Have You Experienced the Royal Rajasthan Route?

Palaces of lacy sandstone, golden forts and luxury beyond imagination, but also a great tradition of honour and courage that one can only wonder at. A swing through Rajasthan’s royal route is the stuff that dream holidays are made of.

Udaipur

City of Lakes – a deliciously intriguing name for a desert town! Legend has it that Maharana Udai Singh II, ruler of Mewar kingdom, met a holy man while on a hunting expedition in the Aravalli foothills. The sage blessed him and advised him to construct a palace at the spot. Following Mughal Emperor Akbar’s sacking of Chittor Fort, Udai Singh founded a new capital around this residence called Udaipur.

Against the Aravalli range rise Udaipur’s splendid, impossibly romantic palaces and havelis.  The City Palace is Rajasthan’s largest, a sprawling architectural complex replete with intricately worked towers, cupolas, balconies and jharokas. The museums inside offer a glimpse into the past – portraits of Udaipur’s fiercely independent rulers (look out for a magnificent array of moustaches), the Zenana Mahal, sculptures and halls with gorgeous mosaics, mirror work and ornamental tile work.

On exhibit at Bagore ki Haveli, home of a former prime minister, is the world’s largest turban. The haveli itself is the perfect setting to watch a Rajasthani dance performance, held daily at 7 pm.

Oh to be a Maharaja! The Vintage & Classic Car Collection belonging to the former royals consists of twenty-two magnificent beasts. The Rolls-Royce Phantom (1934) featured in the James Bond flick, Octopussy.

When lazily gliding on a boat in one of Udaipur’s artificial lakes, it’s worth sparing a thought for the ancient engineering skills that went into creating these water bodies. The Lake Palace Hotel, rising like a marble mirage from the waters of Lake Pichola can melt the most hardened traveller. Fateh Sagar, Jaisamand and Rajsamand are some of the other lakes that provide water to the city's residents. A bad monsoon though, can mean sadly shrunken water bodies.

Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer Fort’s 99 bastions rear high above Trikuta Hill in the Thar Desert. Its local name is Sonar Qila – Golden Fort – and you’ll agree there could be no better moniker for this splendiferous pile of sandstone.

The solid stone of the fort’s three tiers buttresses the construction against the loose soil of the hill on which it’s built. A second wall winds around the fort. In former times, defending Rajputs would stand between this and the highest wall and pour boiling oil or rain deathly missiles on their hapless foes below.

The fort, home to a quarter of Jaisalmer’s people, is a crazy maze of narrow lanes in which havelis, the Maharaja’s palace, guesthouses, temples, shops and museums jostle in happy confusion –  no cars, fortunately.

Getting lost in the crowded honeycomb of lanes is the best way to absorb the fort’s culture, history and many quaint contrasts of old and new. The fort’s 12^th-16^th century Jain temples are exquisite poems in sandstone. When the sun dips in the evening, a stroll past the outer ramparts serves up views of the ancient city and the desert around. Later at night, the inky sky, thick with stars is pure magic.

Jodhpur

Rao Jodha, a chieftain of the Suryavanshi Rathore clan founded Jodhpur in the fifteenth century. Thanks to its location on a busy trade route, the town grew in size and importance, its wealth fuelled by an assortment of goods passing through – copper, sandalwood, dates and…opium! Jodhpur is increasingly popular with those who’d rather avoid the touristy excesses of Jaipur and Pushkar. While the modern city suffers from mofussil India’s usual woes – stinky, open sewers, cows and boring architecture – historic Jodhpur enthrals.

Meherangarh Fort is the proverbial cherry on Jodhpur’s cake, an awe-inspiring sprawl of burnished sandstone that prompted Rudyard Kipling to describe it as “the work of giants”.  It continues to be run by Jodhpur’s Maharaja. Meherangarh’s original name is said to be Chintamani, the mystical gem that frees its owner of worries. ‘Mehr’ is a local word for ‘sun’, so it’s possible that later Rathores renamed it in honour of their celestial ancestor.

Successive rulers added to the original fort, which makes it a fabulous blend of varied influences and styles. Meherangarh Fort was never conquered, a reason why  touring the fort is arguably the most exciting history lesson one could encounter, with innumerable tales of valour, scandal, lust, vengeance and eye-popping decadence.

Jodhpur is also a hub for jeep safaris to the nearby villages of the Bishnoi, a 15^th century tribal sect famously known for their environmental activism. Also on offer are trips to potters’ and weavers’ villages.

Tempted to do the Maharaja Route? What are you waiting for? Book your Rajasthan Holiday now!