Vaishno Devi trip

Although the tickets for Jammu were booked one month in advance, as Deepti HAD to come to office on saturday, the original tickets were cancelled at the nth moment & we booked fresh tickets thru Tatkal on Thursday for Saturday. We were lucky to get those tickets, though not thru the same onward train. I hurriedly booked tickets for the 22:35 AII JAT express from Delhi to Jammu for Saturday, and 19:45 Jammu Rajdhani to Delhi for Monday, and after assurance that Monday wouldn't be considered as a leave. We knew this trip would be slightly hectic, considering the schedules, but we had the spirit to make it happen.

On Saturday, we - myself, Deepti, Geeta & Pavan set out for Old Delhi station at 9:30 PM from our guest house to catch the 10:35 PM train. The train came 10 mins late from its scheduled arrival and left at 11 PM from Delhi. On boarding the train, we had already decided to take maximum rest here only before we began our yatra. We reached Jammu Tavi station at 9 AM on sunday, which was 1 hour behind the actual reaching time. Immediately after getting down from the train, we went out of the station and very close to the main entrance of the station, we found a private bus stop where tickets were being sold to Katra. I bought the tickets paying Rs. 200 for all and got into the bus. The bus got full within no time & it started for Katra at 9:20 AM. We had been told that the busses wont start unless it was full, by our colleagues here. The bus journey was little tiring, as he drove very rapidly even on the mountain ranges.

We reached Katra at 11:30 AM and went first to Vaishno Devi Yatra Counter to get our tickets for the yatra. There was a long queue already, but it moved fast. This Yatra ticket is mandatory to have, without which one wouldn't get entry to yatra. This ticket was free ofcourse, and it mentioned that we need to present this ticket within 6 Hrs at Banganga check post when the yatra began.

We then went to Niharika Guest house, as had been instructed by Abhishek, as he had told that this was a Govt guest house and one can easily find accomodation here. We hadn't booked any accomodation prior to our arrival at Katra, as many had assured us that accomodation - either guest houses or dormitories or hotels would be easily available on reaching Katra. But, this Niharika guest house was already full, and so we went again in search of a hotel. Some broker came to me and told that he had rooms available in his hotel near busstand, so we thought we go check out his hotel. He took us to Hotel Damini, where rooms were good enuf & we took only 1 2-bed room for a day as we thought that 2 would be a waste as we wouldn't be in the room for most of the time, and paid him Rs. 600. After refreshing, we had our lunch at a nearby restaurant, went to the market and bought raisins, figs & other energising stuffs.

We finally started our 12 km Yatra to Vaishno Devi at 2:30 PM. It seemed to be raining atop the hill. We wasted our energy waking 1.5 kms from Katra to the starting point of the Yatra without knowing that there were autos available from Katra to the starting base. This is the starting point of Yatra.

The path of the Yatra was neatly tiled, with shops on both sides, but it was damn slippery due to movement of horses - you know what I mean ;) The inital 30 mins of the Yatra took off all the energy present in us and compelled us to take immediate breaks. In between, rains also started and made our Yatra even more difficult, but we held umbrellas and jackets and continued. Oh boy, from the starting only, the paths were steep. We were chanting 'Jai Mata Di' along with whoever passed by. At one point, we thought we were walking on the clouds, as it began to get dark.

Midway, we got a signboard which mentioned that distance to Bhavan (Bhavan is the main place where the holy cave of Vaishno Devi is located) thru Adhkuwari was 6.5 kms and another way was 5.5 kms. We decided to go to Adhkuwari first and took the long route. Our legs were already screaming.

Finally, we reached Adhkuwari at around 6 PM and went first to Cafe Coffee Day and had some refreshments. We then went to Adhkuwari temple, which is a cave below.

Importance of Adhkuwari (as is written on the information board): At this spot, according to the legend, Mata Vaishno Devi Ji had observed spiritual discipline (tapasya) for exactly 9 months in a small cave and have concluded the same after attaining enlightenment to become one with her creators - Mata Saraswati, Mata Lakshmi & Mata Kali. Hence this sacred cave has become popular by the name "Gharbhjoon".

