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Hawa Mahal
A dominant landmark of Jaipur, the Hawa Mahal, or the Palace
of Winds, stands in the heart of the city. Built by Maharaja
Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799, it is a remarkable building
characterised by elaborate and tanciful architecture. The
broad pyramidal facade of the Mahal comprises five storeys
of semi-octagonal overhanging windows with perforates
screens, curvilinear roofs, domes and finials. Placed one
above the other, they have about them an air of lightness
and delicate beauty. The elaborate construction in the front
stands on walls which are hardly 0.2 metre (8 inches) in
width.
The Museum
The Jaipur Museum, in the spacious Ram Nivas gardens, is
situated to the south of the walled city. Built of sandstone
and white marble, this magnificent building was commenced by
Maharaja Ram Singh II to commemorate the visit of Prince
Albert, who himself laid the foundation stone in 1876. It
was completed by Maharaja Madho Singh II.
The museum contains a vast collection of industrial arts and
crafts auch as metalware, ivory carvings, jewellery,
textiles, pottery, carved-wood articles, in addition to
sculptures and paintings. It is particularly rich in
brassware for which Jaipur is well known. There are
exquisite specimens of embossed, hammered and chased brass
work on shields, plaques and salvers.
The main hall displays a fine collection of carpets. Of
these, the piece with a Persian garden motif deserves
special mention. Purchased in 1632, in the time of Mirza
Raja Jai Singh, it is regarded as one of the oldest and best
of its kind in the world.
Chhatris
At Gaitor, to the north of Jaipur, just outside the city,
are the cenotaphs of the rulers of Jaipur at the foot of the
Nahargarh hill. These consist of graceful pillared chhatris
of white marble decorated with fine carvings and figures in
high relief. The cenotaph of Sawai Jai Singh – the finest of
all – bears carvings of deities and scenes from mythological
lore on the panels above the lintels. With the exception of
the cenotaph of Maharaja Madho Singh II, which is of marble
and pink sandstone, all the others are of white marble.
Galta
The picturesque gorge at Galta is situated on the summit of
a range of hills to the east of the city. A temple dedicated
to the Sun-god crowns the crest of a ridge from where an
impressive view of the city is obtained. Tanks and pavilions
enhance the loveliness of this charming spot.
Legend associates Galta with
Sage Galava who performed his penance there. Galta is one of
the principal seats of the Ramanand sect of Vaishnavas.
Arts and Crafts of Jaipur
Jaipur has long been renowned as the home of numerous arts
and crafts. It is famous for chased, engraved, enamelled and
encrusted brassware. It is also known for its gold
enamelling and the cutting and polishing of precious and
synthetic stones. Jaipur’s marble statues and ivory-ware
exhibit a high degree of workmanship. Among the city’s other
handicrafts are the dyed and printed textiles from Sanganer,
tie-and-dye work on silk and cotton, carpets, lac bangles,
blue and white pottery and papier mache articles.
AMBER
Amber, the capital of the Kachhawas before Jaipur was built,
lies 11 km. (7 miles) to the north, east of the city on the
main road to Delhi. The Amber palace crowns a rocky hill
amid picturesque surroundings. Its terraces and embattled
ramparts reflected in the pretty Maota lake at the
base present an imposing scene of solitude and grandeur.
Amber derives its name from Ambikeswar, a title of Siva, or
from Ambarisha, a king of Ayodhya. The oldest inscription
found here on one of the pillars of the Sun Temple dates
from 954. The tract was once held by the Suswat Mina tribe,
who still inhabit the region. It was wrested from them by
the Kachhawa Rajputs in the middle of the eleventh century.
Amber remained their capital for nearly six centuries till
Sawai Jai Singh founded Jaipur on the adjacent plains in
1727.
The Kachhawas claim descent
from Kush, the eldest son of Rama, the king of Ayodhya and
the hero of the well-known Indian epic, the Ramayana. In the
days of yore, one branch of the Kachhawas led by Dhola Rai
moved towards the Jaipur region from Narwar near Gwalior,
subjugated the Minas and laid the foundation of the state of
Dhundar which later came to be known as Jaipur. The love of
Dhola for his consort Marooni, a woman of exquisite beauty
and charm, is the subject of many popular songs and ballads
in Rajasthan.
