Tue 2 Dec Chittaurgarh
Buses to our next destination, Chittaurgarh, run frequently. Therefore, we are not in a super morning rush today. But nonetheless, we are out before 8 am w/o breakfast. A 50 R ride to the bus stand, and a fairly quick wait for a bus and we are off to Chittaurgarh (sometimes called "Chittor"). Tickets are 193 R for two. On our bus are a young Dutch couple who were traveling the world, planning to spend 2 months in Uganda many months from now.
We arrive to Chittor before 10 am. At some point as we were off loading our bags, one Osprey bag cover somehow fell out. In panic, Mike and our sympathetic driver ran back to the bus just as it was pulling out. No Osprey. Bad news for future intercity and airplane travel. We later found the second bag, packed away safely. Whew.
We get a 20 R rickshaw to our hotel, Pratap Palace. At Pratap the rooms are really on the high side of our budget (our choices are 3500 R and 2800 R), but they are spacious. After all, this is a resort-style hotel. We accept the 2800 R room, which includes a breakfast. We noted that the kitchen was still serving buffet breakfast al fresco, so we ask for breakfasts for this morning also. The hotel says: OK. Great bonus for us, bringing the total room cost more in line and saving valuable time.
Lo and behold, the Dutchies show up. As we eat together, they explain their hopes for doing NGO work in Uganda and develop support for eco-tourism. They pay to join in the Indian breakfast buffet: idli (little steamed rice cakes) with sambar, dal, puris, and large amounts of tea. A waiter even brought a basket of freshly-fried puffy puris to our table. We pretty much stuff ourselves. The young couple have already made plans for a rickshaw tour of the 6 km long (north to south) hilltop fort to the east. They have booked a 1545 train onward to Bundi, and have some serious time constraints.
By 1100 or 1115, we all are ready to do to take our rickshaws. We talked about sharing a rickshaw 4 ways, but this plan makes no sense. So they get in their 300 R rickshaw, and we get in ours. For 300 R we get a ride up and assurance that we will start at the deer park (extreme south end) and a tour of the south end sites on the top, but no ride down.
Since the top are is 6 km long, having a rickshaw waiting makes it possible to see most of the sites. Climbing out of the town, we pass a series of 6 outer gates on the way into the fort. Chittaurgarh was the center of the local kingdom until apx 1600 when it was conquered. It was reestablished by Udai Singh II in Udaipur thereafter. It becomes obvious to Carol why Chittaurgarh was abandoned in the early 1600s for Udaipur - after all, the gates are too narrow for tour busses.
We get to the top, buy tickets (100 R each for us, 50 R for the rickshaw), and go all the way south to Deer Park, which is locked tight. No Nature today. So back to Padmini's Palace, a series of buildings around a small lake. It was first a sun temple (Zoroastrian?), then became Hindu.
Next Kalika Mata Temple, which features a heavily decorated yoni with a snake on top. Heavy symbolism. Other fine decorations abound.
On to Sammideshwar Temple, with an attached 8 story Tower of Victory. In this case, "victory" meant death before dishonor, or 'Jauhar.' It is associated with martyrdom for men in battle; women and children were immolated or thrown to their death. Anyway, a beautifully decorated, richly carved structure.
Although we chose not to climb the tower (too dark inside) we thoroughly explored the remainder of this site. One mandir had a set of 3 god-faces with penetrating white eyes. At another one of the mandirs we saw a group of school children. These were Christian kids from a Christian school in Rajkot who had taken an overnight bus trip, and were going to 3 or 4 more cities in Rajasthan before returning home. We held a conversation with some of the teachers and kids near a wonderfully lifelike bull statue. We really took our time to see the many parts of this complex.
It was now 1330, and we were finally at the Khumba Shyama Temple. Our driver was more than ready to go down. He apparently expected us take less time at each of structures. He asked for a 50 R tip, we gave it to him, and said goodbye.
