An Indian Bureaucrat's Diary

 Jodhpur – Land of Sand and Sand Dunes

For a long time now, I had been planning to ride across the deserts and over the sand dunes in Rajasthan, atop our one humped camels.
I narrowed down my search to two places – Jaisalmer and Jodhpur.

I finally zeroed in on Jodhpur for the simple reason it has one of the finest forts in India, the most modern palace in the country and….. it is easier to travel to Jodhpur from Mumbai or Delhi.

Mandore (9 Kms) – History  

The early capital of the Jodhpur area was not the present city of Jodhpur but Mandore (originally known as Mandavyapur)  –  9 kms north of Jodhpur.
Mandore has a long history. During the Ramayana era, Princess Mandodri of Mandavyapur married King Ravana.

During the Gupta period 6th – 7th century AD, Mandore was the ancient capital of the Parihar kings and remained the capital under various kings till the 14th century.

When Kannauj was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1019, the Gahadvala dynasty gained control of Kannauj and ruled for almost a century. Their best known and last king was Raja Jaichand.

Raja Jaichand’s successors, who came to be known as Rathores, gradually spread across Marwar, forming a loose brotherhood of land owners and village chieftains, bound to each other by clan and caste.

In 1395 AD, Chundaji Rathore married a Parihar princess Mohil and began ruling Mandore.

Rao Jodha, a Rathore chief, conquered the surrounding areas and founded the Marwar state – the largest Rajasthan state during the pre independence days. A 10 km long wall with 8 Gates leading out of it encircled the old city.

Rao Jodha founded the present Jodhpur in 1459 A.D. and shifted his capital from Mandore to Jodhpur.

Mandore (9 Kms) – the Old City 
 
Today, Mandore has a beautiful garden on the slopes of a hill housing a unique  collection of royal devals or cenotaphs (cenotaph means a monument erected in honor of a dead person whose remains lie elsewhere or could not be recovered).
 
Unlike the usual chhatri (umbrella) shaped cenotaphs typical of other places of Rajasthan, the cenotaphs in Mandore are in the shape of beautiful, ornate, Hindu temples.
All the cenotaphs were constructed out of dark red sandstone.
The most impressive one is the four-storey cenotaph of Maharaja Ajit Singh (reigned 1678-1724), with fine columns and an elegant spire.

The garden has a hall of heroes with 16 figures of popular Hindu and folk deities carved out of a single rock, dating back to the 17th – 18th century.
Adjacent to this is a larger hall called “The Shrine of the Three Hundred Million” deities filled with brightly coloured images of various Hindu Gods.

As you climb up the hill, you come to the ruins of old Mandore with its old palace. Set on a rocky outcrop, a ten-minute walk over the hills, are the beautiful cenotaphs of the beautiful Maharanis.

The Mandore museum has a good collection of memoralia.

Modern Jodhpur

Maharaja Rao Jodha founded Jodhpur in 1459 A.D. The same year, he started constructed of the Mehrangarh Fort.
Construction of the Fort was completed by Maharaja Jaswant Singh (1638-1680).

Jodhpur is known as the Sun City for its year round bright, sunny, weather.
It is also known as the Blue City (Jaipur is known as the Pink City), due to the excessive indigo used in white-washing the houses around the Mehrangarh Fort.
Initially, only Brahmins white washed their houses indigo blue. The non-Brahmins soon joined in, as the blue colour (probably it was the indigo) was believed to deflect the heat and keep mosquitoes away.

Today Jodhpur has two sectors – the old city and the new city.
The old city is surrounded by a thick stone wall with six huge gates – Nagauri Gate, Merati Gate, Sojati Gate, Jalori Gate, Siwanchi Gate and Chand Pol.

After checking in at the hotel, I spent the first evening walking around the Clock Tower and the area around it.
This gave us a taste of the old markets in the old city.
Speaking of taste, you can purchase Jodhpur’s famous red chilli powder around here. Besides, there are lots of shops around selling local handicrafts, lac work and pretty bangles.

Mehrangarh Fort

The most imposing structure in Jodhpur, and the finest fort in India, is the Mehrangarh Fort.  Sprawling over 5 sq. Kms,, the Fort has seven gates.

