Lord Muruga's 4/6 Abodes - relay visit !

A relay visit to 4 out of 6 abodes of Lord Murugan.

Trip members: I, me and myself !
Trip date: 23, 24 and 25 April 2016
Trip Plan : Chennai - Palani - Madurai - Tirunelveli - Tiruchendur - Chennai

I had planned this trip with very limited buffer time to see 3 of 6 abodes on same day and one, the next day. I had planned train tickets and stay accordingly and booked respective rooms.

Six abodes are as below and the ones covered in this trip and in bold.

1. Tirupparunkunram
2. Tiruchendur
3. Palani
4. Swamimalai
5. Tiruttani 
6. Palamuthircholai

Day 1

Left Chennai by Palani express from Chennai central around 21:30 and reached Palani by 07:30 AM. I had booked Hotel Ganpat, just couple of days earlier through Goibibo for a good offer. The plan was to refresh, put the bags at room and have Dharshan and start to Madurai ASAP! I had booked the room just to ensure the bag is safe and not toil to find a cloak room; and also, to decent place to refresh and still have the bag safe!

Hotel Ganpat is located right near the temple - just 200m from the hill-climbing point. The rooms were quite good and clean for a budget hotel. Service was also good for the short period I stayed; for the questions I asked on details about timings, distance and crowd.

There are 2 ways to climb the hill - Yaani Paathai and steps. The Yaanai pathai is ramp like walk and steps inbetween; whereas the steps are quite steep and requires patience/stamina to climb. I was able to climb the steps almost half the distance, and thinking about the crowd, I moved into Yaanai pathai to almost walk as fast as I could. In 25 minutes I reached the Rs.100 counter around 8:30. Then, got to know that dharshan is closed until 9:30 for Alangaram. The crowd moved quite fast and in 20 minutes I was out after having a peaceful and satisfactory dharshan.

View of the temple from Adivaraam

Steps to climb the hill

View from the top!

There are temple people all the way offering special and quick dharshan for money; be careful not to be cheated. Rs.100 dharshan is quite good for time as well as the money goes to temple. By 10:30 I returned back to room through main steps - 20 minutes to climb down. I had breakfast at Hotel Balaji Bhavan at the Adivaram; which was okay. There are few restaurants like Hotel Gowrikrishna and few more Balaji Bhavans. Hotel Subham is located right infront of the temple entrance - food for stay and food. Checked out by 10:30 and boarded the bus to Madurai in sweltering heat !! Cucumbers and lots of water helped me all the way back to Madurai safely.

I had booked room at Hotel North Gate with good offers from MakeMyTrip. The rooms were very comfortable, spacious and extra clean! Definitely a very good option to stay in Madurai little far from railway station and bus stands. The place also has ample parking space and nearby is hotel Ashok Bhavan.

After taking rest for 1 hour, I started to Alagar Koil by 4 PM with one of my friend and his family by car. Alagar Koil is around 26 kms from Madurai bus stand - normally not so crowded roads. We reached Palamuthircholai around 5 PM and had dharshan by 5:30. Palamuthircholai Murugan temple is on a hill. 3 kms from the Alagar Koil. At Palamuthircholai, there was a stagnation of crowd because of evening pooja. We had good dharshan of Lord Muruga and also got prasadam. We then climbed down the Alagar Koil; we would not see the main deity as Chittirai Thiruvizha was ongoing in Madurai; however, spent some time at Lord Karuppanaswamy and inside the temple.

Palamuthircholai

Alagar Koil

Alagar Koil - Main entrance

We tasted the popular Alagar Koil Dosai and started towards Tirupparunkunram - from one end of Madurai to the other.

We reached the temple entrance by 19:15 after crossing the whole Madurai. The temple was sparsely crowded and had a very peaceful and satisfactory dharshan. After a quick visit to Thirunagar and dinner (Yummy Ghee roast) at Ashok Bhavan (Periyar Bus stand), a pleasant sleep was planned to end at 2:30.

Day-2

I had booked Nellai express till Tirunelveli, earlier in the morning. It left Madurai at 04:10 AM and reached Tirunelveli by 8 AM. After breakfast at a small hotel near railway station, boarded bus from Tirunelveli new bus stand to Tiruchendur.

