Ep 6 Udaipur to Kumbhalgarh | Nathdwara | Haldighati | Eklingji Temple | Rajasthan Tourism
Namaskar friends! Welcome to Visa2explore! This is your host, Harish Bali. The time is 6.30 am. We are standing outside the Eklingji Temple.
We reached here at 5.30 am. We were told that the temple closes by 6 am, so we reached here at 5.30 am. We had darshan of Lord Shiva.
This ancient temple was built during 734 A.D. That means it is 1300-1400 years old. While having darshan, you will notice that the Shivling has 4 faces on the side. You now about the holy trinity Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh.
All the four faces are visible on four sides of the Shivling. This is, perhaps, the reason why this temple is named 'Eklingji.' Bappa Rawal, who got this temple built, was also known by the name "Kalbhoj." During his reign, the borders of Mewar spread in far-off directions.
Some even say that his kingdom spread upto Afghanistan. On his way back from there, he built a number of Chowkis (checkposts) Rawalpindi in Pakistan used to be one of those chowkis at one point in time. Eklingji is considered the 'King of Mewar'. And the generations after generations of Maharanas are their 'Diwans' (Ministers). People believe that even today.
As I've already told you, the temple opens first from 4 am to 6.30 am. After that the temple timings are 10.30 am to 1.30 pm and 5.30 pm to 8 pm. These are the temple timings throughout the year, except for a 15-min margin during winters. Right now, the temple is open but it will be closed in another 5-7 minutes.
Photography/videography isn't allowed inside the premises. So, we cannot show you the temple from inside. But we can tell you that you'll be able to see Lord Shiva inside. And you will see a statue of Bappa Rawal, standing in front of Lord Shiva & looking up.
It is depicted that there is a flying plane in which Harit Rashi is seated and looking down. There is a tale about Harit Rashi throwing something from his mouth.... ...which fell on Bappa Rawal's leg. So, he was told that if that thing had fallen on his head, he would've become Chakravarti Samrat. But since it fell on his leg, wherever he would go, his kingdom's boundaries would spread till there. So I've shared with you all the information that I had about this temple. Now we are leaving here to go to Nathdwara.
Nathdwara is about 22 KM from here. It is 6.30 am right now. When we came here in the morning, it was dark and all shops were closed. Even now, none of the nearby shops have opened yet. We are going to Nathdwara now and will join you once reach there.
After travelling from Eklingji Temple for about 2 KM, we've reached Sahastrabahu Temple! I read the name written outside, it is 'Sas-Bahu Temple That is what the locals say generally, but the actual name is "Sahastrabahu Temple." TAt one point of time, Lord Vishnu was worshiped in this temple. This used to be Lord Vishnu's temple. Now I don't have information about when the idol of Lord Vishnu was removed from here. At present, none of the temples has any idols. There are two main temples here. This temple has very ancient sculptures depicting various gods and goddesses.
Although you can discern the history of these sculptures by looking at them. By the way, this temple belongs to the 11th century. So beautiful! Though a few structures have gotten demolished with the passage of time. But these demolished structures were also temples at one point in history. Whenever you visit the Eklingji Temple, you must come here as well.
You can spend time here doing photography and appreciate the ancient art closely. Now we are leaving here for Nathdwara. We've reached Nathdwara. The time is 8.50 am. Let us walk upto the temple and find out the timings for darshan.
We are near the Delhi Bazaar Market Chowpatty. We've come here to eat Moong dal vada! Name of this shop is 'Swastik.' Bhaiya, give me 100 gms of Vada. The Moong dal vada is ready. I've also bought couple of pieces of 'Khasta'.
See, it is piping hot! Amazing taste! Delicious! The Moong Dal is soaked and grounded into a granular paste. It contains the sweet flavors of Methi (coriander seeds) and Hing (asofetida). Overall good taste! I feel like having some Doodh-Jalebi (milk & jalebi) after this. You see that shop, selling doodh-jalebi here? It is quite famous locally. It is named 'Purushottam' right? We will go there and buy some Doodh-Jaebi.
