Skip to main content

Palace-Fort-Shop-Repeat - Pink city Jaipur

The city of Jaipur welcomes you with its pink colored structures painted across the city.
Hawa Mahal, iconic monument of Rajasthan
Hawa Mahal, iconic monument of Rajasthan
Jaipur has a lot to offer for the tourists, our Jaipur tour started with Albert Hall Museum.
Albert Hall Museum is built in the late 19th century. It will easily take up at least an hour for a tour inside the museum, and its worth it. Do not miss its stunning looks after dark, when the whole structure is lit up.
Albert Museum in daylight
Albert Museum in daylight
Albert Museum lit up at night
Albert Museum lit up at night
Later in the evening we visited Birla temple, completely built with white marble. During night the temple complex looks more beautiful after it is lit up, with the Moti Dungari hill fort in the backdrop the view looks more stunning. After doing some shopping near the temple we rested for the day.
The elegance of white marble, Birla Temple
The elegance of white marble, Birla Temple
Moti Dungari hill fort lit up in the night
Moti Dungari hill fort lit up in the night
Amber and Jaigarh fort:
The next morning we started for Amber fort, which is about 11km from the city.
Amber fort is built in 16th to 18th century A.D and is a UNESCO World heritage site. This colossal fortress was built on top of hill.
Suraj pol gate leads you to a large courtyard known as Jaleb Chowk, which was the place for soldiers to assemble, also the ticket counter is located here.
Jaleb Chowk, Amber fort
The stairways from here opens up to the palace area and the second courtyard, where the public audience hall or Diwan-e-aam is located.
Maota Lake as seen from the Diwan-e-aam
Beyond this is the Maharaja’s private quarters, which is accessed through the beautiful Ganesh Pol (gate), this gate is elegantly decorated and one of the highlights of the Amber Palace.
Ganesh Pol (gate), another iconic structure of Jaipur
Ganesh Pol (gate), another iconic structure of Jaipur
The courtyard which opens up through the Ganesh Pol has a pleasing garden and on its left is the famous Sheesh Mahal or the Palace of Mirrors. This masterpiece is undoubtedly the main attraction of the Amber Palace. The walls and ceilings of the Sheesh Mahal is decorated with mirror inlay work, probably the real magic would be felt in darkness under the  candle light. Hats off to the designers and creators who made this impressive art work.
Sheesh Mahal and the gardens
Sheesh Mahal and the gardens
Glass-works and mirror-works of Sheesh Mahal
Glass-works and mirror-works of Sheesh Mahal
Stunning craftsmanship of Sheesh mahal
Stunning craftsmanship of Sheesh mahal
Beyond this is the last of the courtyards, surrounded by the Zenana enclosure, meant for the queens.
While on our way back we went through the secret tunnel which leads up to the Jaigarh fort, which is another 30 mins trek up the hill. There is also an option to hire a battery operated cart vehicle for a ride from Amber fort to Jaigarh fort and return, they charge 200/person. We chose the later option after hiking through the secret tunnel which had almost covered about forty percent of the trek route.
The secret passage past the secret tunnel, which connects Amber fort to Jaigarh fort
The secret passage past the secret tunnel, which connects Amber fort to Jaigarh fort
The electric car drops till the entrance of the Jaigarh fort and then we had to still climb up to reach the summit, where the Jaivana cannon was kept. It was built in 1720 AD, at its time this was the world's largest cannon on wheels.
Jaivana-worlds largest cannon on wheel at that time
Jaivana-worlds largest cannon on wheel at that time
Jaigarh fort
Jaigarh fort
The ramparts of the Jaigarh fort offers breathtaking views of Aravalli hills and the Amber Fort down below. At this moment what caught my eyes was more pleasing, the beautiful sunset along with a muster of peacocks beyond the Aravalli hills.
Breathtaking views of the Amber fort and town and the fort passing through the Aravalli mountains as seen from Jaigarh fort
Breathtaking views of the Amber fort and town and the fort passing through the Aravalli mountains as seen from Jaigarh fort
Mesmerizing view of the sunset through the Aravalli hills as seen from Jaigarh fort
Mesmerizing view of the sunset through the Aravalli hills as seen from Jaigarh fort
We felt it worth to have come this far and have not missed visiting the Jaigarh fort. It was already getting dark by the time we left the place and took the return car ride to reach the Amber fort, from where we walked down the steps, when the whole fort was already lit up.
Amber Fort looks impressive when its lit up during night
Amber Fort looks impressive when its lit up during night
Having spent one whole day in the forts climbing up and down, it was too much tiresome yet an amazing experience not to be missed.

City Tour:
On our last day of Rajasthan tour we had kept lot many things to do. We started with a visit to the Jantar Mantar, an ancient astronomical site and a UNESCO World heritage site. This is a must visit for all science enthusiasts and students.
Jantar Mantar, an ancient astronomical wonder and a UNESCO World heritage site
Jantar Mantar, an ancient astronomical wonder and a UNESCO World heritage site
Next we visited the City palace museum, which we felt was something similar to the rest of the museums in Rajasthan, there was nothing special about this one.
Gateways though the City Palace
Gateways though the City Palace
Jaipur City Palace
Jaipur City Palace
Peacock mural paintings, best part of the city palace
Peacock mural paintings, best attraction of the city palace
Hawa Mahal is just beside the City Palace, we limited to see it just from outside, and no wonder why it was the front page poster for Rajasthan tourism. It catches your eye at your first sight, the design looks simple yet unique but definitely eye catching.
And then it was all shopping time, Sireh Deori/Hawa Mahal Bazaar, Johari Bazaar, Bapu Bazaar, Nehru Bazaar, Kishanpol Bazaar, Tripolia Bazaar, Chandpol Bazaar and so on, the list goes on and on. It is literally shop till you drop. Jaipur is one of the best places for shopping in India. Most of these bazaars sell the rajasthani special Bandini tie and dye fabrics, rich embroideries, traditional bangles, souvenirs, Joothis, kids traditional dresses, razai, bedsheets, artwork, etc.

