Pink City: Jaipur
At 2350 Hrs on 24th night I saw the news about hot air balloon fiesta reaching Jaipur on the Net. I went on reading and discovered that 25th is the last day. In the spur of moment I decided to go to Jaipur to see the event. Amol tagged himself along. We got ready at 0030 Hrs and set out for Jaipur. At 0100 Hrs we boarded the Jaipur bound bus from Iffco Square, Gurgaon.
Just before dawn we reached Jaipur’s Central Bus Terminus. Before leaving our place I made a futile effort to search the info on the net from where the hot air balloons will take off on 25th. I also tried to ask a few locals about the fiesta but they were clueless so we bought some local news papers in hope that they might have some coverage about the event. No newspapers had any news of our interest so we went to the spot from where balloons took off last. We somehow reached to the location near Sawai Mansingh Stadium to find that balloons took off an hour ago. Balloons were scheduled to land about 10 minutes so we followed to the place where they were expected to land and captured a few snaps of landing balloon.
It was 1000 Hrs in the morning and the day was already getting hot, we were hungry too. We found a good restaurant named Surya Mahal on railway station road. The food was testy and reasonable. We then went to see Hawa Mahal, one of the major landmarks of Jaipur, located near Badi Choupad.
After visiting to Hawa Mahal we boarded the bus to Delhi. The bus driver was nothing less than the pod racer “Sebulba”. He brought us back in 4 Hours flat, with 30 Minutes break on one of roadside dhaba.
All the photographs of my Jaipur visit cat be seen in this album.
Hawa Mahal
Hawa Mahal also known as “Palace of Winds” was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. It was an integral part of the City Palace. It was built for Royal Ladies so that they could enjoy the royal processions and day to day activities on the mail avenue of Jaipur. This majestic facade is located at the corner of Badi Choupad (big square). This five storey building of unusual architecture designed by Lal Chand Usta. It is a stunning example of Rajput artistry made of red and pink sand stone, beautifully outlined with white borders and motif’s painted with quick lime.
The monument with a spectacular view of Jaipur city with road avenues, intersections and colourful crowds in the market, was originally conceived with the aim of enabling ladies of the royal household to watch the everyday life and royal processions in the city without being seen by others.
Its facade from the road side makes Hawa Mahal look more like a delicate screen than a palace. This five-story, pyramid-shaped structure has tier after tier of 953 niches, 152 windows, which are exquisitely encrusted with lace fine screens, overhanging latticed small balconies and arched, curvilinear roofs with hanging cornices, exquisitely modeled and carved. These small windows circulate cool air (Hawa) even in hot months. The pyramidal outline is even throughout by cramming and multiplying casements; and uses repetition of motifs to enhance its beauty.
The entrance to Hawa Mahal is from the City Palace side, through a stately door which opens into a spacious courtyard. The courtyard has a double storied building on three sides. There is a small archaeological museum here. Only the eastern wing has three more stories above, which are just a single room thick. The building, standing on a high podium, is a fifty-foot high thin shield, less than a foot in thickness, with small intimate chambers , which give this palace its unique facade. There are no regular stairs to reach the upper floors, but only ramps.
