Trip to Pink City Jaipur, Rajasthan

Amber Fort

What kind of images would come up in your mind when the word Rajasthan in mentioned?

• Forts
• Palaces
• Tales of Valor
• Miniature Art
• Precious stones
• Colorful garbs
• Puppets
• Festivals and Fairs
• Camels and Elephants
• Old World Charm

Trust me, Jaipur is all this and lots more. I recently revisited the Pink City and it was a treat.

Sheesh Mahal, Amber Fort

Jaipur, the Pink City and the Capital of Rajasthan is approximately 250 kms away from New Delhi. It’s well connected by road, rail and air. Built in 1727 it is one of the well-planned cities of India. The City is divided into 9 blocks with 2 blocks housing state buildings and palaces and 7 blocks for the public. These blocks are surrounded by well-fortified walls and 7 strong gates like the Tripolia gate, Sanganeri gate etc.

A little about the history of Jaipur. Prior to Jaipur, Amber (pronounced as Amer) was the capital of Rajasthan. The Kachchawa clans of Rajputs were among the first to arrive at Amber Fort. And they built amiable relationships with the Moghul dynasty. Which is one the reasons why Jaipur monuments are a mix of Rajasthan and Moghul architecture. Raja Bihar Mal gave his daughter (Jodha) to be emperor Akbar’s wife.  Subsequent Kings like Bhagwan Das, Man Singh, and Jai Singh cemented their relationship with the Moghul and continued to operate out of Amber. However Sawai Jai Singh II moved the capital from Amber to Jaipur. Jaipur was built in consultation with some of the best mathematicians, astronomers and a very reputed architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. The colour pink was chosen to cut down the glare of the suns rays.

Rambagh Palace

We spent 3 days in Jaipur. Stayed at Hotel Rambagh Palace, which was built in 1835 by the Queen of Jaipur but later converted into a heritage hotel run by the Taj group. The hotel is beautiful – huge room with high ceilings, arches, facades and jharokas. Paintings of all the Kings are hung in different places. The restaurants all remind you of an era long gone- the grandeur and the look and feel of those olden days are still maintained. The Hotel houses a Golf club and Polo grounds and a wonderful garden- a veritable delight for bird watchers.  There are over 75 varieties of common and rare birds.

Entrance to Amber Fort

We spent a day at the Amber Fort and Palace. Set against the rather drab and rugged mountain background, the honey colored Fort and Palace are a sight to watch. Earlier the Jaigarh Fort used to protect the Amber Palace but later the Amber Fort was constructed. The Palace is beautiful and overlooks the Maota Lake below. Parts of the movie Jodha Akbar were shot there. What I found the most  alluring was the Sheesh Mahal- a single light was reflected into multiple images. The Diwan-e-aam, the Diwan-e-Khaas, the Jai Mandir, the Kali temple ,the latticed walls and the intricate gardens all have stories to tell. Please don’t miss out on the light and sound show of Amber Fort.

Moata Lake

After a visit to the Amber Palace we went to the City Palace. The royal family still resides in a portion of the city palace, the Chandra Mahal. It is a blend of Moghul and Rajasthan Architecture and has numerous gardens and courtyards. Other places, which caught my interest, were

Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal- The Palace of Winds, which was built by Sawai Pratap Singh. It overlooks the marketplace, the Sireh deorhi Bazaar. It is a wall (behind which there is a 5 storied building) and in olden time the ladies of the royal family used to watch the happenings in the market place through the multiple windows of the Mahal. It now houses a museum.

Nahargarh Fort

Nahargarh and Jaigarh Forts- The Jaigarh Fort is close to the Amber Palace and Fort and the Nahargarh Fort is a little away from Jaipur. The Nahargarh Fort is a beautiful place and though it doesn't attract many tourist compared to Amber Fort it is a must see place.          

Jal Mahal- Palace within a lake, this was created in 1799 by constructing a dam within the lake. In the evenings it is lighted up beautifully

Albert Museum

Albert Museum- a public museum situated in the Ram Niwas Bagh. 

Apart from these the Jantar Mantar, Dolls museum, Birla planetarium are common tourist spots. For those who want to visit religious shrines the Govindji temple, Jagat Shiromani temple and the Lakshminarayan temple are places to visit.  

Jaipur has extreme temperatures so it would be a good idea to check out the weather before you travel.  It’s a shoppers paradise with MI road, Tripolia bazaar, Johari bazaar, Khajane walon ka rasta and multiple other places where one can shop for textiles (the Jaipuri rajais, bedcovers), semi precious stones,  lac work, marble works, miniature paintings. . If you visit during the festival seasons the Gangaur Festival, the Kite festival are quite famous.

