Ranakpur, Jodhpur

Oct 16

We left Mt. Abu early in the morning. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the desert plains below the day had begun to heat up. Not much to report on the scenery as we proceeded northeast toward Jodhpur. About 3 hours into the trip we turned off to go to Ranakpur, a large Jain temple. The road started out nice but turned into a bumpy nightmare. Everyone we talked to over the next several days indicated the problems resulted from a very generous monsoon season and the roads departments are struggling to catch up.

On arrival at the temple we paid our camera fees, shed our shoes and then were frisked to make sure no leather was smuggled in. Once in, it was sheer amazement with the carved marble columns, wall reliefs, and domed ceiling works. While photos were allowed, you could not point a camera in the direction of the central god figure. Doing so would result in shrill police whistles being blown. While I did not see it there is one of the 114 columns which is purposely build off perpendicular.

After about a hour we left the temple and wandered down a tree lined street. We turned to see another temple and saw a monkey family. I stopped to take a picture and was threatened by one monkey, teeth bared. Evidently she did not want her picture taken. We entered the temple with the guard telling us to look for the Kama Sutra carvings. All I can say is, it must have been Kama Sutra light, or we were moving so fast over the hot marble plaza surrounding the temple reliefs that we missed it all.

Another 45 minutes back to the same road followed by a long delay due to a horrific accident involving a bus and a lorry. The side of the bus was ripped off. We arrived in Jodhpur close to 6PM.

We met with the guide, Raj, at 8:30 in the morning. When we expressed an interest in contemporary art, we deviated from the “programme” to visit the new palace. Supposedly as large a Buckingham Palace, it is a very large structure. The descendents of the royal family live in one portion of the building, another portion is opened as a museum, and the remainder is a luxury hotel (starting at 10,000 Rs) per night. This was the first place we heard the name Richard Geer mentioned, but not the last.

The next stop was the site of the royal cremations. High on a hill, it overlooked the old city.
A beautiful mausoleum, dedicated to the husband is adjacent to a lake and the monuments to other member of the royal family. We spend some time discussing burial practices among Hindu’s. We were also serenaded by local musician, including childhood French ditties. It is better than having “jingle Bells” sung when I wear my read polo shirt.

It was on to the Jodhpur Fort. We took the elevator to the top. It took them 2 years to chisel out the elevator shaft. Otis provided the elevator which took us up 12 levels. Upon arriving we hear music reverberating from below. A parade was forming to lead people to the grounds where Ravan was to be burned…..celebrating the victory of good over evil in the Ramayana. This was a festival observed throughout India for the previous 10 days. From the ramparts were saw the blue buildings that Jodhpur is famous for. Each city we have visited has had a different color. Jaipur is pink, Udaipur is white, and Jodhpur is blue. I wonder what colors we will see next.

We toured the fort high above the city. We noted the Persian pumps ( a series of buckets on a circular rope or chain), and huge reservoirs of water. Above the ramparts, we visited the now familiar women’s quarters separate from those of the Raj. We wondered how the women viewed the world through the carved marble screens. Fabulous murals are painted on the walls. We also viewed the Raj’s quarters, the courtyard where the Raj heard the pleas of the common man, and the other places of government. All in all the Jodhpur Fort is a magnificent building. Again the fort is held as a charitable trust as are most of the properties of the old Raj kingdoms.

We then went into the main bazzars where we visited a spice market and a textile merchant. We purchased in both (some garam masala, and tea spices) and a shawl from a Jain textile merchant. Here is where we heard the name Richard Geer once again. He reportedly made a major purchase of wollens in the shop. Since we are not Richard Geer, we only purchased on shawl. We then wandered around the market, and found the left goods section. We thought used clothing or remainders from shops, but the goods were the possessions of the recently deceased.