Trip to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

We finally set off in the month of May to the oldest city ever-Varanasi. Umm, Banaras? No, Kashi! What’s in a name anyways!

The scorching heat, which was a little over 42C, didn’t actually seem to dampen our spirit, although a lot of people had cautioned us against it.

Well, the moment arrived, and there we were! Heading towards Ganapati Guest House, where we would be spending our next three memorable days. A little about why we chose this guest house and not any other. Its right on the bank of the river, alongside all the Ghats. There’s a balcony with a view of the Ganges which gives the guest house a breathtaking ambience. It is just a couple of minutes away from the main temple Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, although a little away from the main road. This meant that we would get dropped at a spot that was a15-minute walk away from the place of stay. It was worth it all, because the uniqueness of Banaras is its streets. The Ghats, the steep stairs and of course the legend of our Ganga maiyya and Shivji deciding to stay here for good!!

  At probably seven in the evening, the moment we checked into the hotel and stepped into the balcony, I looked onto my right, only to see the famous Dhashwamedh Ghat with the Ganga Aarti ongoing, and a large fleet of boats on the river, with loads of yellow lamps-dreams floating. An inexplicable visual, one must watch it to feel it!

We quickly hit the road to pay our respects to Shivji before beginning our journey. It was amazing to see the 4 feet narrow roads that led to the temple. Scooters, Gau Mata, people, everything fit so beautifully well into the small streets!

Behold! My dream came true as I stepped into the Kashi Vishwanath temple, that I had been yearning to visit (and I have no reason why) for a long, long time now.

The next morning, we set off for the boat ride, again an experience of a view into the life on the Ghats. If one Ghat had life in abundance, there were two others- “Harishchandra Ghat” and “Manikarnika Ghat”-  that were buzzling with the silence beyond life. While there were some who had just gotten out of the river after a holy dip, there were some others, whose bodies were put on the funeral pyre. There were also 

some bodies that were waiting, for their turn, to receive Moksha in the holiest place on this planet. Once, we saw 16 pyres at a time! They say, this is one place where the cremation happens on all 365 days of a year.

Amidst the sunrise, people, the floating shops for memoirs, the swim of the kids, the intense prayers, and the hustle and bustle, there I was, witnessing it all, with no words to explain how I felt.

Foooooooooood! Kachori, kulhad chai and jalebi. That was in our mind, as we set off towards the main road...yumm…we were already thinking about our next food destination! :’)

After a leisurely freshening up, we set off to the main temple again, and many prayers later, we realized the heat was picking up, and were advised against heading anywhere until evening.So, we decided to hit the main road in the hot sun, to find good food. Not that Ganpati Guest house doesn’t provide food, we were just too ambitious. And yes, we did find a restaurant, but there was nothing banarasi about the food they served. On our way back to the guest house, I couldn’t stop ogling at the stores that had the banarasi sarees on display. At 40C, after a heavy-not so banarasi-meal, there went my foot on a hole-y road, and cracked me up with a bad ligament tear. I quickly wrapped my ankle up with a bandage and set off again! This hole-y incident somehow decided the course of our next two days and how!

When walking is the only choice you have as there are no vehicles (that fit into the 4ft narrow lanes and not hit the Gau Mata at the same time), I never even fancied a thought that I could push myself so much. We kept walking.

A good rest later, we moved towards the evening boat ride, followed by the world-famous Ganga Aarti- a ritual par excellence.  And then we headed to the Kashi Chaat Bhandar, a small shop at the main road, which offers lightning fast service in spite of the great rush they have to handle, and serves great food! Favorite in the menu? Has to be the tangy tamatar chaat! Don’t even try forgetting to order it.

We set off to Sarnath-where Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon, the next day, in a vehicle booked by the

guest house, and on our way, visited the Sankat Mochan, and the Durga temples. It’s amazing to see the beauty of Sarnath, the teachings of Buddha, and the museum, all of which were calm and peaceful- offering a sharp contrast to what happened in Varanasi. 

We went to an outlet nearby to check out some Banaras memoirs, and once we were done, we returned back to the hotel and relaxed.

