Udaipur - Mewar's charming city

Royal dynasty of the famous Maharana Pratap Singh (Sisodia dynasty) rules the rich heritage of Udaipur city. Besides the seven lakes that dot this part of Mewar trinity, all the tourism opportunities here are majestic and indicative of history. City Palace, Lake Palace, JagMahal and Saheliyon ki bari are the most prominent tourist spots of the city reminiscent of the golden era that still lingers on in its restricted form through the running 76th-77th generation. The presiding heir of Sisodia dynasty is Maharana Arvind Singh (65+) having two princesses and one prince, all grown up. One princess is married and has one kindergartner (daughter).

Our trip to Udaipur was spiritually vital. A clan of swetamber Jain saints headed by Maharaj Saheb Upadhyay Shri Ravindra Muni ji were spending their monsoon months (chaturmaas) at Udaipur. This Dushhera marked the 30th renunciation anniversary of Ravindra Muni ji. My maternal aunt (mausi) were to visit Muni shri with family. I thought it would instil some goodness in me and I would learn a few good things from my maternal aunt and her family too. So I joined them with Vasu and Darsh, which they kindly obliged.

I must say, the trip was worthwhile in all respects. Vasu and Darsh had a lot of fun. I got to spend a lot of time with them full-fledgedly and tasted handling them with least help.

Traveling by train and being outside the house for long hours is picnic for Vasu and Darsh any day. Added bonus during this trip for them was the company of elder playmates in teenager aunts and uncles - Amita, Khyati, Gaurav and Ishu.

Througout the trip, Vasu and Darsh got to play a lot and munch junk food to their heart's fill. All their demands for toys, toffees and snacks were instantly met. Darsh was rather clingy and would not spare my lap unless willing to run around on his own imitating elder brother Vasu. Both Vasu and Darsh did not seem to mind sleepless afternoons and almost non-stop movement on the streets of Udaipur.

Incidently, the trip entailed two milestones for Darsh. First his birthday coincided with the anniversary day of Maharaj Saheb, which invariably is celebrated every year on the Dushshera day though Muni Shri renounced the world on 15th of October thirty years ago. Second, he quit milk through feeding bottle during this trip, as I typically skipped to pack a couple of vital items for the trip, including his feeding bottle. He was a bit uncomfortable during the night times, but the restlessness was also a mixture of fatigue, adjustment to a new place.

Our trip to Udaipur started on Friday night. We boarded Mewar express around seven thirty in the evening and reached Udaipur railway station on Saturday morning around seven thirty six. The weather was sunny, warm and dry.

We headed straight for the Sthanak (holy place of residence in Swetambar Jain sect) at Kumharbada and reached there within twenty minutes. As the name suggests, Kumhar(Potter)-bada(fence) was a small colony of potters, predominantly muslims. Goats and earthern pots prevailed all over the place. The lanes were narrow with open drains on either arms. There are no ice cream parlors or fast food joints or even restaurants for that matter in the neighborhood. The market comprised of humble shops untouched by the commercialization of appearance. A localite told me that Kumharbada had water supply only once in three days!

Inspite of the prevalent poverty and backwardness in the area, I found Kumharbada quite impressive. To begin with, the place sustains simplicity of life in an era when man is mindlessly running after money and luxuries. Secondly, Kumharbada is a pleasant instance of coexistence of diverse religions and communal tolerance India is renowned for.

There were three Jain Sthanaks at Kumarbada, one of which was blessed with the presence of monks. We stopped over at the sthanak barely few meters away from the house of (swetamber) saints. While where we stayed looked over a queue of earthen hearths, piles of earthen pots on either sides and a cycle repair shop just across the narrow street, the sthanak where the monks were residing was particulary open and airy with a Pipal tree right in the middle of the square ground that stretched in front of the plain unassuming building. The tree lent the place a peaceful ambiance. In spite of the openness, the place was safely obscured from the noises and crowd of residences and commercial shops on either sides of the Sthanak.

Vasu and Darsh were very happy running around in the Verandah outside the rooms of the swetamber saints. There they met Shubham - a very young boy barely ten year old who lives with the saints full time and studies Jainism there. He seemed to like the company of younger kids like Vasu and Darsh and treated the duo with plenty of choclates and toffees, which they enjoyed very much.

We spent the first day in the pious company of Ravindra Muni ji, Alok Muni ji, Ashwin Muni ji and others. Two of the monks were particularly young and seemed to have recently joined the family as full-fledged monks.

In the evening we went to Tarak Guru Jain Granthalaya (a Jain library) where Mausi ji (my aunt) and cousin Amita were to meet Guruna (female monks) for educational guidance. It was a fine building that comprised of a house for the monks, a library and a temple-like structure sheltering a beautiful golden kalash (a type of big round utensil) protected within a glass case.

