Jaipur- The Pink city of India

 

Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan. It was built by Sawai Jai Singh in 18th century as India's first planned city. Jaipur is also known as the Pink City, due to the dominant color scheme of its building. It is also known as the Paris of India and C V Raman called it the Island of Glory. It is located 268 km from national capital of India, New Delhi. 

Jaipur is a major tourist attraction amongst Indian as well as International Travellers. It belongs to the tourist Golden Triangle of Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. It also serves as a gateway to the tourist's destinations Rajasthan It hosts several attractions like the City Palace, Govind dev Ji Temple, Vidhan Sabha, Birla Temple, several massive Rajput forts and so on. It also serves as a steppingstone for Travellers heading to the desert cities of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.

Now Jaipur is growing fast and various development projects are being undertaken by the government and private enterprise. The town planning and infrastructure development in Jaipur.

Onn 6 July, 2019 UNESCO World Heritage committee inscribed Jaipur "Pink City of India" among its World Heritage Sites. The city is also home to the UNESCO world Heritage Sites Amer Fort and Jantar Mantar.

History of Jaipur- The city of Jaipur was founded by the King of Amber, Maharaja Sawai Singh II on 18 November 1727, who ruled from 1699 to 1743. He planned to shift his capital from Amber, 11 km to Jaipur to accommodate the growing population and increasing scarcity of water. So lastly under the architectural guidance of Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, Jaipur was planned based on the principles of Vaastu shastra and Shilpa shastra. The construction of the city began in 1726 and took four years to complete the major roads, offices, and palaces. the architecture of the city was heavily influenced by the 17th century architectural renaissance during Mughal rule in Northern India. Hence much of it resembles architecture styles from around the Muslim world. the city was divided into nine blocks, two of which contained the state buildings and palaces, with the remaining seven allotted to the public. Huge ramparts were built, pierced by seven fortified gates. 

During the rule of Sawai Ram Singh II the city was painted pink to welcome Albert Edward. Prince of Wales in 1876. Many of the avenues still remain painted in Pink, giving Jaipur a distinctive appearance. 

Geography:-  

Jaipur is located in the northeastern part of Rajasthan and covers a total area of 467 square km. The city is surrounded by fertile alluvial plains to the east and the south and hill chains and desert areas to the north and west.

The city is surrounded by Nahargarh hills in the north and Jhalana in the east, which is part of the Aravalli range.

Climate:- 

Jaipur has a monsoon influenced hot semi arid climate with long extremely hot summers and short, mild to warm winters.

Places to visit Jaipur:- 

Amber Fort

This massive fort palace complex built in hybrid Hindu Muslim style dates back to raja Man Singh and was the Royal Palace of Kachwahas from 1600-1727. A lot of places are to visit.

Jaigarh Fort 

Never conquered in battle, this was considered the strongest of the three forts in the area. It is best known as the site of the world's largest cannon, the Jaivana, which was test- fired only  once - according to legend, despite using only the half the design amount gunpowder, the cannonball flew 35 km! A better reason to visit the fort, though are the scenic gardens at the other end of the spectacular views over the Amber Fort and the hills around.

Nahargarh Fort 

It has excellent views over Man Sagar lake and the vast sprawl of Jaipur. The fort also houses the Madhavendra Bhawan Palace, although its former splendor is fading fast under a new layer of Graffiti and pigeon droppings. 

Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal was an extension of Jenana chamber. Its purpose was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen. It is five Storey high red sandstone structure complete with over 950 windows. The breeze circulates through these windows giving the palace its name.

Jantar Mantar

This UNESCO world heritage site is the largest of five astronomical observatories build by Maharaja Jai Singh during the period 1727- 1734 in North India. The observatory consists of fourteen major geometric devices for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars in their orbits, ascertaining the declinations of planets and determining the celestial altitudes etc.

We can see many more magnificent Historical structures are there.

How to visit Jaipur

Roads 
Jaipur is located on National highway 48 connecting Delhi and Mumbai. NH 52 links Jaipur with Kota and National highway 21 links Jaipur with Agra.

Rail
Jaipur is headquarters of Jaipur railway  division and North western railway Zone of Indian railways.

Airport
Jaipur has its domestic as well as international airport.






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