My Rajasthan Tour - Visit to Jaipur

Rajasthan is the largest state of India and is also known as the "Land of Maharajas".  Rajasthan is known for its majestic palaces, forts and monuments. The State is geographically dominated by stretches of Thar Desert and Aravalli Range. The state was formed on March 30, 1949, when Rajputana was merged into the dominion of India. This time we planned our tour to Rajasthan for 10 days starting from December 23, 2023. We started our tour by first visiting to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan and is also known as Pink City. Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II was the founder of the city of Jaipur who ruled from 1699 to 1744. He planned Jaipur City in six blocks separated by broad avenues based on the principals of Vastushastra and another similar classical treatise under the architectural guidance of Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, Architect from the present day Naihati, West Bengal, India. He was initially an accounts-clerk in the Amber Treasury and later promoted to the Chief Architect by the King. I would like to share my experiences and brief information about the places in Jaipur that I visited with my family. We were in Jaipur for two days. 

1. Lakshmi Narayan Temple: 

We have visited Laxmi Narayan Temple during evening on the first day of arrival at Jaipur on December 23, 2023. Lakshmi Narayan Temple is popularly known as Birla Mandir. It was built by B.M. Birla Foundation in 1988. This temple is made of white marble. This temple is dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi and God Vishnu (Narayan). There is a fort behind this temple called Moti Doongri Fort which is on the hill which looks like a pearl drop. Moti Doongri means pearl hill. In the local language, Doongri means a small hill. There is a famous Ganesh Temple inside the Moti Dongri Fort. There is a palace inside the fort which is a replica of Scottish Castle and was once the royal home of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh.  This time we could not visit this fort. 

2. Jantar Mantar

On the next day i.e. on 24th December we visited Jantar Mantar. Jantar Mantar literally means

calculating instrument. The name Jantar is derived from a Sanskrit word 'Yantra' means instrument and the word Mantar is derived from a Sanskrit word 'mantrana' which means calculate. Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is a collection of 19 astronomical instruments built by the King Sawai Jai Singh II in 1729. The monument was completed in 1734. It is having the world's largest stone Sundial and is UNESCO World Heritage Site. Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II constructed five Jantar Mantar in total which are located in New Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Mathura and Varanasi. All the five Jantar Mantar were completed between 1724 and 1735. There is a small sundial for the calculation of local time. Difference of time in minute is written on the board which is added to local time to arrive at Indian Standard Time (IST). During our visit to this place the difference in time that was written on the board was 26 minutes.  

There is an instrument called 'Yantra Raj' in Jantar Mantar which is an adaptation of a medieval instrument for the measurement of time and positions of celestial objects. This instrument is used for measuring ascendants, altitude, time and the position of the Sun and other celestial objects in the sky. It can also be used in computing celestial positions and their changes. Other major instruments of Jantar Mantar are Samrat Yantra, Disha Yantra, Chakra Yantra, Jai Prakash Yantra, Rama Yantra, Dingash Yantra, Utaansh Yantra and Rashiwalay Yantra. 

3. City Palace

We visited City Palace on 24th December 2023 after finishing our visit to Jantar Mantar. The construction of the City Palace started under the rule of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1729 and completed in 1732. He shifted his capital from Amber to Jaipur in the year 1727. This Palace is a royal residence and former administrative headquarters of Jaipur State. Mughal and Rajput architectural styles in combination was used for the construction of this palace. Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum is inside this palace and this palace is still the home of the Jaipur royal family. Vidyadhar Bhattacharya was the architect who designed this palace. There are several buildings, various courtyards, galleries, restaurants, and offices of the Museum Trust inside the palace complex. Chairperson of the Museum Trust is Rajmata Padmini Devi of Jaipur. Princess Diya Kumari as Secretary and trustee runs the Museum Trust. She is also founder of the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation which works for the empowerment of underprivileged and underemployed women of Rajasthan.  

There are three main entry gates to the City Palace named Udai Pol, Virendra Pol and Tripolia gate. The Tripolia gate is reserved for the entry of the members of royal family into the palace. Common people and visitors are allowed to enter the palace complex through the Udai Pol and the Virendra Pol. The Udai Pol leads to the Sabha Niwas (Diwan-e-Aam) which is a hall of the public audience. Sabha Niwas was modelled on the lines of a Mughal Hall of audience, the Diwan-e-Aam. The Virendra Pol leads to the Mubarak Mahal Courtyard, which in turn is connected to the Sarvato Bhadra i.e. Diwan-e-Khas through the Rajendra Pol. Sarvato Bhadra was used as the Diwan-e-Khas i.e. the Hall of Private Audience where the ruler could hold the court with the officials and nobles of the kingdom privately. Entry of public was not allowed in Diwan-e-Khas. Today, it is used for royal festivals and celebrations.  

