Ayush and Rajashree were going to attend a wedding of their friend at Jaipur, Deepika and I decided to tag along to have their company through the journey, a road trip I have been looking forward for many months. They came over the weekend for our journey slated for the Monday 8^th July.

We left for Jaipur around 6/6:15 am, filled up the tank on the way but couldn’t check the tyre pressure which is a norm I follow for all long drives. In good time we crossed Gurugram and reached Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. It’s a boon for the commuters from Delhi+NCR to Jaipur as the original NH8 (NH148) takes over 6 hours to reach Jaipur due to narrow and heavy vehicular traffic. Around 9 am we stopped for breakfast at a “Rest & Recreation” somewhere after crossing over to Rajasthan between Alwar and Dausa. The food was below average, we had better stuff at another such stopover, which happened to be the next one as we drove towards Dausa. The driving on expressway can become monotonous making the driver drowsy, especially after meals and I started feeling sleepy but managed to stay awake and reached the old highway which is the connector from Dausa to Jaipur. I stopped and asked Ayush to take the wheels. He drove nicely as I slept soundly.

My sis-in-law, Bina Sapra lives in Jaipur and was the reason Deepika & I decided to visit the city. We reached her spacious home around 11 am and was welcomed with tea and sweets. Her husband had stayed back to meet us all. She had made lunch for all of us… Ayush and Rajashree were to join the wedding celebrations of their friend, so they had an early lunch and left for the Mariott hotel with their cousin Rishabh. Deepika and I took it easy and chatted with Bina over a leisurely lunch before leaving for our hotel Hyatt Place, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur, a 5-7 minutes’ drive from their home. Bina had suggested Hotel Lalit but the online reviews of the hotel did not inspire us. Normally, the room sizes in Hyatt are small (Delhi, Hyderabad) but here we got a decent size of room with usual star hotel amenities… made us happy with our choice.

In the evening, after a good nap, fully rejuvenated, Deepika went out with her sister Bina for shopping while I went to meet my friend and school buddy, Colonel Abhijit Das. His home is at a place called Nirman Nagar, Jaipur. In all my previous trips to the city, it had been centered around the older part like Johri Bazar, Bani Park areas. I have never been to this part of the city, so I trusted Google Map to take me to my destination (my friend had sent me his location). It took me about 30-35 minutes in peak evening traffic but I reached. It was exhilarating experience meeting my friend after 44 years… none of us have changed much except putting on a bit of meat and having aged gracefully. He had set up a nice cozy home where he lives with his better half Sapna, a teacher by profession and aged father. His only daughter is married and settled in Luxembourg with her husband. We chatted for over an hour, talking about school days, professional life and the present over a cup of tea and savories.

Deepika called up to inform that a dinner has been planned at the Shikhaar Bagh situated inside the Hotel Narain Niwas. It was a 30 minutes’ drive from Nirman Nagar so I took leave of my friend, Colonel Sahib promising each other to meet again.

While going to Narain Niwas, Google Map suggested an alternate route while showing congestion ahead. I took it and reached the Ajmer Road from where I was to take a right turn but Jaipur Police had put up temporary barriers preventing right turns. I took left and following the map came back to the same spot!!! Luckily, the congestion had cleared by now and I drove on the original route to reach my destination within permissible delayed time. Sandeep & others had ordered soup and nachos as starter. I ordered a sweetcorn chicken soup, the sisters wanted to share a pizza and the husbands decided to share a chilly garlic chicken noodle without egg (Sandeep is allergic to eggs). I found the pizza to be little dry but my soup was edible. Despite clear instruction, the noodles came with egg toppings and was asked to be replaced. The food was average but portions were quite generous.

Following morning, we went to Pushkar to see the famous Brahma Temple next to the Pushkar Lake.

Brahma Temple, Pushkar (also known as Jagatpita Brahma Mandir) is a Hindu temple situated at Pushkar in the Indian state of Rajasthan, close to the sacred Pushkar Lake to which its legend has an indelible link. The temple is one of very few existing temples dedicated to the Hindu creator-god Brahma in India and remains the most prominent among them. The temple structure dates to the 14th century CE, with later partial rebuilding. The temple is made of marble and stone slabs. It has a distinct red pinnacle (shikhara) and a hamsa bird motif. The temple sanctum sanctorum holds the image of four-headed Brahma and his consort Gayatri (goddess of Vedas). The temple is governed by the Sanyasi (ascetic) sect priesthood.  On Kartik Poornima, a festival dedicated to Brahma is held when large numbers of pilgrims visit the temple, after bathing in the sacred Pushkar lake.

