Spending the day travelling on Saturday, we woke up early
Sunday to begin exploring Jaipur. As we left our hotel, we entered the old part
of the city and began to see the Pink city of Jaipur. Every building within the
gates of the old city had been painted pink by the Maharaja of Jaipur in celebration
of a royal visit by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Pink was chosen as chosen
as it represents hospitality in the Indian culture. Our first stop in the Pink
city was the Hawa Mahal. One of the major palaces in Jaipur, Hawa Mahal means
Wind Palace. Made of pink sandstone, it was recognizable for its front wall
that is filled with hundreds of windows that allowed the women who resided in
the palace to look out to the surroundings without people seeing their faces,
allowing them to maintain their modesty as dictated by the cultural norms. Leaving
the main city, we then stopped along the lake in Jaipur to see another palace.
Known as Jal Mahal, or the Water Palace, the summer palace of the Majaraja had
been built in the middle of the lake, requiring people to row out to visit it.
After getting some pictures from the shore, we went further out to visit the
Ambur Fort. This fort, located on the top of a hill on the Aravalli mountain
range overlooking the surrounding area, was the ancient capital of Rajasthan.
To get to the top of the fort, we took a ride on top of the back of an elephant
and rode along the winding path up to the fort. While an amazing experience to
ride the elephant, it was somewhat dampened by the fact that we were constantly
harassed by merchants trying to sell us knick knacks and take photos as well as
some of the elephant owners beating the elephants to speed them up. It seems
that the approach to animals in India was very severe, with concepts like
animal cruelty and feral animals an ever-present part of the culture. While it
is called a fort, the entire complex houses a palace, temple, and other living
areas. Starting from a main courtyard, we were shown around the huge area of
the fort taken up for the palace. While the Maharaja had his own residential
quarters, his multiple wives had their own separate living quarters in a
separate part of the palace. Located around a central courtyard, there was a
huge series of underground tunnels connecting the rooms and the main sectors of
the palace. This allowed the king to visit his wives in secret without the
others knowing in an attempt to allow privacy and prevent jealousy between the
wives. One of the most interesting parts of the palace was the water system
that the palace used. Along with full drainage systems, the palace had a huge
series of pulleys that allowed water from the lake at the foot of the palace to
be transported up to the fort. After riding in a jeep back down to the bottom
of the fort, we left back for Jaipur city. Our final stop in Jaipur was City Palace.
Still in use by the rulers of Jaipur, the complex had a huge armory of old
weapons, an area were government sponsored artisans were selling their
products, and a museum of royal clothing. One of the most interesting things on
display was a set of huge silver urns. These were used by the Maharaja of
Jaipur on a visit to England in order to hold a large amount of water from the
Ganges which he used for bathing and religious purposes. Also part of the
complex was the royal observatory. Used to keep track of the calendar and for
religious purposes, the observatory was still in working condition today, with
some sundials accurate to within two seconds.
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