Our history is 110- years old. 110 year! So we've reached at Purushottam Bhai Doodh-Jalebi Wale! Please give me a glass of milk. And some jalebi with it. And do you sell doodh-jalebi through the day? No, only till 12 pm. 12 pm! So, you keep simmering the milk like this since morning? It is done to create this thick layer of 'Rabri ka Malpua' (rich Indian dessert)! Alright! Got it! See, this is Rabri ka Malpua! Just like jalebi is fried in ghee, this is roasted in ghee. And then it is dipped in a sugar syrup.
That is why it is called Rabri ka Malpua! If you taste this once, you will forget all other desserts that you may have eaten earlier. You will remember this taste for life. Then let's do one thing. Before milk, let me eat a piece of Rabri ka Malpua! Give him one piece! Just a single piece! I was just having Moong dal vada here and I was told this shop is 110-years-old? 120-year-old! Just imagine! 120-year-old shop and today, the fifth generation is running it. Rabri ka Malpua! I saw this thing nowhere else but here and in Chittorgarh. But not in Udaipur.
Amazing!! The flavours are of pure rabri and sugar syrup! And it is very soft! Bhaiya says they don't add maida (refined flour) to it, though some shopkeepers do. So, what do you bind it with? We add Singhare ka arrowroot (water chestnut root starch) instead of maida. Singhare wala Arrowroot! Yes! Otherwise, it won't bind together. It won't bind! Yes! So we add a little! Look at the milk! Nice! It takes at least 3 to 4.5 hours to boil this milk. When you will boil it for 3 to 4.5 hours, this milk will turn into rabri!
And from that, you will make Rabri ka Malpua! Once it cools down, we will add Arrowroot to it. That is also used for the purpose of fasting. Too good! This is one more flavour that you can enjoy! Very nice! Bhaiya, please give me doodh & jalebi! Jalebi is being fried right now and milk is ready-to-serve! Please add a little sugar to the milk. I've already had too much sugar.
Add the cream to the milk! Really! It is after a long time that I am having such pure milk. And that too, which has been boiled to perfection! How long have you been boiling this milk? Two hours! It has been two hours no? The whole taste has changed. The milk has thickened! This milk has purity and full-on flavours! Now, bhaiya has suggested that I should dip this jalebi into the milk. He said I should first finish this milk and then eat the dipped jalebi. It would be tastier! Delicious! Amazing! This shop sells Doodh-Jalebi till 12 pm. Not after that! We were just on time! We would've missed it otherwise.
The taste of jalebi has changed completely. In absolutely hot milk, boiled for so long. Wonderful combination & delicious taste! I have come out of the temple after visiting Thakur Ji.
We entered in a queue from this side, can you see? We had to wait for half an hour or so. We entered the temple from this entrance and visited the idol of Thakur Ji. When we visited Mathura, we saw Thakur Ji in 'Bal-roop' (child form) there as well. This temple is so popular and significant that the devotees have told me that... ....they love to stay here for 2-3 days and attend all the darshans of the day. The white board here has the timings for different darshans of the day.
Such as Mangala, Shringar, Gwaal, Rajbhog, etc. The timings are withing 6.15 am and 5.15 pm. Different darshans are of different durations like 20 minutes or an hour. That information is readily available here.
For instance, the temple is closed now. The pilgrims have left and the place is empty. But this whole place was filled with devotees 10-15 minutes ago. About 300-350 years ago, when Aurangzeb was attacking the temples of Mathura, Vrindavan... ...Thakur Ji was brought from there to this temple via Udaipur and Ghasiyar! Because the Maharanas of Mewar were never subjugated to any outside force. Mewar was a safe haven to keep Thakur Ji safe from Mughal attacks.
The 'Dhwaja' (religious flag) of Thakur Ji placed above the inner sanctum of the temple... ....is atop a mud-roof, and not a cemented one. This was the information I wanted to share with you. Coming here and having very good darshan of Thakur Ji has made this a memorable experience. Now we are going out. We've met this gentleman while we are walking in the market here. He is making thandai with badam, pista, elaichi, saunf, kali mirch.
