The Pink City of India, the royal capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur was built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh in 1727 AD. The ancient forts and palaces have now been converted into the heritage hotels to provide the luxurious accommodation to the tourists in Jaipur. These ages-old palacious structures attract the travelers from all over India and the world. While your Jaipur tour in Rajasthan, you can go for a camel, desert and jeep safari to explore the unending stretches of the Thar Desert.
The tourists can also enjoy the cool evenings during boating in the Ramgarh Lake. Go for a movie, camel ride, stroll in the beautifully laid gardens, tour a zoo or spend your time in shopping some exclusive memoirs of Jaipur. One can purchase the Rajasthani handlooms, bandhani, block Print, blankets and trinkets.
Fairs & Festivals in Jaipur
Kite Festival (14th Jan of every year)
A festival with a difference – as kites take to the sky all over Jaipur. In the evening, kites with lights in them and fireworks brighten the skies above. If you like kite flying, you should be here.
Elephant Festival (25th March 2005)
A festival to celebrate Holi, this is a great occasion for the visitor to watch several elephant sports and also play this festival of colors.
Gangaur Fair (11th – 12th April, 2005)
A festival devoted to Goddess Parvati. It is time for young girls to dress up in their finery and pray for grooms of their choice while the married women pray for the well-being of their husbands.
Teej Festival (8th – 9th August, 2005)
A festival to mark the advent of monsoon. Essentially a women’s festival, it is interesting to watch them enjoying in groups and at various bazaars where they turn up to shop in all their finery.
Jaipur History
Built by the warrior-astronomer Raja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727, it is full of formidable forts, enchanting palaces and lovely temples. Jaipur is listed in most tourist books as one of the three cities that make India’s Golden Triangle – the other two are Delhi and Agra. The old city of Jaipur is enclosed within seven gates, the most important of which are Chandpol, Jaipuri and Sanganeri.
Culture
A young Bengali architect, Vidyadhar Bhattacharya formalized the city’s plans in a grid system. The wide straight avenues. Roads, streets, lanes and uniform rows of shops on either side of main bazaars were arranged in nine rectangular city sectors (Chokris), in accordance with the principles of town planning set down in the ‘Shilpa Shastra’- and epochal treatise on the Hindu architecture.
There is a timeless appeal to Jaipur’s colorful bazaars where one can shop for Rajasthani hand looms and trinkets. Beautifully laid out gardens and parks, attractive monuments and marvelous heritage hotels, once the residence of Maharaja’s are worth admiration. Not to mention the ambling camels and cheerful people in multi-hued costumes that make your trip to the pink city a memorable one.
General Information of Jaipur
By Air
Jaipur is well connected to all the major cities which includes Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Jodhpur, Udaipur. Recently, flights to Dubai has also started from Jaipur by Indian Airlines.
By Bus
Rajasthan Roadways run very comfortable deluxe & air conditioned buses from Delhi (Bikaner House, Nr. India Gate) to Jaipur. The roads are very good, and it takes around 5-6 hrs from Delhi. You can also come by taxi.
By Train
Jaipur is on the Broad Gauge and hence connected to all the metro cities of India. There are daily trains from Delhi in morning (Shatabdhi Exp) and evening (Intercity Exp).
Entertainment
You have limited options on this, you can go to Movie (Raj Mandhir is good theater), Choki Dhani (a ethnic village resort where you are served traditional Rajasthani food and you can participate in dance, games, camel ride), bars (Rambagh Hotel, Jai Mahal Hotel etc)
Shopping
Jaipur is shoppers paradise, if you are good at bargain things, you can really get some good stuff. The local Bazaars are very colorful and world famous like Johari Bazaar, Mirza Ismail Road (MI Road), Bapu Bazaar etc. You can shop from handicrafts, jewelry, carpets, textile, home furnishing and lot more. But, you have to be very careful in shopping and bargain hard.
Places to See in Jaipur
Hawa Mahal
Also known as the Palace of Winds was built in 1799 . It is a part of the City Palace and was commissioned by Sawai Pratap Singh. The Hawa Mahal was designed for the ladies of the royal household to watch the goings-on on the street while themselves remaining hidden from public view.
Amber Fort
About 11km north of Jaipur stands the spectacular Amber Fort built by Maharaja Man Singh. A wonderful example of Rajput architecture, it overlooks a lake which reflects its many terraces and pavilions. Amber is also known for the spectacular Sheesh Mahal, Jai Mandir, Diwan-i-Am, Sikh Niwas and the small Kali Temple.
City Palace
In the heart of the old city is former royal residence built in a blend of the Rajasthani and Mughal styles. A part of this palace is now a museum. The rest of the palace serves as the living quarters of the royal family of Jaipur. The palace also has an art gallery with an excellent collection of miniature paintings, carpets, royal paraphernalia and rare astronomical works.
Jantar Mantar
A stone observatory, known as Jantar Mantar, was built by Jai Singh II, a great astronomer. It is located near the City Palace. It is the largest and the best-preserved observatory of the lot. By means of the instruments here, astronomers could measure the positions of the stars and calculate eclipses.
