Hadoti Travel Circuit
Places
of Interest: Bundi - Kota - Jhalawar - Baran .
Popular Places to
Visit: Bundi &
Kota
Towards
the southeast is one of Rajasthan`s least explored regions. It is a region
that is full of great historical towns with a proud heritage dating back
several centuries. Walk back into the past as you visit pre-historic cave
paintings and look for other traces of early civilization. It will delight
the archaeologist in you as you drive along the Chambal and stuble
upon more relics from the past. Hadoti has a wealth of beautifully
sculpted temples that seem frozen in time.
SIGHTSEEING
Bundi, the first major destination in Hadoti to be
reached from Jaipur, has a strong association with Rudyard Kipling,
who drew inspiration from the beautiful town and its surroundings. Set in
a narrow encircling gorge, the palaces and fortress of Bundi seem to come
straight out of a fairy tale. Very few places in the country can match
this small town's picturesque location. The Bundi Palace presents
a fine example of Rajput architecture with its carved brackets, pillars
and balconies. While you're at the palace don't miss the famous Chitra
Shala with its exquisite paintings of the Bundi School that adorn the
walls here. You can also visit the Phool Sagar Palace, Sukh Mahal,
Shikar Burj and Sar Bagh. The step wells of Bundi are works of art and
a very beautiful example can be found in the center of the town - the
Raniji ki Baodi. This stepwell is profusely decorated with carved pillars
and ornate archways and makes you wonder why a simple function of drawing
water from the well needed so much embellishment. More decoration can be
seen on 64- pillared 17th century cenotaph just outside the town. It is a
region that has kept its past alive but has also prepared itself to face
the 20th century with all the necessary equipment.
Take the
bustling, cluttered city of Kota. It's a thoroughly modern,
industrial city with its smoke emitting factories and an incredible number
of vehicles on its crowded roads. But it also has its majestic fort and
palaces. A lot of other reminders of its past are scattered all over the
city, like the fort with its museum and the Jag Mandir, the Brijraj
Bhawan Palace and the Umain Bhawan Palace. Kota is famous for
its sarees called Kotadoria. These cotton sarees are very popular as
summer wear. Moving further into the Hadoti region the towns get
less crowded and less touristy. The temples and the forts are all there
for you to explore, as you drive into the interior you chance upon a
ruined temple here and an abandoned fortress there. The people, beyond
Baran, are warm and welcoming an can be willing guides to help you
understand the area better. Some areas worth exploring are the Badoli
Temples that date back to the 9th century, the 11th century Ramgarh
Bhand deora temple, Sitabari, an ideal picnic spot with temples and seven
tanks and the fort and mosque of Shahbad. The countryside has wooded hills
and valleys that provide shelter to large variety of wildlife.
The
Darrah Wildlife Sanctuary, once used as the royal hunting ground,
today protects panther, spotted deer, wild boar and bear. Jhalawar
is a typical small Hadoti town where the focal point is the fort itself.
Located in the middle of the town, most of it now houses disctrict offices
but try and get some body to show you the Zenana Khas portion of the fort
as it has some really exquisite paintings on the walls.
When you
decide to move out of Jhalawar, there are other places of interest like
the wooden cottage called Rain Basera, the 7th century temples of
Chandrabhaga, sun temple at Jhalarapatan and the magnificent 8th century
Gagron fort.
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