Khaikepaanbanraswala every day ;) you are not supposed to chew the paan. Atleast that’s what the vendor advised us to do.  It just melts in your mouth and gives you a chill feeling!

Day three, we were all set to return, and lo! How could we miss out on the KalBhairav temple!! We rushed to his abode, prayed and then came back for a leisurely lunch at Ganpati Guest house, as we started packing for our trip back home. *sobs*. I know I am going back again. This time in a colder season.

Banaras is in the Ghats. You have to feel it, you have to live it. With friendly people around, who are always willing to help, the ancient city of Varanasi still retains its fervor. Isn’t it surprising to see a city that hasn’t let modernization change its core even a bit? That’s Varanasi for you in a nutshell. A beautiful experience that makes you stretch beyond your limitations.:’)

(Contributed by Gayatri Kuppa, photo/images rights with Gayatri & Nikhil Kuppa)

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Trip to Medak Fort(Methuku Durgam), Telangana

We decided to have a short trip to Pocharam Lake and Medak even though Hyderabad was sizzling with temperatures reaching 40+C. After some bird photography at Pocharam lake we headed to Medak district/town to visit the Medak fort. 

However our first stop was at Medak Church, which is close to a century old and also apparently is the largest Diocese in Asia. It was teeming with people and we decided to come back later to this place. 

Medak Church

From the parking lot of the Medak Church we noticed a white structure on a hill, and looking at Google Maps realised it was our next destination the Medak Fort. Well thanks to Google Maps we reached the foot of a small hillock and started our short climb and suddenly the road ended...well no Fort in sight.

However there were a nicely crafted flight of stairs(obviously not friendly for Sr Citizens and Physically challenged citizens. After the short climb we saw our white building , with a few table & chairs

Haritha Restaurant

It was the Haritha hotel and restaurant which has four rooms on the top and a sit-out. The view from this place is spectacular- whole of Medak city and the towering Medak Church.

View from Haritha

Hunger pangs was driving us nuts and ordered Onion Pakodas, aerated drinks and water. The sit-out is quite okay with fans and it provided the much needed respite from heat.

Onion Pakoda

The Pakodas were very tasty with a touch of curry leaf and Ajwain. This place has  restrooms so, please don't hesitate to take the keys from the Manager...monkeys are around to trouble hence they keep the restrooms locked.

After taking directions from the restaurant staff, we climbed our next flight of stairs and came across the following note about the Fort. Please read it ...

Fort Details

We didn't expect any guide as we were already told at the Haritha hotel, and with the above as the only reference point we explored around. The whole place is in derelict condition, however govt had made some concrete steps for ease of climbing.

Not much to see except a few gates(dwarams, elephants sculptures) and some abandoned areas. 

The fort was probably used as a watch post and hence not massive in structure. Such a pity that this place built by our Kakatiya rulers don't find any place of importance in our ecosystem

Paved later by the govt

Many parts of the Fort is also desolate, so if you want to explore please do so in groups, not that we came across and vandalism/trouble mongers. It is a nice place to take some photographs and after spending around 40 minutes here and bearing the heat we decided to call it a day.

desolate section

As we climbed down the steps my thoughts were "why didn't the Govt either the Telangana or Central govt (through ASI) maintain this place?".

Entrance to the Fort

The Mubarak Mahal was restored by the Telangana govt and is being used as the Haritha hotel, probably one way of preserving this place. This is an important part of our history & heritage and deserves some attention from all of us i.e. citizens and the govt.

Well if you have time do visit this place.

(Contributed by Sandip Mishra)

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Trip to Gir National Park, Gujarat : Majestic Asiatic Lions

Two Lions(the "Brothers" perhaps")

Gujarat has been beckoning us since a long time and the urge to see the Asiatic Lion was very high. However for many years, our love to watch the Royal Bengal Tiger took precedence and we spent multiple visits to the Tiger Sanctuaries.  Peak summer (mid may) is when we decided to visit Sasan Gir and while we were apprehensive of the heat wave sweeping Gujarat then, we were resolute to make this happen. Landed in Ahmedabad and after a day trip of sight seeing in Ahmedabad we moved on to Somnath Temple and finally landed up in Club Mahindra Sasan Gir.

