Jaipur-The Pink City

A glimpse of the busy Pink City.



A commonly seen type of painting used to decorate palaces. This one is in the Madhavendra Bhawan, the palace where the king kept his 9 wives.



Looking down into the neighborhood from Nahargarh (Tiger Fort).



Inside the Jaipur City Palace, see http://www.royalfamilyjaipur.com for more info.



The current maharaja still lives here in this part of the palace. Look up to see the Nahargarh fort.



K & G at the top of the Jantar Mantar, a fascinating astrological observatory that Jai Singh built for his own use, starting in 1728.


Now that we were officially in Rajasthan, it was going to mean nothing but palaces and forts. Rajasthan actually means "land of the kings." This should be fun! The first city we were going to visit was Jaipur, named after its founder, the great warrior-astronomer Jai Singh II (ruled from 1688-1744). He came to the throne at the age of 11. His name means "victory". That's enough background! The reason the city is known as the Pink City is because in 1876 the current maharaja had the whole "old" city painted pink to welcome the Prince of Wales (aka King Edward VII). Pink was traditionally the color of hospitality, says Lonely Planet. Today the pink is maintained by tradition and also perhaps by the law.