Kumbhalgarh and Rangapur
Thursday, we headed out on a day trip to Kumbhalgarh and Rungapur. As we got away from town, the landscape was dry and desolate, with small hills and sparse vegetation. The hills were lined with low stone walls, there were miles of them marking off small paddocks or huge areas. The work which must have gone into making them must have been incredible. Before long, Mohan, our driver, slowed and asked if we wanted to get out and take some photos. On the right hand side of the narrow road were three camels, laden ready for their journey.
With a flash of blue, a peacock jumped out onto the road in front of us and scurried to get across safely as Mohan manuvoured the car around him. As the peacock half flew, half jumped off the road and ran into the brush, I could see his brilliant blue colors and his beautiful long green tail feathers behind him. Amazing country it is where you see peacocks, camel, monkeys and elephants along the roads…
The deeper we went into the countryside, the more we noticed that the older women we passed on the way had large elaborate nose rings decorating their faces! Some of the rings where nearly 3 cm in diameter and looked incredible.
Kumbhalgarh was an incredible old fort. As we approached it up a steep mountain road, we could see parts of the 34 km external walls winding across the top of the hills. It was built in the 15th century and contains hundred of temples. Dey and I spent and hour exploring and only saw a handleful of them - it was the sort of place which you needed to have a few days to wander through and really absorb everything.
After the fort, we went on to Ranakpur which is reknowned for its Jain temple. This enormous temple was made of white marble, exquistely carved with Indian gods and scenes.
There are 1400 carved pillars supporting the temple - gives you an idea of the scale. The perimeter walls house deities of Jain gods, each contained in its own ‘cell’, wonderfully decorated. The main shrine is in the middle, and there were some women devotees sitting on the alter, chanting and playing instruments. There were a couple of other temples on the complex, each beautiful but smaller and less ornate than the main temple. The marble made them cool and calm inside - we spent an hour and a half wandering around the large temple, but could have easily spent hours more looking at all the intricate carvings.
As we headed back to Udaipur, we stopped at a little village and watched a man shape shallow pots from clay, using a flat piece of wood and thumping the clay over a stone mold. He made them so quickly and seemingly without effort!
The village was really pretty, but very basic. Very small, low houses made from with mud and straw bricks, or similar types of materials. Roofs were either tiled or thatched, but the weight of tiles on some made the structures sag precariously. Very simple living…
