Jaipur: Private Temple Tour - Spiritual Hindu Experience

Starting with a puja rather than a photograph

The tour begins early at Tarkeshwar Mahadev, a Shiva temple over three hundred years old in the middle of Chaura Rasta, for the morning puja — and you are there as a participant rather than an observer, with your guide explaining what is being done and why as it happens.

That is an unusual way to start a tour and it sets the tone for the rest of it.

What a puja actually is

An offering. Water, milk, flowers, bel leaves and sandalwood paste go onto the lingam; a lamp is circled; a bell is rung. The sequence is fixed and every element means something specific, which your guide will take you through.

Monday is Shiva's day and the temple fills. During Shravan, the monsoon month, the queue runs down the street.

Govind Dev Ji

Jaipur's most loved temple, in the City Palace gardens. The image of Krishna was carried here from Vrindavan to keep it safe from Aurangzeb, and seven aartis are performed daily to a hall that fills for each one. Jai Singh II built his own palace so that he could see the deity from his window.

Galta Ji

The temple complex in a gorge in the Aravallis east of the city, with natural springs feeding a series of stone tanks — the Galta Kund at the top has never been known to dry up. 18th-century pink sandstone with painted interiors that are fading in a way that makes seeing them now worth doing.

The macaques live here. Do not hold food in your hand, and take sunglasses off your head.

Birla Mandir and others

Depending on the day: the modern marble Birla temple below Moti Dungri, and the small shrines inside the old-city residential blocks that see no visitors at all.

What is expected

Shoes off at every temple, shoulders and knees covered, no photography inside the shrines. Leather belts and bags are best left in the car.

Practical

Seven hours from an early start. Temples are free; donations are yours to decide on.