blue moon and golden brown

After wrapping up work in Udaipur, I was able to check two more places off of my "must-see" list in Rajasthan: Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.

Jodhpur, also know as the Blue City, is the second largest city in Rajasthan. The city is about the same size as Mesquite, TX with a population just over one million. It was founded in 1459, as the capital of the princely state of Marwar. The area of northwestern India was previously divided into 22 princely states that combined to form the state of Rajasthan ("Land of Kings") following independence from Britain in 1947.

Jodhpur is known as the Blue City due to the high number of buildings that are painted blue. It is believed that the blue paint was used as a way for Brahmins (priestly caste) to identify their homes. Others believe it was done because blue made the homes cooler in the summer months. Regardless of the reason, it makes for a spectacular view.

Like all major cities in Rajasthan, Jodhpur is home to a large fort with a colorful history. Mehrangarh Fort sets atop a hill overlooking the blue buildings littered throughout the city. One major difference between this fort and others is that it is still operated by the royal family of Jodhpur, and is therefore better maintained and much cleaner in comparison to those run by government entities. The interiors throughout the ages have been meticulously decorated with gold, lush carpets, mirrors, tiles, and paintings.

Because Mehrangarh is run by the royal family trust, staff are on site to show use of weaponry, pallaquins, painting techniques, and even opium!

The culture and history in Rajasthan becomes a broken record after you visit enough places, but Jodhpur offered some variety to the usual stories. The below statue (which is life size and totally creepy in person) is of Gangaur, who was Lord Shiva's consort. She is worshiped by unmarried women to ask for blessings for their future husband, and married women worship her in hopes of having marital bliss.

As with other Rajput communities, the clan living at Mehrangarh Fort also was known for committing the act of jauhar. The women would prepare themselves for the rites of jauhar by bathing in scented oils, donning their wedding dress, finest jewellery and henna on their hands and feet. As they walked to their funeral pyre, they would press their hands to the wall, leaving the marks of their fresh henna and indicating their final descent towards death. Mehrangarh has a "widow wall" to mark this place.

After leaving Jodhpur I traveled to Jaisalmer, the western most city in India. It is situated about 55 miles from the Pakistan border, hence the large military presence. Jaisalmer is often referred to as the Golden City, due to the shades of gold cast off the yellow sandstone during sunrise and sunset. The city is very small (only 2 square miles), and is home to about 80,000 people.

A lovely lake, Gadisar Lake, is situated just on the outskirts of town. It is surrounded by temples and shrines, and you can find people out in water in paddle boats. I was out there at sunset, which perfectly reflected why Jaisalmer earned the name Golden City.

Jaisalmer is home to the Golden Fort, which is India's only living fort--meaning that the fort is still inhabited by residents. It is a little surreal to be walking through a centuries old historic monument while side stepping cows and motorcycles.

The Golden Fort was built in mid 11th century, and is one of the largest in the world. Unfortunately, it is now an endangered fort (yes, that's a real thing) due to over population and water seepage. Parts of the fort have already crumbled and organizations are stepping in to aid preservation. Unfortunately, as is the case in India, innovation and infrastructure fail to keep up with population growth. It will take a large effort of repair and support to rehab the fort. 

Of course, no visit to a desert town would be complete without a ride through the sand dunes (I was certain our SUV would roll over at any moment) and sunrise camel safari. Should I have the opportunity to go back, I hope to do the overnight camel safari complete with a bonfire and camping under the stars.

beyond the sea

I am blessed to have a job that sends me to new and unusual destinations around India. This time work sent me to Udaipur, although I had a brief detour to Chittorgarh in order to visit the largest fort in India.

Chittorgarh Fort is positively massive, covering over a square mile of land. From the 7th-16th century, Chittorgarh Fort was the capital of the Mewar Kingdom until it relocated to Udaipur after siege by the Mughal Emperor Akbar.

The fort was built with 130 temples and 84 water tanks for rainwater collection. The architecture was amazing, and I was in awe trying to imagine the amount of labor and skill that went into its construction.

Although very beautiful, the most fascinating part of the fort was its rich history. Chittorgarh had 3 major sieges, each resulting in jauhar. Jauhar is the act of Rajput women throwing themselves in a funeral pyre and considered honorable act to avoid enslavement and dishonor by Muslim captures. Each major siege brought on mass jauhar resulting in the self-immolation of thousands of women.I could easily spent several more hours wandering the grounds.

