Auto drivers washing their beloved decorated auto’s, College boys & girls ripping their mopeds & bikes as if they are on Moto GP track, daily wage workers lazing out with a cup of tea in hand & few old age people walking in jogging suite is what I got to see as I stepped out for a walk at 6:45 AM. As I knew nothing about where to walk around, thought to move towards Jhansi Fort & after walking around for a Km, there was a park on the left side of the road which I went in without second thought. The park was cleanly maintained & guesses what?? It was packed with all age groups. Kids playing badminton, retired dude’s busy chit chatting (blaming kids & wives????J), house wives busy with Yoga activity & few more were walking on the track. From behind the park, I could also get clear view of the Fort. After about a round, came back to lodge, got fresh & had Puri for breakfast. It was already 8:30 AM by then & I am off to Jhansi Fort.
Parked the machine, took entry ticket & went in with camera on.
“Guide chahiye saab???” a local approached me.
“Nahi bhaiyya!!!”
“Andar dus spots hain! Hum dikayenge….”
“Nahi chahiye bahi saab” I said looking at the fort map.
Although the fort was pretty confusing, the map was very much helpful. Took a snap of it for reference & did visit all the places listed in it. The fort was pretty good but I should say the maintenance was just horrible. People have spit Pan Masala in every corner of the fort & waste thrown like fort is a dust binL. Why do they put up the board in entrance saying it’s a protected monument & have such a wretched maintenance?? The fort had few huge Cannons, temple & few important places like the one from where Rani Jhansi jumped with her son on the back & so on.
 |
| Jhansi Fort entrance... |
 |
| Inside the fort! |
 |
| Mega Cannon... |
 |
| View from the Fort |
 |
| Some information... |
While I was busy taking clicks,
“Hamara photo nikalona! Hume kab milega??” one guy asked curiously.
“Tumhe kaha milega?? Yeh mera hi camera hain…” Gosh! He thought I am a studio photographerJ.
Soon after,
“Ek photo ka kitna loge???” Another idiot asked.
What the heck is this??? How can they think me as a studio photographer??? My mind went blind for a while.
After some time,
“Hamara photo nikalna…” a school boy said intriguingly.
“Photo le sakta hoon! Magar tumhe nahi milega…” I made it clear to him in advance.
He agreed & gave a pose like super starJ. |
| Curious to get clicked :) |
With all these funny incidents, was out of the fort & rode to Rani Mahal just behind the fort. One amazing point here was that parking charge was 10 bux while entry was 5 bux. I asked the parking person on the same but could not grasp even a single word of his. Pan Masala was pouring out of his mouth & thought not to disturb him againJ.Rani Mahal consisted of nothing interesting at all except some old stone sculptures & paintings on the wall. Came out soon & gave a visit to Jhansi Museum as well. If not nothing great, at least the maintenance was simply appreciating. Museum consisted of various freedom struggle photos, stone sculptures which belonged to Lalitpur area & thing which I liked was there were also a place where story of Rani Laxmi Bhai was being told with clay models & pictures. It had audio as well. It was just worth it I felt.
 |
| Jhansi Rani Laxmi Bhai... |
 |
| Cleanly maintained Museum |
 |
| Buddha Statue in Museum! |
 |
| Pictorial representation of Laxmi Bhai's life... |
With all these, I was done with Jhansi expedition by 11:30 AM. Came back to lodge & went to cyber café to upload blogs. Post lunch, took some rest & went to Orchha by 4:30 PM. Once again, was constantly being asked for guide & I politely rejected the offer each time. On enquiry, got to know that I need to collect tickets to visit Chattri’s & got the ticket from office in Jahangir Mahal.
“Behtar yahi hain ki aap Chattri dek ke avo aur guide le lo yeh dono Mahal dekne ke liye! Waise guide aapko do so leta hain, lekin yeh Mahal ka karam chari hain. Yeh aapko dono Mahal dikayange! Bus ek so pachas lagega!” the officer said pointing to a localite.
“”Ek so doonga bus!” was my deal.
He agreed without second thought & told me to finish off with Chattri’s & come back soon. Went to Chattri’s & had bundle of clicks in various directions. Also climbed a Chattri only to find a Vulture sitting pretty close to me. Damn! Came down in a hurry & found Vultures are plenty in number. Man! Why bullet does make loud ‘Dug Dug Dug…’ sound??? Was actually feeling embarrassed by the way villagers were staring at meL
 |
| Chattri's in Orchha |
 |
| Another Chattri shot!!! |
 |
| Chattri all over... |
 |
| Scary Vultures dominating the Chattri's |
 |
| Chattri's behind Betwa river... |
Mahal karam chari showed me both the Mahal’s with Jahangir Mahal being the first one. Went to the rooftop to get some good views of the surroundings. It was already 6:10 PM by the time I came down & since guide was Mahal karam chari he opened the keys of Rani Mahal for me. It consisted of nothing great except few old paintings. With nothing else to do, took a ticket to Sound & Light show & waited till 7:30 PM. Though I was all alone initially, crowed gather later on & show went on up till 8:45 starting from 7:45 PM. The show was all about the history of Orchha. The names were so confusing that I ended up with nothing in mind. Only think I remember was it was all about Bundelkhand dynasty!
But one thing I concluded was that Orchha is better place than Jhansi & there are plenty of lodges to stay in this tiny village. Came back to lodge, had dinner, settled the lodge bill, packed up my things & the day was over. I am almost in UP but MP is still not over. Tomorrow it’s KhajurahoJ.
 |
| Jahangir Mahal at a glance!!! |
 |
| Jahangir Mahal!!! |
 |
| Raja Mahal as viewed from Jahangir Mahal |
 |
| Paintings in Raja Mahal! |
 |
| Raja Mahal from inside! |
 |
| Sound & Light show |
 |
| Beautifully lit :) |
No comments:
Post a Comment