the good things in life Harmandir Sahib – the Golden Temple The Golden Temple is the location of the Sikh Holy Scripture and the Granth Sahib is a landmark of Amritsar and justly so, considered by the Sikhs do be the most beautiful temple in the world. From an architectural point of view, the temple symbolizes a reverse lotus bloom. This is explained by the fact that the white buildings surrounding represent the lotus petals, the golden temple the center of the bloom. The reverse concept could be explained by water not surrounding the bloom but being in the water and, in this case, the water is inside the nectar pond. The temple has a unique atmosphere, thanks particularly to the singing continuously heard from the central gilded building. Here, the main priests take part in singing from the Guru Granth Sahib’s Holy Scriptures. The Granth Sahib book has a very busy life and rests on a special throne in the outer building. Before dawn, priests ritually wake it up and carry it to the Golden Temple on a handbarrow, while constantly fanning it. There they continue with the reading – singing from the previous day. Their singing is pleasantly accompanied by musical instruments and amplified throughout the complex by speakers. It is naturally also broadcast in a live program on a religious channel. Exactly at 11 pm, the procession picks up again and, accompanied by musicians, carries the book to rest in its ‘bedroom.’ Rajasthan No other state in India offers such a bounty of exquisite palaces and fortresses. Rajasthan was the trade crossroad with the Arab world and the largest concentration of wealth, culture and architecture in India. The Thar Desert was formerly ruled by three large kingdoms – Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner. The forested south hosts the fairy-tale fortresses of Udajpur, along with lakes and palaces, as well as national parks known for their tigers. The capital city Jaipur, also called the Pink City, thanks to the color of of the most important building façades, is a maze of bazaars, palaces and historic monuments. Tradition and the modern age blend here, motorcycles passing camels in narrow streets, older people in turbans mingling with youths in jeans. The Wind Palace, Hawa Mahal is the heart of the city, a bizarre building with a depth of one room. It was built by the aesthete and ruler, Savai Singh, on the edge of the palace complex, in order for women from his harem to be able to watch the busy street life below without being seen. Today, this decorative façade is the icon of Jaipur. Jantar Mantar is a massive astronomical observatory from the middle of 18th century, said to be the most realistic and logical landscape made of stone. Thanks to their construction as immense brick structures, the astronomical instruments resist vibrations and even today are very accurate. The complex contains more than ten constructions for various astronomical purposes (time keeping, eclipse prediction, monitoring star positions, etc.). As an example, the Samrat Yantra cannot be overlooked. It is a right-angled triangle, the hypotenuse of which is parallel to the axis of
the Earth. On both sides are brick quadrants for measuring sun-shadow. This is supposedly the largest sun-dial in the world. We found the accuracy to be within 2 minutes on the marked tracks. Thanks to its unique significance and form, the entire complex was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. The Amber Fort, located immediately above the city of Jaipur, is a palace and fort that served as the seat of Rajasthan rulers for over 200 years. Its robust fortifications, from the 11th century, follow the edge of a natural peak. The beauty of the palace complex lies in the diversity of its buildings, as gradually built by individual rulers. The Sun Gate leads to a spacious courtyard, where we take an elephant-ride through the passageway. These luxurious, richly decorated palaces are surrounded by Mughal-style gardens and hold Women in Jaipur
Landscape around the Amber Fort in Jaipur
sculptures and exquisite artifacts of inimitable craftsmanship and beauty. Another wonderful monument is the Jaisalmer Fort, the Golden City of Camels, located in the restless border area of southern India and Pakistan, in the state of Rajasthan, in the Thar desert. The most remote part of the desert hides the lonely oasis of Jaisalmer, reminiscent of the stories of One Thousand and One Nights. This is not a cliché, but actually one of the most romantic cities in India. From a distance, Jaisalmer seems like a mirage, with a dominant fort built of yellow sandstone. The sun reflecting on its walls gave it the name Golden City. The perimeter of the fortifications covers five kilometers, with a total of ninety-nine defense towers. The labyrinth of stone streets within the forts is so narrow that two camels can scarcely pass one other here. The fort is settled by approximately four thousand people, mostly from the Brahman casts and soldiers. They’ve lived here for entire generations and, in the old days, fought on the side of the Maharajas. Both casts live in their own houses, in separate quarters. Up until the division of British colonial India, Jaisalmer was located on an important caravan route that brought it great wealth. Local tradesmen showed off by building palaces called haveli. In the beginning of the 18th century there seemed to be a race over whose haveli would be the most luxurious. Just like the city walls, the havelis are built
from yellow sandstone. That stone masonry is so delicate that, from a distance, they appear to be wood carvings. Each haveli is decorated with richly detailed small balconies and windows protected by stone bars with filigree-thin decorations. Through them, the women of the tradesmen could observe the street-life without being seen by strangers. Most Hindus go to pray each morning in the almost 800 year-old temple of Lakshmi Mata. Before they begin the day’s work, they bow to the goddess for blessing. The space between the temples and palaces then fills with the ever-present salesmen of typical Rajasthan carpets, decorated with small mirrors. Another local product is wooden marionettes. Even though today’s Jaisalmer is an important destination for travel agencies, you will not find crowds of white people here. There are mostly tourists from India here. A cultural-heritage journey through Rajasthan must be completed in Udaipur, a city in the south with one of India’s most wonderful palaces, situated in the middle of a lake. These days, it is one the most exquisite and romantic hotels in the world, where servants, all descendants of the original palace servants, ensure complete comfort to their visitors. By Iva and Joseph Drebitko Photos: Iva Drebitko ■ český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz
Taj Mahal
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