VIBRANT RAJASTHAN- Jaipur

After overcoming the initial hitch of starting a blog, I am overwhelmed and encouraged with the instant response to continue to write and share my travel experience with others. When it comes to choosing the next place of interest, the images of vibrant Rajasthan come instantly to my mind. Though I have not had the opportunity to tour whole of Rajasthan, yet I have seen some of the important places of tourist interest .Unlike south of India which predominately has beautiful temples to boast of, Rajasthan and most of northern India have more of palaces, forts and havelis.

JAIPUR

The city of Jaipur forms the golden tourist triangle of India with Delhi and Agra .Just 240Kms from Delhi, Jaipur was built by Rajput ruler Maharaja Sawai Jaisingh (hence the name Jaipur) in the year 1727, who moved his capital from Amber to the present site. Later on it was covered in pink to welcome Prince Albert. The city has since then earned the name of `The pink city’ and has never been painted in any other colour. It is characterised by typical Rajput way of creating beautiful things and protecting them by high walls. The city has a number of beautiful palaces all protected and covered by high walls. Japipur itself is surrounded by rugged mountains on three sides and the mountains crowned with exotic forts. This capital of Rajasthan is well planned, boasts of urbanisation to the hilt, but still carries along its rich history of cavalry, its antiquity of art and culture in the form of ancient forts, palaces and other monuments.

The places I visited and recommend—

1.Moti dungri and Ganesh temple:

Moti dungri is a small hill situated in the middle of the city. The hill looks like a pearl drop, hence its name Moti Dungri which translates as pearl mount. An exotic palace, which is a replica of a Scottish castle, is perched atop the hill and was occupied by Maharaja Sawai Man singh. It has, since been a private property and not opened to the tourists. In the recent past, it served as a home for Rajmata Gayatri Devi’s only son, late Jagat singh. Among local people, the place is popular for the auspicious`Motidungri wale Ganeshji' and the temple is frequented by Jaipurites on religious occasions.

2.Albert Hall :

Just outside the walled city, there is expansive Ram Niwas Garden, which has always been a place for recreational activities. The garden dotted with small pools was basically a famine relief project but due to its beauty, it was mostly used by the British families to entertain their guests. Albert hall is present in the middle of this garden area and was opened in the year 1887. The architecture is a mix of British and Indian art and design and is known as the pride of new Jaipur. It is now converted into a museum.

3.Jaipur City Palace:

The city palace complex lies in the heart of the walled city and is a living example of the farsightedness of the founder of the city, i.e., Maharaja Sawai Jaisingh. The entire complex has many palaces and mansions, some of which were added later on by other maharajas. The architecture of the city palace is a fine example of the blending of Rajput and Mughal styles.

On entering the palace complex, first of all, there lies the Mubarak Mahal which served as a welcome or reception hall and is presently a museum mostly housing the royal costumes.

There is Maharani’s palace which has, on display, an array of the Rajput weaponry . It has an astonishing variety of daggers, knives, chains, pistols and small cannons. The paintings on the ceilings are still preserved.

The hall of public audience or Diwan-e-aam houses an art gallery now. It protects some rare original Hindu manuscripts. In addition, it holds many miniature paintings of Rajput, Mughal and Persian origin. Most interesting are the miniature copies of Bhagwat Gita made to hide and protect them from Emperor Aurangzeb’s onslaught on Hindu scriptures.

The Hall of Private Audience is an intricately arched and designed structure and has on display, a pair of the world’s largest sterling silver vessels called Gangajali. (refer pic for more info).
A Part of the Palace, Chandra Mahal, is still occupied by ex-royal family . The lower floor is maintained as an exhibition hall by the royal family and houses a majestic collection of artefacts. The gate to the court yard, the Mayure gate, itself is a fine cue to what grandeur to expect inside.

While passing from one mansion to another, I could see a collection of royal chariots, carriages and hawdas (elephant seats) - a glimpse of life in those times.

The Mukut Mandir atop the palace also offered a bird’s eye view of the city.

4. Jantar Mantar :

The largest of the five observatories built by Maharaja Jaisingh in North India, is situated to the east of Chandra Mahal in Jaipur. This has been described as `the most surrealistic and logical landscape in stone. The hugely built instruments, looking like `a giant’s playthings’, measure the local time, the Sun’s declination and altitude, other stars’ and planets’ declination and determine eclipses. The 9-metre high dais maintains an accuracy that is remarkable even today.
I recommend to keep at least half a day for this place to observe various astronomical phenomena if you are really interested in Astro-physics.

5.Hawa Mahal :

Built by the King Sawai Pratap Singh, this palace of winds is the most well-known landmark of Jaipur city. It is a part of the city palace complex but is best viewed from the road outside. A five storied monument overlooking the city market, Hawa Mahal is an excellent example of Rajput architecture with its intricately designed, honey-combed jharokhas carved in pink sandstone.. It was basically built for the Maharanis to sit behind the screened windows and view various processions and other activities of the city.