Built of red sandstone, the Mehrangarh Fort rises sharply on an almost vertical cliff.

The main entrance to the fort is Jai Pol which was built in 1806 by Maharaja Man Singh to commemorate his victory in a battle.

Even though seventeen generations of Rathore rulers have added a number of temples, palaces and courtyards, surprisingly, the overall look is one of symmetry.

Inside the fort are various ornate and decorative structures constructed by different kings - the Phool Mahal, Takhat Mahal, Moti Mahal and Jhanki Mahal.

The bastioned walls with a sprinkling of old cannons on top have been hewn out of rocks and at some places are 24 metres thick and 40 metres high.

The museum inside the Fort has a wonderful collection of palanquins, howdahs, royal cradles, miniatures, musical instruments, costumes and furniture.

Ziplining (Zipling)

And it was here in this Fort, we first met the Flying Fox. The Flying Fox is not an animal. It is an outfit offering India’s first zip line tours or Ziplining (though I prefer to use the shorter word Zipling which I have coined).

Zipling is the sport of soaring high above the ground with your body strapped to a harness which is attached to a zip line which is an aerial runway created by tying a cable between two fixed points usually passing over scenic areas such as jungles, ravines, forests, meadows, sea and lakes.

The zip line is sloped so as to allow the rider to gradually glide down the length of the cable.

The zip lines at Mehrangarh Fort have cables suspended 30 to 200 feet above the ground passing over 6 different stages over the hills, forts and lakes.

The tour does appear a little nightmarish. But its perfectly safe and exhilerating.

Vultures at the Fort

I saw a large number of Vultures flying over the Fort. The locals clarified that this was one of the rare places in India where vultures regularly nest and breed.

 Umaid Bhawan Palace

In sharp contrast to the medieval Mehrangarh Fort is the Umaid Bhavan Palace, the latest palace of India.
Built of creamy-pink sandstone and marble, this palace is one of the largest private residences in the world.
It has 374 rooms including eight dining halls, two theatres, a ballroom, ornate reception halls and a huge underground swimming pool.

This palace was built by Maharaja Umaid Singh as a relief project to help his famine-stricken subjects. It took 15 years and 3,000 men to complete this architectural marvel.

The major portion of the palace has been converted into a 5-star heritage hotel. The present Mahrajah Gaj Singh (grandson of Umaid Singh) lives in a segregated portion of the palace. Another portion of the palace houses the museum which is open to tourists.
The museum has a rich collection of decorated weapons, paintings, porcelain, watches, antique clocks and French furniture.

Osian (65km from Jodhpur)

This unique temple town was located on a very important trade route between the 8th and the 12th centuries and contains 16 Hindu and Jain temples of exquisite quality built during that period.

But we went to Osian also to ride over the sand dunes on camel back.
Jaisalmer is more famous for its sand dunes (Sam Sand Dunes), but the sand dunes here are equally fascinating.

Other Places to see

Jaswant Thada is a white marble cenotaph with beautiful lattice carvings and pillars built in memory of Maharaja Jaswant II in 1899. It also contains cenotaphs of subsequent rulers and members of the royal family.

You should also visit Balsamand Lake and Gardens; Kailana Lake and Sardar Samand Lake.

Local delicacies

You can taste the local cuisine including shahi samosa, mirchi vada, makhan lassi and the famous Mawa Kachori dipped in sugar syrup.

Conclusion

Jodhpur is an important city.

The High Court of Rajasthan is located here. 
And it is well connected to the major cities of India, by air, rail and road.
A number of Heritage hotels of all varieties are coming up.

Jodhpur is famous for its feisty festivals, folk songs, hospitality and great food.
You can watch a lot of festivities during the month of October.

You can take a safari tour which will give you a glimpse of the lifestyle and craft of the potters and weavers, and you can also have a meal with them.

Incidentally, this is the home of the famous Bishnoi community where the black buck and other wild animals are savagely protected and it was here Salman Khan was caught and charged for wild life poaching.

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Spices of India

Spice Gardens

If you visit tourist places in Goa and Kerala, you can visit spice gardens.
Some plantation owners have improvised their spice gardens into tourist attractions.
You can see a variety of plants where different spices come from.
The guide will answer your questions and clarify your doubts.
Your host will serve you authentic local meals in virgin surroundings and arrange a traditional folk dance.


