One of my favorite activities in Jaipur wasn’t the Amber Fort or the City Palace (though both were also wonderful!). Instead, it was visiting the Galtaji Temple, also known as the Monkey Temple.
Galtaji is an ancient Hindu pilgrimage site about 20 minutes outside of the Jaipur city center. To get there, we drove along a long and winding road, with small houses and a wide array of animals lounging along the highway. It was so nice to contrast the bustling, frenetic energy of Jaipur with the calmer activity of the outskirts. That is, until we got into a traffic jam on the slim road! Apparently we had come to the temple on a major holy day, and we were able to witness an Indian celebration in all its crowded glory.
monkeys crawling over the cars!
According to Wikipedia, the site is series of temples nestled among a cluster of hills. A natural spring emerges high on the hill and flows downward, filling a series of sacred kunds (water tanks) where pilgrims bathe. The visitor or pilgrim ascends the crevasse, continuing past the highest water pool to a hilltop temple from which a magnificent view of Jaipur and its fortifications spreads out across the valley floor. It is believed that a Saint named Galav lived here, practiced meditation, and did penance (tpasya).
Walking along the entrance to the temple
Y’all, coming to this special site was absolutely beautiful. All the colors from the various saris, the people coming together to celebrate life and bathe in the holy water, was a powerful image. The colors and chaos were a symbol of how energetic and vibrant this country is. My dad and I were blown away by the beauty of this place.
The people were so welcoming as well. Being fair skinned and red-headed, I naturally stood out in the crowd. Instead of feeling left out, the women welcomed me and even gave me a tikka sign on my forehead at one point. It was so nice to participate in the excitement!
Please take the time to go on an outing to Galta Ji if you travel to Jaipur! A wonderful way to interact with locals in an unintimidating environment.
Green Gables State of Mind 
Fabulous pics! I’m so glad you talked about the energy and vibrancy of India. I’ve been having a debate with a fellow reviewer because I mentioned how I hate all these novels that make India look like such a dismal, poverty-ridden place where everyone is miserably unhappy all the time; and he kind of feels India is actually like that. Even though I’ve never been, I’ve always believed India to be much more varied than that – to be full of colour and life, as well as the bleaker side. So thank you for confirming that I’m not living in a dream world… 🙂
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Yes it truly is! India (to me) is a country of Extremes, in all senses of the word. Yes, there’s an intense display of poverty; but there’s also an extreme sense of community and joy of life as well. This country is endlessly fascinating to me!! Drab is the complete opposite of how I would describe India 🙂
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Lovely post with beautiful pictures. Galtaji is an important religious place
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Thank you so much! I felt so honored to take part and explore such a beautiful site !
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🙂
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I visited the monkey temple on a much less crowded day. I liked the temples, but not the monkeys!
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The monkeys were a little intimidating for sure! As well as some of the cows that started to approach me for food, hah!
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You’re right. It is a colorful country! Im glad you had fun!
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