Animals Everywhere!!

As highly populated as India is with dense urban areas, it is primarily a rural country. While driving between cities, several types of birds were noticed.  These egrets found a safe haven near a farm area. 

We spotted our first monkeys when we drove into Delhi. Arvind laughed at our excited reaction and assured us we would have a chance to see more monkeys later.  On our drive back to Delhi he had the driver stop at an area where monkeys were being relocated from the city.

He told us that the vendor offering bananas and other foods for the animals gave a whole new meaning to the term “monkey business.”  

Lisa purchased some feed to entice some of the monkeys closer, but they remained pretty elusive.

There we also saw a nilgai, a native antelope of India.

I heard peacocks in several areas but it was Nancy Leung, with her superior camera, who caught sight of this one near the Birla Temple in Jaipur.

Her camera also captured these parrots at the Taj Mahal.

The bus also reacted with enthusiasm when we noticed our first camel.  The area west of Jaipur is desert so there were more in that region that further east, but we noticed them working everywhere.

And the elephants!!! We got to ride some up the hill at the Amber Fort (more on that later) in Jaipur, but that is a nice touch at a tourist area. Government regulations limit the elephants to four trips up the hill per day. The handlers then ride them into town to find other locations where tourists might want a short ride or photo opportunity. We saw most elephants just as a part of everyday working life along the roadways.

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Amber Fort Wins Best Fort Prize

When I was quite young we stopped at Fort Ticonderoga in New York State on one of our family vacations. A colonial era fort, Ticonderoga stayed in my memory as one of my favorite places so much that I had my family stop there about five years ago.  Somehow, it had shrunk and my kids were not impressed.

Well, travelfans, do I have a fort for you!!! Imagine, if you will, the Amber Fort of Jaipur, high on a ridge overlooking the valley. Built in 1592 by Raja Man Singh, this palace has it all: amazing architectural details and wonderful stairways and corridors that beckon you on and on.

But first, let me set the tone.You should stop first by the lake and visit with the snake charmer. For a small fee you, too, can blow on the nasally sounding flute and keep a close eye on the cobra.  Then climb aboard one of the wonderfully decorated elephants

source: Nancy Leung SmarTours

and ride in leisure up up up the climbing roadway to the Sun Gate.

source: Nancy Leung SmarTours

Try to ignore the vendor running alongside enticing you with an ever declining price for the elephant bedspread he is hawking. Tell him it is made poorly and you have no interest, tossing it back to him continuously as the elephant takes you higher and higher. Remember to ignore the vendor to take in the view of the gardensand the fortress wall climbing the opposite hillside. When you enter the courtyard and he is losing hope, pay the man 10% of his originally stated price and tuck the blanket away, to be used later to sew custom made bags for people who want one that has an essence of this trip.

 And then look around the courtyard.

source: Nancy Leung SmarTours

And start exploring.  So much to see. The stairs beckoning you upwards to the plaza.

The mosaics all over the place, in the walls, in the ceilings….everywhere.

Remind yourself that this all was built in 1592, well over 400 years ago. Enjoy the colors

and the carvings. Everywhere, more detailing.

Every ceiling different. And the passageways….follow this one…then that one.

Ask someone who works there how to get back to the courtyard where Arvind asked everyone to meet in 20 minutes before moving to another section of the fort.

Meet up with the group in time and maintain your good standing. And then go again. See another section…it is a huge place.

Peek out of windows to view other places inside the fort and the surrounding countryside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then down another passageway

through another gate

source: Nancy Leung SmarTours

and still more to see with huge cooking pots.

and then out beyond the outer gate past more vendors and then a jeep ride back to the bus.

Amber Fort……put it on your list of places to visit, but only if you like to explore.  You DO like to explore, don’t you!!

 

Hindu Temple Visit

An optional tour one evening in Jaipur, enjoyed by about half the SmarTours group, was to the Birla Hindu temple built a few years ago by a well-to-d0 family. Designed to show how Hinduism encompasses both Islam and Buddhism with their symbolic rooflines, the white marble structure is surrounded with a white plaza. Dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi, Arvind told us the ceremony we would witness takes place after sundown. It usually takes about 10 minutes and includes a chant that is repeated several times. Arvind did warn us that the chanting could go on for a half hour or even longer, but it was a short ceremony after all.

He told us that symbolically he leaves his troubles outside on the steps leading up to the entrance, to be picked up again upon exiting. He told us that the chanting makes him feel very calm.

Arvind made sure we were positioned at the very front of the open room. People filed in behind us and what happened next was interesting.  As soon as the curtains opened and the ceremony began, the crowd pushed forward, as if eager to be as close as possible.

source: Lisa Garmat after the ceremony and people left the temple, from outside

The ceremony actually began when the curtains were still closed. The priests sounded a conch shell, and the tones reminded my of the shofar blown in a Jewish Temple at the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kipur. The curtains opened and before us were two statutes of Vishnu and Lakshmi, beautifully dressed in bright colors. The chanting began, one priest ringing some bells, as done in the Episcopal mass to draw attention to an important  prayer, and the other priest slowly making a circular motion with a candelabra. Candles are lit in Christianity and Judaism as well.

In a few minutes, the chanting ended, the curtains remained open. The crowd circled around behind the curtained area to receive a blessing from the priests in the form of a spicy sweet mixture to eat, one more symbolic similarity to Christianity.

Once again, we are more alike than different. Love one another.