It was winter time and Delhi was freezing
cold. The weather was awful and so was my mood. I had those winter blues. What
we all needed was a small little vacation to cheer us up. Alwar was our chosen
destination as being nearer to Delhi it made for a nice weekend getaway. Alwar
has loads of heritage hotels to choose from. We decided on Dadhikar Fort as it
had excellent reviews.
The good part about domestic travel is
that we were packed and ready to leave in no time. From Bhiwadi, the highway
starts and it was an excellent drive with mustard fields dotting both sides. On
the way we stopped for a while at Tijara - the Jain in me made sure we
paid it a visit. The temple draws Jain devotees as in 1956 an ancient Jain idol
was discovered there. However, much to my chagrin the Tijara temple was not
maintained well and did nothing to add to my spiritual side.
Jain Temple at Tijara
Delhi to Alwar is 162 kms and we reached
there by lunch time. Dadhikar Fort is located on a hillock in the lap of
Aravali Hills and dates back to the 9th-10th century. Over tea we met Mr
Ram Kaushik its present owner and were very impressed with his entrepreneurial
spirit. He told us how he took over this fort which had been in ruins and
restored it to its present state and I have to add here that he has done a
wonderful job. The rooms are well appointed with very charming names. Our
suite was called Kadambvan. It was very spacious with a study, a private
terrace and a jharoka. A lot of care has been taken to ensure that the
interiors match with the Rajasthani surroundings. The food served here is pure
vegetarian. We thoroughly enjoyed a traditional Rajasthani meal of daal,
batti, and gatta sabji with choorma with a host of other accompaniments.
Dhadhikar Fort in all its glory
Sunny courtyard at the Fort
There is
a lot of touristy stuff to do in Alwar like visiting the Bala Quila, City
Palace, the Palace Museum, Siliserh Lake, or the Clock
Tower among other things. We skipped all this as we just wanted to relax and
not rush from one spot to another covering the attractions.
Instead what we did was to go to the city
market. The best bit was a visit to Baba Thakur Dass & Sons at Kalakand
Market and we all pigged ourselves out on the traditional sweets there. This
place is truly a mithai (sweets) lover’s delight what with its melt in the
mouth milk cake. There are other sweets too which are equally good. We got
three boxes packed to take back home - but we polished them off before we even
reached Delhi!! My daughter who normally does not like traditional sweets also
dug into it. Restaurants in Alwar are limited but I had read good reviews of a
place called Prem Pavitra. The name didn’t sound very promising but we
decided to try it out and what a delicious meal it was. My kids who are
normally very fussy about these small town joints (they are such city bred kids
that anything outside Delhi seldom matches up to their taste) also had a ball.
Next day, early in the morning we went to
Sariska Sanctuary. We rode in an open jeep with a guide accompanying us. We
spotted a four horned antelope, langur, nilgai, wild boar, hyena but alas,
as could be expected, no signs of the elusive tiger. We went to the Hanuman
Temple at Pandupole which is inside the sanctuary. Legend has it that the Pandavas
had taken refuge here during their exile and built this temple. There was a
small tea shop here where we had kadhi kachori, a delicacy unique to this
State.
The four horned antelope
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Spotted deer
In the evening we watched the traditional
folk performance at the Fort - we joined the dancers ... which was very
enjoyable. The stay had been very relaxing and we all went back to Delhi highly
rejuvenated. There is something to be said about taking a break from the city's
maddening rat race for getting your sanity back. Perhaps there is one thing I
can say, we city folks just do not know what we want - we love the city as much
as we hate it!!!
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