5 Places that celebrate Love in India

This is that time of the year when love is in the air. So I thought of writing about a few legendary places that celebrate Love in India.

Vrindavan: You can not grow in India without hearing the eternal love story of Radha & Krishna. The city of Vrindavan celebrates their love. While Krishna is more popular in the Indian conscience, in Vrindavan it is Radha who rules. I was told that while Krishna controls the universe, it is Radha who controls him so she is more powerful than him. People use Radhe-Radhe for just about everything - to say Hello, to say Good Bye, to say Excuse me and to say Oh God!. Holi here is a celebration of their youthful love that has become a ritual where women from Radha's village Barsana beat men from Mathura & Vrindavan. You can feel that in the air of Vrindavan their love is celebrated as a divine blessing.

Taj Mahal, Agra: Now is there a more famous monument than Taj Mahal when it comes to celebration of Love. The 400 years old white building by a flowing Yamuna river has mesmerized millions of hearts. I am sure most visitors - no matter where they came from would have thought ' Sigh! wish someone would make something like this in my memory too'. There are many facts that contradict the popular love story but then legends have their own life too.

Hyderabad: The fifth Nizam of Hyderabad Quli Qutub Shah created the city by the river Musi and called it Bhagnagar after his beloved Bhagmati. Legend is that after they got married, she was named Hyder Begum and the city got its present name Hyderabad. It is also said that the new city was designed on the lines of Jannat or Paradise as described in holy book Quran, so the place not just celebrates love but also creates a paradise for the beloved. 

 Jaisalmer: A small temple town a few kms from Jaisalmer called Lodurva celebrates the love story of Moomal - a princess who lived here on the banks of river Kak and Mahendra the price of Amarkot who were separated by a misunderstanding and eventually died in each other's embrace. I am not sure if any physical memory of their story is left anymore but their story continues to haunt you in the music of the region. You can invariably hear someone singing it as if it happened yesterday and they are still mourning their death. A love story that lives in the music of the place. 

Mandu: Story of Rani Roopmati and Baaz Bahadur is what you hear in the ruins of the palaces of Mandu by the river Narmada. Way back in 16th CE these lovers from two different faiths were separated as the third angle came into their story and attacked the region. They died before they could be united. Today as tourists visit their palaces to imagine how their love would have blossomed in those palaces located on different levels.The pic above is from Khajurao, as Mandu is still on my yet to be visited list.

Do you know of anymore places in India that celebrate Love, do let me know, I would add it to the list. 

Royal Rajasthan XIV: Bada Bagh, Jaisalmer

Bada bagh literally means large garden and to think of a garden in the middle of Desert is amusing to say the least. This is not really a garden but a place of royal canotaphs, built in the memory of Kings and Queens who rules this land. From a distance you see some domes jetting out of sand, dwarfed by the huge windmills all around them. As you go closer, you get a glimpse of the typical Rajasthani architecture with its round tapeting pillars and ornate arches.

There are clusters of Cenotaphs all in similar style - Open pavilions with pillars. When you stand in the arch of one and look at the others, you feel as if the family members may still be looking and talking to each other from their personal rooms. The windmills appeared as if they are providing the much needed air to those living here.

A whitel marble plaque inside the cenoptaph, below the dome tells about whom it belongs to and most of them are shown riding on the horse. There are plates outside, may be put by tourism department to tell which one belongs to whom. The latest one dated sometime in early 20^th CE is incomplete and the tradition was stopped after independence. We noticed a water pitcher in front of this cenotaph – that is usually put in front of the last person to come here and is meant to quench thirst for the soul.

The cluster on top of the hill has cenotaphs with tiered pyramidal roofs but I could not figure out if this indicates something or was just an architectural variation.

There was a garden built here next to a dam and that is how this place got the name, but I could not see any garden, the windmills did look like as if they are sprouting out of a garden.

There was a surreal feeling at this place, even though it was crowded with tourists.

Royal Rajasthan XIII: Jaisalmer Fort & Around

Jaisalmer fort is one of the few living forts in India. Only other one that I have seen is at Orchha. This fort gives city its name and in turn was named after its Bhati ruler Rao Jaisal who moved the capital on Trikuta hill here from Ludurva, a few miles away, in mid 12^th CE. It is also known as Solar Qila or Golden fort as the yellow sandstone that it is made of makes it look like it was carved in gold when the light is right. Common people started living around the fort on its slopes sometime around mid 18^th CE. Many Havelis and complimenting buildings were built around the fort till end of 19^th CE.

