When the Mountains Called - II

The next day we woke up at 9 and rushed again through our morning chores. By 10.30 we had checked out of the hotel and were on our way to the first destination – Guru Shikhar.


Guru Shikhar
Covering nearly 7 kms of hilly coal tarred road we finally reached Guru Shikhar. At an altitude of 5,676 feet (1722 meters), is the highest point in Rajasthan. Guru Shikhar has an amazing view of Mt Abu and the surrounding peaks.


Before our ascent to the top began we had breakfast. With the altitude, climbing up was difficult and both me and my friend blamed it on the white stick (cigarette). But once we realized that everyone around was panting, it dawned on us that it’s the air pressure which was making breathing difficult. We reached the top of the peak to be welcomed by a cool strong breeze and a beautiful view of the surroundings.





The peak has a temple of Dattatreya, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. There is a huge brass bell outside the shrine, that overlooks the lush greenery of Mount Abu. A little to the north-west of it is another peak on which stands the shrine of Ahilya, the mother of Dattatreya. The landscape of surrounding plains from the high peaks is simply breathtaking.

On top of Guru Shikhar, The Dattatreya temple and

The Huge Bell

There’s another temple below which looks magnificent from the top. My colleague in office commented that it looked like the temple in the movie "Border".

We were racing against time since I had to take a train from Ahmedabad back to Mumbai so we decided to skip a few not so important sites and head straight for the world famous Delwara Temples .

Delwara Temples
We had to deposit our cameras and cell phones at the locker room since photography was strictly prohibited. The temple opens at 7 in the morning for Jains and at 12 noon for the general public.

The Delwara temples were built between 11th and 13th century AD and dedicated to Jain Tirthankaras. The temple is a cluster of 5 temples of which the Vimal Vashi temple is the oldest. There’s an interesting fable as to how the name Delwara came to be.
"During the time the temple was being constructed, the scrap used to be accumulated at the end of the day and thrown out. Using that scrap the local artists created another temple which was bigger than the original ones. Since these artists worked from their heart i.e "Dil Se" and not for money it came to be known as "Dilwala" which in Gujrati translates to ‘Delwara’!”

These temples are one the finest examples of ancient Indian Temple Architecture. Built in marble and chiselled to perfection, the carvings rivals that of the more illustrious "Taj Mahal". The image below has been taken from www.mountabu.com and just illustrates a bit of the beauty and elegance of the carvings.

The carvings on the dome have 3 layers. Each layer represents different sculpture and it has been carved from single stones.

Another interesting factor in the architecture was the domes at the top of the temples. These were built to give an impression to Muslim invaders that it was a mosque. Some foresight :)

After the hugely satisfying trip to Delwara and some shopping too we finally took off for Ahmedabad. Stopped in between for a beer and light lunch. Once we left the mountains we realised how hot it was outside. The drive back to Ahmedabad was not so eventful except when a monkey appeared all of a sudden to cross the road and we had to brake really hard to avoid hitting the our simian ancestor :).

Back to office on Monday in the grind of life, I still wait for another call from the mountains.

When the Mountains Called - I

This weekend me and my ex roomie took off for Mt. Abu after planning it for almost a year now. We had always been very good at planning trips but execution somehow was never our forte`:). We flew to Ahmedabad by the much delayed SpiceJet flight and finally slept at 3.30 in the morning hoping to wake up at 9.00 am.


We finally woke at 10 and after rushing through the basic chores left house at 11.00 for some breakfast. There was a bakery right in front of the apartment. Now Ahmedabad is a much vegetarian place and just to see the expression on the shopkeeper’s face I asked for a ‘chicken pattie’. The look on his face was as if I had committed blasphemy. I enjoyed it thoroughly :). Finally we settled for a veg pattie. The guy smashed the pattie and put some red chutney in it as if he were preparing ‘aloo chat’.


Around 11.30 we took off in the ‘Alto’ which I found a bit too cramped after being so much used to the Santro. As we drove, I couldn’t stop admiring the infrastructure in Gujarat. Broad roads perfect for driving, trees planted by the pathway across the entire stretch of the highway, no potholes, construction activity in full swing. Explains well why Gujarat is becoming the most favoured investment destination. Narendra Modi, for all the media may paint him to be, has done a lot of good for Gujarat and people swear by him. Another thing which I noticed was the temples. Most of them are built on identical architecture similar to the image below. And all of them are huge.
Driving was fun & we stopped at an abandoned shop, which had a cot outside under a thatched roof, just for fun. Stretching on the cot puffing on the cigarette reminded me of the hostel days. Again the drive started. After an hours drive we came to the end of Gujarat and entered Rajasthan. The unmistakable wine shop was present right thereJ. Then after another hour we could see the outlines of the hills faraway. The destination was not far! We reached Abu Road & then the foothill of the Aravalis. The treacherous terrain of Mt Abu had begun.

The Long & Winding Road

All of 18 kms it was an amazing drive. Flanked by the mountains on both sides, we could feel the air pressure decreasing as our eardrums started throbbing. The wild life protection signposts were put up on both sides. We switched off the AC since the weather had become very pleasant. Have to admit, the entire path has been wonderfully maintained. Finally at 1600 hours we reached our hotel, “The Hillock”. The ambience at the hotel was good being one of the better hotels in that place. The hospitality was admirable. I remembered that Rajasthan is famous for its hospitality. We had driven non stop not stopping for lunch too. Once we had checked into our rooms we went down to the coffee shop for the much required beer and lunch.

The Evening

Tired from the long drive and with the beer taking its effect, we overslept. When we got up it was 1900 hours already. We rushed and were out with our car and reached the first destination, “Nakki Jheel”. Pleasant surrounding although boating stops at 6 in the evening. The lake wasn’t anything out of the world but what made it attractive was the garden with a fountain at the periphery.

Then started our shopping. Amazed at my bargaining skills and the variety of choices my friend commented that “Looks like you are shopping too much with women” :). Brought quite a few handicrafts, hand carved decoratives, kurtas, a saree for mom and most of it from the government owned Rajasthan emporium.
By the time we returned to the hotel it was almost midnight and the restaurant was closing down. We ordered our drinks and dinner to be delivered to our room.
We enjoyed the drink watching Brian Lara play his final one-day match. A win would have been just the perfect farewell for this wonderful player. By the time we went to bed it was 3 in the morning. A day well spent. Tomorrow awaited for more of Mt Abu.

Will write more on the sight seeing, Guru Shikhar and Delwara Temples in part 2.