Indian Spices – Background  

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the World’s Most Used Spice

If you visit tourist places in Goa and Kerala, you can visit spice gardens.
Some plantation owners have improvised their spice gardens into tourist attractions.
You can see a variety of plants which give us different spices.
The guide will answer your questions and clarify your doubts.
Your host will serve you authentic local meals in virgin surroundings and arrange a traditional dance.

Back ground

We Indians use a lot of spices in our daily food.

But most of us do not know where the spices come from.

Read the rest of this entry »

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the Queen of Spices

If you visit tourist places in Goa and Kerala, you can visit spice gardens.Some plantation owners have improvised their spice gardens into tourist attractions.
You can see a variety of plants where different spices come from.
The guide will answer your questions and clarify your doubts.
Your host will serve you authentic local meals in virgin surroundings and arrange a traditional dance.

Background

We Indians use a lot of spices in our daily food.
But most of us do not know where the spices come from.
Someone suggested that I should write about the spices in my blog.
So here we go.
This one on Elaichi is another in a series on Spices of India. Elaichi (Cardamom) is one of the most popular spices and is known as the “Queen of Spices”. It is used in tea and coffee; various food preparations; and in medicinal concoctions.I personally love Elaichi tea and lassi. Read the rest of this entry »

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  Spices of India – My Favourite Spice      

                        
My favourite spice is Kali Mirch.
I love to sprinkle a little powdered Kali Mirch on my buttered toast every morning.
And my wife uses it in a number of dishes.
You can see Kali Mirch plants in Spice Plantations, Coconut Plantations and Areca Nut Plantations throughout Kerala (South India), Karnataka and Goa.

The Name

The English name for Kali Mirch is Black Pepper.
The word Pepper is derived from the Sanskrit name Pippali or Pippalii.
This became Péperi in Greek and Piper in Latin.

What is Kali Mirch (Black Pepper)

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Spices of India                                       

the most widely used spice  
Once a month or so, I go to the nearby nurseries to see new plant arrivals.
And invariably, I purchase a few plants                                                                     .
The last time, a nursery owner showed me Pudina plants.
I brought one and now it is happily thriving in a little flower pot in my balcony.
Pudina, or mint, is the most widely used spice.
We use Pudina every day, in different forms, for various purposes.

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            the most popular Flavouring  in the world                                                    

If you visit tourist places in Goa and Kerala, you can visit spice gardens.
Some plantation owners have improvised their spice gardens into tourist attractions.
You can see a variety of plants where different spices come from.
The guide will answer your questions and clarify your doubts.
Your host will serve you authentic local meals in virgin surroundings and arrange a traditional dance.

Background

We Indians use a lot of spices in our daily food.
But most of us do not know where the spices come from.
Someone suggested that I should write about the spices in my blog.
So here we go.
This one on Vanilla is another in a series on Spices of India. In 2004, I was working in a city called Hubli, a small but important trading centre, in Karnataka, South India.
I was invited to visit some plantations in Sirsi about 100 kms away.
There were the usual coconut trees, areca nut (betel nut or supari), some spice trees and Vanilla vines.It was the first time I saw a Vanilla plant.
I was surprised. The plantation was heavily guarded, with high level of electronic surveillance.
I thought the owner must be under some sort of threat. But no! The security was for the Vanilla plants. The crop in Madagascar had failed. The prices of Vanilla had literally shot through the roof.
Theft, and even robbery (using armed force), had become quite common. 

History

Vanilla originated in Mexico, where the Aztecs used it to accent the flavor of chocolate drinks.
In the 16th century, the Spanish explorer Cortez, brought it to Europe.
The Aztec drink, made with Vanilla pods and cacao beans, became popular among the aristocracy in Europe.In 1602, a chemist for Queen Elizabeth I suggested that Vanilla could be used alone as a flavoring.
Today, Vanilla is the most popular flavour in the world.

The Plant                                                                                                                

The Vanilla essence comes from the long, greenish-yellow seed pods of the tropical orchid plant, Vanilla planifolia.
The plant is a creeper and climbs up on the trunks of other shady trees.
It can be easily grown on coconut trees, areca palms, other trees, even poles.
Left alone, it will climb up and up.
But growers fold the higher parts of the plant downwards to keep the height accessible by a human. This also stimulates flowering.