I was visiting Tiruchendur for a marriage. I had room booked at Shunmugar Mahal - 250m from the temple. The rooms were clean and well maintained. There are lot of restaurants nearby - notably, Mani Iyer restaurant, Ramesh Iyer restaurant and Udhayam Tea stalls, providing yummy food.

Tiruchendur temple is on the sea shore, very close to beach. The beach also is quite nice and gives a grand view of the temple and sea. There are lots of shops all around to do local shopping and eatables. A very good time killer around the temple - beach and shopping!

I visited the temple by evening around 5 PM. I went in Rs.10 queue and it was quite crowded. There was golden chariot outside carrying God and had a nice dharshan outside itself. Sneaked through using a name into a higher cost queue and was able to have a dharshan in 30 minutes. We went through other Sannithanams - Valli, Deiyvanai, Perumal and tasted some prasadhams as well. Came out around 7 PM, and enjoyed the cool breeze from the Bay of Bengal.

Chariot

Other places of interest nearby are - Valli's cave, Aali Kinaru.

Next day, drove back to Chennai with a friend in car after attending the marriage.

Trip to Sabaimalai and Guruvayoor

Trip members: Karthik, Sankar, Murugan and others
Trip date: 17,18,19, 20 Mar 2016
Trip Plan : Chennai - Chengannur - Pamba - Sabarimalai - Chengannur- Trissur - Guruvayoor - Trissur - Chennai

A regular trip of Sabarimalai for anyone and nothing different in this blog. Just blogging as a reference in my travelogue.

Day-1

We were 6 people and had planned the spiritual trip in ample time. The plan was to visit Sabarimalai and Guruvayoor. We had train tickets booked across Chennai-Chengannur, Chengannur-Trissur and Trissur-Chennai segments.

We reached Chengannur by 5 AM in the morning and took a pre-booked cab to Pamba. Pamba is 88 kms from Chengannur railway station. We stopped for breakfast on the way in a small shop around 6:45 and had hot idlies and kal dosas with sambhar and chutney. The food was very yummy and satisfactory. We reached Pamba by 8:00. Compared to regular Nov-Dec-Jan season, the crowd is not even 1%. We could see the river as such and take bath at wish.

Pamba river

Shed at Pamba river...

By 8:30, we started the walk on the Kazuthai pathai and reached Sannithaanam by 10:00. There were hardly few hundreds of people and to great satisfaction we climbed the 18-Steps touching each step and telling Saranam.

Pathinettam Padi - no people !!!

Basma Kulam

Sannidhanam place

Agni Kundam

Unfortunately, Nei Abhisekam was closed by 09:30 itself owing to someone contributing Diamond Kreedom. Guided by our Gurusamy, we reached out to Melshanthi to share our ghee for next day Nei Abhishekam and get some Nei Prasadham from him. It worked out. We did have 4-5 rounds of dharshan of Lord Ayappa and decided to do more in the evening before getting down. The sun was scorching and we decided to rest in rooms. We also had lunch in an Annadhanam by the group that donated the Diamond Kreedom. Excellent food.

We took some rest and heard that Sannidhanam would be open by 5 PM. Around 3 PM, three of us went to Basmakulam and took bath and refreshed ourselves well. By 4:45 PM we went to have Dharshan 3 times, one included Karpoora Dharshanam - very fortunate; Gurusamy, having visited for 22 years, said, this is first time he saw Karpoora Dharshanam. We started back to walk to Pamba and reached around 19:30.

We had dinner at the same place where we had breakfast. The dosas were very good and dropped in Chengannur railway station by 11 PM. Our train was at 00:40 and reached Trissur by 5 AM.

Day-2

We took bus from Trissur railway station to Guruvayoor and reached by 6:45. We stayed at Akshaya Warriar Samajam - around 400m from temple. In 15 minutes we refreshed and got ready to go to temple. We got to know that it takes 2-3 hours to have dharshan at Guruvayoor. We had breakfast at Hotel Ramakrishna Lunch Home. Tiffen items were average. Coffee was good.

