Another 4am start to the weekend, this time to Jaipur, aka the Pink City, because the buildings are painted a glorious warm pink that I would love my (future) house to be painted in. Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan state, founded in 1727 by the Rajput ruler Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amer, after whom the city is named. We saw a full share of temples and palaces, ate kulfi and laal maan, and witnessed the adorable yet vicious potential of monkeys at the Monkey Temple.
Jaipur is a little closer than Rishikesh, about 5 hours from Gurgaon, and we went in a small car this time since there were just 4 of us, which was much more comfortable (we’re still traumatized by the very cozy ride to Rishikesh). There were lots of trucks on the road that each had their own unique horn of various combinations of musical notes, which I found quite amusing. Weaving in and out of trucks, I couldn’t help but wonder, why don’t people bother to use their lane blinkers?
As we neared Jaipur, I saw hills that reminded me of the hills back home. I was sleepy but couldn’t sleep—just as I was about to doze off, we arrived at our first destination, the famous Amber Palace.
The Amber Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is named after the Hindu goddess Amber and was built in 1727 by 3 kings, including the Rajput Maharajas. It is a large palace complex composed of yellow and pink sandstone and white marble, influenced by Mughal architecture.
We saw the temple (where they sacrifice goats daily to Shila, goddess of wine), the king’s bedroom with his 2 wives’ chambers on each side of his with elegant mirrors, Turkish baths with a hot and cold chamber and a jacuzzi, a “natural AC” in the Summer Palace room where a channel of cooling water is carried through the room, and the zenana, where the maharaja could enter his wives’ and concubines’ rooms without the others knowing. Painted on the wall outside were sex scenes, which were quite…descriptive.
I learned that when a bride got married, she had to be wheeled in a wheelchair to the ceremony because her sari was so heavy and laden with gold and silver jewels. Hollywood and Bollywood Movies were also shot here – Jackie Chan was here! the guide told us.
It was nice and cool in the morning but quickly got very hot (though the sky was a milky white). In fact, it became blazing hot, but you just accept that you’re going to be sticky and sweaty.
We stopped by the Jal Mahal (“Water Palace”) – a palace floating on the Man Sagar lake. The palace and lake around it were renovated and enlarged in the 18th century by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Amber. The palace, built in red sandstone, has 5 stories, of which four floors remain underwater when the lake is full and the top floor is exposed. There were no boats to the palace, so we just watched from the shore, where there were a lot of pigeons.
We had brunch at Baradari, a place right by the City Palace that was recommended by a NY Times article. It was a fancy, quiet place, nice and cool with the A/C.
The Jantar Mantar is an ancient observatory and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur constructed five Jantar Mantar’s in total; they were completed around 1728, and the largest is in Jaipur, featuring many instruments along with the world’s largest stone sundial — the Vrihat Samrat yantra – which can give the local time to an accuracy of 2 seconds:
There were also smaller sundials and sundials for each zodiac (since the sun is currently on Cancer, only that sundial is accurate):
There were instruments that measured the altitude or angle of the sun, and one that could tell you which zodiac it is based on where the middle plate shadow landed:
The display of grand structures was quite amazing to observe, and it was even more amazing trying to imagine people back in the day figuring out the sun and stars from these instruments, which seem quite sophisticated for that period, yet simple – given the tools used today are so digitized and complex.
Hawa Mahal (“Palace of Winds”) is the palace with the famous pink walls, made of pink and red sandstone. The structure is named from Hawa Mandir, the name of the top story. It has 5 stories with a fountain in the courtyard and modern-looking stained glass windows. It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, grandson of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II (founder of Jaipur) who ruled Jaipur from 1778 to 1803, and designed by Lal Chand Ustad.
It has quite a unique exterior with 953 miniature windows (jharokhas) decorated with intricate latticework. The original intent of the lattice design was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life and festivals celebrated in the street below without being seen, since they had to obey the strict rules of “purdah,” which forbade them from appearing in public without covering their faces. The design also allowed cool air from the Venturi effect to pass through, which I’m sure helped a lot during the brutal hot summers.
We had an afternoon snack at Pandit Kulfi – delicious ice cream with saffron, pistachio and almond pieces on a stick. We never say no to kulfi!
While waiting for our driver to come pick us up, we got stuck with these street peddlers, who were more aggressive than the ones in Delhi. One was trying very hard to convince us how cheap his drums are (we wouldn’t buy them even if they were free), another was selling magnets and kept improving the price because he could see I was thinking about it — but I looked away, partly because I didn’t want to acquiesce and give him the sense of victory. When our car finally arrived, we got in with relief.
In the evening we went to Nahargarh Fort, which means “abode of tigers.” Built 1734 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh, king of Jaipur, the fort was constructed as a place of retreat on the summit of the ridge above the city.
The fort was closed when we got there, but we saw the sunset from the top of the hill, where we had a panoramic view of the city below, a sea of red and white with patches of green.
We had a late dinner at the Chowki Dhani resort—I was very groggy when we got there because rising at 4am finally caught up to me. A woman approached me as I entered and put a dot of red paint on my forehead, a tikka (I had to wipe it off later). We removed our shoes and sat on the floor in front of these low tables. We were then served thali, but they were unfamiliar, spicier foods from what I’ve eaten so far – they served us a sweet quinoa-like appetizer, chapati bread, a variety of chutneys, dal baati (a popular Rajasthan dish of lentils and hard wheat rolls), rice, porridge, buttermilk, and a sweet crispy bread.
