Bikaner

We only had the one night as Maharaja / Maharini in Mandawa, but it was truly a great experience. We also had the opportunity to have dinner with a Dutch couple we had met and between the four of us it was great to compare our relative India experiences. Although it may be a little out the way, I totally recommend making the effort to visit Mandawa and to stay at the Castle. The staff were amazingly friendly and somewhat entertaining at times.

 

The plan for today was to drive to Bikaner, which is around 200 kilometres from Mandawa. In Australia that would mean about a 2 hour drive, but in India it was 4 hours. The road from Mandawa to Fatepur was very slow going with potholes you could lose a camel in. From Fatepur, it’s all another toll road so it’s pretty smooth. It’s a pretty interesting drive as the country turns more desert-like with sand dunes. The recent monsoon has the country looking deceptively green. There were many things to see on the road, with lots of hindus walk to the Monkey Temple, some walking hundreds of kilometres and other in camel drawn wagons.

Then there is also the Indian … If you can’t fit in the bus, get on the bus..

We arrive in Bikaner around lunch time to another palace that has been converted to a hotel. This Palace was built by the 21st Maharaja of Bikaner in 1902 and has hosted many international dignitaries including King George V and Lord Mountbatten. The dynasty finished in 2003 because the 24th Maharaja did not have a son. After lunch our driver organised a local guide to show us the important sites. Our first stop was the Bikaner Fort. The early parts of the fort were built in the mid-1500s and employ as significant amount of gold leaf. The other interesting thing about the fort is that it is the only fort in Rajasthan that is not built on top of a hill. It does however have formidable walls and did have a large moat surrounding it. None of these defences were ever tested so their effectiveness is unknown.

Once again there were a large number of rooms built for ‘Maharaja’ purposes that are all opulently appointed using materials from all over the world, like Dutch and Chinese tiles, Belgian glass and mirrors and Italian marble. So a difficult decision to choose just one photo!

 After the fort we went to what we call the ‘Rat Temple’, but is correctly known as the Karni Mata Temple. About 20,000 rats occupy the temple and are much revered by Hindus across India. There is one white rat that represents the godess Karni Mata. It is good luck if a rat runs over your feet. A word of caution, there is also an accompanying population of flies.

 

Our driver was very excited to visit the Rat Temple. He has proven his Hindu credentials by going off road when leaving the hotel this morning to avoid running over a colony of ants and then beeping the horn at a flock of moths later in the drive to avoid any windscreen murders. Moving on we visited a local artist who specialises in Miniature Art and hold the Guinness world record for the most objects in a miniature painting. He demonstrated his technique by painting a small picture on Deb’s fingernail.

So big day on the road tomorrow, driving to Jaisalmer.

Until tomorrow!