There was a colorful and meaningfully adorned roof inside the temple like structure at the library, depicting teachings of Jainism pertinent to Swetamber ideology.

While I got busy in taking snaps of the place, the kids kept themselves busy in playing with their toy cars and jumping across the railings of the pious structure in the frontyard.

Early next morning was birthday of Darsh. So, I got ready with Darsh and Vasu well in time to search down and pray at a nearby Jain Digamber temple. Fortunately, we found a charming Chandraprabhu Jin Chaitayalaya (small temple) very nearby. While Vasu kept complaining, "आप मुझे यहाँ क्यों लाये? आप मुझे वापस अमिता मौसी के पास ले चलो।"(Why did you bring me along? I want to go back to Amita mausi.), Darsh cooed his ususal "ॐ नमो अरिहन्तानम। जय जय ।" (Namo Arihantanam. Jai Jai). I soon realized that there was a small but spacious hall just across the Chaitalaya where a learned gentleman rendered discourse on a special religious book called 'Samayasaar'. I wanted to stay back but back at the Sthanak the 30th anniversary of Ravindra Muni ji was being celebrated that was must to be attended.

Back at the sthanak, all the monks were presiding the auspicious ceremony on a platform. They were taking turns at rendering lectures, lauding Ravindra muni shri and preaching good conduct. It was overwhelming to be a part of such an occassion.

While I concentrated on the ongoings at the stage, Vasu and Darsh took advantage of the opportunity by playing with the dry mud around the tent. As soon as I caught them getting clumsy at leisure without interruption, I made sure that they were before my eyes throughout afterwards. Inside the tent, they made friends with little girls who were attending the ceremony with their mothers and grandmothers. Two of them were named Mokshsi and Diksha.

Around 3:30 PM, we left for Sajjan Niwas Garden, also known as Gulab Bagh. It was scorching hot. The walk inside the garden damped my expectations substantially. May be owing to the season when we visited, we could not witness the gulab (rose) bagh (garden) in its full glory. It is said to leave visitors mesmerized with its soothing vistas of innumerable array of uncommon roses arranged in a very interesting manner.

In spite of all the turn offs, Sajjan Niwas Garden turned out to be quite a multifarious location. To my utter bewilderment, it houses a library (Saraswati Bhawan Library), a mini zoo, a beautiful garden and a museum (Victoria Hall Museum) all within, which all can be glimpsed through an enjoyable toy train trip.

Vasu and Darsh found themselves hooked during the toy train trip, as they looked about the groves of mango and guava trees, seeking a glimpse of peacocks around. The zoo was actually mini and had chinkaras, langurs, tiger, leopard, lion and cranes.

As soon as we disembarked the toy train, the younger lot jumped for the swing in sight followed by a fascinating Banyan tree that must be ages old judging by the long and dense roots that touched the ground sprouting from its branches far above in the air. Naturally, Vasu could not resist following the suit and ran towards the Banyan tree, leaving the swing all alone and empty. Darsh had to contend staying in my lap and watch Vasu longingly from a fair distance.

Next we explored the Sukodia circle, which is basically a crossing with a pool for boating inside. Just like India gate in Delhi, it had camel rides, horse rides and balloon sellers around its circumference. We would have spent more time there had they allowed boating for 5-10 minutes to my cousin. Vasu and Darsh enjoyed a bike ride here. We left left for Saheliyon ki bari shortly after.

Famous for its lush green lawns, marble art and fountains, Saheliyon Ki Bari (Garden of maids) was built in the 18th century by Maharana Sangram Singh for the royal ladies to offer them pleasurable moments away from the political intrigues of the court.

A relaxing location by all means, this garden has been ideally architected to provide an enjoyable stroll and enchanting leisure time to any mortal with any sense of aesthetics.

The garden has a number of fountains, each with a charm of its own. One of them has a dense growth of water lillies around it. The four pure white marble elephants at each direction around the pond.really fascinated Darsh and he kept rushing back to it again and again.

He strolled in the garden quite fearlessly, enthused at the sight of so many fountains sprinkling pleasant drizzle of water on his hands and face. He got all the naughty ideas of playing with water in the company of Vasu, who was enjoying himself thoroughly by wetting himself quite without a second thought.

While Vasu played with the water sprinklers in the company of elders, Darsh took off his wet sandals and starting splashing in the puddle barefeet. Interrupted by me in doing so, Darsh later joined his elder brother in his cheerful play with the fountains at the rim of the entrance path. Arrangements were also there for fancily dressing up as a queen or king and getting ones photo clicked from a professional photographer.

