The day started rather early. Around 6:30 am we were already on our way. A lovely morning mist surrounded us. The landscape with white background seemed extremely beautiful. The trees were popping out to establish their presence. The road was smooth and almost empty. It had been a great start of the day!
After an hour’s ride we diverted from the highway to enter the bustling town of Merta city. Not only was there too much of commotion, but also a series of bad roads (or rather no roads). It had rained last night and the muddy – so called roads of Merta had become slushy. Slowly and steadily we somehow rode through.
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| The hazy environs added to the magic of the ride |
Known as Medantak in the olden days, Merta was the capital of King Nagabhatt. It was later ruled by Rao Dudha and eventually by Rao Maldev who built a fort called Malkot here. Merta also happens to be the birthplace of Meerabai – the popular devotee to Lord Krishna, who is said to have lived in the Meera Mahal. The town hosts a beautiful temple of Chatubhujnath (Lord Krishna) and Meerabai. A memorial has been recently erected here in honor of the great saint. We had a quick tour of all these places riding on those messy roads. (Click on the links to know more about these places)
It was still misty. As we hit the highway again we felt a little at ease. Enjoying the ambience we reached Pushkar in an hour. We headed straight to the ghats. The whitewashed ghats were mesmerizing, the fog adding to the magic. We performed a small puja followed by the darshan of Lord Brahma – the creator of the universe. Pushkar boasts of the only temple of Brahma in the world. The temple closes at 1:30 pm and we were lucky to get the last darshan. Drenched in the shower of blessings, we headed towards Pushkar palace for lunch, and then a leisurely stroll at the Gangaur ghat.
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| On the highway enroute Pushkar |
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| On the highway enroute Pushkar |
It was only an 11-km ride from Pushkar to Ajmer and we reached in a jiffy. We checked into a hotel and set out to explore the city. First on the list was Anasagar Lake – a beautifully crafted man-made lake little outskirts of the town. It was a popular place amongst the people of Ajmer who mobbed here during sundown. The garden offered few relaxed moments while the romance of watching the sun go down by the clear water of the lake is worth an experience! However, we did not wait until then and pushed off for Taragarh fort.
The walls of Taragarh Fort were remarkable and caught our attention from a distance. A long curvy road crisscrossed along the steep slopes and took us there in no time. The weather was chilly and cold winds blew here. However the strong fort walls bequeath us a warm welcome. We had a quick look at the ramparts and reached the mosque to pay homage. The dargah is dedicated to Miran Sahib a brave warrior and saint who sacrificed his life defending Taragarh in an enemy invasion. Aurangzeb during his visit is said to have 3 large vessels which are seen outside the main shrine even today. These are used to cook daily meals for the needy.
We traced back our footsteps to enter the city. We were heading towards the principal shrine of the town – the Ajmer Sharif. Making our way through small gullies and huge mob of people on the road, we somehow made it up to the entrance of the holy mosque. It was almost dark when we reached and the illuminated doorway was seen in full glory. With enormous faith we entered the mausoleum to seek blessings of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. The place was crowded but we managed ourselves a good darshan leaving us contented.
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