Touring the Pink City of Jaipur
The Indian city of Jaipur is known as the Pink City since many of the buildings there are colored pink or made of local red sandstone. Located about 160 miles southwest of Delhi and about 150 miles west of the Taj Mahal in Agra, Jaipur is one of the most popular destinations in India.
Jaipur was founded by the Rajput Maharaja Jai Singh II in 1727 when he decided to relocate his prominent kingdom from the mountainous Amber Fort to a large valley about six miles to the south. A renowned general and respected scholar, Jai Singh II built a planned community there containing a beautiful palace and numerous public buildings within high walls and gates. Today, Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan and has 2.3 million residents. While many of the most notable attractions are located in the Old City, there are plenty of interesting sites to see throughout the area.
We had a great time during a three-day visit to Jaipur. Here are some worthwhile places to see and unusual things to do there:
City Palace: The City Palace in the Old City combines the architecture of Mughal and Rajput traditions. In addition to some elegant pavilions and courtyards, the palace contains a number of interesting museums that display the clothes, weaponry and jewels of past Maharajas. Visitors also can view the Chandra Mahal residence of the modern royal family.
Hawa Mahal: The beautiful Palace of the Winds, located in the Old City, was built in 1799 as a place for the women of the royal court to view the marketplace, catch the breeze and observe the public from behind a series of screened balconies. Although five
stories high, the Hawa Mahal resembles a large wall rather than a building since it is only one room deep. Today, visitors can climb to the top and look out without a veil, or just photograph this unusual buildings from the street below.
Jantar Mantar: Jantar Mantar is one of five observatories built by Jai Singh throughout Rajasthan to encourage the study of the cosmos and the weather. The complex includes 16 gigantic instruments made of stone and metal that were used for everything from forecasting crop yields and locating the planets to telling the time of the day. A sundial there forecasts the time at Jaipur with an accuracy within20seconds.
Nahargarh Fort : Most visitors to Jaipur take the time to travel to Amer to see the magnificent Amber Fort after taking an elephant ride to the top. Another view of the city worth seeing is to visit the Nahargarh Fort where large cannons once protected the Old City below during the 18th and 19h centuries. Visitors to the fort also can see some large reservoirs, which reputably concealed the kingdom’s treasure for generations as well as nine identical apartments once occupied by the nine wives of one maharaja.
Tuk Tuk ride: While it is possible to drive around, one way to see the sites and observe the daily lives of people in the Old City is to arrange a tuk tuk ride from place to place. Think of weaving in and out of streets with no designated lanes on a glorified rider mower while crowded into an attached covered basket behind the driver.
Glenn Carberry of Norwich is a local attorney who practices in New London. A frequent world traveler, he has visited more than 50 countries and more than 100 World Heritage sites. This series shows some of the sites he and his wife Kimberly visited on a recent trip that included India, Singapore and Cambodia.