Anupama Nair
Jaipur or the Pink City is the capital city of Rajasthan in ‘Incredible India’. It is said “no trip to India is complete without spending time in Jaipur. Jaipur is a princely wonderland of culture and heritage, brimming with architectural gems. It's also a pre-eminent stop in India's famous ‘golden triangle’ which is a popular tourist circuit”. What is the golden triangle? The most traveled tourist circuit in India is known as the ‘Golden Triangle Tour’. It comprises of three cities: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.
As my Rajput friend said before my trip to Jaipur “prepare to be captivated by the grandeur of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. City Palace gives you a taste of the lavish lifestyle of the royal family of Jaipur. Just next door, the astronomical instruments at the Jantar Mantar observatory bring the mysteries of space to the Earth”, and I experienced all that and more on my trip to this paradise.
Jaipur is the capital and the largest city of Rajasthan. The city has a population of 3.1 million, and is the tenth most populated city of India. Jaipur is also known as the Pink City, because of the dominant color scheme of the buildings around the city. On 6 July 2019, UNESCO World Heritage Committee officially called Jaipur the ‘Pink City of India’ among its World Heritage Sites. It also serves as a gateway to other tourist locations in the state — Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Kota and Mount Abu. The city is also home to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites — Amer Fort and Jantar Mantar.
The next any tourist would ask is who founded the city? The city of Jaipur was created by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II on 18 November 1727. He had planned to shift his capital from Amer, to Jaipur to house the growing population and increasing scarcity of water. Jai Singh read several books on architecture and consulted many architects before planning the layout of Jaipur. Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, planned the city of Jaipur based on the principles of Vastu Shastra and Shilpa Shastra. The construction of the city commenced in 1726 and took four years to complete. The city was divided into nine blocks, two of which contained the state buildings and palaces, while the remaining seven were allotted to the public.
During the rule of Sawai Ram Singh I, the city was painted pink to welcome His Royal Highness Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales in 1876. “The buildings still remain pink, giving Jaipur a distinctive appearance and the epithet Pink city”.
The major attractions of the city are:
- City Palace
- Jantar Mantar
- Hawa Mahal
- Amber Fort
- Albert Hall Museum
- Birla Mandir
- Nahargarh Fort or Tiger Fort
- Galta Ji
- Amrapali Museum
- Museum of Legacies
- Jal Mahal
- Jaigarh Fort
- Gaitore or Memorials of Kings
So, pack your bags and get ready for the trip of your lifetime.
