Three months in India (Part 1 – Mumbai)

 

So after our day out in Mumbai me and my other Portuguese friend are heading towards Jaipur which is the capital city of Rajasthan. Now when we hear Mumbai we think about the traffic or the busy streets and the food and also the rat race of the people there. But when we hear about Jaipur we think about the royal kings,the culture ,the tradition,the majestic forts and the architecture on huge temples. There’s also a well known palace known as Jaipur Palace. It has its own definition of beauty which cannot be explained through words but can only be felt. I never thought visiting India would be so adventurous.

The morning we left from Mumbai and after few hours of flight we landed in this majestic city. This time there is no guide with us and we want to explore this wonderful city by ourselves. As our hotel and everything was already booked we went straight to our hotel and had some rest and lunch. To explore this city we searched about famous tourist places in Jaipur  and the first thing that popped up was the Bazaars of Jaipur . As half of our day was already over in traveling from Mumbai to Jaipur we decided to just see the Bazaar today and everything else tomorrow. After having some tea and sandwhiches we picked up our cameras and exploring kit to hunt this beautiful bazaar.

The name of this Bazar is Johri bazar which was built by the founder of Jaipur. A person who sees this bazar for the first time can directly relate it as the busiest bazaar of the city . I was shocked to see so many colours at the same time . There were beautiful sarees ,clothes ornaments and even gem stones and some of the gem stones are also famous worlwide which are really costly. This bazar is also famous for its leather. Now Camels are really in large numbers in Rajasthan and thus one market is  found selling a lot of leather called as Bapu market. There are leather jackets for winter nights also some leather shoes and leather belts for pants or wrist watches and the list goes on. This bazar is unstoppable . We have already had some lunch in our hotel or else we would have definitely tried the street foods which were calling us from every angle . We Europeans often think that India is famous for Elephants and many people here ride on it but that has’nt been the complete truth. Yes Elephants are famous and are also worshipped here as gods and why should’nt they be worshipped ,they are so beautiful. I was really excited to see an elephant and thus after taking a look at the bazaars we went to our hotel to have a good night sleep. The night was a bit cold and as soon as the morning sun was out we were ready to explore . Now the hotel staff just told us that if we want to see the real jaipur we would need more than a week over here . We just had one more extra day left with us as after Jaipur we wanted to see the Golden Temple in Amritsar so unfortunately we decided to see some of the most visited tourist places only. So to begin with we went to Hawa Mahal .

Hawa Mahal is also known as the palace of the winds. It is  one of the most important places to visit in Jaipur. Built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh in 1798, Hawa Mahal is a five-storey extension in the form of a honeycomb. This unique building has 953 small windows, called jharokas, decorated with intricate lattice work. The entire palace represents the crown of the Hindu God, Lord Krishna. India is just not stopping its beauty and right now seeing Hawa Mahal I just want to live my entire life over here.The purpose of this palace was to prevent outsiders from catching a glimpse of the royal women. The incredible lattice of windows were designed in a way that it allowed clear view of the outside world to the insiders, yet restricted outsiders from being able to stare inside the palace. The local people told us that even though this palace was built during ancient times, it reflects the scientific vision of Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh in a distinct way. The windows of this palace have been designed in such a way that irrespective of the time or season of year, cool breeze always persists inside the palace. Due to this reason, Hawa Mahal was the favourite summer holiday destination of the Rajput family, and is today a popular place to visit in Jaipur.

Today we were not going back to our hotel and decided to sleep in our buses. So after Hawa Mahal it was time for another Mahal called as Jal Mahal. Jal Mahal or the Water Palace is one of the classic names in the list of Rajputana architecture.

 

Located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake, this palace is also a fusion of Mughal and Rajput styles of architecture. Built in red sandstone, Jal Mahal is a five-storey building, of which four storeys remain underwater when the lake is filled. This, in turn, offers a breathtaking view of the palace and makes it one of the important Jaipur tourist places.

 

Since the palace is located in the middle of the lake, traditional boats are used to reach the palace. The clear water of the lake and the scenic Aravalli mountain range dotting this palace, offer a splendid view of Jal Mahal.

 

The location of Jal Mahal makes it an indigenous home to some of the colourful migratory birds, several species of fish and rich flora and fauna. Flamingo, Great Crested Grebe, Pintail, Kestrel, Coot and Grey Wagtail are some of the migratory birds that can be found around Jal Mahal. So after seeing both these beautiful historic places its time to have some Rajasthani dinner . We first time ate in a nearby Dhaba and ordered a complete Rajasthani Thali.

Dear Rajasthan,

your people,your culture , your food ,your history ,your beauty is just INCREDIBLE. I wish I could put more information about your history but your love can only be felt not explained.

Tomorrow will be our rest day and then we will fly to Amritsar to see the Golden Temple .