We walked in the cool, gentle breeze towards the “Hawa Mahal” –
the palace of winds. In my childhood, I had read about the Hawa Mahal and many other monuments. I used to wonder if I would ever see these places. Now that I was
minutes away from Jaipur’s iconic Hawa Mahal, I was greatly excited. Hawa Mahal stands near the Badi Choupad
roundabout, as a reminiscence of the bygone era of Rajput Kings.
Hawa Mahal was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh.
The chief architect of Hawa Mahal was Ustad Lal Chand. We stood across the road
and had a good look at the magnificent Hawa Mahal. Even 200 years after its
construction, Hawa Mahal is still vibrant. Maharaja Pratap Singh was the grandson
of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of the Jaipur city. It will not be
an exaggeration if I say that Maharaja Pratap Singh has paid tribute to his Grand Father by building a befitting jewel
to adorn the Jaipur city.
At the
first glance Hawa Mahal looks like an elaborate palace. However, the main part
of Hawa Mahal is the 50 feet façade standing against the busy street. There is
no magnificent palace behind this façade. The interior of Hawa Mahal is pretty simple and not decorated as the outer part. There are just a few
courtyards, ramps and balconies behind this magnificent façade.
It reminded me of a film set.
One might rightfully doubt why Maharaja Pratap Singh
built such an elaborate screen. Is it just for the pleasure of eyes? Or
just as a show piece? The answer to this puzzle lies in the hundreds of small
window panes all over the Hawa Mahal. These miniature windows are known as
“Jarokhas” and it is
said that there are
953
highly ornate Jarokhas all over the
Hawa Mahal. Each of these miniature windows is further decorated with complex handcrafted lattices. This lattice is known as "Jali".
Hawa Mahal’s Jarokhas along with the Jalis
had acted as a portal for
the royal
women to experience the external world.
In the days of strict “Purdah”
tradition, a royal woman was banned from showing her face to any man other than
her husband. The Jarokhas on the Hawa Mahal is built in such a way that one can
view the street in front from inside, without being seen by the
people outside. This enabled the womenfolk to spectate the royal
processions and daily life on Jaipur’s main boulevard. Women indeed led a
restrained life those days, and creations like Hawa Mahal are some of the rare
but smart ideas to restore some of the justice that was denied to them.
These Jarokhas and Jalis give a distinctive honey comb look
to the Hawa Mahal. Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh was a ardent devotee of Lord
Govindh-ji( Shree Krishna). It is said
that he instructed the main architect to build Hawa Mahal in the form of Shree
Krishna’s crown. Hawa Mahal looks like a crown which is tall in the center and gradually
reducing its height on either side. Somebody who views Hawa Mahal for the first
time would certainly experience the urge to have the perspective of the street
from inside the Hawa Mahal. We were no different; hence we started walking in
search of the entrance of Hawa Mahal.
There is no entry gate in the front side of
Hawa Mahal. I have heard the stories of some tour guides misinforming the
travelers that entry inside the Hawa Mahal is not allowed. It is quite
difficult for a traveler to find the gate located at the rear end of Hawa
Mahal. We relied on Google map to wade through the chaos of decorated-camels,
lazy-horses and men sleeping on the walkways. I felt the Google maps is a very straight forward
guy as he would never show a shortcut, but make us walk the straight way. Anyways
after walking for ten minutes and doubting at least five times that if we had
lost the way, Google maps took us correctly to the entry gate of Hawa Mahal.
With a sigh of relief, we took the tickets and entered Hawa
Mahal! Audio guide is also available, but we chose not to take it as we were
running on a tight schedule to catch the train in the evening.
Interiors of Hawa Mahal are pretty humble
compared to the front façade. Hawa Mahal has five floors. The place we entered
first is known as the “Sharad Mandir”. It is a simple courtyard with a fountain
in its center. Rajasthan experiences scorching heat during the summers, it
might be the reason for most of the Rajasthan architecture to include some kind
of water bodies in their design.
