"Jaipur--The Pink City and More" Jaipur by atufft

Jaipur Travel Guide: 1,034 reviews and 3,073 photos

Powerful Alliances with Mughal Rulers in Delhi

The Kachhwaha clan moved into the Jaipur region in 1106 AD, and grew in power as they began to expand the Amber Fortress. The clan traces its ancestry to Kush, the second son of Ram, the hero king of the epic poem Ramayana, a divine descent marked today by the fiery insignia of the solar race, or surya vamsha, on Jaipur's royal banners. The Kachhwaha leadership became senior feudal patron in alliance with Babur, the first Mughal conquerer of Delhi, and when a daughter from the clan, Jodha-bai, married Akbar, the fortunes of the family became firmly established. It was Jodha-bai, afterall, whose treasured son Jahangir was predicted by the Sheik at Fatehpur Sikri to be born, and who eventually became a Mugal ruler and father of Shan Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal at Agra. Jodha-bai's brother, Bhagwan Das, was a high ranking commander in Akbar's army, and the adopted son of Bhagwan Das, Man Singh I, became Akbar's most trusted friend and general in the imperial army. Man Singh I, and his successors, including Jai Singh I, built and expanded the palaces and fortifications at Amber Fort. In 1726, a direct descendant of these Amber Fort rajputs, the brilliant astronomer and powerful Sawai Maharaja, Jai Singh II, invited equally brilliant Bengali architect, Vidhya Bhattacharaya to design and build the city of Jaipur with it's many palaces and urban havelis that today are found within the pink city.

A Planned City of Pink

Hawa Mahal at Night in Jaipur

Anyone who travels within the city can percieve the planned grid layout that includes traffic circles very close to the heart of the Jaipur. Much of this is due to the Hindu caste inspired plan created by Jai Singh II which divided the city into residential areas for various castes. The city is divided into 9 sections, and in the western section is the upper caste area, including the city palace. Adjacent to the city palace is the equally inspired astronomical Jantar Mantar, and in block fashion, on a street perpendicular to the great astronomical lab, is the elegant Hawa Mahal, a thin 5 stories of lattice windows from which the harem could observe parades without themselves being watched. The Pink City theme is actually a 19th century hospitality idea created for the visit of the Prince Wales, and has since then the "welcoming pink" has been enforced by civic ordinance. In fact, during my visit, the color pink appeared more like a faded tangerine orange on most buildings, but I actually was very inspired myself by the uniformity within a nation otherwise known for a complete lack thereof.

Havelis and Handicrafts

Jantar Mantar Overview in Jaipur

Within the city center, there are large number of palaces and havelis that are converted to hotels for tourists, and so accomodations are easy to find. In addition, Jaipur is an excellent place to learn about the Indian art of block print cotton fabric production, gem stone cutting, and the manufacture of varioius other handicrafts found throughout Rajasthan.

Last visit to Jaipur: Dec 1997
Intro Updated May 20, 2007
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Reviews (18)

At His Personal Quarters Things to Do (14)

The Maharaja of Jaipur holds control over the City Palace, but has been required for political and cultural reasons to... more travel advice

City Palace Museum Things to Do (14)

The City Palace Museum (open 9:30-4:45) is in the central part of the City Palace complex. We arrived too late to merit... more travel advice

Building Under Construction Local Customs (1)

Needless to say, labor is cheap in India, and so a bucket brigade to hoist cement or stucco to build or repair a... more travel advice

Train to/from Udaipur Transportation (2)

We took an overnight train to Udaipur. Our driver drove with most of our luggage while we skipped the hotel for a night... more travel advice

Hotels (1)
Refuge from Street Chaos

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Comments (5)

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SophieM Jun 20, 2012 at 9:19 AM

This is an informative and beautiful summary, Alan. I can't believe the stone cutting on some of those buildings. The Hawa Mahal has just made the list of buildings I have to see before I die.
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glabah Jun 19, 2010 at 1:06 AM

Very well researched, though I imagine that most of your time doesn't show up in the tips due to the effort required to sort through all the information out there.
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850prc Jan 7, 2008 at 4:59 PM

Outstanding and entertaining look at the pink city, Alan.
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Stargazer1 May 12, 2007 at 9:22 AM

Excellent overview, Alan. The only thing is, I would think the clan's name is Kachhwala, not Kachhwaha. But I may be wrong -- it's just that the first sounds more like a name from the area.
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SLLiew May 11, 2007 at 11:49 PM

Nice detailed tips on Jaipur. Saw a recent documentary - cannot remember the number of concubines in the harem. SL