From Adhkuwari, there were again 2 routes to go to the Bhavan, both of which were exactly 6 kms to Bhavan. Without knowing which one to take, we simply took the straight route, where we met some guy and he told us not to take this route as it was steep & curvy and told us to take the new route on the left. We did so as he told and found that this route was much better, as horses weren't allowed & the steepness increased incrementally. We kept taking breaks at very frequent intervals and finally reached the top at 9 PM. We took exactly 5.5 hrs! Fully exhausted! This is the Bhavan (got from net):

On reaching the top, there was already a long queue for the Darshan. I went to the Yatra counter and showed the yatra slip got at Katra, and he issued me a group number. We had to wait in the queue for nearly 2 hrs. In the meanwhile, I went to Prasad shop & got Prasad for offering. The queue started to move and there was heavy pushing all over. After a very tight security check, we finally entered the sanctum of the holy cave which was fully covered with marble and had a very small entrance at 11:15 PM and had Darshan of the 3 'Pindies' of Mata Vaishno Devi for just a fraction of a second. It was mentioned all over the queue on boards that there is no statue or anything, and that the Godess has manifested here in the form of 3 'Pindies', and we have to concentrate on those 3 only in the cave.

After the Darshan, we came out of the main temple and found out that there was one more Shiv temple nearby in a cave.

After seeing these 2 temples we came and took some rest nearby open area, where many people had already fallen asleep. We then went to a restaurant and had our dinner at 12 AM. We then continued our Yatra to Bhairon temple, as it is considered that the Yatra would not be complete without visiting this temple after having Darshan of Mata Vaishno Devi. The path to this even more steeper than to Vaishno Devi. Although the distance was only 2 kms, it took us 1 Hr to reach Bhairon temple and reached there at 1:30 AM. We had Darshan of Bhairon Baba and came back and took some rest before proceeding with our return journey. With this our Vaishno Devi Yatra completed.

Importance of Bhairon Baba temple (as is written on the information board): Bhairon Nath, in pursuit of Mata from Banganga, Charan Paduka, Gharbhjoon reached the holy cave. When he tried to enter the holy cave, he was engaged in a battle with Lord Hanuman. Thereafter, Mata herselff came out of the cave and beheaded Bhairon with such might that his head fell atop a hill 2 kms away where Bhairon Ghati temple is constructed. However, Mata forgave Bhairon Nath when he repented for his sins. She declared that her piligrimage would be deemed complete only when piligrims would also have Bhairon's Darshans on their return journey after performing Darshans of Mata.

We started our return Yatra at 2 AM, and we were already exhausted by then. On our return, we took stairs wherever possible to save time, but my legs started trembling. We reached Adhkuwari at 4:15 AM and took an hours break as we had no further capability of walking down. Later, we continued our descending journey and got split up, as Deepti & Geeta took stairs in between and myself & Pavan took the path. And at one point, I split up with other 3 and was wandering here and there searching for them for 1.5 hrs. I also made announcements at the disaster control room, but in vain. I just walked down and took snap of Geeta Mandir, but didn't go inside it.

Finally, I came out of the main entrance at 9 AM and found Pavan waiting for me. He told that the girls had already left for the hotel at 8 AM and he too announced my name at the main entrance, but it wasn't heard inside. Anyways, finally I found him! We took an auto back to the bus stand and went to the hotel & crashed.

