Rajasthan has always been one of the earliest places to travel in my bucket list.  I always feel overwhelmed by the beauty and the diversity of the place. The Thar desert, the palaces of Jaipur, the temples of Pushkar, the lakes of Udaipur, the forts of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer are few of the places that make Rajasthan as one of the famous travel destinations. As it was not possible to visit all the places at once due to shortage of time, I decided to start my experience to travel Rajasthan with Jaipur.

Jaipur, being the capital of Rajasthan lived up to my expectations in all possible ways. The city reflects its richness in its art, culture, traditions, architecture, cuisine, music. And the people are so helpful, humble and warm that it feels like home. And not to the forget the beautiful peacocks that one finds so frequently in this land.A romantic pink hue pervades in the buildings of Jaipur which is a symbol of “hospitality”, and thus the name Pink City. Since, I had only one night and two days to spend in Jaipur, I planned my days according to the places worth the time to spend. I booked an Ola cab to reach the hotel from the airport. It was a peaceful morning of September 2017, away from the hustle and bustle of Bangalore. The driver was gentle, warm and treated me and my friends like the guests in his city. As he offered us to show the city, we could not deny and asked him to pick us up in an hour.

We left for Amer Fort at 10 am. It was 11 km. from Jaipur at a small town called Amer. It is constructed of red standstone and marble and overlooks the Malta lake. It is very huge and you might feel lost and confused once you get inside. There will be many guides approaching you offering their services, we chose an official guide who is appointed by the Rajasthan government. They have a card for the entry to the Fort and they can show you in and around. Our guide was very informative and he told us stories about the significance of each place inside the fort. He also took our photos and made sure that we can cover all the places in time. It took us almost three hours to see the Amer palace completely, shop in the Meena bazaar and get out. This is the place where you will spend most of your time in Jaipur.

The opulent palace consists of the ‘Diwan-i-Aam’, ‘Diwan-i-Khas’, the Sheesh Mahal, the Sukh Niwas, each with a courtyard. The Sheesh Mahal is said to look very beautiful at night, though it was mesmerizing even in the morning hours. The mirrors are of convex shape and designed with coloured foil and paint which would glitter bright under candlelight. There is also an attraction carved at one of the base pillars of the mirror palace called the ‘Magic Flower’. There is also an elegant temple called the ‘Sila Devi’ temple on the right side of the Jalebi Chowk(the first courtyard), and the people bring alcohol as the offering to the goddess. And then there is the Amer Fort Maota lake with the Saffron garden. Climbing up the road to the fort, the Kesar Kyari (saffron garden) slowly comes visible, floating like a huge Persian carpet on a large stone terrace rising up from the center of the lake.

We spent about forty minutes in the fort and left for our next destination.

Jaigarh Fort is another opulent structure connected to the Amer Fort with subterranean passages, but those passages are blocked and it’s no more allowed to reach the Jaigarh Fort from the Amer Fort. So, we left for the Jaigarh Fort. It was originally built to protect the Amer Fort and the palace. It is also known as the Victory Fort. The fort features a cannon named “Jaivana”, which was manufactured in the fort precincts and was then the world’s largest cannon on wheels. It consists of the palace complex, an armory and a museum. 

Nahargarh means ‘abode of tigers’. Legend says that the fort was named as Nahargarh after the spirt of a Rathore, Nahar Singh. It is believed that his spirit haunted the place and obstructed construction of the fort. Later, his spirit was pacified by building a temple in his memory within the fort. It is located along the Aravalli hills overlooking a beautiful lake. The fort now also is home to the Jaipur wax museum and glass palace. We did not have much time to spare, so we left the place in thirty minutes.

On the way back to the city, we stopped at the beautiful view of the Jal Mahal. It was nearing sunset and the palace looked amazing. This is  palace in the middle of the Man Sagar lake. The contrasting colors of the palace and the lake makes it picture perfect. But, unfortunately we can only see the beauty from outside as it is not open to the visitors. And apart from the small market stalls and camel rides there is not much else to do at the Jal Mahal.

Our last place for the day was Govind Devji Temple. It is a beautiful temple of Lord Krishna and you will find many devotees in the temple. The doors of the main temple was closed once we reached there. We waiting for almost 15 minutes until the door was opened again and the aarti started. The smoke in the air, the sound of mantras takes you to a different world altogether.

Next day, we started early for the City Palace and Jantar Mantar. Both the places are located at close proximity. It was a sunny day, and we could feel the heat getting into us. We just had a quick visit of the City Palace for merely few minutes having a look at the beautiful architecture from the outside. Jantar Mantar was equally magnificient. The monument is a collection of nineteen architectural astronomical instruments. It features the world’s largest stone sundial, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It takes quite a lot of time to look around the complete place.

Then we continued our journey to the Galtaji Temple. The temple is located in the outskirts of Jaipur,in the town of Khania-Balaji. It consists of several shrines, natural spring and several holy kunds. The pilgrims are also seen taking bath in those kunds. Visitors and pilgrims can ascend the crevasse, continuing past the highest water pool to a hilltop temple. It is built using pink colour sandstone and outlined by the Aravalli Hills. It has a large population of monkeys and thus also known as the Monkey Temple. One needs to pay some amount to click pictures on their mobile phone.

Since, we were spared with some more time, we decided to visit Abhaneri and it was worth all the time. There are two attractions here, one is the Chand Boro and the other one is the Harabar Mata Temple. They are located just next to each other. Chand Baori is a step well which is located in Abhaneri. It was built by King Chanda of the Nikumbh Dynasty and was intended to store as much water as possible. It consists of 3500 narrow steps in 13 storeys. It is very beautiful and fascinating. This place is also used as a filming location in various films like ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ‘The Fall’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’. 

Next to this is the Harshat Mata Temple. The temple is dedicated to Harshat Mata, believed to be the goddess of happiness and joy, who spread her brightness around the town. Thus, the name of the town Abhanagri(city of brightness), which over the years have become Abhaneri. Both of them are architecturally splendid and a must visit.

After spending some quality time here, we headed back to Jaipur. We had our lunch which was the awesome Rajasthan Thali.

Later that day, we went shopping in Jaipur, and had a glance of the Hawa Mahal from outside. It was already closed by the time we reached there. So, when I visit Jaipur again I will not miss this place.

On our ride towards the airport we also had a glance of the Albert Hall Museum.

Jaipur is beautiful and I would like to come back again. The peaceful town, the simple people, the amazing culture, the magnificent architecture and the delicious food makes it worth a visit.