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After Narayan's return to Canada and a few days in Delhi to update this web site I headed towards Rajasthan — the land of Kings — my first destination being Jaipur some 300km west of Delhi. As the bus reached its destination, I got swarmed by rickshaw drivers trying to take me to a hotel where they'd get a commission. I noticed two girls in the same quandry, and we joined forces to go find a decent guest house on foot. Keren and Noa, two sisters from Israel, would turn out to be my travelling companions for the following 3 weeks.
Jaipur is a wonderful city, famous for its trade in silk, gemstones and silver jewelry; as well as a few mighty forts and palaces built by the Rajputs. The Rajputs were a fierce and independent Hindu group of warriors bound by a strict code of honor and chivalry to commit Jauhar (mass suicide) when no hope of victory over the enemy was left. Women and children would immolate themselves while the men rode out to meet certain death in battle. To this days, the Maharajas of Rajasthan are treated as royalty, even though they hold no constitutional power.
Our little trio settled at the Evergreen Guest House, from which we explored the pink city, the forts, the markets and even the nightlife. Rajasthan is truly the picturesque India of the Western imagination. Its northern boundary is the great Thar desert, while the South is more welcoming. But this being winter, I didn't have to worry about the heat. The roads are excellent, most likely due to the strategic position of the state: right along the border of Pakistan. In fact, the vast expanses of desert are still very hard to control and are said to be used to infiltrate Kashmiri militants in and out of the country.
We were unable to escape the fierce bullying of the rickshaw drivers, and ended up hiring Shyam to take us around the town. The tour started nicely enough with the Jantar Mantar observatory built in 1728 by Sawai Jai Singh II. It truly impressed the physicist in me. The large and very accurate instruments allow to calculate time, positions of the stars and planets, eclipses, and other astronomical events. The sundial with its 23m high gnomon measures time to within 10 seconds. The best part of visiting the observatory is that the instruments are not fragile and delicate, but large enough that you can climb on them and inspect them closely to figure out how they work. The measurement markings are carved in marble and are clearly visible, but readable only if you know the devanagari script.
Amber fort (Kachhawaha citadel), whose construction started in 1592 by Man Singh I and was completed by his son Jai Singh I is some 12km out of the city. Our rickety rickshaw, as it passed elephants and camel drawn carts going up the mountain road to the fort, kept on getting passed by cars, busses and trucks blaring their horns. The only rule of the road in India is that whoever is bigger gets the right of way. To access the fort itself you need to go through the impressive Ganesh Pol (gate), whose top storey with screened marble lattice was to protect the privacy of ladies in purdah — that is living in seclusion. This Muslim custom was adopted by the Rajputs, and requires women to live amongst themselves in private quarters (the zenana) and to be completely veiled while out of doors. The palace itself did not contain much furniture: its mainly a succession of beautiful but empty room. Exploring the labyrinth of the zenana was more fun, but equally bare.
On the way back from the fort, the intentions of our rickshaw driver started to become clear... There was a silk factory to visit, a stone cutter's workshop as well as a silver jewelry wholesaler. Unmentioned was the fact that these places will inflate the prices when you are dropped by a rickshaw driver, to cover the driver's commission on the sale. Undeterred, my two shop-aholic friends started to look over the various offerings, giving me serious training in bargaining in the process. Trust me, after an hour of selecting merchandise, when Noa says: Now let's talk business, she isn't kidding. Some good deals were made, and some not so good as well. In the end, I had a lot of fun looking at all the merchandise on offer and sharpened my ability to estimate the price of goods in an instant. It may come into use later...
The old part of Jaipur is called the Pink City and it was a planned in 1727 according to the Shilpa-Shastra, an ancient Hindu architectural treaty. The result, you guessed it, is the usual grid pattern with large avenues that we are so familiar with in North-America. Yet, the pink-orangish color and the fabulous palaces that are sprinkled within the old city limits make for a unique character with a perfume of grand history. Mixed in, of course, are the various animals that share the street life with people: cows for sure; but also pigs, goats, stray dogs and the odd chicken. These animals are fending for themselves when it comes to finding food, and are often seen rummaging through heaps of garbage. The question becomes: when you order meat in a restaurant, how was the animal fed? In general meat's taste is strongly influenced by the animal diet... If these are the animals that end up being served in restaurants (except for the cows of course), then no wonder there are so many spices used in Indian cooking. Keren, the vegetarian of the bunch, was laughing at us while we decided not to push the enquiries too far... I convinced myself that since I haven't seen any on the streets yet, mutton must be safe to eat.
The marble cenotaphs of the Kachhawaha kings at the Royal Gaitor are interesting for their beautifully ornate sculptures, but they also tell the tale of the dynasty of Maharajas to this day. These are mostly empty of course, since in Hindu tradition the bodies are cremated. Half the ashes are thrown into Ganga — the Ganges — while the remainder is deposited in the cenotaph. Jai Singh II's mausoleum, is built entirely with marble imported from Carare, Italy. Sawai Man Singh II, father of the current Maharaja, died in the late 70's of a polo accident while in the U.K. His brother was a 2m-tall 250kg monster of a man who had no less than 48 wives and who reputedly killed several of them impaled on his imposing member. He died of heart failure. Down to the current Maharaja's second son who died from overdose while living in the U.K.
The Palace of the Winds, Hawa Mahal, is another example of a zenana. A palace built just for women, so they could observe the activities in the street in the cool breeze that the structure captures in summer. It is dedicated to Lord Krishna, and the main structure is reminiscent to the crown often placed on the god's head.
Our two-day-turned-five visit in Jaipur wasn't all monument's and shopping. We discovered that Jaipur had a decent nightlife. At first, we were haunting the local pub: cheap beer, all men (except for my table), no music. But things started to get better after we met Upendra — an NRI (or Non-Resident Indian) from Switzerland — and Lalit — from Nepal. In their company we discovered a few decent bars, and were invited to an outdoors party at Tiger Fort, overlooking the city. We discovered that Indian men love to dance, but there are some serious cases of sexual frustration that some believe they can relieve on Western women. I turned body guard from time to time, and got to witness some things that as a guy travelling alone I would never have been exposed to. All in all though, it was good fun and we managed to have a reasonable social life while in Jaipur.
India and the Kingdom of Nepal (gallery) (next entry =>) Rajasthan India Places Friends Society Travel