I have been to Jaipur, dozen times but never came to know about Galtaji Monkey Temple until I saw 2 hours of mind blowing documentary on Monkey Thieves at National Geographic. Though I never agree with the term thieves, but it was an amazing documentary.
So for my June trip to Jaipur, Galtaji Temple was my top 3 places to visit in Pink city, other 2 being Chand Baori and Dulhagarh sand dunes.
Galtaji Monkey temple is on the eastern side of Jaipur and inside the Aravali hills range. Road for the temple is clean, and it took us 20 mins to reach the temple from Amer Road (where Jal Mahal is)
Gatla Ji Monkey Temple
Well, there is a vast history behind this temple. It’s said that this temple was built in the 16th century, but there is no record of it.
But it was renovated by a member of Jaipur court in the 18th century for the locals, and now most of the crowd today here are tourists rather than locals.
This temple has some 100-200 with monkeys, and that’s the main reason I came here.
1st gate of Galta temple
There isn’t any entry ticket but a Rs 50 charge for cameras is there, which I paid and collected these images of Galta Temple for you & me.
Main entry gate of gatla Temple
Temple timings are from 5:00 am to evening 7:00 pm and the best time to visit, is before 11:00 am as Jaipur is quite hot from March to August.
Just a warning
If you are scared of monkeys, then don’t travel alone.
But the good news is that monkeys in Gatla ji temple aren’t very… naughty. Its Jaipur, not New Delhi :) and there is plenty of food & water for them.
He is either welcoming or he might be the cashier? Check the sign board
So I entered the temple and saw this – I call it The Monkey Panchayat or Khap Panchayats (well the 2nd term might be offensive for the monkeys & they might sue me. If you don’t get this joke then just google the khap Panchayats of India)
A Monkey Panchayat
Inside the temple complex (ground floor)
2nd temple inside the complex
Well there isn’t much to see on the ground floor, aspect the awesome monkeys, the wonder of this monkey temple starts from the water tank on the 1st floor, have a look:
Water tank on 1st floor
And here I met this guy.
Confident with monkeys aka The Monkey Man
Can’t remember the guy name but he wasn’t a guide. Plus when we told him to grab two monkeys, he said. Why not three?
I can’t even handshake with one, but Mr. Monkey Man (yep that’s the name I have given to him) did this.
Mr Monkey Man with two monkeys
Mr Monkey Man attracting three monkeys with some peanuts
He got three, as the monkeys are from Jaipur, not from New Delhi
Mr. Monkey Man was more than happy to show us the temple and it was quite fun.
Next, we went to the 2nd floor of the temple and here is the view from there:
View of the temple from 2nd floor
And there is a 2nd and much cleaner water tank where urban monkeys are enjoying the water. Here is a pic:
Modern day monkeys on 2nd floor. No offence if you are in this picture
And finally, the 3rd floor of this mountain placed monkey temple, where the top level monkeys do their daily chores.
Top floor monkeys
Top floor monkeys
From here you can also travel a kilometer to see the Sun Temple, which we didn’t as we were here only for Galta Ji temple. But I must say that this temple is unique.
I mean there are many temples in Rajasthan and India where you will find monkeys but here it’s like monkeys are the priest, and there is no way in hell that they will attach anyone.
So whether you have the fear of monkeys or not, do visit Galta Ji temple in Jaipur.
Complete view of Galta ji temple Jaipur from top of the mountain
Monkeys at halt a temple are so Sharif. So I will advise not to travel alone
Even I am not comfortable in the company of wild monkeys but here at Galta temple, these macaques are well feed do they rarely ever attach any traveler.
I have been here … for me despite the fact that I detest monkeys, I loved the site and the uniqueness it held,of having monkeys as priests.
Well in India every thing is possible, so monkeys here are like the owners here. No wonder they start charging entry ticket :)
i am going to rajasthan and ladakh next week. what are the spots which i should not miss. i like going to off the beaten path places and i travel alone. – dong ho from philippines