After refreshment, we checked out of the hotel at 12:30 PM and had our dinner at Annapoorna self service hotel. The food was better than the one we had the previous day. We then thought of what to do next, and went to dry fruits stalls and enquired rates of Kesar, but to my disappointment, all quoted exhorbitant rates for a gram of Kesar - Rs. 250, Rs. 300 etc. I didn't buy anything and then later we thought of going to Jammu station and having rest at the AC waiting room there. We caught a bus from Katra to Jammu at 2:30 PM and slept all thru the journey. We reached Jammu at 4:30 PM and went to the station, where the girls retired at the ladies waiting room, as the AC waiting rooms were already booked. Myself & Pavan went around nearby area of the station and bought some fruits & other stuffs. Finally, after lots of timepassing at the station, we got into our train and it left promptly at 7:45 PM. It was my first experience in Rajdhani express & I thoroughly enjoyed it, as they served soup, dinner & ice cream, with music running in the background. As we were completely stressed, we slept as early as 10 PM. I was woken up by the voice of the lady when she mentioned that we were nearing New Delhi at 5 AM on tuesday. Oh, what a sleep that was!

We reached New Delhi at 5:10 AM and went out of the station and took an auto to our guest house. We reached guest house at 6:15 AM and simply crashed again. I then left for office by 11:30 cab, and inbetween got to know that Delhi had received heavy rains on monday and there were jams all accross Delhi. Also got to know that Vaishno Devi Yatra had been closed from monday/tuesday due to heavy rains in that area. How lucky were we!

Jai Mata Di!

For more information on the legend of Vaishno Devi, accomodation, and all other stuffs, click here and here.

With this, my last weekend trip in Delhi ended. The last 5 trips on all 5 weekends were all super exciting & I have lot of memories to carry back home when I travel back to Bangalore on 1st August!

Ajmer trip

Last thursday, I suddenly got a thought of visiting the only Brahma temple in the world at Pushkar which is near Ajmer, and instantaneously booked to and fro tickets thru Rishabh travels in Delhi over phone. I also checked out some guest houses thru net, but all seemed to be pricey, and so thought of finding accomodation once I reach there. Thus began my totaly unplanned tour to Ajmer, all by myself again.

On Friday, I started from guest house and reached Tis-Hazari by 9 PM and paid the travel agency. He said the bus would come by 10 PM, but finally it came at 11 PM and started to Ajmer. Midway, at around 1 AM, the bus stopped for a break at some dhaba. I was fast asleep then, and at 1:25 AM or so, got down from the bus as it was very hot and my sleep broke. I just refreshed, and when I turned, the bus had left! I was half asleep then and just couldn't think of what to do! My baggage, camera, tickets and everything was in the bus. I didn't have the number of bus too. I got shit scared and ran to the manager of the dhaba and told about my situation. He told that Rishabh travels had left 5 mins back and that I go in another private bus which was standing there. He asked the driver of another bus to take me to Jaipur, from where I could (hopefully) get my bus. After some 20 mins, the other bus started and all thru the journey, I was awake hoping that he overtakes my bus. I sat in the cabin thru out. In the meanwhile, the helper of the bus made a call to some office and asked them to stop my bus at Jaipur, and he assured me that I would get Rishabh at Jaipur. I had already made plans to return back to Delhi from Ajmer the same day, if I hadn't found my bus. Finally, at 6 AM or so, our bus reached Jaipur where in Rishabh's bus was also waiting. A huge releif for me! I quickly got down from the bus, paid the driver Rs. 100 and jumped to Rishabh and found my things intact. I was on cloud 9!

I reached Ajmer at 9 AM and by then the showers had started. I thought my trip would be a flop, as I hadn't got umbrella or anything. Some guy approached me and told that he will take me to a hotel in city centre where all places were close by. He dropped me at Gulab Palace Hotel and I checked out the rooms and rates. It was ok hotel, and anyways for a night only, so I checked into it and paid the manager Rs. 700 as advance. I refreshed and decided to go to Pushkar first, as by then the weather was much better. I took an auto to Ajmer bus stand and immediately got into a bus to Pushkar. Bus service to Pushkar is there every 15 mins from bus stand. Along the way, I saw the famous Ana Sagar lake. Pushkar is on the other side of the Aravali hills, so there were little ghat sections. Distance is around 12 kms, and the bus took half an hour or so to reach Pushkar and the fare of bus was only Rs. 9.

