This famous city is the capital of Rajasthan and has earned universal renown as the " Pink City ", and pink it is, with beautiful constructed palaces, havelis and forts. Tall, rugged men with handle-bar whiskers sport bright pink turbans. Jaipur which means the city of victory was built exactly 273 years back and is 262 km by road from Delhi ( Capital of India ). A strong wall encircles the old city and even today has a suggestion of formidable strength, its function of protecting all within is obvious.
The plains of Rajasthan of which Jaipur is the capital once thundered and echoed with clash of swords and the drums of wars.Built in 1727 by Sawai Jai Singh-II, Jaipur was the first planned city of its time ( the earlier planned city in northern India having been built near Taxila sometime in the 2nd century BC ).
Jaipur was planned by Vidhyadhar Bhattacharya, a Bengali architect, in a grid system with wide straight avenues, roads, streets and lanes and uniform rows of shops on either side of the main bazaars, all arranged in nine rectangular city sectors (chokris). The city itself is an attractive creation worthy of universal admiration.
There is a feast in store for tourists. Attractive monuments where one can breathe the fragrance of history. Comfortable and luxurious hotels, once the proud of kings, parks, gardens, and excursions of nearby places of interest, make Jaipur a tourist's paradise.
Tourist Places
City Palace
The City Palace is a historic landmark. The carved arches are supported by grey-white marble columns studded with floral motifs in gold and coloured stones. Two elephants carved in marble guard the entrance, where retainers whose families have served generations of rulers are at hand to serve as guides.
The palace interior houses a Museum containing select collection of various types of Rajasthani dresses, a fascinating armoury of Mughal and Rajput weapons; swords of all shapes and sizes, with chased handles, some of them inlaid, enamelled, encrusted with jewels and encased in bold and magnificent scabbards.
It also has an art gallery with a fine collection of paintings, carpets, royal paraphernalia and rare astronomical works in Arabic, Persian, Latin and Sanskrit, acquired by Sawai Jai Singh-II for his study of planets and their movements.
Jantar Mantar
Jantar mantar is one of Jai Singh's five remarkable observatories. Constructed with stone and marble its complex instruments whose settings and shapes are precisely and scientifically designed represent the high points of Medieval Indian astronomy. The Ram Yantras used for gauging altitudes are unique in their isolation. this is the largest of the five observatories founded by Sawai Jai Singh-II in various parts of the country.
Major Yantras or instruments that you can watch moving clockwise are: Small 'Samrat', 'Dhruva', 'Narivalya', The Observer's Seat, Small 'Kranti', 'Raj'
'Unnathamsa', 'Disha', 'Dakshina', Large 'Samrat', 'Rashivalayas', 'Jai Prakash', Small 'Ram', Large 'Ram Yantra', 'Diganta', Large 'Kranti'
Hawa Mahal
Built by the poet king Sawai Pratap Singh, the Hawa Mahal is the most strikingly designed monument in Jaipur. What is seen from the Sireh Deorhi Bazaar is the multiniched five storey high backside of the complex ( see it in photo gallery ). It was conceived to provide adequate vantage position behind delicate stone carved jali screens to the palace women for watching the royal processions passing through the bazaar below.