SwapnilJirageTravelPost: Kota- a city with many surprises

http://travelindiathroughmyeyes.com/kota-a-city-with-many-surprises/

rameshkabra

11–14 minutes

Probably one of the following comes to your mind when you hear the name ‘Kota’: (1) It is India’s famous coaching classes centre for preparing students for the competitive exams for admission to Engineering or Medical (2) it is known for its Kota Doria sarees (3) Kota stone is used for flooring (4) there is an Atomic Energy Plant here and many other large industries.

But not many know that this third largest city of Rajasthan located on the banks of Chambal river with a population of 1.2 million is also well known for its chequered history and distinctive style of paintings and architectural splendour comprising of palaces, museums & places of worship.

Brief history of Kota

In the 13th century AD Rao Deva, a Chauhan Rajput chieftain belonging to the Hada clan conquered the territory of Bundi and established Hadoti region that also included Kota. The Bhil tribe dominated the Kota area. Jait Singh of Bundi defeated the Bhil Chieftain Koteya in a battle in 1264. A mud fort built by Koteya existed in Akelgarh area of Kota. In its place Jait Singh laid the foundation of sprawling’ Garh’ (fort) Palace. It is believed that Jait Singh was impressed with the bravery of Koteya and named the place Kotah after him. Kota became a jagir of Bundi. Later in 1580, Rao Ratan Singh while making his elder son Chatra Singh as the heir apparent of Bundi gave the smaller principality of Kota as Jagir to his ambitious second son Madho Singh who had proven himself as a warrior at the young age of 14. Madho Singh with blessings from the Mughal Emperor Shahjahn declared Kota to be independent state in 1631 and ruled for 17 years. Under him Kota became a hallmark of the Rajput gallantry and culture. Soon Kota outgrew its parent state to become bigger in area, richer in revenue and more powerful. Bhim Singh I, the 8th Rao of Kota who ruled from 1707 to 1720 was given the title of Maha Rao & Punj Hazari by Aurangzeb. In 1817 Kota signed a treaty with the British and agreed to be under their rule. The Kota kings remained titular heads. After India’s independence, Kota accepted accession with India in 1949.

Our trip to Kota:

We visited Kota in November 2017 after a wonderful trip to Bikaner (to be covered in my next post). We reached Kota at 10 am after 11 hour journey by train from Bikaner.

We had booked at Welcome Heritage Umed Bhawan Palace Hotel for 2 nights 3 days package through Makemytrip. They allowed us early check-in as being a week day the hotel had only 60% occupancy. We were treated like royalty during our 3 days stay at the hotel. More on the hotel later.

After freshening up, we were out of the hotel by 12 noon. Let me now take you through some of the attractions of Kota that we visited during our stay.

GARH PALACE

The foremost tourist attraction in Kota is the ‘Garh’ which is located on the banks of Chambal river on the other side. This large complex, also known as the City Palace was built in a predominantly Rajput style of architecture but compared to other palaces of Rajasthan this palace lacks in opulence and grandeur. As additions have been made during different rulers, the palace doesn’t give a symmetrical look. But what’s unique about the palace is a special chamber that was exclusively used by the ruler for his entertainment and to entertain his important guests. It is adorned with stain glass & mirrors and wall to wall paintings executed in the distinctive style of the Kota school of painting. It is a fine example of Rajput style of painting. It is believed to be an offshoot of Bundi style of painting as the artists of Bundi had migrated to Kota but later it developed into a distinctive style of its own. It was a blend of Mughal and Hindu style of paintings. Opaque water colors were usually employed and the themes are usually related to religion, mythology, hunting & beautiful damsels.

The beautiful glass inlay work also attracts attention. The chamber remains closed and it is opened on request.

Those interested in art & painting would find a visit to this palace rewarding. There is a Museum within the palace complex.

A virtual tour of the special chamber in the palace with wall to wall paintings:

Kishore Sagar Lake & Jag Mandir Palace: Kishore Sagar Lake in Kota is a major tourist attraction. It was built in the year 1362 by a Bundi prince. The Jagmandir Palace was built by one of the queens of Kota between 1743 and 1745, and is situated in the middle of the Kishore Sagar Lake. Built in red sandstone, it resembles the Jag Mandir of Udaipur. The palace is open to tourists who can enjoy boat rides in the Kishore Sagar Lake and the panoramic view of the palace from the lake. The Keshar Bagh, situated near the Jagmandir Palace has royal cenotaphs. A new Park has come up on the banks of the lake where replicas of the seven wonders of the world have been built. There are fountains and the park has special lighting in the evenings that gives the fairy land feeling.