You can walk into the living fort with many colorful shops vying for your attention. Beautiful gypsy women in heavy silver jewelery and colorful ghaghras will show you the jewelery and lure you to buy them. Then one by one you pass through huge gates that are placed in a zig zag way and remind you that it is a fort and not an old locality that the living environment can make you feel. The height of the fort all around is overwhelming and your neck would need some stretching to look at the kanguras on top, and intricately carved jharokhas jutting out of the walls – that have become such a symbol of Rajasthani architecture. We noticed the colorful wedding invitations painted on the outside walls of many houses and the dates indicated very recent marriages. It seems this is a way of the fortwallahs to invite people around or may be to tell people which is the house hosting the wedding.

The lanes through the gates lead to a chauraha or a central courtyard called Dussehra Chowk and I infer that the festival must have been celebrated here or may be is still celebrated. Around this courtyard are royal palaces including the one belonging to the ladies of the palace. A door has palms marks painted around it and I was told that these were by the Satis – that is ladies who burnt themselves on the pyres of their husbands and hence were revered. As you look around you can see the life of the residents revolving pretty much around the tourists walking in, as they try to sell their souvenirs like leather products or colorful garments. Incidentally they are not too much interested in Indians unless their intuitive intelligence classifies them as NRIs. Amusingly, you can find almost all popular world cuisines within the walls of this ancient fort. I could not miss the Gol Gappe wala who stood most visibly in the courtyard or were it my eyes that made the stall stand out.

Fort is also known for 7 Jain temples that are inside it. I managed to see only one that too from outside and the entrance was very similar to the temple at Lodurva with its latticed slanted walls, and this gave me a hint that it was probably the dominant style of this space and that time. Temples are open in the mornings and evenings and there may be restriction on entry of Non-Jains at certain times.

It is a massive fort with 5 kms circumference and thick walls with 99 odd bastions. There are two parallel walls in the ancient tradition of Mori – a security strategy. I could not walk on the wall and it reamins pending for the next time. I am told that till few months back this fort was not so clean, but due to a unique citizen’s initiative called I Love Jaisalmer the fort and the area around it has been cleaned. My first time eyes thought there was still a lot of scope for cleanliness. I wonder if this also helped the fort to be included in the UNESCO world heritage list along with 5 other hill forts of Rajasthan.

What made me most happy about this fort was the fact it is is still living space. Not many ancient places have a tradition of continued living.

Royal Rajasthan XII: Haunted trails through the Abandoned Cursed Villages of Jaisalmer

Legend of Paliwals and their abandoned and cursed villages is spread across the outskirts of Jaisalmer. Rajasthan tourism has done its bit by converting them into tourists attractions without really disturbing them and maintaining their essence. We visited the villages twice, once during the day and once as part of the haunted trail past midnight. At night, Himmat Singh, our driver who took us on the haunted trail also called ‘Chudail Trail’ was the one who was most scared. It was well past mid night, at the Shiva temples next to a haunted well, we all sat chatting as if it is just a garden outside our homes, but Himmat Singh kept signaling through the car lights that we should get up and immediately leave. We could have reasoned with him that we did not feel anything but then it is all about the belief, if he believed that the spirits inhabited these places and they like to be left alone at night, then his discomfort at our casual attitude was justified. The trail followed a well where it is said many people were killed and thrown, a temple that was closed at night and many cremation grounds with memorial stones and cenotaphs and finally the abandoned and cursed village of Kuldhara, that is in ruins now. Some of my co-travelers felt that the room in village chief’s house felt spooky, but I did not feel any thing – no fear except the fear of tripping over the uneven surfaces in complete darkness.