Before you leave Jaipur don’t forget to gorge on the delicacies of the Laxmi Misthan Bhandar. Amazing Rajasthani food!.I left Jaipur with memories of a beautiful city full of history and culture. And of course lots of clothes and Jaipuri rajais J.

Contributed by Jayashree Mishra and first published in Enigmaticindia.info site in July 2011

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Trip to Datia Palace(Govind Mahal), Datia, Madhya Pradesh

Datia Palace

As we moved on our journey to Orchha from Gwalior, we stopped by at the Datia Madhya Pradesh tourism property for lunch. As we emerged from our vehicle lo and behold in front of us was this majestic fort/palace on the banks of the Karna Sagar lake.

On enquiring with the staff at the restaurant he informed that it was the Datia Fort/ Mahal (Palace) /Govind Mahal /Jehangir Palace (as known by different names) build by Raja Bir Singh Ju Deo(Dev) the Bundela Rajputs of the Orchha house.(You can read more about Datia from the Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol 11, page 195-199)

While we did not have time to visit the Palace that day we decided to definitely visit it on our return journey.

We had to reach the entrance of the Palace after meandering through narrow lanes of the town. It has a very steep climb of stairs and definitely not friendly for the elderly folks. Hardly any visitors were around and at the entrance there was a guard who noted down our details for Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) record keeping purpose. We finally managed to get the only official guide (as claimed by him) and he narrated some of what we will be penning down.

It is said that this Mahal was started in 1614 and took almost nine years and around INR 32 Lakhs of rupees then to complete this 440 rooms, seven storied palace. It was built as a token of appreciation for King Salim (Jehangir), who Bir Singh Deo had befriended by killing Abul Fazl, Akbar's Vazir. However the visit never happened and so the Palace was not used even for a single day.

Blue Tiles engraved on Mughal architecture

The Mahal is built purely of stone and bricks with no traces of either of wood or iron. It exudes some of the finest of Indo Islamic architecture, with stone lattice and motif work, chhatris, carved ceilings, four octagonal towers, red sandstone Jarokas paintings of birds, animals, flowers (of which some are still visible at the exterior), blue tiles with Mughal architecture tinge(the guide informed us that it was probably Turkist), Bundela paintings etc. At each corner (four) there were four Rani Mahals(Queen's palace) and an additional Rani palace for Jehangir's entourage. The first two floors were built to house the soldier,horses and parts of the entourage.

A majestic place to visit and experience the Bundela era.

You can view more pictures here

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Trip to Ater Fort, Bhind Madhya Pradesh

History of the Fort

After a day long safari at the Chambal River, our journey took us to a lesser known Fort of India, the Ater Fort It is located in the Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh, however it can be accessed from Uttar Pradesh (U.P.)too by crossing the Chambal River.

View of from the top of the Fort

Khoni Darwaza

Without much expectations we set out to see this fort from the UP side by crossing the Chambal river. A camel caravan was waiting for us at the other side and after a lot of juggling all of us managed to mount the camels. The Chambal river bed(sand) was quite wide as the water levels had receded and it took us some time to come to main land. You can also take one of the local jeeps/Auto to go to Ater and after a 30 minute camel safari we could see the large fort structure. At the foot of the Fort in an adjoining ground, the local folks were busy playing cricket.

Restoration work by ASI in progress

We meandered up a small pathway to the entrance of the Fort which was blocked by a truck carrying construction material. Our guides from the resorts walked us through a gate into this large fort. The limited information about Ater Fort is inscribed in a marble stone(by ASI) and placed at the entrance. Built by the Bhadoria Chief,Badan Singh Judeo in A.D. 1644 and was completed by Mahsingh in 1668.

Rani Ka Mahal

Like most major forts there are four entrances in each direction and fortified at seventeen places from a defensive stand point of view. Atypical of the Mughal architecture the Fort has the Diwan-I-Am and Diwan-I-Khas, The Saat Manjila (seven storied watch tower), Rani and Raja ka Mahal (King and Queen Places), the Khooni Darwaza and other structures. There is a huge/deep well and one needs to be careful as its not fenced. The higher floors have become home to the beautiful rose ringed parakeets and one can spot other birds here too including the illusive Crested Buntings.

Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) is trying to restore this place with building material and methodology from those eras. This place is crying for more attention not only for restoration but also to be visited, appreciated and enjoyed.

You can view more photos here

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