A Visit to The Southern Rajasthan

Tripoto
1st Jan 2018
Photo of A Visit to The Southern Rajasthan by Aarush Tandon

A family trip in the month of January is a must and even after all the havoc that took place we were on our way to the southern part of Rajasthan.

Photo of A Visit to The Southern Rajasthan 1/2 by Aarush Tandon
Photo of A Visit to The Southern Rajasthan 2/2 by Aarush Tandon

It also has a market along the whole route to keep the visitors interested.

Guru Shikhar is a must visit in your visit of Mount Abu.

Fort Reservoir

The area near the Smarak gives you a view of a good part of Fateh Sagar Lake.

Sunset's beauty is enhanced when they take place near water bodies and mountians. At the time of our visit, we were lucky enough to be just in time to watch the setting sun near a Lake.

The most interesting phenomenon that I observed in the Bari was near the fountain where claps meant that the fountain had it's height increased. There is a secret phenomenon behind it. A secret for you to discover when you visit the place.

The zoo has a golf cart to cover it's huge area on a minimal chargeable basis.

You won't be short of traditional food choices that is for sure.

A part of the city palace has been turned into a museum since 1974.

Day 1

Our journey began from Indira Gandhi International airport Delhi- hailed as the world's best in the category of 25-40 million passengers two years running.(2014 and 2015) The flight took off at 5:15am and we reached in an hour, 25 minutes before its scheduled time.

After collecting our luggage we had plans to be off to Mount Abu. The cabs though didn't have the same professional behavior as the flight, we had delays even after booking it well in advance.

Anyways, we made our way to Mount Abu rescheduling our plans a little bit.

First of our destinations-

Adhar Devi is a magnificent cave temple, a must visit if you have come to Mount Abu. But it is not for the elderly as you have to cover exactly 365 stairs same as the number of days in an year.

Photo of Adhar Devi, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Adhar Devi, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

The next halt - Dilwara (Jain)Temple has amazing architecture and is a definite no miss for people visiting Mount Abu. In total it has five temples in it namely Vimal Vasahi, Luna Vasahi, Pithalhar, Parshvanath and Mahavir Swami. The temple provides a free guide to all the people visiting the temple.

Photo of Dilwara Temples, Delwara, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

Time spent: 45 min

Nakki Lake is just mesmerizing the view with the hills is just amazing. Nakki Lake has boating facility till 5 pm(30 mins) though only paddle boats so we decided to go against it. As I was having a 360 degree look around I saw toad rock in distance which was on my list of places to visit in the beginning. I asked around he said it was getting late( 6 pm) not the right time to do such a steep climb so I decided to do it the next day.

Photo of Nakki Lake, Mount Abu, Rajasthan by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Nakki Lake, Mount Abu, Rajasthan by Aarush Tandon
Day 2

The next day our first destination plan was to go to Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary but in the end we decided against it we were off to Shanti Bhawan.

Photo of Om Shanti Bhawan - BrahmaKumaris Intl' Head Quarter, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

If you are a Brahmakumari or a Brahmakumar you would definitely be visiting this prestigious place every year.

A free guide accompanies you to give you a tour of the place if you visiting it for the first time.

Trevor's Tank a slightly less visited beauty was our next stop.

Trevor's tank is a dream come true for reptile and hill lovers. We saw a crocodile sitting in disguised form of sleeping perhaps searching for its prey, the many fishes in the pond. There are also two hiking routes to observe the view of the hills along with the pond from the top.

Photo of Trevor's Tank, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Trevor's Tank, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

Guru Shikhar was the next place in line.

Guru Shikhar is the highest point of the Aravali Range standing at 1722 metres but still reachable by road.

Photo of Guru Shikhar, Rajasthan by Aarush Tandon

Toad Rock was the next spot for our visit, the one I was not able to make a visit to yesterday. I went alone while the rest of my family went shopping. People had told me to it would be hard and take about half an hour but that was not the case it took me just 8 minutes to reach the place which provided a beautiful view of the hill with the lake.

Photo of Toad Rock, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Toad Rock, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

We had completed our itinerary to Mount Abu. We had to start for Kumbhalgarh in the morning.

Day 3

Kumbhalgarh has the second longest wall complex in the world after "The Great Wall of China" and is the second largest fort in Rajasthan.

We had hired a little guide to tell us the whereabouts of the fort.

Photo of Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

In the journey from Maharana Pratap Museum to Kumbhalgarh, you witness the most beautiful mustard-coloured hills which tells you that you have reached Haldighati.

Photo of Maharana Pratap Museum, Balicha, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Maharana Pratap Museum, Balicha, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

Vijay Stambha as the name suggests is the victory monument located within Chittorgarh Fort. The tower was constructed my Mewar King, Rana Khumbh. The topmost storey has a picture of the person I was talking a little bit earlier- Padmavati.

Photo of Vijay Stambh, Chittorgarh Fort Village, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

The museum gives you an insight on the battle of Haldighati, it's presentation style is pretty similar to what it is at in Akshardham just at a smaller scale and a way lower budget. It enthrals you when you take a journey through various mediums to observe the motherland love of Maharana Pratap.

