FROM MY TRAVEL DIARY - 1
This map shows the path we covered.
The traditional way of capturing Qutb Minar's photograph.
For a fortnight since 6/11/14, Ruby and I traveled from New Delhi to various places in Rajasthan , driving partly in cars , partly in buses through cities, villages, desert and valleys to visit Mandawa and Nawalgarh in Shekhawati region, Ajmer, Udaipur, Srinathjiu's temple @ Nathdwara, Ranakpur, Osian and .Jodhpur.
View of Fateh sagar from top of Maharana Pratap Memorial , Udaipur.
Full view of the fountain , Fateh sagar, Udaipur.
We visited Qutb Complex and Humayun's Tomb to after decades to savour Muslim architecture, excellent sculptures' Galleries at Ajmer and New Delhi ( National Museum), scores of temples and best of the examples of Shekhawati paintings. And... the architecture of Yashawant Thada, Jodhpur.
Varaha Incarnation of Vishnu. 10 -11th Century. DUngarpur,Rajasthan.
Akbari Fort Museum, Ajmer.
There were glitches, time over-run, misses - specially @ Ranakpur , opportunities not utilised as time slipped through a couple of lazy mornings.Worst was the ban on photography in the most important zone of the main temple. There were unexpected rewards too - e.g. Sound&Light show @ Akabari Fort, Ajmer and the three nearly deserted temples @ entrance of Osian village with astounding iconography !
Exterior Wall of Hotel Shekhawati, Mandwa.
View from the entrance of one of the many Havelis we covered
@ Mandawa and near-by areas.
@ Mandawa and near-by areas.
We came across helpful people in buses, trains - the hotel owner @ Mandawa, the guide and some of the Haveli owners @ both Mandawa and Nawalgarh, Shekhawati artist Devnarayanji, Gulabjisa - the young security guard , fashionably dressed in dhoti-kurta - shop-keepers at Udaipur and Ajmer....... Remarkable were the S- and U-curves in the bus-route between Sikar and Ajmer and the reticent car-driver who tool us from Udaipur to Jodhpur via Ranakpur !
View from interior of Jasawant Thada, Jodhpur.
Ruby poses with 'Gulabjisa' , Security Guard-cum-guide of Jaswanat Thada, Jodhpur.
Why people visit monuments - a sizable section visits to absorb details with aid of guides as well as to worship if the monument is a live temple. A miniscule section take photographs for reference and later viewing. Yet, a large section walk in for a stroll and taking their own photographs. With camera-equipped mobile phone in almost every palm, 'phataphat' photo sessions on the court-yards of historical monuments has become very common -- a trend very common in Durga Puja pandals or Millennium Park at the shore of the Ganges !
Ranakpur is proud of this Jain temple,with so well crafted interior & exterior.
One of the four small temples at the entrance of Osian.
It will be my endevour to share a section of the photos and notes with my friends in this page as well as facebook page. I end this blog thanking my friends and relatives whose hospitality enlivened this trip and Ruby who has taken gigabytes of photos to enrich my collection.
A matter of choice - Photographers engaged
in capturing the monument as well as the moment !
( at Qutb Complex)
Silence !
Humayun's Tomb, New Delhi.
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