We had the typical Rajasthani dal bati churma to end our day and also our long Rajasthan tour.
Rajasthan tour was one of my most memorable trip in my entire lifetime, and will always stay close to my heart, will surely visit again.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Micromax Canvas 2 A110 Hands on Review

Micromax Superfone Canvas 2 A110(Jet Black/Calm White): After using it for a week, I felt pretty good about my decision for going with a new brand like Micromax over the mighty Samsung Galaxy S Duos and Sony Tipo Dual. Particularly not sure about its reliability but the build quality looks pretty decent. Below are my ratings for the phone aka Phablet. Build Quality (8/10): The build quality was above my expectations keeping in mind of the price tag, from front it looks just like a Galaxy high end smartphone like SIII or Note II. It has a matte finished back cover which is good for protection towards scratches and there is a metal casing all around the phone, which adds up the beauty of the phone. One more advantage of this phone is it has a touch home button instead of a hard button as seen in iPhone and Galaxy phones. Camera (5/10): [8MP autofocus (Tap to Focus), dual flash, supports up to 3264x2448 pixels, Panorama] Don't fall for the specs as it is said...

Madanikas of Belur Chennakeshava temple

Madanikas of Belur Chennakeshava temple: Most popular feature of Belur is its Shilabalike’s or the Bracket figures of different dance forms. Various poses of Madanika's at the Belur Chennakeshava temple. There are 42 Madanikas or Bracket figures on the corner out of which 38 are outside the temple and four are inside the temple. Each figure attracts on its own merits. They represent beautiful damsels in various moods representing feminine charm and grace, this perhaps are one of the best creations of the Hoysala sculptors of the Belur temple. There are a total of 40 pillars on the outer walls, each with a bracket figure of dancing girls (38 in total on outer walls). These sculptures are finely proportioned and exceedingly ornamented. Actual placement of the Madanika's op top of the columns Out of the 38 Madanikas on the outer walls, I've written a photologue on 25 and all the 4 interior Madanikas. Each one of these Madaniks are given a number to r...

Interiors of Chennakeshava temple, Belur

Interiors of Belur Chennakeshava temple: Originally the interior received much daylight, but the added screens make it dark and mysterious. The interior of the temple consisting of a garbhagriha, Sukhanasi, navaranga and a mandapa takes us to a new world of sculptures with lathe turned pillars of various designs. The central square of the navaranga has four pillars decorated with bracket figures atop. These bracket figures are remarkably of superior workmanship in conception and execution. The Navaranga has raised verandah's on both sides of the three entrances. Sufficient space has been left out in the central hall (Navaranga) for musical performances and Puja (worship) ceremonies by large numbers of devotees and others. Sculptures on the entrance of Garbhagriha Pillars: There are a total of 48 pillars, while the four central pillars have been hand churned, the others had been lathe turned.  One of the four Pillar's at the central square of the ...

How to update Micromax canvas 2 A110 with official Jelly Bean V3 - detailed steps

How to update Micromax A110 Canvas 2 to V3 ROM: I've just updated my canvas 2 to Jelly Bean official update from Micromax. Before you proceed I would like to make sure that this site is nowhere guaranteed for your successful upgrade and we are nowhere responsible for any claims. This is just a tried and tested genuine way to upgrade to Jellybean only for Micromax Canvas 2 A110 users. Software release notes (from Micromax ftp site): 1. Operating system is upgraded from ICS to Jelly bean. 2. M! Store is removed. 3. New wallpapers are integrated. 4. Software is backward compatible with old TP available (BYD Make). Here is what you can do by yourself and it is simple too. First of all take a complete backup of your data, you can use the following tools from the play.google.com 1. App Backup & Restore: to backup all your apps as apk files which will store them on mnt\sdcard2\ app_backup_restore 2. G Cloud Backup from GENIE9: It c...

Chennakeshava temple of Belur- Exteriors

Chennakeshava temple of Belur: Some facts about the Chennakeshava Temple: Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana defeated the Cholas at Talakad & to commemorate this great event built many temples in 1117 A.D., of which Chennakeshava temple at Belur is the most important & beautiful , dedicated to Keshava one of the 24 forms of Vishnu. Although the temple was completed by Narasimha, it took over 103 years to finish the structure. Though the legends assign this temple to have been built by Jakanachari, as per the inscriptions the master builders of this temple are Dasoja and his son Chavana, other sculptors include Chikka-Hampa, Malliyana, Padari Malloja, Masada and Nagoja who bestowed their best in creating this masterpiece. Chennakeshava Temple, Belur Back to the travelogue: Most important aspect of these Belur Halebeedu temples is that Chennakeshava temple is famous for beautiful and intricate interiors and Hoysaleshwara temple is famous for the magnificent sculpture...