Incredible !ndia. Pink City – Jaipur

Posted: 21st August 2011 by Memographer in India, Nona Hora
Tags: Amber Fort, Amer, Amer Fort, Amer Palace, Bicycle Rickshaw, Bicycle Tuk-Tuk Rickshaw, Birds, Camels, City Palace, Dromedary, Generations, Goat, Great Wall of Jaipur, Hawa Mahal, Incredible India, India, Indian Elephant, Indian Girls Dancing, Indian Monkey, Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur, Jal Mahal, Jantar Mantar, Kobra, Lake Palace, Nahargarh Fort, Nona Hora, Palace of Winds, Photojournalism, Pigeons, Pink City, Rajasthan, Rajasthani Boys, Rajasthani Girls, Rajasthani Man, Rajasthani People, Rajasthani Woman, Rambagh Palace, Rickshaw, Sights To See, Snake Charmer, Street Photography, Things To Do in Jaipur India, Tourists, Travel Photography, Tuk Tuk

It took about eight hours to relocate to my next destination – Jaipur, located in the semi-desert lands of Rajasthan (east of Jodhpur). A road trip across rural India was fun, a monsoon rain… not so much! My first impression of the city – it consists of two totally different parts: new and old cities. The new one has the streets with modern buildings, business centers, and billboard advertising; the old one has roads with elephants, camel carriages, and monkeys jumping from one roof of 300 y.o. building to another. When I passed through the entry gates of old city, I really felt like I was seating in a time machine, not in a car :)

For three days/two nights I stayed in Amer – a town with an area of 4 square kilometers (1.5 sq mi), 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) uphill from Jaipur. Amer was the initial capital of the ruling Kachhawa clan of Amer from 1037 to 1727 AD. The capital was shifted to Jaipur in 1727 when the construction of the city started. Today Jaipur is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan with a population of 3,910,570 (2011).

The Great Wall of Amer. Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Jaipur is also popularly known as the Pink City. In 1876, Jaipur dressed itself pink to welcome Prince Albert and Queen Elizabeth II, and thus the name “Pink City” stuck to it.

Pink City has a number of forts and monuments like Hawa Mahal (a.k.a. Palace of Winds), Amer Fort (a.k.a Amer Palace, Amber Fort), Jal Mahal (a.k.a. Lake Palace), Jaigarh Fort, Nahargarh Fort, City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Rambagh Palace, and others.