India Sojourn (Day 4) - Jaipur Part 1

If you were to spend just a day in Jaipur, the three things you must see are The Amber Fort, Jantar Mantar and The City Palace.

 

Going to breakfast the next morning I took these pictures of the hotel and to me they seemed so old world, like something from the past.

 

 

 

 

If it is said that It's good to be the King, I suppose it wasn't bad being the Kings personal Physician in them ol' days. (See previous article about the provenance of the hotel)

 

I know I haven't mentioned much about the food we ate but I will, real soon.

 

Jaipur isn't a very big place and because of this the attractions are not too far away from each other. Although commercially it is a very busy place and the roads can get congested at times of the day.

 

 

Popularly known as the Pink City, one travelling the streets would realize that the buildings aren't really pink but a shade of terra cotta. When Prince Edward visited in 1876, the whole city was painted pink to welcome him but recent repainting efforts have decidedly altered the color of the walls. Most Indian cities have adopted different colors to make them distinct from one another. Johdpur is known as the Blue City, Jaisalmer the Yellow City, and Udaipur the Golden City. There is actually a city ordinance that forbids use of other colors of paint in most parts of the area. 

 

On our way to our first stop, the Amber Fort, we passed by the Hawa Mahal or Palace of Breezes. This is situated near the City Palace and was principally used by ladies of the Mughal's Harem and their ladies-in-waiting. Back in the day, they were not allowed out in public and they would peek out these latticed windows to view the goings on in the street or watch a parade go by.

 

 

 

To get to The Amber Fort, also known as the Amer Fort (it is located in the town of Amer), or the Amer Palace, one needs to to get on board an elephant and climb a narrow slope just like the Rajahs did way back when. Our Guide, Naveen (pronounced Naween, Indians seem to have a hard time with the letter "v") told us that the elephants come from a town that is quite a distance away so they knock off at lunchtime everyday so they can make their way back home for some rest and repast.

 

 

 

The abundance of colors that we saw inside the Amber Fort's walls were so different from the previous sites that we saw that were either red or white. 

 

 

 

The three lattice screens you see just below the central roof are where the Queen would observe the goings on in the square below. Imagine, voyeurism was already in practice back then.

 

Below is a photo of the vestibule above the doorway of the building Known as Ganesh Pol of the Gate of Ganesh.

 

The central figure below is of Ganesha, a popular deity with an elephants head and a human torso with multiple arms. Ganesh is known as a remover of obstacles and can be found painted in varying sizes and designs in front of numerous houses. Ganesh was a human prince and how he ended up with an elephants head is an interesting tale.

 

 

In this original ceiling ornament you will still see gold reflect from light coming from the sun.

 

 

One pavilion in the complex that left an imprint in my mind is the Mirror Palace. It has hundreds of thousands of individual mirrors embedded in the walls and ceilings. We were told that the mirrors were all imported by the Maharaja from Belgium.

 

 

This platform is where members of the Royal Family would dine and be entertained when the weather permitted. Can you imagine a grand fiesta under a star filled sky!

 

 

And this was their view!

 

 

One thing India has always been associated with is the Kama Sutra (you didn't think I'd never mention it here did you?).  Unfortunately none of the places we went to was even remotely connected with its history. So, when this representation was brought to my attention, I was filled with glee. It was tucked away near the cornice it was so easy to miss.

 

 

I loved the way that the columns and arches were glowing amber in this photo.

 

 

I thought that I could get away with taking a candid picture of this old man in a red turban talking to a soldier. Well, he caught me and here he is asking for money! I of course had to oblige him with a tip...and he goes and asks for more...sheesh...

 

 

So ends part 1...please continue on to India Sojourn (Day 4) - Jaipur Part 2.