Hawa Mahal is a beautiful building on the
main street of Jaipur.It has five storeys
and is built of pink
sandstone. It means a Palace of Winds and was built in 1799, to
enable ladies of the royal household to watch the everyday life and
processions of the city. The top of the Hawa Mahal offers an
excellent over view of the city. It has many windows in
semi-octagonal shape and there is always a cool breeze blowing
through this. This was built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh.
The City Palace is in the heart of the old city and is surrounded by
gardens court-yards and buildings and is known as the Raj Mahal. The
palace is a blend of Rajasthani and Moghul architecture. The former
Maharaja still lives in a part of the palace.
The centre of the Palace is the seven stories Chandra Mahal. The
ground and first floor form the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum.
The museum has an extensive collection of art, carpets, enamelware
and old weapons. The paintings include miniature of the Rajasthani
Moghul and Persian schools. Displayed here are also dresses and
costumes of the former Maharajas and Maharanis of Jaipur. The
Diwani-i-Am (Hall of Public Audiences) has intricate decorations and
manuscripts in Persian and Sanskrit. The Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of
Private Audiences) has a marble-paved gallery. The clock tower and
Mubarak Mahal are the other attractions here. Outside the buildings
is a silver vessel which the Maharaja used to store drinking water
during his visit to England.
Another place that must be seen in Jaipur is the Jantar Mantar or
the observatory built by the astronomer Maharaja Jai Singh in 1728.
This was constructed after he sent scholars abroad to study foreign
observatories. The oldest of them is in Delhi. The others whics
still exist are in Ujjain and Varanasi. It has the capacity to
measure the positions of stars, calculating eclipses etc. The sun
dial is the most striking instrument with its 30 metre high gnomon.
This casts a shadow which moves up to four metres an hour.
