Watching
sunset at Sajjangarh will make you yearn for new beginnings. Yet, you
will want the time to freeze, as you breathe in the majestic beauty
of India's oldest mountain range, the Aravallis, gathering the
horizon in its folds.It looked like an ordinary evening when we wound
up our city tour of Udaipur at Sajjangarh. The palace at Sajjangarh
was built by Maharana Sajjan Singh to keep a watch over the monsoon
clouds approaching Udaipur. It is a magnificent sight in itself,
illuminated at nights against a picturesque backdrop of mountains.
Perched
on top of Bansdara Mountain, at 2,468 feet, the castle offers a
splendid view of the lakes, palaces and the countryside of Udaipur.
It was also used as a hunting retreat for the royal family. Though
the king had planned to establish a nine-storied observatory at the
spot, his sudden death shattered that dream.
How
enchanting it would have been to see the sun, rain and stars playing
on one of the most ancient mountains in the world!
By
the time we finished checking out the small wildlife museum set up
inside the monsoon palace and stepped out into the backyard, the
evening grew extremely pleasant and the breeze abundantly refreshing.
We were told that the entire region would be covered with fresh
forests once monsoon showers came. But I never missed the green here.
It
was fascinating to witness those folded mountains stretching out to
eternity. And to know they have stopped growing sometime during the
prehistoric past— as the tectonic plates in the earth's crust below
them finally decided to settle down, and thus ceased to provide that
upward thrust to grow. So here the mountains stand, deeply rooted,
firm and steady.
Aravalli
in summer may prove to be an enlightening lesson to those hailing
from the greener regions: that nature doesn't always have to be green
and irrigated to be appreciated or hold you in a trance. Looking
below, at the city and the settlements, we slowly become aware that
human spirit strives on even when rains fail, crops die down, or
water tables dwindle.
Queer
as it may sound, there was an unearthly charm to those twilight hues
spreading over the parched, brown hillocks. It actually enhanced the
bright oranges the sun was painting above the spectators.
The
night descended like a thick, black veil on those withered mountains,
as it has been for centuries, and a fellow traveller marveled how
fresh and irresistible it still feels, to watch the sun set. I guess
that is what Sajjangarh does to you.
It
takes you away, albeit for those brief seconds, into a selfless,
philosophical insight that might offer a few more ounces of energy to
tread on our hectic lives. The palace stands on, not chasing or
conquering, as the brave Rajputs have always done, but waiting for such season year after year.