This courtyard was the venue of the Holi - an
Indian festival of colors - celebrations during the full moon day of the Phalguna
Month (Phalguna Purnima). We encountered an ancient well on one side of Sharad
Mandir. It is so deep that I felt dizzy looking into it. There was no
information about when this well was dug. However, it was clear that this well
is older than the Hawa Mahal itself.
 |
| Five floors of Hawa Mahal - A view from Sharad Mandir |
One interesting thing
about Hawa Mahal and the palaces of Rajasthan in common, is that there are no stairs leading to the upper stories of the palace. Instead there are ramps. While
walking on the ramp towards the first floor of Hawa Mahal, I was wondering what
could be the reason. I remembered a trivia shared by our tour guide Anil at the
Amber fort. In the days of great prosperity, the royal women folk used to wear
heavy ornaments, Ghaghra Cholis and Odhnies which is adorned with
precious stones and golden embroidery. (Ghaghra-Choli-Odhni is an outfit
consists of a flared skirt, a top and a long scarf). It was a beautiful burden
weighing some times over ten kilograms. This restricted the free movement of
the royal women and they had to be driven around in a handcart operated by the servants.
The ramps might be constructed to facilitate the movement of those handcarts. I
suddenly felt grateful for my T-Shirt, Jeans and the freedom to move freely
according to my will.
 |
| Hawa Mahal Museum Entrance |
The first floor of Hawa Mahal is known as “Ratan Mandir”. It
consists of a central courtyard with narrow corridors on the sides. These
corridors are adorned with thin, fluted white marble pillars. However, the
feature that makes Ratan Mandir distinctive is its colorful stained window
panes. When sun kisses these window panes, rainbows bloom inside the Ratan
Mandir.
There are also Jarokhas to which
opens to the view outside the street.
 |
| Jarokhas of Ratan Mandir |
The second floor of Hawa Mahal is known as “Vichitra Mandir”
.This floor is closely related to the founder of Hawa Mahal, Maharaja Sawai
Pratap Singh. He was quite different from the aggressive Rajput kings. He was a tender person and a talented poet and aesthete. He used the
pen name “Brij Nidhi” to write poems in praise of Govind-Ji (Lord Shree
Krishna). He ascended the throne in 1778, at the age of 13. Whenever he could not
cope with the tremendous pressure of Kingship, he used to find solace at “Vichitra
Mandir” singing and dancing in the praise of Lord Krishna. It is quite
intriguing how this floor got the name “Vichitra Mandir”, as it translates to
'weird house'. I wish someone could explain.
 |
| Second Courtyard of Hawa Mahal |
We entered “Prakash Mandir” - the third floor of Hawa Mahal. It
is an open area with lots of sunlight, justifying the name Prakash Mandir.
 |
| Prakash Mandir - View from Top |
We
could find a narrow set of steps leading to the top of the Hawa Mahal, which is
known as “Hawa Mandir”. The rain was drizzling and cool wind was blowing,
reminding us that we are in Hawa Mahal!
Hawa Mandir is a pretty confined space which can accommodate only ten or
fifteen people.
That also meant, if it is a crowded day, everyone gets only a
few minutes at the top. We admired the splendid view of busy Jaipur
streets, the City Palace and Jantar Mantar. Hawa Mandir is canopied with
highly ornate
dome with golden craft work which is visible from outside the Hawa
Mahal.
 |
| Busy Jaipur Streets - Viewed from Top of Hawa Mahal |
 |
| Jantat Mantar - Viewed from Top of Hawa Mahal |
It was fast getting crowded in the Hawa Mandir
and we squeezed ourselves through the narrow ladder leading down. There was
quite confusion and chaos as people were trying to climb up and down at the
same time. However, as Indians we have some sixth sense to wade through the
chaos, and we climbed down the steps without much damage. We spent some time to
admire the craft work on the domes, pillars and doors of Hawa Mahal, which is
fusion of the Mughal-Rajput art.
 |
| Decorated Dom - A fusion of Mughal-Rajput art. |
Our next destination was Jantar Mantar – an ancient
astronomical observatory within the premises of the Jaipur city palace. It is
an important monument that shouldn’t be missed on a Jaipur trip. I had read about
the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, but I did not know that five such Jantar
Mantars
exist across the West-Central
India – in New Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi, Madura and Ujjain.
Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II was the founder of
all five observatories. Jantar Mantar in Jaipur was between 1727 and 1734 and
it is the most elaborate one among the five. Reaching the ticket counter, my
heart was jumping with joy as I was about visit another UNESCO world heritage
site in India. Considering the fact that Jantar Mantar is an excellent example
of masonry of astronomical instruments which also incorporate several
architectural and instrumental innovations, UNESCO had listed Jantar Mantar as a
world heritage site.
 |
| Jantar Mantar - a distant view. In Background Jaipur city palace. |
There was a flock of tourist guides near the ticket counter.
