A TOUR TO GOLDEN FORT

I follow simple rule in my life 

"Do whatever your heart says, follow it and ignore everything else." 

Continuing my journey to Rajasthan, I did what only few used to plan, taking the straight tour instead of reverse, tavelling to Jodhpur first and then to the Golden City "Jaisalmer" and it was quite enjoyable though that's the truth as well, I never regret for any of the decision I made in my life...;)

Straight from my steps fall on the Railway station, there was a big smile on my face seeing the gorgeous golden all over, the antique, the carving, the beautiful sitting chairs all take my heart away and ponder me over to realise I am quite in a royal heaven, the pillars, the dombs giving the royal though modern look to the station. Impetuously leading me to a thought if only railway station can be that amazing, how much the city could be. So quite excitedly, I stepped out of the station, and here's another surprise following me up, the jeep to take me up to my next destination which was specially brought by the person (Mr. Harmeet from Gangour Desert Resort, khuri) for me whom I had hired for my stay. Its gonna to be my first ride on jeep....hurrah...!! And Harmeet is quite friendly person to share views with about golden Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer Railway Station

My excitement knew no bounds when the jeep was driving high on the streets of Jaisalmer, everywhere I looked, it was all golden, the bright, the shining Yellow Sandstone giving it like royal appearance all over with the street lamps being antiquated carved out of sandstone, its all just so beautiful. So, I was dropped to Hotel Mehrangarh, near to the city fort, the best thing about the hotels in Jaisalmer is their well architectured structure and their vibrant and colorful rooftops to feel the central attraction of the city "The Golden Fort" from all the corners. It was really awesome place to relax and experience the city view sipping tea amidst so many colors that I could never forget.

Vibrant and colorful rooftops

After having my breakfast on the rooftops, I was all set to bathe in the sunlight for the closest view of City fort, though I wanted desperately to relax on the rooftop, but my mind pressurized me to get up and felt the city closely. And apparently, it was right. So, I was all set with my camera to go on a city and here I met my immense resourceful tour guide Mr. Prem Joshi who agreed to get me best out of the city. 

We entered the magnificient city fort or I can say it as a "Golden fort", "Living Fort", "Sonar Quila", more the marvellous structure it is, the more names it has. I was quite hilarious standing in front of the fort which I had only gazed at my history books. Just the short history, I was being told by my tourguide, The fort is built by Maharawal Jaisal, Bhatti ruler, the lineage follower of Lord Krishna in 1156 A.D. on Trikut Hill and its a world's largest living fort, there are over 4000 people of caste Brahmins and Soldiers living inside the fort which was given by the then rulers to the descendants of the soldiers in their armies. The fort hosted cafes and the hotels at very inexpensive price for the tourists to stay and feel the cultural heritage. The word 11th century itself made me feel so good that I was witnessing the beauty still in its a par excellence in 20th century. Woaa...!!

View of Golden Fort from my roofttop 

The more I boasted about fort, the more I got short of words as there were so many things I could point out, be it the carvings of the sand stone that is done so intricately and delicately, be it the interlocking system that is used to build the entire fort appreciating the intelligence of centuries old architects still making it withstand earthquakes and a critical temperature like a strong foundation till centuries, be it the thick walls of circumference of about 5 km, the narrow entrances with sharp turns with a spectacular view  that the elephants would turn easily, all of these indicate the sharpness of the foresight our ancestors had.

For reaching inside the main area, one had to cross four massive entrances- Suraj Pol, Ganesh pol and Hawa Pol(coolest place inside the fort, the oldies gather here to relax in hot summers), Akshya Pol but all of them have their ünique blend of style and design of Islamic and Rajput Architecture that makes them distinguished from one another as the fort was seized by many dyansties like Rajputs, Mughals, etc.

Suraj Pol, Ganesh Pol, Hawa Pol in clockwise direction from top left

Did I forget to mention about the bats, every majestic fort in India is a place of holding many hidden stories and ofcourse, the bats and crows....how one can neglect them!! Leave about the hidden stories for a second, lets focus about the thing which is visible and they are my nightmares, "bats". Each of the entrance, especially Hawa Pol is hostage of innumerable bats but dunno worry, they are not going to harm you by any means, they stay in their sleeping mode always. But no matter, how much my tour guide convinced me about them, my heart was just pounding high when I was crossing the Pol as one thing I feared of is "bats".

