Ranakpur

Our 3 nights at the Taj Lake Palace were very special, could it get any better? I neglected to mention that the area around Lake Pichola was the backdrop for a number of scenes from Octopussy (Roger Moore as Bond). Naturally the film is on the hotel tv 24/7 and it is so corny it is hilarious. From the Jag Mandir Palace opposite to the Monsoon Palace on the hill and Vijay Amritraj riding a super tuk tuk through the streets of Udaipur we had a good laugh, with added significance of course.
Next stop was the fortress hotel of Devi Garh at Delwara where the imposing facade of a bygone era soars above the village below providing a stark contrast to the contemporary interiors. After a heritage tour of the fort we had a camel ride and a walk through the village where the 3 temples of the Jains, Hindus and Muslims are side by side. The shops and artisans open directly into the street, be careful of the cow dung and flying cricket balls! Pottery the old fashioned way, no motors, just a stone wheel set spinning on an axis and the pot is finished before the wheel stops.

First stop this morning was the Jain Temple at Ranakpur. From what we can gather the Jains were a breakaway sect of Hinduism with a more capitalistic approach, as they are now the richest group in India. This temple built of solid marble, 1444 carved pillars in total was constructed in the 15th century. It lies in the Arivali Hills virtually in the middle of nowhere and all the marble came by camel from Udaipur, at least a 2 hour drive away by car. No wonder it took 73 years to complete!

This afternoon entailed a 4 hour drive through rural India. It is dusty, it is extremely filthy and very poor but is also colorful with the ladies in saris, the men in their pink, red and saffron turbans and all the trucks and buses elaborately decorated. Most of the journey was more like a modern game of 'chicken' as the road is in theory 2 lanes but in reality the tarmac is only wide enough for one vehicle, so it is head to head until somebody finally moves over. The only exception to the rule is that everyone must give way to the cows, of which there are many. Remarkably we did not see any accidents but the death toll was still high as we saw 4 dogs and 1 cow dead in the road.
We arrived in Jodhpur in time for sunset from the Umaid Bhawan Palace, home of the Maharaja, Gaj Singh, where we will stay 2 nights. What a sight it is. The lobby: