Hall of Deities, Government Museum & a Temple in Mandore

I once traveled with a Berlin gentleman who bewailed Asians' penchant for colors. "Asians love to color their world with such vivid colors, they are sometimes tacky," he observed. True enough, Thais loved their yellow Mondays; Filipinos love their nationalistic yellows as well. Who can deny the interplay of reds, oranges and golds in Chinese Temples? I don't see anything wrong with that. I don't think India has a unified color scheme. The world would be a dour place without a multi chromatic hue. "Berliners prefer blacks, grays and blues and anything in between," he added. So does most of Europe. I am aware.

The Hall of Deity or Hall of Demi Gods is a bigger hallway next to the Hall of Heroes. In this "room", decked with white pillars, stone carvings (from a single huge stone) of 33 crore Gods adorn the place in lurid colors! It's more of a "shrine" which holds "allegedly" 300 million Hindu Gods. Some quarters call it 300 million Devis and Devtas. I could swear there are just a few dozens.

Nearby the Hall of Heroes is a simple Hindu Temple with few local visitors. Also nearby is a Mandore Government Museum. You have to walk through a gate (shown below, the one with a green gate) and turn right. The museum contains relics from the nearby rock terrace temples. There's nothing much to see inside, to be honest. Free entrance but photography is not allowed. When I forgot this rule, I was reprimanded. I didn't think it mattered because I was snapping "outside" the museum hall - you will see this particular photo (2nd to the last) below. It's just a secluded place outside the museum building so I don't understand the restrictions.

I love the entrance gates though, very princely. It would cap my visit in the ancient royal capital of Mandore - a kingdom that flourished for 700 years before the rise of the Rajput maharajas.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

Buddhist temple


Walking towards the entrance to the Mandore Government Museum.


Gate through the Mandore Government Museum


Photography of this place is prohibited. Oooppps!

Mandore - Splendor from the Past

Royal Cenotaph of the Mandore Garden (above)

Mandore is home of rock terraces clumped together in a single area at the Mandore Gardens in the district of Jodhpur, Rajasthan. It's gated as a park, patronized mostly by locals. But it doesn't have a lot of visitors. I was mostly on my own, roaming and soaking its rich atmosphere of a once vibrant past. I'd noticed a few rubbles and displaced stones just lying at the center of a temple building. Most of the people I met were just lazing around, bored to their turbans. Some were napping. Most of these structures have been left unnamed or unlabeled.

Sometime in H.G. Wells' lifetime, he enthused that "Human history is more and more a race between education and catastrophe. " Our past should teach us a thing or two about the missteps of our ancestors to prevent a vicious cycle of wars, calamity, even of bigotry, and ignorance. Our history provides a mirror to the passing of time, and we should reflect from these images. Much like life, it is a rich embankment of emotions and of lessons to be learned. Mandore elegantly represents history in its derelict state. It's beauty implores that the present shouldn't forget.

This garden is located 9 kilometers north of Jodhpur.

When all is said and done, all that's left to do is stare at such creations.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

Ceiling with elaborate design.


Rock terraces


These temples stand on a hill. The ruins also indicate the existence of a huge temple inside the fort. The outer wall of the temple depicts finely carved botanical designs, birds, animals and beautifully carved planetary system.

Please check previous post for more photos, history and information - http://eye-in-the-blue-sky.blogspot.com/2011/10/mandore-rich-historical-relics.html

Up next: Hall of Heroes and Hall of Demigods

Mandore India - A Child and His One-String Instrument

IT TOOK me less than 20 minutes to get to Mandore. It’s roughly 9 kilometers from Jodhpur. But as a solo traveler, I had to carefully consider every side trips and detours. After all, I don’t have anybody to share the cost of hiring a CNG with me – which is really one of the very few disadvantages of traveling alone. You basically shoulder the whole financial burden of items that are otherwise shared by a group of passengers.

Upon reaching the grounds of the Mandore Gardens, which is really a park more than a garden, I made my way into the almost-deserted grounds. It was such a breather. Far from the madding crowd of fellow tourists. Not a second later, a little boy, clad in long white shirt and pants, started to hover before me. He was carrying this elongated one-string instrument, flipping its single string into an inaudible monotone. I was jaded and realistic enough not to expect an orchestral masterpiece coming from this boy of 8 or 9. One thing was sure, he wasn’t going to leave me alone until I hand him some dinero.

I reached down my pocket and found loose change of 10 rupees. He vigorously flicked through his string, as though flicking more notes would translate into more rupees. But hey, I have forgotten my money tree in some derelict train car! I walked faster until I seem to have lost him. An hour later, I was back near the park entrance. He ran up to me and once again hovered. “Didn’t we just do this earlier?” I said. A hearty laugh escaped me. Unfortunately, not all of persistence will pay off.

As I stepped into my CNG, I glanced back at the park gate. The barefoot fiddling child stood by the empty guardhouse, staring right back at me. His instrument perched against his left rib cage, standing almost vertically. I feel sorry for the little souls who are robbed of the joys of their childhood. I was a child once and i was a happy one. Aren’t we all defined by our past?


Spectacular detail in a neglected Mandore temple. Why neglected? Tourists don't even pay an entrance to visit this place, which is odd considering that foreigners ALWAYS pay extravagant amount to see anything in India. Even stock rooms and toilets within paid sites fetch considerable fees.


MANDORE WHERE?

The town of Mandore used to be a seat of grandeur and power between the 5th to 11th century – the crowning glory in the kingdom of the glittery Marwar rule. This was until its king - in his moment of illumination - decided to transfer the seat of power to the “blue city” of Jodhpur! As a result of this, Mandore has been relegated to historical relics and neglect. These days, Mandore - take a CNG! - serves as a mere afterthought from a busy backpacker’s itinerary. Whenever there’s a lull or an extra hour to spare, the few wanderlusts find themselves a pleasantly surprising off-the-beaten track. Even Lonely Planet writes very few items about Mandore.
N.B.

CNG - stands for compressed natural gas, the environment-friendly petrol used to run these 3-wheeled motorized version of tuktuks found all over India and Bangladesh. There are 2 types found in India. In big cities like Delhi, half of its population of CNGs runs with meters. Unfortunately, these drivers hardly use them when with foreigners, so you might as well forget the existence of such meters. For your own good.


This is the Eye in the Sky.

At a neglected ancient city of Mandore

mandore photo courtesy of phileasfogg

I found myself at an almost empty garden of spectacular temples in various states of neglect in the city of Mandore, north of Jodhpur. Some of these temples could equal the grandeur of the Ayutthayas and Sukhothais of thailnd, yet the local government doesn't seem to care. In fact, a visit to this park is absolutely free of charge - an unusual situation in all my travels in India where every single tourist spot is leavied heavily!

Mandore is an ancient city, an old capital of the Marwar state (now Rajasthan). The intricately designed structures rise from the backdrop of the surrounding Rock Terraces.

It was a good thingthat my autorickshaw driver decided to join me. It was a bit unnerving and eerie, roaming the park gardens alone. Having said that there are several spots to be enjoyed. Squirrels and medium-sized monkeys litter the area. A child busker carrying some ethnic looking guitar-type instrument was following me around, playing a dissonant music that had no melody at all. Finally, there's the Hall of Heroes as well as a Government Museum (10 rupees for foreigners, 5 rupees for locals).

The highlight of my visit was meeting a group of Boy Scouts. Kids all over my travel have been very welcoming. I always get "hellos" from smiling children everywhere. I snapped their photos after their egging me. It was my pleasure.

On my way back, we passed by several camels hauling off cartloads of building blocks and slabs of woods. Local color seems to runneth over.


Tonight, I shall take my midnight train going further North in the city of Jaisalmer, located at the fringes of the Thar Desert - India's Sahara (and already bordering Pakistan to the west). I pray that everything goes quite well.