The legend of Kuldhara has couple of versions. It is said that Paliwal community inhabited the 84 villages in this area. One version says that the ruler of Jaisalmer levied heavy taxes on them and the other one says the ruler was eyeing the girls of the community and one fine day they all decided to leave the place and move away and this was done overnight – leaving everyone wondering about where they went. Before leaving they left a curse for their abandoned houses that no one would be ever able to inhabit them and they will lie abandoned as they have left them, and they do lie the same way even today.  A particular house supposedly belonging to the village head, whose daughter was the target of the king has been restored and a room in the house is said to be the place where the chieftain left the dead body of the girl along with the curse. This is the place where some people felt something was there.

At daytime, Yellow stone ruins almost merge with the similar colored sand but the memorial stone and canopies sprout out here and there in the wide vistas of the Thar Desert. We drove up a hill to see the vast vistas of the Great Indian Desert. There was a simple and small temple on top of this hill, and if you went around the temple with your back towards it, you would see the 360-degree view of the vast plane expanse of the desert. Some depressions show the places where water would collect as and when it rains. It was like letting your eyes see as far as possible. At one point we were just about 20kms from the Indo-Pak border.

From here as we drove towards Lodurva temple, we stopped at clusters of cremation places. Some were just stones standing with an image on it – sometimes a man, sometimes a couple and sometimes a man with two women. There were cenotaphs on top of some while others were free standing. All of them had a citation in Devnagari and a date that as per my limited knowledge should put them in late 17^th early 18^th CE. A freestanding tall stone with a figure of God carved on it indicates a water body close by. How I wish we could document these old techniques of mapping the places and creating markers to help people locate common necessities.

Khaba fort stands on another hillock and can be seen around all sides as you drive towards it the winding road. From top of the ruins of this fort you see another village just like Kuldhara – abandoned but highly organized and urban. Everyone kept telling us about villages, but these ruins indicate an old urban settlement as the houses are along straight lines with roads running in between them, have very similar structures and are very dense. Incidentally stonewalls still stands as if they are outgrown from the foundation, but the almost none of them had a roof on top of them. It does not look like a village from few centuries’ back but urban settlement of ancient times. I would have been inclined to believe them as part of Indus Valley civilization except that there is a fort and the stone has been used in construction instead of bricks. Sanitation system I could not see, but since I spent very little time, it is possible I missed it altogether.

I hope I get to visit this place again with some historian who can explain more than what the tourism industry can.

Royal Rajasthan XI: Lodurva Temple, Jaisalmer

 

Just a few kms away from the city of Jaisalmer lies the old capital of the Bhati Rajputs who ruled this area long time ago. Most of the remains of their times were destroyed by the early Islamic invaders and the ruins have either been lost over time or are hidden somewhere under the layers of sand. Lodurva temple, dedicated to 23^rd Jain Teerthankara Parshvnath today stands an example of how this region would have looked when the forts and temples told the tales of the times, of the people and their ethos. It is also an example of the cosmopolitan nature of the place as the temple structure has clear Chinese influence. This region was a part of silk route and an entry point into India, so no wonder that the traders and travelers brought in their influences into the life and art of the city.

The structure appears to be very recent but there are signs of old stone pieces being used as you can see signs of vandalism on the anthromorphic figurines. It is a typical eight corners temple architecture but gives an impression of being a pagoda style because of its slanting walls. In an amalgamated style the walls carry the intricate Jaali or latticework in stone while the Shikhara or the superstructure is a typical Nagar style. There is one Shikhra that has tiered. At the entrance there is a beautiful toran and the temple looked through this looks as if it has been garlanded. Surrounded by a tall boundary wall, temple beauty unravels only when you enter the temple, from a distance it looks like just another temple in yellow stone.

Snake is the key motif of this temple. It is also the symbol of the reining deity of the temple Parshvnath.  The idol of Parshvnath is made in black Kasauti stone and it is the same stone that is used to test the purity of gold. There are 100 snakes carved in the shape of a huge hood behind the idol like his halo. A small hole in the outer wall of the temple has an open space in front left empty. We were told that this is the place where a snake comes out of the wall to drink milk everyday.

The Gargoyle that is usually simha mukh or makar mukh i.e lion faced or crocodile faced in most Indian temples, carries the mythical dragon like creature here – a strong indication of the oriental influence.

A Kalpatratu tree is enclosed in a stone structure with only its frozen black top visible from the outside. This is supposed to be the wish-fulfilling tree and I wonder if it still works. Two smaller shrines flank the main temple. Here and there you can find some idols in white marble, from the aging of the marble these look like old idols. I was pleasantly surprised to see a detailed audio guide for the temple. I could listen only to a small part of it, and unfortunately not much literature is available about the temple, at least not on the Internet or around the temple.

