Day 7: Jaipur City Palace and Bazaar
The Jantar Mantar Observatory was also built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1731 It lies just outside the City Palace, within the walls of the original city.It comprised of 16 stone and six metal instruments designed for the observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye. The observatory forms part of a tradition of Ptolemaic positional astronomy which was shared by many civilizations. Brendan would have loved it!
We had hoped to see a street dentist, but closest we came was a street barber.
Covid-19 is finally affecting India. 31 cases have been reported in the country (of 1.3 Billion, though) as of this morning. The hotel staff are all in masks and gloves, and everyone has a thermal scan before entering the hotel. The mayor of Agra has requested the Ministry of Tourism to close down the Taj Mahal! On the bright side for us, tourism is way down and when we were at the Taj there were only about 2/3’s the normal crowd. There is a good chance that Holi Festival celebrations will be cancelled (the prime minister already cancelled celebrations at his residence). Not sure what we will do with our special pajamas that we bought.
The journey continues, though. Breakfast at the Jai Mahal Hotel overlooks their beautiful gardens. A flute player in the Gazebo entertains us (sounds like spa music, but relaxing in the morning). In the garden, there is an oversized chess board (Phil tried to rustle up a game, but got no takers).
Our touring this morning began with a visit to the City Palace. The City Palace, Jaipur was established at the same time as the city of Jaipur, by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, who moved his court to Jaipur from Amber, in 1727. It is a vast complex and includes several buildings, courtyards and gardens.
There are two parts of the palace, one which is opened for the public and also has a museum, and the other for the residence of the royal family (who were here now, based on the fact that the royal flag was flying)
There are three main gates to the palace guarded by canons and men in brightly colored costumes,
and there are also four smaller gates in the third courtyard which are believed to represent four seasons. The peacock or the Mor Gate represents the autumn season. The Lotus Gate was to symbolize the summer season while the Leheriya Gate for the spring season. The Rose Gate is the winter gate.
One of the famous items in the City Palace are two silver jars which have found place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest silver vessels in the world.
The remainder of the day we spent walking through the bazaar.
Tomorrow, off to Udaipur.
No comments:
Post a Comment