We went on foot into the Khumba Shyana Temple and the semi-attached Meera Temple, both elaborately decorated Jain temples, and spent 45 minutes walking through all the sections of both. Can't say we understand the Jain symbolism or what the individual mini-shrines to the "tirthankars" (the 24 great Jain teachers) represent. The ridge on which the Chittaurgarh fort sits is very fertile - beautiful flowering bushes here.
We walked north past the museum (too nice for indoors) and into the non-tourist residential area, where we found some Canada Dry bottles in a rack. For some reason, this impressed Mike. We see a cow decorated with a necklace. Further on, there was a bull sitting with legs folded underneath, a pose exactly like that of the bull statue in Sammideshwar. Also next to one cow was a series of hand-patted cow dung patties drying in the sun. These are used by villagers in many ways unknown to us. We pass some old market structures, which are now ruins.
Time to turn around, buy some water, and head back to the main road down. Near a grove of mangos we see the Palace of Rama Kumbha. This was one of the palaces in the heyday of Chittaurgarh. The wall across the road from the palace had 'recycled' carved stone built in. We like to think that locals had respect for their own ruins, but often not so much at all.
We begin walking down the road back to the city. We pass gate after gate. We see a bus pulling a wheelchair attached by rope up the hill. Someone's pilgrimage to one of the sacred sites here?
Finally, we tire and hail a passing rickshaw that takes us to the bus stand. From there it is a km walk on back streets to Pratap Hotel.
At the hotel Carol watches TV Mike goes out to get some water. He finds not only the water, but also 2 glasses of freshly-squeezed sugar cane juice. He drinks one glass of his favorite beverage on the spot and carries the other to Carol. Carrying 2 glasses plus the water bottles often leads to sticky spilled cane juice. Yum.
Down at 1830 to the hotel restaurant. They are setting up an action movie on the outside screen. We take an inside seat where there is light and no movie. We order dinner for 580 R.
Up to bed were we watch a lot of TV before going to sleep. Vegging out with cooking shows and crime series is a real luxury.
Buses to our next destination, Chittaurgarh, run frequently. Therefore, we are not in a super morning rush today. But nonetheless, we are out before 8 am w/o breakfast. A 50 R ride to the bus stand, and a fairly quick wait for a bus and we are off to Chittaurgarh (sometimes called "Chittor"). Tickets are 193 R for two. On our bus are a young Dutch couple who were traveling the world, planning to spend 2 months in Uganda many months from now.
We arrive to Chittor before 10 am. At some point as we were off loading our bags, one Osprey bag cover somehow fell out. In panic, Mike and our sympathetic driver ran back to the bus just as it was pulling out. No Osprey. Bad news for future intercity and airplane travel. We later found the second bag, packed away safely. Whew.
We get a 20 R rickshaw to our hotel, Pratap Palace. At Pratap the rooms are really on the high side of our budget (our choices are 3500 R and 2800 R), but they are spacious. After all, this is a resort-style hotel. We accept the 2800 R room, which includes a breakfast. We noted that the kitchen was still serving buffet breakfast al fresco, so we ask for breakfasts for this morning also. The hotel says: OK. Great bonus for us, bringing the total room cost more in line and saving valuable time.
Lo and behold, the Dutchies show up. As we eat together, they explain their hopes for doing NGO work in Uganda and develop support for eco-tourism. They pay to join in the Indian breakfast buffet: idli (little steamed rice cakes) with sambar, dal, puris, and large amounts of tea. A waiter even brought a basket of freshly-fried puffy puris to our table. We pretty much stuff ourselves. The young couple have already made plans for a rickshaw tour of the 6 km long (north to south) hilltop fort to the east. They have booked a 1545 train onward to Bundi, and have some serious time constraints.
By 1100 or 1115, we all are ready to do to take our rickshaws. We talked about sharing a rickshaw 4 ways, but this plan makes no sense. So they get in their 300 R rickshaw, and we get in ours. For 300 R we get a ride up and assurance that we will start at the deer park (extreme south end) and a tour of the south end sites on the top, but no ride down.
