Vijay Vilas Palace, Mandvi - A Photo Essay !!!

I was writing my last post on Laxmi Vilas Palace of Vadodara and realised though I had written about Vijay Vilas Palace of Mandvi under collective, I had missed a dedicated post for all the pics I had clicked of it. So here is a photo essay of Vijay Vilas Palace, which I visited few years back.

Though Vijay Vilas is not as magnificent as Vadodara's Laxmi Vilas it was Ashutosh Gowariker's movies which made Kutch and Vijay Vilas Palace famous. Sets of his movies Lagaan and Mohenjo Daro were set in Kutch. The palace appeared as the British Royal residence in Lagaan and Aishwarya Rai's house in Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam. 

This redstone structure was built by Maharaja Rao Vijayrajji, the Maharaja of Kutch. The structure is built in Rajput style with traces of Bengal adding to its beauty. Being a summer retreat, the palace is small compared to other palaces of the region and houses few artefacts, furniture and photoframes

The palace is surrounded by thick green which shelters peacocks, jackals and wild ass. The top most floor has an arched balcony and gives beautiful view of the surrounding green.

Maharaja Vijayraji's Chhatri as seen from balcony

Mandvi Beach and Royal family private beach as seen from the top floor of the palace.

That seems like wild boar head, not sure though

Travel Tips

Vijay Vilas Palace is around 7km from Mandvi city and can be best reached by private vehicle. Its another half a km walk from the vehicle parking area to the palace.

Entry Fee

Regular Days 5 years to 11 years Rs. 15/-, above 11 years 30/-

Sundays and Public Holidays 5 years to 11 years Rs. 25/-, above 11 years 45/-

Mobile Camera Rs. 25/-

Still Camera Rs. 50/-

Video Camera 200/-

Timings

9:00 am to 6:00 pm

Laxmi Vilas Palace, Vadodara - Signifying the Maratha rule in Gujarat!!!

Been visited to Vijay Vilas Palace of Mandvi, I thought Vadodara's Laxmi Vilas Palace was related to it. Only to understand, they both were no where related except for being in the same state of Gujarat. While Vijay Vilas Palace is of Jadega Rajas of Kutch, Laxmi Vilas is of Gaekwad, the Maratha family who ruled Baroda state, the present day Vadodara of Gujarat state.

On our trip to Ahmedabad and Vadodara, we reached Vadodara by 9 in the night and checked in to the OYO Rooms we had booked at Fatehjung road which was few minutes walk from Sayaji Baug. We had planned a two day stay at Vadodara, the first day for the city tour and the second to Pavagadh hills and Champaner. First day started with the visit to Laxmi Vilas Palace.

The palace was built in 1890 in Indo-Saracenic style by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. It still being the residence of the royal family, opens only a part to the public. You enter the palace through the back entrance of the palace, collect your audio guide if you wish and start your palace tour. After going through few of the exhibits inside the palace you are out to get the view of the main entrance of the palace which is on the opposite side. The stunning structure is so huge that its difficult to capture the entire structure in one frame. The beautiful greens and golf course makes the structure look even more beautiful.

The ground has many statues and structures, off which the marble peacock urn is very well known. 

Marble Peacock Urn in the palace ground

Palace tower as seen from Marble Peacock Urn 

A beautiful painting on the outer wall of the palace.

Intricate carving on the window wall on the upper floor of the palace

Watch for 2 crocodiles, 4 monkeys and bunches of grapes 

The palace has a huge collection of artefacts from different parts of the world, not to forget the original paintings of Raja Ravi Varma. The Durbar hall with chandeliers, stained glass window, Italian mosaic flooring has been the Bollywood hotspot with shoots going on most of the time. There is a cafeteria and souvenir shop too in the building. The palace compound also houses Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum and Moti Baug Palace both have separate entry gates from the main road and photography is strictly prohibited inside the palace and museum.

Travel Tips

Location

The palace is on the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, around 3.5km from Vadodara Bus stand and railway station. And around 9km from Airport. 

Entry Fee and timing

Palace 

Rs. 225/- for Indians and Rs. 400/- for Foreigners

10:00 am to 5:00 pm 

Closed on Mondays and Public Holidays

Palace Museum 

Rs. 80/ for Indians and Rs. 150/- for Foreigners 

10:30 am to 5:30 pm

Closed on Mondays and Public Holidays

Skywatch - Sabarmati River Front!!!