Do you add Gulkand too? Yes, Gulkand too! He is mixing all these ingredients into the milk to prepare Thandai. What is this? Brijwasi Gulkand! Alright! Good! What is the cost of a glass of Thandai? Rs 40. 40 rupees! I've had warm milk just now. So I won't have Thandai now. If I hadn't had milk, I would've definitely opted for a glass of Thandai. So, you are here for the whole day? Yes! From 7 pm to 11 pm.
Whole day! Really! Nice! You are making it with such passion! Wonderful! Okay good! We are now going to visit the rest of the market. After that, we will leave for Haldighati from here. Look at this tall statue of Lord Shiva, just 3 KM from Nathdwara Temple. We've come here to see this statue! This complex hasn't been inaugurated yet.
So, we couldn't enter the complex through its main entrance. We are showing you this view while standing in an empty lot next to the complex. I read somwhere that the tallest statue is the 'Statue of Unity.' We know about that. This is the second-tallest statue.
Its height is 350 ft. So beautiful! We will stay here for another 5 minutes or so and afterwards, we will go to Haldighati. We will reach there in 20-25 minutes. We've reached Haldighati. We thought of having lunch before visiting the museum here.
The Chetak Restaurant is adjacent to the Haldighati Museum. We've ordered a Rajasthani Thali here. Sev-Tamatar curry! Gatte ki Sabzi! Kadhi! Pulao! And chapati! This limited quantity Thali costs Rs 210.
Gatte ki Sabzi is delicious but it has too much oil. I need to limit my consumption of oil these days. The curry is spicy! This dish is delectable! If you are travelling in Rajasthan, there are three things that you cannot miss. Kadhi, Gatte ki Sabzi and Sev-tamatar curry. You will get to eat these 3 dishes at maximum restaurants that serve Rajasthani food here.
This dish looks delicious from its texture itself. The Kadhi is okay. Not upto my expectations, which have gone up in the past few days. And I've started liking the Rajasthani Kadhi. This one is decent in taste! Neither good nor bad! Average! Overall, this place is neat and clean! After lunch, we will visit the Museum, which is at a walking distance from here.
Entry ticket to Haldighati Museum costs Rs 120 per person. As you enter the museum, you'll see these statues here. You should start looking from here. There is Man Singh on an elephant. He was the king of Amer, Jaipur.
Then you see Maharana Pratap on a horse. The elephant on which Man Singh was seated, can be seen carrying a sword in his trunk. Because of this sword, Chetak horse lost one of his forelegs. Maharana Pratap is shown throwing a spear & Man Singh is seen ducking down to escape that. This is one of the scenes about what happened during the Haldighati battle. On this side, you'll see Bhama Shah and Jhala Manna.
Jhala Manna's face was similar to that of Maharana Pratap. Further in the museum, I will tell you how Jhala Manna wore a similar crown as Pratap and... ...fought like Maharana Pratap in the battlefield. Here you can see the leader of the Bheel tribe, Rana Punja! Maharana Pratap on Chetak & Hakim Khan Suri! Come, let us enter the gallery here. This portion is called the 'Armory gallery.' Here, you will be shown a lot of smaller pictorial representations of Maharana Pratap's life.
There is also a 10-minute long movie on his life. There is a light & sound show that is 30 minute long. The whole museum visit takes 45 minutes to complete. So we will start from here? Yes Sir! Come! (Narration) (Narration) (Narration) (Narration) This 30-minute long show told us a lot about the life of Maharana Pratap.
The battle of Haldighati is taught to us right from school time. This battle lasted a full day. Maharana Pratap's army comprised of 10-12 thousand soldiers.
While Akbar's army's strength was 40,000. It means this fight was 1:4 in terms of strength. By the evening, none of the two sides won this battle and it ended without any result. In this battle, 12,000 soldiers were martyred, which included soldiers from both sides.
