Things not to miss while traveling to Jaipur

Jaipur, the pink city known for its heritage and history, is a perfect place to explore. We have traveled to different places but there is something unique about Jaipur and that is, its raw culture. Jaipur is overall a very artistic city. The art can be seen in their work, be it through block printing on the fabric or miniature paintings on rice paper.

The architecture of the Indian heritage in Jaipur is just mind blowing. You will be astonished to know that, all the artistic designs on the forts are handmade paintings. The size of the each element that is painted, is accurate, sharp and detailed.

You may find cultural activities which are uncommon in other states of India, one of these activities is the puppet dance. The attractive puppets are dressed in Rajasthani traditional get up. Making these puppet dance, is another beautiful skill, not everyone can do that.

The Rajathani folk dance and music can take you to another world. The soothing sound of the instruments and the Kalbelia dance is something that will hold on to you forever.

Things to do in Jaipur

Tourist attractions -There are end number of forts and temples but here is a list of tourist attractions you shouldn't miss visiting, if you are someone who is found of history and architecture.

• Amber/ Amer fort- A beautiful fort with a vast history. Do not forget to take your stole/ scarfs, shades and a sunscreen while visiting this place during the day. Please wear a pair of comfortable shoes as you will have to really walk a lot here. The fort is beautifully built and is known for its history. You can visit Shees Mahal or the mirror palace and Diwan-I- Khas within the fort. Do not miss the light and sound show that happens here in the evening, it is a must watch.

Amer fort

• Nahargarh fort- This fort gives you an amazing view of the city. Padao, a cafe on the top of the fort, gives you an amazing vibe. The view is amazing in the evening, it feels as if the stars are on the ground, when the houses are lit up.

Nahargarh

• Jaigarh fort
• City Palace
• Hawa Mahal
• Galtaji - This is one of the most animal friendly places. You will find many monkeys out there. The best part is, you don't have to be afraid of them. They won't bother you unless you bother them. These monkeys are very playful. Mr. Krishna Sharma is the well known care taker of these monkeys. He says he grew up there only and all the monkeys of the fort knows him very well. Various NGOs take care of these monkeys in terms of food and health.

Galtaji

• Sisodia Garden
• Jal Mahal
• Step-well
Where to eat?
Well you will find end number of cafe/ restaurants in the city. Our personnel favorite is 'Tapri the tea house'. You'll find an entirely different menu here. The food here is delicious. Do not miss out on the corn shots (golgappa filled with cheese and corn), tadkka maggie, Red bull ice tea, samosa bun and off course the masala tea.
If you are a coffee lover then do not miss out on 'curious life coffee roasters'. They have an entire menu of coffee, which is gonna amaze you. If you are a coffee lover this should defiantly be a part of your check list.
Here is a clip of Jaipur which will give you a feeling of the city.
Join us in our journey of exploring India. stay tuned for more.
-The Roving Feet
Aakanksha

Scientific facts behind the celebration of Navratri twice a year.

There is no doubt that our ancestors must have been really smart to relate various logic and science behind the Hindu festivals. Further they associated these festivals with religion to make sure everyone follows them and the people of the society stays healthy, wealthy and wise.

Goddess Durga

Navratri is celebrated twice a year. Both the times, Navratri is celebrated for nine days in honour of the mother goddess who is also referred to as Durga, Sherawali Maa or Parvati in different parts of India. The Ashwina Navratri starts at the beginning of winter (between September and October) is the more popular Navratri. The Chaitra Navratri that happens during the beginning of summer between March and April.

On all these nine days of Navratri, various forms of Goddess Durga are worshipped with full devotion. Navratri honors the three essential aspects of the Supreme Mother Goddess Durga in the form of Kali, Lakshmi and Saraswati. On the first three days the Goddess is worshipped in the form of Kali who is the destroyer of all our impurities. In the next three days, Mother is adored in the form of Lakshmi who is considered as the giver of inexhaustible wealth. In the last three days, the Goddess is worshipped in the form of Saraswati the giver of knowledge and wisdom. The eighth day of the festival is popularly celebrated as “Ashtami” and the ninth day as “Maha Navmi” and even as “Ram Navmi” on Chaitra Navratri.

