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City Information
JAIPUR-" The City of Victory", was first intended to be "Sawai Jaipur", named after the boy Prince who commissioned it - Maharaja Jai Singh II - a warrior, astronomer and politician who reigned over the Mughals from 1699 to 1743. Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, a grand visionary and architect, helped Jai Singh II design and develop his vision of the city. The two began work during the second half of the Prince's reign in 1727.
Concentrating on shaping his creative pursuits and passions, Jai Singh's ambition was to make Jaipur one of the greatest cities of his time. He was clearly successful. Within five years a walled city of unparalleled beauty was created.
Jaipur was built according to a plan, with the glittering City Palace in the center. Spreading around, in tiers, were public buildings, residences of noblemen, and the living and trading quarters of merchants and artisans. At it's simplest; Jaipur is based on seven blocks of buildings, subdivided by straight, wide roads. All of it surrounded, as cities then were, by a high wall for defense into which were set seven gates. Today's Jaipur is pink, visually described as the city shaded with the autumn colors of a sunset. Although originally the walls were render set and pigmented the color of red sandstone, Jaipur's universal coat of pink only came in 1876 to coincide with the visit of the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII). Almost the entire city was given a coat of pink paint, thus giving it the name "The Pink City".
In her book, "A Princess Remembers", Maharani Gayatri Devi describes the city thus - ……..On a plain, encircled by brown desert hills with fortifications and walls snaking over their contours. The capital itself was the prettiest I had ever seen - an intricacy of domes and towers, lattices and verandas, with all the buildings colored a deep oleander pink. In the wide well planned streets the women wore skirts, bodices and shawls instead of saris, and all the men wore gloriously colored turbans - red, magenta, daffodil yellow and an indescribable pink that was both pale and piercing. It was an incredible effect, this pink against the background of the desert sky.
The City Palace
The spectacular City Palace is the residence of the former ruling family of Jaipur. It occupies the centre of the city, covering one-seventh of its area and surrounded by a high wall - the Sarahad. The architecture combines Rajput, Mughal and English elements. The Jaipur royal family resides in what is known as the Peacock Courtyard, although this is no longer open to the public.
Jantar Mantar
Literally "instruments for measuring the harmony of the heavens", the Jantar Mantar Observatory was built between 1728-1734. Not content with brass, Jai Singh II wanted things on a grand scale and chose stone with a marble facing on the important planes. Each of the instruments serves a particular function and each gives an accurate reading. This is a fascinating site.
The Amber Fort - "The Fortress Palace"
Amber was one of the most important of all Rajput cities. It was the ancient capital of the Kacchwaha Rajputs from the 12th century until the foundation of Jaipur in the early 18th century. The seventeenth century fort complex at Amber occupies a steep hillside, overlooking the strategic pass that gave entry to the kingdom of the Kacchwaha Maharajas from the Mughal territories to the north.
Despite some haphazard scars of renovation, and notwithstanding other whimsical additions that go on even now, there are few sights in all of Rajasthan that match the majesty and grandeur of Amber.
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