Revisiting India - Blog Post 7

Bundi: A Historical Village

I remember Bundi fondly. The small Indian town, most famous for when Rudyard Kipling (author of "The Jungle Book”) visited the place over a 100 years ago. Yet the historical fort of Bundi was also important, as it was located near the border between the principality of Jaipur and the Kingdom of Mewar. It lies on the road between the cities of Udaipur and Ajmer, or a little South-West of the Rajasthani capital, Jaipur. Here we would spend a few days in a more serene countryside area with lots of beautiful nature and landscapes.

For the second time we had stayed up partying too late, and we were quite tired when we arrived at the hotel. After resting for a few hours, I noticed some really loud stuff happening not too far off from the hotel. I awoke Boye, and he joined me in exploring what this ruckus in the street was all about. Turns out another really important hindu festival was about to take place, and Bundi had brought out their own marching band for the occasion.

At this point Boye and I had started to feel quite comfortable casually joining in on whatever festivities we happened to stumble upon. We joined the procession as they moved down a street in Bundi’s old town. After about an hour the whole spectacle came to a halt right outside a hindu temple. Some locals invited Boye and I to come inside the temple with them, and we accepted the invitation.

Inside the temple we were served food and partook in holy prayers. The temple leaders were exceptionally friendly, and we joined the communal dinner held at the temple that evening.

Next day we felt fresh and invigorated. The festivities yesterday were still fondly with us in our memory, and we were ready to go out and explore this friendly place. We headed out to Bundi palace, since our hotel was located nearby in the old city area.

Bundi palace stood out from the other forts we had seen in many ways. Firstly, it was massive, the largest one we had seen. Secondly, the palace was not in nearly as good shape as the one in Jodhpur or the one in Udaipur. This was probably as a result of it being owned by a royal family with fewer subjects (meaning less tax incomes). Some locals also explained that the king rarely visited Bundi these days. I enjoyed the freedom we had to check out most chambers of the palace, since there were few guards, and few signs warning us not to enter specific areas.

Bundi Palace Gate and other pictures from within the palace.

This is just two of the many groups of Indian tourists asking us for selfies.

After seeing the palace and taking quite a few selfies with Indians wanting selfies with us, we decided to see the hill fort, which is located on one of the tall hills behind the palace. There was only one guard watching the main gate. Most of the fort was in ruins, but you could still walk on the ramparts. The state of decay didn’t bother me. As the history geek I am, I can easily use my imagination to picture what something would have looked like while still in use. The view down the valleys on both sides of the fort were quite spectacular.

You can see the whole palace from this watchtower building, where we had our lunch. You can see how the fasade of the palace could need some renovations.

After chilling and eating lunch in a relaxing spot near the hill fort, we decided to head down to town. The old town area has many famous spots to see. I was particularly eager to see the large stepwell a webpage had recommended to me. On the way towards the stepwell we ran into a talkative Indian guy. He offered us chai tea and we sat down near his fathers smithing workshop.

The son is drinking chai from a identical cup as Boye and I, while the father is continuing smithing behind his son.

I love seeing craftsmen do their traditional handicrafts. In Norway craftsmen, such as smiths, are hard to come by these days. Generally speaking Indian governments have done a really good job preserving their occupations of craftsmanship. Indians are very proud of their handicrafts, and many handmade items long gone from European markets can still be found in Indian Chowks (markets).

Boye and I walking through Bundi old town on our way to the stepwell.

The stepwells, commonly found in all the Rajasthani kingdoms, were built by the local Raj (kings) to service their subjects with easy access to fresh water. This was both helpful for the residents of Bundi, but also gave prestige to the Raj (king) of Bundi.

The step well was truly massive, larger than I had imagined. We also visited a Hindu temple that popped up on google maps nearby. Then we jumped in a tuk-tuk, which brought us back towards the palace and hotel area. In the evening the festival from yesterday seemed to start up again, but this time Boye and I were a bit too tired to join in. We spent the evening talking to a lovely couple from Australia in the hotel restaurant.

Next day we had planned to go on a little excursion outside Bundi. One of the workers in the hotel had recommended we take a taxi to see some of the sights in the area, where Rudyard Kipling spent his time when he was visiting Bundi. The taxi first brought us to Sukh Mahal, also known sometimes as Kipling Palace. I vividly pictured Kipling scribbling down notes in the garden of this large mansion as he walked around. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that the trees in the garden were absolutely swarming with monkeys. At one point I saw one of the garden keepers trying to scare away some of the monkeys with a broom. The little creatures calmly moved slightly higher in the tree, and continued going about their business.

Visiting Sukh Mahal (also known as Kipling Palace). The main building had been converted to a small yet very informative museum.

Sukh Mahal can be seen on the other side of the lake. The large white-stone building is visible right behind some of the pointed fence bars.

Our next destination was a small village a little North-East of Bundi, called Dalelpura. Here we saw ruins of something reminiscent of a temple. A local villager claimed this was the hunting lodge of Rudyard Kipling, personally I’m not certain what these ruins once were used for.

Villagers in Dalelpura claimed Kipling and his enturage used this building as their hunting lodge.

Boye notices some tower far away over the horizon.

A stroll around Dalelpura and towards the Hindu temple on the hill.

After strolling about the area for a while I finally convinced Boye that we had to go check out the Hindu temple, which was dominantly sticking out in the hillside, South of the village. The temple named Chauth Mata Mandir felt quite different from the other Hindu temples we had visited. It was quite windy inside, as the walls had wide open gaps in them. There were drummers hanging within the temple. Whereas Boye and I felt like the only two tourists in the village from earlier, there were plenty of other tourists hanging about the temple. Many Indian pilgrims also came to pray at the temple.

The nature of rural Bundi was spellbinding. With lush forests and lakes filled with lilies and other greenery, hosting roaming water buffalo herds. Planted fields fight for their space between the main road and the forested hillsides, which surrounds the valley. There was also a tiger reserve near Dalelpura, but after visiting the temple Boye and I decided we had done enough sightseeing for the day.

The taxi stopped and waited for us here, somewhere near the temple we visited earlier on the road between Dalelpura and Bundi. I especially love the lilies on Jaitra Sagar lake, giving a green coloured cover to the water.

On the third day we left Bundi behind. We kept moving Northward. Our next destination was the holy town of Pushkar, located on a hill next to the City of Ajmer. Join me next time as we experience excitement but also a stressful situation. Thanks for all the support I have received from friends, family and now some readers unknown to me trickling in. This project is still young, but I can see a path forward into the future. Cheers from Norway.

I end with this hillarious picture. This picture was also taken in Dalelpura. The Swastika (Sanatan Dharma) is an important symbol for Hindus, and is prominently portraied in Indian homes, temples and religious sites and ceremnonies. The symbol is believed to be one of the oldest symbols in human culture (possibly as much as 12,000 years old). A moron from early 20th century German politics misapropriated the symbol for his infamous and nefarious political movement.

PS: I will be working at Bergen Christmas market at the 25th of November, selling Indian handicrafts. Come meet me there if you are in Bergen Norway.

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