If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t walk run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means keep moving. – Martin Luther King Jr
Day 5: September 18, 2018 The four groups are on an exploration spree, everyday they are at a new place experiencing new environment and new kind of people. It was the second last day for them on the educursion. And all the groups at their respective places were enjoying at the max. Euphoria of the educursion is very much evident from each and every picture.
Early in the morning the Royal Rajasthan group from classes V and VI visited Umaid Bhawan. Umaid Bhawan Palace, located in Jodhpur is one of the world’s largest private residence. A part of the palace is managed by Taj Hotels. The Palace is named after Maharaja Umaid Singh, grandfather of the present owner Gaj Singh. They then moved towards Udaipur by bus. On the way they stopped and visited the Ranakpur Jain temple a renowned Jain temple at Ronakpur is dedicated to Tirthankara Rishabha Nathan. Dharna Shah, a local Jain businessman, started construction of the temple in the 15th century following a divine vision. The temple honors Adinath, the first Tirthankar of the present half-cycle according to Jain cosmology. Then started moving towards our destination point and reached at hotel Ambience Yois Udaipur at 8.30 PM. We had our dinner at the hotel. It was indeed a fantastic day.
It was a warm morning when the students of class VII went to Amber Fort. It’s an old fort, built in 1592 by Raja Man Singh. It’s also known as the Amer Palace. The Amer Fort was built in red sandstone and marble and the Maotha Lake adds charm to the Fort. Though the fort is quite old, it is beautiful and boasts of various buildings of prominence like the ‘Diwan-i-Aam’, the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ and even the ‘Sukh Mahal’. The Amer Fort has influences of both Hindu and Muslim architecture. This fort also has the ‘Shila Devi’ Temple and the ‘Ganesh Pol’ which is a gate that leads to the private palaces of the kings. The Amer Fort has many pavilions and halls of great interest and other popular attractions.
Students went trekking to 700 feet to see the world’s largest cannon in Jaigarh Fort. The Jaivana Cannon is the world’s biggest wheeled cannon ever made. It was cast in 1720, during the reign of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh- II of Jaipur. Jaivan rests on a high 4 wheeled carriage. The barrel is 6.147 m long and weighs 50 tons. It rests on a 7.3 m long shaft. As per the guides
It took four elephants to swivel it around on its axis. About 100 kg of gun powder fired a shot ball weighing 50 kg, Maharaja Jai Singh test-fired it once in 1720. The cannon ball is said to have landed at Chaksu about 40 km to the south of Jaipur. The impact formed a pond at the spot. The students reached the Jaigarh Fort through a tunnel which is connected with the Amber Fort. On the way they saw Jal Mahal. Then students visited the Birla Planetarium, Jaipur where they saw the documentary on India’s first trip to Mars and description about Mangalyaan. After lunch they boarded the bus to Delhi.
The students of class VIII after the breakfast started a beautiful journey in a toy train and reached Coonoor. There they visited the Dolphin nose and later went to the chocolate and oil factory where they saw the processing and packaging of chocolates, coffee and eucalyptus oil. They returned to the hotel and after lunch they departed to our next destination- Doddabetta peak which is highest mountain in the Nilgiri Mountains. Then they reached the next site- Ooty Lake. Students were amazed to see the perfect blend of the landscape and the lake.
The fifth day at the camp was chilling cold that began with warm-up exercise. It was again a very challenging experience, because the program coordinators organized river side adventure sports like rappling, fox riding and a river bath. After the breakfast, the students proceeded to the river by walk. It was about 2.5 kms away from the camping site. The river is fed by glaciers from the hills. The water was cold and icy. Children enjoyed playing and taking bath in the river. While one batch was taking bath, other groups enjoyed the rappling. After this we had a very good lunch prepared by the Colonel’s Resort. Post lunch students went for fox-riding across the river. Everyone took part in batches. Students enjoyed these adventurous sports.
It was a wonderful and adventurous day. Seeing the flowing water students could not control their desire for bathing. Inspite of not having the swimming trunks, students went wild with joy. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed and the joy was unbound. Some of them enjoyed drinking the pure glacial water which is pure, natural and tasty coming through a pipe from the glaciers. It was an awesome experience and a rare one to be cherished lifelong. It was like icing over the cake. What a wonderful way to conclude the Bir Billing experience!