Panchkunda

Royal Cenotaphs
of all the royal chhatris or cenotaphs which were constructed out of dark-red sandstone, six stand out. The oldest ones belong to Raja Maldeo and Udai Singh constructed in the 16th century to the later ones of Sur Singh, Gaj Singh and Jaswant Singh I all built in the 17th century. However it is Ajit Singh’s cenotaph which was built circa 1724 which is the largest along with Jaswant Singh’s which was built around two score years earlier in 1681. Ajit Singh’s cenotaph in particular is a magnificent monument built as it is close-grained freestone.

Ek Thamba Mahal
The Ek Thamba Mahal was built by Raja Ajit Singh during his reign from 1707-24. This pleasure palace was quite possibly his retreat away from Jodhpur when he wanted to get away from it all. The palace amongst other things also houses a zenana (women’s quarters), signifying that the royal women accompanied him during his trips here. It also has a small but picturesque garden and the entrance to the palace via the Ajit Pol.

Hall of Heroes
is a huge hall with magnificent pillars and houses enormous figures of gods and the heroes of Jodhpur. It is also called the Shrine of 300 Million Gods.

Panch Kund

These are some of the minor cenotaphs located a short distance away from the Mandore gardens. The Panch Kund also contains the cenotaphs of the ruling dynasty before the founding of the city of Jodhpur in 1459, when Mandore was the capital of Marwar. Not as impressive as the cenotaphs located at Mandore gardens, they are unmarked, yet they are worth visiting for those with a keen interest in the history of the place.

Road trip to experience in Rajasthan

Rajasthan being rich in heritage and culture, Rajasthan tourism is one of the fav destination for travel lovers.  One of the wide spread state having various cities to cover, Rajasthan you just can't complete all cities in one visit. To experience majority of cities we recommend trying road trips so that you can cover as many as places as possible.

Covering three big cities Udaipur (lake city of Rajasthan), Jodhpur (Blue city or Suncity) and Jaipur (Pink city)

Reach down to Jaipur either by flight or train. 2 days stay at Jaipur where you can go for visit to places like Amer Fort, Jaigarh Fort, Nahargarh Fort, Jal Mahal, City Palace, Jantar Mantar 2, Hawa Mahal, Birla Mandir, Albert Hall, Sisodia Rani Bagh, after completing all the places if time permits you can go for shopping as well Rajasthan kasinda (embroidery work ) is world famous. 

Jaipur

By third day morning leave for Jodhpur in between you can visit Puskar and Ajmer, one whole day for both the cities would be enough Ajmer you can visit Ajmer Sharif Darga and Puskar you can explore various famous temple. By night reach down and have a good nap.

Blue city - Jodhpur

Give three days to Jodhpur where you can visit various places which includes Jaswant Thada, Mehrangarh Fort, Umed Bhawan Palace, Mandor Garder, Kayalana lake, Flying Fox adventure, Rao-Jodha Dessert Park, Balsamnad Lake, Machiya Safari Park, Padamsar-Ranisar,   staying in Jodhpur and if you are foodie don't forget to try Shandar Restaurant, Mishrilal Lassi, Mirch-Bada Kachori and authentic sweets from Jodhpur Sweets. Even you can go for shopping in city area.

After completing your Jodhpur visit leave for Udaipur, in between you can hault for places to visit like Kumbalgarh Fort, Ranakpur Jain Temple, Rohat Fort (must try Rohat Famous Kachori's), Lakshman Sagar, Om Banna Temple.

Kumbalgarh Fort

Once you reach Udaipur again leave 3 days to cover places City Palace, Lake Pichola, Lake Palace, Jag Mandir, Lake Fatehsagar, Saheliyon Ki Bari, Bagore Ki Haweli, Ambrai Ghat, Monsoon or Sajjangarh Palace, Shilpgram, Vintage car museum, Mansapurna Karni Ropeway, Jaisamand Lake and many more.

Lake Palace, Udaipur

So what you are planning when you leaving for next trip, Rajasthan road trip must try. 

Jaswant Thada - The Taj Mahal of Rajasthan

This milky-white marble memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, sitting above a small lake 1km northeast of Mehrangarh, is an array of whimsical domes. It’s a welcome, peaceful spot after the hubbub of the city, and the views across to the fort and over the city are superb. Built in 1899, the cenotaph has some beautiful jalis (carved-marble lattice screens) and is hung with portraits of Rathore rulers going back to the 13th century.

With the new capital established at Mehrangarh after moving from Mandor, the cenotaph of the royal family of Marwar, wanted new cenotaph. Jaswant  Thada was named after the first royal Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, for whom it was created, built by his son Maharaja Sardar Singh, this memorial also, houses the paintings and pictures of other Marwar Rulers.The cenotaph are quite different from the ones in Mandor. While those were made of earthy red material, these were pure white building. 

Popularly referred to as the “Taj Mahal of Marwar”, Jaswant Thada is built out of intricately carved sheets of marble. Considered an epitome of Rajputana architectural style, essentially an amalgam of Mughal and Hindu structural design, it displays lattice work in marble of the finest finesse, reflecting the creative genius and sculptural prowess of the artisans of the time.

The extremely thin sheets of marbles used in the construction of the tomb have been polished in such a manner that they emit a warm glow with a subtle hue as the rays of a dawn Sun gently strikes its surface. The structure, which has a central pyramidical dome surrounded by several smaller domes running along the perimeter of what looks like a terrace, resembles a temple rather than a tomb. The magnificence of the edifice is enhanced by a small lake with crystal clear water, a multi-tiered garden and carved gazebos surrounding it.

