Jaipur: A city of terracotta, history and heritage

Jaipur is the capital city of Rajasthan. The city was founded in the 18th century and the name Jaipur came from its founder Maharaja JaiSingh II.

It is also known as the ‘Pink City’ because of the city’s buildings are painted in terracotta-pink. Actually there’s a bit of a history to this which we will talk about later in the post. Jaipur is also considered to be the first planned city of India. The city is also famous for its heritage architecture, forts and temples. The heritage sites and forts of Jaipur gazes the beautiful fusion of the Mughal and Rajput architectures.

Jaipur is one of the prime tourist attraction in North India. It hosts many luxurious 5 star properties within the city and some serene resorts in the outskirts. Traveling to Jaipur, the itinerary needs to be of 3nights and 4 days so as to explore the unmissable(s) of the city.

The reason why Jaipur is called ‘Pink City’ is because in 1876 the Maharaja of Jaipur, Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh painted the whole city in this distinct pink color. Reason behind doing this was, to greet the royal guests Prince Albert and Queen Victoria upon their arrival. The color pink is said to be the color of hospitality. It is also said that the Maharaja’s wife loved the shades of pink on the walls of the building thus convincing the Maharaja to pass the law that any building in the city must be painted in the same color scheme and should be maintained ever after. This law was passed in 1877 and it still is in effect. During this reign, Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh was one of the powerful and wealthiest men in India.

The Pink City or Old Jaipur has 7 entry gates, namely;

• Chandpole
• Surajpole
• Ajmeri gate
• New gate
• Sanganeri gate
• Ghat gate
• Samrat gate
• Zorawar Singh Gate

The iconic ‘Hawa Mahal’ too is in the pink city of Jaipur.

Another step that Maharaja took to make sure Lord Albert visits Jaipur is he commissioned a concert hall and naming it after him, “Albert Hall“. The lavish concert hall, built to honour Lord Albert is situated in Ram Niwas Public gardens. Maharaja built this place as a town hall but was later changed to the Art Museum by his successor Madho Singh II. Albert Hall is now known as “Albert Hall Museum” or “Government Central Museum“.

The other places that reflect deep history of Rajasthan and architectural fusion (Rajput and Mughal) would be;

• Amber Fort
• Nahargarh Fort
• Jaigarh Fort
• Jal Mahal
• City Palace

Other than the above, unmissable places to visit would be;

• Birla Mandir
• Monkey Temple / Galta Temple

There are always some Gems and Hidden Gems;

• Elphantastic
• Chokhi dhani
• Rawat Mishthan Bhandar
• Tapri

The city is not limited to the above mentioned attractions only, its vastly enriched with much more facts, history and heritage of Rajasthan, India.