hadoti circuit

Towards the southeast is one of Rajasthan's least explored regions. It is a region that is full of great historical towns with a proud heritage dating back several centuries. Walk back into the past as you visit prehistoric cave paintings and look for other traces of early civilisation.

It will delight the archaeologist in you as you drive along the Chambla and stumble upon more relics from the past. Hadoti has a wealth of beautifully sculpted temples that seem frozen in time. Bundi, set in a narrow encircling gorge, the palaces and fortess of Bundi seem to come straight out of a fairy tale.

The Bundi palace presents a fine example of Rajput architecture with its carved bracket ,pillars, and balconies. While you are at the palace don't miss the famous Chitra Shala with its exquisite paintings of the Bundi school that adorn the walls here.

Dancing Beauty

The stepwells of Bundi are works of art and a very beautiful example can be found in the center of the town - the Raniji ki Baodi. This step is profusely decorated with carved pillars and ornate archways and makes you wonder why a simple function of drawing water from the well needed so much embellishment. More decoration can be seen on the 64-pillared 17th century cenotaph just outside the town. It is a region that has kept its past alive but has also prepared itself to face the 20th century with all the necessary equipment.Take the bustling, cluttered city of Kota. It's a thoroghly modern, industrial city with its smoke emitting factories and an incredible number of vehicles on its crowded roads. But it also has its majestic fort and palaces.

A lot of other reminders of its past are scattered all over the city, like the fort with its museum and the Jag Mandir the Brijraj Bhawan Palace and the Umaid Bhawan Palace. Kota is famous for its sarees called Kotadoria. These cotton sarees are very popular as summer wear.

. Moving beyond, people are warm and welcoming and can be willing guides to help you understand the area. Some areas worth exploring are the Badoli temples that date back to 9th century, the 11th century Ramgarh Bhand Deora temple, Sitabari, an ideal picnic spot with temples and seven tanks and the fort and the mosque of Shahbad. The countryside has wooded hills and valleys that provide shelter to a variety of wildlife.

The Darah wildlife sanctuary, once used as a royal hunting ground today protects panther spotted dear, wild boar and bear. There are several other places of interest like the wooden cottage called Ren Basera, the 7th century temples of Chandrabhaga, Sun temple at Jhalarapatan, Sun temple at Jhalarapatan and the magnificent 8th century Gagron fort.

Sun Temple ,Jhalarpatan