Photos From A Day At Mehrangarh Fort

Mehrangarh Fort Logo

Some pictures of the view from the Mehrangarh Fort,Jodhpur.

Mehrangarh Fort

Mehrangarh Fort

Mehrangarh Fort

Clock Tower

Carving in Stone

Jaswant Thada

Cannon

Umaid Bhavan Palace

Cannon

Do you take a camera with you on your holiday?

A Lomo Camera La Sardina

Do you take a camera with you on your holiday?

This would seem like a no brainer question to most of us. Cameras are every where.The mobiles cameras get better & better. The digital cameras get cheaper & cheaper. Film cameras are quite cheap too. And who can resist the urge to own one? And what holiday is complete without pictures from the trip gracing your mantlepiece & your Facebook page. Of course you need to take a camera with you on your holiday. Only piece of obvious advice though is to enjoy the holiday first & record it later. Take in the whole picture & not just what you see thru the viewfinder.

What gear to take with you on a trip?

If you are not a professional photographer a simple point & shoot digital camera with spare memory cards, a USB drive, ready to use rechargeable battery, battery charger & flash light with its batteries will do. You will also need a waterproof bag which can be tied around the waist or which you can hang from your shoulder or neck. This way  you can keep your hands free while you operate the camera & keep all the photography stuff is in one place. If you are going abroad do not forget to take along a power adapter too for the battery charger.

If you are planing to take pics by a mobile phone then it would be a good idea to open an account with websites like FaceBook.com, Twitter.com & Flickr.com to share the pics as & when you click them. You will also need an internet account on your mobile phone. If you are a twitter fiend you already know you can attach pics to your status updates. You should also familiarize yourself with the FAQs of the website. You do want everything to work properly once you are on the holiday.

What pictures should you take?

As taking digital pictures is relatively cheaper give flight to your imagination. Click what ever looks interesting to you, including you!

Please make sure that you have the necessary permissions from the relevant authorities to take pictures & that you have paid the relevant fees by buying a ticket for the camera. Do not assume that it is OK to take pictures wherever you are. Make sure by asking.

When you get back home, copy the pictures to your computer hard drive make a back up on a DVD or a CD & have a holiday album/ holiday photo book made professionally by somebody like  snapfish.in & gift a copy to all who went with you on the trip. If you shared your pics from a mobile on facebook.com or filckr.com, snapfish.in can print these pics too.

Picture Gallery

This gallery contains 9 photos.

Some photos shot around Jaipur Continue reading →

Why Love Jaipur?

Teej Festival

Living in Jaipur is as difficult or as easy as living any where else but here are some reasons why you will fall in love with Jaipur.

In the twelve months of a year you get to experience a whole gamut of  weather in Jaipur. There is hot summer, cold winter, hot & humid monsoons & the season when the winter just drifts in. Just when you are thinking I have had enough of this heat or cold or the rains the seasons change, and life goes on.

And with the change of season the eating habits also change. What food! In the monsoons you eat choorma dal baati in some picnic spot in the lap of the Aravali’s which are covered with solid green because of the rains. If you do not have time for a picnic a spot of rain & people are flocking the sweet shops for their favourite snack like samosa, pyaz ki kachri or mirchi bara or if they are watching their weight then they are sipping a hot cup of tea or a cup of coffee at the CCD. In the winters they are eating lal mans or khichda or drinking hot rabri. In summers they drink lassi & eat different varieties of mangoes which keep changing as the summer progresses.

Jaipur is a heaven for the photography enthusiast. Jaipur has it all. Besides the concrete jungle it also has monuments,huge forts, mountains, an artificially maintained fresh water lake, ancient havelies, temples, bazars, palaces, festivals, friendly people, flowers,birds & photography accessory shops.

Jaipur is doing its best to catch up with the four metropolitan cities of New Delhi,Mumbai,Kolkata & Chennai but life is still laid back & the distances are not what they are in the other metros. You can still drop by a friend for a drink or dinner an evening.

The festivals Jaipur celebrate around the year make sure that there is no ennui in the life of the people of Jaipur. Some major festivals are, holi, deepawali, raakhi,teej,gangaur and makkar sankranti.