The flowers of the Vanilla plant are hermaphroditic – they carry both the male (anther) and female (stigma) organs. But to avoid self pollenation, a membrane separates the two organs.
In nature, the flowers can be pollinated by a bee found only in Mexico.
Therefore, in cultivation, the flowers have to be artificially pollinated.
Fortunately, the process is simple and easy.
The Vanilla flower lasts about one day, sometimes even less. Growers have to inspect their plants every day for the open flowers, a labour-intensive task.

Harvest                                                                           

·               The pods are harvested while green and immature. At this stage, they are odourless.
·              The vegetative tissue of the Vanilla pod has to be killed to prevent further growing. The killing is accomplished by sun killing, oven killing, hot water killing, killing by scratching or by freezing. In India, I have seen cultivators use hot water killing.
·               The pods are held for 7 to 10 days under hot (45º-65ºC or 115º-150ºF) and humid conditions. The pods are kept in fabric covered boxes immediately after boiling. This allows enzymes to process the compounds in the pods into vanillin and other compounds which give Vanilla its flavour.
·               To prevent rotting and to lock the aroma in the pods, the pods are dried. The pods are laid out in the sun during the mornings and returned to their boxes in the afternoons. When the moisture content is reduced to 25-30% of the pods’ weight (as compared to 60-70% before drying) the curing process is complete and the pods will exhibit their fullest aromatic qualities
·               Once fully cured, the Vanilla is sorted by quality and graded.

How to use Vanilla

There are three main commercial preparations of natural Vanilla:
·               Whole pod,
·               Powder (ground pods – pure, or blended with sugar, starch or other ingredients), and
·               Extract (in alcoholic solution – at least 35% by volume). 

Growth and prices

Till the middle of the 19th century, Mexico was the chief producer of Vanilla.
By 1898, Madagascar, Réunion, and the Comoros Islands produced 200 metric tons of Vanilla beans, about 80 percent of world production.
Due to a typhoon, the market price of Vanilla rose dramatically in the late 1970s.
The prices remained at this level till the early 1980s. In the mid-1980s, the cartel that had controlled Vanilla prices and distribution since its creation in 1930 disbanded.
Prices dropped 70 percent over the next few years, to nearly US$ 20 per kilo.
Due to the typhoon Huddah, which struck early in the year 2000,  
political instability, and poor weather for the third year in succession, Vanilla prices shot up to an astonishing US$ 500 per kilo in 2004, bringing new countries into the Vanilla industry.
It was around this time, I visited the Vanilla plantation.

A good crop and more countries starting cultivation have pushed the market price down to the $40 per kilo range in the middle of 2005. Culinary Uses

Good quality Vanilla has a strong aromatic flavour, but food with small amounts of low quality Vanilla or synthetic Vanilla – like flavourings are far more common, since true Vanilla is much more expensive.
A major use of Vanilla is in flavouring ice cream.
Natural Vanilla gives a brown or yellow colour to preparations, depending on the concentration.
The cosmetics industry uses Vanilla to make perfume. Medicinal Uses

Although its medical qualities have never been proved, Vanilla is used as an aphrodisiac and a remedy for fevers.
The essential oils of Vanilla are sometimes used in aromatherapy. 

Recommendation                                                                                                   

There is no Hindi word for Vanilla.
The term Vanilla itself has come from the Spanish word “vainilla”, meaning “little pod”.
Indonesia and China have become major producers of Vanilla. There is no reason why India should be lagging behind.Vanilla is a beautiful green creeper. It can be kept as a house plant. It requires high humidity, bright light and a good stick or pole to climb up.
It can be successfully cultivated even on roof tops in large pots with a screen cover to reduce the sunlight.   

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Spices of India

If you visit tourist places in Goa and Kerala, you can visit spice gardens.

Some plantation owners have improvised their spice gardens into tourist attractions.
You can see a variety of plants where different spices come from.
The guide will answer your questions and clarify your doubts.
Your host will serve you authentic local meals in virgin surroundings and arrange a traditional dance.

Background

Indians use a lot of spices in their daily food.
But most do not know where the spices come from.
Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (16)