My Days in Kota

Hi friends! I am Harry Peterson from Prague, the capital city of Czech Republic. By profession, I am a lecturer of International History. And if you are eager enough to know about my hobbies, I am fond of traveling that obviously doesn’t have any limit. Whether its my home land or abroad, the destinations don’t matter for me I love to travel. For getting pleasure and to have the smack of different cultures and civilizations, my feet are always ready to move anywhere around the world.

Being a Historian, I had read a lot about the historical land of Rajasthan, India, in various travel magazines and in other web sites. For the first time, while I was reading about the land of valiant heroes and their deeds, I just got astonished what a great nation they were? I was so much eager to have a visit to this great land once in my life. To my great surprise, the opportunity came to me, three months back when I was nominated as a representative to attain an International seminar in the University of Kota (Rajasthan).

I was very happy and started to count my departure day. Within a week I boarded a flight to India’s capital Delhi, from where again I boarded a domestic flight to Rajasthan’s capital, Jaipur. While I came outside the Jaipur airport, the representative from University of Kota offered me a warm welcome and took me to the town by a cab. The University authority had arranged accommodation for me in the University guest house. As visiting the town of Kota was a dream come true for me, so I asked the University authority for sightseeing tour of the town.

After the completion of the seminar, the University authority provided me two officials to accompany me for sightseeing trip of the city. Very next day, I proceeded on sightseeing tour with two officials of the University. During my city tour, one of the officials told me that present day Kota owes its origin to a Kotya Bhil warrior, who founded the town 800 years ago. He mentioned that in the year 1580, Rao Madho Singh strengthened both the fortification and the wall of the town. Gradually, Kota became the hallmark of Rajput power as well as culture. I also came to know that the bustling and sprawling city of Kota is the industrial hub of Rajasthan. Situated on the eastern banks of the chambal river, Kota city is just an amazing juxtaposition of majestic medieval age and modern industrialization. Amidst the smoke-emitting factories and incredible number of vehicles, here I found some majestic forts,opulent palaces and several centuries old splendid temples.

At first, I visited the Kota fort which was offering a commanding exterior look. While I was observing the beautiful mirror work and ivory doors of the Durbar hall, it seemed that I have been transferred to an old era. Besides, the exquisite miniatures of Kota school, inside the halls made me speechless. After a half-day visit to the majestic Kota Fort, we moved towards the Chambal garden at Amar Niwas. The beautifully landscaped garden and a pleasant boat riding in the lake amidst the silent lush greeneries provide me a thrilling experience. By evening we returned back to University premises.

Next day, we set out to cover other attractions of the city. Maharao Madho Singh Museum was our first destination, where I found a superb collection of Rajput miniature paintings of the Kota school, exquisite sculptures, frescoes and armory. A rich repository of artistic items used by the Kota rulers also are exhibited here. After exploring the museum, the officials took me to the Government museum, housed in the Brijvilas Palace near the Kishore Sagar. The museum displays a rich collection of rare coins, manuscripts and a representative selection of Hadoti sculpture.

After taking our lunch, we moved towards Jag Mandir palace. Set amidst the picturesque artificial lake of Kishore Sagar, the palace offers matchless charm. The azure waters surrounding the red-sandstone monument enhances its beauty many times. I also enjoyed the boat-rides here in the serene lake. Besides, the royal cenotaphs of Keshar Bagh impressed me a lot and I also found a remarkable number of barrages and dams in the city. Very next day with sweet memories of the journey I left Kota for my home land. Now almost two months has passed, since my visit to Kota, but even today sitting idly at my apartment in Prague, I can feel those moments that I elapsed in the enchanting landscape of Kota.