The hotel that I booked turned out to be very disappointing. Bits of it look quite nice but the general impression is that of a seedy joint that almost totally lacks creature comforts. There is another reason why l, in particular, wish to forget it and that started at about 4am on Thursday morning. It continued at two hourly intervals for the next ten hours. That pretty well put paid to any activities except ablutionary ones for the day. Now this kind of problem is more usually Helen's and it is very unusual for my bowels to let me down, as it were. In many respects this enforced rest did us both a lot of good because we really needed it. Jaipur is quite doable in a day as I will go on to describe, so now we are scrolling on to Friday 19th January.
The city of Jaipur is effectively privately owned by the Maharaja who is an extremely rich 19 year old. He still has a private army that he uses as security at his various Palaces. They are based in the huge hilltop Fort above the Amber Palace which is our first visit of the day. Incidentally it is pronounced amer as the Indians find the b difficult. On the way we pass this iconic site of Jaipur. This is the Hawa Mahal built in 1799 by the Maharaja to allow his many ladies to gaze on the activities of the market place. There are great views to the rear of the Palace and forward to the desert beyond the city if you climb up to the top. I wonder how much the IndusInd Bank pays for product placement in every tourist's photo.
If you are differently abled as it is consistently called in India then you can use your taxi to get to the top, otherwise you either walk or go the Maharaja way on an elephant for Rs 500 a head. It's what is called value-added or just good fun. The trouble is you are a sitting duck for the hawkers trying to sell you Maharaja paraphernalia, textiles, toys etc etc. Jaspal gave us the best advice and that is just to ignore them and avoid eye contact, that way they go away a little sooner. It does work.
The view from the top of the hill at the entrance to the Fort. This is the lake below with one of the gardens for the pleasure of the residents.
This shot gives you a good idea of the scale of the complex along with the fortifications that are in place. If you look carefully at an enlargement you will see the wall stretching all the way round the mountain top horizon. The Amber Fort is behind us and two further forts on the hills 600 metres higher behind that. The wall continues on the same scale for 360°and stretches for 12kms around. It is called the Great Wall of India. You can see some of the old city in the dip.
The honeycomb effect I mentioned.
We are not allowed to enter this part because the walls are decorated only with precious stones.
The private garden for the pleasure of the Royal residents
And now on to some details of the creature comforts. I do like to collect stories and pictures of unusual toilets as some of you may know and here is one to add to the collection. The picture below shows two toilets. These are over 400 years old, but are flushed by water coming down a concealed pipe behind the wall and used to clear the trough. The left hand trough is designed to be sat on, whereas the right hand one, you stand on the shelf and squat.
This is detail of the roof in the hammam.It is a jacuzzi with hot water fed though pipes which squirt into the bath tank. All luxury treatments were available. The facetted carving and the crystalline nature of the marble reflects light around the room so a single oil lamp would make the whole room glow with light.
Lastly we looked at the sleeping arrangements for the ladies and the peeping arrangements for the Maharaja. We also had some more retail opportunities and managed to sit down for a coffee in the Indian equivalent of Starbucks. Time to head off back to town. On the way we passed the Water Palace which you can see in the picture below. The Maharaja decamped here in the height of the summer to try to escape the heat. This is a three storey building but the bottom floor is under the water.
After a pleasant lunch we had the opportunity to see how the fabrics are block printed with up to seven different colours being used. This is a local speciality and we end up making a couple of purchases.
Our next stop is the Jantar Mantar, an observatory with a difference. Here you will find no lenses or telescopes, instead what appears to be bizarre modern sculptures. Its name comes from the sanscrit and means instrument of calculation and this best describes its function. It was built by Jai Singh ll in 1728. He liked astronomy even more than he liked war and town planning. Astrology is central to Hindu beliefs and has a bearing on every decision that is made especially things like the choice of a husband or wife for your offspring. There are twelve instruments each aligned to its own astrological sign. Here is me with my star sign of virgo.
This is the largest sundial in the world. It is accurate to within 2 seconds. Let me explain how it works. The very large wall on the left is the gnomon. The edge of the shadow is where the time is read on the arc of the quadrant. This side is where the time is read in the afternoon. In the mornings time is read from the arc on the quadrant to the left of the gnomon.
The instrument below measures the azimuth of a heavenly body. You have to attach a wire to the centre (gnomon) of the drum thingy in the middle and with a weight, dangle it over the outer circle. Bob's your uncle
In case you are wondering what the devil azimuth means, I will give you the definition. The direction of a celestial object from the observer, expressed as the angular distance from the north or south point of the horizon to the point at which a circle passing through the object intersects the horizon. OK?
