Jaipur- The Pink City/Elephant ride!

We woke the first morning in the Rajastan city of Jaipur. It is named the “pink city” because the stone used around the buildings near the palace and fort have a pink/terracotta color.

First as breakfast in our lounge, named Bundi( another Rajastan city):

We were greeted by music,fresh garlands and of course some bindi. We all looked very colorful getting onto the bus into town.

On the way to the fort and palace we saw a beautiful HIndu Temple and a Mosque:

As we neared the City Palace there were many vendors everywhere. Maya and my Mom especially liked the bangle store, the colors were amazing

We walked by a snake charmer on the street! YES the snakes a real!

Here is the entrance into the  City Palace It may be hard to see all the mosaic-inlay stone handiwork on the entrance gate. It was stunning.

The Maharaja in the 700's was a brilliant man and constructed many astronomical and astrological structures. The observatory, Jantar Mantar, is one of the World Heritage Sites. His first sundial is only off by 20 seconds and his larger one by 2 seconds! It was very impressive that all this was figured out by him in the ___century. The structure down below shows the movement of the sun in the northern and southern hemisphere. It is 100% accurate.

Here I am in front of the Taurus structure

Maya standing with the palace guards, before entering.

When you enter the City Palace grounds you see the ladies area up above. The women were never allowed to show their face to another man other than their husbands. Because of this there are many little screens for the ladies to look out from within the building.

the peacock arch in the ladies area. This is where they are allowed to be outside without having to veil themselves

here are just 2 of the beautiful balconies in the palace:

Next we were off to the Amber Fort: It has a different artistic style using both both Hindu and Muslim elements. It is breathtaking to see from afar as well as inside.We would have to ride an ELEPHANT to get to the inside of the fort,

Here are the elephants all decorated and lined up to take us up!

Okay here are the pictures of each of us on our elephant. It was the highlight of the day

The Fort has an imposing  structure outside and inside it is ornate interior with both Hindu and Muslim styles. The walls of in  the interior are covered with murals,and paintings,carvings, mosaic, and mirror work.

There are several sections: The main entrance of Amber Fort, the main courtyard where the staircase to the palace is located, and the area where returning armies were paraded back home. We had lunch at the top of the fort in a very lavishly decorated restaurant set up for us.

Here are some quick shots of the interior:

The Maharaja had 12 wives and over 300 women in his harem! All were not allowed to be seen by any other men and this is a picture of one of their courtyards where they could be. The queens bedrooms are off this courtyard. The structure in the middle was the meeting place for only the queens to discuss with each other etc.... The Mharaja had a viewing balcony from above to watch them when they met!

Here is a pic of me in the harem quarters, which were just as fabulous!

I took so many pictures throughout the palaces, they were each beautiful in their own way. Hopefully I will be able to share some of them with you when I get back. The history itself was overwhelming to listen to and the stories are too numerous to mention. The tour guides were so good in setting the mood, scene and the aura of the past. The hardest thing for us was keeping up and the HOT SUN. The heat just wipes you out at the end of the day. I will leave you with one of the Amber Fort guards who minded us during lunch. Maya and I loved his mustache!