Places to see in Jaipur, India

Jaipur , the royal city is one of the most important and famous historical places in India. The fforts and monuments situated here clearly depict the taste and grandeur of Rajput kings who ruled this place for centuries.Jaipur is famed for its rich cultural heritage, glimpses of which can still be witnessed in and around the place, drawing tourists from all over the world.

Forts and monuments in Jaipur-

Amber Fort-

Situated about 11 kms from Jaipur this massive fort was built by Sawai Man Singh -1 and modifications were made by Sawai Jai Singh.The fort was the royal palace of achwahas from 1600 AD to 1727 AD. The fort is named after the town of Amber which in turn is named after goddess Amba. The main sights within the fort include the Sheesh Mahal, adorned with thousands on thousands of mirror tiles on the walls and ceiling.

It's a bit of a hike up from the town, and the touristy thing to do is to hitch an elephant ride to the top (in order to get an elephant it is better to to arrive there in the morning, otherwise at midday the elephants are over.Its forbidding exterior belies an inner paradise where a beautiful fusion of Mughal and Hindu styles finds it's ultimate expression.

Jaigarh Fort-

It is said that this fort was never conquered in the battle.It is one of the few military structures of medieval India preserved almost intact, containing palaces, gardens open and covered reservoirs, a granary, an armoury, and several temples.But the main attraction of this fort is the largest canon of the world called as Jaivana.According to local stories this canon was only fired once and the cannonball flew for 35 kms.

A better reason to visit the fort, though, are the scenic gardens at the other end and the spectacular views over the Amber Fort and the hills around. The remains of the foundry where the Jaivana (and many more) were cast are also in the fort grounds.

Nahargarh fort-

Perched on a hill top this is the smallest of all the forts located in Jaipur and is famous for the view of the adjoining hills and Jaipur city it offers.The fort houses the Madhavendra bhawan.
The fort was initially built by Sawai Jai Singh in 1734 and then modified by Sawai Madho Singh.

Hawa Mahal-

Hawa Mahal meaning "Palace of wind" is one of the most important landmarks of Jaipur. The palace was built by Pratap Singh in 1799. The palace served as the stands for the royal women who used to see the processions and happenings in the city through this palace.The palace is a five storeyed structure having 953 niches and windows.
The Hawa Mahal is built with redstone and is the most striing monuments in Jaipur.From outside it may look like a bee hive but infact if you look closely it is made in the form of the crown of lord krishna.

Jal Mahal

Jal Mahal which is hindi word for "water Palace" is one of the famous palaces in Jaipur and is located on the way to Sisoia Rani Garden. The palace is an excellent example of the rajput style architecture and sits in the middle of the Mansarovar lake. The lake is dry during summer seasons so excellent view of the palace can only be seen during monsoon and post- monsoon season in the months of September to Februaary.

Jantar Mantar-

The name Jantar Mantar is derived from the hindi words- "Yantra" meaning instrument and "Mantra" . Basically it is an astronomical observatory containing instruments for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars in their orbits, ascertaining the declinations of planets, and determining the celestial altitudes etc. Jantar Mantar was built by Sawai Jai Singh and is the largest of all five observatories bult by him.

City Palace-

The city Palace is a huge complex of many palatial buildings and comprises about one seventh of the pink city in area. This palace in Jaipur was built by Sawai Jai Singh II. The premises of city palace contains many hige and imposing structures inside it.Some of the important ones are-
Chandra Mahal (home to present Maharajah of Jaipur), Mubarak Mahal (housing a textile museum), Diwan-e-Khas (or Hall of Private audience housing the two largest silver vessels in the world, which are duly mentioned in the Guinness book), the Diwan-e-Aam ( or Hall of Public Audience) and the gateway Ridhi Sidhi Pol (with four small doorways decorated with motifs depicting the four seasons). Another integral part of the palace complex is the Hawa Mahal, standing away from the main complex. The palace is an excellent example of amalgamation of architecture of Rajputs and Mughals.

Moti Dungri-

Moti Dungri means "The Pearl Hill". This small hill lies in the centre of Jaipur.It derived its name as pearl hill because it looks like a pearl drop.A palace is perched on the top of the hill.The palace once belonged to the son of the Sawai Madho Singh. The palace is a replica of the scottish castle.

