Taragarh Fort, Bundi: mural

Another early start this morning and very sad to leave the beautiful Castle Bijaipur where I could happily have spent several weeks.

On to another exciting place, now heading further east - to Bundi, famous for its stepwells and the impressive Taragarh Fort/ palace with its spectacular murals.

We had a lot to cram in on arrival in Bundi as preparations were well underway for tomorrow's celebration of Holi, the festival of colour and springtime.

Worried that the monuments might close early we headed straight for the stepwells, but only after stopping to see very some vey efficient street dentistry - a woman had a tooth removed, chose an implant and had it inserted in less than two minutes - very impressive indeed.

Bundi is known as the city of stepwells and the vast Queen's Stepwell with over 200 steps to the water is the best preserved and the finest of all. Some of the detail was stunning.

Our progress up to the Fort was somewhat hindered by a procession of pre-Holi festivity but we made our way through it and on up the very steep hill to the ramshackle fort. Even in 1892 when Kipling was writing about it he described it as an "avalanche of masonry ready to rush down and block the gorge". Even more descriptively he writes that it is a "palace as men build for themselves in uneasy dreams - the work of goblins rather than of men". And so it is.

It is a peaceful unspoilt place with hidden gardens and fantastic views. There were once secret tunnels through the hillside but their location apparently went with the last caretaker. The Fort was abandoned hundreds of years ago and nothing has been touched since. The result is that the murals are still in excellent condition, some date back to medieval times, see here, others in the palace are 17th century. The style is varied yet distinctive - some were painted in a primitive style that I associate with Chagall. Many had scenes of Krishna's life. The one that I've chosen as today's blip is Krishna sitting up a tree - he was watching the ladies bathing in the lake below. As they were swimming, he nipped down and stole their clothes, taking them back up the tree with him!

We had a wonderful walk back through the vibrant bazaar and once back in our ancient palace gardens we started our own Holi celebrations, gathered round the traditional fire, burning neem branches. A good thing to be burning as it turned out, as it kept the mosquitoes away.