dine depending upon how much time you wish to allocate to your meals. Post meals, we always recommend a slow leisurely walk through the city markets exploring the many lovely handicrafts and fabrics that are showcased in the vibrant bazaars. Savour your evening tea before heading to the The Law Garden or Manek Chowk for a mouth watering and most eclectic street food fare. Both these places rank high and its difficult to choose one over the other but we crossed Manek Chowk on our heritage walk so lets go to Law Garden now. Here you could also indulge in some shopping of traditional Gujarati Chaniya Cholis and imitation jewellery, the kinds that swirl and twirl all over the World during the nine days of Dandiya during the Kartik Navratri. To wind it all up do stuff a meetha paan in your mouth - it will give you a few quiet moments while you struggle to contain the juicy paan in the confines of your mouth and discover its many layers of flavours!

Start with jalebi and end with a paan - that’s your perfectly sweet day in Aapno Amdavad!

Udaipur In A Day

In our series of “City in a Day”, we bring you the world’s 3rd best city today and that too “Just In A Day”! Udaipur, like any other major tourist destination can not be covered in just a day but for the travelling generation of today revisiting a destination is the “in thing”. So, here we provide a brief guide to see Udaipur’s must-visit places during your first trip.

Udaipur is the stuff dreams are made of, and if you come here between July to March, the experience is further enhanced. The rains swish their wand and bless the city with abundance of water in the lakes, the lush green mountains, and gardens and a touch of magic. Life in Udaipur moves about peacefully at a slow pace which is a very relaxing change from the life of Metro Cities. The whole city can easily be traversed in not more than forty-five minutes from one corner to the other. The city scape is made up of snaking roads circling around lakes, gardens, lovely houses, beautiful hotels and vibrant colourful markets. A short drive from the Airport and you enter this beautiful fairytale of a city.

Lets start the day early, assuming you arrive the night before and rest in your hotel for the night. A beautiful jewel is shining up in the sky somewhere and can be seen from anywhere in Udaipur. Your eyes and curiosity are invariably automatically drawn towards it. What is it? The moon? A satellite? A watch tower on a fort wall with bright lights on top? It is a Palace - The Monsoon Palace or Sajjangarh. We will take you there tomorrow, promise!

A sumptuous breakfast at one of the many lovely hotels of the city and your car is waiting for you to take you to your first stop of the day : The Magnificent City Palace. You must hire the services of a well informed guide before you visit the Palace. Believe us, it is totally worth it. Trivia like what a particular feature in the Palace served a purpose of, or why the passages are so narrow, or why are the seats around a courtyard at different levels, will be doled out to you by an expert guide.

Begin your walk through the path that shows you the lake side, Lake Palace, Fateh Prakash Palace and Shiv Niwas Palace hotels, The Shambhu Niwas Palace where the Royal Family still resides and brings you to the front entrance to the City Palace Museum. Take out time to read about this well curated museum and the historic Palace of Mewar here. It gets more comprehensible and interesting to gather a little knowledge before you step in.

Just as you finish this spell binding walk through the Palace and move towards the Jagdeesh Temple, a prominent feature on your right attracts every tourist’s attention, this is the place where the Elephants were bathed. These look like parking lots where the means of transport used in those days were parked (!). Assimilating all the interesting information that you just received, you now walk towards the Jagdeesh Temple - another city icon. The lanes on both sides are lined with shops that sell Rajasthani Arts and Crafts. Visit the beautifully carved Temple before commencing your heritage walk. But a snack before that! What better than the famous Kachoris and Masala Chai at the popular Chai shop just opposite the temple complex.

