Information on Trips around Jaipur
As well as the detours off the Delhi road, here are three
trips in other directions.
Samode—The keen
can abandon cars for camels for part of this short trip (42 kilometers/26
miles) from Jaipur to a tiny rural village where Jai Singh's finance minister
built a palace which nestles in the hills beneath the older clifftop fort. The
give-away on the simple exterior is thegrand staircase. It leads up to rooms
decorated with large murals, fine mirror-work and quantities of gilding and as
it is a hotel, you can also stay here and, perhaps, continue northwards to the
Shekhavati area.
Ajmer-This city
is 138 kilometers (86 miles) south-west of Jaipur. The shrine of Sufi Saint
Khwaja Muin-ud-din Chishti is as sacred to Muslims now as when Akbar first
visited it (see page 147). Tiny streets lined with kiosks selling lace caps,
flowers and sacred texts lead to the holy complex where emperors from Humayun
to Aurangzeb added the buildings. Rich pilgrims pay for sweet rice to be cooked
up in vast iron cauldrons for the poor, qawwalis are sung in the hall and
pilgrims flock daily to worship under the colourful awnings around the tomb.
See also the Adhai-Din-Jhopra (Hut of Two-and-a-half Days), a mosque which
incorporates fabulous carvings from Hindu temples and a Sanskrit college;
Akbar's palace; and the hilltop Taragarh (star) Fort for views. Outside the
city, the man-made Ana Sagar Lake has pretty pavilions, ghats and temples along
the west side. Nearby Pushkar is where the annual camel fair is held. For countryside
overnight stop on the way back to Jaipur, stay at Roopangarh Fort, 20
kilometres (12 miles) west of Kishangarh. (There is little quality
accommodation in busy Ajmer and Pushkar.)
Bundi and Kota-A
long trip south but worth it for two truly magnificent palaces. In 1579, Rao
Ratan Singh of Bundi gave his son, Madho Singh, the tiny principality of Kota.
Both flourished. Bundi's Taragarh Fort-palace (1372 onwards) coated with murals
(1744-71) sprawls over the hillside above the narrow lanes and blue houses of
its town, a delightful time warp even today. Kota's palace, found through the
extravagant elephant gate, has equally wonderful murals (ask to see the locked
room which is covered in them). The road down to these treats passes hilltop
forts near Chatsu and Nawai and brushes past Tonk, worth stopping at to see
Sunehri Kothi (golden mansion). Best to stay overnight (or longer) at the
riverside Brijraj Bhawan Palace, so there is also time to visit Sir Swinton
Jacob's Umed Bhawan, the royal tombs and nearby Mandalgarh Fort.
Ranthambhore Tiger
Reserve-If seeing a tiger is going to complete a trip to India, here is
your best chance. The 400 square kilometers (154 square miles) of deciduous
forest rambling over the Aravalli and Vindhya Hills is a perfect habitat for
tigers, which have multiplied since Project Tiger was launched in 1973 by the
Government of India and the World Wild Fund for Nature. Ranthambhore Fort and
the Jaipur maharajas' pavilions add romance to the setting. Essential to stay
overnight, preferably longer, and equally essential to arrive with a firm
booking (made in Jaipur) for the small government lodge; unprepared visitors
have to sleep in their cars. In the interests of conservation, visitors to this
park are now restricted, so book well ahead. Karauli's palace hotel makes a
good stop on the journey here from Bharatpur or Agra.
For more information on trips around Jaipur and Golden Triangle Tours
contact Swan Tours and call – 011 23415601
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