JAIPUR
Self-appointed 'monkey masters' and saffron-robed 'priests' will offer unsolicited protection or blessings (red-yellow thread, forehead tilak) then demand ₹500-1000 — a fair donation is ₹20-50 if you want one at all, and you can decline entirely. Worth visiting for the temple tanks and views, but go in with zero cash out until you've decided who deserves it.
A pilgrimage site in a narrow gorge in the hills east of Jaipur, Galtaji has been a retreat for ascetics of the Ramanandi Vaishnavite sect since the early 1500s, centered on the site's association with the sage Galav, who is said to have meditated and done penance here. The temple complex seen today was built in the 18th century by Diwan Rao Kripa Ram, a courtier of Sawai Jai Singh II, including a Surya (sun) temple and a series of natural spring-fed sacred water tanks (kunds), the largest of which is believed never to run dry. It is popularly known as the Monkey Temple for the large troops of rhesus macaques and langurs that inhabit the surrounding cliffs and temple tanks.