They charge INR 200 for a full tour of the Jantar Mantar. We got a lively old
man as our guide. He asked if we would like to have the description in English
or Hindi. As we said English, he seemed to be pleased and started his
commentary in impeccable English. As Jantar Mantar houses many instruments for
making astronomical measurements, it is not worth visiting the place without
the help of a guide. Our guide seemed to be well versed with the science and
history related to Jantar Mantar. There are eighteen main instruments
including the largest sun dial in India – known as the "Samrat
Yantra". We followed our guide towards
“Samrat Yantra” with the enthusiasm of a child viewing the sky, first
time through a telescope.
 |
| The Mighty Samrat Yantra |
Samrat Yantra which is 73 feet tall stands as a majestic example of India’s advancements in the field of astronomy. Using the shadow
on the measurement scale of the Samrat Yantra, local time of Jaipur can be
calculated. We could see an observation deck at the top of the Samrat Yantra
and the stairs leading to it. It is said that King Jai Singh II used to sit
there and star gaze during the crisp and cloudless summer nights. Climbing up to
the observation deck is not allowed now. We could only image what a spending
view it would offer! The sky was clearing and our guide offered to perform a
demonstration of how the time is calculated using the Samrat Yantra. He lead us
to a smaller replica known as the “Laghu Samrat Yantra (Laghu means simple). We
were quite fascinated when he calculated the time with the error of only one or
two minutes and encouraged us to try out. For a generation, who is used to check time
on the digital display of the mobile phone, such elaborate and rustic way of
calculation would be quite intriguing.
 |
| Laghu Samrat Yantra |
The instruments in Jantar Mantar were used by the astronomy students as learning
aids. The practical sessions and examinations related to
the astronomy classes were conducted in this elaborate facility. It
shows the practical orientation of ancient Indian education system. It is sad,
how British have ruined such a scientific system into a text-book oriented
memorizing scheme to create just office Clarks. We were so overwhelmed with the
instruments and kept asking or rather irritating our guide with silly
questions. However the old man took no offence, on the other hand he was quite
proud to explain to the “younger generation”, the history and glory of our
ancestors.
We next visited the “Jai Prakash Yantra - Mirror of heavenly
bodies”. This is one of the most elaborate instruments built by Maharaja Jai
Singh II, based on the astronomical concepts dating back to 300 BC. The
Babylonian scientist and astronomer Berosos is the first one to build such a
hemispherical sun dial. Jai Prakash is an advanced version of its predecessors. Maharaja’s ingenuity is evident in designing the Jai Prakash
Yantra as two separate hemispheres and it is highly ergonomic. There are stairs
provided for the observer to climb down into the instrument and move around
freely to make accurate measurements.
 |
| "Jai Prakash" - Mirror of heavenly
bodies |
Our guide shared an interesting trivia about Maharaja Jai
Singh’s scientific methods. Every instrument in Jantar Mantar is preceded by an
experimental piece. The experimental pieces are usually less complex and
sophisticated compared to the actual instruments. Once Jai Singh is satisfied
with the accuracy of the trial equipment, he would go ahead and build the more
elaborate fair copy. The “Kapali Yantra” below is the predecessor of the “Jai
Prakash Yantra”.
 |
| Kapali Yantra |
It is indeed a mystery how Maharaja Jai Singh managed to find
time for his astronomical experiments amidst of the highly stressful job of
managing a country and keeping the enemies at bay. I thought, “Passion will find a way”, which is the exact reason why I was standing
around 1500 kilometers away from my home admiring the glory of my ancestors. I
could easily relate.
Next we moved to the “Rasivalaya Yantra”. It is a set of
twelve large instruments which represent one of the 12 zodiac signs. A
particular Rasivalaya instrument becomes operative when the zodiac that it
represents approaches the meridian. It is only present in the Jaipur Jantar
Mantar.
 |
| Rasivalaya Yantra |
We also visited an instrument called Krantivratta. It is
a small instrument that us used for measuring the celestial latitude and
celestial longitude of the objects in the sky. It can also be used to measure
the solar sign of the sun during the day time. It consists of a central stone
circle which is at a fixed angle parallel to the equator of the earth it is
called the Nadivratta. There are two brass circles mounted on top of the
Nadivratta which can be rotated to make the measurements.
 |
| Krantivratta |
I found it difficult
to quickly grasp the science behind the instruments. I was a lousy geography
student! There are also other instruments in the Jantar Mantar like the
Laghu-samrat Yantra, Unnathamsa Yantra, Digamsa Yantra which are used for
making various astronomical observations. It would take hours to thoroughly
understand the working of these instruments.
