DAY 1 – CHAND BAORI &
CHOKHI DHANI
The trip started not on a very
good note. Our 9 o’ clock flight from Mumbai to Jaipur was delayed by an hour
and therefore we reached Jaipur around noon. We had booked an AC Innova for the
entire trip. Our driver, Mr. Radhey Krishna picked us up from the Airport and
we headed to our hotel, Hotel Shalimar which was a 20 mins drive. The hotel was
good and we had booked two deluxe rooms but they had upgraded us to Club
Deluxe. The rooms were big, comfortable, neat and equipped with modern
facilities. After relaxing for an hour, we had our lunch at a restaurant near
our hotel.
Post
Lunch, we headed to Chand Baori, Abhaneri which is about 100 Kms outside Jaipur
towards Agra.
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| Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha |
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| On the way to Abhaneri |
In the village of Abhaneri, Rajasthan is an old baori (stepwell)
which has almost faded into the history. Built in the 8th or 9th century by King Chand of the Nikumbha
Rajputs of Chahamana dynasty, this stepwell was dedicated to the the
goddess of joy and happiness – Harshshat Mata. The temple of Harshshat Mata is
at adjacent to this beautiful architecture. It is one of the largest and
deepest stepwells (20 meter deep with 13 levels) in India.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chand_Baori)
After 2 hours drive we entered
the small village Abhaneri and were soon in front of Chand Baori.
I had never seen a step well
before and therefore was very excited. We walked in and the stepwell suddenly appeared
in front of us. I was speechless. It is a place that takes you to a different
world, a different time. It is one of the most beautiful and fascinating human
created architecture I have seen.
The
Baori was fascinating.
The broken sculptures have been
kept around the Baori for the visitors to appreciate the carvings and art of
that period.
It is now manager by
Archaeological Survey of India. There is no fee for visiting the monument. Few
scenes of the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” and Bollywood movie “Paheli” has
been shot here.
A few meters from the Baori is
the Harshat Mehta Temple.
Looking at the size of the
temple it feels that it would have been a huge temple of its time. The broken
Sculptures and pillars are neatly arranged around the temple.
The
sun was setting when we left Abhaneri. We ended our day with dinner at Chokhi
Dhani.
Chokhi
Dhani is a Village theme based resort that showcases the spirit of Rajasthan. It
is approx 30 km from the main city. We reached Chokhi Dhani around 8 in
the evening.
The main entrance was not impressive neither the location. It was looking like just another big Dhaba, the kind we see on the Delhi-Panipat highway. Though there was a huge rush at the entrance (may be because it was a weekend).
We entered inside and I was totally surprised and impressed with its offering.
It’s like a big rural party, like the one I used to see during my childhood in
Mathura. There was each and every kind of activity. One can buy clothes, eat
almost anything, for entertainment there were magic shows, dance programs, and
hell lot of things. After so many years I felt the same madness here.
As
soon as we entered, we were greeted by a lady who applied tilak to our
foreheads. What followed was a glass of hot rabri and then music floating in
the air. At different stages spread across a big ground, dancers were
performing different folk dances of Rajasthan, be it Kalbelia or Ghumar. Camels
and Elephants were carrying happy kids on their backs on a sightseeing trip of
the place and countless stalls were serving different delicacies of Rajasthan.
Wherever
I moved my eyes something was happening. I want to list a few… Rajasthani
dance, magic show, palmistry, mehendi art, puppet show, camel cart, horse
riding, boating, bullock cart, a tree decorated with lamp, haveli like small
houses, paintings on the wall etc. etc. etc.
This
is a place better suited for those who want to get a feel of Rajasthani culture
and cuisine in a few hour's time, without traveling across the state.
Finally it was time to have food and it was so sumptuous. We sat down to eat and what a meal it was! Baati, different kinds of rotis, daals, curries, rice, khichdi, sweets - every item floating in ghee/butter and care. The attendants of Chowkhi Dhani make the dinning a pleasurable experience by their friendly demeanor and actually make one overeat.
After a fulfilling dinner we headed back to the hotel and crashed. Sleep came swiftly and rightly so as the next day was going to be a hectic one...
