Galtaji-Serene splendour near Jaipur

Galtaji located about 9 kms from the Hawa Mahal ( the so called tourist centre point of Jaipur city) is a marvellous complex of temples built by Diwan Kriparamji, an attendant to Sawai Jai Singh II in the eighteenth century.

There is NO public transport available to get there hence the only options are autos which you fix up for a round trip since you do not have any options for getting back to the city. I took an OLA cab from Chandpole( This cost me Rs 200/- for a one way trip). Chandpole is the last stop on the Jaipur metro and I rode the Jaipur metro with a view to studying the same. Incidentally, this Jaipur trip of mine was a work trip where I had conducted a workshop on Smart cities. I had the second half free and was flying back later that night hence decided to visit Galtaji as well as Sisodia Rani ka Bagh which I will be covering in my next blog.

The place is dedicated to the Sun God Surya however there are other temples including the Sitaram temple, the Krishna temple, the Balaji temple, the Hanuman temple and a South Indian style temple in the same complex.

The place is in the middle of a reserved forest with beautiful bird life. The five kms trek from Sisodia Rani ka Bagh to Galtaji is really worth doing if you are fond of bird watching. I did this trek while returning to Sisodia Rani ka Bagh. I spotted numerous varieties of birds including peacocks

I also spotted laughing doves seen in the next picture

The foliage and scenery on the way is also spectacular

I also came across numerous babblers more commonly known as the seven sisters since they hate being alone and are normally found in groups of seven. I have included their pictures below

The highlights of my bird watching were of course the red vented bulbul shown below…..

….. as well as this magnificent Rufus treepie

Coming back to the temple, the temple complex is open from sunrise to sunset although I would not advise staying there until dark unless you have a transport waiting to take you back to Jaipur. Also, the sanctum sanctorum of the main temples are closed between 1-4 pm every day.

One does not need a ticket to enter the complex although one needs to buy a pass costing Rs 50 for the use of a still camera or cell phone camera. They are quite strict about this and I saw people photographing without this pass questioned and stopped throughout the complex.

The complex is set in a valley with the main temple having two ends of a deep ravine as its walls as shown below.

The complex reminded me to a large extent of Udaipur given the cream coloured temples that are actually built like palaces.

The temple palaces are covered with Mughal style domes, intricate jalli or trellis work in stone and beautiful miniature paintings. Rajasthan has this concept of treating many Gods/Goddesses as Kings and Queens and hence housing them in palace style structures instead of temple style structures. Lord Krishna in his rich person’s avatar ( Nagar Sheth avatar) is also housed in temples styled like grand mansions ( Haveli meaning mansion hence Haveli mandirs) throughout Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The story behind Lord Krishna adopting the guise of a rich merchant is that there was a very poor devotee of Lord Krishna called Narsinh Mehta in Gujarat. He needed to marry his daughter off and did not have the money ( In India, the bride’s parents end up bearing almost all the wedding expenses). Narsinh Mehta hence prays to Lord Krishna to help him with his daughter’s marriage. Lord Krishna adopts the guise of a rich merchant and comes and gives him a cheque ( called a Hundi in India in olden days) which he encashes and gets his daughter Sonbai married off decently.

Hence the concept of Nagar Haveli or Mansion/Palace style temples in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

In addition to various court and war scenes, the miniatures depict scenes from Lord Krishna’s life .

The story behind Galtaji goes is that there was a sage or rishi named Galav who underwent a strict penance for 60000 years and the God blessed him with abundant water , proof of which is still there in the form of three pools or kunds at different levels which are reputed to never turn dry.

The Top most pool

The third or the lowest pool

Kids bathing in the middle pool

I have always been amazed by the fact that clouds as shown below are always part of miniatures in Rajasthan. This may be possibly because of the fact that Rajasthan is so dry and hence clouds and rain are the stuff that fantasies are made of here.

The complex is a place where one can spend a couple of hours very enjoyably and possibly even more. The only thing to watch out for are the monkeys. They are all over the place and hence Galtaji is also sometimes called the Monkey temple. One needs to be very careful if one is carrying food etc which is not advised. Also, don’t look at monkeys directly in their eye ( avoid their gaze if you can) since this provokes them. Also, don’t photograph them unless they are atleast a hundred feet away.

I have learnt all this the hard way since I was attacked by a monkey at the UNESCO World Heritage site Pattadakal in Karnataka in 2014.

These temples are also visited by numerous locals who also tie threads to a particular spot while taking a particular vow and come and untie the same when the vow is fulfilled.

I saw this crazy guy attempting to enact Dharmendra’s tank scene from the Hindi movie Sholay which all my Indian readers would be familiar with.

This beautiful complex is definitely worth a visit in case you are in Jaipur. This complex as well as the Sisodiya rani ka Bagh ( The Sisodia ( dynasty) Queen’s garden) can be covered in half a day ( 4-5 hours) and takes you back into another era and way of life.