The first thing that I had noticed after reaching inside the courtyard is the pious imprints of hands of  Rajputani queens before going for Jauhar Prtaha (the tradition where the women empowerment can be felt when they used to burn themselves alive to prevent being molested by the other rulers), still imbibed on the walls of the fort, but the entry inside that sacred place is only limited to their descendants. Hats off to such powerful ladies...!!

imprints of hands of queens before performing Jauhar

views of the Queen's Palace inside the Fort

The Rani Mahal holds a well stocked museum of the possession hold by their ancestors, especially when it is of 11th century, it itself generated excitement in my mind, what they must be look like. The palace consists of seven floors, each floor is dedicated for things like swords, weapons, dresses, but that dosen't interest me much as these were the things I was getting in each of the fort I was visiting in magnificent and vibrant Rajasthan, so get quite bored of it. with the top floor having sun dials, and that is awesome for me, also because the entire view of the city can be observed, especially the largest lake ever in Jaisalmer Gadisar lake. It was a feeling like I have conquered the world, amazing it was...!!

The Golden City, being located in middle of Thar Desert, was served as a trade route of ancient India with Persians, Egyptians and Africans till the Britishers formed East India Company and all the trade had been shifted to Calcutta. The evidence can be seen in the beautiful Jain temples and havelis built by the traders especially Jains where the land was given to them by the then rulers as a prized possession and the marvellous structures prone to their culture having extremely delicate carvings on the sandstone and the idols of various lords worshipped by them. The Jain temples existing in the city fort belongs to the Shewatamber jains. The best part about these temples are their interior arts, the pillars, the idols depicting various images of Gods and Goddesses, birds and animals of importance.There are 7 Jain temples within the walls of Jaisalmer Fort. All of these temples were built in the 15th–16th centuries, dedicated to different Tirthankaras: Parsvanath, Sambhavanath, Chandrapraphu, Rishabhadeva, Shitalnath, Shantinath and Kunthanath and can be recognised by the signing symbol on their idols.

Carving on the Pillars inside the Jain Temples

Jain temples and its inside views

It was known to me by my tour guide Prem Joshi that the fort got its name "Sonar Quila", not because it was built out of Yellow Sandstone and camouflages it color from yellow in sunlight to golden in dark, but because of the artistic ability of Bengali Director Satyajit Roy who shot a movie here by this name, so having an extreme love for the movie and the director, many Bengalis straightly head here to memorize some shots. Infact, some of them thought that this fort was built by him only, What a naive love they have....!!!

Jaisalmer is quite famous for its trade in Afeem (opium) but as it had been legally banned in India, so you did not get anyone offering you that but there is a Government registered age old Bhang shop outside the fort which offers great flavours and tastes in Bhang and yes, yummy Bhang biscuits as well. For a non alcoholic drinker like me, It was not as much exciting but it could be relishing for alcohol lovers.

It took me around 3 hours to visit the fort, I longed for looking the sunset from the fort, but as I've committed my mind to other places of interest as well, so have to bid goodbye to the fort to explore inside the city, the havelis like Pataudi ki haveli, Nathmal ki haveli, Bada Bagh, Gadisar Lake and ofcourse, if I was in a desert city, the most important to describe one of my unforgettable moment in sand dunes, all of them, I have been covering in my next blog. So stay tuned for my next blog...!!

Throughout my trip, I am really thankful to my amiable tour guide in the Jaisalmer city Mr. Prem Joshi, who is very helpful and an immense source of knowledge while travelling in the city. It was really a fun and safe walking with him into the city, knowing about the culture and tradition the city holds.  

Information Source Courtesy:
Mr. Prem Joshi(City Tour Guide) - 09460807909
Mr. Harmeet Singh (Travel agent for Camel Safari and stay)- Gangour Desert Resort Khuri