This morning saw us head out with Veena again into Jaipur. Jaipur is know as the Pink City and all the buildings within the old town must be painted the same orangey pink colour.
Our first visit of the morning was to City Palace which occupies the centre of Jaipur and covers one seventh of its area. It is surrounded by a high wall and its style differs from a conventional Rajput fort palaces where the palace is separate from its fortification where traditionally they are integrated in one massive interconnected structure. It is a complex of courtyards, gardens and buildings which has been adapted and enlarged over the centuries.
As you enter through the Virendra Pol you come to the Mubarak Mahal or Welcome Palace which now forms part of the museum which contains a collection of royal costumes and shawls. One of the exhibits is Sawai Madhouse Singh I's huge robe. He was a cuddly 2 metres tall, 1.2 metres wide and weighed 250Kg!!!
Also in the museum are two huge silver urns which were constructed for maharaja Madho Singh II for his visit to London on 1902 to attend the coronation of Edward VII. He was a devout Hindu and did not consider European water suitable for drinking and required water from the Ganges for religious ceremonies. The urns contained 8,000 litres of water and are in the Guinness Book of records for the largest objects made out of silver.
As you enter through the Virendra Pol you come to the Mubarak Mahal or Welcome Palace which now forms part of the museum which contains a collection of royal costumes and shawls. One of the exhibits is Sawai Madhouse Singh I's huge robe. He was a cuddly 2 metres tall, 1.2 metres wide and weighed 250Kg!!!
Also in the museum are two huge silver urns which were constructed for maharaja Madho Singh II for his visit to London on 1902 to attend the coronation of Edward VII. He was a devout Hindu and did not consider European water suitable for drinking and required water from the Ganges for religious ceremonies. The urns contained 8,000 litres of water and are in the Guinness Book of records for the largest objects made out of silver.
The Japiur Royal Family still live in the Palace, Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh was enthroned on 27th April 2011 after being adopted by his grandfather as his crown prince on 2002 at the age of 4. He is currently being educated at Millvield School in Somerset and is. Keen polo player as many of his ancestors were.
Following our trip to the Palace we asked to visit Jantar Mantar which is an amazing collection of nineteen astronomical instruments built by the Rajput King Sawai Jai Singh and was completed in 1738. It features the worlds largest stone sundial. The features are made of masonry and bras and were built using astronomy and instrument design principles of ancient Hindu Sanskrit texts and with data from Islamic astronomy during the Moghual empire. The accuracy of these instruments is amazing considering they were built without today's technology and are still accurate. The decision on arranged marriages is made using an astronomer based on not just the date of birth but more importantly time too. Each individual has 36 distinct characteristics and a match of 20 or above is good although some believe a com,eye match does not work! Approximately 10% of arranged marriages end in divorce whereas the figure for non-arranged is around 40%!! Wedecided against getting our horoscopes done :-)
Our final stop was at Hawa Mahal or The Palace of the Winds, it was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh and is in the form of the crown of Krishna, the Hindu god. It's five storey exterior is like the honeycomb of a beehive with its 953 small windows called jharokhas which are decorated with intricate lattice work. The original intention. Of the lattice was to allow the royal ladies to observe everyday life and ceremonies in the street below without being seen. Royal ladies had to obey strict "purdah" or face over at all times. The lattice also allows cool air to flow through the building creating natural air conditioning.
It was quite a climb up but the Royal ladies didn't have to worry as they would be pushed up in wheel chairs by their servants !! The climbs was worth it though t experience the breeze (although many of the shutters are locked closed due to people stealing them and also people spitting onto people and shopkeepers below...lovely!!
Our final stop was at Hawa Mahal or The Palace of the Winds, it was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh and is in the form of the crown of Krishna, the Hindu god. It's five storey exterior is like the honeycomb of a beehive with its 953 small windows called jharokhas which are decorated with intricate lattice work. The original intention. Of the lattice was to allow the royal ladies to observe everyday life and ceremonies in the street below without being seen. Royal ladies had to obey strict "purdah" or face over at all times. The lattice also allows cool air to flow through the building creating natural air conditioning.
It was quite a climb up but the Royal ladies didn't have to worry as they would be pushed up in wheel chairs by their servants !! The climbs was worth it though t experience the breeze (although many of the shutters are locked closed due to people stealing them and also people spitting onto people and shopkeepers below...lovely!!
We then returned to Samode Haveli to relax and pack ready to move on to Fort Bali the next day. The pictures below show the lounge courtyard and dining area of the hotel and also the lovely way they made tea, giving you a timer allowing you to select the strength of brew you required.
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