Sandy Desert Of Rajasthan

Whenever we talk of India, we talk of unity in diversity. Diversity not only in land and vegetation but also in religions, languages, life-style, and food-habits, but still the glorious past and rich cultural heritage unite the Indians. The rich Indian cultural heritage lies in every part of India among which Rajasthan, the land of tradition, bravery and chivalry occupies the most important place. My friends always boasted of the glorious land of Rajasthan and insisted that I should make it a point to visit the sandy desert of Rajasthan which has colorful cities such as Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner among many others, whenever I plan out my next vacation. A few months back, while I was planning to have a vacation, I decided to pay a heed to their advise and immediately contacted my travel agent Decent Indo Tour, based at Delhi to organize my trip.

602 kilometers away from Delhi, Jodhpur is easily connected via airways, railways and roadways. I boarded Mandor Express at the Delhi station for Jodhpur on a pleasant evening in the month of February, as I was informed that October to March are the best months to enjoy the sandy desert of Rajasthan. Throughout the way, nothing could match my excitement. I was eager to reach the place as soon as possible and was so excited that could not sleep the entire night. Well, finally I arrived at the Jodhpur station the next morning at 8 and headed to the Taj Hari Mahal hotel as I wanted to spend an evening in the blue city.

An Evening In Jodhpur
Though I was as impatient as a child to start my venture, but my body pleaded for a little rest before I could carry on with the Jeep Safari, prearranged by my travel agent. It was late in the afternoon that I left for the sights-seeing and what I saw on my way enthralled me: The colorful dresses of men and women, playing children, men playing 'ektara' , and dancing and flowing wind as their spectators. I felt delighted to be in the land of colour and innocence. Suddenly, there was a glimpse of a high structure. As the jeep drew nearer, it happened to be a fort: The Mehrangarh fort, one of the largest forts in India. It was such a huge structure that the jeep had to pass through 7 gates to enter into the fort. The fort had many palaces inside, which made me imagine the luxurious lifestyle of the Rajwadas. 'Wow! the room would have witnessed so many beautiful Indian damsels that India is globally famous for' was my expression when I saw a beautiful mirror room, that connected two palaces of the fort: Umaid Villas and Ajit Villas. The fort made me recapitulate the stories of the brave Rajputs, about whom I had read in history books. Had their bravery would have fallen at the feet of their enemies, I could have only seen the ruins of the fort, and who knows, not even that!

My thoughts left me when the the jeep moved on to confront the jerks at the zigzag way in the royal land of Jodhpur, and within a few minutes, the jeep stood before a royal palace, Umaid Bhawan Palace. The palace, earlier the residence of the Royal Excellency, is now a five star deluxe palace hotel. The beautiful palace has a gallery of weapons that again reminded me the chivalry shown by the Rajwadas in the battle-field against the enemies who evil eyed their mother, the land of Rajasthan. The jeep safari moved on as I crossed desert, markets, Mahamandir temple and the locals.

Back at home, my friends, who had already visited Jodhpur had informed me that Jodhpur is a shopper's paradise and had asked me to do some shopping for them. I have always had a passion for antiques, and therefore when one of the locals informed me that the city is an antique hunter's destination, I found it no exaggeration as soon as I reached the foothills of the Ummaid Bhavan. The shops looked lively with old artifacts, sculptures, old pictures and rare first edition books among which I picked up a few rare books at a not-so-high price. Throughout my trip to Jodhpur, I was fascinated by the royal dressing sense of the locals, and therefore the colorful hand dyed Bandhini fabrics in the Kapra Bazaar caught my attention, from where I bought some Jodhpuri coats for my friends, which they really liked when I gave them later.

The Desert Exploration At Jaisalmer
The next morning I took a taxi for Jaisalmer, 285 kilometers away from Jodhpur. Though at Jodhpur, I had bought a Rajasthan tourist guide book and had planned to go through it on my way to Jaisalmer as I had presumed that at miles there would be nothing to see but the deserted land! But soon whatever I saw, proved me wrong! The few hours that I spent in the taxi passed like a few minutes as I was enjoying the side views on the way: The Camels, with their head held high and feet firmly placed on the sands, moved ahead with their breeders. The tired passersby looked for shelters under the shadow of the trees, though found at a distance in the low vegetation belt of the Thar desert. As the sun rose high in the sky above the head, the sands kissed the hard sun rays and glittered as if precious gems and stones had blanketed over the entire area. What a beautiful creation of God! I was spellbound.