The temple is said to have been built by the sage Vishwamitra  after Brahma’s yagna (ritual). It is also believed that Brahma himself chose the location for his temple. The 8th century Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara renovated this temple, while the current medieval structure dates to Maharaja Jawat Raj of Ratlam, who made additions and repairs, though the original temple design is retained.  Pushkar is often described in the scriptures as the only Brahma temple in the world, as a result of the curse of Savitri (Saraswati), and as the “King of the sacred places of the Hindus”. Although the Pushkar temple is no longer the only temple to Brahma, it is still one of very few existing temples dedicated to Brahma in India and is the most prominent among them.  The Pushkar Lake and the Brahma temple were identified as one of the 10 most religious sites in the world and one of the five sacred pilgrimage places for Hindus in India.

The temple is open for worship between 6:30 am and 8:30 pm during winter and 6:00 am and 9:00 pm during summer, with an interval in the afternoon between 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm when the temple is closed.  Three artis are held in the temple: Sandhya arti in the evening about 40 minutes after sunset, Ratri Shayan arti (night-sleep arti) about 5 hours past sunset and Mangala arti in the morning, about 2 hours before sunrise.  The priests at the Brahma temple adhere to a strict pattern of religious practice. House-holders (married men) are not allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum to worship the deity; only ascetics (sanyasis) can do this. Hence, all offerings by pilgrims are given, from the outer hall of the temple. The priests of the temple in Pushkar, generally belong to the Parashar gotra (lineage).

Once a year, on Kartik Poornima, the full moon night of the Hindu lunar month of Kartik (October – November), a religious festival is held in Brahma’s honour. Thousands of pilgrims come to bathe in the holy Pushkar Lake adjacent to the temple. Various rites are also held at the temple during the fair. The day also marks the famous Pushkar Camel Fair, held nearby.  Special rites are performed on all poornimas (full moon days) and amavasyas (new moon days).

When we reached at the mandir, it was closed for afternoon siesta, so we went see the lake. Bina and Deepika went down to the banks of the lake which was quite dirty but people revered the spot. Before that we needed to use a rest room, so stopped by a restaurant whose signage displayed “AC Restaurant” and we felt that the place would be clean. It was not but usable. We also had to endure the onslaught of the self-styled guides cum priests proclaiming to be brahmins and offered to do puja on our behalf. We firmly shunned them.

While coming back from the lake, I noticed a guy sculpting figurines from black stone… quite modern depiction of the Ganesha and others. We checked the price and he quoted a price that was too high to even consider, so we countered with our offer which he initially rejected but later agreed. I picked up three Ganesha sculptures for Bina, Ayush and ourself.

We had a very peaceful and exclusive darshan of Brahmaji and left for Jaipur stopping once to eat the puri-sabji that Bina had packed for lunch. In Jaipur, we made a stop at MGF Mall where Deepika bought few Jaipuri tops and then at World Trade Park to buy a gift for Rishabh. Unlike Delhi, the malls in Jaipur are much less crowded and Bina confirmed that locals usually don’t visit malls much except to watch a movie or dining. Later, at her home, we had a simple but very tasty dinner, bade our goodbyes and was dropped at our hotel by Rishabh and Bina.

In the morning, we had sumptuous breakfast at the hotel and waited for Rajashree & Ayush to confirm pick-up time. The wedding reception had continued till late night and they went to bed in the wee hours of morning. As confirmed by Ayush, we picked them up from the Mariott around 11:30 am and headed for home, stopping on the highway for Rajashree and Ayush to eat something as they had missed the breakfast at the hotel. We reached home around 7 pm having stopped to buy a sunglass for Rajashree (a Birthday Gift) from a newly discovered shop in DLF Phase-I market (courtesy Sangeeta Basu)… Overall, it was a nice break for all of us from otherwise regimented life.