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Kota- isn’t an unknown place for any of us who happen to travel to and fro between Mumbai and Delhi. It wasn’t new to me either. Having born in Mumbai and having stayed in Delhi for 3 years, I had crossed Kota numerous times while travelling by train. But now, I was finally getting an opportunity to visit that city for the first time- for a family function. Yes, I was excited as I always am to visit a new place!
Day 1:
We caught the evening Jaipur Superfast express from Mumbai Central. I was much thrilled about getting to travel to Rajasthan once again (this being my fourth time!) But this was the first time I was not travelling to the usual touristy places but to another part of Rajasthan which is normally ignored by Desi and Videshi tourists alike due to time constraint. Leave others but even I had thought Kota is a complete modern city and a recently developed education hub and would have nothing to see there. I fell flat on my face when I started reading about Kota and realised it has history as old as 12th century. I was then very eager to visit this city, which was a continuously-at-war princely state- turned into the ‘Education city of India’.
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| Replica of Taj Mahal, Seven wonders park, Kota |
Day 2:
We reached Kota station in the afternoon. Temperature there was quite pleasant despite it was almost end of winters in the North. Our relatives came to pick us up.
The area just outside the station felt just like any other Indian station- crowded, haphazard, and full of vehicles, StreetSide vendors, lots of honking and adding to all that- lots of cows!
Moving further ahead towards the main city, the roads became more open, wider, cleaner and greener. They looked neatly done, with beautiful dividers and neatly placed street furniture and sculptures alongside the road.
This continued for a while until we reached another crowded area called Chhavni circle where our hotel- Grand Chandiram was located. The area seemed like a really busy one, with many private buses, taxi stands, ticket booking offices and many eateries scattered here and there.
We then checked into the hotel and rested for a bit. Hotel Grand Chandiram is apparently one of the famous hotels in Kota- famous also for the food they serve in their in-house restaurant. Hotel rooms too were very clean and spacious. Their lobby on the groundfloor houses an antique motorcycle flanked by two large symmetrical prints of ‘Bani Thani’- the beautiful and very famous singer-poet in Kishangarh during mid-18th century.
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| Seven wonders Park, Kota |
After the sumptuous lunch in the restaurant, I thought of taking a stroll along the same road. This entire stretch of road for a kilometer or half is full of hotels and restaurants. Towards the end of the road is the famous Kishore Sagar lake. Kota’s newest attraction- the Seven wonders park is also developed like a promenade along the banks of the lake. While walking there, I could see Taj Mahal, Eiffel tower popping out of the streetscape, so I couldn’t resist going inside the park to take a walk.
Maybe coz it was just 3 in the afternoon, me and other 3 people were the only visitors in the park that time. (Park fees: 10 rs/ head, no separate fees for Camera). First wonder as we enter is the Roman Colosseum in Italy, then the Giza pyramids, then our own Taj Mahal, then leaning tower of Pisa and so on.. Whoever has designed the park, has definitely put in some thought regarding the placement of the miniature wonders as well as the curved trail that runs all around the park. Each wonder has a small description written in front of it in English and Hindi. The miniatures produced here are very well done unlike the cheap copies we get to see around. Especially the leaning tower of Pisa is so well made, that a picture of this tower could actually confuse people whether this is the real one or a copy of it. However it was funny to see the nazarbattu placed on tower of Pisa.
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| Seven wonders Park, Kota |
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| Replica of statue of liberty at Seven wonders Park, Kota |
Tajmahal too is in good proportion but the immediate residential buildings behind it sort of kill its look. Maybe planting tall trees at the periphery of the park along the road would help cut down the visual eye sore. This will also increase the footfall inside the park as right now even the people walking on the footpath along the road can see and click the wonders without actually entering the park and without paying for the ticket. If not trees, at least a tall boundary wall should help!
The inaccessible Jagmandir built by a queen of Kota in 1740, sits in the middle of the KishoreSagar lake. The Sydney harbour bridge like structure created in the seven wonders park takes one closest one could go to the Jagmandir for clicking pictures.
While in the park, seeing me click pictures in my DSLR, a guard told me that these wonders look even more beautiful when they are lit up in the night. Deciding to return here again tomorrow night, I came back to hotel room; as tonight we had to attend a family function.
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| Seven wonders park, Kota |
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| Jag Mandir in the middle of Kishore Sagar, Kota |
Day 3:
We hired a car to go to Bundi today. Bundi- famous for its architectural marvels like fort, palaces and step wells is just 35 km from Kota.
After having breakfast, we left for Bundi around 9 A.M. and by 9:40, we were already in Bundi. By Mumbai standards, it just felt like an extended suburb of Kota.