This should give you enough energy to enjoy your heritage walk through the City. Jagdeesh Chowk is where we begin our walk from, from the side of the temple complex. Narrow lanes but immaculately clean and lined by covered drains, so narrow that you have stand in a corner almost cowering to let an odd auto rickshaw pass by. Two wheelers and auto rickshaws or our evergreen ride, the bicycle are the only vehicles you encounter in these lanes ; four wheelers can not access these narrow streets. Interestingly you can even hire bicycles or scooters here in Udaipur and ride around on your own, but our suggestion would be to explore this idea on your second or third trip. Let your maiden trip be a guided tour so that you get maximum out of the time you spend here.

Udaipur is a hub for miniature paintings and you will see many shops selling these exquisite pieces of art across the old cities. Miniatures are painstakingly and patiently painted on handmade paper and silks. A small souvenir in the size range of six inches by four inches would cost you anything between Rs. 250/- to Rs. 1200/- depending upon the medium used and the intricacy of the work. Though many art schools have now started using acrylic colours for the vibrance these colours exude but most of the old schools still stick to the natural dyes and make their own colours and mix them with home made glues to give their art longevity.

Eclectic prints on funky tee shirts and skirts wave at you from the hangers outside many stores. The chunky stone and silver jewellery beckons from the show windows of many small and big shops. There is something for everyone here. For a detailed account on the heritage walk, watch this space. It is soon coming up.

Our expert guide leads us through these by lanes, shows us the historical and dream-like Gangaur Ghat and Bagore ki Haveli (we will come back here in the evening) and takes us to our end point of the heritage walk, on the way showing us The Clock Tower or Ghantaghar.

We are sure by the time you finish your walk your tummies would be rumbling and anticipating some delicious Rajasthani delicacies. We recommend a Rajasthani Thali but if you wish to keep it light then there is a plethora of wonderful restaurants all over the city that serve up the most delicious food. Now, that is an advantage of being in a tourist destination, you don’t really need to read reviews about restaurants as most of them will serve excellent food lest they won’t survive one season.

Post lunch, lets head towards the Monsoon Palace or Sajjangarh. This is the most magical place in all of Udaipur, or maybe not as there are so many other places that are staking a claim to the top spot. But Sajjangarh nonetheless is a must-visit monument. The drive to the Palace which is quaintly perched on top of a hill is more interesting than reaching the destination. The path crosses a national park which is home to many wild animals - The Bear, Panthers, Cheetahs, many birds and a large population of our national bird - The Peacock and some crocodiles in a pond near the entrance too. 

From the top at Sajjangarh the view of the city will just take your breath away. And if it is monsoons that you are visiting during, you will know why this Palace is called the Monsoon Palace. Interesting story behind it being an incomplete structure too but then that is an entirely different story for an entirely different time as Winnie the Pooh says!

Tea / coffee and sandwiches at the cafe at Sajjangarh if you still feel like munching onto something. Later lets proceed to Bagore Ki Haveli for the best cultural evening experience. Rajasthan is home to many tribes and castes with each one of them being rich in their traditional legacy of rituals, systems, attire, cuisine, arts, dance forms and music. Dharohar - a cultural show at the heritage structure of Bagore Ki Haveli is a beautifully curated show that gives glimpses of as many as twelve ingenious art forms of Rajasthan from Terah Tali to Kathputli to Ghoomer to Kaalbeliya, whichever dance form you have heard of can be seen here. This is such a captivating show that one does not realise when that one hour passes by.

Now the day has almost come to an end and you have had ample walking and running around so spend some peaceful time at the brightly lit up Gangaur Ghat, dipping your feet in the cool waters. Gaze at the jewel-like sparkling Lake Palace on your left and a golden pea-pod of an old bridge on your right. The Monsoon Palace will wink at you from up high. Walk back to your waiting car and head for a lovely meal while re-living the moments of the day. That’s Udaipur for you in a day - a capsule which can only sustain the hunger till your next major meal : the next long trip. You definitely can not not-experience the world’s 3rd best city in totality. Need a car to take you around and a guide to show you around? Click here.

