 Sawai Jai Singh, a Kachhwaha King, was the founder of the city of Jaipur. The building of the city started in 1727 AD and was completed by 1731 AD. Vidhyadhar Bhattacharya of Bengal was the architect of the city who designed the city in a rectangular shape divided into nine blocks. It is the first planned city in India and was built on the principles of the Shilpa Shastra, the ancient Indian treatise on architecture. The entire city was painted with pink color in honor of the Prince of Wales, who visited Jaipur in 1853 AD. Since then, the city is referred as the 'Pink City' of Rajasthan.
The City Palace is the royal residence of the erstwhile rulers of Jaipur. The building reflects the architecture of the Rajasthani and Mughal styles. The palace has a museum with a good collection of Rajasthani costumes, arms and ammunitions of the Mughals and Rajputs, swords inlaid with enamel and embossed with jewels in different shapes and sizes with chased handles and encased in elegant sheaths. The art gallery presents miniature paintings, carpets and royal items.
Jantar Mantar is a stone observatory constructed by Sawai Jai Singh. The observatory at Jaipur is the largest of five observatories built by Jai Singh across India. The complex instruments are the Samrat Yantra, Jayaprakash Yantra and Ram Yantra. All the instruments of the observatory were scientifically designed to measure the movement of stars, the sun and the planets.
Hawa Mahal or the Palace of Winds was built in 1799 AD for the ladies of the royal household to watch the royal processions and daily hustle-bustle of the city. It is a five-storeyed building along the main street with semi-octagonal shape and honey combed windows made of sandstone.
Ram Niwas Bagh was built at the orders of Sawai Ram Singh II as a famine relief project in 1868 AD. The manicured garden has a zoo, an aviary, a greenhouse, a herbarium, a museum and a sports ground. The Albert Hall designed by Sir Swinton Jacob, displays sculptures, paintings, decorative wares, natural history specimens, an Egyptian mummy and the famous Persian carpets. The Rabindra Manch with an auditorium, a modern art gallery and an open-air theatre was added recently to the garden to organize and promote cultural events.
How to Reach
Jaipur is at a distance of 156 km from Ranthambore National Park.
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