The daily chores, busy roads, busy lives make our fatigued minds and spirit yearn for serenity and spiritual bliss. Peace does lie within but the surroundings do spell the magic. And to experience the magic, we headed off towards the only hill station in Rajasthan...Mount Abu. With an elevation of nearly 1200 metres, Mount Abu offers everything that gives you bliss. And to disentangle ourselves of the mundane lifestyle, we headed off to Mount Abu.
We reached Mount Abu in the evening on the day of Dussehra. Keeping our luggage in the hotel rooms, we went out to experience the magic of Dussehra in the mountains. The festival is celebrated in the polo ground, which was 2 minutes walk from our hotel. We saw large effigies of the trio (Ravan, Meghdad and Kumbhakaran) in the middle of the field, ready for the fire. There was a prolonged cultural program after which the effigies were burnt followed by fire works. Huge crowd gathered to witness the burning of the trio. It was a completely different experience for us. After that we had our dinner, did some shopping and wrapped up for the day.
We reserved a cab for Rs. 2000 for the whole day and started our expedition. First we visited a shiv temple which was not very far from our hotel. Then we went to guru shikhar which is the highest point of mount Abu. You have to climb 250 stairs to reach the summit (250 stairs as reported by our cab driver but it did not seem like 250 when we went). The view from the summit was very beautiful. Next we went to achaleshwar temple in achalgarh. It is a shiv temple with traditional Rajasthani architecture. We did some shopping beside the temple premises and then headed to the climax of the day, the Dilwara temples. Photography is strictly prohibited inside this beautiful Jain temple premises and I think photos would not have done any justice to them either. Dilwara temples is a five temple complex built in different times by different kings. The temples are so beautifully sculpted that there is no appropriate word to describe its beauty. It was a real treat to the eyes. One should never omit visiting this beautiful temple complex while visiting mount Abu. Then we went to the Om Shanti Bhavan of the Brahmakumaris. We had our lunch next. We did not go for boating in the Nakki lake since we were all very tired and missed out the sunset too. We next went to our hotel to relax. We spent our evening beside the serene Nakki lake, did some shopping and ate the Abu famous rabri. That was the conclusion of our stay there and we checked out of our hotel the following day. We will always cherish every moment spent in Mount Abu.
