November 23rd 2006
We had requested breakfast to be served at 7.30 am as we wanted to be off by 8.30 am, as there is still decoicy in Dholpur so we want to reach Bharatpur while it is still daylight. We plan to visit Dholpur before reaching Bharatpur and settle for the night.
8.33 am - Left Bhanwar Vilas Palace.
Went to Kailadevi temple. The story behind this temple is that even today, before any ministers etc arrive here to celebrate any big function, the local dacoits go there first before allowing the big prayer events.
9.20 am - Reached Kailadevi temple. Saravan Singh was keen to drive us all the way up to the temple gate, but the guides and hawkers on the way kept trying to stop us so we would buy prayer offerings etc from them. Finally, Saravan had to give up, although we did not buy anything from them, they kept pestring us. We made our way to the temple, and guess what! NO PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED INSIDE!! We were supposed to take off our shoes, meanwhile Payal called, so Pavan took just a few pictures, and we headed back to the taxi. On our way down, no one was interested anymore, as now we did not need any items for the temple. I bought a toy chakla belan (Rs 10) for Payal/Jaidev that we used to play with when we were kids, and I bought 2 of red strip with gold trimming at Rs 5 each (had seen some kids with these tied on their foreheads). We wanted to buy a photo of the temple, but did not find any. Found Saravan Singh at the bottom of the road.
10.00 am - Left Kailadevi temple. Not very impressed.
11.20 am - Entered the Dholpur Gate.
11.44am - Toll Tax gate - Saravan paid Rs 3 and asked Jurnail Singh (his name) where does all this money go? No reply.
12.22 pm - Stopped on the way at Chilachound to take some photos of the stores.
12.53 pm - Reached a palace called Talaab Shahi - Nirikshan Bhavan. (On going through our papers , I found out that Rajasthan Tourism has info on this as well as Machchkund that we missed before). Met with the caretaker Motiram (took his pictures) and he gave us info on this beautiful architecture.
Also drove past a great structure and the board showed it as Raj Vilas Palace, decided to google it later, but found out soon enough that it is a five star hotel and belongs to Vasundhra Raje, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
1.43 pm - Arrived in Dholpur.
Did not know where to start, meanwhile Pavan spotted a red building round the corner. So we decided to turn there, Pavan went to find out what it was. There was a Clock Tower further down. Pavan was gone for a while, Saravan Singh went searching for him and told me that the red structure is a Library. Pavan returned after a very long time and came back with some very valuable information. He had met with the librarian, who has been working on the local newspaper cuttings and pasting them in a journal for the past ten years. He also gave him a list of what places to visit and where to eat - Jagan Restaurant just down the street.
We ate at Jagan Restaurant (air conditioned) - very decent food, with hot fresh tandoori rotis - total cost with mineral water Rs 120. Pavan gave him only Rs 10 tip, which did not go well with me. I think he deserved more. But he was still happy. Oh, yes, even the bathroom was very clean. Good experience.
2.50 pm - Visited Machchkund - a beautiful place. There is a pond (kund) in the center and surrounded by small temples all around. In the main temple from where we saw the kund, there is a 5 headed Shiv - the only one in India.
Met Sanjiv Jha (Bobby) - a local from Dholpur who gave us some facts about the history of Dholpur. Thank you, Bobby. His phone numbers: 94140 26676 / 93143 80005.
After "Bharatpur Welcomes You" sign (HW 57) we still had 4/5 kms to go. Good time to reach Bharatpur, still not dark, but Saravan Singh was driving fast, I think he was worried about still being in the Chambal valley.
5.46 pm - Checked in Hotel Pratap Palace.
Settled down for the night after a pretty good day with good surprises, that made it worth it's while.
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