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The capital of
Rajasthan, Jaipur is not only the gateway to the state, it is
also the most natural place to begin a discovery of
Rajasthan’s multifaceted attractions. For visitors
unfamiliar with its history, a little explanation may be
necessary, since it will aid their understanding of one of the
most fascinating cities of India.
As a city, Jaipur is fairly young, less than three centuries old.
It was laid out by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of the Kachchawaha
dynasty from Amber which, less than 10 km away, was the former
capital of the state. Markets and residential areas have bridged
this gap so that, for all practical purposes, Jaipur includes
Amber within its sway.
Like most Rajput kings, the Kachchawahas claim descent from the
noble line of Shri Rama, the prince-hero whose exploits are the
subject of the great Hindu epic, the Rama-yana. If one were to
zip through history to arrive in the 10th century, it would bring
us face to face with Dhola Rai whose throne at Narwar (close to
Gwalior, in Madhya Pradesh) was usurped by his uncle. However,
the royal prince was welcomed as a bridegroom into the feudal
principality of Dausa, close to Amber, and he soon made himself
at home, even claiming the right to rule. His son, who accepted
the hospitality of the Mina tribesmen of Amber, betrayed it
similarly and established the foundations of a dynasty that was
to become renowned for its power and wealth. In more recent
times, the Jaipuris, as they were called, came to represent the
glamorous face of princely India, and were the cynosure of the
media in Western society.
Having won themselves their kingdom, the Kachchawahas
strengthened their stronghold through strategic matrimonial
alliances with the Mughals who ruled over much of India from
their forts at Delhi and Agra. Though their faiths were
different, it established a sense of kinship between the more
powerful Mughals and the valiant Kachchawahas, and laid the
foundation for a similar relationship with other Rajput
states.
The Mughals still occupied Delhi when Jai Singh, hardly a man yet
when he was anointed maharaja of Amber, was taken to meet Emperor
Aurangzeb who, as a conservative Muslim, had spent little time
befriending his Hindu neighbours. Grasping Jai Singh’s
hands in his own, Aurangzeb asked him: “How do you expect
to be powerful with your hands tied thus?” Jai Singh was
quick-witted, and replied: “Just as a bridegroom takes his
bride’s hands following their betrothal, in a sacred vow to
protect her, so you, Sire, have held my hands. What do I fear now
that the Mughal himself has taken my hands in his?”
Aurangzeb was pleased and immediately granted the young prince
the hereditary title of ‘Sawai’ placing the
Kachchawaha family a ‘quarter’ above the other Rajput
families.
But the Mughal was ageing. He had no strong successors. Towards
the east, the British were eroding the existing power structure
from their capital in Calcutta. The north, however, after several
centuries of invasions and rife, was quiet. Jai Singh seized the
opportunity to pamper himself with a new capital. Moving out of
the hilltop Amber, he descended to the plains below, and planned
a modern capital with a Bengali architect, Vidyadhar, whose
instinct for planning he trusted implicitly.
Jaipur has been laid according to the conventional nine-grid
pattern that astrologers believe to be lucky, and which has been
recommended in the ancient Indian treatise on architecture. Each
grid consists of a square, and these have been planned so that,
at the heart of the city is the City Palace. Spread around it, in
rows, are public buildings, the residences of noblemen, the
living and trading quarters of merchants and artisans. Straight,
wide roads run through the city, while a high, crenellated wall
that forms its defense is pierced with seven gateways that serve
as entry points. Today, these walls may be more difficult to spot
since the city has grown far beyond its original plan, but they
are still there, proof that though Jaipur saw no great siege, it
was more than adequately prepared for it.
Vidyadhar was a strict planner and even the drawings for private
residences and trading establishments had to be submitted to his
stringent gaze, and meet with his approval. This is the reason
for the striking similarity in the facades of the buildings in
even the bazaars of the old city, though it is a myth that he was
also responsible for the uniform colour, labelled Indian pink.
This has given Jaipur its euphemistic name, Pink City. However,
the reason for the autumnal colours on the facades of all old
city buildings was a forthcoming trip by the Prince of Wales
(later King Edward VII) in 1876 for whom the capital was being
decorated. It was decided to paint the entire city white for the
occasion, but eventually the pink was chosen because it came
closest to the colour of sandstone which many of the buildings
were made. To date, the tradition of painting the buildings pink
has continued, though with the highlights picked out in
white.
Having outgrown the original nine grids, Jaipur has spread in all
directions, but its market areas are still characterised by
streets and areas where work of a certain kind is found. For
example, there is a separate street for marble-workers, and
another textiles, or for jewellery.
