A Short Road Trip Discovering Heritage of Jaipur, Ajmer and Pushkar in Rajasthan

We all love to travel, however, most of us do not get enough time to go on long road trips. For those biking lovers, a short road trip is a like a medicine to relax their souls. We are going to share with you such kind of a travelogue, in which we experienced the heritage of Jaipur (Pinkcity), Ajmer and Pushkar in Rajasthan.



Recently, Keys Hotel group organized a 3 day motorcycle road trip from Delhi to Ajmer, covering Jaipur and Pushkar. We also joined the ride along with the “Chase My Wheels”- a group of Royal Enfield Riders.

Day 1 Jaipur:



Also known as the Pink City, Jaipur is the capital of the largest state in India- Rajasthan, which was also called Rajputana (the country of the Rajputs). The historical state attracts tourists and vacationers because of its rich culture, colours, traditions, heritage, and monuments. Jaipur is full of heritage places and we got a chance to visit some magnificent monuments including Amber Fort, Jal Mahal and others. However, you need at least 2-4 days to visit all the highlights of the city, which are mentioned below-

Amber Fort: One of the most popular forts of Rajasthan, Amber Fort was built in 1592 AD by Raja Man Singh I and fully expanded later by his descendant, Raja Jai Singh I. It is situated in the Amer Town, which is approx 11 kilometers from the main Jaipur city and comes in the way from Delhi-Jaipur Highway to the city. The Fort has been built in red sandstone and marble on the 'Cheel Ka Teela' (Hill of Eagles) of the Aravali range. There is a lake at the bottom of the fort, which is called 'Maota Lake' with a garden known as "Kesar Kyari Bagh" in between. Some of the popular things you must watch in the fort are 'Suraj Pol', Ganesh Pol', 'Jaleb Chowk', 'Diwan-i-Aam', 'Sheesh Mahal', 'Sukh Mahal', 'Shila Devi' Temple and 'Magic Flower', a fresco carved out of marble. You can also enjoy royal elephant ride here.

Jaigarh Fort: Located immediately above the same 'Cheel ka Teela', Jaigarh Fort along with Amber Fort are considered as one complex and connected by a subterranean passage. It was built by Raja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1726 AD and its premises has a length of 3 kilometres along the north-south direction and a width of 1 kilometer. The main attraction of the fort is 'Jaivana' cannon, which is the world's largest cannon on wheels. Other attractions in the huge palace complex includes the Laxmi Vilas, Lalit Mandir, Aram Mandir and the Vilas Mandir along with an armoury, a museum and a well-tended garden.

Nahargarh Fort: Built in 1734 AD by Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II, Nahargarh Fort is located on the edge of the Aravalli Hills, giving an impressive view of the Jaipur City (Pinkcity). The fort follows Indo-European architecture and there are many structures inside the fort including the 'Madhavendra Bhawan' built by Sawai Madho Singh.

Jal Mahal: Located in the middle of 'Man Sagar' lake, Jal Mahal or Water Palace is a very interesting place to visit in Jaipur. This amazing symbol of architecture is a five-story building built of red sandstone, of which 4 floors remain under water when the lake is full.



Hawa Mahal: Also known as the Palace of Winds or Palace of the Breeze, Hawa Mahal is another historical building located in the heart of Jaipur. Built in 1799 AD by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, this beautiful five-story palace is constructed of Red and Pink sandstone. The structure was designed by Lal Chand Ustad in the form of the crown of Krishna, and its exterior is akin to the honeycomb of a beehive with its 953 small windows called jharokhas decorated with intricate latticework. It also allows cool air from the Venturi effect (doctor breeze) through the intricate pattern, which air conditions the whole palace even in the hot summers.



Jantar Mantar: One of the largest observatories ever built, Jantar Mantar is listed on UNESCO World Heritage List. Combining religion, science and art, it is the name given to a series of 5 structures built in Jaipur, New Delhi, Ujjan, Varanasi and Mathura. Built by a great scholar and an avid astrologer, Maharaja Jai Singh, the astronomical observatory consists of fourteen major geometric devices for tracking constellations measuring time and for observing the orbits around the sun. The most popular structures within the Jantar Mantar are the world's largest sundial- 'Samrat Yantra', the 'Jaiprakash Yantra', the 'Hindu Chhatri' and various geometric structures with astronomical devices to explore the 'universe'.



