Tuesday 3 May 2016

Rajasthan - Royal State of India (Jodhpur)



Day 6: Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Our first destination for today was might Mehrangarh Fort. We hired an auto and reach the fort at 10.00 am. Even though the fort looks very close to our hotel, by road the distance is 3 KM. The auto driver asked if we need to visit other places and quoted Rs. 700 for Mehrangarh fort, Jaswant Thada, Umaid Bhawan and back. After bargaining, we settled for Rs. 500. Reached the fort and bought two entry tickets for Rs. 120 and camera ticket for Rs. 100. Mehrangarh is the highlight of Jodhpur. This is huge fort and got lot to see inside the fort walls – Moti Mahal, Phool Mahal, Sheesh Mahal, Takhat Vilas, Zenana Deodi, Chamunda Mata temple, a museum displaying howdahs, palanquins, fine arts, weaponry and also turban gallery (was closed when we visited) to name them. I won’t give details about these places as you can easily google them. There are people employed here in traditional dress to play musical instruments to add liveliness to the fort. It took us close to 3 and half hours to see the fort. I called up auto drive, he came and took us to Jaswant Thada which is just 1 km away from the fort. Entry ticket Rs. 30 for two and another Rs. 25 to use camera. The monument is actually cenotaphs built in marble. We spent around 30 minutes here and moved towards Umaid Bhawan Palace. This is huge palace can be seen from the fort as well as from Jaswant Thada. The palace is around 7.5 km away from Thada. Entry ticket is Rs. 30 per person. The Palace is divided into three parts - the residence of the royal family, a five star hotel and a Museum of the Jodhpur Royal Family. General public has access only to museum part. The museum has pictures of the Maharaja and the royal family. Few items of dining and dressing area are also displayed here. There is a fantastic collection of clocks at display. There is an entire room dedicated to various shapes and sizes of clocks.

I told the auto driver to drop us at Hotel Priya at Nai sadak. We had our lunch at this hotel and walked towards clock tower (ghanta ghar). The entire Nai sadak and surrounding of the clock tower has markets wherein you can by bandhej sarees-dress materials, mojidis and other traditional Rajasthani items. We did some shopping and went back to our guest house at 7.00 pm. We had our dinner at our hotel’s rooftop restaurant. The food here was not so good so wont recommend it.


Day 6: Mighty Mehrangarh Fort

Day 6: Mighty Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Mighty Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Mighty Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Mighty Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Zenana Deodi inside Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Zenana Deodi inside Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Zenana Deodi inside Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Sheesh Mahal insdie Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Phool Mahal inside Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Takhat Vilas inside Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Motil Mahal inside Mehrangarh Fort


Day 6: Panoramic view of Blue Jodhpur town


Day 6: View of Blue Jodhpur town


Day 6: Mehrangarh Fort from Jaswant Thada


Day 6: Jaswant Thada


Day 6: Jaswant Thada


Day 6: Jaswant Thada


Day 6: Jaswant Thada


Day 6: Jaswant Thada


Day 6: Mehrangarh Fort from Jaswant Thada


Day 6: Jaswant Thada


Day 6: Umaid Bhawan Palace


Day 6: Umaid Bhawan Palace


Day 6: Umaid Bhawan Palace


Day 6: Ghanta ghar or Clock tower


Day 7: Thursday, November 20, 2014

Started at 10.00 am. We had to visit Osian and Mandore which are outside of Jodhpur town and can be completed as one day trip. So we went to Rai ka bagh bus depot to board bus for Osian. Bus ticket cost Rs. 85 for two. It took approximately 2 hours to reach Osian mata temple which is 60 KM away from Jodhpur town. We visited Osian mata temple but missed Mahavira temple L. One can also go for Bishnoi village safari but we opt to skip it and came back towards Mandore at 1.30 pm. Bus ticket cost Rs. 80 for two. Mandore is just 9 km away from Jodhpur. It was capital of Marwar before Jodhpur city was established. There is very small museum inside Mandore garden. Entry ticket to museum is Rs. 15 per person. There are few stone carved and painting in the museum. Then we went to Mandore garden which has again beautiful cenotaphs all around. The security person told us that Mandore is native place of Ravan’s wife Mandodari and this is the place where Ravan got married. This is indeed nice place and one must visit former capital city for Marwar. After spending around 2 hours, we came outside the garden and had lunch in nearby restaurant. We took a mini bus (Rs. 10 per person) from Mandore garden to Rai ka bagh bus depot. These mini bus leaves towards Rai ka bagh at every 10 minutes throughout the day till sunset. We reached Nai Sadak at around 5.00 pm and it was time to do some shopping. We bought few earings, braclets, Bandhej dress materials and few Rajasthani souvenirs. It was around 8.00 pm so we headed towards Hotel Priya had our dinner and went back to our guest house. I paid rent for three nights and told guest house owner that we will be leaving at 7.00 am morning next day.


Day 7: Mandore

Day 7: Mandore


Day 7: Mandore Garden


Day 7: Mandore Garden


Day 7: Mandore Garden


Day 7: Mandore Garden


Day 7: Mandore Garden


Day 7: Shopping time


Day 7: Shopping time


Day 7: Shopping time


Day 7: Night view of Mehrangarh Fort

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  2. The Exotic Rajasthan Thanks For Sharing with us
    Turban Soul

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