The Mini North Indian Tour

Many phone calls delayed my presence at school on time to start for a 10 day long tour to a part of northern India. This was the second time that I was going to travel with my teachers and classmates. We were to first reach Agra by the Tamilnadu express train, after which we had to go to Jaipur, and then to our national capital city Delhi. From Delhi, we had planned a visit to Haridwar, Rishikesh, and Musoori. From musoori, we had to come back to Delhi from where we had to catch a train back to our own Chennai.

On 16th September 2007, Sunday, we all assembled at our school premises and after finishing the prayer at the Srividya Ganapati temple, we boarded the school buses, and started off to the Chennai central station to board the Tamilnadu express in which we were to spend the next two nights. Our first destination was Agra. On 18th September 2007, Tuesday, early morning at 3.30 am, we arrived in a very simple, not so sophisticated station of Agra. We were taken to a hotel nearby and allotted rooms.

AGRA –

I personally felt that Agra was not a city, but a town. It was a dusty little town that had a particular market area around its station. The city boasted of 2 Railway stations – one in the city and another one outside the city, near the Agra fort. We all got ready by 8 in the morning and not many complained about the stay area. But, the breakfast – idly and sambar sadly left us complaining. Our vice principal, who had come along with us, announced that we were first to go to Fathepursikri. Fathepursikri was King Akbar’s capital city, from where he ruled a major part of India. He was a mughal king who had three wifes. One wife was a Hindu; another was a Muslim and another Christian. He was a king who was known for his justice. He did not believe in one single religion. King Akbar built the palace in Fathepursikri in order to have a child. After the palace was built, Shar Jahan was born to Akbar. We were taken to the palace first, inside which there were many tombs of people who belonged to the royal family. We were shown the entrance of the secret underground tunnel to Agra Fort which was about 40 km long and is presently closed and is left unused for almost many centuries now. There is a mosque inside the gates of the palace which is said to be an exact replica of the Mecca mosque. We were allowed inside to have a look at the place. The Fathepursikri Palace is an architectural wonder with beautiful architecture around. After the main palace area, we were taken to the palace area where the queens lived. The palace where Jodhabai lived is almost fully decorated or rather carved with many Hindu gods and goddesses paintings. The Muslim queen’s palace was more of the mughal style, having more Islamic designs. The Christian queen’s palace was more based on the European style of architecture. Amidst these palaces, was a square surrounded with water, which was the place where the great singer, one of the nine gems of Akbar’s court, Tansen used to sit and sing for the king and the queens. A small 3 floor structure was shown to us which were the palace of the king. It was a personal palace of his.
On coming a little away from the Akbar’s personal palace, we were shown the place where the game of ludo was played by the emperor. The ludo square is drawn on the ground and the entire map covers a large field area. The guide told us that there were no coins to play the game, but girls in different color clothes were used instead of the coins. When they had to move from one position to another, they danced along their path, and hence displaying a great beauty and happiness.

After seeing the palaces, we had nothing much to see there because the whole city was in ruins. We headed back to our buses, took seats and came back to the hotel for lunch. It was almost 2 in the afternoon, when we had lunch and got ready to see the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Taj Mahal was a symbol of love built by Shar Jahan and dedicated its beauty to his lovely wife Mumtaz. It took almost 12 years to build the magnificent structure involving many people in building it. Behind the Taj Mahal, the River Yamuna flows. But sadly, when we visited, there were patches of dry land seen amidst the river area! After seeing the Taj Mahal, we headed towards our buses and on the way; we were shown the Agra Fort from outside. We could not go in to have a look because we lacked time and we had to catch our train to Jaipur at 7.30 pm that evening.

We were at the Agra Fort Railway Station by 6.30 pm, and we came to know that our connecting train to Jaipur was going to be late. It was a damn long wait of 4 and half hours in the Railway Station to see the train coming with some other people occupying our seats that were reserved. After we got into the train, at around 11.30 pm; we fighted our way with the common people for our berths and seats. We managed somehow and reached Jaipur at around 4 am in the morning. We boarded the buses again and reached The Roop Palace Hotel – the only hotel that we were impressed at the site of it.


