Are the forts and palaces of Rajasthan still alive?

Palaces of Rajasthan still alive

So what do you think? 

This question is for every individual who has ever visited a monument, a fort, a tomb, or a palace. Did you ever felt the energy of people who lived there once? 

Well, I did!

This is back in 2019 when I went on a family trip. Whenever I had leaves I use to travel with my friends but this time I wanted to bring that charm back of traveling with the family. Just like the good old childhood days. 

Usually, when I go on travel I am the one who does all the planning but this time I had a controller 😊 "My father" with whom I had to share every intricate detail of the trip. Sometimes it was fun and at times exhausting. Hope you know what I mean!!

So Rajasthan here I come! It was my first time visiting someplace that was so magnificent with an amazing history. The itinerary had places like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Merta, Pushkar, and Ajmer. 

The first place was Jaipur and the first monument that I saw was Amber/Amer Fort.

Here I was welcomed by a herd of elephants. The Mahavats were taking the tourists on an elephant ride to the fort. The elephants were beautifully decorated and all dressed up to take the rides.

As soon as I stepped into the Amer fort there was a feeling of vastness. The view from the top of the hill was good. Due to the harsh effect of nature and time, the fort was not in that good shape as I imagined it would be back in the days but I still felt magical. 

In my mind, my imagination was creating a perfect story of how queens would sneak peek at their King through these beautiful jharokhas while he enters the fort. The sunlight through the jharokhas was making kaleidoscopic designs on the floor

 

Every room had these small windows with wooden doors still intact. The best part was the temperature of the fort. It was scorching summers outside but cold inside. Hats off to the architecture.

After this, we went to all the other famous tourist spots. In the evening we visited the Galta Ji temple. My visit to the temple was refreshing. Galta Ji temple is also known as the monkey temple.

I think the people of Rajasthan love animals. You can easily spot elephants, camels, or peacocks there. Just like in my visit to the Ajmer fort, I was welcomed by a herd of elephants, in the same manner, this time there were troops of monkeys. The guard asked us to keep our belongings safe from monkeys especially mobile phones, cameras, and spectacles. They are found of it :-)

The temple is said to have been constructed in the 18th century by Sawai Jai Singh second courtier Kriparam Diwan Rao. It is believed that Sage Galava did atonement here therefore the name is Galtaji temple. These monkeys were friendly as they were taking Prashad from the hands of the devotees but I maintain my distance. Moving ahead we saw some temples and a beautiful pond. This pond is considered pious. Devotees take a dip in this holy pond. The Temple is surrounded by big rocks. This place is away from the hustle-bustle of the city of Jaipur. If you want to visit someplace quite yet beautiful then it’s a must-see. When we were moving toward the top of the temple there were small droplets of water dropping on us and it was nothing more than a blessing in the heated weather of Jaipur. 

There are many other tourist spots where I visited but here as the topic says I am only sharing those moments where I felt as if there is life in these monuments. My next stop was Jodhpur.

In Jodhpur, my first place of visit was Jaswant Thada. I was accompanied by a friend who was a local and knew which place to put on priority based on my travel schedule :-) This place has brilliant architecture. It was constructed in the year 1899 and was decorated with precious white marble. This is a cenotaph that was built by Maharaja Sardar Singh in memory of his father. It serves as the cremation ground for the Royal Rajput family of Marwar. The white color of this place gave me a sense of peace and calmness. This place is on the top of a hill. When I visited this place I saw a man playing "padharo mahare desh" a very famous song in Ravanhatha, a Rajasthani folk instrument. The place gave me a sense that either you are a king or a poor person one day you have to leave this mortal corpse in the ground.  So always stay grounded  :-)

After this, we went to Mehrangarh. It was built by Rao Jodha and is one of the biggest forts in India. This fort has several rooms and gates. Some of the rooms have floral designs and golden roofs and some are covered with glasses. There is a room where beautiful wooden cradles are kept. These cradles belong to all the Royal princes of that era. The cradles are beautifully carved and decorated with images of fairies, gods, and goddesses. Looking at them I could only imagine how pleased the queens must be seeing their kids playing in those amazing cradles. 

There was a special room for King and senators where they can enjoy, have discussions with a few drinks. I was captivated to see the room. A part of the room had a hand-operated ceiling fan, decorated walls, and a wooden roof decked with crystal balls and various colored glass windows which certainly had a psychedelic element to it. 

Moving on I saw some secret escape routes. Although these were beneath the earth but still had a charm to them. There were several arc-shaped doors. Today these routes had a special lighting facility but just imagine how dark will it be when the only way of lighting a room was candles, lanterns, dia's, or fire torches.

When I was coming out from one of the gates I saw these hand imprints. These are the Hand imprints of wives of Rajputs who die or are married during a war. In ancient times the widows practiced Sati Pratha. Before sacrificing herself in the pyre of her husband. This was a ceremony that the women had to perform irrespective of their age. If you look closely you will see different sizes of the hands of the Rajput ladies who became Sati. Fortunately, later this practice was banned. If you ask me what was going in my mind then I will say the last episode of the movie Padmavat 

Just when I was leaving Mehrangarh with a heavy heart I see a lady dancing in ecstasy on a divine song. Some people told that she is possessed by a goddess spirit. Few local singers were performing and she started dancing. Due to the dome-shaped huge gates, the sound of the dhols and singers was echoing, created a memorable ambiance.  I was feeling as if the Mehrangarh fort is asking me to check out this performance before leaving!!!

Please enjoy this and use earphones for better sound quality. 

                                                     So what do you think?