If you thought all of the above would keep the people of Jaipur busy enough around the year, you would be wrong, because there are the Jaipur weddings! Some people just go to court to get married but others have such weddings that people from all corner of the world come to Jaipur to get married in a Jaipuri wedding.

These are some of the top reasons to love Jaipur. If you think otherwise please list your choices here below.

Viratnagar

Viratnagar is about 86 km from Jaipur on the Jaipur-Shahpura-Alwar route. You have to turn for Viratnagar at Shahpura on Jaipur Delhi Highway.

But why Viratnagar? Who goes to Viratnagar? You might ask.

A little time invested in visiting the sights this town has to offer will pay rich dividends, you will see.

Viratnagar  has been a witness to a lot of history being made. According to the excavations done around this town people have been living here since the prehistoric times.

Accorading to the Mahabharat,King Virat founded the city Viratnagar, and the Pandavs spent thirteen years of ‘Agyatvas’(exile) here. This is the city which saw much wheeling & dealing to broker peace to avoid the great war of Mahabharat. Ancient travelers have mentioned their visits to the city. The river Banganga flows near by, a fair is held here every year.

Beejak Ki Pahari

This serene site is in the lap of the Aravali mountain range. On a ridge under a rock shaped like a Cannon there is an ancient Hanuman temple.

And there are remains of a Budhist Monastry & a Budhist Stupa shrine from the Mauryan times. This site was found in work done in 1935-36. This is a protected site of ASI.

In recent development work done here a cement shelter has been built at the foot of the hillock.

Ganesh Mandir and the Local Museum. The museum has some relics of great importance and antiquity from the Ashokan period.

A stepwell on the way to Panch Malla Mahal badly in need of restoration.

Panch Mala Mahal. Raja Man Singh had this imposing structure made.  Emperor Akbar used to stay here on his way to the Ajmer shrine.

I think he has seen a lot of tourists pass by this palace.

The paintings on the domes of the chatries of the palace.

Shri Shri 1008 Digambar Jain Nasiyan.

Shri Shri 1008 Digambar Jain Nasiyan, Mughal Gate,Viratnagar

Maybe the ghost who walks was here! This is his mark.

The Salt Lake of Sambhar

About 65km from Jaipur the city of Sambhar with the salt lake & the migratory birds it attracts and the holy places of Shakmbhari Mata temple & Devyani Tank is an ideal spot for a day trip excursion out of Jaipur.

Sambhar Lake is the largest salt lake in India. It has produced salt for more than 700 years. Three small towns of Nawa, Sambhar & Gudha are located on the banks of this lake & all are engaged in producing salt. The salt produced from the Sambhar Lake water is much more salty than the salt produced from ocean water & it comes in three different colors, ordinary white & pink & grey.

In 1876 this area was connected by narrow gauge train. Trains were a boon to this area as the lake is spread over an area of 190 sq km. The trains not only connected the area effectively but also were a big help in shifting the salt from one place to another.You can see these trains or trolleys in use even today.

A.O.Hume, the founder of Indian National Congress (INC), was the first commissioner of Sambhar Salt. He was also a keen ornithologist.

There is a detailed report on the method of salt production in a historical account written during the time of the rule of Aurangzeb. Abul Fazal has also mentioned Sambhar in accounts written by him.

The Circuit House of Sambhar was built by the British in 1880. There is a salt museum housed in a heritage building nearby, also.

During the monsoon the fresh water of the rains attracts a lot of migratory birds. But they fly away once the weather starts getting hotter and the lake water starts becoming salty.

You should take packed lunch and lot of water and cold drinks with you. You can get ice and softdrinks at the Sambhar Bus-stand, also. If you like eating dhaba food, the dhabas at the Nawa bus-stand are a good option. Sambhar is also famous for its feenees, a sweet dish.

The Jantar Mantar In New Delhi

Recently, I was on one of my rare visits to Delhi & I had my camera with me. So I could not resist going to Jantar Mantar  on Sansad Marg in Delhi to take pictures for my collection.

The first difference which struck me was the red color. The instruments are all colored in red. The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is colored in Royal Yellow. The other thing which struck me was that the visitors were all over the monument’s various  instruments made of masonry. This really should be discouraged.