Since the top are is 6 km long, having a rickshaw waiting makes it possible to see most of the sites. Climbing out of the town, we pass a series of 6 outer gates on the way into the fort. Chittaurgarh was the center of the local kingdom until apx 1600 when it was conquered. It was reestablished by Udai Singh II in Udaipur thereafter. It becomes obvious to Carol why Chittaurgarh was abandoned in the early 1600s for Udaipur - after all, the gates are too narrow for tour busses.
We get to the top, buy tickets (100 R each for us, 50 R for the rickshaw), and go all the way south to Deer Park, which is locked tight. No Nature today. So back to Padmini's Palace, a series of buildings around a small lake. It was first a sun temple (Zoroastrian?), then became Hindu.
Next Kalika Mata Temple, which features a heavily decorated yoni with a snake on top. Heavy symbolism. Other fine decorations abound.
On to Sammideshwar Temple, with an attached 8 story Tower of Victory. In this case, "victory" meant death before dishonor, or 'Jauhar.' It is associated with martyrdom for men in battle; women and children were immolated or thrown to their death. Anyway, a beautifully decorated, richly carved structure.
Although we chose not to climb the tower (too dark inside) we thoroughly explored the remainder of this site. One mandir had a set of 3 god-faces with penetrating white eyes. At another one of the mandirs we saw a group of school children. These were Christian kids from a Christian school in Rajkot who had taken an overnight bus trip, and were going to 3 or 4 more cities in Rajasthan before returning home. We held a conversation with some of the teachers and kids near a wonderfully lifelike bull statue. We really took our time to see the many parts of this complex.
It was now 1330, and we were finally at the Khumba Shyama Temple. Our driver was more than ready to go down. He apparently expected us take less time at each of structures. He asked for a 50 R tip, we gave it to him, and said goodbye.
We went on foot into the Khumba Shyana Temple and the semi-attached Meera Temple, both elaborately decorated Jain temples, and spent 45 minutes walking through all the sections of both. Can't say we understand the Jain symbolism or what the individual mini-shrines to the "tirthankars" (the 24 great Jain teachers) represent. The ridge on which the Chittaurgarh fort sits is very fertile - beautiful flowering bushes here.
We walked north past the museum (too nice for indoors) and into the non-tourist residential area, where we found some Canada Dry bottles in a rack. For some reason, this impressed Mike. We see a cow decorated with a necklace. Further on, there was a bull sitting with legs folded underneath, a pose exactly like that of the bull statue in Sammideshwar. Also next to one cow was a series of hand-patted cow dung patties drying in the sun. These are used by villagers in many ways unknown to us. We pass some old market structures, which are now ruins.
Time to turn around, buy some water, and head back to the main road down. Near a grove of mangos we see the Palace of Rama Kumbha. This was one of the palaces in the heyday of Chittaurgarh. The wall across the road from the palace had 'recycled' carved stone built in. We like to think that locals had respect for their own ruins, but often not so much at all.
We begin walking down the road back to the city. We pass gate after gate. We see a bus pulling a wheelchair attached by rope up the hill. Someone's pilgrimage to one of the sacred sites here?
Finally, we tire and hail a passing rickshaw that takes us to the bus stand. From there it is a km walk on back streets to Pratap Hotel.
At the hotel Carol watches TV Mike goes out to get some water. He finds not only the water, but also 2 glasses of freshly-squeezed sugar cane juice. He drinks one glass of his favorite beverage on the spot and carries the other to Carol. Carrying 2 glasses plus the water bottles often leads to sticky spilled cane juice. Yum.
Down at 1830 to the hotel restaurant. They are setting up an action movie on the outside screen. We take an inside seat where there is light and no movie. We order dinner for 580 R.
Up to bed were we watch a lot of TV before going to sleep. Vegging out with cooking shows and crime series is a real luxury.
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