Left: Chandra Mahal, view of Maharaja's seven-story private palace from inside city Palace Museum. Right: Rajasthani women at work at Jaipur:The Pink City.- Photos by Laura Tanna Laura Tanna, Contributor
There is a reason most travellers to India choose to visit Rajasthan and return repeatedly. All the romance ofroyal kingdoms preserved in exotic palaces and historic forts is coupled with welcoming people clothed in the most extraordinarily colourful garb imaginable.
If asked: "Is it all right to take photographs?" invariably comes the reply: "Why not?" West/ southwest from Delhi, Rajasthan's Hindu kingdoms were ruled by Moguls or members of the Muslim dynasty of Mongol origin throughout much of the 16-19th centuries. One can fly to the state capital of Jaipur, but why do that when the drive is only five hours, and what an experience!
No lanes painted on the dual carriageway as cars, three-wheel motorised rickshaws, motorcycles with entire families (father driving, sari-clad wife sitting side-saddle, children in between), SUVs, trucks heaped high, buses and oh here comes a herd of cattle clattering towards us from the opposite direction.
Rural landscape
Elephant and rider to our side now, camel pulling a huge cart, pedestrians ambling across - watching the road is almost as much fun as the rural landscape of mud and wattle houses, brick-making yards, trees dusted in yellow sandstone, herds of goats and fields of yellow mustard seed, while a fat black ox sleeps near thorn trees.
Miraculously, everyone weaves in and out, knowing just where to cut and turn, when to slow down and how to avoid ever killing a cow! Needless to say, don't try this yourself. A car with an Indian driver for a week is reasonable and necessary!
Rajender Singh, from Sidharth Travel, took very good care of us, staying at small hotels near our own, always a mobile phone call away when needed.
Amber Fort, approximately seven miles north of Jaipur, was built in 1592 by Maan Singh I, Commander-in-Chief of Mogul Emperor Akbar, though the most beautiful inner rooms were created by Jai Singh I who ruled 1621-67. An elephant ride up the steep citadel path is an absolute must for the sheer thrill and beauty of the quarter-hour experience. Go early, between 8:00 a.m., 10 a.m., as only two people are now allowed per trip with the mahout and only five trips per elephant a day for the animal's sake. Trunks elegantly decorated, there are over 100 elephants, but in high season from October through February, queues may be long (avoid the monsoon in June). We were lucky and waited only ten minutes. Our day's guide, Mahavir Singh Rathore, met us at the Fort to take us through the Shila Devi Hindu temple, the Jai Mandir Private Audience Hall with latticed windows and floral ceiling of alabaster and glass inlay. The Sheesh Mahal, where a single candle reflects embedded bits of mirror transforming it into a starlit sky, can only be peered at now over a rail after too many tourists took pieces for souvenirs! Visitors come not only from North America, Europe and Japan but tourism within India is up by 30 per cent in the last year alone.
Construction
Then to Jaipur, Rajasthan's state capital, today a city of three million, built by Sawai Jai Singh II who moved the capital from Amber starting in 1727. Construction took six years with the help of a Bengali engineer. Laid out with squares and a geometric grid, surrounded by walls with seven gates, the "City of Victory" became an example of a well-planned city. The Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb awarded eleven-year-old Jai Singh II the title "Sawai" because of his extraordinary intelligence, a title kept by his successors whose portraits you may view inside the Maharaja Sawai Maan Singh II Museum, better known as City Palace Museum, the only part of the present Maharaja's seven-story Chandra Mahal Palace open to the public.
This is splendour you won't want to miss with its collection of coaches and chariots, miniature paintings, royal robes, elaborate gates representing the four seasons, and the world's largest silver urns in which Madho Singh II carried sacred Ganges water to London when he visited in 1901.
Jai Singh II, an amateur astronomer in the true sense of the word, was fiercely proud of Jantar Mantar, an open-air observatory built 1728-1734 with the ability to predict Jaipur's time to an accuracy of 20 seconds. A truly astounding scientific accomplishment, without proper guidance visitors might perceive Jantar Mantar to be a vast sculpture park.
Another thrill of a less cerebral kind, but a definite must, is a motorised rickshaw ride right in the middle of all kinds of afore-mentioned traffic, past colourful shops and the exquisite Hawa Mahal, the "palace of winds" built in 1799, actually a facade for ladies of the harem to watch Royal processions while hidden from view, today a landmark in the city's distinctive rose/pink colour.
Rajasthani Palaces have become magnificent heritage hotels, including the Raj Mahal Palace in Jaipur and the Rambagh Palace where we stayed on our visit nine years ago. This time we tried the Oberoi Rajvilas Hotel, which surpassed its reputation for superb service and cuisine. Conceived by P.R.S. Oberoi, head of the famous hotel chain, as a place to welcome guests in the princely style of Rajasthan, the exterior fort appears artificial - my heart initially sank-but the 32 acres of gardens are designed beautifully. Though the hotel is just a decade old, an ancient Hindu temple lies serenely within the grounds. During an evening walk I spotted a hammock beneath trees and swaying gently to the sound of green parrots screeching overhead, almost fell asleep. Little wonder with all the sightseeing, and then assistant manager Harsh Tuli had kindly played tennis with me twice as there is no pro on staff though the courts are excellent.
Even the monkeys enjoyed watching from a wall above. Rajasthani dancing and musicians performing under moonlight in the main courtyard enhances Rajvilas magical aura. But it is the extremely well-trained staff who made our stay absolutely memorable. Really a place to be recommended, though a half hour from the city centre's hustle and bustle.
Shopping
Shopping in Jaipur for me meant a visit to Jaipur Blue Pottery Art Centre where ceramist Sandeep graciously showed us an array of creations. For most visitorsit means gems, silver jewellery, ornately decorated cotton, silk and crafts. Browsing can last for hours in the bazaars, though the Moslem sector of town, where 20 per cent of the population live, closed at noon on January 30 for the tenth day of Muharram month to mark the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussein and Hazrat Hassan, grandsons of Prophet Muhammed, when they and their followers were killed in the battle of Karbala. What we in Jamaica celebrate as the Hosay festival, often with Moslem and Hindu Indians in the diaspora joining together despite their religious differences, in Jaipur meant a sector of the city shut down as thirteen processions led by drummers, with thousands of chanting Moslems dressed in black accompanied tazias decorated with silver material to resemble the martyrs tombs. Festivities lasted peacefully throughout the night.
Travel agency for Indian trip: E-mail: siddharthtravels@hotmail.com
Tel: (91) 11 4155 3355; Driver: Rajender Singh
Guide in Jaipur: Mahavir Singh Rathore Tel: (91) 9829079377
Rajvilas Hotel: www.oberoihotels.com
E-mail: reservations@oberoi-rajvilas.com
Tel: (91) 141 268 0101
Jaipur Blue Pottery Art Centre: near Jain Mandir, Amer Road (91) 141 263 5375
Rana's Silks & Sarees, I, Ganpati Plazam M.I. Road www.ranasarees.com
Saurashtra Impex, old tribal textiles Amer Road, Tel: (91) 2635774
Left: Gate in court of the beloved or Pritam Chowk at Jaipur:The Pink City. Right: Decorated elephants returning from Fort Amber at Jaipur:The Pink City.