"Cleanliness starts at home", that is what we felt when we visited the Riverfront Park on the Bank of Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad. The Riverfront Park is so neatly maintained and stands to our PM Modhiji's Swach Bharat campaign.

There is play area for kids and don't expect any good food at the shops on the river front. Best time to visit is evening, when you can spend time in the park and enjoy the park in light as well.

Sabarmati Ashram as seen from Sabarmati River Front

Happy Skywatching!!!

Ahmedabad chronicles III - Gandhian Trail at Sabarmati Ashram..

Staying in Sabarmati suburb during our two days trip to Ahmedabad, this life size photograph of Mahatma Gandhi at the entrance of Sabarmati Ashram caught our sight every time we passed by the Ashram.

Having visited Aga Khan Palace of Pune and Mani Bhavan of Mumbai, other places associated in Mahatma's life, Sabarmati Ashram was of course a much awaited place to be visited for us. Sabarmati, Gandhiji's residence which was set up to experiment on farming, cow breeding, kadhi and other related. Having visited Kutch, I could easily relate to the textile market of Gujarat and Gandhiji promoting hand spinning in Gujarat's handloom industry. 

Which Indian is unaware of Sabarmati Ashram or Dandi March? The final land mark of Sabaramati Ashram in Gandhiji's life was of Dandi March, which was started in protest of the British Salt Law on 12th March 1930, and Gandhiji never returned to the Ashram then after.

Set on the bank of river Sabarmati, Ashram has collection of photographs, audios, videos, life size paintings and relics from Gandhiji's life. Hridaya Kunj(Gandhiji's cottage), Nandini, Vinoba Kutir, Upasana Mandir, Magan Niwas are few of the cottages at the Ashram.

 

 

Coincidently, we got to meet Phalguni Patak at the Ashram during our visit.

Travel Info:

Timing: 8:30AM to 6:30PM, open all days through the year.

Entry free

Visit Ashram website here, to know more about the place.

Ahmedabad Chronicles II - Trimandir, Auto World, Akshardham...

When we planned our trip to Ahmedabad, all my hubby had in mind was a visit to Auto World, Vintage Car Museum. When we planned our day tour of Gandhinagar and around, we planned for Museum. It was around 30mins drive from  Adalaj ni Vav to Auto World, and on the way we planned our visit to Trimandir of Adalaj. 

Trimandir, Adalaj

Adding to the list of Trimandirs by Dada Bhagwan, the temple at Adalaj has 13ft tall marble idol of Simandhar Swami in main sanctum, along with Adinath, Ajithnath, Parshwanath and Mahavir bhagwan. For the first time I had entered a spiritual place, with both Jain and Hindu idols. The temple also has meditation center and cafeteria. Its so refreshing to sit and meditate in the beautiful marble structure.

Auto World Vintage Car Museum Ahmedabad

A personal collection of Mr. Pranlal Bhogilal, the museum has over 100 luxury cars from finest brands like Rolls-Rocyces, Bentleys, Daimlers, Langondas, Mercedeces, Maybach, Packards, Cadillacs, Buicks, Auburns, Cord, Lancias, Lincolns, Chryslers. Its just not the cars but also other vintage bikes, antique vehicles like goat art, horse art, bullock carts which add to the collection. Its a must visit place if you love automobile. They also have fun rides in vintage cars around the museum. There is a cafeteria as well, but it looked no good. There is a small play area for kids too.

 

Akshardham

We reached the temple by 4 in the evening and had accordingly planned for the temple tour and the Water Show in the temple complex which was suggested by many of our friends when we planned our visit to Ahmedabad.
We had visited Akshardham Delhi back in 2014, but being a weekly off, we didn't get to visit inside the temple. When we saw the Akshardham temple of Gandhinagar, it looked way smaller than the Delhi one, but its architectural marvel was no less. A beautiful pink sand stone temple stood in the center of a garden. The temple has the idol of Lord Swaminarayan, the founder of Swaminarayan faith. The temple complex has a museum, which depicts the life of Swaminarayan, a souvenir shop and Sat-chit-Anand Water Show. The museum is quite hug and takes around 3 hours for a detailed visit, you can visit as per your preference and time constraints. By the time we were done with the museum, it was already dark and the temple was light with thousands of candles for diwali celebration. It was completely different sight to view the temple in lights. After spending some time we headed to water show, a must visit show especially if you are visiting with kids. Laser beams, water fountain and showers, fire, timing between the lights and human intervention, makes it a perfect show. Its a limited seating show, so better get your tickets as soon as you visit the temple.
By the time the show was done, there was hug traffic at the temple road and around. On the way we had dinner at Honest Restaurant, a well known vegetarian restaurant chain of Gajarat, on Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad Highway and reached Ahmedabad by 11 in the night.

