Places to visit in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India - Part 1

Last December 2012, I was in beautiful Jaipur of Rajasthan, staying for free at my host's house, Hussey at the outskirts of Jaipur called Amer. (read : couchsurfing) And having the fun of my life!

Most of my hard-earned money was pretty much spared since food and accommodation were wholly provided for. Not to mention free transport to the places I wanted to visit in and about Jaipur. Well, I did pay for the bike's gasoline. But that costs only 100 rupees only. No hal lah! .

So what is it about Jaipur that made me stay longer than intended? I couldn't get enough of the fairy-tale likeness of the palaces found here. I felt as if I was Jasmine from the movie Aladdin. Hehe.  I've listed all the places I've been to below.

1. The City Palace

It is located at the heart of Jaipur's bustling pink city and only a walk away from Hawa Mahal. The entrance ticket costs Rs 300.00.  It is a unique and arresting complex of several palaces, pavilions, gardens and temples. The most prominent and most visited structures in the complex are the Chandra Mahal, Mubarak Mahal, Mukut Mahal, Maharani's Palace, Shri Govind Dev Temple and the City Palace Museum. (source)

Oh.. the word "mahal" means palace. =)

An archway heading towards the City Palace.

Clockwise from upper left : Diwan-I-Khas which was a private audience hall of the Maharajas (a marble floored chamber), a canon within the complex, entering the City Palace, and arch entrance of the palace.

The building in white is the Chandra Mahal or Chandra Niwas, the most commanding building in the City Palace complex

Former rulers still live in this palace and only the ground floor is open to the public. There's a museum called Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum there which houses some ancient carpets, manuscripts and other items that belonged to the royal family. I spent around an hour here. =)

2. Hawa Mahal 

Before entering Hawa Mahal, you could first get yourself the ticket as seen below. You have to ask for it at the counter or else they'll charge you Rs 200 per entry. The difference with the ticket below is that it is Rs 300 for FIVE entries to FIVE different places. It's a bargain!

Composite Entry Ticket that costs 300 rupees. With it you can enter FIVE main attractions in Jaipur. 

So what is it with Hawa Mahal? Nothing coz I didn't go in! Hahaha! I did this (read link) instead. 

Hawa Mahal taken via Instagram. 

The Hawa Mahal which adjoins the famous City Palace wall, was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh and has now become one of the landmarks of Jaipur. The palace is shaped like a pyramid and is a five-storied building, with number of small windows and screens, with arched roofs. There is intricate carving in the front and much attention has been paid to the even minute details. Its purpose was simply to allow the royal women a view of ceremonial processions while seated behind the small windows, allowing them to look out with being seen. Sneaky, huh?

3. Jantar Mahal

To the east of the City Palace is the Jantar Mahal. It is an open air observatory which was designed by Maharaja Jai Singh in 1728. Before commencing the observatory, he sent scholars abroad to study other foreign observatories so that he would have one that would satisfy his passion for astronomy.

The instruments of astronomy.  Not my thing. 

In order to achieve accuracy, the instruments were made from stone and marble. Each of these curious sculptures has a specific purpose such as measuring the posistions of stars, altitudes, and azimuths and calculating the times of eclipses.

I personally didn't dig this place. T__T

4. Jal Mahal

I passed this place every time I came back from Jaipur to Hussey's house in Amer. It was intriguing to see a palace in the middle of a lake. At first, I thought it was flooded. Hahaha. Sadly, no-one is allowed to enter this palace. We could only view from afar.

A wonderful place to go on a date with this view, right? hehe.

Jal Mahal was built by Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799 A.D. in the midst of the Man Sagar lake as a pleasure spot. It is noted for its intricate architecture. The first four floors of this building is under water (WOW!) and only the top floor remains outside. One can have a wonderful view of the lake and the palace from Nahargarh Fort. This palace is now abandoned but reasonably well preserved.

Thus I end part 1 of places to visit in Jaipur. Will commence on part 2 soonest.

Happy traveling guys! ^^
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