Alwar, an erstwhile princely state 150 km north of Delhi the Capital of our country. My visit to Alwar left me awestruck with massive forts built on hill tops and covered with few kilometers long wall up and down the hills. Though I don't know the history of this princely state but one thing I found interesting about this place is that the British spelt the name of Alwar as ULWAR which goes down in the list as the alphabet U appears at the last six alphabets. The ruler of Alwar then replace the alphabet U with A so that his state can appear at the top, alphabetically. (So such tactics are age old)
Alwar fort, now converted into a collectorate (boosts the ego of bureaucracy). Travelled through the corridors of this Collectorate, the shine of the walls is still intact. It is not a shine of tiles, but the material used for plastering of the walls during the reign of the owner of this palace. These walls of corridors reminds me of a wall in Segriya in Sri Lanka which is called Mirror wall. The walls of this Alwar fort are similar mirror walls but completely unnoticed whereas the wall in Segriya fort is one of the itinerary added by our guide which was shown to us with a pinch of pride.
I was accompanied by a retired IAS Officer, on seeing the Board of Collector, we decided to visit the collector. On entering his office, we smelled the essence of power that a collector was showered upon. The room must have been used by the erstwhile ruler of Alwar now replaced by present day ruler, a BUREAUCRATIC RULER. Sitting in his massive office with balconies of the upper floor adorned with marble grills (today such designs are called Duplex apartments), the present bureaucratic ruler gave us the taste of diminishing values specially respect for seniors. He believed that we were there for some favours so that we can see the museum without paying any fee, if there is any. I wanted to tell him that we were not there for any favours, rather it was actually the affection of senior cadre mate to the cadre where he served for 35 years and earned a name for himself with his dedication to work.
But my decency stopped me from doing so.
Wanted to click the picture but controlled my instinct
because of the apathy showered upon us by the present Ruler
The Alwar fort standing tall on its massive marble pillars speaks of its glory
for which there is absolutely no need to use word.
Bikes parked besides the walls. I remember, there was an instruction of NO PARKING pasted on the wall. We the people of India are masters in evading such instructions.
For, We The People of India these are just a piece of Graffiti on the wall.
The museum. Part of the fort is converted into a museum, which was closed that day.
So could not visit. Just peeped in through the holes.
The huge court yards must have been adorned with elephants the major mode of transport during those days, now adorned with present mode of transportation.
Despite all the apathy of WE THE PEOPLE OF INDIA
these are standing magnificently tall and not ready to budge.
Is it the perseverance of the artists who carved and built these or
the perseverance of these beautiful structures that they have refused to budge.
Grills carved in Marble, precision with which these were carved can be seen with eyes but perseverance of the artisans can only be felt and admired. I left with chocked throat.
This is a fine embroidery on marble with tools of carving.
These pieces are a delight to eyes and also a matter of pride.
These pieces are a delight to eyes and also a matter of pride.
A state of apathy within the boundaries of collectorate.
I wonder, if any of the collectors ever ventured out to see this dilapidation, right under their nose.
Having massive office gives the state bureaucracy enough ego boosting that they did not bother to keep a watch on this.
Walls of the fort adorned with notices of the collectorate.
I wonder, that why they can't afford a notice board where such notices can be pasted
The back side of glorious Alwar fort oops collectorate with a pool at the backdrop
The corridors beautifully adorned with the broken furniture of the offices of the collectorate
The main gate to the fort, still standing tall with all its majesty and
with a will of security to the fort like an old guard.
This is a ceiling of a chowk in Alwar. Must have been a passage of the royals. Though the beauty of chowk diminished with garbage and the chowk is encroached by a small temple in one corner and small shops on other corners but nobody has gained that height to reach out to the ceiling of the chowk. The only mark of its majesty that speaks of importance of this chowk during the days of royalty. The bureaucratic royalty has only added to the garbage and encroachments. I clicked this picture from the moving taxi as it is terribly difficult to stand there and click a picture of the ceiling.
This is our heritage which is to be cared upon with all dignity.
The more and more I explore this wonderland called THE INDIA, more and more i fall in love with this country which is a bundle of wonders.
