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Published: February 9th 2006
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Entrance gate, Old Jaipur
entrance to the old city area From Fatehpur Sikri, it was a bad and bumpy road to Jaipur. NH 11, as it was called was anything but that and I just hoped and prayed that we reach our destination in one piece, as there were heavy vehicles on the single lane road driven ruthlessly by careless drivers. It was sundown when we reached Jaipur and checked into the JaiMahal palace hotel. The hotel was swarmed with foreigners and we were perhaps the only local Indian guests there! The next morning we met our tourist guide Mr. Vijay all dressed up in a suit who spoke very highly of his hometown.
He took us first to the Jantar Mantar observatory built by the erstwhile Rajput ruler, Raja Sawai Jai Singh the Second, also the founder of the city of Jaipur, which has the proud distinction of being the first planned city in the world. He was an astronomically oriented king and a pioneer in the study of planetary motion and research. The observatory at Jaipur is the best among the five built by him. It tells time accurately and also has instruments for every sign of the zodiac. Our next destination was the City Palace and we
Hawa Mahal Old Jaipur
palace of the winds... stopped en route to take pictures of the Hawa Mahal or Palace of the Winds, which was built exclusively for the ladies of the palace to view street side activity obscurely. All buildings inside the walled city were painted pink to welcome the Prince of Wales in the year 1876 and pink has remained the color of choice since then. The roads are all well planned and straight and today the area is extremely commercialized and bustling with activity. We decided to come back later for a stroll through its bazaars! At that moment however we had other places to see such as the ‘City Palace’ built by Sawai Jai Singh the Second. The palace was surrounded by a high wall and divided into a series of courtyards, gardens and other buildings. The ‘Chandra Mahal’ is seven storied and is still the private residence of the royal family. The other architectural beauties like Mubarak Mahal, Diwan-e Khas, Diwan-e-Aam have been converted into museums which have an array of royal costumes. The Maharani palace is now the armory and has on display arms from the 16th century, including Raja Man Singh’s (brother-in-law of Emperor Akbar and commander-in-chief of his army) sword
Jantar Mantar, Jaipur
astronomical observatory that is said to weigh 5kg. The most attractive feature of the Diwan-e-Khas are the two sterling silver vessels in which Raja Madho Singh, a devout Hindu took the holy Ganga water during a visit to Europe. The Diwan-e-Aam (presently an Art Gallery) has a well preserved, beautiful painted ceiling, paintings of the Rajput rulers and has ’howdah’s (elephant saddles) and palanquins among other exhibits. One could also see splendid, old Persian carpets with a predominantly red theme hanging from the wall.
11 km from Jaipur city lies the old fort of Amber, pronounced Aamer. Perched on a hill and formidable in its outlook, it was designed to keep invading armies at bay with its steep and narrow approachway and its non-pervasive watch towers. The beautiful Amber palace is accessible through an imposing gateway called the ‘Ganesh pol’ and boasts of magnificient halls, pavilions and gardens built by Raja Man Singh, Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Sawai Jai Singh over a span of two centuries. The main sites include the Diwan-e-Khas (hall of Private Audience) and the Diwan-e-Aam (hall of Public Audience). The influence of the matrimonial alliances with the Mughals is evident in the style and architecture of
these palaces and the naming of the buildings, the Diwan-e-Khas and the Diwan-e-Aam being classic examples. The Diwan-e-Khas is also known as the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ or the Glass Palace with its profuse mirror/glass inlays on the walls and ceiling. I was looking forward to seeing it as I had faint memories of a beautiful room from my childhood visit. Today the inner area of the Sheesh Mahal is barricaded, to avoid the palace from being vandalized. As a result, tourists have to be content with a distant view of the place. That’s the tragedy of the country…First it was the victorious enemy army that plundered and ruined forts and palaces along their trail, followed by the British and now the aam indian junta (average Indian citizen). Having removed the inlaid mirrors, they’ve gone about inscribing their silly names on the walls and their love interests’ if any. The Rajastan State government has put an end to this by barring access to historically rich areas; as they are aware that tourism is a great impetus to the economy and would benefit the state in the long run.
On our way back we stopped to take pictures of ‘Jal Mahal’ translated
Chandra Maha, City Palace, Jaipur.
Private residence of the royal family, ‘Water Palace’, which was used as the summer retreat by the royals. Built in the middle of the ‘Man Sagar’ lake, it is not open to the public. That evening, after dinner I found myself longing to revisit the old city again and explore its sights and wares that were for the offing. The street lined shops had so much to offer the curious shopper and almost everything under the sun was made locally. The jewellery, the jootis (foot wear), the bandhini (tie-die) outfits, home décor stuff was all very ethnic, bright, jazzy and attractive. Think Jaipur and think color!
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