Jaipur’s architectural planning may have been ancient, but
its execution was definitely modern. Best represented by the City
Palace complex, it brought together all that was excellent in
Rajput and Mughal architecture, creating a new tradition that
found wide currency over much of north India. As in the Mughal
tradition, the durbar or court areas became much more open,
characterised by a series of arched pavilions held on delicately
crafted pillars. Ornamentation had always been a part of the
state’s architectural heritage, now it became much more
opulent. The private wings of the family also extended their
entertainment areas. Since defence was no longer a primary
concern, larger, more ornamental windows were built to over look
the streets or courtyards outside these wings. Gardens were no
longer planned within the internal courtyards only, but were
added to the external vistas, and water, a basic feature of
Mughal palaces and gardens, was utilised in a similar fashion, in
canals and fountains.
Some of these experiments had begun at Amber itself, in the
palaces that were its more recent additions. A major
distinguishing feature of the Mughal palaces was the use of
marble and pietra dura inlay. Amber and Jaipur used marble more
judiciously, but were able to achieve the same effect on polished
wall surfaces using a mixture of lime and eggshell, in a style
that was referred to as araish. Rather than stone inlay, it
preferred the delicate art of painting, especially religious and
historical sequences, the depiction of which is forbidden in
Islamic art. The concept of the Sheesh Mahal or ‘Palace of
Mirrors’, however, was equally favoured in both
architectural traditions: it consists of small, even sized
mirrors used to embellish all surfaces so that, when a match is
lit in the darkened room, its flame bounces off then giving
millions of reflections.
Such ostentation, however, was usually limited, and good taste
was evident in the manner in which the walls were painted, or the
pierced windows placed. Amber represents the early phases of
Kachchawaha architecture. The foundations of the fort were laid
in 1592 by Maharaja Man Singh. Seen from the outside, the
fortifications are impressive. Coming upon it when entering or
exiting Jaipur, it makes one gasp, but it must have sent a chill
up the spine of its foes. A steep ramp leads to Jai Pol, the Gate
of Victory, named after Jai Singh I. Today, elephants carry
tourists up the ramp, but it is not difficult to imagine pennant
carrying armies setting off on horseback along this majestic
path.
The architecture within spans several centuries and, even after
the establishment of Jaipur, the royal family would come here for
ceremonial occasions and to pray at the Kali shrine. The image
enshrined within the temple is that of Shila Mata, the Goddess of
War, carried here by Maharaja Man Singh all the way from Jessore
in Bengal. Visitors today can also see the Diwan-i Am or Hall of
Public Audience, a sight denied even to Emperor Akbar at the
height of his glory. Legend has it that reports came to Akbar of
Man Singh’s splendid durbar hall as a Mughal feudatory,
Amber did not have the permission to hold public audiences, but
Akbar, it appears, was more entranced by Amber’s reported
“tier upon tier of beautiful buildings”. Two
emissaries were dispatched to find out if the durbar hall was as
beautiful as its description but Man Singh, fearful that the
Mughal would covet it, had the hall covered with stucco plaster,
concealing its decorations for centuries together.
Amber had reason to be concerned since its history had seen
skirmishes with other Rajput kingdoms, and had at various times
faced the armies of the sultans of Gujarat, the Marathas, and the
Mughals. No wonder its architecture, like that of other Rajput
palaces, consists of narrow passages and staircases that can be
defended by a single swordsman, ridged ramps to allow the cavalry
to move within the fortifications, high walls that cannot be
easily scaled, and windows at only the highest levels. While the
exterior is forbidding, the interiors are lavished with
decoration since the royals, and especially the women, spent
almost all their time within the fortified palaces.
In Jaipur, the facades seem to have become as ornate as the
interiors and sometimes, as in the case of the Hawa Mahal, even
more so. The Hawa Mahal, part of the City Palace complex, is a
familiar landmark, and is ties of pierced windows over looking
the street below. In fact, the facade pretty much characterises
what for, on the inside, the building is no more than a series of
corridors with windows overlooking the street. Its purpose was
simply to allow the royal women a view of ceremonial processions
while seated behind the small windows, allowing them to look out
without themselves being seen.
Jaipur has much to offer visitors — everything from
pageants and festivals to extraordinarily clad people, a wealth
of handicrafts, a royal legacy of palaces, and sightseeing
— that will occupy their time. However, should the visitors
simply choose to walk around the streets of the old city instead,
they will not regret it. All of Jaipur is an architectural gem,
and no scheduled sight seeing can even hope to do justice to this
rare city.
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