The Battle of Haldighati was fought in Haldighati, Rajasthan on 18 or 21 June 1576 for around four hours between Rana of Mewar, Maharana Pratap and Mughal Emperor Akbar's forces led by Man Singh I.

Although Maharana won the battle over Akbar, his horse was sacrificed in order to save his life.

Akbar was not discouraged by his defeat and it didn't prove to be the end of the attacks from Akbar The Great, he launched six consecutive attacks after the battle on Maharana's army.

Maharana Pratap erected a small monument in honour of his horse at the place where Chetak fell. The cenotaph still exists at Haldighati in Rajsamand District. It is named Chetak Samadhi, now a protected monument under Archeological Survey Of India.

We spent the night at Udaipur in anticipation for the journey to Chittorgarh the next day.

Day 4

The largest fort in Rajasthan, Chittor Fort's most prominent queen is Padmavati.

Photo of Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

This name might ring bells to your years, this was home to the controversies that set in the Indian Cinema. This made us realize that there is a lot to a name, the name of the movie had to be changed to Padmavat.

Some legends suggest that Alluladin Khalji invaded Chittor Fort to capture the beautiful queen Padmavati. It is believed that to protect themselves from the tyrant, Padmavati and other queens commited 'jauhar'. Most of the modern day historians have rejected the authencity of these legends.

We didn't hire a guide this time to give us an overview of the fort. A mistake on our part ? It's of utmost importance to hire a guide to know about different parts of the fort. On the contrary, the guides are really expensive for things that you forget after a short period of time.

Saheliyon ki Bari has fountains and kiosks, a lotus pool and several marble elephants. It's a perfect set up for maidens.

The most interesting phenomenon that I observed in the Bari was near the fountain where claps meant that the fountain had it's height increased. There is a secret phenomenon behind it. A secret for you to discover when you visit the place.

Photo of Saheliyon Ki Bari, Panchwati, Udaipur, Rajasthan by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Saheliyon Ki Bari, Panchwati, Udaipur, Rajasthan by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Saheliyon Ki Bari, Panchwati, Udaipur, Rajasthan by Aarush Tandon

The monument was built to depict the beauty of Jainism. Kirti Stambha literally translates to "A Tower of Fame". Kirti Stambha is older than Vijay Stambha in the same fort.

Photo of Kirti Stambh, Palace Road, Shiyabaug, Babajipura, Vadodara, Gujarat, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Kirti Stambh, Palace Road, Shiyabaug, Babajipura, Vadodara, Gujarat, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Kirti Stambh, Palace Road, Shiyabaug, Babajipura, Vadodara, Gujarat, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Kirti Stambh, Palace Road, Shiyabaug, Babajipura, Vadodara, Gujarat, India by Aarush Tandon
Day 5

Sajjangarh Biological Park is home to 60 animals of 21 species including tigers, panthers, lions, ostriches, alligators, rhesus monkeys.

The zoo has a golf cart to cover it's huge area on a minimal chargeable basis.

Photo of SajjanGarh Biological Park, Eklavya Colony, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of SajjanGarh Biological Park, Eklavya Colony, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of SajjanGarh Biological Park, Eklavya Colony, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

Monsoon Palace is situated just above the zoo.

The palace somewhat underwhelms the fairy-like castle on the hill. It lacks lustre that the other palaces in Rajasthan have. The view from the palace is beautiful though, it overlooks the beautiful Fateh Sagar Lake.

A place you could avoid if you are short on time.

Photo of Monsoon Palace, Sajjan Garh, Kodiyat, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Monsoon Palace, Sajjan Garh, Kodiyat, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

Shilpgram offers you something that you might go looking for when you visit Rajasthan- Tradition.

The place has this rustic village feel to it. Acts such as pottery, snake charming, Kathputli(Puppet) dance, traditional Rajasthani dance keep the place alive.

You won't be short of traditional food choices that is for sure.

Photo of Shilpgram, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Shilpgram, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Shilpgram, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

The sun set was right upon us when we reached Udaipur after our day travels to Chittorgarh.

We were in Udaipur now, I had gained even more knowledge about the Great Maharana and I was starting to visualize some of it.

Photo of Maharana Pratap Memorial, Major District Road 11, Chawand, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Maharana Pratap Memorial, Major District Road 11, Chawand, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Maharana Pratap Memorial, Major District Road 11, Chawand, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

Chetak was the ruler's horse who sacrificed himself in order to save his master's life. The Chetak Smarak is a tribute to this sefless being.

Photo of Chetak Smarak, Balicha, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Chetak Smarak, Balicha, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

Fateh Sagar Lake, one of the most beautiful lakes in Udaipur would be best observed in a boat ride. A boat ride means a full circle of Udaipur's beauty.

Photo of Fateh Sagar Lake, Udaipur, Rajasthan by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Fateh Sagar Lake, Udaipur, Rajasthan by Aarush Tandon

A place you could avoid if you are short on time.

The palace is set on the banks of Lake Pichola. It was built over 400 years ago with contributions from several rulers of the Mewar dynasty.

Photo of City Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of City Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India by Aarush Tandon

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