Rural India

Agra is a busy city so it made sense to be up early and ready to get moving to try and beat the traffic. The plan worked and the city was soon diluted by the many ploughed fields preparing for the next crops.

The roads were relatively good but as is always the case in India they were busy with buses, cars, tractors and trucks peppered with the random sacred cows, camel and horse drawn carts and of course those on foot. Unlike Australia those on foot are not hitch hiking they are simply on foot.

The most unusual thing we saw on the road was a small group of people partaking in a most unusual pilgrimage. They seemed to be sleeping on the side of the road until they all popped up bowing their heads in prayer together and then again laying back down on the road. Apparently they will continue this standing / sleeping action until they reach the Temple. Our driver explained that this is very common and the distances from their home village to the Temple can be 40kms.

We stopped at a Dhaba for lunch. A very basic, very local roadside restaurant. Channa masala (chick pea curry) palak paneer and dhal with chapati bread. Tasty and cheap. Mr ishu, our driver was surprised that we were happy to eat where he eats and the look on his face was priceless. The ambiance was somewhat challenged by the noisy tractor digging a trench a few metres away but hey that’s rural India! 

We continued on to the village of Karauli which didn’t rate a mention in our Lonely Planet guide book. However trusting the suggestion of our friend Mr Nadeem in Delhi we thought it was worth visiting.

We bumped our way into Karauli across the rough,rocky and mostly dirt roads. Mr Ishu suggested that this was a village showing great “progress”. Progress is the word they use to explain major roadworks…..looking at each other we had a silent chuckle.

Eventually we drove through some old gates to be met by the most amazing group of yellow buildings forming a Heritage Palace dating back to 1938. It was the original residence of the Maharaja of Karauli and still is !

Arriving at reception we were greeted by friendly staff along with the great grandson of the Maharaja who built this property. He along with his wife took the time to explain the history of the family and the Palace. The Palace was adorned with great relics from a bygone area, including old swords and guns responsible for the many hunting trophies that adorned the walls, dating back hundreds of years. We were led through a very colonial formal dining room out into a magnificent courtyard and then over to our room which was decorated with fantastic art deco furniture that dated back to the time that the building was constructed.

Gools and I looked at each other and agreed that the Palace was incredible   and added it to our list of places to revisit. No sooner did we settle into our room we were offered the chance to go and see the town palace. Having no opportunity to research the palace beforehand we went with no true expectations.

Karauli City Palace, what a hidden gem, not on the tourist route at all. It dated back many hundreds of years and the colourful decorations were still amazingly vibrant. We were not the only westerners in town, but apparently we were the only westerners to visit the palace today.

It was amazing to note that it was mostly untouched and the condition still original. It was explained to us that there was funding available to help with a  restoration project in the near future.

As the sun went down, our guide, Mr Man Singh suggested that if we were interested we could go and visit the local temple at prayer time.

This temple honoured Shri Madan Mohanji, the deity of Lord Krishna, worshipped by millions of followers from Rajasthan and the rest of India.

We removed our shoes and were ushered in with hundreds of worshippers. Not being too sure of what to do we positioned ourselves near the back. The temple had long curtains and long strings of beads across the altar and just a few minutes before 5:30 two men on opposite sides of the alter began to beat a flat bronze plate. The ringing was incredibly loud and the crowd instantly energised in anticipation of what was to follow. Of course we had no idea what that was going to be, but that was half the mystery!

Suddenly, a curtain was pulled and a man appeared briefly dashing across the back of the altar. Quite theatrically the crowd all jumped to their feet and began madly waving their hands in the air. He disappeared as quickly as he appeared, but we think that all the excitement was generated by the glimpse of a large black image of the deity Lord Krishna that was centre stage.

The crowd chanted and waved their arms in the air and looked like they were blessing themselves with the sheer atmosphere.  After a few minutes, women in traditional sari’s sat on the floor and began to sing to the beat of many drums. The crowd seemed to settle but there was still quite a festive atmosphere surrounding us. We sat back and enjoyed the moment and then left the worshippers to their prayer. It was quite an amazing experience!

We walked back to the Bhanwar Vilas Palace, the home of the Maharaja and were invited to dinner with his son, Vivasvat and his lovely wife.

The meal was delicious and our hosts were very modern and fun.

Walking back to our room we felt very privileged to have had the experience today that we did. It was so unexpected and enjoyable. India does deliver !!