Descendants of the sun

Rajputs from Rajasthan belong to the Sun Dynasty and hence are proud of their forefathers listed in the history that dates back to many many centuries.

Every royal household usually houses a few decorative emblems of Sun. I shot this one at Moti Magri.

Royal Emblems

Carvings in the stone can be found all over Rajasthan. But if you expect them to be several centuries old then they have to be looked for in the palaces or the old haveli structures.

The one in the picture above, which is installed at Moti Magri, looks fresh. I am sure it is not older than a couple of decades and was carved when Rajasthan government probably developed the Moti Magri as a tourists' spot.

Climbing the past

These steps take you to Moti Magri - The memorial of Rana Pratap, probably the most beloved Maharana of Rajasthan. Situated on a small hill, this memorial gives you a fantastic view of Fateh Sagar surrounded with lush green greenery.

Climbing these few steps suddenly connect you with the pieces of glorious history of Rajasthan written in adventure, desires, persevarance and blood of course.

Enter Moti Magri

I have seen similar stone-works in Indonesia too. But what makes an Indonesian structures different than an Indian one are the details carved all over it. The lotus shaped and other common Hindu symbols, the angles of the carvings declare the Indian authenticity of the work aloud.

Also, the yellow flag you see on the left sets the Indian symbols apart from the Indonesian ones. Indonesians also use the yellows and reds in their flag-like objects which are more umbrella-shaped than what Indians use as the flags.

The Royal Touch

Rajasthan is synonymous to royal. Culture gets developed over many centuries and gets endorsed when the most common person adapts to it. Any average Rajasthani construction sure reflects this culture.

What you see here is what made our stay in Udaipur a pleasurable experience. It was not a heavy-starred palatial affair but the simplicity and yet that special Rajasthani touch all over made it very royal.

Faces, familiar!

If you see people in a picture so up, close and personnel, then you either have a very good zoom lense or you know the people in the picture well enough.

In my case it was the latter case. For the lack of good zoom lense I preferred capturing my travelling companions than getting beaten up in the streets of Udaipur clicking the locals.