After a complete rest day in Udaipur, we were all charged up to continue with our riding pleasures. You can't cage a wandering bug for long, sooner or later it will fly into the air.
We left in the morning around 10:30am after a heavy breakfast, planning to be back for lunch by 2:30 or so. The drive to Nathdwara was exciting. We first drove through the ghats which were surrounded by nice views. Pity it does not snow here. Then we descended onto the plains and followed the twists and turns. There were a few dhaabas and many alcohol selling signboards en route. Funny as it may seem, can't rule out folks taking a break to have some medeira before they seek darshan at the temple. In a way, its like having a bachelor stag party before jumping into the marriage fire! He! He!
Anyway, we continue on our two laned undivided highway tracks. Petrol Pumps were quite few but thankfully 60 odd kms is hardly any reason to get jittery aboout. We passed Eklingi which is bang on the main road itself and trudged along. Now we had every reason to get anxious as we were told that the temple dwar closes at 12 and its was getting close to 11:30 already and we were quite a distance away. Speed driving does not quite help because there is quite some traffic on this route.
We managed to enter the Nathdwara town around 11:40 and just hoped we made it in on time. Without maps, its left to the local assistance for guidance. The cop at the main road bang in the center of the intersection could not even hear our queries in his numbskull. After wasting 5 more minutes in trying to get a local to guide us, turns out we had to take a turn right where the cop was standing. Some mental swearing and we moved inside the tiny temple town. Passing through the narrow lanes with the clock breathing down my neck, we managed to reach the parking lot near the temple which was a big maidan with lots of room. A quick parking and we literally sprinted to the temple. At the gate you have to surrender all your stuff- the cellphones, camera, slippers etc.
Once inside, there are two separate zones for men and women. After spending a few nervous moments, we were reassured by the junta who were waiting there, that the temple is still open and doors will open soon.Phew! What a relief. There are no queues here; just plain old simple gate crash pushing and shoving to the altar. Not before long, the Pearly Gates opened and the mass of humanity rushed inside to have a view of the divinity. The funda inside is like this; There is the deity idol of Shrinath-ji, then there is a space about 4-5 women wide, stuffed like sardines and then there is bi-sectioned male zone with the front part for ephemeral devotees who want the darshan and move on after a few seconds and back zone where folks could brave the squeezes from all sides and yet manage to concentrate and pray as well. The men on the back came in 'ALL' sizes only; all pot bellied sumos who were compacting each other that their faces literally turned divine red. Did join them for 5 mins there and conveyed my thoughts to the Lord in a brief concise summarised form. Having made those senior executive presentations, it was a breeze to get my job done with this Seniormost Supremo.
Later, outside, after gathering all our material possessions from the counter, we did some nick-nack shopping for my daughter and had some wonderful kesar masala chai. The chai wala,quite a big stall on the right, a lil ahead of the sandwich-chaat walla joints, is a fundu guy and do have a sip from his creations.
Back in the car and we left Nathdwara around 1:15 pm. Once on the highway back, the keeda(worm) strikes. I ask my navigator," Isn't the Haldighatti about 15 odd kms from the highway?, Chal lets go there na.". Ok she says and we take the right turn detour after asking 3-4 locals. The road to Haldighatti is a village type road; single laned but fairly well tarred. Of course, I was hoping not to run into lot of village goats. Seeing the roads, I prayed that the Jaisalmer-Ahmedabad is not like this. Luckily no scares and we reached Haldighatti safely.
There are two parts to the Pratap Memorial here. Atop a hillock is a vast platform constructed on which there is a statue of Maharana Pratap on Chetak. Apparently, this is the exact spot where Chetak died in battle after rescuing his master. The road gradient was very steep and my car stalled to generate some anxiety for the family with the reverse roll. But the roll was arrested and first gear pushy driving ensured we reached near the top of the hillock. See pics of car and me there.
The second part was a memorial museum which has an audio visual multimedia presentation as well. They also have shop counters to sell local produce and sovenirs. Had lunch at the eatery there and at 100 bucks a thali, we had our first Dal Bhatti and Dal Bhatti laddoos in Rajasthan. Food is good and that is the only decent city standard eating option in the whole drive on SH 76.
We left by 3:00 pm and hoped to get a darshan at Eklingi shrine on our way back. High hopes! Reaching the temple at 4:00 pm we were told that the temple does not open till 5 pm. Not willing to hang around for one more hour and knowing we can do the visit again on our way to Kumbalgarh, we left for Udaipur right away and reached by 5:30ish, followed by chilling out with the family.