City Palace: Placed near Hawa Mahal, City Palace was built between 1729 and 1732 AD by Sawai Jai Singh II to shift from Amer to Jaipur due to water problems and an increase in population in 1727. The palace includes various structures including the famous 'Chandra Mahal', which has been turned into a museum which is home to unique handcrafted products, various uniforms of the rulers, the 'Mubarak Mahal', 'Diwan-I-Khas' and the 'Govind Dev Ji Temple along with the other buildings which form a part of the palace complex. The Palace's architectural styles is based on a fusion of Rajput, Mughal and European styles, which is surrounded by some of the famous gates, called the 'Udai Pol', 'Jaleb Chowk', 'Tripolia Gate' and 'Virendra Pol', which also happen to be the various entrances to it.



Albert Hall Museum: Named after the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, Albert Hall's foundation stone was laid during his visit to Jaipur in 1876. In 1880, Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II approved a suggestion to open a museum of Industrial Arts in it to display products of local craftsmen. Later, European, Egyptian, Chinese, Greek and Babylonian civilizations were portrayed in the other murals to enable the people of the region to compare and contrast them with their own and develop their knowledge of history and art. Then the Albert Hall became a centre for imparting knowledge of history of civilizations, inspiring artisans to improve their skills, and preserving & developing traditional Indian arts, crafts, architectural forms.



After rambling Pink City, we reached our final destination of the day, which was Hotel Keys Marigold, located in Sitapura, Jaipur. We had a dinner there and spend out night in their well maintained luxury rooms.



Day 2 Pushkar:

After having a good breakfast at Hotel Keys Marigold, Jaipur early in the morning, we checked out for Pushkar, which is around 143 kms from it. We took the Jaipur Ajmer Highway (NH8), which was in quite good shape. Therefore, it took mere 2-2.5 hrs to complete the journey to the Pratap Palace A Keys Resort located at 12 km from the popular Brahma Temple. The Resort is built in Rajput architecture, giving it a heritage feel. So, we are also including it in the highlights of Pushkar visit along with the Brahma Temple, Holy Pushkar Lake, camel safari and local market area.



Brahma Temple and Pushkar Lake: Pushkar is said to have over 500 temples, however, the most important among them is the only Brahma temple in the world, which is near the holy Pushkar lake. The original temple is believed to be 2000 years old and also that Brahma himself chose the location for his temple.



Camel safari and local market: You can experience camel safari and horse riding here, which is also known as the Pushkar Royal Safari. You can also enjoy shopping of the Rajasthani things like 'Kurtis', 'Jutis' and many hand made products at the local market of Pushkar



Pratap Palace a Keys Resort: Team of the Pratap Palace welcomed us with traditional folk dance and Tilak. It is a luxury palace style resort located in Pushkar, where you can experience old world indulgence with a touch of royalty and personalised services. It is one of the best places to stay in Pushkar and also situated to the popular visiting sites of the city. The resort is situated just 15 kilometers from Ajmer railway station and 140 kilometers from Jaipur airport.



Architecture of the hotel is based on an interesting blend of Rajasthani and Moghul design. It features intricate arches and domes in traditional "jaali" work, rich green gardens and courtyards along with luxury rooms to stay.



We has a very special dinner at the Pratap Palace in evening along with a live traditional music performance near its beautiful swimming pool, highlighted with colourful lights and fountains.

Day 3 Ajmer:

Target of the last day was to explore the Ajmer and ride back to Delhi, so we checked out from the Pratap Palace early morning after completing our breakfast. Our first destination- Dargah Sharif is hardly 14 kms from the Hotel and other sites are also near by Dargah.



Dargah Sharif of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti: Situated at the foot of the Taragarh Hill, The Dargah Sharif of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti consists of many white marble buildings, which have been arranged around two courtyards. It includes the Akbari Mosque, built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and a massive gate donated by the Nizam of Hyderabad. The place has a very strong religeous appearance and it around 125,000 pilgrims visit the site every day.



Taragarh Fort: Located on the Taragarh Hill, Taragarh Fort is one of the oldest hill forts in India, which was the seat of the Chauhan rulers. The fort guarding Ajmer was built by King Ajaypal Chauhan in a circumference of 3 km with only one entrance having a very steep slope.



Anasagar Lake, Baradari and Daulat Bagh: The historic artificial lake was built by Maharaja Anaji Chauhan, the grandfather of Prithvi Raj Chauhan, in 1135 -1150 AD. Later, 5 pavilions were built by Shahjahan near the lake in 1637, called 'Baradari' and Jahangir added Daulat Bagh Gardens.

After Covering all the important sites of Ajmer, we left for Delhi in afternoon to cover around 392 km, which took around 6-7 hrs. So, bikers check your gears, pack your bags and prepare for the week ends to discover the heritage of Rajasthan in a short road trip.