In Jaipur you will even think pink
Jaipur truly lives up to its title as the Pink City. This captivating hue, a blend of terracotta and pink, is a hallmark of its architecture and is officially recognized in the city’s constitution. Inside the city wall, almost all the buildings are in this colour. When first in Jaipur, you should also journey to Amer Fort and pass the charming Jal Mahal in the lake. After New Dehli, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, Jaipur was my next stop in Rajasthan.
Hawa Mahal is known as the “palace of winds “.
Seen from the street, Hawa Mahal looks like the front wall of an enormous palace, but it is, in fact, the back of a palace. The building is a five-storey pyramidal-shaped monument. The top three floors of the structure have the width of a single room, while the first and second floors have patios in front of them. As seen from the street, the front elevation is like a honeycomb with small portholes. Each porthole has miniature windows and carved sandstone grills, finials and domes.
The name “The Palace of Winds” is derived from the absence of back walls, which allowed the breeze to blow through on warm days. The primary purpose of the building was for the Maharaja’s harem to sit behind the tiny windows and look out on the market, and no one from outside could see them.
The city wall of Jaipur
A city wall with seven gates surrounds the old city of Jaipur. Here you can see the New Gate, closest to my hotel. The reason for being pink? In 1876, Queen Victoria’s son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (who would later become King Edward VII) visited India. At the time, pink was the symbolic colour of hospitality. Therefore, the Maharaja had the city painted this colour. The streets in the old town are full of small stalls and handicraft shops, but I was warned by one of my drivers that the goods were very overpriced here, and most of the sellers were not local artisans.
Outside the wall
When you leave the wall gates, you find a much more modern city with shopping malls and trendy cafes. In this part, there are fewer houses painted pink. One of the places I wanted to visit was the Albert Hall Museum, on a park island surrounded by a circular road. Here, you will find the oldest museum in Rajasthan. It was considered one of the best 19th-century museums for the variety of its collections. I think I found the building more interesting than the actual exhibits, but it is worth a visit.
Amer Fort
Around eleven kilometres from Jaipur centre, you find Amer Fort, another UNESCO world heritage site. A local bus is going there, but it takes a long time, so I got a TukTuk driver to pick me up, wait for me, and take me back. This was the only day on my travel through Rajasthan when it rained. It was not heavy, but still, it made the day grey and a bit miserable. When driving along Maotha Lake, we could see this majestic fortress in the mist on the mountaintop.
I was left to walk from where I took this picture, so it was a little walk in the rain. However, it was a refreshing hike. At the bottom gate, you could hire an elephant ride up the road to the Fort courtyard. I would not do this under any circumstances, and it was sad to see the depressed eyes of the elephants, but I guess that is one of the downsides of tourism, and locals need to make money. The palace had beautiful gardens/parks, but most rooms were empty.
The palace has six distinct sections, each with its entry gate and courtyard. You enter the temple through an impressive double door adorned with silver and featuring a raised relief. Throughout the palace, you will encounter gates decorated with exquisite mosaics and sculptures, including the stunning Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace). The mirror mosaics and coloured glass transform the space into a “glittering jewel box in the flickering candlelight.” This destination is unquestionably worth a visit.
Jal Mahal
We stopped by the Main Sagar Lake and saw the Jal Mahal (meaning “Water Palace”). This grand Rajasthani architectural showcase has a terrace floor and a garden on top. When the lake is full, the lower levels remain underwater. We can not visit the Palace, which can only be seen from the lakeside.
Gaitor Ki Chhatriyan
On the way back to the old town of Jaipur, my driver wanted to show me a small, peaceful place: the Gaitor Ki Chhatriyan. The founder of Jaipur designated the site in the 18th century. The royals’ cenotaphs are scattered throughout the complex, creating a mix of shrunken open-air palaces and ornate towers. They’re beautiful pieces of architecture to behold. Each is topped with an umbrella-shaped dome called a chhatri, a standard fixture in Indian memorials or cremation sites.
Gaitore Ki Chhatriyan is a fascinating hidden gem. There was hardly anyone there, so it was peaceful and a nice change from the crowds in Amer Fort and the streets of Jaipur.
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