The best way to bond with your soulmate is to travel … My first long trip with my wife Manasi was our honeymoon in Kerala … After six long years we decided to go for a relaxing… rejuvenating ten day trip to Rajasthan.  A state both of us wanted to explore. An early morning flight on Jet Airways brought us to the lake city Udaipur … Our hotel Fabhotel Devraj Niwas had a simple rooftop restaurant with stunning view of Lake Pichola. It was time for some Masala Omlette and Adrak Chai!

There is a lot to explore in the city and our hotel location had several attractions within walking distance … it was good because we could see a few spots instead of killing time till check-in hour in the hotel lobby. The city palace museum is huge and it takes more than a couple of hours to explore properly… so we decided to begin with the Jagdish temple.

I was happy that with every breakfast or meal I could admire infinite shades of blue … clear cloudless skies remained our companions for the entire trip

Jagdish temple is a major tourist attraction in Udaipur and usually it is quite crowded … Since we went before 9am it was relatively calmer. The temple was built by Rana Jagat Singh in the 17th century … In 1651 AD as per records … a flight of 32 steep marble stairs take you to the temple complex.

It is a temple built in Rajasthani tradition which began in Gujarat Rajasthan region in the 7th century. There are two styles originating from this tradition … Maha Maru and Maru Gurjara. According to some scholars – Hoysala temples have some links with Maru-Gurjara tradition. A fine example of Hoysala tradition would be Somnathpura temple near Mysuru.

Channakesava temple, Somnathpura

Jagdish temple is dedicated to god Vishnu and was earlier known as Jagannatha Rai Mandir. It has a two storied Mandapa with intricately carved columns with a shikhara about 79 feet in height. It is the tallest temple in Udaipur built in Rs. 15 Lakhs in the late seventeenth century.

I saw some visual similarities with the Modhera Sun temple in Gujrat and the Shiva temple in Ambernath near Mumbai. Not sure if Ambernath is aesthetically or archaeologically linked to these temples of Rajasthan-Gujarat.

Our next destination was the city palace… just a short walk from the temple… that would be another blog post … it is a museum that takes 2 hours minimum to experience. We explored Udaipur for next couple of days followed by road trip to Jodhpur via Kumbhalgarh-Ranakpur. Keep reading!