Visit to Shrinathji Temple in Nathdwara, and Kumbhalgarh
2nd Jan 2023
Nathdwara is a famous place for Shrinathji’s temple. This temple was built in the 17th century. In Shrinathji’s name, this place is called Nathdwara. Along with the Shrinathji temple, Vishwas Swarupam (Statue of Belief) is there. Construction of this statue was going on for a long time. It was inaugurated a few months back only. This is around 280 feet tall. A lot of people come here to see this place.
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On 2nd Jan, first, we went to Shrinathji’s temple for darshan in the morning around 11 am. There was a huge crowd. I got to know that this kind of rush used to be there throughout the year. This temple is very famous in this region, where lots of devotees come throughout the year. Thousands of devotees come from the neighboring state of Gujarat as well.
It took around 1 hour for us to do darshan. We came out and visited the local market. Nathdwara is a small town. There was a small market in the surrounding area of the temple. After a little shopping, we returned home.
In the evening, around 4 pm, we visited Vishwas Swarupam. There is a laser light show that happens in the evening around 6:30 pm. It is opens for visitors only at that time only. There is an entry ticket required to see the laser light show and to enter this place. The ticket costs around 400/- Rs. There is a base area below the statue where a lift takes you up to the heart of Lord Shiva. The view from the gallery is simply amazing.
This was the first time; I went to such a tall structure. This viewing gallery is a covered area with glasses at the bottom. When walk on this, you can view things down there. It becomes a little scary, as you can see things down from your side view as well below your feet. So overall an awesome experience.
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After seeing this beautiful view, we came down to an open theatre kind of place where we could sit and see the laser show. Around 6.30, the sunset, and it was dark. The laser show started on time. It was all about the origin of the universe, and about history of lord shiva. It was a very nice experience. We returned home after watching this show. The next day planned to visit Kumbhalgarh fort, which was around 50 km from Nathdwara.
3rd Jan 2023
On 3rd Jan morning, we thought to start early, but as it was a winter morning, we all woke up late. Finally, around 11 am, after having our breakfast, we started for Kumbhalgarh. This fort is situated in the Aravalli Mountain range, and part of Mewar region. Kumbhalgarh fort has perimeter walls that extend 36 km (22 mi), making it among the longest walls in the world.
One special thing that we noticed while going there, was until we were in front of the fort, we could not see it. From all sides, surrounded by mountains, making it impossible to attack from any of the sides. We reached there around 1 pm, parked our car, and started climbing.
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It was a bright sunny day. Therefore it was difficult to walk. Somehow, we reached it’s top. There we could see old horse stables, palaces, and other places where kings and other family members used to stay. All structures were constructed in such a way that every place had proper sun light and air. Few places we felt very relaxed, felt like we were sitting in some AC or air cooler.
Then we went to the topmost place, the terrace of the palace, where the view was just amazing. We could see till few km, as this place was at so much height. We spent some more time, seeing the old architecture, then returned to base.
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There is a very famous lord Shiva temple. Here Rana Sanga, who had such a huge body structure, used to cover the big Shivalinga with both his hands. Next, we went to see the famous wall. This wall is 15-20 feet wide. This was one more reason to make this fort the safest one.
Around 3 pm, we started from there, and on the way, we had our lunch at a local restaurant. We returned to Nathdwara around 6 pm. It was a nice trip, could see one of the amazing forts of Mewar region, which was long pending in my list to visit.
4th Jan 2023 – 5th Jan 2023
The next day on 4th Jan, we were resting at home only and did not go anywhere. It was just family time. The next day on 5th Jan, we started back for Ahmedabad in the afternoon. We reached Ahmedabad around 9.30 pm. The next day we planned to go to the Statue of Unity, near Vadodara. Kids wanted to visit this place for a long time. It is a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a prominent freedom fighter, and free India’s first deputy Prime Minister and home minister.
Dec 2022 – Winter Vacation Trip – Part #3