Architectural marvels, modern and ancient - Jaipur

This is the last of the series of posts on our Jaipur trip from summer!

In our last 24 hours in Jaipur we covered the Jantar Mantar, a Radhe Shyam temple, Birla Mandir and in the morning we covered the Hawa Mahal (air palace). We also managed to get stuck in a heavy downpour and photograph the Jal Mahal (water palace) in the evening!

The previous post on this series of visits is here.

We left Abaneri in the afternoon and came back to Jaipur city to see the Jantar Mantar. Another place that you do not want to visit on a hot and sultry afternoon. It was about to rain and rain big. Walking through those giant "astro-reader" implements was like being in a Hot Yoga room. If you are a big fan of astronomy, this place is a must see. They have precise instrumentation that tells you the position of everything related to everything else in space and time! That pretty much sums up the place.

I am not into astronomy. It is one of those things that I don't grasp easily. This thing in a marble hemisphere with lines around it tracked every planet and constellations position very precisely. It made my head spin!

After walking through all these "Yantras", we walked through the lawns. This little bird was shouting at me. Given I intended it no harm and was tired and weary, took another look at it to see "what its problem was". Turned out it had 4 legs!

After realizing I was no threat, she got up as though smiling at me and walked around. This beautiful chick came out and posed for me! That made my day...

Later on we visited two temples.. one was a Radhe-Shyam temple built in the 1600's by the King of Jaipur and another was the marble temple made by Birla.

It had also finished raining and we went through quite an ordeal getting back into level ground after that downpour. Jaipur's drainage system is probably one of the worst in the world. We were lucky to be in a van instead of a car. 

Cars were literally floating away in the flooding waters at one point near the Jal Mahal. The fresh rain did make the Jal Mahal stand out. If we make another trip to this place, we will definitely take the boat ride to this palace and see inside. Unfortunately, the boat rides are stopped during heavy rains. 

and here is a HDR version.

We were so tired that I did not get my camera out to take pictures at the Birla mandir. A cell phone photo is all we got.. guessing I have very few Birla mandirs left to cover in India!

On the last half day, we visited the Hawa Mahal with a tour guide who went over the kings and queens story yet another time.

This place is a true architectural marvel. It has 900+ windows on the wall facing the street. It has seven levels built staggered so that the foundation can handle it. How may other such massive seven storied structures existed 400 years ago? All the colored glass was imported from Belgium.. or so says the tour guide!

The views from this palace are all designed so that the many queens can watch the king and his processing come from the other place to this one from very far away. Have tried to capture some of those view points in the photographs below..

 The street we see now is where the processing used to come from..

You can see the Jantar Mantar from the top level of the Hawa Mahal and realize how big some of these structures are.. 

A view of the pink city from the top of the Hawa Mahal.

The air flow in this palace was amazing. The 900 windows are placed perfectly to usher in a wind gust that keeps the palace air conditioned 24/7. Here is the Hawa Mahal from street level on the outside. 

Here is an inside view..

Belgian glass takes care of light.. Marble and windows take care of the air circulation. Awe inspiring design!

A view of the courtyards inside. Dancing and entertainment was watched by the many queens through the windows. You can see the slats in the windows are all angled towards the courtyard. The queens can see the center but they cannot be seen. Again, ingenious design!

Even the passages and corridors were curved and lined with cool marble to circulate the air in such a way to create a cooling effect. They should show the Hawa Mahal as a case study for architecture students across the globe. 

After spending the morning at the Hawa Mahal, it was time to say bye to the Pink City!

I had to fly into the domestic airport in Mumbai from Jaipur and within 3 hours go to my in-laws place, grab suitcases and get back to the International airport to travel to east asia, for a business trip! 

Do not know if I should thank Cathay Pacific for their cancelling the flight. For one, I did not get on a plane that had engine failure. I got to spend 3 more days with my family, even if for a few hours each day and had to work during the night and sleep during rides. It also gave me a chance to calm down and get my nerves in order after that ordeal on the plane. 

A good two months later, they did refund that cancelled trip and give me a coupon for the phone bill (from all the calls I had to make from the plane to rearrange things)!

It has taken a long time to get the photos, videos etc. on to the travelog, but that seems to be the norm these days with the busy work schedule. Seriously thinking of buying a personal laptop and installing the Photo editing software on it. Can come in handy during long flights!

Here is to the next trip, to a location we have not seen before!

The well of Abaneri - World Heritage site

Previous Jaipur trip post is here.

We drove a good two plus hours from Jaipur City to see Abhaneri (an old well in the city of Abha) which was built in 800 AD and is a world heritage site! This place is amazing! To think that they built something like this 1200 years ago and things were a lot better for that local population than it is now was disturbing. 

Here are a few pictures of this magnificent well in HDR

After seeing the well, we visited an ancient temple that was close to the well.

