They were booked into the same hotel and had their dinner together. They decided to share the cars they were going to hire. Though Akash was a womaniser, strangely, he didn’t want to impress Ayushi in that fashion. He was content in being friends with her.
Next day, they visited the famous fort of Jhansi. They hired a guide who showed them nooks and corners of the fort. While the history of the fort grasped his interest, Ayushi was more into listening – trying to find a location that was yet unexplored.
He gave the guide an extra bonus when he recited the poem “Khoob ladi Mardani, Who toh Jhansiwali Rani thi…”
Then they visited the museum at Jhansi which displayed various artefacts and weapons used at various times by the Rulers of Bundelkhand. They returned to the hotel with great admiration for Rani Laxmibai.
Next day, they checked out of the hotel to onward journey to Devgarh where ancient Jain temples were located. They admired the carvings there…
They also visited the Dashavtari Temple dedicated to the Ten Avatars of Lord Vishnu. Again, the carvings on the temple impressed them.
They kept on touring and trekking, explored the ancient Caves of Buddha, the Ghat of Chitrakoot. What they learned and explored was a magnificent chapter on Ancient Indian history.
Strangely, his flirtatious instincts for Ayushi still hadn’t surfaced. He was comfortable in her company and being friends with her. Their bond of friendship had grown as the time passed and they kept exploring and picking up the glimpses of Bundelkhand.
On their last leg, they visited the famous temples at Khajuraho. They were quite impressed as well curious about why the carvings of Kamasutra were made there by the creators. It was a riddle and it remained so …
They finished their tour with one day to spare. They kept thinking what they could do on that day. One option was to visit the Khajuraho temples again. He was at the reception desk to check if they had missed out on anything …
He came back to her room, excited. He had found an unexplored or maybe lesser explored site…
“Hey, let’s visit Princess Kanika’s palace tomorrow. It’s about 65 km from here. I have already spoken to the tour guide and he is arranging a car for our travel.”
“Who is Princess Kanika? I have never heard of her…” she said blankly.
“Let’s go and find out. From what I understand, about 175 BC, the then king awaited the heir to the kingdom. But a girl was born – Princess Kanika. He hated her and so he built a palace far away from his Capital and shifted her there. That’s the palace we are gonna visit tomorrow. Be ready at 9am, good night.” And he left her room for his own.