Thursday, March 29, 2007: Jaipur

My first stop on the train tour was the city of Jaipur, which is in eastern Rajasthan.

When we got off the train in Jaipur, there was a welcoming ceremony. They actually did this with each stop, but some were much more elaborate than others. Everywhere we went they handed us leis of fresh flowers. This ceremony was really cool given the elephants, and the fact that it was the first one. There also was a traditional band playing for us while we boarded the tour buses to go around the city to the various sites.

Jaipur is known as the Pink City because its most prominent buildings are washed in pink. Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds, is dedicated to Lord Krishna. It was erected in 1799 to allow the veiled ladies of the harem to observe the marketplace below unnoticed.
This is a typical street scene for mid-morning. Not too many people are out and about because it is really hot. From 10 am until around 6 pm places are pretty dead. I think Indians are noctournal--you'll see huge groups of people all dressed up walking to temples at like 2 am. It is amazing--and much, much cooler.
Amber Fort (don’t pronounce the ‘b’) was established in 1592 on the remains of an 11th century fort. Visitors trek up the huge hill to the fort on elephants and take a Jeep ride back down. The monsoon was poor last summer (’06) as the bus parking lot is actually a lake.
This is a photo of the elephants trekking to the fort entrance. There were 55 gallon drums of water at various places along the route to the top and the elephants would dip their trunks in and then spray themselves to cool down. Seeing as how we were riding on their backs, we all got wet too. It was a bit gross, but at the same time how often do you get sprayed by an elephant??

This is a photo I took looking out across the hillsides at the walled town of Amber. It was such a hot and hazy day.
Here I am standing on top of the fort waiting to go into the next part of the tour. By this time I had been sprayed with elephant water for 15 minutes.
This photo is inside Amber Fort, looking out of Sukh Niwas towards the pleasure garden, Aram Bagh. A true oasis in the middle of the desert.
Another photo inside the Fort--this is Sheesh Mahal. The flame of a single candle flame can illuminate the entire chamber.
Detail of the tiny mirrors. They are individual glass pieces that have been hand painted with silver on the back to reflect the light.

This is Jal Mahal, or Water Palace. During the monsoon the Man Sagar lake fills and the palace seems to rise from the water like a mirage. or so they told me--obviously the poor monsoon of '06 was unable to fill the lake, hence all of the cattle grazing in it.
We stopped by a trade shop and watched wool rugs being created. WOW. If you ever have the chance to own one, do it. These are amazing hand crafted items that take months to create. I purchased a small one made from Kashmir wool to hang on the wall that has 900 knots per square inch. It is amazing. Kashmir wool comes from a goat only found in Kashmir, and the only part of its coat that they use is the softest part found right under its chin. This is Jantar Mantar. It is the largest of 5 observatories built between 1728 and 1734 by Sawai Jai Signh II. He was a keen astronomer, and some of these instruments are still used today to forecast how hot the summer months will be, the expected date of arrival, duration and intensity of the monsoon, and the possibility of floods and famine. This is Laghu Samrat Yantra, or small sundial, and it is constructed on latitude 27 degrees north (Jaipur's latitude.) It calculates Jaipur's local time up to an accuracy of 20 seconds. It really works too--we all watched our cell phones for several minutes and it was right on. Amazing--to think this was constructed in the mid-1700s!!
This is Samrat Yantra, the largest sundial in the world. Singh believed gigantic instruments would give more accurate results. The sundial is 75 ft tall and is used to forecast crop prospects for the year.
This is the Peacock doorway inside Pritam Chowk in the City Palace. It is part of the Court of the Beloved which has 4 delicately carved doorways representing the seasons. We didn't have frre roam here as they were preparing for a wedding.