Our driver parked the car at one of the gates of Bundi’s old city and we decided to walk it down till the prime attraction of Bundi- the Garh palace. First look of this old city of Bundi makes you fall in love with it. Narrow alleyways, houses and temples painted in blue colour, wall paintings done on their exterior façade- everything is really pretty. Only thing Bundi really needs is cleanliness. Just as we entered the old city there were several piles of rotting garbage, further on the same road we were saved by fraction of a second from someone throwing stale Dal-rice on the street from their first floor balcony.
This same market i.e. Sadar Bazar towards the end has a couple of small shops of the artists who do miniature paintings which you can take back as souvenirs. Apparently they also make small nail-art in their local painting style live in front of you- on your nails for approx. 50 to 100 bucks.
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| Random street in Bundi |
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| Ramps of Garh palace, Bundi |
So next we climbed the huge ramp leading to the ticket counters of the Garh palace. The official ticket rates printed on the ticket were exorbitant but the ticket guy asked just for the 1/3rd amount for all 3 of us plus camera- reason unknown. Unless you buy a camera ticket even to carry a mobile phone with you, you are not allowed to take it inside and will have to deposit it at the ticket counter.
Just next to the ticket counter is the massive entrance to Garh palace’s complex and fort. A steep ramp made of stones then continues for another 10/15 minutes till one reaches the actual palace. This ramp within no time takes one to a tremendous height from where a panoramic view of ‘blue’ Bundi is seen.
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| Hathia pol, Garh palace, Bundi |
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| Garh palace, Bundi |
The actual entrance of the Garh palace- called as Hathi Pol (literally elephant gate) is a masterpiece in itself. Hathi pol is a very tall gate flanked by two slender turrets like structure which support two big brackets which in turn support two massive elephant figures. The gate has one of those extra tall metal doors with spikes all over them. As we enter through the gate, a large fresco of Sun God can be seen on the gate’s ceiling. The other end of the Hathi gate is more elegant than its masculine front façade.
One may be a bit surprised to see the actual palace after seeing the Hathi pol properly. Frontal design of the palace is stark opposite to that of the gate, as it’s largely plain and modest. It forms of an arcade running across the length of the façade on ground floor, supporting a colonnade on the first floor. The plain colonnade however supports a comparatively more ornate ‘king’s throne’ jutting out of it.
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| Garh palace, Bundi |
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| View of Bundi city from Garh palace |
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| Garh palace, Bundi |
First floor of the palace also has a large courtyard flanked by a few rooms on one side and Diwan-e-khas which has elephant capitals on all of its pillars- on the other side. The rooms on the left have Bundi wall paintings on its walls and ceiling- some of which still look quite fresh. A small staircase in one corner of the courtyard leads to an upper floor which has Bada mahal i.e. King’s and Queen’s private chamber every single inch of which is painted gorgeously- right from the walls and niches to its majestic vaulted ceiling!
Going back to the lower courtyard, I clicked the amazing view of the entire city that’s seen from this height- from the hills, to the squarish blue houses, uncountable lanes and by-lanes, the large Naval Sagar Lake just at the base of the palace. All of these surely made for a great panorama. 
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| Diwan-e-khaas, Garh palace, Bundi |
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| Bada mahal, Garh palace, Bundi |
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| Bada mahal, Garh palace, Bundi |
Coming out of the palace from the Hathi pol, there is another small ramp that leads to the prime attraction of Bundi- the Chitrashala- literally the school of paintings created by king Rao Raja Ummaid Singh in 1739. Frontal garden of the Chitrashala is nicely maintained with ornamental and flowering shrubs which complement the Rajput architecture surrounding it. It even has a small pool- where the queen and king used to take bath- as told by the guide there.
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| Chitrashala (on ground floor) at Garh palace, Bundi |
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| Paintings in Chitrashala, Bundi |
As we climbed the steps and entered Chitrashala, we found ourselves surrounded by stunning masterpieces of the Bundi school of paintings. Krishna- Radha’s love story and other incidences in Mahabharata are the main subjects of the paintings here. Some of them are the raas lila, Krishna stealing clothes of Gopis, Gowardhan parvat incidence etc. Another very famous painting here depicts Goddess Annapurna sitting on elephant offering food to Lord Shiva who is on a bull with his family. This painting is made in such a way that the faces of the bull and the elephant are merged with eachother forming a beautiful effect. Other paintings mostly depict the everyday life of king and the queen- various games being played, alcohol being consumed by the queen, queen playing with a yoyo etc. On the other side of Chitrashala, a map of the holy town of Nathdwara is drawn on the wall very beautifully.
