BC Archaeology Travel

Name: BC Archaeology Travel
Address: PO Box 1236, Mittagong, NSW, 2575, AU
Telephone: +61405492946
Rating: 0

Home
Australia
Mittagong, NSW
BC Archaeology Travel

Guided tours of ancient world sites

05/01/2025

Sun 5th Jan - late in the afternoon, after exploring the Mehrangarh fortress, we walked through part of the old quarter of Jodhpur. The city is famous for its blue coloured houses, said to originally have been preserved for high caste Brahmin families. We then walked through the crowded markets of Jodhpur which were absolutely heaving with people.

05/01/2025

Sun 5th Jan - we spent most of the day exploring the royal palaces within the Mehrangarh fortress towering over the city of Jodhpur. The fortress was erected over an enormous outcrop of rock in the mid 15th Century and the palaces were progressively added over the centuries until the royal family moved out in the 1940s. The approach from the old city passes through 7 heavily fortified gates before reaching the enormous palace area. Here are several courtyards including audience halls and the beautiful private harem spaces. There are some lovely displays of royal objects including howdas for riding elephants. The view over Jodhpur from the highest levels of the palace is phenomenal.

05/01/2025

Sun 5th Jan - mid morning we visited the white marble Jaswat Thala in Jodhpur. This is the royal cremation building. Around it are various chatris which are erected on the site of royal cremations - the ashes are traditionally deposited in the Ganges and at other sacred sites.

05/01/2025

Sun 5th Jan - we're in Jodhpur and spent the day seeing some of the amazing historical monuments in this city. We started with the Umaid Bhavan, an enormous palace complex built in art deco style in the 1940s to house the royal family. Part of the building is open to the public while the rest is an elite hotel and a part houses the family of the Maharaja of Jodhpur. There was a museum of objects of that period including photos of the Maharaja in polo gear wearing 'jodhpurs'.

05/01/2025

Sat 4th Jan - next to the main Jain temple at Ranakpur we had a took at the small, early 15th Century Jain temple. It is decorated with some impressive stone sculptures. Amongst the finest were those showing naked (spiritually pure) warriors killing demons and dancing girls. In small niches were represented the cross-legged Jain Tirthankaras (saviours who has reached enlightenment). The Jains preach non violence, retreat from the world and vegetarianism. We met one of the priests who told us he was a 16th generation attendant at the main temple.

05/01/2025

Sat 4th Jan - we headed north of Updaipur heading for Jodhpur. We took a beautiful country road which passed through green fields and then through the Aravalli Hills (exceedingly ancient mountains dating back more than 2 billion years) through a wooded valley said to be the haunt of numerous leopards. We stopped to see a Hindu Temple of Surya (the sun god) and then made our way to Ranakpur to see the colossal Jain temple. Built in 1439, it is located in a beautiful valley. An impressive piece of architecture with a forest of columns.

03/01/2025

Fri 3rd Jan - after lunch we visited the monuments at Ahar, a suburb of Udaipur. On the way we stopped to have a look at the complex containing monumental chatris commemorating the royal family. Nearby was the Archaeology Museum of Udaipur which has a good collection of Palaeolithic stone tools, and Chalcolithic remains from the adjoining tell of Ahar, the precursor of Udaipur. The Museum also has a good collection of 8th-13th Century stone sculptures which came from the Ahar site or the region.

03/01/2025

Fri 3rd Jan - late in the morning we visited the Jagdish Temple of Vishnu in Updaipur, built in 1640. The temple is built on a small local hill within the town and was very busy with worshippers. Inside the shrine there was singing and prayers before the idol. Around the main temple were shrines of Garuda and Durga. The carvings on the outer surface of the Vishnu Temple were really remarkable, with numerous gods and friezes of elephants.

03/01/2025

Fri 3rd Jan - we had another day exploring Udaipur in southern Rajasthan. IN the morning we visited the Bagore Ki Haveli, the palatial 18th Century home of one of the Prime minister's of Udaipur. It was very grand with a private ghat leading down to the lake and a series of courts used by the family. Today it houses a display of contemporary metal and glass objects

03/01/2025

Thurs 2nd Jan - in the afternoon, after some samosas, we visited the Saheliyon garden near the Fateh Sagar lake. It was founded in the 18th Century as a walled garden for the royal family. It was used as a summer retreat, the fountains including stone elephants which eject water from their trunks.

03/01/2025

Thurs 2nd Jan - later in the morning we visited the City palace, current home of the Maharana of Mewar (76th of his line). The dynasty claims descent from the Sun God. The palace is built over a hill and has an enclosed garden at the summit for the harem. The inner part of the palace has lovely miniature paintings recording the history of the dynasty.

03/01/2025

Thurs 2nd Jan - we're in Upaipur in southern Rajasthan. In the morning we went for a short cruise around Lake Pichola, one of a number of artificial lakes in the valley. There are lovely views of the city palace where the current Maharana lives with his family. We saw the Lake Palace on an island, once a Summer Residence of the royal family and now a luxury hotel. We stopped to see the Jagmandir Palace on another island. This was founded in the 1550s as a pleasure garden.

02/01/2025

Wed 1st Jan - we spent the late afternoon exploring some of the many temples within the fortified city of Chittorgarh. The view over the walls and the palace quarter with its reservoir are stunning. We saw the Padmini Palace with its lake pavillion, a shrine covered with monkeys and the Keerti Stambh Jain temple with its adjoinging tower. The views over the landscape from the city walls are stunning.

02/01/2025

Wed 1st Jan - the fortified city of Chittorgarh was a royal capital for centuries. Although the city was famously sacked 3 times, it was rebuilt each time and within the walls there are many temples. We saw an impressive 11th Century Jain temple (Satbees Deveri) and then the impressive 9 storey Vijay Stambh victory tower built in 1448. Nearby was a lovely 15th Century temple of Vishnu. The views along the walls are spectacular. A nearby temple of Shiva has an unusual 3-faced Shiva.

02/01/2025

Wed 1st Jan - this morning we drove south to visit the astonishing fortified medieval city of Chittorgarh. It lies on a a plateau and has many km of strong walls and seven gates. To avoid the holiday crowds our guide gave us a life on his motorbike through the last three gates. Founded in the 8th Century, this was the capital city of the Rajput state of Mewar through medieval times. The city was besieged three times, the last time by Mughal Emperor Akbar, and on each occasion the royal ladies committed jauhar, mass su***de, to avoid capture. On the summit we saw the ruins of the 15th Century Rana Kumbh Palace

31/12/2024

Tues 31st Dec - in the afternoon we arrived in Pushkar, a small pilgrimage town. Our hotel terrace has a nice view over the sacred lake. We had a walk around the lake, the road full of busy touristy market shops. We stopped to see offerings at the lake edge and then walked to the temple of Brahman which was busy with pilgrims

31/12/2024

Tues 31st Dec - this morning we drove from Jaipur to Ajmer (about 3 hours) where we saw some of the historical sites. We went up 750 m to see Taragarh Fortress - it was first fortified in the 11th Century and then saw major new walls in the Sultanate and Mughal periods. Inside the fortress we visited a very vibrant sufi shrine of Miran Shah. In the centre of Ajmer we saw a small fortress of The Mughal Emperor Akbar built in 1570. It contains a good museum with excellent sculpture

Address

PO Box 1236
Mittagong, NSW
2575

Telephone

+61405492946

Website

http://bcarchaeology.com.au/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when BC Archaeology Travel posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.