Celebration of Navratri

The nine avatars of Goddess Durga are also worshipped during the festival of Navratri. The nine avatars or forms of Mother Durga are known as Mata Shailputri, Mata Brahmacharini, Mata Chandraghanta, Mata Kushmanda, Maa Skanda Mata, Maa Katyayani, Mata Kalratri, Mata Maha Gauri, and Mata Siddhidatri.

scientific reasons for celebrating Navratri twice a year are as follows:

1. Detoxification of the body: You must have notices both the navratari are celebrated during change of season. The health of human's body is directly linked to change of season as the body's immunity is low during this period. Through the medium of this festival people follow certain practices and diet so as to avoid health troubles which gives them power. People avoid non-veg food items, grains, alcohol, onion, garlic etc. which is known as fasting. This helps the body to maintain a perfect balance and well being of not just the body but also the mind.
2. Improving the mental health: Fasting during Navratri ensures that your digestive system is at rest which provides mind with more energy to have more clarity and life force to sort your life and feel the ease of lightness of your system. During this period the old aged people and the people who are emotionally weaker are more prone to mental illness, so during this festive season their mind is also occupied with activities and celebrations which keeps them away from the negative energies.
3. Maintaining cleanliness: This practice of keeping the home and the surroundings clean, is a crucial part of this festival which helps in keeping the seasonal diseases away. During this period, most of the vectors causing vector borne diseases are active. Cleanliness helps as a precaution in controlling the situation.
4. Medical benefits of camphor used in pooja. During this period pooja is done every night. The use of camphor in these poojas has medical benefits. The fumes of burning camphor purify the air and inhaling it can be beneficial. From a scientific viewpoint it can effectively kill germs and keep mosquitoes away. Smelling camphor fumes can be beneficial for people suffering from asthma, typhoid and measles.

How to identify pure Pashmina. You've done it wrong throughout.

We have been travelling to different destinations in India to explore different places, cultures, practices and beliefs. There are still some parts of the country which is unexplored by the travelers. There is still a lot to know about this country, be it places, best places to stay, culture, beliefs or lifestyle. As travel bloggers we've been writing down all this, to create awareness among people about the mentioned topics.

We recently visited Jaipur, the pink city of Rajasthan. The city is rich in its culture, history and monuments. While exploring this city, we met a guy from Jaipur textiles industry who explained us few facts about Pasminas. They showed us some shawls and quilts made from Pasminas.

The quilt was of just 100 grams. 255 blocks are being used to print the design on the quilt. These quilts are washable. The weight of the Pashmina shawl was just 15 grams. The best part about using a Pashmina is, that it can be used in any temperature. one can use this in 0 degree temperature in winters to 40 degrees in summers. This is to say, you can use this in winters to cover yourself from the cold weather whereas, in summers you can use it to prevent yourself from tanning and sun burn.

Block printing

Blocks used for block printing

Further he explained us how to identify pure Pashmina. When you visit a shop to buy Pasmina they generally tell us to pass the cloth from the ring to test the purity of Pasmina but guess what, we've done it wrong throughout. This is not the ideal way of identifying the purity of Pashmina.

Here is the ideal way of testing its purity. You can take out a thread from the fringes, it won't harm the shawl or the design. You’ll have to see it burn and smell the odor as well as check the ashes with your finger tips. If you get a burnt-hair kind of odor and the ash turns out to be a powdery stuff, it is more likely to be pure. But in case it smells like the way burnt leaves would do and there are bigger flames consuming it up, then you’ve been cheated, it is viscose. Again, if it gives a vinegary odor or smell like burning plastic, with the ashes forming small lump, it too is the wrong stuff. It can be acrylic or polyester.

Next time if the seller tries to show the purity of Pasmina with the help of the ring, you know exactly what to do.

Facts about Himachali topi, that most of you didn't know.

Himachal Pradesh is one of those North Indian states which is popular for its natural beauty and known for its rich culture. Himachali topi is one thing that catches attention of every traveler traveling there. This topi comes in different vibrant colors and designs. If you have ever thought of buying one for yourself, I am sure you must have been perplexed looking at the variety of designs and colors. But have you ever tried to know what is the significance of these varieties of Himachali topi. We have been to different districts of Himachal and we noticed every local person of that particular district wears a different pattern and design of cap. Have you ever wondered, if the color and the pattern of these topi mean something? Well we got the same thought and we tried to find out if there is any symbolic representation attached to these topi, if yes then what are these representations. We did our research and found out that these topi that we buy, by just looking at the color and design has a lot to say.

There are three types of Himachali topi

• Kulluvi topi
• Bushehri topi 
• Kinnauri topi

Kullvi topi is generally worn by people of Kullu district. Surprisingly, the color of these topi attaches a political meaning to them. The topi with maroon color on it represents Bharatiya Janata Party and the green color represents the Congress party.

Bushehri topi is worn by people of rampur bushehr area. This topi gained popularity in 20th century and became a status of pride for this area. Green coloured Bushehari caps are in great demand these days as the Congress party has its government in Himachal Pradesh.

