The settlement of Ranakpur has its origins in some rather unlikely roots. Legend has it that a local hermit had a dream of building a magnificent temple, unparallelled in its beauty and at a very particular location. The hermit went to the Rana of Mewar, upon who's land he planned the temple. The Rana agreed, but on condition that the place be named after him in some way...and hence Ranak-pur.

However much credence you give to this local folklore, the fact is that the Jain temple complex that still stands in Ranakpur is one of the most amazing devotional works you are likely to see anywhere in the world. It remains one of the most holy pilgrimage sites for the Jain faith and is generally the only reason anyone stops in Ranakpur.

The main temple contains 1444 individually unique pilars, carved from white marble, and that's just the beginning. Every available space is filed with carvings of such intricate detail that it seems almost possible that such a undertaking could ever have been completed. One of the monks gave us the guided tour (last time we just wanted to see and experience  it by ourselves), attempting to explain in fifteen minutes the fundamentals of Jainism. More interesting was the daily rituals of the monks, including cleaning and anointing various statues and carvings with saffron paste.



Despite the fact that we were all drenched with perspiration we were all completely engrossed and could have easily spent another few hours trying to take in all the symbols. Yet another place we had to tear ourselves away from – but we had to get back on the road, this time towards Udaipur. It's only an hour and a half drive, so we used the time to brief Léonie on the major sights of Udaipur. Gerd and I have been there a number of times already so this visit was confined to checking out luxury hotels.

We were staying at a hotel that's new to us – and that absolutely charmed the pants off us.  If we're in the business of recommending A++ hotels (which fortunately we are), then this is definitely one of them!