The Rajasthani Rainbow

Jaipur, the bustling capital of Rajasthan is known quite simply as the ‘Pink City’.

The old part of town is chaotic in a fun kind of way with a number of captivating busy market areas with many colourful and over decorated rickshaws. One street in particular called Tripolia Bazaar is made up of lots of tiny shopfronts all with their vibrant clothes and wares exploding onto the footpath. Along with historical sights and traditionally dressed men and women this area is a must.

 
Jaipur was founded by Jai Singh a great Rajput warrior and astronomer. It is believed to be one of the first fully planned cities in Northern India with it’s  foundations being laid back in 1727.

It became known as the pink city in 1876 when the Maharaja Ram Singh ordered that the entire city to be painted pink, the traditional colour of hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales.

Laws have since been passed to compel all residents to preserve the now internationally recognised pink colour scheme.

The old city, enclosed by it’s impressive walls, and entered through huge beautiful gates is home to some absolute masterpieces of Rajput architecture. Those on the top of the list include the City Palace, Jantar Mantar (the observatory) and the fairy tale, pink sandstone ‘Hawa Mahal’, the ‘Palace of the Winds’.

 

The Hawa Mahal is certainly the most recognisable building in the city, capturing the imagination of all travellers.

This amazing building was constructed in 1799. It is 5 storeys high, but very narrow with many windows opening out onto the street. Each window obscured by delicately cut screens so to allow the ladies of the royal household to observe life on the street without being seen by the people below.

As we walked from our hotel to the ‘Hawa Mahal’ we wandered down through Tripolia Bazaar. The atmosphere was electric with street vendors bustling for sales and everything you can imagine was on offer from perfectly presented fruit and vege to beautifully decorated traditional Rajasthani shoes.

As we zigged and zagged through the bazaar we noticed one tour group gliding by with comparative ease on cycle rickshaws and decided that this particular option looked like a pretty good one!

I must just re-emphasise that for those of you that have read each of our posts, I wrote earlier in our trip that something had clearly changed in India, for the better! As was the case in Agra, even though we were down in amongst the crowd there was no hassle whatsoever….only minimal begging, and while the odd vendor tried to sell us some fruit, and of course some shoes, once you politely declined they simply smiled and you were on your way. The atmosphere was welcoming, the city was clean (by Indian standards) and the people were great.

A little later in the day we walked by a busy little local café that looked inviting so we decided that it was time to eat. We ordered an Egg curry, Paneer (cottage cheese) Masala (curry), some rice, a couple of chappati’s and a couple of naan breads. All up with a soft drink it cost us 180 rupees which is about $4.

Feeling satisfied we headed back down to the bazaar and enjoyed the colour and energy of the old city before returning home.