We reached the queue by 7:45 and had a great dharshan of Lord Guruvayoorappan by 10:00. We had Paal Payasam in the temple, sold at Rs.60 per 500 ml (plastic containers sold for Rs.10 by devasthanam in Prasadham counter). Other popular prasadams are Butter and Naatu Sakarai-Banana.

We came out and did some local shopping on the temple road. We had lunch at Hotel Saravana Bhavan - quite costly in A.C, but the food was okay - unlimited S.I.meals for Rs.175. We started back from Guruvayoor at 2:30 PM and reached Trissur around 3:45 in scorching sun. We gulped in lots of water and juices all through the trip.

We had packed dinner for Hotel Dwaraka. The food was excellent - Chappati, Kuruma and Kadalai curry - we ran out of food and wanted more! For the very tiredness, all we needed was great food - and we had it! Got back to Chennai next day morning by 6 AM. Very satisfactory trip !

Trip to Tirupati

Trip members: Karthik & family, Venkat, Sankar, Murugan, Venga & family
Trip date: 30, 31 Jan 2016
Trip Plan : Chennai - Alamelumangapuram (Tiruchanoor) - Tirupati - Japali - Chennai

Day-1:

Most of the people in South India would have visited Tirupati; yet a trip is documented here for my own reference :).

Our plan was to walk from Alipiri to Thirumala. We had booked Rs.300 queue dharshan in the evening. As per plan, we reached Tiruchanoor by 6:30 AM after having started by 04:00 AM from Chennai. We parked the car near the temple front entrance and bought tickets for 07:00 AM Pushpanjali dharshan - Rs.300 per person. We were the first persons to enter and were seated in front of the deity for the Pushpanjali, Sri Padmavathi - Lord Mahalakshmi was decorated with lots of flowers and we had a great dharshan. We also had Pongal prasadam and collected Laddu and Vadai as a part of the dharshan.

We came out and had breakfast at a hotel just outside the temple - Hotel Srikanth Bhavan. Then, we started to Alipiri. One car went to Tirumala and one parked in Alipiri. Alipiri is the starting point for walk towards Tirumala. The roads also start here for the journey to the top. A toll of Rs.15 is collected per car. The walk is for a length of 9 kms; important points on the way being Gali Ghat (Gali Gopuram), Mulangal Mudichu, Anjeneya Swamy statue and Thirumala - total of 3550 steps.

The first stretch of Alipiri to Gali Gopuram - 2083 steps - just over 1 km is the toughest of all - quite steep steps. The whole stretch is completely stone laid and very comfortable to walk. There are shops all the way along selling water, cool drinks, lemon soda, tiffen items and all sorts of eatables and snacks. So, no worries for food and water all through the stretch. There are clean toilets also all along the stretch; so as, medical assistance.

Start point ....

All along the way

On the way

Midway - Anjenaya Swamy statue

Mid way

On the way ... along the road

Mulangaal Mudichu

On reaching Gali Gopuram, TTD issues biometric tokens for free dharshan for pilgrims coming by walk through a quick entrance and also for laddus. Next - important stop is the Anjenaya Swamy statue - 2 kms from here. All along the path on the left side, we can sight deers and the forest area - gardened by fencing.

We reached the top on 4 hours time; having started the journey at 09:50; we reached the rooms booked at Kanchi Mutt at 13:50. Out Seekra Dharshan was planned at 4PM and we reached the queue by then after a short 10 min rest and refreshing. We did our grand dharshan by 6 PM and out of the temple by 7 PM.

The dinner was very important - since we were very hungry; though we had snacks inbetween the walk to the top, it was not at all enough. Murugan pointed us to Hotel Saarangi - a buffet for Rs.260 per person. The spread was excellent - South Indian to North Indian; Soup, salads, starters, Dosas, rotis, gravies, veg. biryani and rice. After having great supper, we split ourselves into groups - one to buy laddus and one to get the car from Alipiri. At 11 PM, all hit the bed!

Day-2

Started around 6 AM and all were ready for a breakfast by 8 AM. Sankar Ganesh guided us to Hotel Annamaya for a tasty-yummy; yet poor service breakfast. We had Idlis, dosas, chola puris and pongal. Quite a costly breakfast for the quantity being served though quality was ok. Service has to be definitely bettered - as soon as one enters, they try to sell the breakfast platter; failing which the service is slow for rest of the orders.

