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CAPITAL CITY: JAIPUR
Telephone extension: 0141
Population: 1.8 million
Jaipur, the vibrant capital of Rajasthan, is popularly known as the PINK
CITY because of the pink-coloured buildings in its old city. It sits on a dry lakebed in a somewhat arid landscape, surrounded by forts and crenulated walls. This buzzing metropolis is certainly a place of wild contrasts and a feast for the eyes. Vegetable-laden camel carts thread their way through streets jam-packed with cars, rickshaws, bicycles, tempos, motorcycles and pedestrians frantically dodging the crazy traffic. Traditionally dressed Rajput men sporting bright turbans and swashbuckling moustaches discuss village politics outside restaurants serving spaghetti Bolognese and American ice-cream sodas. Traditional Rajasthani shoes stand beside kitsch shops flogging a mishmash of modern trinkets.
Jaipur has long outstripped the confines of its city wall and is today among the most tumultuous and polluted places in Rajasthan. Despite this, it seldom disappoints the first-time visitor.
History:
The city owes its name, its foundation and it's planning to the great warrior-astronomer Maharaja Jai Singh II (1693-1743). His predecessors had enjoyed good relations with the Mughals and Jai Singh was careful to preserve this alliance. In 1727, with Mughal power on the wane, Jai Singh decided the time was ripe to move down from his somewhat cramped hillside fort at nearby Amber to a new site on the plains. He laid out the city, with it's surrounding to principles set down in the "Shilpa-Shastra", an ancient Hindu treatise on architecture. In 1728, he built the remarkable observatory, "Jantar Mantar" which is still one of Jaipur's main attractions.
Orientation:
The walled old city is in the north-east of Jaipur, the new parts spread to the south and west. The main tourist attractions are in the old city is "Johari Bazaar", the jewellers' market. Unlike most other shopping centres in narrow alleys in India and elsewhere in Asia, this one is broad and open.
There are three main interconnecting roads in the new part of town - Mirza Ismail Rd (MI Rd), Station Rd and Sansar Chandra Marg. Along or just off these roads are most of the budget and mid-range hotels and restaurants, the main train and bus stations, many of the banks and the modern shopping centre.
Getting there and away
Information in Jaipur
Getting around in Jaipur
Places to stay
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Shopping in Jaipur
Entertainment
Interesting facts
Organised tours
Places around Jaipur
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