Needless to state we have made the safari bookings online through Http://www.girlion.in. With these online bookings being enabled in most wildlife sanctuaries life is much easier to plan. Spoke to couple of local guys and got the vehicle organised through them as the ones being provided through Club Mahindra was too expensive.

As always the first trip is always the one full of anxiety. So early morning we got ready and went to Singh Sadan at the entry of the park gate where the permits are given, jeeps allocated and guides assigned(not much different from other parks). Well what was different was what our guide Prashant(name changed) shared with us. After he boarded the gypsy with us he went about explaining the park, lay of the land, routes(which are named 1,2,3,4 etc), mammals, birds. Our trip began and we were quite excited to be here finally. 

Almost 90 minutes went by and the jungle was by and large very quite with the only sighting of a few spotted deer and resident birds. Then we suddenly saw a man in bike riding very fast and he took off the road and into the side tracks. Our gypsy driver started racing along with him. Puzzled, we  didn't know what was happening and asked the guide. Then the un-reveal happened - he said there are "Trackers" in the forest(appointed by the govt.) and if you pay them they will lead to the lion or lion pride. Really was our question? The guide went on to add that for more money the tracker and forest officials would even steer the lion towards your vehicle. Well we didn't believe these and true to ourselves we went about exploring the jungle further and returned home without sighting any lion. Some tourists from the resort returned with smiling faces and yes they had spotted a lion in the same route we were. Having spent enough time in jungles in the last ten years we were happy to leave things to the nature to unfold itself.

Crocodiles at Kamleshwar Lake

Our afternoon safari began and now we had a new driver and guide. Both were quite enthusiastic and understood that we would be interested in seeing birds too. Took us to the Kamleshwar lake where we did see crocodiles in the lake bed, lot of Asian paradise flycatcher, Martins and swallows, other resident birds. 

As the journey continued, we spotted a village and not surprising as most national parks have some settlements still within them and these belonged to the "Maldharis" who are nomadic herders  moving around with their livestock. Some distance from this place we saw a large population of Buffaloes and a man in traditional Maldari dress bathing them. What a sight...the Buffaloes were enjoying the cool water and the man while bathing them was giving them a body scrub too. Our guide gestured me to follow him and said this is a good place for birding as there was water and it attracted a lot of birds - well why not we sighted Flycatchers, Shikra, Tickel's blue flycatcher, Babblers and Oriental White-eye. 

Maldhari and livestock ---cool bath

As we continued our journey we did hear the roar of a lion in some distance and our guide and driver started locating the source and we halted at one spot, with one more gypsy there. Lo and behold we saw the majestic lion walking towards us from the undergrowth. Well the excitement was palpable and our cameras went on click click click. However we noticed something was wrong as the lion kept looking towards the undergrowth. What unfold was shocking - a guy in khakhi uniform with a long stick was gesturing and making sounds at the lion. Our guide explained it was one of the trackers and the lions have got used to this. Quite disappointing!!!

We continued and within the next ten minutes we saw a few vehicles parked some distance ahead. Our jeep driver accelerated and said "saheb juroor dono bhai milgaye hain" and why not two majestic males were siting below a tree and the view was majestic. Well you can guess the two were surrounded by six trackers...Our respect for the wildlife park started diminishing quickly and our guide noticed it. He said if the govt didn't resort to this then the tourist flow would decline. After some more birding we returned to Club Mahindra. 

Still there was some expectation to see a pride of lions and next day last trip turned out lucky. A few minutes into our safari we encountered the most visible pride of 10 lioness and cubs walking beside our track. A few gypsies(vehicles) were there and we watched them to our hearts content.Well this is the pride that is sighted the most and those who follow environment/cricket news might have seen the controversy around Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja and his wife Riva posing with this pride of lions.Well at that moment we enjoyed the experience of watching the pride walk along, rest, oblivious to the human presence. An experience that  we had been waiting for since many years and it got fulfilled.