Mehrangarh : The Pride of Jodhpur

Mehrangarh Fort

Rajasthan is the land of Forts and Palaces, each one unique in its own way, each one more beautiful than the other, each one more majestic than the other, each one more intriguing than the other and each one carrying more stories than the other. Let's take a tour of The Mehrangarh Fort of Jodhpur - a privately owned and managed Fort in Rajasthan, the present descendants of the erstwhile Royal Family of Jodhpur own and maintain the Fort and the museum housed within the Fort Complex.

Welcome to The Museum!

History

The transition of Marwar to Jodhpur happened at the strong and able hands of Rao Jodha (1459) after the need to shift out of Mandore was felt. Mandore being an old and dilapidated fort was crumbling and since it was in the plains was always at risk of being attacked. The rocky hill of Bhakurchiriya was then chosen and its only inhabitant a sage, the bird man Chiriya Nathji was approached and coaxed to vacate and allow the construction of the fort. After much pleading when the sage gave consent and a curse ; followed by efforts of appeasement and eventual reluctant appeasing, the construction of the mighty fort began. A human sacrifice as per the norm of the day and the mammoth task of building one of the mightiest forts started. It took many many years and many generations to complete the task thus taken, one feature being added at a time and finally the Fort took its present shape. Much of the progress happened during the reign of Maharaja Jaswant Singh Ji (1638-1678). One must nor forget the sacrifice of Raja Ram Meghwal, a commoner who voluntarily agreed to get buried with the foundation of the fort to nullify the effects of the curse. A commoner, meghwal's name is immortalised in a plaque at the fort.

The Blue City

The Fort

Mehrangarh - Up close

The expansive multidimensional fort is accessed through seven gates or pols. Of these pols some are still intact while others’ remnants remain. These are named as Jai Pol, Fateh Pol, Loha Pol and so on. To make the Fort easily navigable and simpler to understand, the museum trust that maintains the Fort Complex has very brilliantly designed a one-way path through the entire length and breadth of the Fort which eases the walk and the tour for the many tourists the fort attracts all the year long. 

Jai Pol

From the Ramparts

The parking lot, ticket counters and you begin your tour through the magnificent world of history of Marwar through Jai Pol. A slight incline, a couple of steps and an elevator that takes you up thirteen floors and you are on the ramparts of one of the mightiest fort ever built, looking down at the sea of indigo of the famous Blue City. The houses are painted blue to keep the sun’s heat away as the Sun City is blessed with bright and cheery (sometimes too fiery though) Sun all the year round. Photographers, go wild and take as many shots as you want. Get your creative best! Feel the breeze caressing your face and twirl 360 degrees to see the landmarks of Jodhpur, all at once from your perch here : fort wall against the old city, the small water bodies, rocky hills with many temples, Jaswant Thada and the statue of Rao Jodha, snaking road that leads up to the fort, The One And Only Umaid Bhawan Palace, Ajit Bhawan Palace, Ratanada Ganesh Temple, Clock Tower, Old City Markets and Gulab Sagar.

Umaid Bhawan Palace as seen from The Mehrangarh Fort

The passages lead from one palace to another, each one more beautiful and luxurious than the other. Aptly named Moti Mahal (palace of pearls), Phool Mahal (palace of flowers), Sheesh Mahal (palace of mirrors), Sileh Khana (armoury) and Daulat Khana (Treasury), these sections are all interconnected and presently are used for the display of the treasures of history. Then there is a Zenana Dyodhi (ladies’ apartments) and a Mardana Dyodhi (gentlemen’s apartments). The Fort also houses a few temples, the well-stocked museum (in the palaces mentioned above), a museum shop where you can find replicas of the famous art pieces and a restaurant by the name of Chokelao.

