|
|
About Jaipur
This famous city is the capital of the desert
state of Rajasthan and has earned universal renown
as the 'Pink City', And pink it is, with beautifully
constructed palaces, domes and forts. Tall, rugged
men with handlebar whiskers sport bright-pink turbans.
Jaipur which means the city of victory was built
in 1727 and is 262 km by road from Delhi. A strong
wall encircles the old city and even today has-
a suggestion of formidable strength, its function
of protecting all within is obvious. The plains
of Rajasthan of which Jaipur is the capital once
thundered and echoed with the clash of swords and
the drums of war.
Built in 1727 by Sawai Jai Singh, Jaipur was
the first planned city of its time (the earlier
planned city in Northern India having been built
near Taxila sometime in the 2nd century BC): Jaipur
was planned by Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, a Bengali
architect, in .a grid system with wide straight
avenues, roads, streets and lanes and uniform rows
of shops on either !;ide of the main bazars, all
arranged in nine rectangular city sectors (chokris).
The city itself is an attractive creation worthy
of universal admiration.
There is a feast in store for the tourist. Huge
and ancient monuments in which one can breathe the
fragrance of history, comfortable hotels, once the
proud palaces of kings, numerous parks, gardens,
and excursions of nearby places of interest, make
Jaipur a tourist's paradise.
Built of pink stucco in imitation of sandstone,
the city is remarkable among pre-modern Indian cities
for the width and regularity of its streets which
are laid out into six quarters separated by broad
streets 111 ft (34 m) wide. The urban quarters are
further divided by networks of gridded streets.
Five quarters wrap around the east, south, and west
sides of a central palace quarter, with a sixth
quarter immediately to the east. The Palace quarter
encloses a sprawling palace complex (the Hawa Mahal,
or palace of winds), formal gardens, and a small
lake. Nahargarh Fort crowns the hill in the northwest
corner of the old city. Another noteworthy building
is Sawai Jai Singh's observatory, Jantar Mantar.
Jaipur, with its rich and colourful past, resplendent
with tales of valour and bravery is now one of the
most important heritage cities in India, and is
a must-see for tourists coming to India.
|
