Day
4
Sonia was feeling religious and while I slept, she
took off early in the morning for a Temple Tour – heading straightaway for the
morning prayers at the sprawling Sri Govind Devji temple. It was, as she put it -
"a pure spiritual experience - the collective chanting of prayers and the devotion of
the people are too mesmerizing."
Click here to see the
changing face of
Chhoti Chauper |
Later, she went to Chhoti Chauper to view
the square in its totally relaxed mood under the morning sunlight with the clear music of
chirruping of millions of sparrows and temple bells ringing all around (The early morning photograph in my Notes was taken
by her then).
After visiting a few more temples (Jaipur has
temples in thousands!), she drove down the narrow Ghaat ki Ghoni, with chhatris
on both sides of the road, to Galta - this Sun temple is situated on a
gorge and has a natural water spring, not to mention a number of monkeys all around. On
her way back, she took breather at the tranquil Dhammatalli Vipassana Ashram (Centre for
meditation) and the lovely garden, Sisodia Rani ka Bagh.
I made good Shalini’s absence by taking one
of Network's guides for a Scholar’s Tour. Started with the majestic Albert
Hall in Ramniwas Bagh. It’s especially noteworthy for the beautiful 16th century
Persian carpet and Egyptian mummy. From there I went to the unique Museum of
Indology.
 The Birla Planetarium near the Statue Circle was the next
stop. The same complex also has a Science and Technology Museum with live display models
and an international-standard auditorium.
 The exterior had the majestic grandeur of Jaipur's
palaces and the interior was ultra-modern with state-of-the-art designing and acoustics. I
clicked a couple of snaps in the fervent hope that my company decides to get in touch with
the Network people and organize our next Sales Conference
there.
Ate a yummy pizza at the nearby Garden Café and
then visited the Jawahar Kala Kendra. This beautifully built cultural centre houses
a number of art galleries and regular theatre plays are staged here.
From there, I went to Jaipur Kathak Kendra (Centre
for classical dance) and Sangeet Sansthan (Institute of music). Also took a look at the
Gallery of Modern Art at Ravindra Rangshala and returned to the hotel to find that
Her-Holiness Sonia had returned.
She had deliberately left out one of Jaipur's
major attractions as she wanted me to see it as well. So, a cup of cappuccino later, we
went to the beautiful Birla temple. Completely done up in milky white marble, it
has intricate carvings... and the best part of all, it’s air-conditioned!
On our way back to our hotel, we passed the Albert
Hall in Ramniwas Bagh, which I had visited earlier in the day. In the twilight,
it looked even more impressive with its subdued illumination.
Albert Hall
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