Jaipur, the pink city

Wind Palace
Raiput Palace
Amber

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Tuc Tuc for short distances.

In the 16th century, the local Rajput was in discussion with colleagues from the region. He pretended that his scientifical knowledge had reached such a level that he could exactly explain the positioning of all the stars around our planet.

And so he started building his instruments, and collected them in an observatory, which still can be visited. He created a clock, up to 3 minutes exact, based on the positioning of the sun, and a wide range of small constructions which help him to identify the stars at each moment of the year.

The site still looks rather futuristic. If you go there, make sure you have a good guide with you, because the instruments are not self-explaining at all.

The palace still is partly inhabited by the local Rajput. His power is rather symbolic in these days, but still, he has a lot of influence. The palace is a combination of a monument and a museum.

Located in the middle of the city center, the palace never had any military purposes and is very decorated. It is a complex consisting of several smaller building with small museums within each building. One is dedicated to local clothing, another to weapons.

The tour around leads to the room where elephant seatings are collected. Next to it is a small street where a lot of small shops are located.

The wind palace is located in the busiest street of Jaipur. It is no more than a façade. There is nothing more to visit but it is really beautiful. You can make a walk along the street to get an impression of real Indian life and in the meanwhile you can admire the nice Wind palace.

The Birla Temple is a rather new religious complex. It differs from the normal Indian temples because of the oecumenic character of it. There are elements of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity integrated in it.

It is a nice white building in which a central Hindu holy place is located. The decoration takes elements of several other cultures. In the glass work, you can find pictures of Christian prophets, but also of Mohammed, as well as of the Greek philosopher Socrates.

There is a nice park around the temple which makes it a quiet place in a busy city.

The Amber palace is located some 10 km from Jaipur. It actually is a former palace of the Jaipur Rajput, who moved later on to the city itself.

The Amber palace is situated on a hill. To get there, you can make a ride by elephant. Down the hill they are waiting (400 rupees + fee for the driver), and bring you in ten minutes to the top. On the way up, they try to take pictures of you which are sold later.

The palace is very nice - even better than the palace in Jaipur - and on top of it, you have nice views. The famous silk route was passing by this palace over the hilltops and still can be seen here.

In this palace, you can admire the typical decorations for this region, and there are some very nice gardens in the complex, with water surrounding it and small fountains.

The way back goes on foot. It hardly takes a quarter to get back down the hill.