It was almost time for us to leave; we thanked our guide and
walked around Jantar Mantar for some more time. While we were walking, we
noticed a small temple within the Jantar Mantar. It was serene and elegant. In
India, religion and science was in a graceful co-existence since the ancient
times. We do puja before launching rockets!
 |
| The shrine inside the Jantar Mantar |
Jantar Mantar is not only a
great example of the scientific advancements but also the manifestation of the
ancient India’s tradition of bringing beauty into everything they do. The
Jantar Mantar is beautifully landscaped with a garden and red sand stoned paved
walkways.
 |
| Beautiful view of pigeons perching on the Samrat Yantra |
We left Jantar Mantar and resumed our journey to visit a
particular monument which was quite different from the forts and palaces that
we have visited. It is an ancient step well called the Pan-Mina-Ki Baoli. Baoli
means step well.
Our driver did not know
that such a thing exist, so we had to rely on the Google Map again. Pan-Mina-Ki
Baoli is located near the fort in the ancient city of Amber.
 |
| Pan-Mina-Ki Baoli - Amber, Jaipur |
We travelled
through the narrow gullies of Amber. Step wells are not so famous in every part
of India. They can be particularly found in the Northern Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan they are known
as Baoli or Baodi, in Northern Karnataka it is called Pushkarani and in Gujarat
it is called Vaav. Most of the existing step wells in these places are quite
ancient – built between 11
th and 16
th century. These
wells were promoted by the Hindu-Mughal emperors. When the British came to
rule, they abandoned these wells as they felt step wells fell short of hygiene
standards.
Regions where there is water
scarcity, step wells were built making very deep trenches which becomes narrow
as going down. The stairs were built in a symmetrical fashion on all sides of
the well so as to prevent the land slide and make it easy for fetching water.
 |
| The symmetry of the stairs |
We lost our way many times in the complex lattice of side
roads, but finally reached the Pan-Mina-Ki Baoli. It was built in the 16
th
century.
Due to the lack of maintenance,
the water the Baoli looked dirty.
It seems
nobody uses these step wells nowadays. However, in the olden days these wells
were quit lively as it was not only a source of water, but used as a place for
social gatherings. The convenient steps on the sides of the Baoli and the wind
cooled by the water at the bottom of the Baoli made it a favorite place for the
villagers to meet and talk. I was just visualizing it. The elderly men wearing colorful
turban and relishing Hookah, the timid ladies- wearing clanking silver bangles
and delicate Odhnies - carrying water pots, country kids running around with
great enthusiasm – What a joyful environment it would have been!
 |
| A balcony in the Baoli |
We walked around for some time and clicked some nice photos.
The symmetry of the stairs makes Baolis picturesque. Our driver also had come
along with us to see what is great about the Baoli in his own hometown, which
he has not seen yet. He did not find anything interesting and went back to the
car. It is always a norm that one would be least enchanted by the monuments in
the hometown! I remembered the Edkkal Caves – which had been inhabited by
pre-historic human and carries high archeological value. It is at a stone’s
throw away from my home in Wayanad, however I have never tried to understand
its history.
Our original plan was to visit the Chand Baoli in Abhineri
village, which is 90 kilometers away from Jaipur city. It is considered as the
largest Baoli in India. Due to time constraints we had to skip the plan. To
compensate and to get a feel of how the Baolis look, we had chosen Pan-Mina-Ki
Baoli.
Near the Pan-Mina-Ki
Baoli, there is a museum of Rajasthan block printing known as the "Anokhi museum" .
The museum was closed as it is Republic day. We bid good bye to old Amber city and headed back to Jaipur
city. We had a long train journey in front of us. We were going to Jaisalmer in
the Delhi-Jaisalmer express. The past two days were quite exhaustive yet fulfilling. Looking forward to more adventures in the deserts of Jaisalmer, we continued our journey.
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