Jaipur (The Pink City)
The ‘Pink City’ of Jaipur. The name derives from the regulation salmon colour of its historic walled core, whose bazaars (great for gemstones and block-printed textiles), havelis (courtyard mansions) and royal palaces offer endless scope for exploration.
Hawa Mahal (Palace of the winds) is one of the first things we saw as we drove into Jaipur. This is considered as one piece of architect and smart thinking. Hawa Mahal is a palace with small windows on the outer which helps the blowing winds in the palace to change their temperature.
We visited Amber Fort, on the northern outskirts – which known for its artistic style elements. With its large ramparts and series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks Maota Lake, which is the main source of water for the Amer Palace.
Seeing this snake charmer was such a highlight. I never really believed that snakes could be hypnotised by this was amazing to see.
Amer is located 11 k.m from Jaipur and is home to the ‘Amber Fort’ (Amer Fort). At the bottom of the fort there were hoards of locals selling elephant rides up to the Amber Fort. We weren’t able to secure a good enough price (we were told it should only cost 550 rupees but we couldn’t seem to haggle them down to anything less than 2000 rupees) so declined this opportunity mostly due to being sick of haggling and fed up with overpaying for things.
The fort is remarkable for its majestic grandeur, surroundings, battles and beautiful palaces and halls. Fort is known for its Indian Artistic Style, blending Hindu and Rajputs elements. Amer Fort has the marvelous decoration influenced by both, the Hindu and Muslim manner of ornamentation. Tourists simply astonish by intricate carving on the walls and ceilings. Exquisite paintings of hunting scenes on the walls depict the temperament of the Rajputs, who were extremely revolutionary, adventurous, and self-indulgent. Its Indian architecture includes large ramparts, series of gates; the fort overlooks the ‘Maota Lake’, at its forefront.
One of the historic architectural heritage of Jaipur city is City Palace which gives a holistic experience to any tourist. City Palace is an overwhelming complex of exquisite palaces, gardens and courtyards, decorative art and carved doorways.
While in Jaipur we also visiting Jantar Mantar which consists of fourteen geometric devices which can measure time, predict an eclipse, track stars with the location of earth orbiting around the sun, decline of planets and determining the celestial altitudes. All the instruments in general are large structures attributing the specific prediction. Declared as the national monument in 1948, every instrument has its own uniqueness built by the stones and marbles carrying an astronomical scale. The unique characteristics of each instrument individually share a place of pride in the book of the pink city.