One of the Rooms at Hotel Jamuna Resort, JhunjhunuNovember 19th 2006
Woke up early and went to have our breakfast in the lawns at Jamuna Resort. There was a Rajasthani couple singing folk songs and playing local instruments. Very pleasant environment, we took a lot of their pictures, although the woman had her face covered most of the time. Tipped them well to be able to take more photos, Pavan took a couple of me behind them.
While we were still eating, we saw Mr Laxmikant Jangid approaching us. He sat with us, and continued where he had left off last night. When we asked for the bill, he said we can pay it at the counter. He showed us a lot of other rooms, and a kitchen he has developed for the tourists to be able to learn and cook Indian/Rajasthani dishes. He also showed us his listing in the "Lonely Planet". Hotel Jamuna Resort has this special offer at 950 Euros to bring a tourist from Delhi Airport to Jhunjhunu Jamuna Resort which includes stay, food etc, but its free for those who help in the development of this beautiful hotel. While we were talking with him, we had given him some ideas about some add ons (like exchanging his ugly plastic trash bin outside the exotic Gazebo for a brick style to compliment the surroundings , plus how a very plain fan in an otherwise beautiful area can be made to match the rest of the room (with mirror work as was the rest of the area).......I went to finish our packing and Pavan went with Mr LaxmiKant to clear the bill. Pavan returned after a while to tell me that Mr LaxmiKant refused, absolutely refused, to let us pay. He said he has benefited from us more. We tried a lot to pay, but he sent his manager away, and not only that, he offered to drive with us to show us the other famous locations of Jhunjhunu!! We were speechless, Rs 800 + atleast Rs 200 for the breakfast not charged. Well, we still have some Dildaars in our country, but honestly, we would rather pay than be given a free ride. He is such a gracious host.
(We experienced the same generosity in other places, but by now, we were prepared and insisted on paying up quietly and subtly.)
9.15 am - We left Hotel Jamuna with Mr LaxmiKant to see the Bidadichand Ka Kuan (a huge Well). On our way there, Mr LaxmiKant told us that Laxmi Mittal is from Rajgarh, Churu District.
The Kuan (Well) was absolutely awesome. This was the place where locals used to meet socially when they came here to fill water. It became a community center. The area around the well has a lot of open space and built in such a way, that people could sit and chat by sitting on the low stone walls. Pavan asked Mr LaxmiKant on the current value of this location. He had not thought about it, but as we talked, he realized that even today, without doing much, this could turn around to become a meeting place for various occasions, including weddings, Diwali, Holi functions. It is a price catch today and maybe bought cheap. Need to verify if this was built in 1879.
Next stop was the Sati temple. The Sati Temple on the outside looks like any other temple, but at the back of the temple, there is a beautiful white marble temple duplicated 6 to 7 times, and the whole complex looks gorgeous, but Photography is not allowed here. So, another beautiful structure may not be shown to the outside world.
After we returned to the US, Pavan did a lot of research on Sati, why and when did this practice start etc. We always abhored the very thought of Sati practice, it was for the first time we realized and wanted to know more the reasoning behind the practice. More on that later.
10.20 am - Left Mr LaxmiKant at Hotel Jamuna Resort and reached the Wind Palace at 10.30 am - called Khetri Hawa Mahal. This is an awesome Palace where one can visualize how the royalty lived in those days. There are solid walls and one can see rooms through and through. Two young boys showed us around this Palace, but before we could reach the Palace, we had to go through a farmers (sabzi) market, which had a lot of trash and vegetables thrown around, also a market where we saw a lot women and children, clothed in bright colors buying stuff.
To verify that that Khetri Hawa Mahal was built in 1730 by Bhopal Singh overlooking Badal Mahal.
Gave the 2 guys Rs 20 each as tip, bought 1 kg oranges at Rs 20. Someone told Pavan to be careful of his wallet as the person standing next to him was a thief. I cannot imagine anyone stealing Pavan's wallet, he would get a thrashing of his lifetime, as Pavan's wallet is like a second skin to him :-)
11.35 am - Crossed the Jhunjhunu Railway station.
11.37 am - Leaving Jhunjhunu for Sikar (again).
1.00 pm - Ate lunch at Shiv Singh Pura
1.40 pm - To Sikar again to be able to photograph some temples on our way back to Jaipur.
1.52 pm - Madan Mohan and Radha Mohan Mandirs
2.15 pm - Left Sikar for Jaipur .
4.20 pm - Reached Jaipur. Tired and happy to be home again!! Sent some clothes for laundry and requested for an early morning return delivery of our clothes.
Uploaded our photos, rested, ate dinner and settled down for the night.
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