Our next stop was Fatehpur Sagar lake... it was dusk by the time we reached there and thank God we made it at the time. The sun was setting behind the mountains in the horizon.

The vast stretch of water beyond was sparkling with white and yellow reflections from the sky. The breeze was very pleasant. Vasu and Darsh appreciated the scenic beauty too but all they truly cared about was boating. Ofcourse, Darsh was mainly influenced by Vasu's keen interest. By the time we got off the four pedal boat, it was too dark to continue going around.

The next morning was spent in tune with our routine at Udaipur. Late in the afternoon we left for our last destination for the trip - the grand and historic City Palace.

The palace is now a museum that sports endowments from the royal past and glimpses of the bravery and patriotism of the famous Maharana Pratap Singh. It is a nice place to be at. The architectural grandeur of the structure is more than skin deep. The palace envelopes a whole mountain within and hence there are fully grown up trees right in the middle of the second floor courtyard.

The terrace adorned in blue is the second floor of the palace where tourists are left on their own by their guides to treat their eyes to the charming panorama of Udaipur. As if a vast assortment of huddled blue, green and yellow matchboxes, the city of Udaipur can be seen from here at a glance. There is Pichola lake at the back side of the palace that presents a mesmerizing view of the lake palace in the middle, the Jag mandir at one side of the banks and the most expensive hotel of Udaipur by the Oberoi group of hotels at the far end of the Pichola lake.

Vasu and Darsh saw these vistas with superficial interest, uttering 'wow' only to imitate us. All they seemed to really bother about were peacocks, elephants and tigers in the paintings that hung across the museum walls to depict the rich past of the royal lives of Sisodia dynasty. On our way back to the exit from the palace, we came across a verandah in the queen's palace that had peacocks made up through intricate glass work. The portion of the palace saw Vasu and Darsh look like visiting the museum and not a playground for a change.

The museum retains all the decorations and accessories used during the reign of the last ruler of the Ranas. The kitchen and the bed arrangements of his grand mother who died in 1973 have been kept in tact for the tourists to have a feel of her kind of life. The chandeliers throughout the palace are also the same old simple but elegant ones.

The palace has been commercialized to a great extent. Apart from being turned into a museum, the palace offers some good shopping opportunities housed in the building itself. There is provision to hold parties inside the palalce at the ground floor, though in lieu for a handsome payment.High profile elites utilize the palace to throw lavish and splendid parties and hence show their own economical might.

The entrance to the City Palace has a shield on its top that also marks the royal symbol of the Sisodia dynasty. The symbol signifies the mutual friendship and contribution of the tribals and the Ranas in sustaining the soveriegnity of Mewar. The Sun god in the middle again completes the picture with supernatural blessing to the two representatives of their respective lineage.

The exit door from the City Palace had two dancing peacocks on its top and a bright Lord Ganesha painting in the background. There were vivid paintings of a royal elephant and a war horse on the walls right outside the gate. There was a stable right across at the far end that had a few horses tied there at the time. The open area was buzzing with crowd standing in a number of groups.

The next exit gate was grand and looked so attractive for playing chase and run. I could not blame Vasu and Darsh for running to and fro across the gate. Those kind of open spaces always tingle a child's enthusiasm to be naughty and reinless.

Outside the City Palace was a rectangular courtyard with a well-maintaned lawn on a raised platform. There was a polished restaurant at the far end opposite to the entrace into the City Palace.

There was Deewan-e-aam (general public meeting place) right in front of the palace building. The parallel boundary to the palace was a long narow fort that had arrangement for public to sit on its roof top.

The market outside the palace was also charming with prominence of handicrafts among shops. Vasu typically invited my attention to all paintings and sculptors that potrayed peacocks in them from any angle. I even took a snap of a framed picture of a peacock and peahen for future use. Whenever I scroll Udaipur pics before him, the one picture he stops me at is this picture. Darsh, like a true follower, blindly follows his brother. He chirps too, " Eecock, eecock"!

Scenic Sonagirji

Sonagirji is a prominent siddha kshetra (pilgrimage) of Jain faith that invites pilgrims to a soul-searching assortment of 78 temples on a scenic mountain in a village at Datiya district in Madhya Pradesh, India.
It was their second trip to Sonagirji. Earlier Vasu was two and Darsh barely four months old. This time Darsh turning two and Vasu already four.
Both had been watching trains going past while travelling on the road. It was exciting for them to be at the railway station and watch trains from very close quarters, especially for Darsh who was enjoying the privilege for the first time in his consciousness. They simply could not sit at one place at the railway station.

Darsh took his time to trust the train for sitting or lying down on his own. He preferred to be in my lap most of the time.

