5 February 2015 - Museum of Indology and other eye openers!

We leave Jaipur tomorrow and feel that we just didn't have enough time here.  It has been wonderful.  On our list of "Must Do's" was the Museum of Indology which we have walked past many times and sounded intriguing.

Suryaa Villa's gallery of Maharajas

The staff made a real fuss over Luke - Luke and Ranjeet

The kids' room - Luke showing healthy versus sometimes food

Museum of Indology - no photos permitted inside

As Annika appears to have the Jaipur Jollies (maybe due to all the shelled peas she ate yesterday and their questionably clean pods - who knows?) and she really needed to rest close to a toilet today and also that Tim is not at all interested in going to the museum, we could leave the big kids in their room and head around the corner to the Museum of Indology. It was fantastic!  The guides were extremely knowledgeable and knew their subjects well.  The museum had ancient manuscripts on ivory, silver and parchment and even on a single human hair and a grain of rice visible through a magnifying glass.  Luke was totally engaged and so were Karl and I.  There were ancient coins and even old notes such as a one billion Deutsch Mark note as well as a musical stamp from Bhutan (which played the national anthem!) and other fascinating stamps.  Indian folk art and beautiful water colours dotted the grubby walls.  It was all so dusty and I would have loved to dust the shelves and polish the silver and bronze vessels and tidy up their displays but it all added to the intrigue and quaintness of this private collection.

We were interested to see the weapons and particularly the shields. The shields were made from all sorts of hides: hippo, crocodile and water buffalo as well as from bronze.  The craftsmanship was detailed and intricate - all for a shield which is going to be stabbed or jabbed.  Protection is the main purpose of a shield, but nothing is left unadorned in India!  A shining and intricate sabre would be covered in blood and grime in no time!

I asked our guide how many letters the Hindi alphabet had and she added them up using three joints from each finger, like a three times table!  It was quick and efficient and NEW to us, but old art to the Indians!!  We have started showing Luke this technique to help with his maths!  You learn something every day.  (We also learned that burning cow pats is not just for heat but more as an offering.)

It was a total feast of Indian history in three crowded rooms and a mezzanine and highly recommended.  Very few people seem to go there but a few Indian Prime Ministers such as Indira Gandhi have visited this very humble place.  Luke loved the shells and rocks and carvings.  There was a piece of flexible stone and a meteorite as well as a floating stone and other curios.

Cow in back street rubbish

Mansion close by, rubbish dump on street less than 10 metres away

 We went back to the hotel to check on the kids and Annika was still unwell.  Tim needed a walk so I took him through the streets Karl and I discovered yesterday to buy fruit and cheap biscuits.  We shared a delicious lassi served in a terracotta pot for 25 Rupee complete with a dollop of fresh curd cream on top - another taste sensation.

Lassi in a terracotta cup - the taste can only be imagined!

I'll remember the taste and yearn for it...SO SO scrumptious

Rich and poor side by side, public squallor meets ornate.

Street scene on our walk

 Tim and Annika were keen to stay "home" while Luke and Karl and I went exploring.  We walked the the Grand Palace and saw the displays there.  By far the most fascinating was the set up for the wedding of some of Jaipur's wealthy families which had spared no expense - fresh flowers, huge catering set up, couches being covered and hammered together and some enormous chandeliers in which pigeons had already found their  nest!!  A bird's eye view of the wedding!

At the Grand Palace

Karl offered me some lovely roses...but they were for another bride!

Grandeur, nothing less.

Elaborate arches of fresh flowers for a society wedding

Pigeons were quick to establish a nest at the top of the chandelier!

No expense spared: bespoke couches for wedding guests!

The catering and staff would rival a royal wedding, quite unbelievable.

A snake charmer was sitting outside the palace and Luke decided that he was brave enough this time to touch the cobra and sat down next to the musician and played one of his instruments much to the delight of the gathering crowd.  I touched the fanned neck of the cobra as well!

Regretted not touching the cobra the other day...and here was my chance!

Brave and a little silly!

Brave Luke, building up his courage!

Luke charms the audience and the snake

Luke was hungry and asking for food.  We bought some roti and chhole for him but it just wasn't the kulche (naan bread) he wanted so I had to eat it.  We found some naan for him and also a huge papadam and that gave him the energy to walk back. He's a good walker and kept up with us despite the 8-10 kms we did today.

Roti and chhole

We detoured through the side streets, past jewellers and tailors and spice shops and came across a community of cheeky monkeys.  We think possums are a pest at home but monkeys are a menace here and dash over the tangle of wires between buildings and leap daringly to the ground.  The monkeys, the mopeds, the people and the litter keep everyone on high alert just walking down the streets...and the occasional cow of course!  Such is India.

Gorgeous mosaic work - a sign a yesteryear when things were grand.

Cheeky monkey

We think they are cute but the locals must hate them!