A Wandering Mind

It was Mohammed’s suggestion that we keep aside a day for the Parashuram Mahadeo temple. Mohammed was our jeep driver for the jungle safari. Since he seemed to know the area well, and agreed to take us there the next day, we agreed to take his advice, and, in retrospect, it is a good thing that we did! We planned to leave by 9:00 AM, after an early breakfast, but Samhith didn’t wake up, and we didn’t want to spoil his holiday by waking him up, so it was past 10:30 that we finally left. The Parashuram Mahadeo temple is a cave on a mountain, which is accessible from both, the foothills as well as the peak. When you approach the temple from Falna, there is a road leading up to the foothills, from where you have to climb up the mountain to reach the temple. From Kumbhalgarh, there is a road leading to the mountain peak, from where one has to walk down a path to the temple. View from the peak- on the right, the saffron flag indicates the location of the temple, and on the left, the building...

There is something about a jungle safari that is exciting and adventurous and at the same time reasonably safe and possible for everyone. Most of the places we have been to, on vacation, have had a forest nearby, and we have always tried out the safari. Traveling with a small kid, it is rather difficult to participate in adventure activities, and a safari is the closest one can come to adventure with a kid. In fact, to Samhith, a jungle safari is a true blue adventure. He can imagine tigers and lions lurking at every corner, and even a monkey is interesting enough for him at this stage. In no safari have we seen any wild animals--- monkeys, elephants and deer being the only animals we have seen. Shankar jokes that there are probably more panthers in Thane than in these forests, and maybe he is right. We did not, therefore, have any great expectations when we decided to go for the jungle safari in an open jeep into the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary. The road through the forest Our dri...

History or Legend? Sometimes it is difficult to choose the right word. Here, I chose to use the word ‘Legend’, as I have not been able to verify the authenticity of the stories I heard from an old man living in the Kumbhalgarh Fort. He told us that he was a native of Kumbhalgarh, and had also worked for the Archaeological department in the fort, lending a touch of credibility to the story he told us. I must admit, that though we have fallen into the habit of taking in stories with a pinch of salt, there was an air of truth about this man. A Miniature of Rana Kumbha from Chittorgarh To begin with the origin of the fort , it is indeed a fact that the original fort here was ruled by the Jain king Samprati, who built around 300 Jain temples inside the fort. After him, the fort remained unused, and fell to ruins, except the temples, which survived to tell their story. Rana Kumbha came here to build a fort so that he could defend Mewar against the Mughals who were regularly attacking C...

We spent the first day at the resort catching up on sleep, and the second morning passed by just getting acquainted with the resort. I was looking forward to going to the fort soon. We had been told that the best time to visit it would be in the evening, as the fort would be lit up around 7 P.M. We left the resort around 4 P.M. so that we could take in the sights before it got dark, and then wait until the lights were switched on. The weather had been pleasant since our arrival, which in itself was surprising. We had expected it to be quite hot, and packed in all our summer things. It turned out to be quite cool up there, and that evening it was also a bit cloudy. Our first view of the Kumbhalgarh fort The Kumbhalgarh fort is an impressive edifice that remains hidden from view till the last bend in the road, less than a kilometer away. It is only after we enter the first gate of the fort, and the road turns towards the fort, that we can get our first glimpse of the fort and its famous ...

Kumbhalgarh , about 90 Kms from Udaipur, is one of the biggest forts in the Mewar area of Rajasthan. It was built by Rana Kumbha in the 14th century to protect Mewar against the Mughal invaders. Though it is Rana Kumbha who is credited with building the present fort, there was an earlier structure at the same place built by the Jain King Samprati. The fort’s claim to fame lies in its 36 Km long wall, which is said to be the second largest after the Great Wall of China. Club Mahindra has recently opened a new resort, Club Mahindra Fort Kumbhalgarh , just 5 Km from this historical site. I had been looking forward to visiting the fort ever since I read about it, and when Shankar suggested spending Samhith’s March-end school break there, I happily agreed and made reservations. It has been my experience that our well planned holidays rarely work out, while it is the unplanned, at-a-moment’s-notice ones that are the real successes. I was therefore skeptical of ever leaving for Kumb...

In my earlier post, I had mentiond how we enjoyed freshly-made sugarcane juice at Shani Shingnapur. Now I can show it to you....... If you are not able to see the video directly, click on the link below: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8882978345805173439&pr=goog-sl

Samhith’s holidays have started . At least, he has 10 days off till new term starts, and he goes to U.K.G. As usual, holidays mean travel, and that is what we have been up to, since the 22nd of March. The trip was totally unplanned , decided on the spur of the moment. No buses were available.. It was, after all, the Holi weekend, or rather, the Good Friday, Navroze, Id-e-Milad, and Holi weekend, and everyone seemed to be on their way somewhere…. So, we did what we usually do- hire a car. We decided to visit Shani Shingnapur first, as it was a Saturday, special for Lord Shaneeshwara, and then Shirdi, and return home the same night, as Shankar and my father-in-law were supposed to go to Karjat on Sunday for the Sai water project. We started at 5:30 AM , my mother joining us from Thane on Friday night. We took the expressway to Pune, and from there, the Pune – Nagar (Ahmednagar) Highway. The ride was smooth as the roads in that part are excellent. Babu, our driver, is an excellent driver ...