Visiting Rajasthan was a year long plan. I was too excited to visit the Royal state of India. Seeing the Instagram posts of amazing sunsets made me more excited about the trip. I adore the small and untouched places of Rajasthan the most: one such place in my itinerary was Bundi. I hope to see the place in my next visit.
My preferred mode of travel was road journey. Renting a bike and travelling through the lovely villages is next level exciting. Travelling between cities of Rajasthan is a long long long journey but the well maintened roads and broad highways makes the journey delightful. If you pull off at any point the vast land of loneliness around you takes you in a different timezone. The temples, Shrines and Haveli's at every corner of this state reminds you of history and beauty that is engraved in every art form.
Jaipur - Capital city of Rajasthan.
The first hop of my journey from Mumbai. I planned my journey in a way to start and end at Jaipur so I could complete the whole circle of cities ( Jaipur - Chittorgargh - Udaipur - Kumbhalgarh - Jodhpur - Jasailmer - Bikaner - Jaipur). The bustling city has broad roads, broad emough to pass 4 royal Elephants at once but still the city struggles a lot with traffic situation. The city offers great architecture from Rajput to Mughal's with stunning Palaces, hill side fort, lakes, Haveli's at every corner and unbeatable hospitality. The people of Jaipur are said to have royal lineage and you find them bowing and saying 'Khamma Ghani'.
Jaipur now has become a modern city yet it retains it's vintage charm. Start your day with the hearty and delicious breakfast at 'Samrat Kachoriwala' before you head to the picturesque city tour. There are many places of attraction in Jaipur ( Jantar Mantar, Jaigarh Fort, Jalmahal etc) what I was most excited was 'The Hawa Mahal'. Its architecture really stands out making it an iconic symbol of Jaipur. Standing tall im the middle of the city with the most busiest road alongside it has kept it's charm. Rajasthan being the desert hot state the idea of building a Mahal with it's exterior akin to honeycomb with 953 small windows called Jharokhas decorated with latticework. The original intent of Mahal was to allow the royal ladies to watch the everyday life and festivals on the below street without being seen and obey the strict rule of 'Purdah'. The architectural design feature also allow cool air pass through, thus making the whole area more pleasant during the high temperatures in summer.
After covering up Hawa Mahal and a quick lunch I headed up to Jaigarh Fort and then Nahargarh Fort for a spectacular city view and sunset. Later for dinner we went out for what Rajasthan's best known dish ' Dal Baati Churma' at Rawat's restaurant. After the sumptuous dinner we went back to our hostel called off day with excitement to start tomorrow and explore more of the city.
#RememberRajasthan
