A Country Drive

Today is our last day in Jaipur and following advice from our guide decided to take a country drive to Samode Palace. This is another of the many Maharaja’s palaces that we are beginning to understand are all over Rajasthan.The drive there was again expertly directed by Deb and google maps although we did seem to find ourselves on a very narrow road passing through a couple of small villages. It was slow going as the road was mainly unsealed and was in quite poor condition. Eventually we arrived at Samode Palace.

The Palace itself, is still owned by the Maharaja, although those titles are largely irrelevant these days. In 1971, all government subsidies to former regional royal families were ceased. Many of these families are still very wealthy and hold huge amounts of property. The King of Jaipur has gifted significant assets to the city for hospitals, parks and sporting venues. This palace is now a working hotel with 43 guest rooms, all beautifully furnished to match the times of the Maharajas.

 

And a great bathroom!

We were given a guided tour of the Palace. Many of the original ceremonial rooms have been preserved and restored where necessary to their original grandeur. Once again, it was like we were the only people in the place, so it was again a very special experience.

A couple of the rooms….

And …

We had some lunch in the hotel restaurant, prior to making the journey back to Jaipur. There were some interesting moments as we encountered some small procession activities as the whole city warms up for the procession later tonight.

So our new best friend, Raju drove us to and from the festival in his auto-rickshaw, somewhat of an adventure in itself.

While we didn’t see the actual procession, the festival was in full swing when we arrived. Ganesh is the elephant-headed god and the festival celebrates a time when you can start new things without obstacles. It is a very happy crowd, with lots of people handing out drinks and food. There are stages set up and singers and dancers performing. It is loud and there are more people than I’ve seen in one place. For us, I’m about a foot taller than anyone else in the crowd, which is a great conversation starter.

One of the performers…

We spent about an hour, and by that time the senses were a bit overloaded, but again another unique experience that one can only get by being in India at festival time.

Earlier start tomorrow as we head to Mandawa.

Until tomorrow!