Unforgettable Rajasthan Sojourn

Rajasthan.

Shakespeare said “What’s in a name?”. However, I think there is a lot in the name and it can’t be more apt than this. Rajasthan – the land of the Kings! A mere mention of Rajasthan brings an image of sprawling desert and majestic forts in one's mind, not to forget the Rajputana aan, baan aur shaan.

Majestic Forts

and the beautiful lake besides

Travelling to Rajasthan was always one of my dreams. Every year a trip to this majestic and royal destination, finds its place in my 'to do things' as part of New Year resolutions. And, like most of the New Year resolutions, this one also used to remain unaccomplished.

This was also one of the resolutions most often forgotten in the busy life.

It was going in the same way this year also, until we heard the news of my cousin's marriage in Jaipur. The song “Padharo mhare desh” echoed in my ears. This was the trigger that set the ball rolling for the Unforgettable Rajasthan Sojourn.

We got into usual dinner conversations of what to cover as part of trip apart from Jaipur.

Me: It can be a week’s trip. Let's cover Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur.

Wife: That sounds great. It will be nice. Will you get that long vacation from office?

Me: Hopefully Yes!

Sister: What about Jaisalmer? That's the desert part; we can go for desert safari as well.

Me: Yes, desert safari will be great. Without desert safari it will be incomplete. But Jaisalmer will be very far. We need to check the distances.

After checking the distances on Google maps the initial crazy plan was to drive from Gurgaon - Jaisalmer - Jodhpur - Jaipur - Gurgaon was not practical. Unwillingly, we had to drop Jaisalmer from the plan.

Having said that, we made another resolution – we will cover Jaisalmer in our next Rajasthan trip whenever it happens.

For couple of days such multiple discussions went on and on. There were discussions of going by train as well which would have killed all the joy of a road trip. We did a good amount of research online, went through few blogs, few other sites. We came to conclusion that trying to cover more than 2 major cities will become tough and won’t be justice to the places as we won’t get much time to appreciate the fine things.

Finally we came up with the plan as Gurgaon - Chittaurgarh - Udaipur - Jaipur - Gurgaon.

Day 1 - Gurgaon - Chittaurgarh = 535 km

1 day stay in Chittaurgarh.

Day 2 - Chittaurgarh - Udaipur = 120 km

2 days stay in Udaipur with excursion to Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur if time permits.

Day 4 - Udaipur - Jaipur = 420 km

3 day stay in Jaipur.

Day 7 - Jaipur - Gurgaon = 235 km

The exciting drive

Even with this plan we were apprehensive about the Day 1 drive, as this was the longest and we had a small kid with us. To add to our worry was the media coverage of the pathetic condition of Delhi - Jaipur highway. Every where we were hearing and reading the horror stories of people getting struck in the traffic and the dreadful condition of the road.

We had planned to start on Sunday, so that we get ample time on Saturday to do the packing and other preparations for trip and the marriage. I got the car serviced one week before our trip to ensure that everything is fine from car’s perspective.

But how can everything go as per the plan. J

I had some work at the bank, tried to start the car and to my surprise, it won’t crank up. Gave couple of more tries but not, she just refused to start. It was around 10:30 a.m.. The immediate thoughts were of the possible cancellation of the trip. I gave a call to the service adviser and the fellow asked me to get the car towed to the service station. Then a long wait started for the concerned person to arrive with the towing truck. With every passing hour, my tension was also rising. When till 12 noon also no one came, I called up the Service station and they said they will send someone to my place. Finally the mechanic came at 2:30 p.m. and on inspecting the car said – “Sir, battery chali gayi hai. Nayi lagani padegi”.

Got the car jump started and battery replaced. Now a sense of relief prevailed. We thanked our stars that this problem cropped up on Saturday rather than on Sunday when we had to travel.  

Conscious of the fact, that 1^st day’s drive will be long and tiresome, we ensured that all the packing was done timely and we were ready to sleep on time.

Went to bed peacefully, had a good sleep and we woke up at around 3:00 a.m.. Finally we were all in the car by 4:30 a.m. ready for our drive to Chittaurgarh.

It was more or less a smooth drive. We were progressing well on the rather infamous Gurgaon - Jaipur stretch. There were diversions and all type of trucks plying on the road. At one place near Manesar, we got struck in a bad jam. All of a sudden, our spacious car appeared as a small box surrounded by monstrous trucks in every direction. Luckily, after 10-15 minutes, the vehicles started moving albeit very slowly.

Soon we were moving at a good pace passing the milestones and the multiple tolls. There are 4 tolls on the way till Jaipur.

Manesar – Rs 60

Shahjahanpura – Rs 114

Manoharpura – Rs 55

Daulatpura – Rs 46

The sunrise happened somewhere around Shahpura.

Beautiful morning Sun...

..with sun rays kissing the mountains...

and gently waking up the little one

Our bad that we left NH8 and entered Jaipur city only to eventually join the Ajmer Expressway. We realized our mistake after a good 10-15 kms. I guess this cost us about half an hour. The time was close to 8 a.m. and thankfully we didn’t encounter any major traffic in Jaipur.

Landed on NH11C instead oh NH8

We found our way to the Ajmer Expressway and continued our journey to the first capital of Mewar – Chittaurgarh.

Had our breakfast somewhere around Ajmer. This was a very much needed break which refreshed all of us for the journey ahead.

Road to infinity.. though we got off at Chittaurgarh

We had switched off the GPS in phone after negotiating the Jaipur city. Again switched on GPS and kept following it and I must say, it was quite accurate as it brought us very close to our hotel in Chittaurgarh. So, finally we reached our stop for the day at 2:10 p.m. covering more than 550 kms. This was better than our expectations.

The major attraction or rather the only attraction is the fort. Fortunately, this place is not that commercialised yet.

At around 4:00 p.m we left for Chittaurgarh fort. This is one of the largest forts in India in terms of area. The fort was constructed sometime in 7^th century AD.  Ala-ud-din Khilji  was so besotted  by the beauty of Rani Padmini, queen of Rana Ratan Singh, that he attacked the fort in 13^th century to capture her. The rajput fighters fought till the end. The queen preferred death to dishonour and performed the ultimate rite of Jauhar (self immolation).

Vijay Stambh standing tall among all the structures

The fort saw some of the greatest Rajput warriors. Rana Kumbha got the Vijay Stambh (Victory Tower) built to commemorate his victory over the Muslim rulers of Malwa and Gujrat. He is credited with building Kumbhalgarh Fort as well. More on that later. J.

Reminding the past glory

Modern day jharoka

the timeless ruins

Palace surrounded by ruins yet exhibiting grandeur

Experiencing the tranquility of the lovely sunset

Fort wall is visible in the panormic view of the city

The fort was seized 3 times and all 3 times the Rajput ladies performed Jauhar.

We saw the Light and Sound show at the fort and enhanced our knowledge of history. It is a very informative show and I will definitely recommend it to anyone who visits Chittaurgarh. It reminds us the great history of Rajputs, the stories of supreme sacrifice and unmatched valour.

Palace lit in the light

We had our dinner at the hotel and ended a our day with ever lasting memories of stories of unmatched courage and self respect of Rajput warriors.