Jaipur, the capital of India’s Rajasthan state, is an amazing, colourful city, with chaotic streets and lively bazaars. Camels and elephants share the roads with scooters and cycle rickshaws. In the hills, the remains of palaces and forts show the splendour of the city’s ancient royal past.
Jaipur gets its name from its founder King Jai Singh II, who was a great warrior and keen astronomer. It is known as the pink city, as all of the buildings within the walled historic centre are painted ‘pink’. This dates back to a visit from the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria in 1876, when the Maharaja painted the entire city pink, the colour of hospitality, to welcome them.
The star attraction in the area is no doubt the beautiful Amer Fort. It was constructed in the 16th century from red sandstone and marble and sits high on the hills around 11km from Jaipur. To get to the top of the fort you can either walk up, take a jeep or ride an elephant. We would not suggest supporting animal cruelty in this way, the animals are treated very poorly and should not be carrying such heavy weight on their backs.
The palace and fort is magnificent, a really stunning complex with beautiful views to the valley below.
Jaipur really took us in, the newer city along with ancient royal buildings steeped in history, it’s no wonder it forms part of the great golden triangle.
Comments (1)
So cool! I’ve been here before too. It was a wonderful trip.