We walked around the huge outdoor space that was turned into a carnival. I felt like I was on a desert island: there was a cool night breeze and the ground was sandy. There was food, games, music—a woman was doing a Kalbelia folk dance to the beat of drums—and camel rides! We squeezed three onto one camel, even though it was supposed to be for two. I felt bad for the camel – I was scared it would get angry under our weight. I was in the front holding on to nothing but the seat, with my friend behind clutching onto me — so if I went down, we both went down. We laughed, probably more out of fear than exhilaration. Thankfully the camel stayed calm. I also tried two games, darts and archery. In archery I {basically} hit the bulls eye, I don’t know if it was because it wasn’t THE tiny center circle (but the larger center circle) or if it didn’t land straight on but at an angle, but he refused to give me a prize. I’m still convinced I hit the target.
Before we left we tried the “free welcome drink”: jal jeera, or “water cumin.” Someone told me it was like spicy lemonade so I tried a sip. It was a super strong sour and spicy — for all I knew, it could’ve been urine. I later looked it up – apparently it is a popular summer drink here! Jaljira powder generally consists of cumin, ginger, black pepper, mint, black salt, some fruit powder (usually either mango, or some kind of citrus zest), and chili or hot pepper powder. We described it as dirty water. I took one sip and immediately handed the cup back. I will never forget that taste, one of the interns said. And with that happy ending we went back to our hotel. It would become a memory to laugh about.
The next morning, we got breakfast at a random bakery by the hotel: I had a potato samosa and a sweet dessert called barfi – a rectangular bar of condensed milk and sugar with nuts and spices, coated with a thin layer of a sparkly metallic leaf, called vark. We ate in front of the Jal Mahal, which was a 10-15 min walk away from our hotel (it’s nice how close everything is here!).
Our first stop was the Sun Temple, a small temple established in the 18th century on top of a hill (like many temples), with an amazing panoramic view of the city. As its name suggests, it is devoted to Surya the sun god and was built by Rao Kripa Ram, envoy of Maharaja Jai Singh II at the Mughal court. As I approached the temple, a woman told me to remove my shoes, and led me inside, where she put a lei around my neck and a dyed string bracelet, and then asked for a donation and tried to get me to get a henna. And then asked for the lei back as I was leaving.
It was another 10-minute walk down the hill to the Monkey temple (serving, yes, the monkey god). The area was quite large – there were green pools and pools with people swimming in them. And there were lots of monkeys — for some reason they like cloth. I heard a scream — they had grabbed a lady’s shawl and run away with it! I made sure to put mine away after that. I was wearing a spaghetti strap dress, which I haven’t seen any woman wear so far, but I wasn’t about to risk losing my 1400-rupee shawl.
The little monkeys were like kids — they played with each other, dived into the pool from a high fence, making a loud splash, and pushed each other in. They’re cute — from a distance. One bounced off my head on the way from one fence to another — I had been used as a stepping stone! 70% of the monkeys have rabies, a boy who had followed us to the sun temple told me.
In one of the temples, a man tried to put a dot on our foreheads (I refused this time), then he anointed us with oils, and tapped a broom-like thing on our heads. It was hard to feel blessed though, especially when you know they just want your money.
It was a steady uphill walk back up the hill and back down again to our car. I was sweating so much – everything was sticky starting from 9:30 when we left the hotel, and I was now soaked in sweat. The sky was bluer today but still a dull smoggy blue.
Lunch at Niros – another nice restaurant recommended by the NY Times (we really trust the NY Times, haha). Today’s specialty dish to try was laal maans – a red mutton curry prepared in a sauce of yogurt and hot spices such as red Mathania chilies. I didn’t realize how spicy it was until I had finished eating.
I wanted to go to the Johari Bazaar, one of the largest markets here, but found that many shops were closed since it’s Sunday. So we walked back, but on the main street – Johari Bazar Rd – there were a few shops selling colorful cloths, jewelry, leather shoes, and other goods – maybe we found the actual bazaar!). So we stopped in one and I got a pair of black and white elephant pants – to replace the ones I ruined in Rishikesh.
We also went to the Albert Hall Museum since it was included in our composite ticket. Albert was the prince of Wales and the eldest son of Queen Victoria who collected a lot of pottery, clay sculptures, musical instruments, drawings, etc. There was also an Egyptian exhibition – I didn’t know they removed and dried the person’s internal organs, and then put the heart back in, to make mummies!
Kulfi round 2 back at the Pandit Kulfi place we went to yesterday. I got a plate of it this time — a “small box” that came in an aluminum foil tray. I ate the ice cream with a wooden spoon. It was a lot, and it was good.
Our last stop at Jaipur was Panna Meena Ka Kund, an 8-story step well built in the 16th century with a stunning pattern of symmetrical stairs. Not only did the step well serve as a source of water, it was also the place of community gathering where people would come to chat, relax, or swim in the cool waters.
Tip: Don’t fall for the cute children. They’re the ones selling goods to you because they’re cute. Also, both the boy at the Sun Temple today and the girl selling purses at the step well said they were 10 – coincidence??
What’s nice about these weekend trips is that we made them happen even with very last minute planning — just book a cab driver for the weekend and a hotel! Even booking the hotel was probably not necessary. Jaipur was a beautiful city with quite a bit of history, and 2-3 days was plenty to see the main sights.
Leave a Reply