I reached Pushkar at around 12 PM and walked thru the narrow streets here too. I saw the Rangaji temple on way, and thought of covering it while returning. On way, I saw the Pushkar Ghats also and the lake. Someone told me to first visit the lake and the go to the temple. I wasn't sure what I was getting into, and then a man came to me telling I need to do pooja to the ghats first and then only I would be permitted to go to Brahma temple. I fell into his trap and he took me to one ghat and did pooja and ripped me of Rs. 300. He showed me the Savitri temple on the hill and told that this Godess had put cursed Brahmaji that no temple of his would be built on earth. He then packed some prasad packets and showed me the way to Brahma temple, which was again on the road only. I felt miserable and helpless at my fate. All are thieves here!

I continued walking upto Brahma temple. There, bags and cameras were not allowed (new rule !) so had to deposit these at some counter nearby paying Rs. 50. I entered the temple and as I entered, there were Gods of Indra and Kubera seated on an elephant on either side after the main door. Straight was the red - blue painted Brahma temple, which also is full of marble. I took these pics of the temple and Brahmaji from net. Next to Brahmaji is his wife Gayatri.

For more info on Pushkar, Brahma temple and its legends, click here.

Besides Brahma temple, there was an underground Shiva temple also. I covered both places and felt blissful. The temple surroundings were calm with weather so soothing. I came out of the temple and hunted for a restaurant. I found one closeby, had meals and then left the place.

All along the way, there are numerous small temples here and there. Itseems there are around 52 ghats around Pushkar lake. One such ghat called Gow ghat had number of pigeons there.

On way back, I thought of going to Rangaji Temple, but it was closed.

I came back to the bus stop and caught a bus back to Ajmer. In Ajmer, I was thinking where to go next, when an auto guy came to me and told that he would take me to all places of Ajmer for Rs. 80. I went along with him and first he took me to Soniji Ka Nasiya Jain temple. This temple is dedicated to Lord Adinath, the first Jain 'tirthankara' and is located on Prithviraj Marg. The two-storied structure of Nasiyan Temple is divided into two parts, where one is the worship area comprising the idol of Lord Adinath and the second is the museum including a hall. The museum hall is amazing due to its mind blowing interiors made up in gold. This exquisite museum depicts the five stages (Panch Kalyanak) in the life of Lord Adinath, in the stature of statues. With the dimensions of 40 x 80 feet, the hall is adorned with Belgium stain glass, mineral color paintings and stain glasswork. This temple is also known as Golden temple, due to its precious stone, gold and silver work. Its just superb!

Next he took me to Akbar's palace, which is now converted to a museum. This place is very small, only some 2 buildings on either side and 1 in centre. The centre one had pics of Rajasthan folklore, Ajmer & Pushkar and other stuffs. The gallery next to it had ancient idols dating back to 15th Century or so.

I asked the driver to drop me off at Adhai Din ka Jhopra, but he told that it was near to Dargah and its a one way traffic over there. So, he dropped me off at Dargah Road, and from there I walked towards Dargah. I was told that you cannot carry bags, cameras inside Dargah, so I decided to first see Adhai Din ka Jhopra, come back to hotel and then visit the Dargah. This Adhai Din ka Jhopra is a 10 min walk from Dargah thru a very small dirty lane filled with non-veg stalls. I didn't quite like the ambience of this place. With great difficulty, I reached this monument.

Adhai Din ka Jhonpra is an exquisite example of early Indo-Islamic architecture. Designed by Abu Bakr of Herat, the Adhai Din ka Jhonpra is believed to have been built in two and a half days, and is thus named Adhai-din. It has very intricate carvings in Urdu, very nice to see, though not understandable.

For more info on this, click here.