JAIPUR –

After refreshing ourselves with a good bath and a great breakfast which we loved, we boarded our buses which headed towards the pink city. Inside the gates of pink city, every building was painted in pink or shades of pink in color. We were first taken to an astronomical place where there were instruments to calculate the star signs of anyone and creating one’s horoscope. It was totally quiet interesting to know how the sun’s rays and placement of different stars mattered in predicting one’s future. After the astronomical museum or rather astrological museum, we went to the palace where the Jaipur king lived with his family. Though we could not get into the actual palace, we were shown a museum there outside the actual palace which had a great collecting of various paintings, clothes and weapons used by the royal family. After coming out, we got a rare chance to get a glimpse of the present king of Jaipur. Though he does not have any powers in the administration of the city, he is still called the king and given lot of respect and honors as he has the royal blood. We came to know from the guide that he has a daughter living with him.

We were shown the Hawa Mahal and Jal Mahal from outside. Public are not allowed inside those historic places now. Hawa Mahal was actually built for the women of the royal family to enjoy their lives. Jal Mahal is built on a small island amidst a lake. Public is not allowed inside the Jal Mahal also. We were taken to the Amber Fort in Jaipur. But, we did not go inside the fort, as we were too tired and the time was too short. We were taken for shopping to a place where Jaipur Art was available. We finished a bit of shopping there and later went back to the hotel for an excellent lunch. After lunch, we had 4 hrs to rest happily. Around 7 in the evening, we went to the Birla Mandir to have a darshan of lord Krishna. After spending time in the temple, we came back to the hotel to have a lip-smacking dinner. At 10 pm, we boarded the buses to reach Jaipur Railway Station. Our train was only at 12.45 am. We all waited for almost 2 hrs for the train and got comfortable seats to relax. Our next destination from Jaipur was Delhi, the national capital.


DELHI –

We reached Delhi only at around 8 in the morning. We were taken to ‘Ravidass Mandir’ where we had to stay. We were very disappointed with the facilities around. It was not a hygienic place to live in. but as we had no other choice, we kept quiet and got ready.

The first place we visited after our breakfast was Birla Mandir in Delhi. It was a nice place were we got some peace and also a place where our anger detoriated. After the Mandir visit, we were taken to the Trimoorthi Bhavan. The Trimoorthi Bhavan was the residence of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the First Prime Minister of India. The residence area has now been converted into a museum. We were shown different rooms of the magnificent house including Nehruji’s bedroom and personal office and reading room. he walls were fully covered with various photographs of his times and many newspaper cuttings related to him or the freedom struggle. Some famous quotations of his was also written and put on the walls.

After visiting The Trimoorthi Bhavan, we were taken to The Indira Gandhi Memorial which is quiet near from the place of Nehru’s residence. Indira Gandhi was the first Women Prime Minister of India. She was always known for her courage and power. After seeing many photographs, newspaper cuttings and quotations; we were taken outside and shown a path covered with crystal. On finding out, we came to know that while walking on that particular path one day, Indira Gandhi ji was assassinated. She was shot down by her own security guards. The blood marks are still found on the path. It was a very emotional moment for our teachers as they had been aware of what exactly happened when the incident had took place. After visiting the memorial, we were taken to The Lotus Temple. The Lotus Temple is a place where there is no idol worship. It is a place where one can attain peace. The temple is in the shape of a Lotus, and hence its name. The Lotus Temple is not maintained by the Indian government. We were shown The Rashtrapati Bhavan from outside. We headed back to our stay at around 3.30 pm for lunch. As we all were very tired for the day, we packed our bags to go to Haridwar that night.
HARIDWAR –

