| Hawa
Mahal Also Known As The Palace of Winds
The Hawa Mahal, or the Palace of Winds, is arguably
Jaipur’s best-known monument. For one, it is unlike
any other Rajput monument – fort, palace or temple.
Secondly, it’s a bit too whimsical and delicate, almost
like a magical structure from the Arabian Nights. Despite
its towering height and length, the Hawa Mahal looks
like a light, airy structure which might blow away with
the slightest wind.
Placed right in the middle of the bustling Johari Bazaar,
near the Badi Chaupad (the big square), this reddish-pink
building made of red sandstone is a constant reminder
of Jaipur’s colourful history which refuses to just
curl up and die.
Construction of The Palace
Adjacent to the City Palace (where the family of the
last Maharaja of Jaipur still lives) is the Hawa Mahal
Jaipur, built by Sawai Pratap Singh and designed by
Lalchand Usta in 1799. If you view it from a distance,
it looks like a palace with the promise of big, spacious
rooms inside. But once you cross the road for a closer
inspection, you realise that it is little more than
a finely chiselled facade. Out of its five floors, the
top three are just a room deep while the lower floors
are connected to rooms and courtyards. Hawa Mahal, Jaipur,
is an enormous tapering structure with numerous arches,
spires and a mind-boggling 953 latticed casements and
small windows. If you observe it closely, you’ll realise
that it is actually a portion of the zenana palace (women’s
quarters) and what you can view from the road is merely
the back of the building.
Constructed For The Royal Ladies of The Court
The building is a bit of an enigma as nobody knows precisely
why it was built. A couplet ascribed to Sawai Pratap
Singh, a poet and a devotee of the Hindu deities Radha
and Krishna, suggests that the monument was dedicated
to them. However, the most widely accepted conjecture
is that it was a viewing gallery for the ladies of the
royal household. Sitting in the cool, airy interior
of the Hawa Mahal, they could watch the goings-on below
while remaining hidden themselves. The carved screen
balconies meant that the windows caught even the slightest
whiff of breeze, making the ladies comfortable as they
watched the royal parades and processions.
Visiting hours: 1000-1630 Hrs. Free
on Monday and closed on Friday, Still & Vedio Camera
charges are also there.
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