When we did escape from the hectic Agra city and managed to get back into the smaller rural towns we found ourselves in a little village named Orchha.. famous for there ornate palaces (one of which was only lived in for one night!), the Hindu relic which is housed in an old palace kitchen, and we stayed in a tent!
Ah, Orchha... small and sleepy - it was a very nice change...
And while it was famous for a relic.. we can't show you since pictures were not allowed. But it's a stone carving of Lord Rama and his wife, and brother. And one of the conditions of Lord Rama giving this idol to the Queen of Orchha was that it would have to have a temple to live in, but also that the temple would be the first place it rested in Orchha.... the Queen had a beautiful temple built - but forgot the last part of the requirement until AFTER she had brought it into the palace kitchen upon her return. And hence - the kitchen had to become the temple for the idol.
Now, as for the rest:
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| View of Orchha from Raj Mahal |
First we saw two older palaces (Mahals) which were built not too long ago in the 16th century. One was for the ruling King and originally his wife.. but when he and his wife had a religious dispute over killing animals for sport - the Queen moved out and the King replaced her with 6 concubines. BUT so that his wife didn't find out (like she was dumb) he had six chambers built in her old living quarters and had secret tunnels built to each of them so he could meet with them in secret.... And why 6 do you ask? Well, for there is 6 days of the week plus the holy day when he "rested".
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| The far left and center was one of the ladies rooms.... Shh.. its a secret! |
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Small door (outlined in white plaster) at bottom of picture is one of the secret passageways
(This was apparently "Mondays" (or equivalent)'s room) |
The second large palace was built for one of the Mongol Kings who was moving his capital from Agra to the north (now in modern day Pakistan) and he stayed only one night in Orchha.. but in the Hindi way, once a object has been gifted on someone, it can not be taken back or used again... so this palace has been lived in for only one night...
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| The "Back Door" to the Palace (Seriously, it lead to camel stables...) |
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| Beautiful Rooftop view over the main courtyard of the Palace.. |
We also stayed in a tent.. it was a lovely resort (much nicer than the normal places we had stayed so far) and it even had lovely gardens. Old Hindi mausoleums towered over our tents which gave a beautiful, if creepy local.
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| The "Tent" Area with the mausoleums |
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Better photo showing the details on one of the mausoleums
(These are for Royal/Ruling families) |
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Our luxury tent!
(You can see a corner of the shower room.. both it and the toilet were like semi-permanent portapotty) |
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| The rest of our room... see the A/C? It was the best part! ;-) |
That's it for now... Cya next post!
M&M
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