jenny b

To get out of the routine a bit a few of us decided to take a trip to Chittorgarh last weekend. We took the bus on Saturday afternoon from Udaipur and traveled the 130 km to the city of Chittor, which sits just below India’s largest fort – the 8th century Chittorgarh.

The bus ride ended up being a riot. Michael (a new volunteer from New York who is here for 5 months while taking some time off from school) and I ended up being quite a hit in the back of the bus and several couples were intent on chatting it up with us, regardless of their English skills. Santosh and his wife (pictured below) had me entertained the longest. They were traveling to meet with family for the Dussehra holiday weekend.

During one of the brief village stops to load and unload passengers I saw a man selling what looked to be pieces of coal. I was looking inquisitively at his tray when another man hollered at me to give it a try. I said, “Do you eat that?” He said, “Eat. Very good.” He also said several other unintelligible words as he took some, cracked it open and handed it to me. It turned out to be some sort of nut-bean-like thing that was delicious, so I asked for 5 rupees worth.

Once we had stashed our things in an adequate hotel, just down the road from the bus station we headed out for a chance at sunset views from the fort. Apparently, most people do not in fact walk up to the fort. We were greeted with enormous smiles and fervent “hi”s (they seem to prefer that to hello around here – it’s hilarious to me, I don’t know why). We ended up walking through the old city of Chittor, being mobbed by kids and made to feel like celebrities by most we passed.

We were asked for our autographs and welcomed into a family’s home for tea. Needless to say, we did not make it to the fort before the sun went down – but nobody minded as we were all elated to have such a warm, friendly reception.

We then took up an offer from a man who initially had approached us as a tout but turned out to be a local guide extraordinaire, Kailesh. He had met us while we were having our tea and offered to take us to a big fair/circus thing happening at the local stadium (for the holiday). I got a really good vibe from him and we all agreed that sounded better than any other option we had.

We had no idea the hilarity we were in for! First we got asked to pose in some news/marketing photos (several of us ended up at this stand selling really cheesy horse and camel figurines, posing as if we were so intrigued by these ridiculous things, for example). This event was much like a state fair in the US – dinky stands selling crappy stuff, loads of junk foods, carnival rides that look more than suspect, mobs of people of all shapes, sizes, and ages. It was a hoot!

The craziest thing was what I have since learned is called the ‘Wall of Death‘. We paid about $.20 to watch these two dare devil guys ride motorcycles and a car around the inside walls of a wooden cylindrical structure. I know it’s just simple physics (centrifugal force and all) but this is just nuts to see in person!

These guys were cruising around this thing at high speeds, playing chicken with each other, sitting sideways (no hands), standing up (to grab money from on lookers), and doing all sorts of brave (read:crazy) stunts with the bikes and the car. I’ve never seen anything like it; was a bit overwhelming – like watching an accident: you can’t stand to look or to look away.

The evening ended up a late one and we were really impressed by Kailash’s hospitality – he refused any money from us and kept buying us water and treats and was happy to interpret the entire evening for us. We were really thrilled that we “found” him and excited that he was eager to be our guide at Chittorgarh the following day. (The fort is so enormous that it is necessary to have transport for the day, rather than attempting to walk to all of the worthwhile sites).

We got a bit of a late start the next day and after procuring some breakfast (of paranthas – these lovely stuffed flatbread-like things, and tea) we headed up to the fort in the trusty rickshaw stead of our friend Kailash.

Leading to the fort is a series of seven gateways to the now gate, Rampol (it used to be the back entrance). The fort is “roughly fish-shaped, and stands on a 28-sq-km site on top of a 180m high hill” that overlooks the city of Chittor to the west, and a beautiful agricultural valley to the east. (thanks Lonely Planet)

Having been initially built in the 8th Century, the fort itself has quite a history. Over time it has seen many a Mughal siege and is perhaps most famous for several mass suicides (or jauhar – a death before dishonor kind of thing) of Rajput women; most famous, perhaps, being the story of the Rajput King Rattan Singh’s beautiful wife Padmini.

The existing fort is mostly in ruins, but the glory that once was is still evident in many of the standing structures. There is still a small village inside the walls. Our guide, Kailash spent the first twenty years of his life here.

I hope you enjoy the photo tour – remember, you can get a photo description by putting your cursor on any photo…

Upon our departure, we saw several caravans of dancing folks getting ready for the last big hurrah of Dusshera (where enormous Ravana effigies are lit afire). They had music blaring and were covered in red colored powder. A few excited dancers insisted that we join them, grabbing for Silvia and Julika’s arms as we slowly drove by. We had to catch a bus home. bummer.