GARADIA MAHADEV TEMPLE: My spirit of adventure & exploration took us to a remote & isolated place where we were witness to one of the most spectacular breathtaking scenes of natural beauty. This is located on the highway to Dabi & Chittor about 25 kms away from Kota where river Chambal takes almost 360* turn surrounded by cliffs that create a deep gorge. We had to pass through a forest reserve and Forest Department collects toll for entry. The pristine blue waters of the river, the peaceful environs, the soothing pure air left us mesmerised. A flight of few steps took us down to an ancient Shiva Cave temple known as Garadia Mahadev Temple. Fresh spring water comes through a gaumukh here. Devotees take a shower under it.

This place is a paradise for poets, writers, artists & photographers as it has the magical aura to inspire them. If peace, tranquility, nature’s splendour & Mahadev’s blessings are what a visitor is seeking then this is the ideal spot for him/her. Since we had gone there at 9.30 am on a weekday and it being a chilly & misty morning we found only a handful for tourists there. Probably we enjoyed more because of that. We left the place reluctantly after spending more than an hour there as we had to cover the other spots too.

GAIPARNATH TEMPLE: We visited another beautiful spot in the ravines of Chambal known as Gapernath or Gaipernath. Located at a distance of 24 kms from Kota, it is an idyllic spot for nature lovers & thrill seekers. The spectacular view of the Chambal ravines & the rugged forests leave the visitor spellbound. I climbed down about 300 steps to reach the ancient Shiva shrine known as Gaipernath. The entire way is picturesque affording excellent photography opportunities. There is a fresh water kund near the temple. During monsoon hundreds of waterfalls add to the mystique. During November there was only a small waterfall trickling down the mountain. Hundreds of langurs can be seen loitering around. They dirty the steps. If any devotee carries the prasad then they snatch it but otherwise do not attack or cause any harm. My wife returned to the car after climbing down few steps while I made the thoroughly enjoyable & thrilling climb down to the temple and back.

Welcomheritage Umed Bhawn Palace Hotel: This palace was built in 1905 in Indo-Saracenic style by Kota ruler Umed Singh II. Though located on the busy road leading to the railway station, the palace hotel is located in a sprawling open space amidst peaceful environs that gives the feel of being in a forest with langurs, peacocks & parakeets roaming around freely. A portion of the palace is still with the royal family. A tour around the hotel proved to be interesting.

Shopping in Kota: If you visit a tourist city with your wife and if the place happens to be famous for sarees then be prepared to loosen your purse !! Kota is famous for its handwoven printed Cotton/Silk sarees known as Kota Doria. We went to the saree market in the evening and my wife picked up 4 to 5 sarees (for personal use and for gifting).

Kota is also known for miniature paintings & stone sculptures.

**Kota Doria Sarees (Credit: Google search)**

Kota like other places in Rajasthan has no dearth of good eating joints that serve traditional Rajasthani food and we were not disappointed. We had Rajasthani food or snacks for lunch in one of the eating joints and had breakfast & continental food for dinner at our hotel.

Kota, the Coaching Capital of India:
I was intrigued about the phenomenal rise of Kota as India’s leading coaching centre and during my visit to Kota enquired about the reasons. This interesting story was narrated to me. Some time in the eighties, one Mr. V K Bansal, an IIT Engineer who was working in JK Synthetics Ltd at Kota became immobile due to a paralytic attack and in another two years the company also ceased operations. To sustain his livelihood he started giving tutions and prepared one bright student for the IIT entrance. The student cleared the exam with flying colours. He increased the number of students next year to 8 and 6 of them passed. His reputation grew and in 1991 he started his full fledged Bansal Coaching Centre which became an instant success. Students started coming from other cities. Others also jumped into the fray and someone started coaching for Medical entrance too and by the turn of the century Kota earned all India fame for churning out the maximum number of merit students in the Entrance exams. The secret of so many students coming in the merit list was that for 10% of the seats in a coaching year they selected only those best students from across India who had secured more than 95% marks in their 12th Board exam.
As number of coaching institutes increased to 40, the number of hostels also increased, local people started keeping girl students as pay-in guests. Hotels & lodges also sprung up as parents had to come to get their wards admitted. The economy of Kota which had seen a decline due to the closure of many industries started booming once again.
The recent pandemic has also taken a toll on the coaching classes and other businesses in Kota as there used to be a floating population of more than 1.5 lakhs at any given point of time.

Location: Kota is at a road distance of 253 Kms from Jaipur and 458 Kms from New Delhi. It takes about 4 hours by road or train from Jaipur. There are number of trains from New Delhi to Kota which take between 5 to 7 hours.

There are several hotels in Kota to cater to travellers in different budget segments.

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