2022
(Second part is live, link at the bottom of this post)
Looking back to my life, I realized that I have been to so many off-beat places (like I always wanted to), and I didn't even have a feeling that I have seen all these places. Looking at few old pictures, I came across this gem and decided that everyone should also get a glimpse of places I have been to. I hope many people also get inspired and share some amazing places they have come across, which can inspire travel goals of people around the world.
So, here comes first episode,
Chand Baori Step Well, Abhaneri, Alwar, Rajasthan, IN
I guess everyone has seen The Dark Knight rises and this scene -
So, Bruce Wayne finds his soul at the bottom of this pit. This scene was so intense when I saw it the first time. But, as soon as he comes out of the pit. I was surprised to see something familiar. It was a palace fort of architecture similar to one found around my birthplace. After some googling I figured out it was indeed Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, IN
That fort, though being close to my place, I never got the chance to visit it. Though I have visited forts similar to this one like Amber fort, Jaipur, Rajasthan, IN (in picture 1), and adjacent fort Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur, Rajasthan, IN (in picture 2)
So there is a scene where everyone is cheering a enterprising Bruce wayne who is trying to escape the pit and a stepwell comes in scene. That stepwell is somewhere in rural Rajasthan, India which is almost 70 kms away from Jaipur, India.
On my visit to Jaipur, I decided to cover both this stepwell (Chand Baori) (location) and the famous haunted Bhangarh Fort, Alwar, Rajasthan, IN (I will cover this in a new post in episode 2).
I started the day with Bhangarh fort as I expected it to take good amount of time as I love to visit historical places, and this one was no ordinary historical place, it was haunted (allegedly) too 😄
Later in the day I visited this stepwell. It was beautiful. I have seen stepwells in past but this one was HUGE. After some reading I got to know that it has close to 3500 narrow steps and it is 100 feet deep which is quite deep for the a stepwell. These stepwells were a very useful way of preserving in arid Rajasthani villages. Stepwells are designed in a way that at the bottom they are 5-6 degrees cooler than the top. It receives water from rains and keeps it preserved for summer seasons when whole geography gets dry.
Also, it only does not server as a water conservation unit, but it has ornated seating arrangement all around it where locals used to gather and various rituals and functions used to be held here as well.
Though nowadays it is not being used at all as a water source, but it surely stands as an unmatched monument of Indian rural architecture. Here are few pictures -
Visit if you ever come to Jaipur, India and have time in your hand. Here is my review of Chand Baori in case you need some idea.
Feel free to ask anything about it. See you in next episode with Haunted ruins of Bhangarh Fort.
D
PS - Haunted ruins of Bhangarh fort - 2nd part of this series is now up 🙂
