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India:
Part 2 By
Arnie Greenberg (Pictured above in their colorful costumes, the elephants of Jaipur, a very common mode of transportation) After our exciting stay in Agra, we headed out into the desert to the old fortress cities. The first stop was Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan. The city gets its name from the Maharaja Jai Singh II, who was an astronomer and great warrior. Hence, Jai, and pur is city. Today, it is referred to as the "Pink City." With
the memory of the great Agra Fort of Akbar the Great, we arrived in the city of
stones with anticipation. We were not disappointed. This was not only unique,
but in a way we hadn't anticipated. Possibly because Jai Singh was an astronomer.
(The Jaipur Fort, quite an exotic structure) We
arrived at the exotic Hotel Bissau Palace. There is nothing in North America to
come near it. Where else can you eat is ornate Indian atmosphere or live in surroundings
of a Maharaja? Our dinner was truly Indian traditional and later, a show of dancers
and musicians in traditional garb, entertained us in the lobby entrance.
(The swimming pool, with its themed elephants, at the Hotel Bissau) The town's architecture is ancient and exciting. We visited the museum at the city Palace and saw royal robes, carpets of many colors, ancient weapons, paintings of battle scenes and processions. Passing the Palace of the Winds (Chandra Mahal)in the middle of town I thought I had seen it all, but little did I know that because Jai was an astronomer, there would be a greater legacy. I found it at Jantar Mantar an open air observatory. Here is a display of instruments like none other.
(The magnificent Palace of the Winds, Chandra Mahal) Made
of stone and marble, each has a curious, but specific, purpose, such as measuring
the position of stars, altitudes and calculating the times of eclipses. There
is even a sundial with a 27 metre high rod. And remember, this was all set up
after 1728 and is still accurate today. There are also miniature paintings, handicrafts, clothing, jewelry of silver and other local materials to be worn on the forehead (rakhri), the nose (Nath), the ankles (paijeb) and bangles of all colors to be worn all over the arm as Rajasthani women do. I saw leather and camel hide footwear (mojris) embroidered with beads. Even their handmade paper is a prize to attain. But Jaipur is elephants and they are the way to get up to the Fort. There are painted elephants everywhere and a trip to the fort means a ride on the back of this enormous and beautiful creature.
(A colorful dancer in Jaipur) As luck would have it, we arrived at Jaipur on the first day of their 15 day gift giving festival. The sky at night was a myriad of lights as frire works ushered in Dawali. This is a time for family meetings, gift giving and togetherness. It was exciting to be greeted with "Happy Dawali" but almost everyone. It certainly put us in the festive mood of our surroundings. People smiled, took our pictures and with folded hands they humbly wished us well. One cannot describe the warm feeling. One stop was at a stone wholesaler. As we entered, I noticed the most beautiful sun umbrellas drying in the sun. They make wonderful gifts. The
fort was decorated with semi precious and precious stones. It boggles the imagination
to see them in the sun but a return to our hotel and time to think gave us a feeling
of history and we were able to visualize the pomp and grandeur of a kingdom never
conquered.
(A miniature painting) Another gift just begging to be purchased is a traditionally dressed puppet. They are found everywhere as are the miniature paintings. We were fortunate enough to have a puppeteer at our hotel. As soon as seven or more people would gather, the performance would begin. I have one of these in my office now. I also have a beautiful pair of hand made leather slippers, another way to remember…not that I'll ever forget.
NEXT..The Holy city of Pushkar…
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