With the Monsoon come the gentle rains that warm and soothe like good wine. In Amanbagh, in a meditative valley of Rajasthan, therapy is all around you; in the large open spaces and quiet, orderly service that doesn’t impose; the fresh smells and the soft pinks shades of the buildings and the elegant interiors and extensive gardens which you have to experience with the senses, not the imagination.
This five day retreat is a time to heal. There is none of that ‘end of day, and I’ve done nothing’ loneliness you get in the city. The Monsoon season is cool, and the ‘Wellness Experience’ is just a name to let people know what they might expect; it doesn’t just mean yoga and meditation and Reiki. They’re all here of course, and can be tailored to fit you like a glove, but it’s about thinking big about how it all comes together. Even after the body is detoxified and your mental landscape is as peaceful as the shower outside the window, there is a lot more real life to look at.
If you are here to propose, or await someone’s proposal, or marry, or anything that you’ve been waiting a long time to do, then you find out that you really don’t have to do very much. This is understated indulgence with many smiles and unassuming easiness thrown in. A priest can ‘renew vows’ Indian style, if you like, before that reignited spark leads you to the private Pool Pavilion where the food is prepared to make you love each other even more. The cuisine is organic, as expected; extensive menus and elegant dishes are prepared, but they are unfussy and delicately flavoured, with vegetables and herbs brought in from the garden. In the champagne you can see stars and on the hills to the west is the vast rugged terrain of the Aravalli Hills.
Meditation and Yoga will assist you in channeling all the right energies, and focusing them, even as you walk out in the warm rain through the exotic gardens with tall palms and antique eucalyptus trees and manicured lawns. You then stop under a pavilion in the Terrace Haveli, and sip more cold white wine, and let that warm feeling dissipate through your skin – purified, clear, glowing. Take out a book like Somerset Maugham did in a place like this – one that you bought for the occasion – and then put it down and close your eyes. You don’t really need to read. It’s just the idea of it. They painted henna art on your feet, and yesterday you went and saw many beautiful temples and palaces. They too are just an idea now that you take with you.
You need to get back to the spa for that facial, and you wonder what the fire meditation will be like. On the tree in the garden near the lake is a blossom. It shivers in the wind. It looks almost perfect, and so you get up…
For more information, please go to www.amanresorts.com/amanbagh/home.aspx