The plan was to visit Japali - targeting return to Chennai by 4 PM. We reached Japali by 9:50 AM. The trek is around 1 km to reach the Anjenaya temple - mostly covered with cement laid steps. The walk is on dense forest and quite okay to walk - not too steep.

We sighted large Malabar squirrels near the temple. We visited three theerthams - Ram-Lakshman, Sita and Dhurava theerthams, Rama-Lakshman theerthan is just outside the temple; Sita Theertham is just few metres above the temple and Dhurava theertham - a small stream of running water about 0.5 kms from Sita theerthan inside the forest. We spent close to 1 hour at the theerthams and visited the temple for a  peaceful dharshan. The visit was quite eventful and relaxing. One must plan to visit Japali during their visit to Thirumala. We also stopped for a minute to see the Garuda view climbing down the hill.

Japali entrance

Way at Japali

Temple @ Japali

Sita Theertham

On the way to Dhurava Theertham

Dhuruva Theertham

Natural Garuda formation

We then returned back to car around 11:30 and started to climb down the Alipiri - had lunch at hotel Lakshmi Narayana Bhavan - recommended by Sankar Ganesh - a mediocre lunch and back to Chennai with lot of satisfaction.

Ahmedabad - Mount Abu - Udaipur

Trip members: Karthik and family
Trip date: 13 to 18 Jan 2016
Trip Plan : Chennai - Ahmedabad - Mount Abu - Haldigati - Udaipur - Ahmedabad - Chennai

Day-1

We reached Ahmedabad by Air Costa flight earlier in the morning – around 8 AM. We took a cab from the airport for 8 hours – 8 kms. It was costlier than what could have been cheaper if booked from outside; but, was ok as I am interested in few different tries than my usual methods.

The driver was quite helpful – thankfully; and took us first to a restaurant for breakfast – South Indian restaurant – tasted Idlis and dosas – neither bad nor native; but gave enough zeal for the rest of the day. The Hathee Singh Jain temple was the first destination. It is serene and calm temple and took us 20 minutes to worship and go around the temple. There is a 170 year old lamp that is glowing still in the sanctum beneath the main sanctum. No photographs are allowed inside the temple – however from outside, possible.

Hathee Singh Jain Temple

Next, we went to Sabarmati Ashram – an excellent location on the front of Sabarmati temple – no wonder why Gandhiji selected this place. This is where most of the important meetings towards freedom with international and national leaders have been done. One would need around 30-45 minutes to spend here and may extend based on the degree of interest in history.

Adalaj Step Well – what an amazing piece of architecture! A well is used for only water – but here, the skills shown in architecture are spell bounding for well! The well is of 5 levels and each level is beautifully carved by artisans. This is an excellent place for photographers – to challenge with light exposure and the various artistic pieces. Do not forget to go around as well – you can try to get a top view of the well.

Dhamaka – International Kite festival in Ahmedabad. I was not following any local happenings of this place and totally missed out the International Kite Festival is going on in Sabarmati River front. We saw this as we noticed the banners in the airport. We reached here by 11 AM and saw around 15-20 kites from various countries across the planet – Australia to Canada! Around 12 PM, it was nearing to closure as group photo sessions of participants was going on! We did not miss out to see some kites.  We then decided to go to room and take some rest as out day started by 2 AM.

We asked for a good Gujarati Thaali and driver took us to Toran Dining hall – ranked #16 out of 3000+ restaurants in Ahmedabad. This was one of the best of the day – it was feast with amazing service – re-filling our plates was twice faster than we could eat. Yummy, hot, tasty, courteous service – a largely satisfying Gujarati Thaali – the coconut halwa and sabjis stood out! A must eat place for tourists!

Hotel Flair Inn rooms were waiting for us – 2 hours of rest. The rooms were clean and of ok size. The service is quite good too. This is situated 3 kms from the Sabarmati waterfront and in second floor in the city.

