Jaipur - The Pink City

6 Oct, Thursday                                City Tour of Jaipur

This morning we met our local guide and embarked on a tour of the old city of Jaipur.  Jaipur is also known as the “Pink City,” as many of its buildings are constructed from pink and red sandstone.  Our first stop was to an elephant farm where we had the chance to ride an Asian elephant.  We were supposed to ride the elephant up to the Amber Fort, but there is a 10 day Hindu festival ongoing so the elephants are not allowed to travel up to the fort.  Instead, we got a 20 minute ride around the elephant farm.  This ride was much better than the others we have had because they had a platform on the back of the elephant that we rode on.  All along the ride were the “hawkers” trying to sell us a bunch of fake souvenirs.  Our guide had warned us about them so we kept telling them “no” in Indian and they finally left us alone.  The poor couple in front of us did not get the message and they were pestered the entire trip.

Our next stop was the Amber Fort.  Before we got there, our guide took us to the ruins of an old Temple complex that included a pool with incredible marble steps leading down to it.  The Panna Meena Ka Kund, an eight-story step-well, was built in the sixteenth century as a sort of community gathering area.  It was a place where people could come for water, a swim, a chat with a neighbor or to relax during the hottest parts of the day.  This beautiful well has a unique architecture with criss-cross steps arranged on three sides with small niches created into the walls. The fourth side has a multi-storied balcony. The doorways are located at a lower level and one can find octagonal gazebos here which make this place quite attractive.  According to the local residents, it is impossible for a person to use the same stairs to get down and go upstairs. .  Near the step well was an ancient temple. It was quite an interesting stop – unfortunately it is too dangerous to climb down the steps to the pool area (and the water in the pool looked very green although there were fish swimming in it).

The Amber Fort (Amer Fort), which sits high atop a hill overlooking Jaipur, was built by Raja Man Singh I, who was one of the first war chiefs of the Emperor Akbar.  Man Singh began the construction of a fortress-palace of white marble and red sandstone in 1592.  The fort is known for its artistic style, blending both Hindu and Mughal architecture.  With its large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks the Maota Lake.  Above the Amber Fort is the Jaigarh Fort, built by Sawai Jai Singh II in 1726 to protect the Amber Fort. The Amber Fort and Jaigarh Fort are considered one complex, as the two are connected by a subterranean passage. This passage was meant as an escape route in times of war to enable the royal family members and others in the Amber Fort to flee to the more defensible Jaigarh Fort.  Surrounding this complex is an 18 km wall which reminded us of the Great Wall of China.

The fort is laid out on four levels, each with a courtyard.  You enter Amber Fort through Suraj Pol (Sun Gate), which leads to the Main Courtyard, where returning armies would display their war booty to the populace.  Heading up to the main stairway you enter the second courtyard and the Diwan-i-Aam (Hall of Public Audience), which has a double row of columns, each topped by a capital in the shape of an elephant. It was here that the Raja met with his officials, held court with his subjects, and celebrated victories and other special events.  

The Ganesh Pol (gate) provides access into the private living quarters of the Raja and his family.  One of the most spectacular buildings is the Jai Mandir, which is exquisitely embellished with glass inlaid panels and multi-mirrored ceilings. The mirrors are of convex shape and designed with colored foil and paint which would glitter bright under candlelight at the time it was in use. Also known as Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace), the mirror mosaics and colored glasses were a "glittering jewel box in flickering candle light".

The maharaja’s palace was located around the third courtyard, while the zenana (secluded women’s quarters) surrounds the fourth courtyard.  The rooms were designed so that the maharaja could embark on his nocturnal visits to his wives’ and concubines’ respective chambers without the others knowing, as the chambers are independent but open onto a common corridor.  It is said that he had 300 concubines in addition to his many wives.

Driving from the Amber Fort, our driver stopped by Sagar Lake so we could view the Water Palace.  It is a beautiful palace in the middle of the lake, but no one goes there anymore (supposedly it is being turned into an ultra-exclusive restaurant).  It is believed to have been built about 300 years ago and was once the shooting lodge for the Maharajah.  It is a five story building made of red sandstone (although the walls are a light sand color).  Four of the stories are under water when the lake is full.  It can only be accessed by boat.

Following our trip to the Fort, our next stop was the City Palace (this complex includes the Chandra Mahal and Mubarak Mahal palaces).    Today the Mubarak Mahal palace is a museum containing a variety of textiles such as the royal formal costumes, sanganeri block prints, embroidered shawls, Kashmiri pashminas and silk saris.  The Chandra Palace is still used by the Royal family of India, although their role in government is now mostly ceremonial. For a seeming exorbitant price tourists are allowed to take an elevator to the top level for a view of Jaipur. We graciously declined their offer.  The City Palace complex is a beautiful pink palace (just about every building in Jaipur is made from this pink, although I would call it more salmon-colored) sandstone.

Next to the City Palace was the Jantar Mantar, a unique 18^th-century astronomical observatory containing 14 major geometric devices for celestial study.  These include a collection of stone sundials, a zodiac circle, and a method for finding longitude and latitude.  It was built in 1724 by Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur who not only built this observatory, but also observatories in Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura.  Jai Singh had found the existing astronomical instruments too small to take correct measurements and so he built these larger and more accurate instruments.  It was an interesting place that Bill really enjoyed, but unfortunately accurate observations can no longer be made from here because of the tall buildings around.

 

On our way to lunch we drove by the Palace of the Winds (Hawa Mahal).  It was built in 1799 of pink and red sandstone  and is believed to be constructed in the shape of the crown of  Krishna, the Hindu god.  It has a pyramid shape with 953 windows which are decorated with intricate designs.   Its name is a misnomer – it is not a palace but merely a façade where the queen and the princesses would go so they could watch every day proceedings in the street area through the windows without being seen by the “common folk.”  Apparently royal women were never seen in public.  There really isn’t anything to visit and parking is non-existent so our driver made a 20 second stop so I could snap some pictures.

Lunch was at a very nice restaurant that served both Indian and Chinese food.  As much as I complained about all the Chinese food we had had in the last 3 weeks, I opted for the sweet and sour chicken.  Indian food is just too spicy for me, although I do love their warm, flat roasted bread.  Bill got the chicken curry, and although it was a little spicy, it was not bad.

After lunch our guide took us to a school of painting, where artists are taught the ancient art of miniature painting.  They make their paints from the minerals found in the earth and their very tiny paint brushes are made from squirrel fur.  Although the brushes each had several bristles to them, one was longer than the rest and that is the single bristle that the artist uses to paint the pictures.  They had a man there to demonstrate – they called him the professor.  Using this brush, he wrote each of our names on a single piece of rice (and he did not need glasses or a magnifying glass to complete this job).  It was truly amazing, and the paintings done by the professor and his students were stunning – so stunning that (and Patrice this may surprise you) we bought two of them.

That was our final stop for the day.  It was a good thing – rain began falling shortly after we got back to the hotel.  The day had been hot and muggy so it was good to relax in our air conditioned room.  Tomorrow we are off to Ranthambore National Park in search of the illusive Bengal tiger.