The Lion Pride

Overall a very mixed experience with the positives being the sighting of the Asiatic Lion whereas the practice of trackers used by the government was a disappointment.

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Trip to Pink City Jaipur, Rajasthan

Amber Fort

What kind of images would come up in your mind when the word Rajasthan in mentioned?

• Forts
• Palaces
• Tales of Valor
• Miniature Art
• Precious stones
• Colorful garbs
• Puppets
• Festivals and Fairs
• Camels and Elephants
• Old World Charm

Trust me, Jaipur is all this and lots more. I recently revisited the Pink City and it was a treat.

Sheesh Mahal, Amber Fort

Jaipur, the Pink City and the Capital of Rajasthan is approximately 250 kms away from New Delhi. It’s well connected by road, rail and air. Built in 1727 it is one of the well-planned cities of India. The City is divided into 9 blocks with 2 blocks housing state buildings and palaces and 7 blocks for the public. These blocks are surrounded by well-fortified walls and 7 strong gates like the Tripolia gate, Sanganeri gate etc.

A little about the history of Jaipur. Prior to Jaipur, Amber (pronounced as Amer) was the capital of Rajasthan. The Kachchawa clans of Rajputs were among the first to arrive at Amber Fort. And they built amiable relationships with the Moghul dynasty. Which is one the reasons why Jaipur monuments are a mix of Rajasthan and Moghul architecture. Raja Bihar Mal gave his daughter (Jodha) to be emperor Akbar’s wife.  Subsequent Kings like Bhagwan Das, Man Singh, and Jai Singh cemented their relationship with the Moghul and continued to operate out of Amber. However Sawai Jai Singh II moved the capital from Amber to Jaipur. Jaipur was built in consultation with some of the best mathematicians, astronomers and a very reputed architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. The colour pink was chosen to cut down the glare of the suns rays.

Rambagh Palace

We spent 3 days in Jaipur. Stayed at Hotel Rambagh Palace, which was built in 1835 by the Queen of Jaipur but later converted into a heritage hotel run by the Taj group. The hotel is beautiful – huge room with high ceilings, arches, facades and jharokas. Paintings of all the Kings are hung in different places. The restaurants all remind you of an era long gone- the grandeur and the look and feel of those olden days are still maintained. The Hotel houses a Golf club and Polo grounds and a wonderful garden- a veritable delight for bird watchers.  There are over 75 varieties of common and rare birds.

Entrance to Amber Fort

We spent a day at the Amber Fort and Palace. Set against the rather drab and rugged mountain background, the honey colored Fort and Palace are a sight to watch. Earlier the Jaigarh Fort used to protect the Amber Palace but later the Amber Fort was constructed. The Palace is beautiful and overlooks the Maota Lake below. Parts of the movie Jodha Akbar were shot there. What I found the most  alluring was the Sheesh Mahal- a single light was reflected into multiple images. The Diwan-e-aam, the Diwan-e-Khaas, the Jai Mandir, the Kali temple ,the latticed walls and the intricate gardens all have stories to tell. Please don’t miss out on the light and sound show of Amber Fort.

Moata Lake

After a visit to the Amber Palace we went to the City Palace. The royal family still resides in a portion of the city palace, the Chandra Mahal. It is a blend of Moghul and Rajasthan Architecture and has numerous gardens and courtyards. Other places, which caught my interest, were

Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal- The Palace of Winds, which was built by Sawai Pratap Singh. It overlooks the marketplace, the Sireh deorhi Bazaar. It is a wall (behind which there is a 5 storied building) and in olden time the ladies of the royal family used to watch the happenings in the market place through the multiple windows of the Mahal. It now houses a museum.

Nahargarh Fort

Nahargarh and Jaigarh Forts- The Jaigarh Fort is close to the Amber Palace and Fort and the Nahargarh Fort is a little away from Jaipur. The Nahargarh Fort is a beautiful place and though it doesn't attract many tourist compared to Amber Fort it is a must see place.          

Jal Mahal- Palace within a lake, this was created in 1799 by constructing a dam within the lake. In the evenings it is lighted up beautifully

Albert Museum

Albert Museum- a public museum situated in the Ram Niwas Bagh. 