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| Paintings in Chitrashala, Bundi |
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| Paintings in Chitrashala, Bundi |
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| Paintings in Chitrashala, Bundi |
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| Paintings in Chitrashala, Bundi |
Chitrashala definitely is one of a kind place and hence needs continuous preservation efforts for these paintings. Moving out from here, a ticket seller sits just at the exit for those who want to go further up to the Taragarh fort. (Garh palace and Chitrashala are also part of the same fort but situated at the base of it.) Ticket costs approx. 150 for one person. But the ticket guy himself advised us not to go further up as the fort is entirely in ruins today and has a full grown jungle all over which is not maintained by anyone.
He also warned us of no security in the fort as hardly anyone ends up going up there. We also thought it would be sane to avoid the fort and rather cover other places in Bundi- which it is famous for.
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| Paintings in Chitrashala, Bundi |
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| Garh palace, Bundi |
Next we drove through the tiny lanes of Bundi and on the banks of the beautiful Naval Sagar Lake and further to Rani ji ki Baori in the main town. Rani ji ki Baori (literally ‘stepwell of the queen’) is a magnificent step well built by the Queen Nathavati of Rao Anirudh Singh’s queen in 1699 in the king’s memory. Ticket bought at this step well is also valid for other 2 monuments in Bundi i.e. Sukhmahal
palace and 84 pillared cenotaph.
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| Garh palace as seen from across Naval Sagar lake, Bundi |
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| Rani ji ki Baori, Bundi |
As we entered the step well, we were flabbergasted to see such a magnificent monument in the middle of this busy and crowded area. Monuments of such grandeur are seldom found outside India- and Rajasthan has the biggest share in them! The wide steps of the step well are complemented by the tall intricate elephant toranas (by now I was convinced that the rulers of Kota- Bundi were obsessed with elephants). Otherwise the step well is largely plain and simple with exception of a few murals on the side walls. The well as of now has very little water ; vegetables waste seemed to be floating on whatever was left.
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| Rani ji ki Baori, Bundi |
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Rani ji ki Baori, Bundi Sukhmahal, Bundi |
Next we went to Sukhmahal palace- approx. 1.5 km from here- a tiny summer retreat built by Rao Raja Vishnu Singh on the banks of Jait Sagar Lake during 1776. Also this is where the Noble prize winner and English author Rudyard Kipling had stayed for a few days and wrote a part of his novel ‘Kim’. Rudyard Kipling is said to have been smitten by the manmade and natural beauty of Bundi which inspired him to write about it.
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| Sukhmahal, Bundi |
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| Sukhmahal, Bundi |
Government museum of Bundi is also situated inside the same complex, which was closed that time for some reason. Later we drove back to the main town and found our next destination in one of the lanes (near Lanka gate) filled with cows and their dung- The Dhabhai Kund. It is the largest of the step wells in Bundi town but maybe one of the least visited despite it being a non-ticketed monument. Dhabhai kund is a squarish stepwell (unlike Raniji ki baori which is linear) probably built by two merchant brothers around 17th century. (Exact information is missing on the internet also no information is put up at the kund by Govt.) This kund gives an impression of large inverted pyramid. The kund is so grand that it overwhelms you with its geometry at the first sight. Other than its scale, the kund has no carvings whatsoever. For those who want to see more of step wells, there is a twin Nagar Sagar twin step well one on both sides of the road somewhere in the vicinity.
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| Dabhai kund, Bundi |
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| Dabhai kund, Bundi |
Our last destination in Bundi was the 84 pillared cenotaph- known as Chourasi Khambonki Chhatri in Hindi. It was little far from the main town area but on the same route which we were supposed to take to go back to Kota. It was constructed in 1740 by the Maharaja of Bundi, Rao Raja Anirudh, as a memorial to his foster brother, Deva. The cenotaph has a Shiv linga in the centre and has a total of 84 pillarson both the floors together. The guard at the monument took us in and around the structure and briefed about the murals on its exterior walls. It has murals of various Dashavatars of Vishnu, Samudramanthan (churning of the sea), Shiva Parwati, Dhola Maru- the famous couple from Rajasthani folklore etc. We just finished with the temple and it started raining untimely. We wore our shoes and ran towards the car and drove back towards Kota.
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| 84 pillared cenotaph, Bundi |
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| 84 pillared cenotaph, Bundi |
It was just around 2 PM and we had hired the car for entire day. Our relatives then suggested us to go to a place called Abheda mahal and a temple of Karni mata near the mahal on the outskirts of Kota. The road that our driver took while going was in a very bad shape and hence took longer to reach there. The karni mata temple was a very small shrine in the middle of sprawling lawns. Further up from the temple, there is a promenade created along the lake which gives a distant view of Abheda Mahal floating on the lake.
