Tucked up at the top of India next to Pakistan, the state of Rajasthan, which means “land of kings”, is India at its flamboyant best. If you want an India that fulfills every exotic fantasy – palaces, warrior kings, camel fairs, elephants, peacocks and desert cities that might have spring from the pages of The Arabian Nights – you get it here.
For the most part, Rajasthan is a bleached, featureless landscape of sand, rocks and stunted trees, but its people are dazzling. The women cover their heads with embroided veils that trail down almost to the ground. Bright colours are favoured; scarlet, pink or lime green. For dressier occasions, their costume might be laced with silver thread, or embroidered with mirrors. Thick white bracelets encircle their arms and their ears are pierced with heavy gold rings. Traditional dress for men is a bright turban, leather slippers that turn up at the toes, flowing white shirts and cavalry moustaches. Even their traditional trades – camel masters, goatherds, tinsmiths and wandering musicians – have a heroic ring to them.
History has also marked Rajasthan in spectacular ways. For more than 1000 years the state was ruled by the Rajputs, a caste of warrior kings who lived by a code of honour that embraced the ideals of bravery, etiquetter and chivalry. This has left the landscape of Rajasthan splashed with legends and some of the most impressive forts in India.
One of the greatest is Amber Fort, which overlooks a narrow pass in the Aravalli Range just outside the capital Jaipur. From this towering stronghold of yellow stone, the Rajputs ruled a province the size of Switzerland. Today Amber Fort has become a required stop on the standard tourist itinerary of Rajasthan, although there are many other fortresses that offer a similar glimpse of poetry and power, without the crowds.
Later rulers of Jaipur added their own embellishments; the City Palace and, most spectacular of all, the Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, a five-storey screen of honey combed windows, constructed so that the cloistered women of the royal court could observe the life of the city unseen.
Today, Jaipur’s Old City is an open-air bazaar. Everything is on sale; incense, curly-toed leather slippers, spices, floral garlands, souvenirs, Afghani carpet, brass statues, embroided cushion covers, and exotic antiques.
Scattered across the rest of Rajasthan is a string of desert cities, each one a rearrangement of the same elements of sand, stone and flaming colours.
Jodhpur is Rajathan’s second largest city, set on the fringe of the Thar Desert. At its heart is the old city, a tangled knot of narrow streets and bazaars where the blue wash on the buildings earns the subtitle The Blue City. Rising above it all is the mighty Mehrangarh Fort, the largest in Rajasthan, now a museum packed with memorabilia from the time of the maharajahs.
Other cities include; Bikaner – a vibrant desert town with a powerful fort sheathed in rose-red sandstone, Jaisalmer – a fairytale city of towers and temples, and Jaisalmer – one of the bases for camel safaris into the Thar Desert.
A trip to Rajasthan usually involves stepping just outside its border to visit Agra and the Taj Mahal, which with Jaipur forms the base of a triangle with Delhi as the apex. For a great view of the Taj from the riverbank without the crowds, turn right before heading in the main gate and follow the wall downhill, passing a small bazaar, until you come to the river – at the bottom is a boatman who will pole you across to the other side for about 200 rupees (less than $5).
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