Apart from these the Jantar Mantar, Dolls museum, Birla planetarium are common tourist spots. For those who want to visit religious shrines the Govindji temple, Jagat Shiromani temple and the Lakshminarayan temple are places to visit.  

Jaipur has extreme temperatures so it would be a good idea to check out the weather before you travel.  It’s a shoppers paradise with MI road, Tripolia bazaar, Johari bazaar, Khajane walon ka rasta and multiple other places where one can shop for textiles (the Jaipuri rajais, bedcovers), semi precious stones,  lac work, marble works, miniature paintings. . If you visit during the festival seasons the Gangaur Festival, the Kite festival are quite famous.

Before you leave Jaipur don’t forget to gorge on the delicacies of the Laxmi Misthan Bhandar. Amazing Rajasthani food!.I left Jaipur with memories of a beautiful city full of history and culture. And of course lots of clothes and Jaipuri rajais J.

Contributed by Jayashree Mishra and first published in Enigmaticindia.info site in July 2011

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Trip to Aurangabad(Built by the Throne), Maharashtra

Ajanta Caves

Declared as the tourist capital of Maharashtra, Aurangabad(named after Emperor Aurangzeb) is also known as the "City of Gates". I did a weekend trip to Aurangabad and kind of fallen in love with the place...wish I lived in a place like that.

From Mumbai took the Devagiri express at 9 PM on a Friday evening. After a long time travelled in a long distance train-the journey was uneventful-the train left on time and reached around 4:30 AM. People had been scaring and discouraging me not to go there in the peak of summer- but reached there to find that it was surprisingly cool- it had rained the previous day. What struck me most was the cleanliness and absence of crowd (I guess any place after Mumbai would feel the same way).

Ellora Caves

Left for Ajanta after breakfast- took us around 2 hrs by road…the scenery and landscape isn’t much during the summers-people say it looks beautiful after the rains. Ajanta has around 26 caves- but 4-5 of them have paintings- the rest have carvings. The paintings are amazing considering the fact that they are so old- they are 3 dimensional and based on the Jataka tales…the caves are lined in the form of a horse shoe. In earlier times there was a river/spring flowing by and water used to cover the floors of the caves and sunlight would reflect from them and light up the painting and the walls ….To preserve the paintings, photography is not allowed inside. After wandering around the caves for a long time…Spent some time at the local shop that sells semi precious stones…then went back to the hotel.

The second day turned out to be pretty hectic…went early morning to Ellora. Ellora consists of 34 Hindu and Buddhist caves. Was awed by the main cave- cave 16-the Kailashnath temple – a free standing monolith carved top down from a single mountain rock. It depicts scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The statues look so full of life! The Buddhist caves are beautiful- I could have spent an entire day there…but didn’t have the time…After a couple of hours went visiting temples….there’s a Jyotirlinga  temple- and then went to a Hanuman temple- where the idol of Lord Hanuman is in a sleeping position. 

En route stopped at the Daulatabad Fort- another lovely place…loved the defense mechanisms they have- the mazes…the trenches, moats, watch towers- imagine the amount of thinking that must have gone into it. It was an amazing trip into history. 

Bibi Ka Maqbara

 In the evening went to Bibi ka Maqbara- the grave of Aurungzeb's fourth wife…it is an imitation of Taj Mahal. It is built on the same line but of half marble and the rest of seashell powder. Owing  to its similarity its called the Mini Taj of the Deccan. Due to lack of water, maintenance of the gardens isn’t what is should be. 

After that went to a place called Panchakki- at first glance it looks like a mere pond- and you wonder what’s so great about it- its actually a reservoir which is fed by water from a source that is about 5-6 kms away….water comes in through earthen pipes…its a great engineering feat considering that it was built in the 17th century ….And a question crossed my mind- if problems like these had a solution then …..whats stops the govt now..to take measures to solve people’s problems…There’s a small place near Aurangabad called Jalgaon (the name seems ironic!!)- where water supply is there only once a week.

