Jaipur: City Palace and Hawa Mahal

As I promised yesterday,  I show you now Jaipur's main attractions; Hawa Mahal and the City Palace.

From Wikipedia:

"Hawa Mahal (translation: "Palace of Winds" or “Palace of the Breeze”), is a palace in Jaipur, India. It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, and designed by Lal Chand Ustad in the form of the crown of Krishna, the Hindu god. 
Its unique five-storey exterior is also akin to the honeycomb of the beehive with its 953 small windows called jharokhas that are decorated with intricate latticework. 
The original intention of the lattice was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen, since they had to observe strict "purdah" (face cover).
Built of red and pink sandstone, the palace is situated on the main thoroughfare in the heart of Jaipur’s business centre. It forms part of the City Palace, and extends to the Zenana or women's chambers, the chambers of the harem. It is particularly striking when viewed early in the morning, lit with the golden light of sunrise."

Let's have a look at this unusual structure:

Five stories high, shaped like a crown and with almost 1000 tiny windows.

The two veiled women passing by are a nice touch, since the Hawa Mahal was built  for the sole purpose of providing views for the veiled, royal women of those times;-).

On this picture you can see that the facade is just that, a facade from behind which the royal women could peek to the outside world.

Some parts have stained glass windows.

The entrance is around the back.

You can walk and climb all the way to the front-facade and to the top.

Here you look at the frontfacade from behind. Behind that facade, that is just a wall with small nooks with tiny windows, is a whole building with terraces, courtyards and some rooms.

A row of nooks for the women to stand or sit and look on the streets without being seen.

More peeping windows with shutters.

More peeping-possibilities for the royal ladies.

And then they had views like this.

Or this.

The vistas from the back (over the city and over the scenery around town) are gorgeous.

Stained glass

Informal group portrait...hahaha...

View of the buildings behind the facade.

By night.

Next to the Hawa Mahal lies the City Palace.


From Wikipedia:

" The City Palace is a palace complex in Jaipur, the capital of the Rajasthan state, India. It was the seat of the Maharaja of Jaipur, the head of the Kachwaha Rajput clan. The Chandra Mahal palace now houses a museum but the greatest part of it is still a royal residence. The palace complex incorporates an impressive and vast array of courtyards, gardens and buildings. The palace was built between 1729 and 1732, initially by Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber. He planned and built the outer walls, and later additions were made by successive rulers right up to the 20th century."

Because it still is the royal residence, only a part is open to the public. Although nice, it is by far not as beautiful or interesting as the City Palace in Udaipur. Fortunately we saw that one after this one;-).

Here are the highlights:

One of the entrance gates.

Frits and his bodyguards...hahaha! They reminded me of Thomson and Thompson, TinTin's sidekicks;-).

Not the best picture, since this object is behind glass, but too interesting to leave out. This is one of three giant silver vessels that are said to be the largest silver items in the world. The Maharaja at that time used  to fill them with Holy water from the Ganges and bring that along when he visited England!!!

In the palace in the back the royal family is still living.

This inner courtyard is the most beautiful part. The four season-related gates are magnificent, especially the Peacock Gate.

The sights in Jaipur and Udaipur are the most touristic places we have been to in India. There were hords of people everywhere, so it was quite hard to take a picture without people posing in front of the sights.

Many of the doors in the City Palace are richly ornamented.

This post concludes our day in Jaipur. Tomorrow I take you along to the neighboring town of Amber. Have a nice day!