The history of Amber becomes definite from the time of Raja
Behari Mal (1547-1573), who entered into a friendly alliance
with Babur, the first
Mughul emperor. The alliance was strengthened by Akbar
(1556-1605) who took a princess of the Kachhawa house as his
consort. By this alliance, the Mughul emperors secured for
four generations the services of some of the greatest
commanders and diplomats of medieval India. Maharaja Man
Singh I (1589-1614), one of the greatest soldiers and
generals of his time, rose to an eminent position at the
court of Akbar. Jai Singh I (1627-1667), the great grandson
of Man Singh, fought under the
imperial banner in every part of the empire. He was equally
brilliant in diplomacy and received the title of ‘Mirza
Raja’ for persuading Shivaji, the implacable opponent of
Aurangzed, to visit the emperor. Such was his power and
influence that he came to be dreaded by the mighty Emperor
himself. The story goes that at drinking bouts with his
courtiers, he would hold aloft a cup of wine in either hand
and say that the one in his right hand was Delhi (implying
Emperor Aurangzeb) and the other in the left was Satara
(meaning Shivaji). And then, after emptying the cup in his
left hand, he would dash it to the ground and say: “There
goes Satara and the second is firmly in my grip. I can smash
it whenever I please”. Sawai Jai Singh (1699-1743) moved the
capital from Amber to Jaipur and the subsequent history of
the Kachhawas is associated with the new city.
The Palace and its Precincts
The Amber Palace, an exquisite specimen of Rajput
architecture, was begun by Raja Man Singh in the early 17th
century and completed by Sawai Jai Singh nearly a hundred
years later. Reflected in the lake below, it looks like an
enchanted castle in a fairyland.
The entrance to the great courtyard on the lower terrace of
the palace is through an imposing arched gateway. The royal
palaces above it are approached by a long flight of steps
through a double gateway, called Singh Pol, which opens into
the court containing the Diwan-i-Am. Behind the Singh Pol is
the temple of Kali, which has silver plated doors and is
faced with delicate marble work of great beauty.
The Diwan-i-Am or Hall of Public Audience was built by Mirza
Raja Jai Singh. Open on three sides, it
has grey marble and sandstone pillars supporting a valuted
roof. The pillars are surmounted by finely carved elephant
brackets. The fresco paintings which once embellished it are
said to have aroused the jealousy of Emperor Jahangir so
much that they were defaced and covered with plaster.
The Ganesh Pol, a fine portal covered with paintings in
tempera, was built by Sawai Jai Singh. It leads into the
inner court where the royal apartments
are grouped around an ornamental garden. The ceilings and
walls of the Hall of Private Audience (also called Jai
Mandir) and Sheesh Mahal, built by Mirza Raja Jai Singh I,
and those of Jas Mandir, above, have delicate mosaics and
inlay work of glass. The Suhag Mandir has marble screens,
while the Sukh Mandir has doors inlaid with ivory and
sandalwood. Good specimens of local fresco paintings are
preserved in the chambers adjoining the dining hall. The
palace of Raja Man Singh, the oldest portion of the
building, comprises several blocks of apartments surrounding
a large quadrangle, with high towers on the corners. It
still retains a few traces of tile and colour work.
There is a cluster of temples at the foot of the hill,
amidst ruins of the old town. Of these, the Vaishnav temple
of Jagat Shiromani is notable for its elaborately sculptured
Garuda shrine and the delicate marble toran or gateway with
elephant statues on either side. The temple was built in the
time of Raja Behari Mal, but the name Jagat Shiromani was,
perhaps, given to it the time of Maharaja Man Singh to
commemorate
his son Jagat Singh.
The small Archaeological Museum in Dilaram Gardens on the
bank of the Maota lake, houses some interesting antiquities
of Rajasthan. The exhibits consist of objects from many
historic sites in the State. It has fragments of Asoka
pillars; pottery, coins and seals from Bairat, a flourishing
centre of Buddhist culture in the 3rd century B,C.; an
inscription from Jamna Ramgarh tracing the genealogy of the
Jaipur rulers; superb sculptures from Abaneri; clay plaques
and terracotta figures from Nagar, and gold objects from
Rairh. |
