Western Motor Sports,Jaipur, is organizing a motor rally from Jaipur to Bhangarh and back on the same day.The distance covered will be 220 Km. ( all metalled road except for a patch of 1.5 km track of gravel). To be held on 5 th July 2009 the rally has been aptly named The Monsoon Ride.Closing Date for the entries is 8.30 pm on the 3 rd July 2009 at the Pink City Restaurant opposite Jal Mahal,on Amber Road,Jaipur.Contact Anukraman Singh M.9828012786
The Rally based on the format of Time ,Speed and Distance will take you through the scenic Aravalies and touch base at Bhangarh- A historical site of note-said to be haunted.
Western Motorsports are a group of motor sports enthusiasts who are veterans of Indian Rallies like Maruti Suzuki Raid de theHimalayas and Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm.They formed Western Motorsports so that common motor enthusiast could take part in professionally conducted events.The President,Anukraman Singh, is well versed in conducting such events.In September 2009 they conducted 2000 km 5 day TSD event by the name of Indian Motor Car Rally which was a great success.
Almost every Sunday Western Motorsports conducts OTR ( off the road) to explore new areas and to teach the budding Motorsports enthusiast techniques by the vetrans.
Recently Boucheron launched a perfume called ” Jaipur”.You would think that was the only association Jaipur had with perfumes. But do you know local perfumeries have been making variety of local perfume or Itr for the use of the Royal family of Jaipur for years now. It might be a dying art due to easy availability of cheap deodorants and western perfumes but in its hey day Kings proposed their love for their Queens by offering these perfumes.
Naturally made from Rose petals ,Sandal wood etc. by a recipe handed down from one generation to next there is a different Itr for different seasons of the year. They can even reproduce the smell first rains of monsoons produce when they wet the parched land of Rajasthan. This perfume is also used to stop a nosebleed.
Now a days Itr is not commonly used. But people use itr sometimes to perfume the stage on which the bride and groom are going to sit during the reception to receive their guests. Sometimes they use Itr on religious festivals to perfume temples etc.
The Forest Department’s Ashok Vihar Deer Park, is spread on a parcel of land two and a half hectares in area. It is located in the heart of the city,in the C-Scheme Colony. It is not a big park but it has given good cheer to many a local child and children visiting Jaipur.Recently due to lack of space in the Park and insufficient fodder and ever increasing numbers of chitals a dozen deers were realesed in the Jhalana Forest Area and some were sent to the Kaila Devi Forest Park in Karauli. Though the Forest Department looks after the Park the food for the deer comes from the Jaipur Zoo.Far from the crowds and ever present traffic this is one more place for a peaceful morning walk in Jaipur.
It is May and it is hot.All life is wilting in the heat.Except for the trees- they are lush green. And Amaltas and Gulmohar are blooming with abandon. In this day and age if you still want a reason to plant a tree you should take a drive in Jaipur in the afternoon. You will remember the yellow and the greens and the orange for a long time.You will notice bougainvillea is not shy in displaying its charms either.
You are all inspired to plant a sapling- but where in this concerte jungle.The best place would be to plant a sapling right outside your home- next to the road.Right under your eyes. You will be able water it and watch its growth on a day to day basis.If there is no possiblility of planting a tree outside your home then you can plant one in the colony garden. Remember the trees are not only for you but for the future generations yet to come.They will also provide shade, invite rains and produce Oxygen.The plants should be sown during the rainy season.The choice of sapling is up to you.You should choose a variety which require less water and looks after it self in this arid climate of Rajasthan.Trees like Ashok-Polyalthia longifolia, Khejari, Babool, Neem-Azadirachta indica,Amaltas-Cassia fistula, Gulmohar-Delonix regia etc.
Built in 1827 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh Ji and situated in the present day City Palace Complex this Astronomical Observatory’s instuments are made with stone, marble and masonry and consequently were so accurate that Sawai Jai Singh Ji was able to find errors in the astronomical tables then in use.Sawai Jai Singh Ji published his own tables in 1723. There are 18 instruments in the Observatory.The largest instrument is the Samrat Yantra.It is a Sun Dial.It is 89 feet high and 148 feet wide and can find the local time with an error of only a couple of seconds.It is in use till date.Samrat Yantra is used on the full moon night of guru poornima to find out when the monsoon is going to set in and how plentiful it will be.
