A Colourful Evening at Chokhi Dhani Sonipat (complete inside tour)
Chokhi Dhani is a group with a Rajasthani Village themed hospitality since 1990. It started its presence from Jaipur with its 5 Star Chokhi Dhani resort & hotel. Now they have their presence in Jaisalmer, Indore, Sonipat, Panchkula, Chennai and Pune.
I have always been a fan of rajasthani culture and cuisines. I love their colorful attires, their language, their accent, their warmth. In short I love everything about them. So, when I received an invite from Chokhi Dhani Sonipat, I didn’t take much time to say yes to them. We planned to visit there on weekend (preferably Sundays), as that’s the convenient time for everyone at home. And I actually try to dedicate my Sundays to my baby (I preferably call her my matku).
So here we left at around 4pm from our place which is hardly 1.5 hours distance from Chokhi Dhani Sonipat. And we were targeting to reach there by 6pm, and as planned we almost reached there at dot 6. Thanks to Google Maps. We entered with a warm welcome by 3 gentlemen dressed in traditional rajasthani attire who were playing dhol and drums and made us dance to their beats. I preferred clapping whereas my matku was just raising her legs up and down over the beats. At the entrance a lady in ghaghra with a tilak thali (plate) greeted us (“Ghani Khamma”- Greetings in Rajasthan) and put a tilak on our foreheads.
The reception was filled with around 10-12 people in the line for an entrance ticket, we took some pictures at the reception and quickly entered with our tickets in hand along with Kachori and Pakora coupons.
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The moment we entered the main entrance of Chokhi Dhani which is spread in 12.5 acres of land, there were 10-12 folks traditionally dressed in rajasthani attire, were standing to greet us (“Ram Ram sa”- Greetings in Rajasthan).Chokhi Dhani entry fee: For adult: INR 700 (above 9 years) and for child: INR 450 (3-9 years)
Chokhi Dhani Sonipat timings: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm or 6:00pm to 11:00pm
We moved further and our eyes got stuck at a person who was dressed as Ravana, I quickly introduced Ravan’s character to my matku and she shook hands with him and asked me to click some of her pictures, she was actually enjoying the ambiance. We quickly collected some pakoras, chai and kachori, then moved further to take a round of the whole village setup.
We started off with some folk dance, where that lady just pulled my hand graciously and insisted me to dance along. So I danced along with her and my matku too. It was such a fascinated sight to see those ladies dancing in colorful dresses.
Although the fun was all free however we still paid them some amount for their efforts. Then there was a Puppet Show, Traditional Magic Show, Snake Charmers, Bullock Cart Rides, Camel Rides, Tractor Ride, Horse rides, Toy Train Rides, Bhul Bhulaiya, Astrologers, Mehandi Tattoos, Dart Games, Shooting, Dancing, Pottery, phewww. We almost tried all the activities.
We further moved and there was a Rajasthani lady who was cooking baajra rotis on a big tawa and served it white makkhan, garlic chutney and jaggery. It was 9pm by then and a perfect time for dinner.
We turned back towards the entrance where there was a big dining hall where we were asked to sit on mattresses on floor. There were some 8-9 people again all dressed in traditional rajasthani attires along with pagris and were busy serving food. The moment we entered the dining hall they greeted us “ram ram sa” and guided us to a place to sat down.
And they started serving, they didn’t end. 1,2,3,4…items were not ending. We were served somewhere around 20 dishes- all traditional Rajasthani – famous names include daal baati, jaipuri kadi, gatta jodhpuri.
Out of all Daal Baati is my all-time favorite.
Although it’s too heavy but once in a while and that too having it at a place like Chokhi Dhaani you just can’t say “NO”. The taste was authentic. It felt so homely, Packed to the brim of my body, we were done by 10 pm and started back towards our house. We all had a big smile on our faces for this lovely weekend getaway, especially My Matku, who enjoyed it the most. She still sometimes asks me, mumma where is Ravan?
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