Rest of the day – planned to visit the Sabarmati waterfront – Took auto from hotel to the waterfront for Rs.40. There were lot of eateries and craft stalls for the International Kite Festival – this lead to crazy tries of name-unknown snacks and all were tickling our taste buds. Then there was a tickling in the wallet as it was crafts bazar next!

Around 6PM, we went to Kankaria lake – 8 kms from the Waterfront – Rs.150 in very badly traffic roads. Kankaria lake was ignited with lights and lot of events all around – speed boating, train ride and stalls all around. We were quite tired and just sat in a place and spent 30 minutes at the lake.

We ordered dinner from the room – Hotel Flair Inn did not have a kitchen, but they good the food from Zenith restaurant – Aloo Parathas, Jeera Rice and Dhall – again a feasty dinner and good night!

Sabarmati Riverfront

Kankaria Lake

Day-2

We started Day-2 from Ahmedabad and reached Abu road around 1:15 PM. We went by train to Abu road from Ahmedabad – Ajmer intercity express. Mount Abu is 28 kms from Abu road and there are lot of cabs available in railway station. We paid Rs.500 to reach the hotel – reserved at Hotel Maganjis; however they missed our booking and gave us in their alternate property – Hotel Saraswati – which was not upto what Maganjis was for. Without wasting time, we had a quick lunch in the restaurant in the hotel itself and started for sightseeing. Our driver to Mount Abu – Sonu bhai was quite informative and the car – Etios was very comfortable. We extended him for the rest of the sightseeing for Rs.800.

We first visiting the headquarters of Brahmakumaris – it was a pleasant visit and we meditated for few minutes inside. The visit was for 20 minutes and we are back. The next place we visited was Mahadev temple on the way to Dilwara temple. The Mahadev temple hosts 5 lingas and locally famous for the pond that hosts colourful fishes. We spent around 20 minutes here. We then visited Aadar Devi temple. We were not sure whether we had enough time to cover other important places and most importantly sunset point at sunset ! So, we sited the temple from the hill bottom and moved on. One would need around 75 minutes to go up and come back. Might be difficult for elders.

On the way at Mount Abu

Brahmakumaris Place

Arbutha Devi Temple

Colourful fishes at Sri Somnath Mahadev Temple

Sri Somnath Mahadev Temple

Next was the most important of all - Dilwara Jain Temples. No camera and mobile phones are allowed here. So, leave all your electronic belongings in the car itself. Since it is winter, wearing socks is suggested in this place. The whole temple is built of marbles and it is so cold here. The Marble stone cutting and carving work are splendid and no wonder why people visit Mount Abu. This is the major attraction and it is worth spending 2 hours in the temple. The sculpting work is extraordinary. The temple is around 3 kms from Mount Abu; we bought some photo souvenirs of the art work outside; since no photography is allowed.

Dilwara Temple - Main tower

Nakki Lake

Guru Shikhar is the highest point in Rajasthan; 15 km from main Mount Abu; climb to this high spot is an adventure in itself; we did not visit this place.

On the way back, we just visited Nakki Lake. This is in the centre of town – boating is available here.

Sunset point – it was almost 17:30 and sunset was expected around 18:00. It is a 1+ km walk, almost a trek for elders and children to reach the point from the parking area. There are horses and small petty vehicles for transporting people. They charge Rs.50/adult and Rs.30/children one way.

There is appreciable crowd here and no wonder – the sunset is quite beautiful. It gets cold as the sun sets. So, plan your visit accordingly and carry winter clothing.

Used for transporting tourists - 1 km from parking area to Sunset Point

We then, walked back to Hotel Saraswati – 1 km from the parking area. We had Gujarati thaali, kadi – kichadi and went to bed.

Day-3

We started the day at 7 AM. It was six degrees at Mount Abu! We said the direction to Udaipur. The driver was the same person from previous day at Abu. We planned to visit Haldighati on the way to Udaipur. In such a cold temperature, the hot-piping hot Aloo parathas on the highway were just amazing! What a breakfast at Krishna Khanhaiya restaurant!

Haldighati is a de-tour towards Udaipur from Mount Abu. The route is the same to go towards Kumbhalghat also. We decided to visit Haldigati alone and reach Udaipur – checkin and rest of the day in City palace.