In spite of the rush at Sonagirji, we fortunately got a room at the Kundkund Nagar Dharmshala. Our room directly looked over the huge standing idol of Lord Bahubali ji, adorned with fluttering yellow flags around it. The dharamshala has a Jain temple that models five top pilgrimages of Jain faith - Shikharji, Girnarji, Champapur, Kailash Parvat and Gomteswara (Bahubaliji).


As per practice, we got ready for the yatra very early in the morning to be undertaken bare foot. The pious place presented a spectacular sight for the eyes, something which is rare to witness in the metro life. While the large orange ball of fire rose from one horizon, three quarters of the moon still looked down from the cool blue sky undisturbed.

Outside the Panch Tirth temple within the premises of the Dharmshala lay scattered white sweet smelling flowers with orange stems. The orange stems of these flowers are utilized in the Jain temples for idol worshipping.

Vasu and Darsh spent all their little time at the Panch Tirth running around the open place and sliding from the Sheetal Nala of the Shikharji model. They barely folded hands before the tirthankar idols, let alone chanting namokar mantra properly. I tried to make them pray but to no avail at all.

As we set off for the first yatra, Darsh was carried around in the lap of a local boy named Pratap, of course on paid basis.

From our place of stay, a narrow lane through the village led to the mountains renowned for evaporating all worries. Home to a myriad of huddled white structures epitomizing faith of mankind in its supremely refined form - Sonagir ji may well be called the abode of faith.

Along the lane stood this huge and seemingly centuries old tree on a raised wide platform. Multitude of roots fell to the ground from this majestic tree. A magnificent sight, I must admit.

As we embarked the pilgrimage, Vasu was only and only interested in spotting peacock. Each one of us were aware of his single-minded pursuit. We all could be easily spotted pointing in one direction or the other, helping Vasu look at as many peacocks as possible.

The tall and round tops of the temple stood high and mighty with yellow unfurled flags flapping violently on their tops.

Birds chirped loudly, as the sun rose higher.

The day became hotter gradually.

As sunlight glorified the entire mountain, the place unfolded the many visual delights in its store for us.

There was this wild grass with golden buds that looked striking to the eyes.

A dirty pond gleamed with a bright white lily... exemplifying the saying... "कीचड में ही कमल खिलतें हैं" ...

Pipal saplings were shooting off the marble railing outside the main Chandraprabhu temple. Its crimson young leaves in company with the older green ones pleased the eyes very much.

A chameleon basked in the sun gracefully alongside the path, as if a queen resting in her palace... all her limbs were spread out over a wild growth of delicate grass for balance...

A dotted frog camouflaged itself marvelously in the middle of the filthy overgathering of algae ...

And a wild unknown plant bore interestingly patterned green fruits...

During the darshans, I lured Vasu into chanting namokar mantra once or twice by telling him that he would spot peacock if he will pray. He even obliged and saw a couple of peacocks wandering about the picturesque vistas.



One peacock was pecking on grains sprawled on one of the vedis.

Another one was cleaning himself perched on a stone near a bush.

Down the sacred mountain, there are many more Jain temples at Sonagirji. It is a very small village that has not seen much development, except for electricity, concrete houses and counted few shops of cold drinks, snacks and fancy toys. Strange as it may sound, the place has no chemist shop in the vicinity. Poverty rules the place, with children of the village easily found begging from the tourists, siting in the middle of the road without any hesitation, as if it were their playground or matted floor of their house.

Each time we passed the shops in the small market down the hill, Vasu made sure he was bought one toy for himself - first a toy mobile phone, second a battery operated laser gun and at last yet another set of bow and arrow - all in a matter of two days. All were of course thrown into the dustbin after being badly mutilated the very next day!

The next morning was equally beautiful. The sun was as bright and red.

The temples looked gorgeous against the typical dawn sky...

Birds chirping and a cool breeze tingling the skin with energy and enthusiasm....

The sky grew brighter blue as the day ascended... the temples looked even brighter and lovelier...

The place is so neat... so pristine... so peaceful and laid back... no body is in a hurry... The temples pose a simple task to be accomplished... that often takes shape of a race .... with family and friends going past you or remaining behind..

Darsh for a change walked throughout the second day, as he was a bit clingy right from the start... would not go to any help...

He walked barefoot the entire distance holding his Nana ji's hand or occasionally strolling by himself under able supervision. Its only near culmination of the march that I had to handle him personally and carry him down the mountain...

This time Darsh also joined Vasu's obsession for peacock-watching. In fact, he walked in order to catch a glimpse of the peacocks that Vasu was treating his eyes with.

Everyone in the family was conscious of their innocent interest. They all kept a vigil for any sign of peacock during the entire yatra.