CITY PALACE - JAIPUR Location: Jaipur in Rajasthan, India. Started by: Jai Singh II. What To See: Chandra Mahal, Shri Govind Dev Temple, City Palace Museum. When To Visit: October-March

City Palace , Jaipur

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A treasure trove of royal acquisitions, the City Palace, is situated at the heart of Jaipur. Each and every corner of this grandiose edifice enters through a person's eyes but descends directly to one's heart. Filled with interesting and enticing artifacts, the royal palace is both a repository of the culture and a family album of the long line of maharajas who ruled this Pink City for so many years. An impeccable blend of Rajasthani and Mughal architecture, the City Palace complex occupies a large area segregated into a series of voluminous courtyards, alluring gardens and magnificent buildings. A hybrid of magnum opera of different artists, a visit to the City Palace is a real joie de vivre.

The Opulent Womb of The Palace - City Palace Attractions

The famous City Palace of Jaipur has tremendous attractions. Before the palace, proper lies the Mubarak Mahal (Welcome Palace), built in the late 19th century by Maharajah Sawai Madho Singh II as a reception for visiting dignitaries. The Mahal, now amended into a museum, contains a superb collection of royal costumes and exquisite shawl collections including Sanganeri block prints, Kashmiri Pashmina shawls, folk embroideries and Benares silk saris. Don't forget to see the spanned out pajamas and coat of Sawai Madho Singh I, a well-built man 6 ½ feet tall , over 4 feet wide and weighed 250 kg. Imagine how many artists had put their efforts to make this regalia. Walk through the corridors and enjoy the vicarious feeling of grandeur clubbed together with true aristocratic taste. The hall is a magnificent arena of ardent portrays, untouched by the hands of time. The colossal life size paintings of the mighty kings, with lavish mustaches and copious beards are disturbingly real.

The Arms That Won Wars

A must see among the City Palace attractions is the Maharani's palace, which houses an awe-inspiring collection of weaponry dating back to the 15th century. The ceiling of the hall is embellished with extraordinary frescoes, the colors of which are derived from semi-precious jewel dust. The covert is a nice playground for colors, which change themselves a thousand times during the day. The hall is also a hub of bewildering elements like the gruesome Rajput scissor-action daggers. When the dagger enters the body, the handles are released to spread the blades. The dagger is withdrawn virtually disemboweling the hapless victim. One of the displays is the katar, a two-sided blade with a grip handle that has an outer covering. It was hitched to the waistband worn by the men over their tunics. These ornamental daggers with their handles were worn on formal occasions with ceremonial costumes. Enjoy the endless battle between your heart and mind, the former willing to touch the bedazzling artifacts while the latter, going along with the age-old warning "Do not Touch". Enjoy the City Palace attractions in Jaipur.

Diwan-i-Galleria

Tourists at City Palace , Jaipur

Go through the museum inside the famous City Palace. The art gallery is housed in the former Diwan-i-am (Hall of Public Audience) and exhibits an awe-struck collection of all workmanship one can think of. Gaze at the beautifully painted ceiling, on which the original semi-precious stone colors have barely faded and from which are suspended an enormous crystal chandelier. Enjoy the great Hindu epics cloaked in minuscule paragons. An entire Bhagawad Gita and other ancient pulp fictions together with miniature paintings of the Rajasthani, Mughal and Persian schools are also being preserved. The gallery also has some brilliantly carved palanquins and elephant howdahs and several other books on astronomy, falconry and other subjects. The manuscripts include Sawai Jai Singh II's treatises on astronomy and Abul Fazl's translation of the Mahabharata called Razmnamah.

As a signature in the end of a cheque is a must, so is the Chandra Mahal in a tour to City Palace. The towering yet delicate seven-story white building with its gold leaf decorated magnificent ceilings, still dominate the compound. Peep into the regal room to appreciate the furnish, the same way as it was then; with a rug, canopy, backrest pillow, floor cushion, spittoon and hookah. A must see are the 14th century sandstone statues, ticked into a lovely leaf-filled niche via the passageway, which represents a league of musicians, each playing a different instrument.

Buy Memoirs of Your Visit

The city palace also offer tourists great opportunity to shop and enjoy the vibrant culture of the region. Most tourists who travel to the Palace, make it a point to visit the bustling mini market and shop for exquisite handicraft items; silver jewelery, semi-precious stones and handcrafted footwear and other wonderful shopping items including miniature handcrafted elephants, horses and camels. Shopping is an exciting activity and no tour to the Palace is complete without a bustling shopping spree. Load yourself with enticing memoirs of this beautiful place and be prepared to explain every nook and corner to your loved ones.

Visit The Palace

City bus service is a comprehensive service to all points within Jaipur. Regular bus services from RTDC and deluxe coaches are also available to reach the City Palace. Private tourist vehicles with more or less fixed point-to-point charges and metered auto rickshaws are freely available. A quaint reminder of the past are the camel drawn carriages, that are still used to carry loads and as a means of transport especially in the interiors of the desert. The palace and the museum are open daily between 9.30 am and 4.30 pm. Photography options are limited as you have to shed a few rupees to take cameras and videocams inside the palace. Educated guides are available who are fluent in Spanish, German, French, Italian and English. You can chat with them comfortably while they mesmerize you with their mystical folklores about the chivalry and gallantry of the Rajput maharajahs.