JAIPUR

We awoke at our hotel to find all signs of the night's wedding celebrations had been well cleared away. Kapil had told us that celebrations are always over 3 days. 1, each family in its own home; 2, the wedding ceremony, where say 3/4 of guests are on bride's side and the bride's father pays; 3 the bridegroom's family entertains - with the guests and costs are vice versa to day 2. Kapil added that 70% of Indian marriages are arranged. The percentages, given by our guides, have varied as we've travelled around but it seems clear that arranged marriages are still very much a feature of social life here.

We drove from the hotel into Jaipur - the Pink City, so called for the profusion of buildings built in pink stucco. Jaipur is considered to be one of the first planned cities in India. It was created in 1727 by Maharajah Sawai Jai Singh and the capital of Rajasthan was moved there from Amber. There are still strict planning rules and everywhere is maintained in pink, even in the less grand side streets.

On of the grandest of Jaipur's buildings is the 'Palace of the Winds', built in 1799 in red sandstone as part of the City Palace. It was an extension of the women's chamber and has 950 windows, designed to allow the ladies of the household to view city life without being seen. It got its name because it is designed so that air circulates to keep it cool even in the hot summer months. As Kapil pointed out, we had now moved from The Mughal, Islamic dominated style of architecture of Delhi and Agra to the Hindu Rajput style.

And now on to a change of transport for our visit to the Palace of Amber. We were offered the opportunity of approaching it on the back of an elephant and a team of them were lined up for us.

Liz wisely decided to opt out, so John and I settled on the back of one of the beasts for the slow, steep climb up to the Palace.

Our elephants deposited us in the large courtyard area of the palace, looking out high over the surrounding hills...

...and the artificial lake below with the Kesar Kyari Bagh, which has star-shaped flowerbeds once planted with rare saffron (kesar) flowers.

 

There has been a fort of some kind here since the 11th century but it wasn't until 1592 that this citadel was established. A central feature is the three-storeyed gateway built in 1640 and leading to the private apartments. It is seen here behind our guide, Kapil, and escort, Karylin.

 

In the private apartment area is the Sheesh Mahal chamber, whose mosaics are embedded with tiny mirrors so that the flame of a single candle transforms it into a starlit sky.

It is situated...

 

...in front of the pleasure garden, Aram Bagh.

The style of the Palace Fort is rather hybrid, incorporating both Hindu and Islamic elements.

On our return to Jaipur we passed the Jalmahal (literally water palace), a lovely Rajput-style palace in the middle of Man Sagar lake.

If one was an opulent maharajah, a good place to keep cool in the hot summers.

We also visited the Jantar Mantar, originally built between 1727 and 1734 by Maharajah Sawai Jai Singh; it is an astronomical observatory containing 14 large devices for measuring time, the position of the planets, celestial altitudes and predicting eclipses etc.

 

Finally, to complete a very full day we crossed to the museums in the sprawling complex of Rajput and Mughal architecture of the City Palace...

...and then back to the hotel for a couple of beers with John and Liz.

 

 

Robert Cole