Jantar Mantars were a brain child of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh of Amber & Jaipur. These were stone astronomical observatories made of masonry and marble etc. so that they would give very accurate readings of the heavenly bodies. Precise calculations of the movement of the  Zodiac, Sun, Moon & Stars was required because all facets of an Indian’s life are governed by them. Furthermore Sawai Jai Singh found  the tables in use then to have several discrepancies because of  various reasons one of which was that the astronomers were using metal instruments of smaller sizes. So he decided to make huge instruments, in masonry no less, at several locations across India so that he could get the most accurate readings. The observatory in Delhi was made in 1724. It has been ruined & repaired several times. Till 1958 AD, the Sawai, the flag of Jaipur state used to fly here. In 1958 the monument was taken over by the ASI.

The image of the central part of the ‘Misra Yantra’ was used as the logo of the 1982 Asian games held in Delhi.

These  are some of the pictures I clicked.

An Evening At The Jal Mahal Palace

These are some of the photos of the newly renovated Jal Mahal Palace in the Man Sagar Lake,Jaipur. It is a huge project as you can see and a lot of work has been done. But  a lot of work needs to be done yet though the buzz is they are going to open it to the public in the near future.

I have been to the Man Sagar Lake a lot of times but have only seen Jal Mahal Palace’s  view from the Amber Road side. It was a novelty to view it from another angle while sitting in a boat, no less. They have put in a lot of research and effort to faithfully reproduce the finer details as they must have been in the past. The look of the boats has been copied as they were depicted in paintings of days gone by when the boats of Royalty used to ply on the Man Sagar Lake. The top floor has also been faithfully preserved or reproduced as it was in ancient times. There are fountains and marble flooring and lights. The chatris you see from the Amber Road have been painted with murals. A gallery  is also being developed on the floor below the top floor. Original ancient paintings are being blown up and each detail is being reproduced as per the original drawings. I think the artist is going to have his work cut out for him as he will have to maintain them in pristine condition as the moisture from all the water in the lake is going to play havoc with the murals.

They are also  trying to save trees threatened with extinction because of various reasons by transplanting them at great cost in the campus here.

A recent Time Magazine article suggests it is one of the top reasons to visit Jaipur.

All in all this project is a winner and it was an evening well spent.

I must thank JPC – Jaipur Photographers Club- for organizing this  photo shoot for the photography enthusiasts of Jaipur as one of their weekly photo walks.

Bored In Jaipur?

If for some reason you have to stay in Jaipur for a longish period of time-what do you do-how do you pass the time of the day? You have been to all the Forts in Jaipur, shopped for all your friends, seen all the museums, now what?

You can delve a bit deeper in to the Jaipur other people breeze through, here are some options…

1. Make friends with other expats living and working here.

2. Learn a new skill. If art is your forte you can learn miniature painting from the masters.

Or you can learn yoga.

Or you can learn to read, write  & speak a local language like hindi or sanskrit.

Or you can live in the elephant village near  Amber and learn how to care for the elephants and how to train them & drive them.

Or if you want to continue your higher education the Rajasthan University has an excellent faculty for the foreign students wishing to do just that.

Or you can learn to cook the various local indian cuisine.

3.  You could ask the expats already working here, if they would like a helping hand at their trade, while you gained a few pointers in their trade.

4.You could write a book!

5. If not that you could write an article about your trip for a journal back home.

6. You could write a blog about your stay in Jaipur from your personal point of view.

7. You could get involved with a charity in Jaipur, there are lot of reputable ones around.

8.You could take classes in teaching your mother tongue to the young folk of Jaipur.

9. If books are your forte you could help out at the Jaipur Literature Festival and meet writers galore!

10. If you still want to travel some more there are places  near by which you can visit for a day or two and return to Jaipur. Here is a list.

11.You could learn to dance a local dance like kathak.

12. You could learn to play a local musical instrument like sitar or harmonium.

13. You could teach the young folk of Jaipur how to do some popular western dances you might be proficient at.

14. You could hire a Royal Enfield Motorcycle and explore the nearby villages.

15. You could hire a bi-cycle to explore the city.

16. You could make videos of your daily life to put up on www.youtube.com

17. You could start a 365 day  photo project to post  still photos of your daily round to  www.photoblog.com a photo blogging website.