Travel Tips:

Trimandir:

Timing 5AM to 10PM

Entry free

Auto World:

Timings: 9AM to 9PM

Entry Fee: Rs. 50/- and Rs. 100/- for photography

Vintage car ride: Rs. 500/- for 4 people

Akshardham:

Temple complex:

Entry free

Timings 9:30AM to 7 :30PM(Closed on Mondays)

Exhibition, Museum Timings 10AM to 6PM

Temple is light on Saturdays and Sundays

Water Show:

Timings depending on sunset, usually 7PM. 

45min show.

Fee Rs. 60/- for kids and Rs. 90/- for adults

Due to security reasons mobiles, cameras are strictly restricted in the whole temple complex.

Ahmedabad Chronicles I - Adalaj Ni Vav...

Being in Mumbai I always preferred exploring surrounding Gujarat and near by state than Southern states, with the feeling that South can be explored anytime when we move back to Bangalore for good. My vacations anytime to native are accompanied with trips around anyways. As part of a recent extended weekend we planned our trip to Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Though we had plans of driving down, we had to settle with bus journey at the nth moment. We had planned for 4 days trip with 2 days each at Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

We reached Ahmedabad by 8 in the morning and started with our tour by 9:30. We had booked taxi for the first day to explore places around Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. Our driver suggested us to take the tour of other places and reach Akshar Dham temple at Gandhinagar by 4, so that we could have enough time to spend time at temple and watch the light and sound show. One of the best part in Gujarat for a foodie like me is the pure vegetarian food the state offers at almost every nook and corner. So with no hazzle I could wander around anywhere in Gujarat. After breakfast we drown to Adalaj ni Vav.

Built in Indo Islamic style in 1496AD by Ruda, wife of Vaghela chief Virasimha, this octagonal shaped well has five storeys. Each floor has pillars with intricate carvings, highlight of which are a king seated on a stool under parasol with two chauri - bearers in attendance, scene showing churning of buttermilk, Bhairava, dances, musicians, birds, animals. The carvings of god and goddess are worshiped even today. There is lot to look for and admire the work gone in, decades ago.

The weather was perfect during our visit and was bit crowded too being an extended long weekend. Managed to click these avoiding the crowd.

Travel Tips:

Adalaj Ni Vav is around 18km from Ahmedabad and 5km from Gandhinagar. You can hire a taxi for the tour of tourist places around Ahmedabad or there are autorickshaws too, which take you to Adalaj Ni Vav from both Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. Nearest railway station is Kalupur.

Birds and Wildlife of Kutch!!!

Kutch is well known for its wild life and immigrant birds. Our first encounter with the wild in Kutch was a jackal while driving back from White Rann at the night, though I couldn't click it. Its said that Kalo Dungar is the only place where you can find jackals feeding on vegetarian food. People from Kalo Dungar and around feed jackals before having their meal.

Though the immigrant Flamingos attracts most of the tourists to Little Rann for bird watching, every lake and river in Kutch can give you a glimpse of these winged beauties. The Hamirsar lake in Bhuj and Rukmavati river in Mandvi are places where you can find Flamingos and other immigrant birds.

The Sharad Baug garden, being very close to Hamirsar lake, too attracts birds, we found so many bats hanging down the trees at sharad Baug

We found these white browed bushchat or Stoliczka's bushchat at Toran resort on the way to Kalo Dungar and the other at the Kalo Dungar hills, they look very much like sparrows and are of same size,

The dense forest surrounding Vijay Vilas palace too offer you with bird watching and wild life, we encountered with a jackal, few wild asses and few peafowls.

How I wish I had better lenses to capture them better.  

Finally I wind up my posts from our weekend trip to Kutch, Gujarat. Do have a look at the complete tour here.