Our visit to Kota, India
by Amy
Posted on Wednesday, May 24th, 2006 at 7:22 pm CET
We spent two days in Kota, Rajasthan while visiting India in March 2006. Kota is a working class town off the tourist trail, but has some nice attractions to offer visitors. While in Kota we stayed at a small, family run haveli, walked through the old city, visited the fort and palace, and took a cruise on the Chambal River.
Our hotel
We stayed at the Palkiya Haveli, in the old part of Kota. This haveli was decorated with period furnishing and had lovely miniature-style paintings in the courtyard.
Courtyard of Palkiya Haveli
Public areas in Palkiya Haveli
After finding our downstairs room had a small cockroach infestation we moved to an upper-story room which was well appointed and quite large, complete with our own private dining room and sitting area. We were the only guests in the hotel during our stay, so the staff was very attentive to our needs. Breakfast and dinner was served in our dining room; the traditional Indian food was quite good.
Our room at Palkiya Haveli
The old city
Kota doesn’t receive a lot of tourists, and as we walked through the old town the reactions we got from the locals made this quite clear. We were subject to more stares per meter here than at any other place in India. We felt like the Pied Pipers of Kota as we attracted a huge group of young followers as we made our way from the haveli to the City Palace and Fort. We saw lots and lots of activity on the streets around us, with people running about and monkeys trying to steal food and dogs crossing the street in front of slow-moving cows, open shops selling everything from clothes and food to giant metal pots and raw wool.
View of Kota from the Palace and FortThe City Palace and Fort
Inside the palace we looked at the Rao Madho Singh museum, which had a lot of very nice miniature paintings, and a lot of artifacts from Raj life, like elephant chariots and silver and ivory baubles. A wildlife exhibit displayed some stuffed tigers and other animals; it was quite sad. There were also nice displays of weaponry which got to be a bit much after a while, and interesting portraits of the maharajahs of Kota over the years. Many individual palaces were also quite lovely, with intricately painted walls and inlaid with mirrors and other shiny things.
Arthur stands by the fort entrance
Kota Palace and Fort
Chambal Gardens and River Cruise
We visited the Chambal Gardens, a lovely park in the city which lies along the Chambal River. We sat by the river for a while and collected stares from the locals. Arthur had a small ice cream. We decided to take a river cruise.
Chambal Gardens
The boat ride on the Chambal River was pleasant. Away from the city the cliffs on the sides of the river rose dramatically and we had some very nice views. We had hoped to see some Gharials, long-snouted crocodiles, but they were all hiding. We did see a lot of birds though, including Egyptian Vulture; Long Billed Vulture; Common Kingfisher; Purple Heron; Indian Pond Heron.
Sights on the Chambal River cruise
Looking back, we probably should have adjusted our itinerary to skip Kota and spend more time somewhere else. However our ride on the Chambal River was quite nice and we enjoyed our relaxing stay in the haveli.
We spent two days in Kota, Rajasthan while visiting India in March 2006. Kota is a working class town off the tourist trail, but has some nice attractions to offer visitors. While in Kota we stayed at a small, family run haveli, walked through the old city, visited the fort and palace, and took a cruise on the Chambal River.
Our hotel
We stayed at the Palkiya Haveli, in the old part of Kota. This haveli was decorated with period furnishing and had lovely miniature-style paintings in the courtyard.
Courtyard of Palkiya Haveli
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| Public areas in Palkiya Haveli | |
After finding our downstairs room had a small cockroach infestation we moved to an upper-story room which was well appointed and quite large, complete with our own private dining room and sitting area. We were the only guests in the hotel during our stay, so the staff was very attentive to our needs. Breakfast and dinner was served in our dining room; the traditional Indian food was quite good.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Our room at Palkiya Haveli | |
The old city
Kota doesn’t receive a lot of tourists, and as we walked through the old town the reactions we got from the locals made this quite clear. We were subject to more stares per meter here than at any other place in India. We felt like the Pied Pipers of Kota as we attracted a huge group of young followers as we made our way from the haveli to the City Palace and Fort. We saw lots and lots of activity on the streets around us, with people running about and monkeys trying to steal food and dogs crossing the street in front of slow-moving cows, open shops selling everything from clothes and food to giant metal pots and raw wool.
View of Kota from the Palace and Fort
The City Palace and Fort
Inside the palace we looked at the Rao Madho Singh museum, which had a lot of very nice miniature paintings, and a lot of artifacts from Raj life, like elephant chariots and silver and ivory baubles. A wildlife exhibit displayed some stuffed tigers and other animals; it was quite sad. There were also nice displays of weaponry which got to be a bit much after a while, and interesting portraits of the maharajahs of Kota over the years. Many individual palaces were also quite lovely, with intricately painted walls and inlaid with mirrors and other shiny things.
Arthur stands by the fort entrance
 |
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| Kota Palace and Fort | |
Chambal Gardens and River Cruise
We visited the Chambal Gardens, a lovely park in the city which lies along the Chambal River. We sat by the river for a while and collected stares from the locals. Arthur had a small ice cream. We decided to take a river cruise.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Chambal Gardens | |
The boat ride on the Chambal River was pleasant. Away from the city the cliffs on the sides of the river rose dramatically and we had some very nice views. We had hoped to see some Gharials, long-snouted crocodiles, but they were all hiding. We did see a lot of birds though, including Egyptian Vulture; Long Billed Vulture; Common Kingfisher; Purple Heron; Indian Pond Heron.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Sights on the Chambal River cruise | |
Looking back, we probably should have adjusted our itinerary to skip Kota and spend more time somewhere else. However our ride on the Chambal River was quite nice and we enjoyed our relaxing stay in the haveli.
7:26 am
Rajasthan is often projected as a land where forts and palaces are a dime a dozen. Rajasthan’s forts and palaces can be found anywhere and everywhere – on hilltops, in dense forests, over the ridge, in the middle of lakes and even in the midstream of a river (the Gagron Fort)!
Now you know you are missing such a beautiful place, make a visit to Rajasthan with us.
For furthus guidance visit our web site http://www.rajasthandiary.com. We are happy to solve any enquiries asked by you.