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Kumbhalgarh (also called Kumbhalmer or Kumbalgarh) is a Mewar fortress in the Rajsamand District of Rajasthan state in western India. Built during the course of the 15th century CE by Rana Kumbha , and enlarged through the 1800s, Kumbhalgarh is also a birthplace of Maharana Pratap, the great king and warrior of Mewar. Occupied till the nineteenth century, the fort is now open to the general public as a museum and is spectacularly lit for a few minutes each evening. Kumbalgarh is situated 82 km from Udaipur towards its northwest and is easily accessible by road. It is the most important fort in Mewar after Chittaurgarh.
Built on a hilltop 1900 metres in altitude, Kumbhalgarh fort has perimeter walls that extend 36 kilometres in length, claimed to be the longest in the world after the Great Wall of China. The frontal walls are fifteen feet thick. Kumbhalgarh has seven fortified gateways. Over 360 temples are within the fort, 300 ancient Jain and the rest Hindu. The vista from the palace top typically extends tens of kilometers into the Aravalli Range. It is widely believed that the sand dunes of the Thar desert can be seen from the fort walls.
Have added some new header images from Rajasthan to this page..
Amber Fort ( also known as Amer Fort) is located in Amber, 11 km from Jaipur, Rajasthan state, India. It was the ancient citadel of the ruling Kachhawa clan of Amber, before the capital was shifted to present day Jaipur. Amber Fort is known for its unique artistic style, blending both Hindu and Muslim (Mughal) elements, and its ornate and breathtaking artistic mastery. The fort borders the Maota Lake, and is a major tourist attraction in Rajasthan.
Jal Mahal (meaning “Water Palace”) is a palace located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur city, the capital of the state of Rajasthan, India. The palace and the lake around it were renovated and enlarged in the 18th century by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Amber.
The urban lake gets filled up during the rainy season; over the years, once the reservoir became full during rainy season, it got covered with Hyacinth. During this period only the red stoned palace became approachable by boat and through a causeway and presented a spectacle on the way to Jaipur city from Delhi.
Visited India over Xmas this year, hopefully the idea was that i get some good tiger photo`s, BUT no one told me that tigers don`t like armani after shave, and when they smell it they hide???? Well that’s the only reason I can think i never saw 1 tiger, hehehe, oh well, guess me and tigers are not` destined to meet…
Great trip round I`ll be putting some shots up, it was a great month touring Rajasthan, covered a huge number of miles, few shots I`ll add here and slowly add better ones to 20 years gallery, first set are some general ones I just started to work on, of the wildlife and forts..
Next gallery its all birds from Ranthambore.
Also have started to add the images on to 20 years as I said above see here for better quality. India Xmas pages
What better way to spend a warm winters day in Delhi that wander round a train museum, something about old steam trains brings out the kid in anyone.
The National Railway Museum (NRM) was set up in Feb 1977. It is situated at Chanakyapuri, New Delhi and is spread over 10 acres of land. The museum has a wide and varied collection of rare and antique steam locomotives, carriages, saloons and other railway artefacts. It has both live exhibits (75) as well as working/non-working models in its indoor gallery. The museum runs a toy train around its grounds on regular days. On some days the Old Patiala State Steam Monorail is steamed up and runs on its track around the museum.
Decided to pay a visit to a garden in Delhi called the garden of 5 senses. On the day I visited it just happened to coincide with a show that had been put on by the Sikkim tourist board, and what a delight, local dance and producers were on hand to entertain and feed, the dancers were absolutely great, showing how close Sikkim is to it neighbours, and how the cultures have all blended together. Sikkim in the north of India and was so well shown here, every thing to the highest standards, the dancers really showed there enthusiasm for what they we doing and of this showed in their faces.
Sadly the garden itself was not such a joy, it was once i should imagine a very pretty place, but had sadly gone to seed a little, rubbish all over the place, statues laid broken round the site. It looked to me as i stepped over courting couples in every available nook and cranny, that this was now the main use of the garden.
Two restaurants on site, 1 a more traditional India one which I used, with a eat your fill buffet, very good well cooked food, with the other, more western I thought, called the mystique, and looking at the painted Delhites walking round looked more like fashion statement type place – but i did not eat there so would not be able to comment on the food.
Garden of 5 senses site
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