The city of Jaipur is effectively privately owned by the Maharaja who is an extremely rich 19 year old. He still has a private army that he uses as security at his various Palaces. They are based in the huge hilltop Fort above the Amber Palace which is our first visit of the day. Incidentally it is pronounced amer as the Indians find the b difficult. On the way we pass this iconic site of Jaipur. This is the Hawa Mahal built in 1799 by the Maharaja to allow his many ladies to gaze on the activities of the market place. There are great views to the rear of the Palace and forward to the desert beyond the city if you climb up to the top. I wonder how much the IndusInd Bank pays for product placement in every tourist's photo.
The view from the top of the hill at the entrance to the Fort. This is the lake below with one of the gardens for the pleasure of the residents.
This shot gives you a good idea of the scale of the complex along with the fortifications that are in place. If you look carefully at an enlargement you will see the wall stretching all the way round the mountain top horizon. The Amber Fort is behind us and two further forts on the hills 600 metres higher behind that. The wall continues on the same scale for 360°and stretches for 12kms around. It is called the Great Wall of India. You can see some of the old city in the dip.
You arrive and dismount in a huge square with the original stabling for the elephants, camels and horses. We then enter the public audience square and this is the gate from there into the more private part of the Palace. The gate is painted stone, again remarkably preserved and of Hindi design.
Going through the above gate we reach the most beautiful part of the Palace. The second largest hall of mirrors in the world (the biggest being Versailles) It is breathtakingly beautiful. It's not just the mirrors and inlaid stones that sparkle but the honeycomb effect that I have tried to show in the second picture, that causes the light to bounce off so many surfaces.
The honeycomb effect I mentioned.
We are not allowed to enter this part because the walls are decorated only with precious stones.
The private garden for the pleasure of the Royal residents
And now on to some details of the creature comforts. I do like to collect stories and pictures of unusual toilets as some of you may know and here is one to add to the collection. The picture below shows two toilets. These are over 400 years old, but are flushed by water coming down a concealed pipe behind the wall and used to clear the trough. The left hand trough is designed to be sat on, whereas the right hand one, you stand on the shelf and squat.
This is detail of the roof in the hammam.It is a jacuzzi with hot water fed though pipes which squirt into the bath tank. All luxury treatments were available. The facetted carving and the crystalline nature of the marble reflects light around the room so a single oil lamp would make the whole room glow with light.
Lastly we looked at the sleeping arrangements for the ladies and the peeping arrangements for the Maharaja. We also had some more retail opportunities and managed to sit down for a coffee in the Indian equivalent of Starbucks. Time to head off back to town. On the way we passed the Water Palace which you can see in the picture below. The Maharaja decamped here in the height of the summer to try to escape the heat. This is a three storey building but the bottom floor is under the water.
After a pleasant lunch we had the opportunity to see how the fabrics are block printed with up to seven different colours being used. This is a local speciality and we end up making a couple of purchases.
Our next stop is the Jantar Mantar, an observatory with a difference. Here you will find no lenses or telescopes, instead what appears to be bizarre modern sculptures. Its name comes from the sanscrit and means instrument of calculation and this best describes its function. It was built by Jai Singh ll in 1728. He liked astronomy even more than he liked war and town planning. Astrology is central to Hindu beliefs and has a bearing on every decision that is made especially things like the choice of a husband or wife for your offspring. There are twelve instruments each aligned to its own astrological sign. Here is me with my star sign of virgo.
This is the largest sundial in the world. It is accurate to within 2 seconds. Let me explain how it works. The very large wall on the left is the gnomon. The edge of the shadow is where the time is read on the arc of the quadrant. This side is where the time is read in the afternoon. In the mornings time is read from the arc on the quadrant to the left of the gnomon.
The instrument below measures the azimuth of a heavenly body. You have to attach a wire to the centre (gnomon) of the drum thingy in the middle and with a weight, dangle it over the outer circle. Bob's your uncle
In case you are wondering what the devil azimuth means, I will give you the definition. The direction of a celestial object from the observer, expressed as the angular distance from the north or south point of the horizon to the point at which a circle passing through the object intersects the horizon. OK?
I am reading and enjoying I promise, its very mesmerising can you tell me what kind of precious jewels are used please.x
ReplyDeleteSorry I haven't replied to your comment earlier Carol. The answer to your question is emeralds for green, sapphires for blue, and rubies for red. It is stunning. I hope you are OK as I haven't heard from you for a little while. Love Nigel xx
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