Jaipur, the Pink City

15th September 2018

As usual, we meet our driver and guide at 9 am for todays adventures.

Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan, and was originally a walled city. It was named after the founding Maharajah, King Jai. All of the cities in Rajasthan have been named the same way, after their founding Maharajah.

Originally the buildings in the old city were all yellow in colour, but one maharajah decreed that he wanted people to feel welcome when they visited Jaipur, and the colour that depicts a welcoming is pink, so all of the buildings were painted pink, and this has remained the case today.

Driving in India is full of surprises, but you don't need to drive too far before running into a religious celebration of some sort. They are always accompanied by a lot of noise and people seemingly appearing from nowhere and stepping out and blocking the traffic.

Not sure what this one was about but the blocked a whole lane of traffic

Soon we are inside the old town, entering through one of the seven gates in the city wall. Jaipur was India's first planned city and is built on a grid pattern with wide streets.

All buildings are paitrd the distinctive pink colour and there is a lot of renovation going on

Our first stop this morning is only a photo stop, as it is located in a busy street in the middle of the old town and there is no where to park for any length of time. It is a building called the Wind Palace, and is really only a facade with no substantial building behind it. It was built as a place the Royal ladies could observe men's activities down at street level from behind screens so that they could not be seen.

The Wind Palace

From here we head out of town to a massive fort built high on a hill, which was the Maharaja's residence. it is known as the Amber Fort. From the fort you can see the high walls that have been erected to protect the fort from invasion. The fort is now owned by the Government, but there are two other forts nearby that used to house the armey, which numbered around 5,000 warriors. These two forts are still owned by the Maharajah and are destinined to become a luxury hotel.

The Amber Fort

To get to the main gate of the fort we are offered 3 options, ride an elephant, catch a jeep or travel in the comfort of our air conditioned car. Naturally we chose the latter.

The two army forts nearby connected to the Amber Fort by passages

The fortified wall surrounding the fort complex

Gate through the outer wall that we drive through to get to the car park

There is a large courtyard before the main Palace entrance when those who chose to arrive by elephant dismount.

From this area it is a short climb up some steep stairs to the main entrance gate of the Plalace.

Once inside the gate, you enter the main public courtyard where the Maharajah conducted his dialogue with his subjects. In this courtyard there is a large pavilion where the Maharajah and his ministers would sit and have dialogue with his subjects and resolve issues. The public would sit in the square outside the pavilion and were able to address the Maharajah and raise their issues over which he would then make a judgement.

The Maharajah would sit in the centre of this pavilion

The Public would sit on the ground outside the pavilion

The Queen would observe proceedings from the arches above this gate from behind the screens

It seems the Queen's role was more than observer, and when anyone raised an issue, it was broadcast loudly by an announcer, so everyone (including the Queen) could here what was going on. When it came time for the King to make his decision he would look up towards the Queen and she would signal through the open window which way she thought the King should rule on the matter.

Also in this public square was another important building where the accountant had his office, and it was from here the finances of the castle and collection of taxes were managed

Offices where the finances were managed

After entering the gate below where the Queen observed proceedings from, you enter a private courtyard which was for the private use of the Royal family. The public were not allowed. 

It was here the Royal Family relaxed

Through another gate, a third courtyard is reached, and in this one there is an elaborate pavilion which was reserved for the King's amusement. It was here he entertained visiting dignitaries etc in a Mens only environment, except of course for the beautiful dancing girls who were called in to provide the entertainment.

On three sides the pavilion was bordered by covered terraces elaborately decorated with paintings and inlaid mirrors

Inside, was equally elaborate and the King and guests were seated on the floor

Through another gate, and now getting pretty close to the top of the castle, was the last courtyard, which was for the Queen, his other wives and concubines. The Queen and wives had their own meeting pavilion in the centre of the square.

On all 4 walls of the square there were apartments for the Queen and wives, 12 of them in total, 3 along each wall.

This apartment (presumably for the favourite Queen) had a bath outside it

The concubines quarters were along the upper level

On the way out of the castle we passed through the staff quarters, of which there were hundreds. A large cooking vessel located in the yard gives some concept of the scale of the catering job to keep them fed.

Back down in the carpark our guide looks for our car, amongst a pretty disorganised car parking space. Fortunately we have a great driver, and he is always better at finding us than we are at finding him. he appears in no time and we work our way out of the carpark. i would hate to see it when it is busy !

Only a short drive from here is our next stop, the Lake Palace, this is now also owned by the Government and they are looking to convert it into a museum and restaurant. The Lake is a man made lake and was filled when the construction of the Palace was completed.

Lake Palace

Jaipur is known also the Gem City, as a lot of gemstones are collected from the nearby hills and processed into jewellery. It is most famous for amethyst and sapphires, but have a range of other precious and semiprecious stones. We had a quick stopover at a gem processor and shop (it was optional but we were interested to see what gems come from here), and we had a quick look and left.

It has been a full morning and it is time for lunch. We stopped at a nice restaurant to have a light meal. I don't think the concept of light meals is understood in India. Nevertheless, we had some nice Indian food before we ventured back out sightseeing again.

Our destination is back into the Old Town, and we soon pass through one of the City Gates on our way to Jantar Mantar, the largest stone observatory in the World.

One of the Kings was very interested in cosmology and astronomy and built this huge site made up of  large stone instruments, to tell the time, and make astronomical observations with the naked eye. The project which includes a total of 20 stone instruments was completed in 1734.

Walking to the entry gate we passed this innovative operator with an ATM in the back of his van.

Once inside the park, we are confronted with a field of weird looking shapes made of stone, all designed to measure things or locate positions of stars, planets, signs of the zodiac etc. Much of it was designed with students in mind, to use this facility to teach them about astronomy.

This Sundial is claimed to be accurate to within 20 seconds

This larger one is claimed to be accurate to within 2 seconds

Carole standing next to the shadow line on the calibrated scale of the large sundial

Our last visit for the day is to the City Palace Museum, only a short walk from Jantar Mantar and next to the Royal Palace where the current Maharajah lives.

Main Entrance

Photographing exhibits was not allowed, but there was a hall devoted to textiles covering everything from clothing over the years to the types of carpets used etc. Another area was devoted to the Dynasty that ruled Jaipur up until 1947, and information about each of the Kings. Also in this hall was the large meeting room where official business was conducted.

Here are a few shots of the buildings.

The yellow building in the back centre is the current Palace. The flags flying means the Maharajah is in residence today.

By now it is 3pm, and we are ready to head back to our hotel to get out of the heat and have a rest. We are travelling to Agra tomorrow and the road trip is expected to take around 5 hours.