The day was almost coming to an end- had to catch the 11:30 Devagiri express back- but stopped by for a short time to see how weaving of saris and shawls is done (Paithani and Himroo are the famous saris of the place). Left the place with lovely memories and a resolve to revisit. 2 days definitely isn’t enough to see Aurangabad.

For those who want to visit, Aurangabad is well connected by road and rail. There are connecting flights to the metros. Good time to visit is October to February.

(Contributed by Jayashree Mishra and first published in Enigmaticindia.info site in July 2011)

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Trip to Ladakh - Yaks and Marmots

This summer I wanted to go to a cold place. Luckily my parents planned a vacation to Ladakh. The region is a cold desert. I was hopeful of seeing snow for the first time. Though I did not know what kind of animals lived in Ladakh, our driver cum guide, Imran, was quite knowledgeable and told us about Yaks, Marmots, Pashmina Sheep, Himalayan Pheasant, etc. He also promised to show these animals during our travel. He kept his promise and on one occasion caught a fish with his bare hands.

Of all the animals we saw Yaks and Marmots interested me the most as, in India, Ladakh is one of the few places they are found. Yaks are domestic as well as wild animals. They have a thick long coat of fur. We saw a few Yaks, and, were lucky to come close to one of them, whom I quickly clicked for posterity. This particular Yak is probably a domesticated Yak photographed near the Chang La Pass in Ladakh. On the bank of the Pangong Tso, I also experienced a Yak Ride!!! If you want to know more about Yaks, well there is Wikipedia to explore.

Marmots called "Pheya" in Ladakhi, on the other hand appeared to very shy animals. It seems there are two types i.e. Himalayan and the Long Tailed ones. They are cute and look like a weasel or a large squirrel. To escape from the severe winters they hibernate and live in burrows. Near the Chang Thang wildlife sanctuary, we passed through a Marmot crossing point where I captured them in my camera. On the back drop of the snow clad mountains and the green grass these look animals look cute.

I enjoyed the trip to Ladakh and you should also visit to experience this beautiful place.

(Contributed  by Aishani Nanda, grade IV )

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Trip to home of Demoiselle Cranes,Khichan, Jodhpur

Demoiselle Cranes, Khichan

As we were motoring Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, Hukum Singh our driver suggested “would you like to see Khichan?”

Our target were the Jaisalmer Fort, Thar desert, the camel ride and if possible see the Indo-Pak border from a distance. How does Khichan figure in this? When asked to clarify Hukum Singh said “Sir bahut chidiya(birds), lot of them”. Then I recalled to have read/seen somewhere perhaps in the NDTV about this village surrounded by arid lands and at the outskirts of this there was a big pond/lake (with knee deep) water during the winter season. 

Thousands of Cranes

Long back (five decades) a villager Ratanlal Maloo returned to his village Khichan(in Phalodi Tehsil, Rajasthan) and was given the task of feeding pigeons and sparrows. One day he noticed a different bird looking for food, though not an ornithologist, he could at least discern that this bird was a special type. The curious villager approached the bird and threw some grain. The bird was more cautious and it won’t go near the grains unless the helpful villager retraced. Reading the mind of the bird, the villager went back a few steps and stood still and the bird managed to nibble the grains. This continued for few days and one day the bird disappeared. He asked others in the village and they told him the bird was called kurja(in Rajasthani) or Demoiselle crane. Ratanlal was crestfallen, “what happened to the visitor? Poaching?” God forbid. But lo and behold next year the crane (and Ratanlal could identify as it was limping) came accompanied by other birds and this time more courageous. That year he had to feed more birds, that flew in a few thousand miles from the feeding grounds in Mongolia and Eurasia.

At the pond

I was wonder struck while listening to the narration from the keeper of the Chugga ghar. As he was narrating the story, a few kids gathered each carrying some grains. While listening to the narration I was looking around. There were cranes and cranes everywhere probably a few thousands, some flying at low height, others eating the grain and occasionally pecking each other. The noise was something that I had never heard…imagine a few thousand birds calling each other. My daughter Jayashree went close and clicked photos copiously.