Here, I met a couple from Hubli who were here to visit the Dargah. The guy told that he would take me to Dargah and help me keep my things in a shop nearby. I decided to go with the guy and he got me to a shop. But the shopkeeper made it compulsory for me to purchase flowers & all if I had to place my things in his shop. Thieves here too! I decided not to do so and told the guy that I would keep things at my hotel and come back. Accordingly, I went back to the hotel, took some rest and then came back to Dargah Sharif.

'Dargah Sharif' or 'Holy Dargah' is one of the most sacred Muslim shrines in the country. Venerated by both Hindus and Muslims, it is the tomb of Khwaja Moin-ud-din Chisti, a Sufi saint who came from Persia and devoted his life to the service and upliftment of the poor and downtrodden. The Dargah has a massive gate with silver doors built in several stages. Revered by the Mughal rulers, it has touches of Humayun to Shah Jahan in its structural architecture. A silver railing and a marble screen surround the actual tomb of the saint, made of marble with a gold plated dome.

Inside the Dargah, surrounding the tomb of the saint, there was a huge rush. I was there in the queue for 10 mins or so, then exited from the first door. The tomb was covered with rose petals and 'chadars'.

There were huge vessels where food was cooked outside. Also, there was a Buland Darwaza. After seeing all these, I came out of the main entrance and went to hotel and slept for some time. Then at 8:30 PM, I set out in search of a hotel and found one on Prithviraj Road, and had a Punjabi thali and came back to the hotel and crashed at 10 PM.

The next day, I woke up at 7:30 AM, and packed things and checked out of the hotel at 9:30 AM. I went to the bus stop and enquired about how to go to Nareli. Everyone told that there was no direct bus to Nareli and to hire an auto for Rs. 200 - 250. I went out of the bus stand and made a deal with an auto guy to take me to Nareli for Rs. 200, as this place was about 14 kms from city centre.

I reached Nareli at around 10:30 and was very excited to see the place. A huge garden sprawled with temple at the rear end near the mountain. Also, on top of the mountain, there were small temples being built. This temple had a very beautiful architecture.

Inside the main temple, a huge hall is there where in the huge idol of the first Jain Tirthankara is placed.

Breathtaking view from top (from net) - I didn't climb up there though.

Alltogether, it was an awesome place, soon to become very famous. Undoubtedly, Jains are cash rich!

After seeing this, I returned back to bus stop. I then took a shared auto to Ana Sagar lake. By the side of the lake, there is a huge garden called Daulat Bagh. Its full of greenery and was so good to watch. There is a huge compound which lies adjoins Ana Sagar and the garden. The cool breeze coming there was truely refreshing in the scroching sun.

I returned from this place and went to a restaurant and had proper popular Rajasthani meal - Dal Bati Choorma with Ghatta sabji and ghee. It tasted yummy and was too filling. I couldn't even get up from my seat! I finally managed to get out of the restaurant and went straight to bus stand, as I was too sleepy and there was no accomodation. I reached the bus stand and slept on a chair for some time. I woke up at 3:30 and decided to go to Mayo college and took a shared auto. But the auto driver dropped me off near a fly over and told that Mayo college was on the other side of the flyover and I had to walk some distance. As it was damn sunny, I didn't have the guts to walk in the sun, so took the same auto and came back to the bus stand. I next decided to go to Sai Baba temple and enquired about it. The guys told me to go to Railway station and catch bus number 1 from there to AjayNagar. I did so accordingly and finally reached Sai Baba temple at around 4:30 PM.

This temple is situated in the outskirts of the city. This has a huge hall inside and the idol of Baba is at the end. A very peaceful and calm place to be.

