Rajasthan

After spending a night in Chittour, we started our trip towards Udaipur where we planned to halt for few nights.

Some of the locals told us about these beautiful Jain Temples in Ranakpur. We decided to take a detour to Ranakpur. After the visit we were glad that we did that….

Ranakpur a fairly small village between Udaipur and Jodhpur in Pali district of Rajashthan.

The Temple is build around the 1400 AD.

The temple halls are beautifully carved and all the pillars have different design. The designs signifying history of India. There are 1,444 different pillars.

Stories marked on Pillars — Around the world History if not written can be read trough beautiful architecture

Beautifully ly crafted dome — Various Dance postures are part of the inner sanctum

The Jain Temples are not only a tourist attractions, but its a important religious pilgrimage for the Jains. The main temple is the Chamukha temple, dedicated to the Tirthankara Rishabdeoji.

I leave you with some beautiful pictures of Ranakpur, hope you enjoy them as much as i enjoyed clicking them.

Rajasthan holds a special place in my heart as much as Maharashtra. It’s a land from where my ancestors belong. It has got some amazing history. Rajashthan has forts, palaces, colours, people and stories of Kings and Queens.

We took an afternoon train from Mumbai and after a overnight journey we reached by noon to Chittorgarh.

The railway station is not so busy as city stations in India are. It was calm and very less activity. We picked our bags and had to walk a mile or so up and down the bridge.

The Rickshaw Ride — Most common and easy mode of Transportation.

I quickly put a deal with the rickshaw driver to take me to a hotel which I already indentified from the Lonely planet guide. After a few hours of rest at the hotel we went to the Chittorgarh Fort which is the most important place in our program.

View of part of the Fort — View on the way to the Fort

Beautiful View of Chittorgarh City from the Fort

Chittorgarh Fort is said to be largest for in India and not doubt that it is the grandest. The fort is also known as Chittor. The fort was built in 7^th century and is said to be abandoned in the year 1568.

The fort is speard over 691 acres and has some beautiful temples, gates, towers and remains which probably were damaged during the wars which took place with the Rajputs and Mughals.

Ruin part of the Fort — Amazing stories are part of the history of this fort

Some temples are still intact and a daily pooja is conducted by the priest.

The most interesting being the temple of Krishna where Meera would sing bhajans for his loved one. Meera was married to one of the Kings, but its believed that since her young days she was a devotee of Lord Krishna. She would spend hours in the Krishna Temple. Its said the later she died in a temple near the Amber Fort of Jaipur.

The Krishna Temple — Meera would spend most part of day in this templeLord Krishna.

Lord Krishna

Meera singing Bhajans — Meera Singing Bhajans for Lord Krishna

There are plenty of stories which are part of these magnificiant fort, but the most chilling and serious one is when Jahaur (self immolation committed by women when all men go for war). This happened in 1303 by Rani Padmini wife of Rana Pratap Singh and later 1537 by Rani Karnavati. The estimated lives lost during such time is put to 13000 by historians.

Parts of Fort — The windows from where the residents of the Fort could see the enemies coming

windows — Windows of the Fort-outside view

The fort also has a Jain Temple. Although its unknown that as to how Jain Temple was built within the Fort as Maharaja’s were primarily Shatriya. The common story believed is that possible during one of the era’s the wife of one of the kings must be a follower of Jain Dharma.

The fort has some pathways to walk possibly must have been way to reach different rooms in the Fort.

Paths walked by Rajas — The fort has some pathways to walk possibly must have been way to reach different rooms in the Fort.

The Tower which you can climb up and see the scale of the fort’s size and showcase its amazing architecture. We went just around when rains have arrived in Rajasthan, so it was also lush green. This is not a common site in the deserts.

If you want tour the entire Fort once needs a rickshaw and there are plenty of them available before once comes up the hill to visit the fort. The rickshaw driver also doubles up as a Guide and may tell you his own version of History.

We also visited a amazing mosque, but sadly could not take any photographs. Nevertheless I leave you with some more parts of the fort. We continued our journey to Ranakpur.