India : Jaipur - Hawa Mahal

Continuation from here ...

The third corner of the famous India's Golden Triangle, the city of Jaipur is the state capital of Rajasthan. Jaipur is affectionately referred to as the Pink City because of the pink walls and buildings of the old city.

After refreshing myself, I took an auto-rickshaw from my hotel to the Pink City. The ride only cost Rs60. Enclosed by walls, the city has several gateways. Auto-rickshaw or taxi driver will usually ask where you want to be dropped off since the area is quite big.

I told the driver to drop me off at the New Gate. From there, I walked through the streets looking through the bazaars. You'll find rows of bazaars stuffed with handicrafts from Rajasthan here. *shopping time*

Anyway, before coming here I really thought the city is a pink city but when I saw it, they were actually a red city.

They are red, aren't they?

Or maybe it's a hue of pink, I don't know. Other than the uniformed pink/red colour buildings, another striking features of this city is its grid-plan, a design created in accordance with the Vastu Shastra, a series of ancient Hindu architectural treatises.

You'll find a number of attractions at the heart of the city. Among them is the Hawa Mahal, or Palace of Winds.

Built in 1799, the palace has five floors decked out with hundreds of screened windows to enable the royal ladies to watch the street processions below without being seen. The palace, therefore, has no entrance on the main street and its windows contain lattices to provide the utmost privacy.

rear view of the palace

The windows are locally called jharokas. Wind used to flow through these windows' opening, giving the palace its nickname.

 

You have all the tourists peeping in from these windows to see the city. Semua berebut ok!

view of the palace from the main road

Hawa Mahal is open daily.

Visiting hours are from 9 am to 5 pm.

Entrance fee is Rs50 for foreigners and Rs10 for Indians.

Location: Within the Pink City near the City Palace 

Early morning is considered as the best time to visit this palace. It looks incredible when it is drenched under the sunlight. I didn't come that early but still, the palace looked amazing!