Kinnauri topi also are also associated with the political significance based on colors. Maroon color signifies Bharatiya Janata Party and green color signifies Congress Party.  This cap came into existence as people in the cold desert felt the need to cover their head to avoid chilly conditions. The cap is made from pashmina or woolen cloth and colored cloth on its front that is presently imported.

These caps are shows pride and status of the himachali people. The local people of Himachal still follows the tradition of wearing these topi during functions and marriages. The women decorate their topi with beautiful fresh flowers which makes these caps even more graceful. The himachali people offers these caps to the guests as a symbol of honor to them.

If you feel like buying one you can also buy them online as they are available on various websites for sale.

Day of forgiveness, a day many of you are unaware of which is celebrated in India

India is a country which consists of different Religions. These religions follow their own beliefs and practices. I am going to talk about one of these practices followed by Jains which many of you must be unaware of.

Kshamavaani Day or kshama Divas is a day of forgiving and seeking forgiveness. On this day Jains start a new life by forgetting and forgiving everyone of their intentional or unintentional sins. This day is celebrated every year to make the world a better place to live in. This festival is a symbol of growth of spirituality and purity. On this festival a Jains ask for forgiveness and approaches everyone irrespective of their religion.

We can simply understand the mean of “Kshamavaani divas” by this :-

Kshama – mean forgive and, Divas – mean day.

Many people of this community go for prayers in Jain temples. The Jain community may approaches their neighbor, friends, family members, relatives etc for a peaceful co-existence with everyone. This is one of the day when people take all the responsibility of any sorrow, pain, or anguish caused to by their own.

As a human we should all irrespective of our religion learn good practices from all the religions and make us a better human being. This will not just make us positive but it will make this world a peaceful and happy place.

Ten Indian superstitious beliefs that had logic behind them

There are certain beliefs and practices that Indians follow that has no logic behind them in today's world. These practices are being followed from many generations.

Sometimes we don't question what we do. We simply follow them because we have seen our elders doing the same, we unfortunately follow some practices without knowing the reason behind them. don't we? I am sure if we recollect our childhood days there have been situations where we asked our parents or relatives that why are we follow this practice and they asked us to keep shut and follow as they do. Probably because even they didn't question these practices when they were kids. But before following any practice or belief, we should always try to find the logic behind it. It will surely make life much easier instead of following things blindly .

Today we 'll find out the logic behind these practices and answer to why do we call these practices as superstitious now.

Ten Superstitious beliefs that had some logic behind them

 1.Hanging a lemon and 7 green chilies- We've noticed people hanging a lemon and 7 chilies in their shops, cars, houses etc.This is called as superstitious practice because people followed this to avert buri nazar. Have you wondered what convinced people to do that?  well it has a scientific reason behind it. The cotton thread that passes through chilies and lemon absorbs vitamin C, acids and other nutrients which is released into the air through vaporization. This is said to have significant health benefits and our ancestors made it an essential part of their rituals.

  2.Black cats crossing path causes bad luck - Back in old days people used to travel by carts that were pulled by the domesticated animals. These animals used to get scared and act weird when they sensed wild cats  like tigers, leopards and cheetahs crossing their paths. This has no significance today.

3.One should bathe after attending funerals- When vaccinations were not introduced people used to follow this practice in order to avoid infections of deadly and contagious diseases from the dead bodies.

4.Throwing coins in holy rivers for good luck- This is one of the most common practices that people follow. Earlier rivers used to be the main source of drinking water. When copper coin stays in water for long, it becomes beneficial for the one who drinks it. Hence it was followed.

5.Do not sleep with the head facing north- People believe that it invites ghosts or death and hence its a superstitious belief. According to science when we sleep with our head facing the north direction, our body's magnetic field becomes completely asymmetrical to the magnetic field of the earth which caused health problems.

6.Killing a spider causes bad luck- It has nothing to do with luck this was probably said in order to save the spiders, as  the silk produced by spider is used in many optical devices and laboratory instruments. Spider venom is used in neurological research as well and it may prevent permanent brain damage in stroke patients.

7.Do not trim nails after sun set- Earlier electricity was not easily available in houses so people used to trim their nails during the day by using sunlight as a source to see. It has no significance today

8.Do not sweep after sun set- This was practiced since electricity was not easily available so people used to sweep the house during the day. This has no significance today.

9.The Mourning family of the dead should not cook food until shraddh- This is followed by people so that the mourning family gets some rest and time to cope up with the emotional situation.

10.Eat curd and sugar before heading for important work- Science says that the consumption of curd and sugar has a cooling effect in stomach and it provides instant glucose. This works for a tropical region like India.