North India - Day 5

 Jaipur – Day 5

 19 February 2026 

Today the plan is to explore Jaipur. Jaipur is known as the pink city and gem city. Pink city because in 1876, when Prince Albert, the then Prince of Wales, (later King Edward VII) visited, Jaipur was painted terracotta pink, a colour associated with hospitality. The tradition continued, and the old city still maintains that iconic hue. Gem city because it is one of the world’s most important centres for gem cutting, polishing, and jewellery manufacturing.

First, to Amber Fort, one of the most magnificent hill forts of Rajasthan. The fort complex was begun in 1592 by Man Singh I, a trusted general of the Mughal emperor Akbar, and was expanded by successive rulers over roughly a century. It is therefore over 400 years old.

 

Amber Fort is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing known as the “Hill Forts of Rajasthan” (inscribed in 2013).

 

The defensive walls stretch dramatically across the Aravalli hills and connect with the Jaigarh Fort above. Together, these fortifications extend for nearly 10–12 kilometres, forming an impressive defensive network rather than a single continuous fort.

 

The Chand Pol, or Moon Gate, was one of the main entrances, especially for commoners. The upper storey of the gate houses the Naubatkhana (drum house), where kettle drums and other instruments were played. Naubat was a ceremonial form of royal music performed at fixed hours of the day and on special occasions such as victories or royal arrivals. There was strict protocol surrounding it, and listeners were expected to remain silent as a mark of respect. The tradition of royal kettle drums predates the Mughals and has roots in Persian and Central Asian court culture.

 

The courtyard was grand. Women in those days were not allowed to appear in public 🙄. They remained in the zenana quarters and observed events from screened balconies above, looking through intricately carved jharokhas (windows that were carved with patterns across so that they could see without being seen). From there, they would watch their husbands return from battle in victorious procession across the courtyard.

 

Then there was the Diwan-i-Aam, or Hall of Public Audience, modelled on similar halls in Mughal palaces. It was here that the Raja gave audience to his subjects, heard petitions, and met officials. On special occasions, especially after victories, festivities were also held here. The architecture beautifully blends Rajput strength with Mughal elegance, reflecting the political alliance between the Rajput rulers of Amber and the Mughal court.

 

Deeper inside lies the famous Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace), where thousands of tiny convex mirrors are set into the walls and ceilings. It is said that even a single candle flame could illuminate the entire room, the light multiplied into countless reflections.

 

There were royal gardens laid out in formal geometric style overlooking Maota Lake below (a man made lake). The palace also contained sophisticated water systems, including furnaces where firewood was burnt to heat water, allowing for both hot and cold baths, quite advanced for its time. Rainwater harvesting systems were also carefully designed to suit Rajasthan’s dry climate.

 

The palace of Raja Man Singh, completed in 1599 after about 25 years of construction, forms one of the oldest parts of the complex. He had 12 wives, and they inhabited a part of the palace where no men were allowed, only women servants and eunuchs. It includes private chambers arranged around inner courtyards, along with seasonal rooms designed for summer and winter comfort, thick walls and ventilation for cooling in the heat, and enclosed spaces for warmth in winter.

 

On the way back from the Amber Fort, we stopped to see the Jal Mahal (Water Palace), an iconic, 18^th-century, five-story palace situated in the middle of Man Sagar Lake on the road between Jaipur and Amber Fort. Built by Maharaja Jai Singh II, this often partially submerged red sandstone structure blends Rajput and Mughal styles, originally serving as a royal hunting lodge. It was built first, and then the water was put in in the man-made lake.

 

Next, the Hawa Mahal. This building was built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799 AD. He was a devotee of Lord Krishna, and therefore designed the façade of the building in the shape of Lord Kirshna’s crown. The building is 87 feet high, pyramid shaped, five stories high, and has 365 windows. There is a water fountain in the second courtyard. Hawa Mahal is connected to the city palace by a passage, through which royal ladies come to view processions or other activities in the main market street. Today, the area still operates as a market street.

 

Next, Jantar Mantar. Built in 1728 by the astronomer-king Sawai Jai Singh II, Jantar Mantar is not a ruin in the romantic sense, but a working idea cast in stone. The name derives from yantra (instrument) and mantra (calculation), and that is precisely what it is: a vast open-air laboratory where time, stars and shadow were measured with startling precision long before modern telescopes became commonplace. Its most commanding structure, the Samrat Yantra – the world’s largest stone sundial – rises like a monumental staircase into the sky. At nearly 27 metres high, its sharp triangular gnomon casts a shadow so exact it can measure local solar time to within seconds. One does not merely look at it; one stands inside geometry.