We reached Haridwar on 21st September 2007, Friday during the early hours. As soon as we reached the dharamshala, we headed towards the Ganges for our holy dip or rather holy bath. As the river current was fast, our teachers were scared to allow us to take a holy dip in the mighty river all by ourselves. Hence, in small groups of five, we went down the stairs, and our teachers helped us in taking bath by pouring the holy water on her heads. The holy water of the Ganges was bitterly chill. The water was freezing cold. After the bath of all the students and teachers, we collected some “Ganga Jal” in water bottles and headed towards our stay area. After coming back, we had a chance of eating some nice delicious breakfast of upma.....and thankfully not idlies. We were eating only idlies for the past 5 days then! ). After breakfast, we boarded our buses to travel to Rishikesh, a holy place. It was a 1 hr drive from Haridwar. The main attraction in Rishikesh was the Lakshmanjula. It is a narrow bridge across the Ganges there. Its main specialty is that there is no support in the middle of the bridge. It is rather a hanging bridge or jula. After crossing the long Lakshmanjula, there were many temples to visit. We had to walk a path of almost 4kms. It was like a trek in the mountain regions, but on tar road. After the long walk, we came to the actual side from where we had started from by a boat. The boys boarded a boat and the girls got one. It was a 5 minute trip across the banks.

After the trip to Rishikesh, we came back to the dharamshala for lunch and rest. That evening we were to go to the Manasa Devi Temple that was on a hill top. And to reach the temple, we had to go by a rope car. We all were very excited at the name of rope car travel! After we got into the rope car, we yelled a bit, for fun and off we were to reach the hilltop. On the way to the hill top, I enjoyed the nature’s beauty from the top. The same experience was there when we came back. The Manasa Devi Temple had all gods but specially a Saraswati Temple. After a great darshan of the goddess, we came back by the same ropeway car. After coming down and joining my classmates, we were told that we would be taken to the river bank then to see the arathi. It is a tradition where people show burning camphor to the river and hence worshipping it. People not only give arathi to the river, but also leave few burning Dias in the water to float away. After seeing the beautiful Mangal arathi, we went back to the dharamshala. That night, we were to stay at the same place, and start to Musoori the next morning by bus. Musoori is a hill station near Dehra Dun, the capital of Uttaranchal.

The next morning, everyone got ready and boarded the bus to reach Musoori. It took 2 and half long hours to reach the place by bus.

MUSOORI –

Musoori is a hill station. We, at the foothills visited a waterfall area, where we jumped into the water. We did so because the water was only ankle deep and ice cold. The water was simply lovely. After enjoying a bit of our time there, we came to know that there was no particular place that was to be seen in Musoori. It was just an up and down trip around the hills. But as we went up and down the hills, I realized that the nature’s beauty was at its best to view. It took 4 short hrs for us to travel whole of the Musoori hills. I felt that it was over very soon. After the trip in Musoori hills, we headed towards the Dehra Dun railway station. We were 3 hours early at the station. So, we were taken to the waiting halls to rest. Grabbing the time, my friend took out Mehendi cones and decorated our hands with it. At around 9 pm, the train arrived and we boarded safely. Morning, when we got up, we came to know from the teachers that the train engine had some technical failure and hence we were 3 hrs late to Delhi. We were very upset with this news because, due to this, there was a great chance of canceling our shopping in Karol Bhag, Delhi. We had saved our money for it specially.


DELHI –

After reaching Delhi late, we got ready, directly had our lunch and left by bus to see the Parliament, Foreign Embassies and the Secretariat from outside. The common people are not allowed in these places. After that, we had no time for the Red Fort. Hence, we dropped the idea of going to see the Red Fort. From there, we went straight to the shopping area – Karol Bhag in Delhi and shopped till our pockets were empty!!!

After finishing shopping, we went back to our stay area – Ravidass Mandir; and packed our bags and made up our minds to return back to Chennai. We had dinner and boarded the buses to reach the Delhi Railway Station. We had to wait for the train to arrive as we were early to the station by one hour. After the train puffed in, we boarded it and settled in. The co-passengers were very friendly throughout the travel.


CHENNAI –

Coming back to Chennai – the very thought gave some relief to our minds. We were going back home after almost 10 long days. We were tired and exhausted. But, somewhere deep in my mind, I felt that my first tour, to Kolkatha was far better than this tour. We tried to enjoy this tour also, but eventually faced quiet lot of problems too…!! After coming back to school, we dismissed after a prayer at the same Sri Vidya Ganapati Temple.