Jaipur is the capital of the state of Rajasthan and is named after its founder Jai Singh II. At the time, the population was living in Amber which is about 11km from present day Jaipur, but due to population increase, Jaipur was planned and building was started in 1727. It is Northern India’s first planned city. In 1876, Maharaja Ram Singh had the entire Old City painted pink (the color of hospitality) to welcome the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Today Jaipur is known as the Pink City.
The old city wall has gates where people can enter and exit the Old City.
Old City in Jaipur
Hawa Mahal or the Palace of the Winds was constructed in 1799 to enable ladies of the royal household to watch the life and processions of the city.
Our tour guide had us over to his house for breakfast. Here are his wife and daughter.
Our tour group with our guide’s father-in-law
Amber was the former capital of Jaipur state. With war booty, the maharajahs financed the Amber Fort which was started in 1592
The Amber Fort
Ceiling at the Amber Fort.
The Amber Fort
Gardens at the Amber Fort
The Amber Fort
The Amber Fort
The Amber Fort
A wall was built to keep out invaders.
Jantar Mantar (meaning Instrument of calculation in Sanskrit) is an observatory begun by Jai Singh in 1728. He was an avid fan of astronomy and each construction in the complex has a specific purpose such as measuring the position of the stars or calculating eclipses.
This could tell the exact time of day using the shadows.
The Water Palace
We went to a Bollywood movie.
We knew the movie would be in Hindi with no subtitles, but we all thought it would be some sort of romantic movie with all the singing and dancing that Bollywood is known for. Unfortunately, it was a drama so it was pretty impossible to follow without understanding the language.
Cruising around on a rickshaw
Cruising around on a rickshaw
We went to where they make blocks or stamps which they use to decorate the fabrics.
Stamp #1-Outline of the elephant in red
Stamp #2-This stamp fills in some of the picture. Any color could be used. In this case, he used green.
Stamp #3-more coloring in of the elephant this time with grey.
Stamp #4-more coloring in this time with green. They said they can use up to seven colors in one design.
We also went to a gem stone store where they polish and set the stones.
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