A distant glimpse caught my attention which became more clear later as the taxi moved further and happened to be a large fort. It was around 11 PM when I reached the city of Jaisalmer, built on the Tricuta hill in the 12th century by prince Jaisal, a Krishna cult Rajput. I had heard a lot of the evening Camel desert Safari and was keen to take it. But I had a few hours with me to spare at other places too. Meanwhile, I had something cooking up in my head. But what? Yes, I wanted to find out about the golden fort (which I had encountered while entering the city of Jaisalmer), that looked like an amber jewel in the city of desert. Therefore, straight away I went to see the fort where I along with other tourists and a guide entered the famous Jaisalmer fort via a market situated outside the fort. The market had shops of varying sizes which were full of mirror-work embroidered articles along with wooden boxes trickles and other stuffs. I was keen to have some of them but at the same time I was more eager to see the fort. 'Awesome', I uttered as soon as I saw the architecture of the fort while we passed through the narrow lanes dotted with famous havelis. Standing 250 feet tall and reinforced by an imposing crenellated yellow sandstone 30 feet high wall, the fort depicted the traditional lifestyle of the contemporary Maharajas. I came to know that at the time of sunset, the fort gets a fairy tale look when it merges with golden hues of the desert ambience and colorful shades of the setting sun. A scene I missed due to lack of time! What else attracted me were beautifully carved famous Jain temples (12th-15th century) in the fort with a beautiful depiction of the Rajput style. It was perhaps the power of divinity inside the temples which purified my soul. On my way back from the fort in the main market I bought some mirror - embroidered articles and wooden boxes.

A Date With The Desert At Night
Though I enjoyed a lot throughout the day, but I was more excited to take up the Camel Desert Safari in the evening. The wait was over as it was the time to rock. I had a fantastic experience of the jeep safari at Jodhpur, but my expectations were higher with the camel safari, as my friends who had influenced me to make a visit to Jaisalmer, often boasted of the evening camel safari in the Thar desert that lies in four states of India: Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan. I had heard a lot of the sunset and sunrise in the Sam Sand Dune desert, so when our 'caravan' took off for Sam Sand Dunes, nothing could match my excitement. I was alone on one of the camels and was terrified when the camel stood up. For once, it seemed like I was going to fall down, but within a moment my terror was replaced by joy.

With the journey my curiosity also started reaching the saturation point. 'So many lizards?' My camel breeder, a friendly old man, was smart enough to answer it quickly, 'the desert has 23 species of lizards and 25 species of snakes, which are well adapted to survive in a little vegetation'. I was astonished! The camel breeder knew everything about the entire area. On our we crossed many small and big villages, full of life and colour. The caravan halted at a rural bazaar for a few minutes. There were exotic trinkets, beads, lac bangles, old tribal silver ornaments, terracotta vases, a range of handicraft and fabric items and utensils being sold there. After some bargain, I bought some terracotta pots at a not so high price. It was the time for sunset and we were about to reach the dunes of Sam. The sky was clear and as the wind touched the dunes, the setting sun tried to hide itself under the soothing arms of the mother earth. The whole scene created a magical picture and I captured the magic of the nature in my camera forever. It was the moment I felt like a king of the land, who was on his way to explore his royal land.

It was dark and the time to halt in a nearby village and taste some splendid dishes of Rajasthan. Though I had been advised by my travel agent to avoid some of the spicy dishes as they could upset my stomach, but I could not resist when my nose smelled the flavor. I had never tasted such a delicious food: Dal-Bhatti, Churma, Kadhi and Rice, a pure vegetarian traditional food of Rajasthan, prepared in butter and milk. While the dinner was being served, the villagers, after the tiresome heat of the day, relaxed by singing and dancing. The night was cold and we, the tourists along with our hospitable hosts(villagers) gathered around the fire to get some heat. In the meantime the nats (professional dancers) entertained us. While men impressed me with their act of bravery while jumping over the live wood and charcol (the drumbeats in the background added to the effect), the women in lehengas (a traditional Rajasthani dress) and silver ornaments on every part of their body won my heart with their melodious voice. When the men, clad in short round kurtas, dhotis and turbans on their head, danced, I could not stop myself and shook a leg on their tunes. It was midnight and the hours had passed like a few seconds. I slept with sky as my cover, and for some golden moments, was a witness of the silent romance of the stars with the twinkling sands of the desert.

The next morning our safari return to the city of Jaisalmer from where I had to return back as my short vacation had ended with moments that's still alive in my memories!