One should go to the city market to have the best view, but one can climb to the top from the palace side to view the city from the latticed facade.

6.Jaigarh Fort :

The Jaigerh fort is one of the three hill-top forts of Jaipur. It was a major weapon producing centre during Mughal and Rajput period and is one of the few military establishments of medieval India which is well maintained. The fort is known for its largest cannon on wheels in the world, called Jai Ban. It does not have the usual embellishments of very luxurious palaces, and is instead a true fort in design and being the most imposing of the three forts it is rightly known as the victory fort or Jaigarh. The fort was built to protect both Jaipur as well as Amber. It has a granary and a mint to make ashrafis (coins).

It was the royal treasury for many years. A very steep road takes one to the main gate named Dungar Darwaza to give a beautiful view of the city.

7.Nahargarh Fort :

Also called as the Tiger Fort, it gives a spectacular view of the city. Nahargard means a dwelling place of tigers and was built to further protect Amber. The legend has it that the name Nahargadh was given after late Prince Nahar Singh whose spirit would not allow any construction and stalled any progress. On an advice from a saint the fort was named as the Nahargarh fort to appease Nahar Singh’s spirit. The palace or the Madhvendra Bhawan is an awe inspiring structure with intricate frescos on the ceilings. It was used as summer palace by the royal family.

8.Amber Fort and Palace :

Amber was the original capital of the Kachhwahas for six years before the birth of Jaipur. Amber stands atop a range of craggy hills, 11Kms away from jaipur. The fort is picturesque because of its grandeur of surroundings and fascinating mansions inside. The antiquity of the citadel is established to at least, as back as 10th century.

The palaces inside are constructed in red sandstone with pavements of white marble and richly decorated walls and ceilings with paintings, carvings, mirrors and gem stones. There are beautiful lush green gardens on all sides that compete well with the inner decor and luxuries. Maota lake was created in the foreground of the fort to ward of the enemy and to bathe elephants and horses. The elephants still bathe here and are used to ferry interested tourists right up to the palace. A flight of staircase or a winding uphill road takes one to the main gate called as Suraj Pol.

Inside, the palace has four symmetrical parts. From Suraj Pol one enters Jaleb chowk (refer pic) , a huge courtyard . There is a Kali temple known for its silver doors and lions. Another stairway leads to a courtyard of the fort, where one can see Diwan-e-aam.
This is a huge pavilion of double row of beautifully carved columns with a latticed gallery and an exquisite Ganesh gate leading to residential royal apartments, Char Bagh, Sukh Niwas and Diwan-e-Khas.Diwane-e-Khas or the hall of private audience or Sheesh Mahal or Jai Mahal is a house of mirrors and is famous for its inlaid floral designs filled with mirrors all over and guarded by sandalwood doors inlaid with ivory and is considered the best chamber of mirrors in the world.

Many of the ancient structures have been ruined but those dating from the 16th century onwards are well preserved to a great extent.

9. Other places :

Before I come back to a very interesting place, I would suggest a quick dekho at the following places, if one has some more time to spare (I could manage )---

a) Kanak garden : This is a recently restored (in 1988) garden but well landscaped with a temple, carved marble columns and lattices and lies on the way to the forts of Jaipur.

b) Birla temple: Made in white marble, a grand place.

c) Lake palace or Jal Mahal

d) Galtaji: Dedicated to the Sun God, it also provides a beautiful view of the city.

10. Gatore :

This is the cremation place for the kings of the royal family and is situated on a narrow slip road which diverts from Jaipur- Amer road. There is a separate cremation place for the queens which is opposite Jal Mahal and the place is still used for the royal family. Commonly known as chhatriyan (umbrellas), these cenotaphs are covered with domes on beautifully carved pillars.

The main attraction at Maharanion ki chhatriyan is the cenotaph of Queen Jadon which is a five domed structure with four kiosks at the corners with intricately carved pillars.

Comparatively, I found Gatore,where kings’ chhatriyan lie, grandeur and more expansive with a very large number of umbrellas ( I lost count after twenty ).
Rich in Rajput style architecture, this place is a must for every tourist. I was surprised to know that Gatore ki chhatriyan is a rarely visited monument and even the person, a Jaipurite, who accompanied me around was not aware of its existance and was pleasantly surprised to `discover’ the place. Gatore ki chhatriyan are in very good condition, the reasons could be that- most people have no idea of their existence, and that this place does not fall on the route to other famous sites.

P.S. When in Rajasthan, must eat traditional meal of daal-bati, churma and gatte ki sabzi and other delicious specialities.

Shoppers must go to the pink city and scavenge for Jaipur Jadau jewellery and tie- and- dye fabric in Johari, Bapu and Tripolia bazaars.