Another 5 minutes’ drive and we reached the Mahal. The information board outside the Mahal reads that this palace was built in 18th century on the banks of this massive lake. There is no information there as well as on the internet as to who built the palace. The actual palace here is quite small and largely plain. The pond in the palace adjoining the lake is said to have had many crocodiles during the reign of King Ummaid Singh 2nd who used to come out of the water and entertain the people! As bizarre as it sounds- just can’t imagine
crocodiles entertaining people!
The mahal also has a neatly done symmetric lawn in the open court. The Kota style paintings done on the exterior walls of the Mahal are certainly worth our attention.
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| Abheda mahal, Kota |
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| Abheda mahal, Kota |
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| Abheda mahal, Kota |
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| Abheda mahal, Kota |
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| Garh palace, Kota |
Coming back to the main city, we went to the Kota garh palace. Kota’s garh palace is a large complex of beautiful heritage buildings spread across massive area on the banks of Chambal River built in 1271 A.D. by prince Jaiti Singh of Bundi. However most of these buildings were added one by one to the fort by later rulers. Many of these buildings have now been rented to various institutions like schools, college or govt. offices. The main attraction here is the garh palace museum (Rao Madho Singh museum) which houses relics of Kota’s glorious past. Needless to say even here, the entrance to the main palace (now museum) is called Hathian gate (elephant’s gate) with two large elephants flanking the gate. These elephants however are painted (unlike Bundi’s) and have mahouts sitting on them.
As we enter inside, there is a small temple of God of Kota rulers. And further inside is a large paved courtyard known as Rajmahal ka chowk. Entering inside the museum, in front is a large Durbar hall which houses state regalia, seals and objects of art.
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| Garh palace museum, Kota |
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| King's throne, Diwan - e- aam, Garh palace museum, Kota |
The museum also has an arms gallery, a large photo gallery showcasing vintage photographs of the kings, an art gallery of Kota miniature paintings, a wild life gallery consisting of stuffed animals hunted by the kings.
Kota palace also has its own version of Aaina/Kaanch mahal (Diwan –e-aam) where the king used to sit on his throne. It has 17th century mirror work and wall paintings.
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| Garh palace museum, Kota |
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| Garh palace museum, Kota |
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| Bada mahal, Garh palace museum, Kota |
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| Bada mahal, Garh palace museum, Kota |
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| Front facade of Kota fort (garh) |
Diwan- e- Khas here as well has elephant capitals on its pillars. It offers a seamless view of Chambal River flowing by. King’s private chamber is a large room with vaulted ceiling with insane wall paintings covering the whole room entirely. The room however is extremely suffocating as it has no windows but just another door leading to a private balcony.
It was already late evening by the time we left from the Garh palace. We asked the driver to drop us back to the hotel and after having dinner there, we again went to the seven wonders park which was at a walking distance from hotel. As expected, the wonders were now beautifully lit. The park even had a decent number of visitors now. Taking a walk around the entire stretch of the park, we came back to the hotel and called it quits for the day!
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| Leaning tower of Pisa at Seven wonders park, Kota |
Really tired with the extensive sightseeing on the earlier day, we relaxed for the entire morning. A friend of mine from Kota who was studying in Mumbai came to see us in the afternoon with her dad. And with them, we again left to see places in Kota.
First he drove us to the Geparnath temple on the Rawatbhata road, approx. 20 km southwest of Kota. Geparnath temple is situated within a stunning location surrounded by canyons on all sides and a waterfall flowing from a height (in rains). It is a trail of defined steps deep down the canyon till the temple. This is the same place where an accident had taken place in 2008 when the ladder on this trail broke (there were no well-built concrete steps here earlier) and left many people trapped which had to be rescued by carrying large scale rescue operations.
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| Geparnath trail |
Then we came back to the main city and took a stroll in Bhitariya Kund garden and then the famous Chambal garden along the river. We also visited the adjoining Hanuman temple at Godavari dham. Another interesting place in the vicinity is the Adharshila dargah- which is supported by a single point of a large slanted rock on Chambal banks. We were then suddenly greeted by massive rains which forced us to wind up and go back to the hotel. Garma garam coffee, pakodas and talks back in the hotel while enjoying the rains outside wonderfully summed up our rest of the evening.
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| Aadharshila dargah, Kota |
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| A temple inside Bhitariya Kund garden , Kota |
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| Hanuman temple at Godavari dham, Kota |
Today was our last day here. And apparently mom was still left with another big task! Shopping for herself and relatives back in Mumbai!
My friend made sure to reach our hotel early in the morning and took us to some lanes in Kota’s old city famous for the shops of Kota Doriya dress material and silk sarees..
Finishing everything in time, after a quick lunch we packed our bags and headed to Kota station to catch our Mumbai bound ‘Golden Temple mail’....