The main statue was long gone but in its place is a more recent version. 

Every statue in this temple wall had its face disfigured and broken off by Mughal invaders. I can understand the Muslim invaders not being happy with the religion of the local populace they invaded, but this was Art! Someone didn't teach them that "a thing of beauty is a joy forever!"

These were such intricate carvings and it made me mad to see that someone could so callously do this to great art. My FIL did his best to calm me down by saying "most of this stuff doesn't suvive the test of time. So you should be happy to see at least these remains! if not by invaders, it is natural causes or erosion. there are so many burried places or civilizations that have come and gone.." etc. etc. 

Went around the entire thing trying to find one intact statue, but the folks who were responsible for the damage were very thorough! There was one piece on display outside the well.

Later remembered the piece at the Albert hall museum that had an almost intact face. There were a few pieces, that survived the onslaught!

A large goat was following me everywhere and even posed for me! It was so weird. Maybe it was someone I knew in a previous birth.. or at least that is what I was thinking while wandering through the place. 

We came out of the temple and were greeted by a bunch of vegetable vendors. The veggies there were sooo fresh. Felt like buying some home to cook. 

It was very pleasant outside, when we visited this place. That made the trip thoroughly enjoyable. Later that evening, it turned into clammy weather that was unbearable for a few hours. That still did not stop us from seeing a few sites..

Will post that tomorrow night.

If you visit Jaipur, this place is a bit out of the way, but is a must see!

The Devi is in the details..

The Navarathri festvial is in full swing. As with most things in the US for Indian families, all festivals that run a long time peak during the weekend. Usually the 9 day festival that culminates in Vijayadasami, overlaps two weekends. This year, we got only one weekend.

That meant, the algorithm that is used to juggle the 20+ evites, the open times to go visit various doll displays aka "golus", the travel time between the various locations, average time spent in each house, and other factors like number of possible dress changes, simply quit on us after throwing a few singularity errors and saying "you have only 24 hours in a day"!

This also meant there was tremendous pressure on Sangeetha to "dress up the girls and get dressed herself" and even more pressure on me to take perfect portraits on the first try within 10 minutes after they all got ready and even even more pressure on me to drive like a maniac on local freeways to ferry them to their destinations. 

Needless to say, the kids did their best to co-operate, which is another way of saying "they fell way short of our expecations". 

This year also marked the first time Jr. wore a davani (Half-Sari)! Before we know it, she will be wearing a full Sari. There is nothing that makes you realize your daughter is all grown up, than seeing her in a half sari. 

Please also note my hairline which is slowly going to a point where it won't be captured in portraits, unless we start taking aerial shots! I am tempted to plot my hairline vs. Jr's height and see if it is a linear, parabolic or exponential curve.

The only thing odd in that picture (not my hairline) is that yours truly doesn't dress nice for Navarathri!

I go in a T-shirt and Jeans with my camera on my shoulder, looking like Jane Goodall about to join the Chimps for an observation routine.

This year I came out with a half sleeve shirt and took some photos with the kids while Sangeetha was still dressing up, and the little one tells me "Daddy, you look like a auto driver. This shirt doesn't go well with what we are all wearing!" 

San chimes in with "If you are going to dress like this, please don't bother coming with us!" 

Funny thing is, it was a new shirt from the recent India trip. My mom got me two shirts for "casual wear"!  

Next year I have to go in a suit to match the girls!

We did Photoshop specials for Navarathri in recent years (2012, 2013). This year I get to be the model for the photomerges.

I am happy for the auto rickshaw drivers!

On a final note, the title was intentional.

Navarthri is a celebration of Shakthi in all her forms. We celebrate with displays of dolls, sweets and savories to get everyone, especially the kids engaged. In most houses there is just chanting of Lalitha Sahasranamam or Soundarya Lahari by the ladies and a prayer. 

I wanted Jr. and the little one (at least Jr.) to learn Soundarya Lahari. It has been a long time since I recited it. As with anything else, I work on reciting things without a book, so they know that it has to be done by heart. That meant some homework for me. Sitting alone in a hotel room in Asia was perfect for this.

They say that once you recite this hymn and close your eyes Shakthi appears in the middle of your eyebrows!

One night I called Sangeetha and said "Last night, I recited the Soundarya Lahari and closed my eyes, and I saw you. Maybe I just realized that YOU are my ambaal!"

Her response was "The kids are fighting non stop. I am going through hell here. If I am a godess and this is my fate, I cannot imagine what my fate would be otherwise!" 

Did give that a lot of thought sitting on planes and going through airports.

Our Devi's are right in front of us. There is no reason to try and visualize a supreme divinity when she is all around us!

It was an "eye opening" experience!

ps. The golus are morphing over time in the bay area. Will post pictures tomorrow. . .