A sudden gateway plan in Diwali weekend of 2015. Nothing
could have been better than Bharatpur. Delhi to Bharatpur is about 230 km and
takes about 4 hours to travel if started early via car. You can take a train
too. There are several trains that run between Delhi and Bharatpur. The most
popular one being Kota Janshatabdi which takes 2 hours to reach your
destination. If traveling with family and kids, I will suggest take a car.
While traveling via
car, you may choose to take the Mathura - Vrindavan route and may add on some
religious angle to your trip.
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| Laxmi Niwas Palace |
We opted for Laxmi Niwas Palace at Bharatpur to stay, which
itself is worth a visit and stay. It’s a Palace itself as the name suggests.
Beautiful property with puppet show arrangements for kids etc.
Coming back to the travel part Bharatpur has some magnificiant places to visit. First is the Bird Sanctuary (which is also known as Keoladeo
Birds Sanctuary), Deeg Palace, Loharghar Fort to talk about.
After reaching Bharatpur, we quickly freshened up and had
our lunch at Laxmi Niwas. Then we took our car towards Deeg. Deeg Palace is
about 30 – 32 km from Bharatpur, and you can be guided throughout the rout by
google map.
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| Fountains as seen |
Deeg Palace is considered to be the summer resort of the
Jaat Rulers. You need to take a ticket before you enter, which is basically for
the visit to Jat King Surajmal’s Palace. It has been turned into a museum now. They Charge you Rs 5 per person(Indian). The museum
depicts the living and the lifestyle of the Jat Rulers. The chandeliers, the
lamps, the carpets, the furniture’s all shows how sophisticated taste of living
the rulers had. Photography is prohibited inside....so no photos.
Deeg palace is also known as the water palace because of its
amazing fountains and huge lakes present within the palace premises. The palace also has some beautiful gardens all around, which
is said to be inspired by Mughal garden. Now a days the Fountain show happens
only twice a year – 4th Feb and on the 8th
day after
Raksha Bandhan. It is believed, during Holi, the fountains sprayed up colourful
water, during the tenure of Jat rulers. |
| Architectures of the Palace |
The gardens are huge, well maintained and houses different
variety of flowers. You will find the locals relaxing all arou
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| Marble Swing of Nur Jahan |
nd the compound. There is a White marble swing structure, which is believed to be of Nur – Jahan’s, which the Jats brought as war trophy.
The Palace is open from 9am to 5 pm. Friday closed.
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| Sunset from the roof top |
Done with Deeg we headed towards Loharghar Fort, but due to
some strange reasons the entry was closed, and we could not visit it. Sulking
tremendously, headed towards Bharatpur Palace or the Bharatpur Government
Museum. It is located in the heart of Loharghar Fort area and is open from 9 am to 5
pm. I forgot the entry fee amount but you need to buy one to enter the main
museum.
This Palace was also known as Kacheiri Kalan and used to
serve as administrative office to the Jat Rulers. You get to see some amazing views when you roam around the complex, with peacocks moving all around. You may wish to do some photography of the property, specially the sunset view from the rooftop.
We ended up the day with this beautiful puppet show arranged
at our hotel at night.
Next day was quite adventurous as we were visiting the most
famous place of Bharatpur – The Bird Sanctuary.
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| Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary |
The Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary also known as Keoladeo Ghanna
National Park, derive its name from Keoladeo Temple or Shiv temple located in
its enclosure. It houses various species of birds. Bird lovers from different
places folk in this place to have their beautiful looks. You can walk down the
entire park or may hire a rickshaw. I will advise for a rickshaw ride. The
rickshaw pullers are themselves half a guide.
To compensate the injustice of Lohargarh Fort, we decided to
visit Fathehpur Sikri while returning back to Delhi. It took us 40 min to reach
Fathehpur Sikri from Bharatpur. The roads are quite nice and smooth.
Once we parked our car at the main parking, we took a Tanga
ride to the destination.
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| Buland Darwaza |
Fathehpur Sikri was once the political Capital of Mughal
emperor Akbar, is now a World Heritage site. Its an architectural wonder. You need to take a guide to
understand the detailing’s of the locations, halls, palaces, mosques and also
the local stories related to the monuments.
The monuments you have to look at are Buland Darwaza, Diwani
Khas, Panch Mahal, Tomb Of Salim Chisti, Palace of Jodha Bai, Birbal Bhawan,
Diwan –I Am.
You should have ample of time with you to visit this place.
Be at your most comfortable dress and shoes, as it takes a lot of walking.
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