After taking some rest here, I moved and came back to the railway station. From there, I took another auto and came back to bus stop and did some time pass till 7 PM. I had lots of time to be wasted, as my bus was at 9:30 PM. Actually, got a little bored that day! I then called up the travel guy and asked where he was located. He told me to come to Kutchery Road where his shop - Mahadev travels was located. I reached the place and paid him Rs. 220 for the sleeper and told that I would have my dinner and would return. For dinner, I wasn't that hungry, as the Dal Bati Choorma was solid. I just bought 2 bananas and had sugar cane juice and came back to the shop. At 9 PM, some guy, supposed to be the ticket collector of the bus came in a bike and the shop owner asked me to go with him to the bus stand. Private bus stand was 4 kms away from the Govt bus stand. I reached the bus stand where my bus was waiting, and got into the bus and decided - come what may - I wouldn't get off the bus till I reached Delhi! I got an upper sleeper berth and slept peacefully till I reached Delhi at 6:30 AM. I then took a bus from Old Delhi Station direct to my place and reached guest house at 7:30 AM.

With this, ended my adventurous trip to Ajmer! For next week, Vaishno Devi is on cards..

Jaipur trip

Last friday, I got to know that my assignment in Gurgaon will come to an end on 31st July late at 3:30 PM. I had mixed feelings about the same - happy to be back in Bangalore on one side, and some places which I wanted to cover weren't still done. I quickly worked out a trip to Jaipur and asked who all were interested. Deepti, Geeta and Pavan instantly said 'Yes' and I booked an indica thru our previous cab driver Desraj for the four of us. Late at night, Deepti said that her friend Neeru was also joining us, so I again rang Desraj and asked him to come over in his innova at 6 AM on saturday. Thus began the fastest unplanned trip to Jaipur.

Desraj arrived promptly at 6 AM and myself, Geeta & Deepti started from our guest house to Noida at 6:10 AM to pickup Neeru. After picking her up, we drove to Gurgaon and picked up Pavan from Sahara Mall at 7:30 AM.

We had our breakfast in between at around 9 at some dhaba. Our journey in the cab was good, as we played cards. We first decided to go to Amber Fort.

We reached Amber Fort, which is around 12 kms from Jaipur at 12ish. This was a very magnificient fort and palace. We saw all of the below things, walking in the sun. I was noting down the information provided of each place here.

This is the big open area as soon as we enter the main gate.
Ganesh Pol is a fine portal covered with paintings. It was built by Sawai Jai Singh. This gateway provides access to the inner court in which the principal apartments of the king are situated and everything is in marble.
Diwan-i-Khas or the Hall of Private audience was constructed during the period of Mirza Raja Jai Singh and it is also called Jai Mandir, and because of the beautiful mirror glass work in it, it is also called as Sheesh Mahal or the Glass Palace. The mirror pieces were specially imported from Belgium during that period. The Raja met his special guests here. In front of the Sheesh Mahal is a parterred little garden in the classic Mughal pattern called Char-bagh or Four Gardens.
Palace of Raja Man Singh was completed in 1599 AD and it took about 25 years to build. In the centre of the square is the baradari or pavilion. The ground and upper storeys of the palace contain rooms in which, frescoes were painted.Tunnels are to be found quite commonly in palaces and forts of the medieval period. They were used to conceal movement or to allow esacape when during a seige the defendrs were being pushed hard. The Amber Palace tunnel connects it to the Jaigarh fort.
The Tripolia Gate (Three Gates) mainly controls access from the west into the palace. It opens in three different directions, hence the name.Chaand Pol, or the Moon Gate was the main gate of entry for the commoners.Maota Lake was the main source of water for the palace. The lake collects rain water flowing down from the nearby hills. The Dil-Aaram Bagh is situated on its northern end. The Kesar Kyari (Saffron flowerbeds) Garden is in its middle.Dil Aaram Bagh is the Garden to soothe the heart. This was laided on the northern side of Maota lake in the 18th century. The Chhatris on both sides, rectangular pillared halls on east and west corners along with fountains, water-courses, a central pool, flower beds in classical geometrical desigh, all othese features make the ambience pleasureful. So the name is eponymous.

After covering Amber Fort and Palace, we moved on and Deepti suggested we go to Jaigarh Fort. This was on a hill and had little curvy roads. On the way, we found some peacocks too moving freely in the open.

We reached Jaigarh Fort and paid Rs. 25 per person as entry fee. I noted down the things to be seen at this place. Here are the ones.

