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| india |
| rajasthan |
| Rajasthan, one of India's most colourful provinces stretches from the desert border near Pakistan all the way to central India and is famous for its handicrafts, weavings and miniature paintings. Now a shameless tourist trap, no trip to India is really complete without a visit to at least one Rajasthani city. There are palaces and temples galore; elephants and camels wander the streets and the Rajasthani dress is one of the brightest and most outlandish of all of India with different colours for each day or mood topped off with wildly coloured turbans. |
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| Udaipur - The White City |
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| A view of the 'white' city from the City Palace of Udaipur. |
| Two sheep-herders in Lake Pichola, now dry. |
| (Above) The gorgeous Udaipur City Palace of marble and granite is the largest and most exquisite palace in Rajasthan, (above left) a stained-glass and mirrored room within the palace, (bottom left) a balcony in the palace and (below) another stain-glassed balcony. |
| (Right) The beautiful Lake Palace, now a hotel, in Lake Pichola. During the dry season the lake dries up, but the hotel is usually surrounded by water. It was used in the 1983 James Bond film "Octopussy." The film is screened nightly by all the restaurants in the old city. |
| (Left) Walking through the dry lake-bed of Lake Pichola and (above) a traditional Rajasthani band at the Shilpgram Folklore Village. |
| (Left) A rangoli decorated elephant in the old city and (above) yes, it's the largest turban in the world. |
| A view of the city from the hilltop Monsoon Palace, used by the Maharaja of Udaipur during the rainy season. |
| Jagmandir Lake Palace in Lake Pichola, where Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, once stayed and is said to have derived many of his ideas for the great monument from. |
| A narrow twisting alleyway of Udaipur. |
| An Udaipur street. |
| A traditional wall-painting in a Rajasthani home. |
| Jodhpur - The Blue City |
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| Jodhpur was my favourite city in Rajasthan, colourful and filled with tiny alleyways and markets with a majestic fort looming high on a rocky hill above. (Above) A view of the 'blue' city from the fort. You can clearly hear conversations and the sounds of the city swept up by the winds. (Right) The Jaswant Thada, cenotaphs and crematorium of the ancient maharaja of Jodhpur. |
| (Above) The invincible Mehrangarh Fort cits atop a 125 metre high hill. (Right) The handprints of the 15 wives of Maharaja Man Singh at the Lohapol Gate of the fort, made just before they went to perform sati and threw themselves on his funeral pyre in 1843. A widow was expected to burn herself alive while reciting prayers. The handprints are now part of a small shrine and are covered in silver leaf and red paint. |
| The royal ceremonial throne of the Maharajas carved of white marble. |
| A close-up view of the fort. |
| A traditionally dressed Rajasthani man with his opium pipe, shield and sword. |
| The beautiful spiral staircase within the fort. |
| The haveli carved wooden screens of the fort where women of the court could look out but nobody could see in. This allowed observance of strict purdah (the Hindu practice of sex segregation keeping women hidden from men). |
| The beautiful stained glass windows of the Royal Court. |
| (Left) Two men dressed for a Rajasthani wedding celebration and (above) colourful flags blow in the wind at the entrance to a temple inside the fort. |
| (Above) A colourful doorway in the old city and (right) a groom on his way to his bride's house during a wedding procession. |
| (Above) A traditional wedding procession and (right) a Jodhpur street. |
| A Rajasthani man and his children playing and dancing to traditional music at Jaswant Thada. |
| (Above) The Clocktower at the central market and (right) Jaswant Thanda, cenotaphs and the royal crematorium for the maharajas. |
| A fruit and vegetable market. |
| The rabid dog bite. Doesn't look so bad here, but it bruised up badly. It was followed by a tetenus shot in the ass and five more jabs in the arm over the next month and a half so that I wouldn't die of rabies. |
| Jaipur - The Pink City |
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| Jaipur, called the pink city because of the pink hue given off by the red sandstone used to build the walls of the old city. (Above) The triple gate of red sandstone and (left) the minaret tower of a mosque. |
| (Above) The crowds gather to watch to procession of the Goddess Parvati, consort to Lord Shiva, during the Gangaur Festival. Young girls dress up in their best clothes and pray for the grooms of their choice while married women pray for the well-being of their husbands. (Left) Indian women walk the streets of Jaipur below the hill fort. (Below) A view of the city from the fort. |
| (Left above and below) Jantar Mantar, an observatory constructed by Jai Singh II. He built these huge structures to record the time and positions of the sun and planets. He believed that the larger the device, the more accurate it was. All of the devices still work today and are in remarkably good shape. |
| (Above and below) Entrance gates into the City Palace of Jaipur. |
| One of two silver water-carrying vessels used by Maharaja Mado Singh II of Jaipur to carry holy water from the river Ganges to England by boat. He didn't trust the English water. They are in the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest silver objects on earth. (Below) A bangle-seller in the market. |
| The gorgeous, brightly coloured peacock gate within the City Palace courtyard. |
| The Hawa Mahal (Palace of Wind). Constructed only one-room deep but five-storeys high in order to capture even the slightest breeze. It was a later addition to the palace complex and used by the ladies of the court to watch royal processions on the street while observing purdah (the Hindu practice of sex segregation hiding women from men). |