We reached Haldighati around 11 AM. The first place is the Maharana Pratap Museum. They charge Rs.10 for adult and Rs.5 for children as entry fees. The place runs specified time videos and audio driven models depicting the history of Maha  Rana Pratap and the Mewar dynasty. The whole place is full of information and luckily, we planned it on Day-1 of Udaipur. This helped us understand the whole history better and helpful in visiting Kumbhalghat and Chittorghat forts.

Kumbhalgarh Fort and related explanation @ Haldigati museum

Chittorgarh Fort and related explanation @ Haldigati museum

Haldighati !

We spent close to 1 hour here in the museum and next we asked the driver to drive us to Haldighati – 0 km; 2 kms from the museum. The place is said to be yellow in colour, however, it is red -> the reason being said is that so much blood was shed during the Haldighati war.

We then did check-in to Hotel Mewar Haveli – booked for 3 nights. The hotel is one of the top rated in TripAdvisor and on the banks of Pichola lake. Wow .. what a view from the terrace and roof top restaurant. Exuberant! We then started to visit Udaipur City Palace. The city palace was around 200m from where we stayed.

The entry tickets to the city palace are quite costly – Rs.250 for adults and camera and Rs.100 for child. So, be prepared for the same J. The palace displays the richness and the importance given to minute details in architecture and design during the older times. The roof garden with trees and the colourfully painted rooms are just simple examples of the same. One needs around 2-3 hours to see the palace. There is lots of shopping and local eateries all around and one can plan 1-2 hours for the same.

Next, we went to Fatehsagar lake – the biggest lake in the city of lakes! The place is a happening place in the evenings with boating, a small island in-between with the park. There are speedboats and motor boats are do boating in the lake and the sunset is just amazing. We did boating and had some local sweet in mud cups. We had dinner – Dhal Bhatti in a local road side restaurant – Sreenath Bhojanalaya with our friend Vinoth.

Day-4

Planned Started by 8 AM and the plan was Kumbhalgarh fort and Nathdwara. The Kumbhalgarh fort is around 100 kms from Udaipur and on the same road of Haldighati. The whole stretch of road is quite uneven and bumpy and is the only better route to reach compared to alternates. Do pack some snacks to have and restaurants are limited. The Kumbhalghat is quite massive and an unconquered frontier in Mewar timeperiod. This is where Maha Rana Pratap came after the Chittorgarh fort was captured by Akbar and his troops.

It takes around 2-3 hours to go all around the fort. There are guides all around for a fee of Rs.300-400; though only Hindi. We did not hire a guide here and went on by ourselves, listening to guides of other groups in many locations :).

The fort is on a hill and cannot be sighted until reaching nearly closer by road. Earlier the visit in the day, comfortable is the visit all through with fewer crowds. Also, do not miss to see the complete view of the fort from the area where sound and light show seating happens – just opposite to the entrance of the fort.

The grand view of the fort frontier !

Entrance of Kumbhalgarh Fort

Complete view of the Fort...

We started back around 12:30 and there are no restaurants once you cross 1 km from the fort. Our next destination was Nathdwara – the route again being single road with almost no villages or towns all the way. We survived the noon by biscuits and some cakes we had with us. We reached Nathdwara around 3 PM and the driver dropped us at the parking area and suggested that there would be some eateries nearby the temple. We got some bhojan in one of the roadside restaurants and it was quite good.

Nathdwara is 48 kms from Udaipur. Nathdwara temple is quite special – temple for Sreenathji – depicting Lord Krishna was in his childhood. Hence, the temple is open for dharshan 4 times a day – each of 15 mins slot – twice in the morning and twice in the evening. So, plan your trip accordingly. Now the main information – this place is totally haunted by the priests and bhattacharyas of the temple – they just throng everywhere from parking area to the entrance of the temple and charge you something like Rs.400-500 per head for a so-called direct dharshan through rear entrance. We understood that the temple shall be open for such a short time only after reaching there and hence easily tricked. However, managed to bargain and pay Rs.400 for 5 people – not sure, how cheap or costly it was. But, we were taken through the rear entrance and made dharshan in the first 2-3 minutes of the opening of temple. In next 5-10 minutes we were out of the temple. There are lot of shops all around to eat and shop.