We first went to Jaivana. Jaivana is the worlds largest cannon on wheels, which is 20 ft and weighs 50 tons with a diameter of 11 inches. It is beautifully decorated with carving surrow trees and elephant on the barrel. It could be rotated in any direction with the help of rolling pin. But, it was test fired only once.View of Jal Mahal from Jaigarh Fort.View of the fort:

There was a museum too which had old guns, very long guns, bombs, daggers, dresses, etc. Photography prohibited.

Next, we went to Shri Rama Hari Har temple. Here, there are 2 big idols of Lord Rama & Hari-Har. The idol of Rama also contains four other incarnations of Vishnu - Lion, Boar, Tortise and Fish. The half part of other idol gives the image of Lord Shiva and the other half of Bhagvan Vishnu. This temple was set up about 1225 AD. The marble work & brass door of this temple were accomplished by Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Ji II in 1940 AD.On the way to palace, we saw Subhat Niwas.We hired a security guard as a guide and he took us to some places in the palace. First he took us to puppet show room, and told that the kings were interested in puppet shows.He then took us to the Dining hall which was built by Mirza Raja Jai Singh. This gallery shows the King having dinner with a group of his sardars-courtiers. All kinds of veg & nonveg items were being served in those days.Next, he took us to Lalit Mandir which is a double storied summer palace built in 17th century on the pattern of traditional Rajput style of architecture. The complex consists of a large courtyard and the central hall has 8 twin pillars of sandstone in traditional Rajput style. The upper storey has bedrooms, verandahas with attached balconies. The bedrooms have stone (Jharoka) screen with jali work to allow cool breeze to come in.Next we went to beautiful garden (forgot its name), which was closed though. The guide told that some hindi movies like Humraaz were shot here.The scene of Amber palace from Jaigarh fort was beautiful.With this, we completed Jaigarh fort.

Next we came to Jaipur. On the way, we saw Jal Mahal.As we entered Pink City, we were greeted with buildings which were pink in color. We fist went to Hawa Mahal, and my expectations came down when I saw that it was on a normal city road itself.Hawa Mahal was built in 1799 by Maharaja Pratap Singh and is the most famous landmark in Jaipur. The palace is shaped like a pyramid and is a 5 storeyed building with a number of small windows and screens. This lies in the Pink City, where in all the buildings in the area are pink.
We entered this place and went over to the top. Actually, there was nothing much to see in this place. This was only meant to be seen from outside. However, we could see some parts of Jantar-Mantar from Hawa Mahal.

After covering Hawa Mahal, we all were damn hungy, and it was close to 5 PM. As we hadn't had anything after breakfast, we decided to have some Rajasthani delicacy in a proper restaurant. We found some veg restaurant at some place, but when we went there, they didn't serve anything special of Rajasthan. We didn't have the patience to find another restaurant, so we decided to fill in our stomachs here only. And we ate normal dal, roti & currry only.

It was past 6 and the girls had to do some shopping. Girls & shopping go hand in hand! We didn't want to go to another Birla Mandir atleast, so just roamed around the city to find the best shopping place. Our driver took us to the market area near Chowda road which he knew. The girls got off from the cab & went straight to shop. I got to know that Bandej kind of saree was very famous here, but I didn't get one, as I was doubtful about mom wearing it. Myself & Pavan were just roaming here and there for 1.5 hours.

Finally the girls were done with their shopping and arrived near the cab and we set to return to Delhi at 8 PM. Midway, Geeta remembered that one sweet dish called Ghevar was popular in Rajasthan, so we stopped by a sweet corner and got 1 kg of Ghevar. It tasted really yummy.

The way back, our journey was good, except that everyone were tired to core. We stopped in between at 12 PM somewhere at a dhaba and had roti & chai. Dhaba's chai's are superb! Finally, we reached our guest house in Delhi at around 2:30 AM!

With this, the short & quickly planned Jaipur trip came to an end. I wouldn't stop telling awesome!