It’s another bus day. And I think today is the worst construction day. While I mentioned before about the shifting back and forth between lanes – for only 100 meters or so – I think today was the day that the road was like that for kilometers. And it was so bumpy there was no way to try to compose on the computer. I was trying to blog for a while but ended up with so many errors and icons moved around to different places on the screen because I got jostled and moved something, that I just ended up giving up and enjoying whatever Mulla Naseruddin story Bhanu tells us while watching the world pass by us outside out the bus windows.
There is always something to look at- whether it is a horde of pigeons attacking the wheat bags on top of a jeep at the toll booth (seriously, it looks like The Birds out there), or the various cows that are meandering everywhere, standing next to all the men sitting outside of a coffee place, crossing the road causing everyone to suddenly slam on their brakes and honk, standing peacefully in the middle of the barriers that separate oncoming traffic – you name a situation, there is a cow in it. There there are also the turban clad men with their brilliant white or fashionable pinkish red turbans who stand out in contrast to the beige sand background as they walk beside the road. There is also, as Maggi points out, turban clad scarecrows in the fields. Seriously, virtually every scarecrow has a turban, which we guess is to mimic a farmer in the field, because, of course, the farmer would wear a turban.
On we roll, stopping briefly at our comfort stop where Bhanu plays with the resident dog the entire time, reinforcing his love for animals (he has 3 dogs and I don’t know how many cats at home). We on the other hand stretch our legs and wander about in the sunshine, before boarding the bus again to continue our journey. Today our journey is so long, that we are eating on the bus. Bhanu arranged for little boxes for us at breakfast to fill with items from the buffet, so after our comfort stop, we all dig into what ever delicacies we coaxed from the buffet. It is mostly all carb heavy (I mean what else will survive a few hours on the bus besides muffins and bread?) except for boiled eggs (which Ed, Maggi and Richard will eat). But really, after a full breakfast, we don’t really need much to keep us content for the rest of the day.
More miles roll past, another comfort stop is taken, and at last we arrive at the Jaswant Thada, a cenotaph (or tomb) for the royal family of Marwar. The grounds are beautiful, set up high on a small ridge overlooking the city of Jodphur. There is a lovely little lake at the entrance, and a nice view of the fortifications and walls built in the 17th and 18th century to protect the original settlement. The main tomb of brilliant white marble sits atop a red sandstone plinth and is surrounding by smaller carved gazebos that are also tombs, all identical in shape and size. None of these tombs hold sarcophagi, all the royals were cremated, so the cenotaphs hold photos of the deceased as a remembrance.
Entering into the main tomb, we get a close up look of the intricately carved polished marble sheets that make up the building. We an also view the photographs of the Maharajas of Jodphur. In the center of the mausoleum, there is a throne like structure with photos of who we assume are the Maharaja Jaswant Singh, and the Majaraja Sardar Singh, the former’s son who built the mausoleum in honor of his father.
Our next stop is right up the hill at the huge, red stone Mehrangarh fort. Only a few minutes drive up to the top of the mountain ridge, this fort is one of the largest in India, presiding over the city from a perch 400 feet high. It is massive, and definitely dominates the skyline from our viewpoint as we emerge from the bus. The fort has been turned into a massive museum, and as such we all get audio guides to use while we are touring through. There are 33 stops on the guide and we only have a little over an hour to complete the tour, so we have to get crackin’.
We start off walking up the long ramp that leads into the fort. Its a good 10 minute hike up, but nice to be out and exercising after the bus ride. We also stop a few times to listen as the audio guide explains the fortress, the seven gates protecting the interior, how Rao Jodha decided to build up here and the strategic position the fort commands. Just inside the innermost gate, the “Iron Gate” with its elephant killer spikes designed to keep elephants from battering the gate in, there are 15 hand prints, left by the Maharaja Man Singh’s wives as they left the fort for the last time. At the time of the tour, I thought it was just a symbol as they left the palace after the Maharaja’s death – but turns out, the prints, known as sati marks, were placed there before the wives immolated themselves on the Maharaja’s funeral pyre. This was supposedly in 1843, btw.. Yikes. Cultural traditions!
We move onward from the sati marks, entering into the interior courtyard and the different palaces making up the fort. There are tons of displays here, none of which I will be able to do justice. Somehow we’ve missed some audio segments and start out in the Elephant Howdah section which has an excellent display of all the different howdah’s the royals used to ride their elephants. Then it is on to the Palanquins, which were how the ladies of the royal court were transported. Back outside in the courtyard we sort of catch up with the audio guide, as we read about the coronation seat and the story of the last ruler, Maharaja Gaz Singh, II, who ascended the throne at the age of 4 when his father died in a plane crash. Yes, 4 years old. There is a story posted by his coronation throne that tells of all the relations and other who came to the ceremony bestowing gifts on the new Maharaja. Instead of taking the gifts, Gaj Singh would hand each gift received to the next person in the receiving line – the true meaning of “paying it forward.” Pretty amazing. Also amazing is that the Maharaja grew up going to school in England, and didn’t really return to India until about the same time that Gandhi stripped all royal families of their titles and allowances that had been given to royalty at the time of independence. Having no way to support his family’s lifestyle, Singh took a page out of European royalty’s playbook and opened up the royal properties to guests and visitors for a fee, thereby underwriting the cost to maintain the family legacy, gaining a reputation for for preserving much of royal Rajasthan.
What follows the coronation courtyard are room after room filled with relics, art and artifacts from the ruling families. There are paintings and art, rooms with teak wood throne pagodas and an armory gallery that displays all sorts of swords and weapons from throughout the ages. There is the ladies area, all decorated in mirrors and sparkling tile designs, a “tent” room where a display explains how the material for tents is made, and then how to construct a tent and many balconies, balustrades and promenades that allow us to take in the exterior of the fort, along with the incredible scenery stretching out below us (including the cenotaphs where we were previously). One of the final areas we visit is the Moti Mahal, the room for private audiences, which is all decked out in royal red with beautiful stained glass windows that shine multi-colored sunlight into the room.
Wow – it’s a lot to take in, and honestly, the first time on this whole tour where I would have liked to have more time to soak up the information streaming into my ears. Walking through with a time schedule seemed a little rushed – but it is what we had, so we managed it. Rather rushed, than not there at all, for sure. As we are handing in our audio guides, we look up to find more odd looking nests attached to the ceiling. We had seen them earlier at the Iron gate, and figured they were possibly wasp nests. But here, we can see they look more like feathers or down, all clumped together with individual little openings. In the courtyard, we find a placard explaining that these are Swifts nesting. Wow – how cool! And there must be hundreds – because these nests are all over the place. Sadly we don’t see any of the actual birds, at least not that we know of, but it is a real treat to see how they nest like that.
Retracing our steps down the long steep walkway, we all rendezvous at our appointed spot right on time and make our way further down hill to the bus awaiting to take us to the hotel for our one night Jodphur stay.
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