After this battle, Maharana Pratap took a pledge that till the time his country wasn't free.... ...from Mughals, he would live in a forest & would eat whatever was available there. He gave up the royal comforts completely. At this museum, you will get to know of Maharana Pratap's history but... ...you can physically go and visit the Chetak Memorial as well. You can visit the battlefield of Haldighati. Then there is 'Rakta Talai', the place where 12,000 soldiers were martyred. All these places are within a 5-KM radius of this museum.
Now we plan to visit these places too, along with the cave of Maharana Pratap. Before leaving here, let us meet with Mohan Ji, who spent his own money to build this museum. Today, this museum is a popular attraction for tourists. I myself heard tourists saying that today. Let me find out if he is in the office so that we can meet him.
We have with us Mohan Ji, who built this museum, what, 20 years ago? Namaskar! Tell me please what were you doing before you built this museum? I was a teacher and I took voluntary retirement to start this mission. People visiting Haldighati wanted a place where all the information was available. So, we thought we must build a museum, which would represent the legacy of Mewar region.
And we've also arranged for an audio-visual representation to help people understand better. This contains light & sound show, as well as film. You are right! Because, in today's age, if someone tells you this is Rakta Talai, this is Haldighati, or this is 'Darra'... ...people won't realise the relevance because these places look normal today. But after this, if someone goes into the field, he would be able to understand it better. Very nice! After they watch the story of the battle here, they go to visit the actual site with a feeling inside. Yes they can relate! Yes! Tell me one thing, there are two statues of Maharana Pratap here, on this side.
And there is the statue of Chhatrapati Shivajji. Yes, Shivaji ji. So, was there a relationship between the two? Yes, they both belonged to the Sisodia Suryavanshi clan. They shared the same bloodline. Alright! So, they both belonged to the Suryavanshi dynasty.
Yes! Thank you Sir! It was a pleasure meeting you! Very well done! I know that the museum remains open till 7 pm but what time does it open in the morning? 7 to 7! From morning 7 till? Evening 7! Very nice! Thank you! Just as you exit the museum, there is a Pratap Smaarak (Pratap Memorial). We're going there. We climbed uphill to reach the top of this mountain. One can also walk upto this point but it will take about 15 minutes, so we came in a car. I'd read this in the City Palace that the combined weight of Maharana Pratap's... ...full body armor, sword and spear was 35 kg. That is what I read there.
But the locals told us that his spear alone was Sawa Mann (50 kg) in weight. So, if we consider that true then Maharana Pratap carried along at least 90-100 kg weight. That is my understanding. This Smaarak is built atop a mountain. Being on top, you can look into all the directions.
A while ago, I saw the view from there & could see the whole Aravalli hill range. You can look in this direction if you want. It looks so good! Really wonderful view! And the museum is so close that people are walking upto it, see down there. The Chetak Samadhi is two minutes away from the museum. Here! Chetak is also known as a loyal horse to his master, Maharana Pratap.
Even after one of his legs was cut, he took his master and ran on 3 legs. In that condition, he jumped across a 22-ft wide darra (canyon). He jumped high! And since by then Chetak was really tired so his speed became slow. He carried Maharana Pratap upto this place and passed away. This is Chetak's Samadhi and they've also built this 'Chhatri' (shed) over it.
This is spot where the famous horse of Maharana Pratap, Chetak, is buried. We've reached Pratap Cave! Bhaiya, do you live here! Please tell us something about this cave? This was the secret place where Maharana Pratap discussed state affairs with his ministers. People believe that this cave is a 100 KM long and reaches upto Chittorgarh. None of us have gone that far ahead because the cave has been kept closed.
This is the temple where Maharana Pratap used to pray daily. There is also an old Shivling inside. We've travelled another KM to visit the Haldighati Darra! This is the Ghat section. Look at its shape! The place is called Haldighati 'coz color of soil here is naturally yellow, like haldi (turmeric).
That is why this place is called Haldighati. When the Mughal Army was on way to Haldighati to attack.... ...it was Maharana Pratap's strategy to bring them to this canyon and trap them here. Now this strategy worked because if you go in that direction, it is an open ground. It is called Shahi Bagh and the Mughal army had set up camp there.
