Hawa Mahel
The 'Palace of
the Winds' (circa 1799) forms part
of the east wall ol the City Palace
complex and is best seen from the
street outside. Possibly .Jaipur's
most famous building, it is the pink
sandstone eastern facade of a palace
built for the ladies of the harem by
Sawai Pratap Singh.
The City Palace
The City
Palace occupies the centre of
Jaipur, covers one seventh of its
area and is surounded by a high wall
- the Sanmad. To find the main
entrance, from the Hawa Mahal go
north about 25(1 m along the Sireh
Deori Bazar past the Town Hall (Vidhan
Sabha) and turn left through an arch
the Sireh Deori (boundary gate).
Mubarak Mahal
The main
entrance leads into a large
courtyard at the centre of which is
the Mubarak Mahal, faced in white
marble. Built in 1890, originally as
a
guest house for the Maharaja, the
Mubarak Mahal is a small but
immaculately conceived two-storeyed
building.
The Textile and Costume Museum
The Textile and Costume Museum on
the first floor has fine examples of
fabric and costumes from all over
India as well as musical instruments
and toys from the royal nursery.
The
'new' Hall of Public Audience built
by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh
(1778-1803) today houses a fine
collection of Persian and Indian
miniatures, some of the carpets the
Maharajas had made for them and an
equally fine collection of
manuscripts.
Not
always open to visitors. Built
between 1727 and l734 theMoon palace
is th eearliest building of the
palace complex. Externally it
appears to have seven storeys,
though inside the first and second
floors are actually one
high-ceilinged hall.
Litrelly Instruments
for measuring the harmony of the
heavens, the jantar mantar was built
between 1728 and 1734. Jai singh
wanted things on a grand scale and
chose stone with a marble facing on
the important planes.
The
gateway leads to the courtyard known
variously as the Diwan-i-Am, the
Sarbato Bhadra or the Diwan-i- Khas
Chowk. Today the building in its
centre is known as the Diwan-i-Khas
(circa 1730).
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