India: Forts, Temples, and Monuments, Part Two

One of the oldest and most interesting examples of jaw-dropping architecture we saw in India was the ancient step well, called Chand Baori. It's in the tiny village of Abhaneri in eastern Rajasthan, and was built between 800-900AD. It has double flights of 3500 steps on three sides, descending almost 100 feet down to a murky, green pool. A temple is built into the fourth side, dedicated to the Hashat Mata the Goddess of Joy and Happiness, along with several pavilions, and a royal residence for the king and queen, with a stage for performing arts. You may recognize this location from scenes in two movies: The Dark Knight Rises and The Fall. I only wish that the sun had been in a slightly different position, so I might have been able to capture a more Escher-esque look in my photos. 

Rajasthan is an extremely hot and arid place, so it is believed this well was built to store rain water, and to provide a cool place for community gatherings during periods of intense heat. The temperature at the bottom stays 5-6 degrees cooler than at the surface.

The well is no longer in use, and is now managed by the Archeological Survey of India. A lot of work has been done to preserve many of the fine stone carvings found at the site. 

When we first started thinking about traveling to India a few years ago, I read somewhere that the city of Udaipur is a place one should not miss. Declared the World's Best City in a poll by Travel and Leisure magazine in 2009, Udaipur is definitely the cleanest Indian city we visited. Apparently, there is a successful campaign designed to instill pride and encourage the people to keep the municipality clean and inviting, much like our litterbug campaigns back in the 50s and 60s. 

During several discussions with our guide, Jayanta, we agreed that education and regulation could make a big difference in regard to the issue of garbage and trash on the streets of other large Indian cities. It is certainly working for Udaipur, but because its population (less than 600,000) is much smaller than other cities we visited (Agra 1.6 million, Jaipur 3.1 million, Delhi 11 million!), there obviously isn't as much trash to clean up!

Not only is Udaipur the cleanest city, it is also one of the most opulent we stayed in. Surrounded by the foothills of the Aravalli Range, it is also known as the "City of Lakes" because it has five major lakes within its limits. There is a palace on an island on Lake Pichola (the largest lake), and many more along the banks of the lakes, most of which are now luxury hotels, much like Venice, which accounts for its second nickname "Venice of the East."

The largest of these Rajput-era palaces is the City Palace, a massive group of palaces built at different times beginning in 1559, six years after Maharana Udai Singh II (see painting below), for whom the city is named, founded the city as the capital of the Mewar kingdom.

We toured many parts of the City Palace, and were stunned by its lavish extravagance.

I'm not sure when this particular item (below) was installed, but this is the royal "throne" of the Maharana! Looks pretty comfy.

Right next door to the City Palace is a large Hindu temple called the Jagdish Temple, completed in 1651 by Maharana Jagat Singh I. It is an incredible building, with again, many very steep steps!

The entire exterior of the temple is covered with intricate carvings, and as you can see, unlike Muslims, Hindus do not have a problem with representations of humans and other animals.

Our next stop was along the road to Jodhpur, where, situated on the western side of the Aravalli Range, was the Jain Temple at Ranakpur. 

Jainism is one of the world's oldest religions. I believe it is an off-shoot of Hinduism, but don't quote me on that. Its practitioners follow a path of "ahimsa," or total nonviolence toward all living beings - meaning ALL living things, including bugs or tiny organisms that might be killed by uprooting plants like potatoes, onions, or garlic! Needless to say, very strict Jains are vegan beyond most of the vegans I know!

This beautiful temple, which was completed in 1458, was a real treat on our long ride from Udaipur. As part of our tour, we were given audio guides to listen to, but I was so busy taking photos, that I didn't pay a lot of attention to the narrative. However, the soothing Indian music from the headset, and the cool, smooth marble under my bare feet, gave me a feeling of peace and tranquility that was almost transcendent.

We only spent one night in Jodhpur, but we did manage to visit two interesting sites. The first one was Jaswant Thada, a white marble memorial for Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, built in 1899.

From the memorial site, we could view our next stop, the towering Mehrangarh Fort, high above the city of Jodhpur.

Construction of the Mahrangarh Fort (Sun Fort) was begun in 1459 by Rao Jodha, founder of Jodhpur, but most of what stands today was built 200 years later. The enormous fort sits atop a hill, 400 feet above the city, and its walls are as much as 118 feet tall, and 69 feet thick! Inside, there are many examples of the finely carved stone we had seen elsewhere in India. You might also recognize this fort, because it too, was used in both of the movies mentioned earlier. 

From the top of the walls, there are spectacular views of the "Blue City," named for the houses below the fort that are painted vivid shades of blue.

The fort museum has a stunning collection of antiquities, including elephant howdahs, a type of seat attached to elephants' backs, and palanquins, basically a chair with poles carried by servants, so ladies of the nobility wouldn't have to walk. Most of these were made of wood, covered in precious metals, with elaborate ornamentation. Some of them were very beautiful, and often had the peacock incorporated into the design.

The collection also had many everyday items used in the palaces, like this gorgeous silver hookah and vase.

These stylized artichoke things, we were told, were weights made to hold down the corners of the large carpets.

And finally, this "poster" depicting the history of the various ruling Maharajas. The guy in the center looks a little like the artist formerly (and currently) known as Prince, don't you think?

To view photos enlarged, click on one and a slide show should open up. 

Also, I have a few more shots not included in the blog that you can see by using this link to my Flickr page.