If the efforts of UNESCO and Archaeological Survey of India, bear fruit,Jaipur Jantar Mantar may soon be the second World Heritage Site from Rajassthan.In 1985 Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur,had joined the World Heritage Sites list.
Red chilli powder 4 tea spoons heaping ( or to taste)
Coriander Powder 4 tea spoons heaping( or same proportion as the red chillies)
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tea Spoon
Salt -One and a half Tea Spoon (Not heaping) or to taste.
Sour Curd 400 gms ( or lesser in proportion to the red chillies as this much curd is needed to take the bite out of the red chillies)
Garlic Paste 2 Table Spoons
Ginger Paste 1 Table Spoons
Green Chillies 2 Minced ( optional as per taste)
Red Meat 800 gms ( Lamb or Goat)
Method
Heat the oil in a pressure cooker( thick bottom of the cooker prevents the masala from burning easily) and add the minced onions to the oil when the oil starts to smoke and fry the onions on low heat till brown.
Add the red chilli powder, salt, coriander powder & turmeric powder to the oil and the fried onions and add a little water so that the mixture does not burn.
Cook the mixture on low heat till the oil starts bubbling and the masala is cooked.Add some more water and cook some more till the oil starts bubbling again.
While adding the curd ensure to stir the mixture on high flame till the masala comes to a boil.Keep the flame on low heat and keep frying the curry till it takes the color of deep oily red chillies.
Add the Garlic paste and the ginger paste to the curry and cook some more.
Wash the red meat and add to the curry and add enough water to cover the meat and cook on low heat till the meat turn tender.
Add the green chillies to the prepared Laal Maans and serve with chapaties or tandoorie rotis.
Note:-You have to keep stirring the mixture all along otherwise the mixture will burn.
When you are in Jaipur you see all the popular places ,monuments , gardens, palaces,forts which are in or very near Jaipur but miss the places a little out of town but surely worth a visit.This is an effort to list such places.This list should also be useful to the people of Jaipur looking for a weekend break near the city.
Sanganer
16 km from Jaipur off the Tonk road this town is famous for the hand made paper and block printing with vegetable dyes.
Jaisinghpura Khor
12 km from Jaipur on the Amber road,a meena village,it has a fort,a stepwell and a jain temple.
Shahpura near Bhilwara
220 km from Jaipur this town is famous for Pabuji ki Phad paintings made till this day by the Joshi’s and a stepwell and Ramdwara temple.
Bagru
35 km from Jaipur on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway this village is famous for hand block printing with vegetable dyes ( Bagru Print) and a fort.
Jamwa Ramgarh
32 km from Jaipur this village was known for an artificial lake once spread over an area of 20 km.It used to be a very popular picnic spot during the rainy season.
Samode
40 km from Jaipur this village has a fort which has been converted into a Palace hotel.This palaces is well worth a visit with lunch at the fort. M.M.Kaye’s Far Pavilions was shot here extensively.
The Ranthambore National Park covering 329 km comes under Project Tiger.
Bharatpur
176 km from jaipur- a Jat kingdom-is an ancient city and was part of the Matsy kingdom around 1500 B.C.The impressive Lohagarh fort was built around 18th century by Raja Surajmal and definitely worth a visit.
Keoladeo Ghana National Park once a hunting preserve of the royalty was declared a sanctuary in 1956 and a national preserve in 1982.Now it is a world heritage sight.over 400 species of birds have been sighted here.Open all year round from 6 am to 6 pm.Mode of transport inside the sanctuary are bi-cycle,boat and cycle rickshaws.
Bairath (Viratnagar)
86 km from Jaipur on Alwar-Shahpura road in this ancient village relics from Mauryan, Mughal and Rajput periods have been found.Remains of Budhist monastraies built by the Emperor Ashok have been excavated here.Parswanath a Jain temple is nearby.Legend has it that Pandavas spent a year here.
Pachewar
90 km from Jaipur on Malpura Road in Tonk District is this 300 year old fort of Khangarot-Kachawa rajputs.
249 km from Jaipur settled on the banks of river Chambal ,famous for Kota Stone and Kota Doria Saris.
Mahaveer ji
The temple to Mahaveerji was built at the spot where a statue of shri Mahaveerji was discovered by a cow herds man.A big fair is held every year in the month of March.