Udaipur, is commonly known as "City of Lakes" or "Venice of the East". In keeping with Rajasthan's love of color monikers (i.e. Jaipur = Pink City, Jodhpur = Blue City, Jaisalmer = Golden City), Udaipur is also referred to as the White City. It is about the same size as Nacogdoches, TX, yet has about 600,000 inhabitants (Nac has 30,000). It was founded in 1559 and is popular with tourists and locals alike for its Rajput-era (Hindu warrior caste) palaces.

 Udaipur is remarkably clean in comparison to other parts of India, and I found it to be very safe to walk around and converse with locals. The city is absolutely picturesque, and I loved catching sunset at Lake Pichola.

I spent most of my four days in and around City Palace working. I was fortunate to grab a few hours to myself to check out some of the area. Maharana Udai Singh II built the palace after leaving Chittorgarh in the 16th century. The palace complex is considered the largest of its kind in Rajasthan, and all the buildings face east, as the Suryavansi Rajputs worshiped the sun god.

sunset view of City Palace complex from Lake Pichola

The interior of the palace was beautiful, intricate, and a stunning display of wealth.

A fun part of being in Udaipur is the boats rides to and from the different palaces on the lake. A short boat ride across Lake Pichola takes you to Jag Mandir, an island palace. This palace was built as a summer resort for the royal family and has now been converted to a space for special events. Its is only accessible by boat, and I had the opportunity to go there for an amazing dinner.

Udaipur was gorgeous, and I really hope to have the opportunity to return for less work and more play!

 

living for the city

Although November was relatively quiet in terms of getting out and about, December is looking to be more travel-heavy. The start of the month sent Nikki and me back to Delhi for a few days of work, which meant a few days of exploring.

This time around, we elected to use the metro system in Delhi. It is fairly new (about a decade old) and is reminiscent of the Parisian metro system. It is surprisingly clean and easy to navigate. Like many public places in India (i.e. malls, visitor attractions, large hotels, etc), women and men are divided into separate lines to go through security and bags are sent through x-ray machines. Little metro tokens get you in and out of the different platforms.

I don't know that I will ever get used to being in a massive metropolitan area only to suddenly find myself in a building that is older than the United States. Living in India is a testament to just how young my native country is!

One of our stops was at Jama Masjid, the principal mosque in Old Delhi, constructed between 1650-1656. It is yet another structure built by Shah Jahan (of Taj Mahal fame) using red sandstone and marble.

Outside of the gates, visitors must remove their shoes and women are required to wear burkas (without the head/face coverings) and men that had on shorts were required to wear lungis (sarong). I never thought I'd find myself in a burka, let alone a floral one!

We were lucky because it was election day in Delhi, meaning that few people were out and about. Fridays (holy day in Islam) and large Muslim holidays like EID can attract up to 25,000 people at the mosque! It was very peaceful during our visit and many were there to pray and worship.

Another stop was Akshardham, which is now officially my favorite site in Delhi. As much as I don't care for the city, I fell in love with the temple complex. Akshardham Temple is a sprawling complex (opened in 2005) devoted to the modern sect of Hinduism known as Swaminarayan Hinduism. Consider this similar to doctrinal differences we may find in denominations of Christianity.

The complex boasts large gardens, a boat ride (India meets It's a Small World at Disney), 2 films, and a musical fountain.

Upon walking into the complex, we had to surrender all our earthly possessions.. I hated having to part with my camera, but Google images has once again come to my rescue. I commented to Nikki about its similarity in intricacy to Angkor Wot in Cambodia. My research revealed that the craftsmen modeled the design after several temples including Angkor Wot (even though it is a Buddhist temple).

The main temple is incredibly beautiful, with 148 carved elephants at the base. The lake that surrounds the temple has 108 gaumukhs (water spouts), symbolizing the 108 names of God in the Hindu faith. 

Under the central dome inside, you will find a murti (statue) of  Swaminarayan and other gurus of the sect cast in gold. The architecture is amazingly intricate, both interior and exterior.

 

I know this is far from my last visit to the big city. Luckily, there are plenty of places to explore next time I'm in Delhi!