  👆 Rajendra Pol

Two huge sterling silver urns of 1.6 meters height and each with the capacity of 4000 liters and weighing 345 kilograms are placed in Diwan-e-Khas. These two sterling silver vessels found place in Guinness Book of World Record as the world's largest sterling silver vessels. It took two years between 1894 and 1896 to create these silver jars by two silversmiths of Jaipur. Each silver urn (vessel) was made from 14000 melted silver coins without soldering. These vessels were used by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II to carry the water of the river Ganges to England in 1902 for using it for drinking purpose during his entire journey and stay in England for attending the coronation of King Edward VII. These silver vessels are named as Gangajalis.  

Chandra Mahal is the oldest building in the city palace Complex having seven floors. Aurangzeb gave the title 'Sawai' to young Jai Singh which means "one and a quarter". Since then, the Maharajas have pre-fixed their names with this title. There are various galleries of the museum i.e. Sabha Niwas, Textile Gallery, Sileh Khana (Arms and Armour Gallery), Painting and Photography gallery. 

4. Amber Fort or Amer Fort

This fort is located in Amer which is at a distance of about 11 kilometers from Jaipur and was built by Raja Man Singh I in the year 1592. Jai Singh I expanded the fort in the early 1600's. Improvements and additions were made by successive rulers over the next 150 years till the capital was shifted to Jaipur during the time of Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727. It is located high on the hill i.e. Cheel ka Teela of Aravali range of hills. Amer or Amber derives its name from the Ambikeshwar Temple built atop the Cheel ka Teela. Amer Fort is popularly known as Amer Palace which is the great example of Rajput Architecture. However, some of its buildings have influence of Mughal architecture. This palace and Jaigarh Fort are connected by a subterranean passage which is an escape route during war to enable the royal family members and others to provide safe passage to Jaigarh Fort.  

Amer Fort is divided into four courtyards. The main entry is through the Suraj Pol (Sun Gate) which leads to the first main courtyard. You will find Sila Devi temple in the first courtyard which was the place of worship of Rajput Maharajas since the reign of Maharaja Mansingh in the 16th century. there is a Suhag Mandir where the ladies of royal family used to watch functions held in Diwan-i-Aam through latticed marble windows called jalis. The Second courtyard houses the Diwan-i-Aam or the Public Audience Hall where the king held audience to hear and receive petitions from the public. 

 The private quarters of the Maharaja, his family and attendants were located in the third courtyard. The entry to this courtyard is through the Ganesh Pol. This courtyard has two buildings, Sheesh Mahal and Sukh Mahal separated by a garden laid in the style of Mughal Gardens. Sheesh Mahal was built by Maharaja Man Singh and completed in the year 1727 which is the foundation year of Jaipur State. There are numerous tiny mirrors, pattern mosaics, coloured glasses embedded on the walls and ceilings of the Sheesh Mahal because of which a single ray of light entering the Sheesh Mahal is able to lits up and illuminates the entire hall naturally. The Sheesh Mahal has been built so that the queen can see the star while sleeping inside the Sheesh Mahal.   The fourth courtyard has many living rooms for the residences of the queens who were visited by the king at his choice without being known to the queens other than the queen to whom the king visited.  This was possible because all the rooms open into a common corridor.                   

👆Ceiling of Sheesh Mahal

5. Conclusion

Jaipur is the first planned city of India and was planned by Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. The city derives its name from Sawai Jai Singh, founder of the city. This time we could not visit Hawa Mahal and Jal Mahal though we have passed through these two places. Dal Baati Churma, Laal Maas, Ghevar, Gatte ki Sabji, etc. are the delicious dishes which one can try in Jaipur or any other places in Rajasthan. Before going to Jaipur my friend suggested me to have a taste of Lassi at Lassiwala in Jaipur. This time we could not taste Lassi at Lassiwala due to hectic schedule given by our tour operator. But next time I will definitely taste lassi at Lassiwala. This time we have tasted Lal Maas and Dal Bati Churma during our Rajasthan tour. We enjoyed our stay at Jaipur. On December 25, 2023, we checked out from the hotel at Jaipur in the morning and thereafter we started our journey to Udaipur. Very soon I will come with another post in this blog on my tour to Udaipur. 

(Note: The historical facts mentioned in the article are collected from Wikipedia and some other sources in public domain.)