18. If you are learning hindi and like movies you could watch a hindi  Bollywood movie everyday. It will improve your hindi & who knows you might fall in love with the song and dance in the hindi movies.

19. You could help manage a hotel or guesthouse catering to foreign tourists.

20. You could learn to fly kites the way Indians do. It is a very addictive past time.

21. You could make Indian friends. They will welcome you in their lives!

22. If you are a Motorsport enthusiast you can go for weekly Off The Road (OTRs).

23. You could race bikes on a dirt track.

24. You could do social service in an old age home or a hospice.

25. You could teach your local cuisine to the young ladies of Jaipur.

26. You could read the Hindu scriptures, Ramayan & Mahabharat.

27. You could do a course at the Jaipur Vipassana Centre

28. You could visit the local fairs and festivals taking place round the year.

29. You could take long early morning walks in the hills surrounding Jaipur.

30. You could try out all the heritage liquors available in the local market and find out the ingredients used, the legends associated with the liquor and the family history of  the house to which the liquor recipe belongs to.

31.You could learn to play Polo. Or learn horse riding. Or you could watch Polo matches during the Polo season.

32. You could buy a book detailing the birds of north India and go birding in the parks and the hills and lakes surrounding Jaipur.

33. You could reaffirm your marriage vows according to hindu customs in a local temple. Or you could have a grand affair and get married again in a Rajput wedding ceremony and have your friends flown in to witness the ceremony at one of the heritage hotels.

34. You could honey moon at the luxurious  Rambagh Palace or at the Rajvilas Hotel.

If I have missed an activity please fell free to add it in your comments to this post. I will be glad to add it to the list.

Photos Of Some Common Birds Found In The Parks & Gardens Of Jaipur.

Spotted Owlet (Athene brama indica)

Recently a cousin of mine,Madhav Rathore, an experienced, enthusiastic birder, bought a  Canon EOS 7D with a huge telephoto lens. When I kidded him about buying   such an expensive  camera he insisted on taking me birding in  the Central Park one evening. That is when the use of the camera became apparent to me.  He was shooting birds perched at the top of tallest of trees where as I was limited to shooting squirrels and birds sitting in front of me in the grass.

But I got hooked to birding that day. I am no expert birder but by my own experience it is far easier to watch birds today. I take a picture of the whichever  feathered friend which dares to cross my path and later on I put an ID to it with the help of a couple of Books. Where the books fail The Net comes  to help. This method helps to engrave the names of the birds in the mind too. So the next time I come across the same bird I  say smugly,” That is Brahminy Mayna you know !” and so on…

One thing you will notice is the exotic names of the birds.  I can bet you powers that be who gave names to the birds put more thought in naming the birds than in naming their newborn sons. They have names like starling,Black  Drongo,Grebe,darter etc. And each bird has its own charm. Own uniqueness which will hold you in thrall.

I have been to the Central Park many times before the day we went birding but I  did not notice the birds before that day. Oh I could see the pigeons and the doves but the other beauties were hidden behind a muslin curtain as it were. Somebody had to  point the birds out to me. Do you know  usually we see two types of Doves in Jaipur one is Laughing Dove and the other is the Eurasian Collared Dove. And that the house sparrow may be endangered soon enough! Who would have thought of it!

I have been posting photos I take around Jaipur to www.flickr.com for some time now. If you see the stats on the photos you will realize that people like photos of flowers and plants more than photos of birds. I do not know why that is so but we have to be more aware of the beauty surrounding us in the form of birds more. Birds forage in the early morning but people go for their morning walk just then too. So the birds perch themselves on the highest branches of the trees. I suppose they come down later. I do not know.There are some birds which do not mind people at all and are all over the grass in the Park.

Now a days in every home there is a computer and a digital camera. All you have to do is to buy a beginners guide to birding. Be sure to buy one which has photos of the birds & not sketches. You can graduate to the books with sketches  later.

Now find some time for yourself and the birds and go for a walk in the nearest Park or garden. Happy Birding.

I am posting  some photos of the Birds I found.