We left in the morning around 10:30am after a heavy breakfast, planning to be back for lunch by 2:30 or so. The drive to Nathdwara was exciting. We first drove through the ghats which were surrounded by nice views. Pity it does not snow here. Then we descended onto the plains and followed the twists and turns. There were a few dhaabas and many alcohol selling signboards en route. Funny as it may seem, can't rule out folks taking a break to have some medeira before they seek darshan at the temple. In a way, its like having a bachelor stag party before jumping into the marriage fire! He! He!
Anyway, we continue on our two laned undivided highway tracks. Petrol Pumps were quite few but thankfully 60 odd kms is hardly any reason to get jittery aboout. We passed Eklingi which is bang on the main road itself and trudged along. Now we had every reason to get anxious as we were told that the temple dwar closes at 12 and its was getting close to 11:30 already and we were quite a distance away. Speed driving does not quite help because there is quite some traffic on this route.
We managed to enter the Nathdwara town around 11:40 and just hoped we made it in on time. Without maps, its left to the local assistance for guidance. The cop at the main road bang in the center of the intersection could not even hear our queries in his numbskull. After wasting 5 more minutes in trying to get a local to guide us, turns out we had to take a turn right where the cop was standing. Some mental swearing and we moved inside the tiny temple town. Passing through the narrow lanes with the clock breathing down my neck, we managed to reach the parking lot near the temple which was a big maidan with lots of room. A quick parking and we literally sprinted to the temple. At the gate you have to surrender all your stuff- the cellphones, camera, slippers etc.
Once inside, there are two separate zones for men and women. After spending a few nervous moments, we were reassured by the junta who were waiting there, that the temple is still open and doors will open soon.Phew! What a relief. There are no queues here; just plain old simple gate crash pushing and shoving to the altar. Not before long, the Pearly Gates opened and the mass of humanity rushed inside to have a view of the divinity. The funda inside is like this; There is the deity idol of Shrinath-ji, then there is a space about 4-5 women wide, stuffed like sardines and then there is bi-sectioned male zone with the front part for ephemeral devotees who want the darshan and move on after a few seconds and back zone where folks could brave the squeezes from all sides and yet manage to concentrate and pray as well. The men on the back came in 'ALL' sizes only; all pot bellied sumos who were compacting each other that their faces literally turned divine red. Did join them for 5 mins there and conveyed my thoughts to the Lord in a brief concise summarised form. Having made those senior executive presentations, it was a breeze to get my job done with this Seniormost Supremo.
Later, outside, after gathering all our material possessions from the counter, we did some nick-nack shopping for my daughter and had some wonderful kesar masala chai. The chai wala,quite a big stall on the right, a lil ahead of the sandwich-chaat walla joints, is a fundu guy and do have a sip from his creations.
Back in the car and we left Nathdwara around 1:15 pm. Once on the highway back, the keeda(worm) strikes. I ask my navigator," Isn't the Haldighatti about 15 odd kms from the highway?, Chal lets go there na.". Ok she says and we take the right turn detour after asking 3-4 locals. The road to Haldighatti is a village type road; single laned but fairly well tarred. Of course, I was hoping not to run into lot of village goats. Seeing the roads, I prayed that the Jaisalmer-Ahmedabad is not like this. Luckily no scares and we reached Haldighatti safely.
There are two parts to the Pratap Memorial here. Atop a hillock is a vast platform constructed on which there is a statue of Maharana Pratap on Chetak. Apparently, this is the exact spot where Chetak died in battle after rescuing his master. The road gradient was very steep and my car stalled to generate some anxiety for the family with the reverse roll. But the roll was arrested and first gear pushy driving ensured we reached near the top of the hillock. See pics of car and me there.
The second part was a memorial museum which has an audio visual multimedia presentation as well. They also have shop counters to sell local produce and sovenirs. Had lunch at the eatery there and at 100 bucks a thali, we had our first Dal Bhatti and Dal Bhatti laddoos in Rajasthan. Food is good and that is the only decent city standard eating option in the whole drive on SH 76.
We left by 3:00 pm and hoped to get a darshan at Eklingi shrine on our way back. High hopes! Reaching the temple at 4:00 pm we were told that the temple does not open till 5 pm. Not willing to hang around for one more hour and knowing we can do the visit again on our way to Kumbalgarh, we left for Udaipur right away and reached by 5:30ish, followed by chilling out with the family.
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