Jaipur - The Pink City !

On our way to Jaipur,as I told you in my last post..we visitted Fateh Pur Sikri..after that we checked in our hotel, we were actually tired of the long drive, and the hot climate of Jaipur. So we took some rest..and after a shower,we just got out..hired an auto rickshaw and we went to a restraunt there..had typical Rajasthani Thali..then we went to the cinema,Raj Mandir..which is famous for its glamorous interior designs and arrangments..we took tickets for the Salman Khan movie,'Ready' and managed to watch it till interval..and left the cinema..to our hotel..Jaipur is a clean n nice city compared to Agra..only problem we had was with the climate..it was too hot..we got nice climates in Delhi n Agra..but in Jaipur we could feel the summer. So again I had a shower and went to sleep,only to wake up in the morning with a bad cold n fever :-(

And in the morning,after breakfast we set out to explore Jaipur. First we went to Hawa Mahal-the palace of winds,which was built in 1799 by the poet king Sawai Pratap Singh for the royal ladies to enjoy the procession and day to day activities from the cool confinement of this majestic facade. The neighbouring buildings are all pink in colour..actually Jaipur is pink now in this particular street only.  Then we went to the Amber Fort,which is the handiwork of three Kachhwahas rulers,Man Singh,Jai Singh 1 and Jai Singh 11.The mighty Fort stands atop a range of craggy hills about 11 kms,from Jaipur city,on the Jaipur-Delhi highway. The serene Maota lake at the base of the hill adds to the beauty of the fort.Originally the palaces were built by Raja Bharmal in 1558,and his successor Raja Man Singh,several other structures were added to the fort by their descendents,but all of these lie in ruins today.Then we visitted the City Palace,built between 1729 n 1732,by Sawai Jai Singh,and sebsequently various structures were added to it by his successors.Then we visitted the Jantar Mantar,which was built by the astronomer king,Sawai Jai Singh 11 in 1728.To be honest i didnt understand how someone could measure the local time,the altitude of stars and constellations,the sun's declination,meridian,and determine eclipses using that structure !!Then we went to the Govt.Central Museum-Albert hall..Albert Hall was opened in 1887,as a public museum and is the oldest museum of the state.It houses a large collection of archeological and handicraft pieces. Then we were taken to the Jal Mahal,or the Water Palace,which was built by Sawai Pratap Singh,in1799,in the midst of picturesque Man Sagar Lake,as summer resort and pleasure spot.The Man Sagar Lake was formed by constructing a dam between the two hills by Sawai Man Singh 11 for meeting the growing demand of water in Jaipur city.The summer heat of Jaipur really tired us..and we both got a very bad tan within one day ! So we decided to call it a day and went back to hotel by 7 pm.We had a shower and went out for a walk..and had dinner from a restraunt,which was just opposite our hotel..my fever was getting worst..so I had a soup :)

Our plan was to go back to Delhi,next day morning..will stay one more day in Delhi,and the next day will go to Shimla !!