 

But the real fascination lies in the array of other instruments scattered across the complex, each resembling abstract sculpture yet built for meticulous celestial observation. There is the Jai Prakash Yantra, two enormous bowl-shaped hemispheres carved with celestial markings, allowing astronomers to stand inside and track the position of stars as if mapping the sky from within. The Ram Yantra consists of open cylindrical structures used to measure altitude and azimuth – determining exactly where a celestial body sits in the heavens. The Narivalaya Yantra is aligned with the Earth’s axis and divided into northern and southern faces to measure time in both hemispheres. Other devices calculated zodiac positions, predicted eclipses, and tracked planetary movements with impressive accuracy.

 

What is most astonishing is that these are not decorative follies but instruments of rigorous scientific purpose – a fusion of Hindu, Islamic and European astronomical knowledge expressed in stone, marble and mathematical confidence. Walking through Jantar Mantar feels less like touring a monument and more like stepping into the mind of a ruler who believed that the universe could be understood, measured, and perhaps even reasoned with – if only one built instruments large enough to ask the sky the right questions.

 

Lastly, City Palace. This is a grand complex of courtyards, gardens and intricately decorated halls that once formed the seat of power for the rulers of the kingdom of Jaipur. Construction began in the early 18^th century under Sawai Jai Singh II, the same visionary ruler who built Jantar Mantar, and successive maharajas expanded it over generations. He ascended the throne at just eleven in 1699, and in 1727, he founded the city of Jaipur as a planned capital, based on Indic principles of vastu vidya (ancient Indian science of architecture and design) as well as knowledge gathered from West Asia and Europe. His second son and eventual successor, Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, was a noted patron of art and architecture and was himself a poet, best known for constructing the Hawa Mahal.

 

This was the residence of the Kachwaha Rajput dynasty, which ruled Jaipur from 1727 onwards. Within its walls, state affairs were conducted, dignitaries received, ceremonies performed, and royal life unfolded in carefully choreographed splendour. The complex blends Rajput, Mughal and even European architectural influences – carved marble doorways, delicate lattice screens, painted gateways representing the seasons, sweeping courtyards framed by colonnades.

 

Among its most remarkable spaces is the Chandra Mahal, still the private residence of the former royal family of Jaipur, today represented by Padmanabh Singh, the 42^nd generation of the dynasty. Part of Chandra Mahal is open to visitors, offering a glimpse into royal apartments adorned with crystal chandeliers, vintage furniture and centuries-old manuscripts.

 

Another highlight is the Mubarak Mahal, originally built as a reception hall for visiting dignitaries. It now houses a textile museum displaying elaborate royal garments including vast, pleated robes worn by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh I, said to weigh over 200 kilograms when fully spread. Nearby, in the Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience), stand two enormous sterling silver urns, reputedly the largest in the world, which was used to carry sacred Ganges water to England when a maharaja travelled abroad in the early 20^th century.

 

In one of the galleries I learned some interesting things. The first, chess. According to one notice board I read, the earliest precursor of modern chess is a game called Caturanga, which flourished in India by the 6^th century. The name came from a battle formation mentioned in the Mahabharata, and it is the earliest known game to have two essential features found in all later chess variations: different pieces having different powers, and victory that depended on the fate of one piece – the King of modern chess. The traditional game had four parts: elephants, chariots, horsemen and foot soldiers.

 

Then cards or Ganjifa, a word that comes from the Persian word ganjifeh, meaning playing cards. The first reference to the word is found in the biography of Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, written in the early 16^th century. There was also information about types of men and women garments and headdresses. 

 

Today, the City Palace functions partly as a museum and partly as a living royal residence. It is at once history, architecture, and continuity, a reminder that Jaipur’s royal story did not end with empire, but simply adapted to modern India.

 

For lunch, I tried the most famous dish in Jaipur – Laal Maas – a fiery, traditional Rajasthani mutton curry with naan. The fiery part did not disappoint 😊For tea later in the evening I had chai with gelebi – it was good!

 

And then to bed, because tomorrow we leave Jaipur for Delhi early – 5 am!