The pond was filled with birds and photography was an easy job. My four year old granddaughter Annika, snatched away my camera and went click, click, click. She was thrilled though on most occasions she was off the mark. Two foreigners, bare-footed & disregarding the mud went very close. They must have been good photographers and wildlife enthusiasts. Definitely this place is a treat for wildlife photographers.

awesome sight

The keeper was narrating tirelessly, “Do you know sirs, It became very taxing for Ratanlal to feed so many birds. Ratanlal had to seek help from the village panchayat and soon other villagers joined in this conservation effort. Soon after, the Govt of Rajasthan pitched in and funds are released for feeding the birds.  The villagers continue to protect the cranes and Rajasthan is a place where many animals are protected by villagers whether it is the peafowl, Chinkara or the Blackbuck.

Today Khichan has been was declared a World Heritage site by the International Crane Foundation and the cranes are enjoying their annual five month stay in this place. This would not have been possible but for the initial leadership shown by Ratanlal also known as “Birdman of Khichan”. He is no more(passed away in 2011), however he has left behind a good example of wildlife conservation.

The heat was oppressive and we had to reach Jaisalmer by lunch time. Though watching the cranes was irresistible, we had to say good bye to Khichan.

(Contributed by Bipin Bihari Mishra and photocredits Jayashree Mishra )

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Trip to the ghost town of Kuldhara, Rajasthan

Entrance to Kuldhara

Eight hundred years ago it was the time of Kings, Queens and Ministers.  The Diwan(Prime Minister) was the virtual ruler of the state, who could increase tax, confiscate property and expel  a citizen from the state etc.

One day while riding through the village Kuldhara17-18 Kms from Jaisalmer), the Diwan of Jaisalmer “Salum Singh or Salim Singh” noticed a beautiful girl proceeding towards the village pond. He was the Diwan, he could have anything he liked and why not marry this girl who was the daughter of the village chief (Mukhiya). Only the wishes had to be expressed and Salim Singh sent words to the village Mukhiya through his soldiers.

Seems freshly painted

The inhabitants of Kuldhara were primarily Paliwal Brahmins who migrated from the Pali region and it is said … the name Kuldhara is said to be derived from the word “Kuldhar”, which is a sub-caste of Paliwal Brahmins as per some devali(memorial stones) inscriptions at the site .

As the story unfolds, Salim Singh despite his wealth and power was relatively low in the social order because of the caste factor. The Mukhiya was in two minds – whose side he should take i.e. his clan, caste and social respect or the wealth and power of the Diwan. He consulted the elders of the village and all of them were proud of their social ranking and advice was obvious…”We shall not give our daughter in marriage to a man from lower caste” .

Temple

What about the wrath of the Diwan – suppose he imposes ten times more tax, suppose he asks other villages not to have trade/business with us, suppose the road to the village is cut-off.  The villagers feared severe reprisal, but they stuck to their self-respect.  They quickly gathered their effects and left after sunset. By the time the Diwan got the news they were safely away and the agents of the Diwan couldn’t trace them and till today nobody knows where they went. It is also believed that before they left Kuldhara, the villagers laid a curse on the village that no one will be able inhabit this place for year to come.

While narrating this story our guide was also steering us through the ruins of this village which had of a few hundreds of houses,  In many of them the roofs had given away due to the non-maintenance for few centuries and in many the doors and windows were missing. 

The site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) and one has to pay entrance tickets and after sunset tourists are not allowed inside this place like all sites maintained by ASI except some forts where there is sound and light shows.

Ruins

The guide quickly adds,” Shahib  quite a number of ghosts roam these places after the sunset. It reminded me of a video  had seen a few years ago of a paranormal investigation conducted by the GRIP team. To strengthen his claims, the guide shared that some tourists from Bengal had come and stayed overnight and some of them felt being pushed in their backs. Well not sure of these claims, however our guide insisted it was true.

So much about the ghost town of Kuldhara and we had to reach our next destination before evening. With so many questions still in our mind about why this happened, we bid farewell to the ruins.

(Contributed by Jayashree Mishra)

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