The Pink City | Jaipur

Jaipur, also known as "The Pink City" or "Paris of India" and the capital of Rajasthan happened to be in our Travel list. A riot of colors, majestic forts and palaces that boast of the Indian royalty and erstwhile Maharajas was definitely one of the must-go places and my trip to Jaipur last year only solidified my belief.

Excited for our 2 days trip to Jaipur, me and my sister woke up early in the morning at 4.AM. We arrived at New Delhi Train Station at around 5:15 A.M. It was my first time travelling via Railway. The experience in Ajmer Shatabdi Express was very pleasant and hospitable. After 5 hours of comfortable train journey, we arrived at the  land of Maharajas. We took a cab and went straight to our hotel. After quick refreshment, we headed to the heart of Jaipur-The Pink City.

Our first Stop was  Hawa Mahal which is Jaipur's most distinctive landmark. It is so named because it was essentially a high screen wall built so the women of the royal household could observe street festivals while unseen from the outside.

The Palace of the Winds

Then we headed to the beautiful City Palace. An enigmatic complex of courtyards, gardens and buildings, the impressive City Palace is right in the center of the Old City. The most amazing discovery is that beyond the square is the private palace, the Chandra Mahal, which is still the residence of the descendants of the royal family.

Peacock Gate-City Palace

Next to City Palace is Jantar Mantar which is an astronomical observation site built in the early 18th century. It includes a set of some 20 main fixed instruments. It was amazing to see such huge instruments designed for the observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye, and all that with such grandeur.

Stairs to Samrat Yantra, Jantar Mantar

[caption id="attachment_222" align="aligncenter" width="4320"] The word's oldest observatory[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_220" align="alignnone" width="4320"] The model of Samar Yantra[/caption]

In the evening, we landed to a local restaurant where they served us with delightful cuisine and with much more awaiting us the next day we headed back to our hotel.

Our second Day began with visiting the much acclaimed Forts. The three most renowned forts located in Jaipur are : Nahargarh fort, Jaigarh Fort and Amer Fort. We booked a cab for a whole day and started with Nahargarh Fort.

Nahargarh Fort, standing tall is the pride of the city of Jaipur. Inside the long courtyard of the palace, there are three suites each on the three sides, making a total of nine identical suites (meant for the queens). There is no better place to see Jaipur city than gazing at it from the Nahargarh Fort. We also searched for the place where portions of the movie Rang De Basanti were shot. It was not far from the entrance area where the "Pathshala" song was shot. It is a huge water reservoir and used to store water during the rainy season.

[caption id="attachment_231" align="aligncenter" width="3120"] Entrance to the Fort[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_219" align="aligncenter" width="3072"] Wanderlust-Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_234" align="alignnone" width="4096"] "Masti  ki Pathsala" - Rang de Basanti[/caption]

Jaigarh Fort was next on our list. The story of Jaigarh Fort is as intriguing as its history so obviously we couldn't miss this site. It is best known as the site of the world's largest cannon, the Jaivana, which was test-fired only once — according to legend. I wondered why anyone would even try to conquer a city with a cannon that fires with the range of 35km. The three forts are connected to each other by underground passages which supplied water to the forts.

[caption id="attachment_228" align="alignnone" width="4096"] The biggest cannon in the world lies in Jaigarh Fort[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_235" align="alignnone" width="4096"] The Victory Fort with many stories on the wall[/caption]

After much walking, we came back to the city to have some lunch and went to see the Jal Mahal. Possibly the most serene sight amidst the chaos of Jaipur is the beautiful Jal Mahal of Jaipur, the Water Palace. This low-rise symmetrical palace, that once was a shooting lodge for the Maharajas, appears to float on the center of Sagar Lake. Due to lack of time we said our goodbye to the Jal Mahal as Amer Fort was waiting for us.

On the way to Amer Fort, we were hysterically laughing by re-enacting the dialogue of Hrithik Roshan in the movie Jodha Akbar regarding the Amer Fort. That says ‘Amer ki saltanat’. Not even bothering to speak out the rest of the dialogue.

It was already late afternoon when we reached Amer Fort. It is one of the most beautiful places in Jaipur.  The Home of Princess Jodha(wife of Emperor Akbar) left us speechless with its tremendous beauty. As it was evening, the lights added much beauty to the palace. We then attended a spiritual aarati in Shila Matha's Temple inside the fort. We quickly explored the fort as it was already dark. It felt like each stone had a story to tell and it did indeed! This marked the end of Jaipur Trip and we headed back to our hotel as we had early morning train the next day.

[gallery ids="225,230,227,229" type="rectangular"]

With only 2 short days in this city, I know justice simply hasn’t been done to all the sights, sounds and smells that Jaipur has to offer. We left with photos, experiences and bags full of goodies, promising to return to unearth, appreciate and enjoy the many more unseen treasures that this city has to offer.

 The last Stop-Jaipur Train Station