Jaigarh Fort
Sawai Jai Singh built the invincible fort of Jaigarh in 1726. Jaigarh was never captured and is therefore in a pretty good shape. A giant mounted cannon-the Jai Ban, one of the largest in the country are preserved here. The extensive parkotas (wallls), watch tower and gateways of Jaigarh dominate the western skyline.
Govind Devji Temple
The most popular temple of Jaipur dedicated to Lord Krishna. It is located in the central pavilion of the Jai Niwas Garden to the north of Chandra Mahal. The image of the patron deity-Govind Devji,originally installed in a temple of Vrindavan, was reinstalled here by Sawai Jai Singh II as his family deity.
Swargasuli (Isar Lat)
The highest tower dominating the skyline of the western side of the Tripolia Bazaar. It was built by Sawai Ishwari Singh in 1749 A.D. to commemorate a grand victory.
Sisodia Rani Garden
It has tiered multilevel gardens with fountains, water channel and painted pavilions and suites of living rooms.
BM Birla Planetarium (Time 12.00 hrs to 19.00 hrs.)
The Planetarium offers unique audio-visual education and entertainment with its modern computerized projection system. For school groups concessions are available. Closed on last Wednesday of every month.
Galtaji
An ancient pilgrimage centre, lying beyond the gardens amidst low hills temples ,pavilions and holy kunds (natural spring and reservoirs) along with lush landscape make it a delightful spot. The small temple of the Sun god, built by Diwan Kriparam on the top of the highest peak is visible from all parts of the city.
Old City
Once a settlement of nobles, craftsmen and common folks, the city of Amer is now in ruins. The remnants of its rich past are the beautifully carved and planned Jagat Shiromani Temple, a Krishna temple associated with Meerabai, an ancient temple of Narsinghji and a magnificent step-well,Panna Mian-ka-kund.
Ram Niwas Bagh
A lush spacious garden with a zoo, an aviary, a greenhouse, a herbarlum , a museum and popular sport ground. It was built by Sawai Ram Singh II in the 1868 A.D. as a famine relief project. The Albert Hall-fine example of Indo Saracenic style of architecture designed by Sir Swinton Jacob, was opened later with an exquisite collection of sculptures, paintings, decorative wares, natural history specimen, and Egyptian mummy and the celebrated Persian carpet.
Jain Temple
The exquisite jain temple on the Agra road has some of the most beautiful 19th century paintings in Jaipur style on its walls.
Moti Doongri and Lakshmi Narayan Temple
Moti Doongari is a privately owned hilltop fort built like a scottish castle. The Ganesh Temple at the foot of the hill and the marvellous Lakshmi Narayan Temple built in marbles a few years back, are also noteworthy.
Statue Circle
The full-length exquisitely carve statue of Swai Jai Singh in white marble in the centre of the circle was erected under the newly planned scheme area to pay homage to the founder of Jaipur.
The Kanak Vrindavan Complex
Complex of fine temples and gardens has been recently renovated to their pristine perfection. To the west of this road is the royal crematorium at Gaitore in a narrow valley with some spectacular cenotaphs of all the Jaipur rulers except Swai Ishwari Singh who was cremated outside the Jai Niwas Garden. Most imposing is the ‘chattri’ of Sawai Jai Singh II with the intricate carvings and a graceful shape.
Ghat ki Guni
Beautifully landscaped gardens, laid out in the 18th and 19th century by king and courtiers dot the narrow gorge in the south eastern corner of the walled city, along the road to Agra.
Others
Beautiful memorials to the queens,Maharani-ki-chattri are near the Ramgarh road crossing on the Amber Road. The Island Palace, Jal Mahal built by Sawai Jai Singh, is a fascinating spot at the centre of the Man Sagar Lake.
Samode (40 km, north west)
The beautiful Samode Palace, has been rebuilt and renovated and provides a fine example of the Rajput Haveli architecture and is an ideal spot for outings.
Bagru (35 km)
On the Jaipur Road, the ground level fort is still in good shape. It is noted for its hand printed hand loom industry using simple techniques. The designs of these hand loom are less complicated and are in earth hues.
Sanganer (12 km)
Located on the Tonk road,. In addition to its ruined palaces, Sanganer has exquisitely carved Jain temples. The town is entered through the ruins of two tripolias (Triple gateways) The town is an important centre for crafts industry and produces some of the finest hand printed textiles from units of block and screen printers. This textile is popular all over the country and abroad.
Ramgarh Lake (32 km. North east)
A huge artificial lake created by constructing a high bund amidst tree covered hills. White the temple of Jamwa Mata and the ruins of the old fort are some of its antiquities, its beautiful landscape, especially during monsoons, makes it an idyllic picnic spot.
Bairat (86 km on the Shahpura-Alwar Road)
An important historical place with the excavated remains of a circular Buddhist temple-unique in Rajasthan and the earliest known temple in India. Bairath also has relics of the Mauryan,Mughal and Rajput periods.
A mint constructed by Akbar, a beautiful Mughal garden and a remarkable monument with painted chhatris and walls built by Jahangir are other attractions.
