Sightseeing in Jaipur

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We drove past the impressive City Palace to the Window or Air Palace (Hawa Mahal) so named because it has many windows which are unglazed so that the air flows through. It is built in the shape of the crown of Krishna.The upper stories are just a facade but the royal women could watch street festivals from the lower stories. Our guide assured us that they led a very good life but I seriously doubt it compared to the life of modern women, but I did not think there was any point in arguing this.

We then drove about 10 k to the Amer fort commonly known as the Amber Fort. It was really nice for us to see hills again after the flat country round Agra and Delhi. This is a huge complex situated on a hill above a lake. Constructed of red sandstone and white marble, the palace is laid out on four levels, each with a courtyard. It consists of the Diwan-i-Aam, or "Hall of Public Audience", the Diwan-i-Khas, or "Hall of Private Audience", the Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace), or Jai Mandir, and the Sukh Niwas where a cool climate is artificially created by winds that blow over a water cascade within the palace. We were able to see all these main structures and they were very impressive and interesting and we also could look across the lake to an island where royalty would go by boat for musical concerts and dinners. The Amber Fort was well worth a visit and several thousand people go there every day.

We returned to Jaipur where we had several options so we went to visit the Jantar Mantar or outside observatory built by the Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh II, and completed in 1734. Our guide spoke of this king with great respect, he was apparently very intelligent and learned. The observatory instruments were huge and very advanced for their time (before telescopes) and also beautifully constructed of stone, white marble and brass. It was at least as much astrological as astronomical. The king built four other similar observatories at Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura and Varanasi.

We had a good lunch at the usual tourist type restaurant, turned down the expensive option of visiting the city palace, and then did some shopping as Rajasthan has beautiful fabrics, jewellery and clothing. We bought Christmas presents for the four younger grandchildren at a very reasonable price and Tamara succumbed to a pair of Rajasthani earrings with semi precious stones. Altogether we had had a very interesting and enjoyable time but we were quite tired and so happy to have a free afternoon which we spent quietly in the hotel sleeping (Dave) and blogging (Tamara). It was also nice to spend two night in the same place. We enjoyed another excellent buffet dinner accompanied by Indian Sula wine which is very good.

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