Neemrana
Almost midway on the Jaipur-Delhi Highway in the lap of the ancient Aravali range lies the vanquished kingdom of Nimola Meo-who when defeated by the Chauhans took an oath from them to name the kingdom after him.Sensitively refurbished to its old glory the fort has been converted into a world famous non-hotels.Definitely worth your time.There is a stepwell nearby to sight see besides the fort.For activities they provide Zipping-flying supported by cables.
Founded some 500 years ago as Kalyanpuri ,Karauli is famous for an annual cattle fair held in February, and the temples of Kaila Devi and Madan Mohan Ji and the Bhanwar Vilas Palace,now a heritage hotel,built in 1938 by Maharaja Ganesh Pal Dev Bahadur.There is also the Kaila Devi game sanctuary.It is spread over 25 kms and is part of the Ranthambore Game Preserve.
Tonk
110 km from Jaipur on the NH 12 Nawab Ameer Khan settled the modern Tonk.Places of interest are the Sunehri Kothi,inlaid with magnificient mirror work (Closed on Sundays) and the Arabic and Persian Research Institute ( 01432-247389).Tonk also produces high quality Namdha.20 km from Tonk is Natwara Fort of Karnot Rathores.
Kanota
15 km from Jaipur on Jaipur Agra High way Kanota Fort houses a Museum and a library with rare books.
Rajmahal Palace in rajmahal village on the banks of the Banas river at the foot hills of the Aravalies was built by Rai Singh Sisodia some 350 years ago is being run by the Kanota family as a Palace Hotel.
Boondi
210 km from Jaipur Boondi was founded in 1342 by Rao Deva Hada as the capital of his Hadoti kingdom.
The Victory Tower known as Isar Lat or Sargasooli or Vijay Stambh was built by Sawai Ishwari Singh Ji in 1749 to celebrate his many victories in wars.It over looks the Tripolia Bazar and the Atish Market.Tourists are welcome to climb this tower by paying a small entrance fee.It is an easy climb up to the top of this seven story tower.It has been recently renovated by an expence of about 20 lac rupees.
The following is my review for the website www.travelgrove.com ,a search engine for travel related services.Click away and check it out.They are offering A chance to win An 8 GB iPOD Nano if you register for their travel community for free and upload content.
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In 1977, Dhamma Thali,The Jaipur Vipassana Centre ,was established in a hall. It was located near the Sisodia Rani Ka Bagh on the way to Galtaji.Today it has a hundred halls and is situated on a parcel of land measuring about six and a half hectares.
Vipassana meditation was discovered 2500 years ago by Bhagwan Budhha.For years it was practiced all over India.But it disappeared over the years.There is mention of this technique of meditation in the vedas .In Burma, todays Myanmar, Vipassana was taught in its pure form by the guru shisya method of teaching.Shriman Satya Narayan Goenka was taught the technique for 14 years in Mayanmar by Acahary U Ba Khin before he came to India to teach Vipassana in 1969.
Today there are about 40 centres in India and some 40 more abroad where Vipassana is being taught.All activities of the centres are managed purely by donations .
On 29th August 2000, Shriman S.N.Goenka addressed the Millennium World Peace Summit in the UN General Assembly Hall. Vipassana is a way of life taught by Bhagwan Buddha.It is not a religion.Silence of body soul and mind plays a big role in its practice. Looking to the fast paced life of today the centre teaches 10 day cources to beginners.People from all walks of life from all parts of world come here to be taught the Vipassana way of meditation.
Local Perfumes Of Jaipur
May 27, 2009 by karansguesthouse
Recently Boucheron launched a perfume called ” Jaipur”.You would think that was the only association Jaipur had with perfumes. But do you know local perfumeries have been making variety of local perfume or Itr for the use of the Royal family of Jaipur for years now. It might be a dying art due to easy availability of cheap deodorants and western perfumes but in its hey day Kings proposed their love for their Queens by offering these perfumes.
Naturally made from Rose petals ,Sandal wood etc. by a recipe handed down from one generation to next there is a different Itr for different seasons of the year. They can even reproduce the smell first rains of monsoons produce when they wet the parched land of Rajasthan. This perfume is also used to stop a nosebleed.
Now a days Itr is not commonly used. But people use itr sometimes to perfume the stage on which the bride and groom are going to sit during the reception to receive their guests. Sometimes they use Itr on religious festivals to perfume temples etc.
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