5 July 2021 - Surat to Jodhpur – 710 km - Day 3 of Spiti Valley Exploration

The most important lesson that travel has given me is to understand my insignificance and redundancy. There are some who question my on-off at work – 10 months on, 2 months off. I do it for two reasons. One is to travel and broaden my understanding and appreciation of the planet we live in and the other is to step aside for your co-workers to work in an unsupervised environment. The former recharges my battery and the latter empowers my co-workers. Most importantly, I find it necessary to move away from the zones of comfort and experience the insignificance of oneself and one’s possessions. We take both of them too seriously and that sort of cramps our style. It is essential for me to break free now and then from the restrictions imposed by a fettered mind and claustrophobic social mores.

Another early morning start helped cover a fair bit of distance before the peak time. The traffic in Gujarat is higher by a factor of X. Many of the trucks are unfit to be on the road and it would be in the fitness of things if they are taken off on age cum condition basis. What is even more worrying is the transportation of oversized consignments at night without proper warnings and lights. The authorities must clamp down on such violations so that accidents are avoided.

Shri Ambaji Mata temple in the Aravalli range is a popular pilgrimage centre, where the faithful from all parts of the country come to. Of the 52 Shakti Peethas in the country the Ambaji Mata temple is the only one with 358 golden kalash and hence, the popularity. The legend is that it is at this place that Sati’s heart fell when her body was dismembered by Lord Vishnu to stop Shivji's tandav. 

At Chappri, the Rajasthan border, the police patrol asked me to park the car and report at a makeshift tent. I had to give them details of the car and contact information. No information was sought about vaccination or tests. Masking up was an absolute requirement without any exception. As soon as I entered the state I was amazed by the amount of quarrying that was going on in the Aravalli range. Many hills were on the verge of disappearing and most were in danger of being totally disembowelled. Large crusher units have been erected and heavy trucks transport rocks and sized metal. What nature provides, man destroys. It is time that such environment degradation is stopped. 

Accommodation in Jodhpur had been arranged through friends in the Indian Railways. There was slight confusion when I reported at the ORH, which was sorted out soon enough. I met the newly posted Senior Divisional Operations Manager, Ajit Meena, who was staying in the ORH. He sorted out the confusion and detailed a Traffic Inspector to assist me. Since Devendra Ramavat is a local and well versed with the city and its neighborhood I requested him to take me the popular tourist sites such as the Mehrangarh Fort.

On the way to the fort Ramavat told me that two type of stones were mainly used for construction in Jodhpur – Chitter which is predominantly reddish and Ghatu that has a variety of colours. Most of the historical monuments have been built using these stones. Quarrying of these is a major activity and is in the vice grip of the powerful. The foundation for the Mehrangarh Fort was laid in 1459 after countering a curse that had been laid on the site by a saint. The curse could be lifted only if one of the king’s subjects willingly agreed to be buried alive in the fort area. When none of the king’s subjects came forward, Rajaram Meghwal offered himself up for the supreme sacrifice. In his memory a sandstone memorial was erected at his grave site. The Fort is spread over 1200 acres and has seven gates. It is the largest fort in India and Rao Jodha is credited with this feat. Jodhpur is also named after him. I was eagerly looking forward to spend a couple of hours marvelling at the various palaces and museum. However, it was disappointing that the Fort was closed due to the pandemic. The fort being located on a hilltop that is more than 120 meters higher from the plains affords panoramic views of the city and its major places of interest.

The Jaswant Thada was my next place of interest. Unfortunately that too was closed. The Jaswant Thada was built in 1899 as a cremation ground for the royals. It has elaborately carved sheets of marble adorning the various gazebo cenotaphs. On the way to the Gulab Sagar, Ramavat pointed out a few ‘Havelis’ and said that they could only be built by an employee of the royal family. One of the features of the haveli is the ‘Jharokha’, which is a stone window projecting from the upper floor of a building face. They are elaborately carved and of different shapes and sizes. The laced pattern on them are exquisite. They normally overlook a courtyard, market or street. Another interesting nuggest supplied by Ramavat is that the high arched doorways, called proals, can be built only with the permission of the royalty. The violators are visited with punitive fines, that could be very heavy. 

Gulab Bai was a favourite of Umaid Singhji, the ruler of Jodhpur. The elaborate mansion he built for her is known as Gulab Mahal and the artificial lake fronting it is called the Gulab Sagar.

Not very far from this interesting part of the city’s history is another one, the Toorji Ka Jhalra. It is a stepwell that was constructed in the 1740s by Maharaja Abhay Singh’s consort queen. The stepwell is possibly one of the oldest organised forms of rain water harvesting. The steps are so arranged that people can draw water from it depending on the water table. The Toorji Ka Jhalra was submerged and filled with debris for many decades. The recent restoration and renovation exposed many works of art and artefacts. Young boys dive into the well from the higher reaches of the pool and swim in the well. Of course, the water is not potable now.

Ramavat suggested, as I had time, that we should visit the Kaylana Lake. That turned out to be the most fascinating part of the visit in Jodhpur. The Kaylana Lake is about 10 km outside the city and is the single largest water resource of the city. The artificial lake was built in 1872 by razing ancient palaces. The lake is spread over nearly a square km and is almost 3 km in length. RTDC operates boating services for interested visitors and seemed to be quite popular. Ramavat told me that he used to be part of a team that had rights to fish in the lake. He mentioned that they used to organise get-togethers and parties for friends and people in high places.