Ranthambhore Take 2, and a visit to the Pink City

[janzin]

44 minutes ago, Galana said:

Tell me about it. I have such things in every room in the house bar Bathroom and Kitchen. There is one behind me as I sit here typing.

A weakness. I should stick to shirts.

 

ha I totally get it! We have carpets we bought in Morocco on our honeymoon, carpets we brought back from Peru and Mexico, Kilims from Turkey, now carpets from Jaipur. And we have Navajo rugs hanging on the wall. No more space! But these two replaced two that had gotten moths

[Zubbie15]

Well, I had always thought that Jaipur would be a good stop if we wanted to do some more cultural activities on a future trip to India, but it might be dangerous for the wallet to let my wife loose in the shops... Enjoying the non - wildlife portion, as always India is fascinating to me. 

[TonyQ]

We really enjoyed the Jantar Mantar as well. Fascinating place.

Love the photos!

Edited August 31, 2020 by TonyQ

[janzin]

After lunch, the plan was to explore the busy Bazaar area. This isn't a tourist market but where the local people shop. (There are several market areas in Jaipur and I unfortunately don't have the name of the ones we visited.) It wasn't very far from the City Palace as we just walked a few blocks and we were there.

 

Thankfully COVID-19 was at this point only barely on our radar--and so far, from what we'd heard, there was only a single case reported in India--although unfortunately that initial case was in Jaipur! An Italian tourist with a tour group--we'd heard about it only that day from Devendra.  Well, I was pretty sure that the tour group did not venture into this crowded market. But in hindsight it gives one pause.

 

The aim was to of course experience the bustling market but also to take photos. This was more difficult than we thought as in the indoor part of the market, light was dim and very mixed (odd colors) as well as the constant traffic of shoppers, salesmen (they were all men!); and other workers. We got some odd looks as it certainly wasn't a place tourists frequented.

 

The market had a warren of "streets", one for wedding dresses, one for saris, one for bracelets, etc. Thank goodness we had a guide otherwise we still might be lost inside

 

Well, the pictures tell the story.

 

I loved the mannequins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such intensity! Shopping for a wedding dress is a serious business in any culture.

 

 

 

This gentleman is creating "money garlands", these are worn by the groom at the wedding and yes, they are made from real rupee notes. I was surprised that all this money could just be left out in the open like this. Some of these were large notes!

 

 

A shrine in the market to Lord Ganesh.

 

 

We walked around the outside streets as well, where there were all sorts of other vendors and tradesmen.

 

 

Spice and nut shop...

 

Note the colored powders for the Holi festival.  This year Holi would be the week after our trip.

 

 

We did buy some tea and spices but not at this shop--a different one that Devendra recommended.

 

Holi powders.

 

 

Kumkum, used for ceremonial markings and the Bindi forehead dot

 

 

That's a lot of peacocks. But I guess they just fall off the bird eventually.

 

 

Paan vendor (Betel leaves and areca nut, for chewing.)

 

 

And finally, the typical Jaipur street traffic

 

 

We had a lot of fun exploring the markets--and you can be sure we were the only tourists deep on the inside streets (we did see some tourists along the outer streets.)

 

That night we again had dinner at The Peacock as it was easy and good--although we discovered to our disappointment that they only had a liquor license one day a week, so no beer that night! Very odd.

 

Next day was to be our final one in India...but we weren't quite done with Jaipur. The plan was to go to the flower and produce market in the early morning for more photos--and then perhaps more shopping....

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by janzin

[Alexander33]

Just getting caught up here, but I’m really enjoying this report, Janet. Fantastic photos from Ranthambhore, plus some valuable tips, which I greatly appreciate, and I’m so glad you’re sharing your visit to Jaipur with us. One of the challenges I’ve had in planning a trip to India is that I find it so hard to include the many cultural opportunities that abound (which I don’t want to skip) with sufficient time dedicated for wildlife. I guess that’s why one trip simply won’t suffice, to state the obvious!

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by Alexander33

[janzin]

Thanks @Alexander33 glad you are enjoying the Jaipur photos. I have at least one more post to do from Jaipur but got a little behind on other things this week, hope to get to it this weekend.

 

[elefromoz]

Great photos of a great city, a break in between the Wildlife is a good way to go I think, especially in India which just has so much on offer. 

[madaboutcheetah]

@janzin - you are correct ! The peacocks shed everywhere .... it's all over the place! 

 

Lovely images and I hope to see Tigers at some point this year while I wait to go back to Africa!! 

[janzin]

7 hours ago, madaboutcheetah said:

@janzin - you are correct ! The peacocks shed everywhere .... it's all over the place! 

 

Lovely images and I hope to see Tigers at some point this year while I wait to go back to Africa!! 

 

Thanks for stopping by @madaboutcheetah  Indeed I hope we can get to Africa soon...and back to India, can never get enough tigers! Unfortunately I think Americans and Indians are still persona non grata in most places but I hope that will change in the new year.

[janzin]

The next morning we arose bright and early again so that we could visit the flower market first thing. But we made one other quick photo stop first: the Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the winds. We had passed it on the previous afternoon, but with the light coming from the wrong direction; early morning is the best time for photos. This striking building has 953 windows and it was designed to allow the ladies of the royal court to watch the drama of the streets unobserved behind their latticework. It is possible to visit inside but we'd read that really there's not much to see, so we just took the photo op of the outside.

 

 

After this we walked through the flower market--another bustling, colorful market where all types of flowers are sold for ceremonial use and to make garlands, etc. This isn't the type of flower market with the cut flowers you'd find in western countries.

 

 

 

 

Sold by the bushel-full (well, I don't know if they are really bushels but I have no better way to describe them.)

 

 

Roses!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjacent to the flower market is the produce market. Just as bustling and almost as colorful.

 

 

 

 

These women were ferrying produce from the trucks into the market. Amazing balance and strength!

 

 

 

More colorful dyes for Holi...

 

 

After these markets, we still had one more stop...

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by janzin

[Soukous]

12 hours ago, janzin said:

These women were ferrying cabbages

 

in the first photo they look a lot like cauliflowers 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Soukous

[janzin]

2 hours ago, Soukous said:

 

in the first photo they look a lot like cauliflowers 

Indeed you are correct! I'll have to fix the caption!

[janzin]

Devendra had timed our morning to arrive at the Govind Dev Ji temple just before the Darshan, or the viewing of the deity.   We really didn't know what to expect, never having been at a Hindu ceremony before. For followers of Lord Krishna, this is one of the most important temples in Rajasthan.

 

The outside of this temple isn't much to look at, at least not from the main entrance.

 

 

One interesting thing of note, you can see the plaque that says that this temple is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having "The Worlds' Widest reinforced concrete cement flat Roof Construction With A Single Span of119 Feet." 

 

 

We looked into the building that made this claim, and to be honest, weren't that impressed but I suppose its true

 

The path to the main temple where the holy shrine is located.

 

 

Inside the temple.

 

 

 

Observers waiting for the opening of the shrine. It seemed like many were Indian tourists. This ceremony with the opening of the shrine is done seven times a day.

 

 

 

Finally, the curtains are parted to reveal the image of the deity. Incense is swung, bells are rung...

 

 

We found it quite stirring, with the ringing of the bells and chanting.

 

A short video. At first I thought it might be disrespectful to take a video but it seemed like half the Indians in the temple were doing it so I figured it was okay.

 

 

 

A very moving experience and I was glad we stayed through the end of the ceremony.