"Enchanting, Enter ..." a State of Rajasthan Travel Page by phadke2001

India is known as a country where there were hundreds of kingdoms, many battling with each other or with foreign invaders. But within India if there is a place with Regalia Excessia - that place is Rajasthan. A state so named because of a profusion of kingdoms that the government of India inherited with it when we became independent in 1947.

I went to Rajasthan with mixed expectations. On the one hand I had read of all the past glory & grandeur, of the battles - long protracted and sometimes won, sometimes lost but always honourably. Of the proud warriors - the Rajputs who rode to meet the enemy even in the face of certain death & their even more proud wives, who committed Jauhar when their kings were faced with certain defeat. Praan Jaaye Par Wachan Na Jaaye & many such proud proclamations rang in my ears as I started planning my trip.

On the other hand, growing up I had heard of the BIMARU states (the collection of slow or negatively growing states that were blamed for the economic sickness (Bimari) of the Indian nation as a whole, Rajasthan featuring not so prominently but surely in that collection. Being the home of the Great Indian Desert – The Thar, made life for the Rajasthani’s even more difficult and different governments had made attempts at changing this but did not know how successful those attempts had been.

So I knew that I was going to a state where I would meet people – proud but living in past glory, see great forts that were supposed to protect people from invaders in the past but were doing little to protect the current populace from poverty, hear stories of proud kings and queens whose descendents had become noveau royalty by entering politics, noveau riche by renting their castles / palaces and other properties to luxury hotel chains or had faded into complete oblivion after a long period of decadence had given way to utter poverty. It would be interesting to see what people thought of the erstwhile Maharaja and whether royalty held the same sway over the people of Rajasthan as it does on the British people.

Enough philosophising, I went to Rajasthan at the best time of the year - December. My trip was completely booked by train - not the palace on wheels - regular Indian Railways. Save for one connection everything turned out absolutely by clockwork. We spent 7.5 days and saw 3 cities - Jaipur, Jodhpur & Jaisalmer. The highlight of my trip was the Fort of Jaisalmer & great shopping. I could have shopped atleast 4 times as much as I really did but then there was no space.

Rajasthan is located in the western part of India on the border with Pakistan. One of the states in the country that has no coastline. It is also home to the Great Indian Desert - The Thar and that makes it a very dry and hot place for most of the year.

The region encompassing the state is believed to be one of the earliest settled areas of India since pottery and jewellery from 3000BC has been discovered in Kalibangan, near Ganganagar. The civilisation in this area is believed to have been assimilated into the Indus valley civilisation of Harrappa.

After the Indus valley civilisation declined and failed, Rajasthan had a long period of Bhil & Mina kingdoms that battled within themselves and remained independant of the large Maurya & Gupta empires that grew in the rest of the country.

The 6th & 7th centuries saw the rise of the Rajput warrior clans who were formed from people who had fleed aggressors in their native states. While their origins are subject to a lot of debate, the Rajputs themselves believe that they are descendants of Lord Ram & Krishna and name themselves, Suryavanshi or Chandravanshi - accordingly.

The Rajputs have had a rich history mainly due to their battles to defend their land against their bretheren or external aggressors. History is rife with stories of inter Rajput, Rajput Mughal & Rajput Maratha wars.

After independance from the British, all the Rajput states were assimilated into Rajasthan and the Indian government agreed to pay the former kings, annual privy purses - large sums of money as a compensation for giving up their royal status. Privy purses were abolished in 1971 by Indira Gandhi.

The royalty of Rajasthan has lost its glory in varying amounts across the state. Many squandered their wealth while maintaining a facade of grandeur and had nothing left by the time privy purses were abolished. Others moved to politics or business to become the new royalty. There is today a new generation of Indians that has never seen Royalty in action. For them they are relics from a past that have diminished in stature and grandeur over time and are best left to the history books and for tourists to admire.

Send Photo to a Friend

View of Mehrangarh from Clock Tower

What Can You Do In Rajasthan

Rajasthan is a haven for three types of tourists - the history buff, the shopaholic & the culture-seeker.

Every city offers each of the following. A massive fort & a palace -both in various stages of upkeep or decay, an assortment of museums, an antiquated temple or shrine, HUGE shopping galleries, handicraft showrooms to drive even the most choiceful shopper crazy & local bazaars teeming with people and offering the opportunity of mingling with the locals and get a flavour of the local culture.