Lodhruva aka Lodurva temple gets added to my list of one of the most beautiful temples of India. Thank you Suryagarh for introducing this temple to me.

Royal Rajasthan X: Suryagarh, Jaisalmer

Rajasthan is a fascinating state and I have always visited it in bits and pieces, as small trips. This time I was there after good year and a half, after Deeg that I visited as part of Braj Bhoomi. This time Suryagarh – a luxury boutique hotel in Jaisalmer, invited me and I was more than happy to go. After a daylong journey back and forth to the border city of Jaisalmer, I got to spend little more than a day in the city and around, while soaking in the luxury laden hospitality of Suryagarh. Let me first talk about the Suryagarh. Overall, what I liked about the whole Suryagarh experience was the inherent Indianness that they celebrate in all their aspects, be it architecture, food, music or hospitality.

Architecture: This brand new property gives you the impression of being an old fort converted into a hotel, but the truth is that it has been built from scratch less than a decade ago. Styled as a fort, you have to cross three tall gates before you reach the entrance, and none of them in a straight line just the way it used to be in old forts as part of security strategy. Yellow stone that is visible across the region in buildings right from Jaisalmer fort to small makeshift walls has been used to build the hotel structure. Inside the lobby they have re-used the old teak panels as flooring and the marble for floors comes from Makrana and other nearby marble supplying areas. Some of the marble used in rooms was far better than any Italian marble that I have seen. Design of the main building is like an old Haveli with a huge open courtyard in the middle with a pillared corridor running all around it. Walls facing the courtyard have colored glass sitting on top of sandstone making the place look majestic. Luxury overflows from all corners and one example of it is the velvet-cushioned seat in the elevator to sit even when you move only two floors. A gym, a spa, a bar, a swimming pool, a performance area and a restaurant are meant to pamper the guests.

Music:Suryagarh has made music an integral part of its existence. I was surprised to know that they have an in house team of musicians that has traveled globally to play music. At Suryagarh they play everyday in the morning, evening and on arrival of guests. There are special performances during the dinner that they arrange at various hillocks around the property or on the sand dunes. First day we got to hear Salim sing with Sindhi Sarangi as he sung folk songs telling tales of Dhola Maru, under the open sky with clouds creating a huge opening just above us to let us observe the bright stars. The lightening in the backdrop added to the bizarre ambience as Suryagarh staff served wine and cheese. I missed hearing the Algoza in the mornings but thoroughly enjoyed the performances on the sand dunes where musicians and dancers were seated on one dune and we on the other and the music never let us forget that we were in Rajasthan.

Food:Food is again very local, cooked with locally available ingredients like Ker Sangri and served in the traditional earthenware. I liked the concept of a Halwai breakfast. I know many of us will raise an eyebrow thinking about the amount of calories that would mean, but believe me I loved the sight of pooris, paranthas, kachoris and samosas served with pickles and chutneys. To top it all there were piles of Laddoos, Gulab Jamuns and Rasgullas on the table that were just mouth watering. First day we had dinner at the hill besides Suryagarh overlooking the well-lit property. Second day it was at the dunes and besides the good food, the ambience that they created for us was incredible. It is an experience that would remain in my memory for a long time.

Traditions: From the time you reach the periphery of Suryagarh, a ceremonial jeep with flags of Suryagarh escorts you to the property where you are welcomed by a Pandit Ji, who puts Tilak on your forehead followed by showering of rose petals as the musicians play ‘ Padharo mhare des’. Staff in traditional attire pampers you everywhere.

Experience: I am happy that they appreciate that travelers come to visit a destination and like to see the place besides enjoying the luxury of the hotel. They have designed some unique experiences and that are available to their guests like a trail through the ruins in surrounding areas at midnight, a temple trail, a city tour, dinner on dunes and a visit to desert national park. I would be writing about these soon enough.

Personally, I got to meet many fellow travel bloggers, some I had met earlier, some I had known only online and some were absolute strangers.

Thank you Suryagarh for the hospitality and for making Indian – a way of life.