Beyond the Bounds: Rajasthan: Non-Desert Areas

Udaipur: I had gotten recommendations for Udaipur and Mount Abu from Nirav, a friend from UVM, who I would be meeting up with in Mumbai. On the way to the City Palace, I got sidetracked, which happens a lot, and visited the Jagdish Temple first. Then it was a stop at the City Palace, followed by the Moti Mangri. All of these places are easy to research so I'll go into something more interesting. On the next day, I passed by groups of kids preparing for a contest. It turned out to be the Dahi Handi to celebrate Lord Krishna. The kids wore ribbons of colors representing their group with a total of four. The aim was to build castells and break this earthen pot filled with curd, butter and others. While they attempted to build this human tower, people splashed buckets of liquid to foil their efforts. The person that finally reached the pot and broke it, was crowned winner,carried off into the sunset and won a monetary prize. This would be the first of several festivals that I ran into.

Rubbing the Jagdish Temple for good luck.

View from Moti Mangri.

Getting wet.

Breaking the earthen pot.

Jagdish Temple at dusk.

View of the City of Lakes from the above the gondola.

Mount. Abu: Mt. Abu proved more stressful than enjoyable due to their prices. There was an influx of Indian tourists traveling since they had off for this Krishna festival. This meant all of the budget rooms were taken or they couldn't take foreign tourists due to licensing issues. So I stayed one night and scurried out of there on an afternoon bus to Ahmedabad, to catch a sleeper bus to Mumbai. I meant to go trekking here but was warned not to venture off alone. The wildlife would get me. Ah well, I enjoyed the food (they actually had sweet corn rather than this starchy crap), and checked out this wonderful temple complex. If you make it to Mt. Abu, the Dilwara Temples should be number one on your list to see. Photography was not allowed, but this allowed you to fully appreciate the carvings with the naked eyes. There were five separate temples in the complex and all of them had marvelous carvings out of marble. There were two of them that had exceptional carvings into the ceilings. Breathtaking and truly a feast for the eyes.