The princely state of Rajasthan

Arriving at the Maharana Pratap airport, the first thing you'll see is a large banner proclaiming, "Welcome to Udaipur - the City of Zinc."
That's no exaggeration either. Hindusthan zinc has a production capacity of 1.0 million tonnes of zinc and lead concentrated mainly in Udaipur.
But behind the industrial facade, Udaipur is more famously known as the City of lakes.
Natural beauty and the beauty born of the thoughts and actions of man seem to be entwined in Rajasthan. A land of mythical heroes, brave Rajas willing to sacrifice their lives and even braver queens, Rajasthan really is the stuff of fairytales. The Udaipur palace of Rajasthan, where the current Raja resides truly resembles a larger than life fairytale palace.
A rare mix of Edwardian, Hindu and Muslim architecture, millions of tourists arrive to witness the royal splendour of the City palace.
Over 400 years back, Maharana Udai Singh shifted his seat of power from Chittorgarh to Udaipur, exhausted by fighting countless battles with the Mughals who seemed keen on conquering his territory. Now the name Udaipur makes sense, heavens forbid it get named udaipolis or udailand.(Udaipur has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?)
Returning back to the subject at hand, this palace is probably even more famous because most of its complexes have been bought by luxury hotels(like the Taj).
Probably the most astonishing thing about it is it’s fourth floor terrace on which trees grow from the ground.Turns out the palace was built on a hill and the fourth floor is technically the ground floor as all the other floors were built below it.
Another strange characteristic of the palace is its corridors and doorways which are low and riddled, almost illusion like . That doesn’t mean that the Maharanas were pygmies(in fact judging by the size of the armor, they were huge.) , it was so that when the Mughals attacked they would find the doorways hard to navigate.
Also since the doorways were small, they would have to stoop, which makes it easier for Rajput soldiers on the other side to chop enemy soldiers head off with brutal precision. Going in a single file also doesn’t make for a very fast attack.
Those guys seriously knew their battle strategies .
Also in Udaipur is a temple on a hilltop. That’s a very generic description because Rajasthan is filled with hundreds of such temples. Unless you want to climb a hell lot of steps, the only way to get up there is to travel by gondola. They are brightly hued cabins which have a really picturesque view of the city palace.
Even those who are acrophobic will temporarily forget their fear to gaze out in awe.
Before you enter the temple complex, there is a balcony from where you get an excellent view. Welcome to paradise, people who like taking panoramas.
Once you enter the temple complex, you will witness strips of red and gold cloth fluttering gently in the breeze.
These-the people have tied on.
While it might seem like a uniquely pagan practice, the origin of this practice might be from the British Isles.
These are tied to represent a hope or a wish the people expect a mature spirit or god to fulfill.
Whether it is true depends on whether YOU believe or not.
The main diety here is Devi Durga.
So ladies and gentlemen, listen up, the next time you need to ace a test or get a promotion in work, go tie a strip of cloth to a tree and make a wish, it might actually work.(Shooting stars are overrated.)
The Udaipur lake is a sight not to be missed, with it’s Pav Bhaji street,boating trips, horse carts, the occasional camels and of coarse chaat.
A three hour drive away from Udaipur is Kumbhalgarh, home to the mighty Kumbhalgarh fort.
Almost 36 kilometers long and built on a craggy cliff, the first looks like it a been forged by magic instead of foot soldiers.
Indeed pulling those giant rocks up the hills to make the wall, the first, the numerous temples, houses, granaries and dams is no mean feat.(It is a magic in its own, akin to the pyramids of Giza)
The fort was built by Maharaja Kumbha who feared for the safety of his family.
In cases of siege, he built granaries and reservoirs and even incorporated a field for growing crops in the design for the fort complex.
The door that leads to the fort is studded with lead nails, that protrude menacingly from the fine wood. This is so that war elephants trained by the enemy army could not break open the door.
The making of this compound has a peculiar story behind it.
When the construction of the fort had just begin, the Rajputs ran into a dilemma. No matter what the did, the foundation stones would crack mysteriously every night.
It was almost the the ancient gods who looked after the lands people would now stand against the building of the structure that would save their lives.
This, according to the holy men was because the building of such a mighty structure needed a noble sacrifice.
A rishi volunteered for the Rana’s cause.
( This is where it’s going to get slightly gory).
They cut of his head and buried it at the bottom, and his body at the top. That’s another reason, they built the fort from top to bottom.
The average rajput palaces are always divided into the men’s quarters and the women’s which is called Zenana.
A four hour ride away from Kumbhalgarh is Jodhpur.
The most extravagant palace in Rajasthan, in the entire world, is situated here.
Called Umaid Bhavan, this palace was designed by a very talented Britisher named Stefan Norbling, who not only drafted the plan for this otherworldly palace, but also painted the walls of the palace and even wove tapestries to adorn its walls.
The most wondrous thing about the palace isn't its countless number of rooms, but its art.
Painstakingly embroidered in great swathes of pale golds, glorious reds, vivid blues and bright greens, the awe inspiring scenes from the Ramayana decorate the walls, almost looking alive.
The palace is notoriously extravagant as I mentioned earlier.
It has a room full of just clocks, collected it seems from every nook and cranny of the world, along with a garage full of premium cars.
But the place truly is luxuriously exquisite.
Mehrangarh fort is truly the best place to observe the peculiar phenomenon of the blue houses.
Looking down below from a turret of the Mehrangarh fort, you will see a town with houses painted just blue.
Dunno how they became like that but it looks charming from the top, where it resembles a sea of blue with the few wood colored houses looking like bits of tinder on the waves.
But the most lovely architecture is that of the Ranakpur Jain temple.
It is truly a feast for the eyes.
Walking into the temple you feel a sense of calm wash over you, increasing your awareness about your surroundings.
No two pillars are the same there and even the ceilings are embellished.
The main deity there is Lord Adinath who was the first theerthankara.
The temple exudes an air of divinity, after all the purest souls gathered there to achieve enlightenment.
The most striking carving of the temple is the keechak.
It consists of five twisted bodies, limbs entangled, joining to a single demon head.

It shows that all evil things in the world are related to the devil.
To give up all your vices means resisting the temptation of the devil and embracing god.
Filled with such learning and knowledge, the Jain temple is the best destination in all of Rajasthan.
But Rajasthan is such a diverse place, bursting with culture and heritage.
Describing it won't let you experience the true emotion behind this delightful place, you have got to go there.
Because after all, seeing is believing.





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