Clock Tower / Ghanta Ghar

The Museum

Ivory carved toys

One of the best stocked Museums in Jodhpur, the Mehrangarh Museum Trust maintains the collections and their upkeep. Very neatly and immaculately categorised and displayed, the many exhibits are well preserved and protected. Difficult to enumerate all of them here, but we will highlight a few favourite ones. The tour starts with the Coronation courtyard and the Coronation Seat of the present His Highness when he was coronated at a tender age of four. The marble carved seat is permanently fixed in the courtyard with a little description about the ceremony and its significance written on a placard near it.

Silver Houdah

Palanquin

Walking along, you would enter the hall of Houdahs (seats fixed on elephants). Many Houdahs are exhibited here, some made out of wood and some in silver, some for the kings and some, with curtains, for the queens, some gifted and some won as trophies. Next hall is the Palanquin Hall which stores different types of Palanquins or Palkhis as they are locally referred to. Elaborately carved, with velvet curtains, paintings and some even with shutters, these were the means of transport for the women of the Royal household. A few palkhiwalas would carry them around with the lady sitting inside. These Palanquins also travel for various exhibitions all over the world. 

Shiva Temple / Opium Filter

A collection of spears

Painting 

Opium was an integral part of daily lives of people of Marwar before it was banned for regular consumption by the Govt. Just as we step out of the Palanquin Hall, there is a very interesting miniature Shiva Temple made out of silver which is kept in a niche in the courtyard wall. This actually is a filter that was used for filtering opium water through filters made out of felt. The filtered clear water which had the essence of opium was offered to guests as the highest mark of hospitality and respect and also consumed by the Rulers themselves. Opium was regarded as a magical nectar and painkiller and was thus consumed by this warrior clan of Rajputs.

Painting

Next you would see the Halls of Armoury, Paintings and Artefacts. There are very interesting daggers, spears and rifles on display here. Some daggers even have a pistol concealed in their handles. The painting collection has intricately painted miniature works with paints made out of real Gold and Silver. The artefact gallery has very beautifully carved ivory toys, some very lovely and functional silver hookahs and a door lock so big and heavy that a few people are needed to just lift it let alone fasten it!

Locks

Phool Mahal

The many palaces are a sight to behold, the Moti Mahal and The Phool Mahal are particularly very lavishly decorated. The Sheesh Mahal has mirrors fixed all around, even in the ceiling and is kind of a prayer room with paintings of Gods embedded in the mirror covered walls. The architectural design is such that the whole room can be illuminated by the use of a single candle lit and placed at a designated spot! The Palaces’ windows are adorned in Belgian Coloured Glass, Ivory and intricately carved wood with polished brass fittings. In one of these Palaces is displayed the Marwar Flag all surrounded by Red and Gold.

Moti Mahal

Carvings on a window

The winding staircases within the Fort take you up further into these halls and through many rooms, big and small, bring you to the textile collection where garments worn by the Royal Family and the common man are displayed, many different types and styles of turbans are next and a tent so beautiful that one would want to wear it to an event! This tent was rolled up and carried along when the Royal Family went out for game and hunting. The fan made out of cloth and frills is also hung over the tent and kept safe from decay and wear and tear by special techniques used by the curators at the museum.

Sheesh Mahal

Exit to The Wonderland

The exit is just as ceremonious and grand as was the entry to this beautiful wonderland of history. A temple on the right and the museum shop on the left of the last courtyard that you traverse. Just around the corner are traditionally attired folk musicians playing their most mellifluous melodies. The descent is a bit steep and a good soled pair of shoes is highly recommended. The Loha Pol will again leave you speechless if the tour so far already hasn’t dumbfounded you. On both the sides of the gate are sati hand prints carved into red sandstone by the descendants of these Satis who willingly or maybe under the influence of opium decided to leave the world with their beloved husbands on the same pyre cradling the husband’s head in their laps. A chill runs down the spine on hearing this fact, isn’t it? 

Sati Hand Prints carved in Red Sand Stone

The Fort timings are 9 am to 5 pm everyday but there are also special evening champagne tours that are conducted here. To get further details get in touch with us by clicking here.

Mehrangarh