Also see: our photography tour to Rajasthan during the year-end holidays.
Think of Rajasthan and one thinks of opulent palaces and formidable forts where history was written and geographical boundaries changed with every battle.
Think of Rajasthan and one thinks of a sea of sand dunes, with caravans of camels against a sunset.
Think of Rajasthan and think of a village where you are given a warmer welcome than any hotel and a meal cooked in front of you that you will not find in any cookbook.
Oh, you wonder what I am talking about in my last point. Well it was an eye opener for me also during my last visit to Rajasthan. While the forts and palaces and camels are the most recognized images of Rajasthan, I was pleasantly surprised to discover some parts of Rajasthan that I have never seen in my earlier visits.
Our idea was to explore some of the lesser known places and facades of Rajasthan that capture the day to day life and colors of Rajasthan.
Our journey started from the capital city Jaipur and as I have seen the palaces and forts on my earlier visits, we wanted to see something else.
Our first stop was on outskirts of Jaipur in Sanganer, where the famous Sanganeri Bedsheets are made.
Each of the bed sheets is hand painted with help of wooden stencils carefully imprinted on white cloth that transforms into colorful motifs appearing on the white sheet.
A Colorful factory of hand-printed Bed Sheets
Even more mesmerizing is to see the second and third coat appearing on the sheet as the workers carefully put the second coat of colors with precision, with not a millimeter of overflow of colors. This kind of precision comes over time and skilled workers are hard to find.
Our second stop was the kite market of Jaipur, hidden from the main bazaars of Jaipur, Kite market is busy during kite flying season in winters. Each of the homes on the ground floor is converted into a shop with dozens of designs of kites adoring the walls. Bollywood is almost a religion in India, and there is no shortage of people who worship Bollywood stars. I see many of them smiling at me from the faces of kites adorning the walls of Kite shop. Most of the buyers are preteen boys who have saved their pocket money to buy kites and the string called “ Manjha” to fly the kites.
The Kite Market Jaipur
But Kite buying is not restricted to boys, older men come and buy in bulk for now they can indulge in their childhood passion of kite flying, I am told by a 5th generation Kite maker whose family migrated from UP, when Jaipur Royals invited artists and artisans from different places to set up shops. Kite makers have always had a special place in Jaipur and in old timers are highly sought after for the robust kites they make.
Kite Shop with all kind of kites
After this we wanted to visit some villages outside the city and our guide Roshan suggested we look at his village where many movies were filmed in past. Another aspect of Rajasthan was about to unfold in front of us. As many a Indian and Hollywood movies are based on historical stories many small towns in Rajasthan have developed a cottage industry to host the movie teams and huge sets are erected to shoot the films.
Our guides village is one such village where movies like Jodha Akbar and many others have been filmed The advantage the village has is that it has its own sand dunes that are used for fight scenes. But as the sand dunes end green fields carefully nurtured and watered smile at you. Roshan’s mother lovingly cooked some traditional Rajasthani meal for us, as we watched her do her chores dexterously wondering how she can see from the long ghoongat ( veil ) on her face.
I wonder how she worked with her “ghoongat” !
Ghoonghat: Is a tradition of covering face with a cloth by rural women in front of strangers and elders of the family. It still practiced in many rural communities across Rajasthan.
But one of the best memories I have from Rajasthan is spending a day with Saltworkers of Sambhar Lake about 2 hours drive from Jaipur. Sambhar lake even finds mention in epic Mahabharata and nobody knows for a fact when the first production of salt started here.
A local couple that works in salt pans
The salt workers are mostly local landless laborers who work as a family and are paid on the basis of salt collected and filled in railway wagons that carry it to a factory a few kilometers away for purification.
Salt Train that carries the salt to the factory
So there were some of the lesser known places in Rajasthan that I visited in my last visit, have you been to any of these places? Are there any aspects of Rajasthan that you love do share your thoughts in comments.
Every winter, we go on a photography holiday in Rajasthan, which is a healthy mix of the state’s well-known sites and interesting diversions. Join us this December to witness the treasures of Rajasthan with your camera!