Gaitore-

Gaitore is the final resting place of Kings of Jaipur. Situated in a narrow valley this place lies just off the Jaipur- Amber road.The cenotaphs of the former Maharajas are chhatris made in typical Rajput architecture.The royal chhatris are engraved with typical Rajasthani carvings. The chhatri of Sawai Jai Singh II is of special mention for its carvings that exaggerate it. The cenotaphs are erected with a perfect blend of architectural essentials of Islamic tomb architecture and Hindu temple architecture.

Temples in Jaipur-

Govind Devji Temple-
The temple lies in the premises of and is one of the integral parts of the city palace lying between the Chandra Mahal and Badal Mahal.. The temple is dedicated to Govind Devji one of the incarnations of the Lord Krishna. Sawai Jai Singh established the image of Govind Devji in this temple which was brought here from Vrindavan. A legend is attached to this place which has been described as follows-

According to a legend, Govind Dev Ji appeared in the dream of Raja Sawai Jai Singh and asked him to bring his idol from Vrindavan to Jaipur. As a consequence, Raja Sawai Jai Singh brought the idol and placed in the City Palace complex of Jaipur. After the sad demise of Jai Singh, many successors acquired the throne, but Raja Man Singh took the initiative to build the temple in 1890.

Birla temple or Lakshmi Narayan Temple-

The temple is a modern style temple built on a top of hill in South Jaipur .This temple is made up of white marble and one of the must visit place of south Jaipur.The temple stands erect on a raised platform, at the footsteps of the Moti Dungri Hill. Birla Mandir is constructed in the finest quality of white marble. The three huge domes of the temple represent three different approaches to the religion. The beautiful white marble temple mesmerizes the onlookers, when it glows at night. The best time to visit this temple is after sunset as the brightly lit temple is breathtakingly beautiful.

Galtaji-

This temple is located about 10 kms away from Jaipur city on the Jaipur Agra road near the garden of Sisodia Rani.he vast complex of Galta Ji has several temples in it. The Temple of Galtaji is famous for its natural water springs. Set amidst the beautiful landscape, Galtaji Temple offers a picturesque view of the city.

Museums in Jaipur-

Albert hall-
Situated in the middle of the Ram Niwas garden, as a centre attraction was the exquisitely built structure of Albert Hall Built in hybrid style of English and north Indian architectecture this imposing structure is a well maintained and contains some great collections of paintaings,carpet, ivory, stone and metal sculptures and colourful crystal works etc. This building was built by british architect, sir Swinton Jacob.

Parks and Gardens in Jaipur-

Kanak Vrindavan --
Not so old but definitely an exquisitely land scaped gardens with beautifully carved temple in beige stone, which is a vast complex with terrace sites all around and intricately carved marble columns and lattices. Located in the foothills of Nahargarh hills on the way towards Amer, this complex is a popular spot for picnic and film shooting.

Sisodia Rani ka Bagh --
Sawai Jai Singh built it in 1728. The garden is laid in Mughal style and it depicts the legends of Radha and Krishna. The garden is located 8 km from Jaipur - Agra road .It consists of tiered multi-level gardens with fountains, watercourses and painted pavilions. Sawai Jai Singh built it for his Sisodia Queen from Udaipur. The palace house has several galleries, pavilions and beautiful murals depicting scenes from the life of lord Krishna.

Vidyadhar Gardens --
Located near the Sisodia Gardens,it is a beautiful vineyard, which unfolds itself in the valley. It is named after Vidyadhar Bhatacharjee the architect of Jaipur. .

Jaipur, India:General Information

Jaipur , once the capital of princely state of Jaipur is now the capital state of Rajasthan in India. Also known as the 'pink city' , Jaipur is a place where history still lives. Jaipur is one of the most famous historical places in India and a number of tourists both domestic and international reach here in great numbers to see the grandeur of Rajput kings who ruled this place in the past.Jaipur was founded by the king of Amber Sawai Man Singh who shifted to this place due to shortage of water in his capital Amber. The construction of the earliest planned city in India, Jaipur started in 1797 and was built following the principles of Shilpa Shastra, the Indian Architecture.It took around 4 years to complete the major palaces, roads and square. The city was divided into nine blocks, out of which two consist the state buildings and palaces, whereas the remaining seven blocks were allotted to the public. In order to ensure the security, huge fortification walls were made along with seven strong gates.