By 4:30 PM we were near Eklinji and the driver (Omkar – very polite and good) suggested to visit the temple and assured of no queues and nonsenses like Nathdwara. He was right and we did have a peaceful dharshan in the Eklinji temple – dedicated to Lord Shiva – 22 kms from Udaipur. There are lot of eateries around the temple as well. We then reached back the hotel by 6 PM after a tired day and did have candle light dinner at Mewar Haveli in the beauty of the lights and lake on the chilly night!

Eklinji Shiva Temple

Day-5

Again, a 8 AM start and the itinerary was just Chittorgarh fort – yes, it would consume the whole day. Chittorgarh fort is 120 kms from Udaipur – almost all on the highway – good roads. There are dhabhas on the highway and no issues for food.

Sunrise time @ Lake Pichola

Sunrise... Jagadish Temple near City Palace

Chittorgarh is living town inside a fort and the remains all around inside the wall. The Chittorgarh fort wall is claimed to be the second longest for Great Wall of China. The place has the ruined palaces, temples, huge arches and towers. Guides are available from the main entrance of the fort and all around. We took a guide for Rs.300. Main attractions to see in the fort are Rana Kumbha palace, Meera Bhai temple, Tower of Victory - Vijay Stambh, Tower of Fame - Kirti Stambh, Gaumukh Reservoir, Padmini Palace, a temple of Brahma-Vishu-Shiva in a single stone, Kalika Mata Temple, Seven Gates of the Fort and Main gate.

Rana Kumbha Palace

Meera Bhai Temple

Vijaya Stambh

Queen's palace

Mirror view to see Queen Padmini

King and Queen' meeting place

Main entrance

Kirti Stambha

It takes 2 – 3 hours to go through all the places with guide. Going without a guide would be a loss and we will not know where things are and what is what? The guide will help you understand more on the Alladhin Khilji’s intentions on Queen Padmini and how mirror was used to the see the queen; yet he tried to covet her. Also, one would get to know the customs followed in Mewar dynasty during warfare. These all are quite interesting and one just cannot miss it. Also, the history about the main gate too is interesting.

There is also a government run emporium selling different types of sarees – bamboo based, Seetha Flower based and many more. Do spend time here to just understand and if interested you can buy it.

We started back to Udaipur and had lunch at Hotel Bagyodhay – a network of hotels. The food was yummy and tasty – served piping hot! We reached back hotel Mewar Haveli – enjoyed a sunset and a good dinner and ready to be back to Chennai.

Day – 6

Packed and started to Ahmedabad by 12 noon. We bought some snacks and sweets from JMB – Jodhpur Mithai Bhandar – popular sweets shop in Udaipur. We reached back Ahmedabad by evening 5:30 and boarded Air Costa at 8 PM to reach back Chennai after a very satisfactory trip.

Tips :

• Must Try Toran Dining Hall for authentic Gujarathi Thalli and do not miss Sabaramati waterfront in the evenings!
• Use driver Sonu Bhai at Mount Abu – 099821 09722.
• Mount Abu is worth a day for sight-seeing – not more than that! Do not miss Sunset Point and Dilwara Temples
• Look for a hotel to stay in Udaipur near the City Palace – it had good views of Lake Pichola, pleasant and peaceful evenings for shopping and having a relaxed walk in busy streets!
• Try snacks, namkeen and sweets in Udaipur – they are really hot and yummy!

Distances

• Ahmedabad – Abu road – 197 kms
• Abu road – Mount Abu – 28 kms
• Abu road – Udaipur – 151 kms
• Udaipur - Chittorgarh Fort – 120 kms (1-day)
• Udaipur – Haldighati – 47 kms
• Haldighati- Kumbhalgarh Fort – 61 kms
• Udaipur - Kumbhalgarh Fort – 100 kms
• Kumbhalgarh Fort - Ranakpur – 50 kms
• Ranakpur – Udaipur – 91 kms
• Udaipur – Haldighati - Kumbhalgarh Fort – Ranakpur- Udaipur – 236 kms