26 th December 2012 Boxing Day Jodhpur

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Boxing Day 26/12/2012



Feeling a little tired from the previous night’s disturbances, we had a lazy morning relaxing in the sun.<span> After breakfast we moved rooms, as promised the night before. Our new rooms were at the top of the hotel and overlooked the swimming pool of the hotel. The children’s room was very grand and had a beautiful ornate window seat, bedecked with heavy upholstery. Joe loved the novelty of hiding behind the heavy curtains from his ‘annoying’ sisters and jumping out on them. Much to their annoyance.



Vijay had recommended that we visit a genuine ethnic village so we met him at 12.00 and drove into the country to visit the Bishnoi tribe.

En-route we stopped at a lakeside nature reserve with different breeds of birds and deer feeding by the water. We also stopped at the village of Khejadali, where, in 1730, 363 Bishnoi villagers had lost their lives trying to protect the khejri tree from being felled. The Maharaja of Marwar wanted to fell the trees, to burn limestone for a new palace. When the Maharaja heard of the massacre of the villagers he ordered the felling to cease and banned cutting down trees and hunting animals in Bishnoi territory.



The Bishnoi are a religious sect rather than an ethnic group, are among the world’s earliest tree- huggers. Their origins go back to a drought in 1485. Observing that this was caused by deforestation, a guru formulated 29 rules for living in harmony with nature and the environment. His followers are called Bishnoi after the Marwari word for 29.<span> Bishnoi forbade the killing of animals or the felling of any tree.

We arrived at the village and were immediately met by a group of smiling children and several baby goats which the girls held. They laughed and followed us around as we visited the home of one family. The family were self sufficient and we watched as the man of the house created a water pot from basic clay and water. He had a potter’s wheel powered by a small electric motor. Their house was surrounded by pots drying in the sun and even the walls of their home were made from the pots with render in between.

The lady of the house was sieving wheat ready to grind for chapattis.

They allowed us to look around their home which was small and immaculately kept. A large TV blasted out from the corner of their living/sleeping area which seemed ‘out of place’ in a home that had no other modern appliances.

As we looked around the village, the children touched Alice’s hair and stared at us with interest, or amusement!

Before we left we had a group photo of all the children, laughing and smiling together.

This will definitely be one of the highlights of our trip.



After we left the Bishnoi village we drove to Jodhpur and had lunch. Alice and Hanna bought some colourful pouffes to keep for their homes in the future.



Evening on Boxing Day was another noisy affair at the hotel with a wedding and a party being held in the grounds. We watched from our room as all felt too tired and a little underdressed to join in the celebrations.



Memories of the Nirali Dhani resort and Jodhpur, where we stayed for Christmas will be:



Alvin and the chipmunks music which played constantly over the hotel speakers

An Asian Santa who greeted us at the door on Christmas day, a photo opportunity missed!

The Bishnoi villagers and the best fort in Rajasthan.

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