The Mughal Army was in thousands, they were at least 40,000 to 50,000 in number. Now imagine a Mughal army of 40,000 soldiers coming towards Haldighati! At that time, Maharana Pratap's soldiers were positioned up there, on either side of the canyon. They started attacking the Mughal Army with stones, arrows and spears. Since the canyon is a narrow space, the Mughal soldiers panicked at the sudden attack. The huge Mughal Army panicked and, at once, started retreating. So, in this way, the Mughal Army was forced to go back even before the actual battle had begun.
They were earlier stationed at Shahi Bagh. But when they were forced to retreat, they were sent back upto Rakta Talai. After that, both the armies engaged in a bloody battle at Rakta Talai, where we are going next.
Today, this place has changed a lot. But if we go back to that year, 1572, when this battle took place.... ....this place was a vast jungle. The 40,000 strong Mughal Army had occupied this whole place as its war camp. Imagine, how big would the place be to accommodate such a large army! For the purpose of educating tourists, the government has assigned a smaller land portion. Otherwise, at that time, this would've been a vast land mass.
Badshahi Bagh! After some time here, I will show you the actual place where the Haldighati Battle took place. That place is called Rakta Talai. After travelling for 2 more KM, we've reached our last destination of Haldighati. Its name is Rakta Talai! Let us go inside! On June 18, 1576, this is where Maharana Pratap and Akbar's armies fought a fierce battle. Maharana's army had about 10,000 soldiers while the Mughal army had 40,000. So imagine, despite the 1:4 ratio, the battle was fought on equal footing.
No side won! Though the government has turned this place into a garden of sorts for tourists. But I'm sure that in 1576, there was no garden here, it must've been an open battlefield. I am guessing there mustn't have been this dense tree cover either.
Let us stroll out for some distance and see what is there, in that corner! The time is 6.15 pm. We are going to Kumbalgarh next and I will check in the Google Maps how much time it'll take. But I've been told that the road is not very good, so it might take us 2 to 2.15 hours to reach there. This Chhatri was built in the memory of those who were martyred in the Haldighati battle. This is the Chhatri.
We are now leaving for Kumbalgarh. Whenever you'll visit Udaipur, you should also visit all these points in Haldighati. Here, you will be able to understand history closely and realise that these are the.... ...places about whom you read in your history books. We are in Kumbalgarh. We left Haldighati at 7.15 pm and it took us more than 2 hours to reach here.
We chose to travel on the longer route because it is in better condition. I had come to Kumbalgarh with my wife, about 1300-1400, sorry, 13-14 years back. At that time, this place had 7-8 resorts and 2-3 hotels. I mean not more than 15 properties. I am talking about long back. But today, there must be at least 100-125 resorts and hotels in this place.
We've been seeing so many properties right from the point when Kumbalgarh was still 6 KM away. We've booked our accommodation at the Tiger Valley resort here. Tariff is Rs 2000 without meals on double occupancy basis.
No breakfast, no dinner! Tomorrow, we will spend first half of the day in Kumbalgarh. For 2nd half of the day, I am in double mind about whether to go to Ranakpur and return. Or should I go to Ranakpur a day later and then proceed to Mount Abu from there. That will be decided tomorrow morning.
Right? Tell us your views about today's episode. Today was exceptionally hectic for us. We woke up at 3.45 am today and now it is 9.45 pm. And it would be 1 am before we will finish our dinner and data copying for today. Tell us your views about this episode.
As always, I shall wait for your comments. That's it for now! Bye bye! Thanks for your time! The fort that you see is the Kumbhalgarh Fort. This wall is India's longest wall and second-longest of the world, after Great Wall of China. The wall is 15-ft wide, as we were talking earlier. Four horsemen could ride side-by-side on it.
At present, if someone would want to walk over this wall, can he make a complete round? Absolutely! The whole wall is intact even today. This wall begins from that point, that gate, which you can see in the distance. It passes through here, goes around the mountains, and you can see the Surya temple? Yes! The wall goes behind the Surya temple and connects back with the Fort.
2022-11-06 21:31
