Rajasthan is another world within that huge and incredible
country called India. It has some of the most attractive and photogenic cities
in the country, deserts that seem eternal and an idiosyncrasy that makes this state
something peculiar. The city Jaipur is
often used as a gateway to
Rajasthan and is one of the first steps
that travelers who visit India usually take for the first time. And, without a
doubt, it is a good start because Jaipur has a little bit of everything so one
opts to discover the country. The pink city, which is popularly known in this
way, falls in love corner by corner, provided that the chaotic effect that some
travelers are caught off guard is overcome.
Why Jaipur is called the Pink City?
The appellation of "pink city" that always accompanies Jaipur is not something that comes from very
old. In fact it is from the early twentieth century, specifically 1905, when
the Prince of Wales who had then visited the city. With the aim of giving an
unforgettable welcome to such a distinguished guest, Maharaja Ram Singh ordered
that the main buildings of the historic center be painted pink salmon, which
for Rajasthan is represented fortune and cordiality. And since then Jaipur
became inseparable from this color that comes to define the city.
In reality, the capital of Rajasthan does not have the
antiquity of others such as Agra, Delhi or Varanasi . Its founding year was
1727 when the Maharaja and the main driver of the city Jai Singh II defeated
the last Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb. This character was essential to understand
Jaipur today, as it attracted the best architects and craftsmen of Rajasthan to
create a place full of beauty, harmony and energy. This was long before traffic
and disorder undid the purpose sought by the Maharaja, although many of his
premises and dreams remained in this place.
What to See in Jaipur?
Jantar Mantar
The great passion of Jai Singh II was between destined to great
disciplines of science like, for example, mathematics or astronomy. The latter
made him spend more time looking at the stars and looking for new planets that
he devised the creation of a gigantic astronomical observatory (Jantar Mantar)
with which to study the stars and satisfy their knowledge. He ordered to erect
several of them throughout the country (there are them in Delhi or Mathura,
also in Varanasi ) but without a doubt that of Jaipur is the largest and best
preserved not only in India but throughout the Asian continent. It is full of
inventions in which they surpass its very modern precision, something leading
in the eighteenth century. Without a doubt this is one of the most interesting
visits that can be made in the city.
Hawa Mahal
If you come to Jaipur it is because we have fallen in love
with an extraordinary image of a place that we doubt if it is reality or
fantasy. The facade of the Hawa Mahal with about a thousand small windows was
born as an extravagant need to expand the palace harem in 1799 by the Sawai
Pratap Singh who commissioned the design to Lal Chand Usta. In this way the
many women of the Maharaja could observe the street without being seen.
Architecturally and religiously it represents the crest of a
peacock, something that also has to do with Khrisna's iconography, but for the
world it is a pill to dream of a thousand and one nights. Pure photogenicity,
contrasts with a street that looks out that is full of traffic, horns at all
hours and cows in the medium trying innocently to rest. But this is India, able
to show you a diamond ring on dirty fingers and with bitten nails. That is his
face and that is his cross.
City Palace
Between Jantar Mantar and the harem's facade is the one that
was (and is) the Maharaja's Palace. You can visit different pavilions (the one
with receptions, a huge wardrobe and see the extravagances of different
Rajput chiefs, such as who, to travel to London to visit the Queen, took with
them the largest silver urns that are known to transport water from the river
Ganges They tell, by the way, that this Maharaja was so strange that he could
not be touched by any foreigner and that he burned the clothes that were put on
official receptions.
It is a really interesting visit, another work born of Jai
Singh II who will move here the court from the not too far Amber Fort.
City Markets
If we do not get hit by a rickshaw, a cow or we are
fortunate to save ourselves from smoke poisoning from the exhaust pipe, the
best thing we can do is walk through Badi Chaupar, the Grand Plaza and Tripolia
Bazaar, the main avenue that crosses the Old city to stroll through the street
stalls that retain their traditional modus operandi. Nothing of souvenir shops
but it is a bazaar of those of always, in which it is sold what the people of
Jaipur requires for their daily life. This, despite the fact that there is
surrounding tourism during any time of the year, gives a touch of intense
authenticity that is appreciated.
Royal Cenotaphs
You continue to move away from the heart of the city and
reach some cenotaphs (mausoleums or empty tombs) that remind the Maharajas that
Jaipur has had. The best known is that of men (known as Gaitor), although there
is also one dedicated to his women. They are places that rickshaw drivers know and
are ideal when you want to leave the center. And they are worth it, since they
are meticulously carved in marble and on their teardrop-shaped roofs they
usually walk the naughty macaques. Curiously, it is one of the most beautiful
(and least visited) places in the Rajasthan capital.
Some Excursions from
Jaipur
Already outside of Jaipur there are sufficient reasons to
stretch even more if the visit fits. The most impressive of all is the Amber
Fort, a huge palace that can be reached on elephant's backs (which leaves you
in the main square of the enclosure, Jaleb Chowk). This is the India of the
palaces, of the great and sumptuous fortresses, a place to get lost in alleys
or rooms and spend at least a whole morning.
One when you look out doors like Ganesh Pol justifies the
visit to the palace. It is also possible to find the typical snake charmer
scene that makes a cobra dance with music born from a piccolo. Amber really is
a wonder, which also should be combined with the Jaigarh Fort that reminds
slightly of the Red Fort of Agra (saving a lot of distances) and that has a
huge wheel cannon that has the guinness record of being the largest that exists
in the world (although I have already found several places that consider yours
to be the largest size).
On the Amber Fort road, but having just left Jaipur, there
is another interesting stop. The Jal Mahal is a beautiful
eighteenth-century pavilion in the middle of a lake that, when monsoons come,
looks like a drifting ship. It is not as splendid as that of Udaipur, but it is
enough to take a few pictures.
And finally you could not help getting to the Temple of
Galta, better known as the Temple of the Apes. On a hill stands a small temple
where hundreds of monkeys are worshiped that you will see walking, climbing,
jumping, eating and even fighting. They are sacred in this place because they
are considered to be Hanuman himself (Monkey God). It is certainly a surprising
place, that attracts attention and with which to round out a trip to Jaipur perfectly.
That way we can continue with Rajasthan and with India.
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