Life-size marble statue of Maharaj Jaswant Singh and in Background Mehrangarh Fort

A life-size marble statue of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II seated on a horse welcomes us at the entrance to the cenotaph complex. A flight of impeccable white marble steps brings us to the main memorial which is adorned with artistic sculptures, frescos, domes, pillars and exquisite latticework in marble. On its walls, portraits of several rulers of Jodhpur, dating back from the 13 century, are displayed. The elaborate ornamentation and dancing figures sculpted on the pillars that adorn the monument dedicated to the queens who sacrificed their lives on the pyre of Maharaja Jaswant Singh, are simply breathtaking. Apart from the main tomb, the cenotaph complex also houses three other memorials to successive rulers. An interesting and unique aspect associated with the complex is a memorial to a peacock which is believed to have flown into a funeral pyre.

Getting to Jaswant Thada:

• Jodhpur has its own airport with connectivity to major cities of India. You can also reach Jodhpur by road or rail. 
• Jaswant Thada is situated 1Km away from Mehrangarh Fort, you can hire cab, taxi. 

Travel Tips:

• The entrance fees for this attraction is INR 15 for Indian Citizen and INR 30  for foreign citizens. For still camera INR 25 and for video INR 50.
• Jaswant Thada is open from 9 AM - 5 PM all day. 
• Remember to open footwear before entering the cenotaph building.

Ravana Temple in North-India

Mandor located just 8KM from Jodhpur city, in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Mandol having various temple and charming gardens what it attracts the most is the temple of Ravana.

The story goes something like this. The wife of Ravana, Mandodari is believed to be from this very town. What this means is that Ravana is son in law of the Mandore town.

The people of the town actually acknowledge this fact. There is a mysterious cave in Mandore which is believed to be gateway to hell. A lot of people have gone into this cave but failed to find its end.

According to the local legend, this cave is path to hell. They believe that Ravana came to the town from this very cave to marry Mandodari. A lot of people have tried to find the end point of the cave. Some came back after the oxygen level dropped while others could not find the way out and died.

This is why government of India has banned people from entering the cave. A special permission is required to enter the caves. However despite the ban, people who know about this place came to see the cave, even if they can't enter it.

Coming back to the legend, after the marriage of Ravana, some of his relatives are said to have stayed back. You will still find people in Mandore who consider themselves to be descendents of Ravana which includes Maudgil Brahmins.

Ravan ki Chanvari

 
A very interesting stone, which has carved panels with an idol of Ganpati (Lord Ganesh). Legend has it that Ravan, the demon-god who carried off Sita, the consort of Lord Rama in the Hindu epic Ramayana got married to a local girl from Mandore called Mandodri. The stone panel is a commemoration of the wedding. It also has an image of the sun god Surya. A stepwell nearby has an inscription 742 A.D. It was built by Madh, the son of a Brahmin. The Ravana temple is built in Mahadev Amarnath and Navgrah temple premises in city's Chandpole area where idols of Ravana's main deities Shiva and Devi Kharanna stand. 

 

Coming back to the legend, after the marriage of Ravana, some of his relatives are said to have stayed back. You will still find people in Mandore who consider themselve to be descendents of Ravana.

These people do not burn the effigy of Ravana at Dussehra. Instead these people worship him. Earlier they used to worship Ravana at their house but in 2008, a temple was constructed and the statue of Ravana invoking Lord Shiva was installed.

The statue is six and a half feet tall and made out of Jodhpur sandstone. Since then, the descendents of Ravana worship him every day at this temple. They remember and celebrate Ravana as the great King of Lanka who was blessed by Lord Shiva and considered as one of the greatest scholars of his time.

So when entire India celebrates Dussehra by burning the effigy of Ravana, the people of Mandore stay at home and mourn his death. In fact for last hundreds of years, these people have been performing Ravana’s shradh.

This legend associated with Mandore makes it a must visit place. Apart from the legend of Ravana, there are many other temples to visit at Mandore. 

Astronomy Resort every Stargazer's dream.

Astroport Sariska

Ever you want to go lay down and stare at stars while cuddling with your loved ones. For most of the people living in today's cities and towns, night is nothing but only full or dust and polluted air. You can hardly see bright stars clearly, all credits goes to amount of air pollution we are having.

But for the people who loves to stargaze, this location is meant for you. Astroport Sariska near the Sariska National Park, is the perfect destination for stargaze. It is just 5 hour drive from National Capital and is second darkest place in India. This makes the location perfect to see the entire Milky Way streaking through the night sky and the view is nothing less than fabulous.

Apart from just stargazing, the resort has brilliant camping facilities and many other activities like rock climbing, nature walk, jungle safari, village tours, track n sign, camel safari, horse riding, pottery, organic farm tour, yoga and aerobics.

“Astroport in its larger view aims at providing employment or creating entrepreneurs in the field of astronomy. Astroports are fully equipped to execute these trainings and provide certifications that can be used later to earn a livelihood,” reads the information on their website.

Accommodation

The resort currently offers two types of accommodations,  Galaxia which houses two king-size beds takes up to six people at a time.  The total cost with meals amounts to approximately INR 13,000.

The second accommodation is the Nebula which has 8 queen-size beds and can accommodate anywhere up to ten people at a time. It is priced at INR 22,000, including meals.

So if you planning for next vacation and want to just lay down and watch the milky way away from pollution, then you should head here!