It has been claimed to be the first planned city in India.It was at that time one of the best planned cities in Asia. Jaipur(Amber)'s Kings are not considered to be good rajputs but were certainly good rulers. In an era when most of the rajputs were busy fighting with each other, Jaipur's kings diplomatically broadened their control sphere maintaining good relations with Mughals. But certainly they lacked the well known rajput pride.The city was planned according to Indian Vastu Shastra (Vedic or Pouranic Planning for the comfort and prosperity of the citizens).
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How to reach Jaipur-

Jaipur is well connected to all major cities of India by Air, Railways as well as Road. By far the best way and cheapest way to reach his historical place by train.

Reaching Jaipur by Air-
Jaipur airport situated in the satellite town of Sanganer. Many flights from many parts of the world operate from here. It recieves direct flights from Dubai, Sharjah, Muscat, London and Dublin. Flights from Singapore and Bangkok reach here via Delhi.

Jaipur airport receives flight from all major cities in India, namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and some major cities in the state of Rajasthan like, Jodhpur and Udaipur.

Reaching Jaipur by Train-
This is the most convenient way and the cheapest way to reach this city.Most of the major cities are well connected to Jaipur by train.A number of daily trains connect Jaipur to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Agra,Mumbai, Jodhpur, Kota, Alwar and Ajmer. Daily connections are also available for Udaipur, Chittaurgarh, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Kolkata, Jammu, Pathankot, Ludhiana, Kanpur, Roorkee, Haridwar, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur and Bhopal.

There are three railway stations in Jaipur namely, Jaipur Junction (main station),Durgapura and Gandhinagar (Jaipur) but most of the trains arrive and depart from Jaipur Junction and other two stations recive only a few trains.
Apart from regular trains that operate from every corner of country there are some special trains that are meant only for tourists.These include-
Palace on wheels- One of the most talked about trains in India, Palace on wheels tour you across seven tourist destinations for 8 days starting on Wednesday.
Heritage on wheels- This train takes you to 3 destinations, Jaipur, Talchhapur and Bikaner which is a 4 days trip.
Royal Orient train- The train take you to & destinations including Jaipur in seven days.

The above mentioned trains are special trains meant only for tourists and tourists don't use these trains essentially to reach Jaipur but the experience is undoubtedly everlasting.

Reaching Jaipur by road-
Jaipur is well connected to all adjoining cities by road. Regular buses operate from neighbouring state of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. A?c, Deluxe, Semi Deluxe and Volvo buses operate from almost all places. Other cities in the state of Rajasthan are also connected to Jaipur by road.There is an excellent bus service between Jaipur to Delhi by Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation with buses approximately every half an hour both sides. From Delhi you can board the bus from Bikaner House on Pandara Road next to India Gate.

Where to stay in Jaipur-

Jaipur has a wide range of hotels available through out the city.Jaipur has plenty of hotels well equipped with all modern amenities. The city comprises variety of luxury, deluxe, heritage and budget hotels, one can choose the place of accommodation according to one's requirement and budget. Most of the budget and mid range hotels are located around railway station, and bus stand (Sindhi camp bus stand). Other places where you can get sme budget and mid range hotels are - Civil lines area, Ajmer road and Behari Marg.
Apart from low cost hotels Jaipur has countless number of high range hotels where the facilities are superb and you are treated like Maharaja (The King). Many of these hotels treat you with traditional rajput style showing the grandeur of Rajput Kings who ruled this place for centuries.
A list of some of these hotels is present on wikitravel website here.

Eating out in Jaipur-

Jaipur has many restaurants which range from cheap eating places mainly on the sides of the road to some expensive restaurants with good facilities. There are numerous places in Jaipur which serve a variety of dishes such as, italian, chinese, western ,north indian and south -india. But it would be very nice to try out some rajasthani cuisines like, Daal-Baati-Churma and Pyaaz ki kachori and some sweet dishes like, Ghevar and Rasmalai.
You can find a list of nice restaurants here.

Weather and best time to visit Jaipur-

Jaipur has semi arid climate due to its proximity to the Thar desert. The summer months are extremely dry, hot and desiccating. Jaipur receives more than 50 cms of rainfall annually mostly during the months of July ,August and September. Winters are cold and you would require some woolen clothes when you are visiting it in the months of December and January.

Best time to visit Jaipur is duringwinter seasons as the temperature touches maximum to 22°C and gets down to the extent of 5°C.

In winters, one can enjoy the regal city of Jaipur to its full. The spectacular views offered by the ancient monuments of the city fascinate the visitors. The city looks awesome in the winter evenings when it gets covered with fog. Jaipur offers rich food with lots of butter and ghee, which is best enjoyable in the winter season. To put succinctly, the best time to visit the incredible Jaipur is between the months of October to March.
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