Reliving the Moments, Pink City

· by · in Travel. ·

 

It’s quite wonderful to know how sometimes a single picture revives a whole lot of memories, a whiff of smell reminds you of things long forgotten, or, a particular song virtually brings back some good old days. Yesterday, my cousin was humming the song, शाम गुलाबी शहर गुलाबी / पहर गुलाबी है गुलाबी ये शहर from the film Shuddh Desi Romance and, suddenly, it resuscitated the memories of a trip we made long ago.

Perhaps, you got the hint through the song. Yes, it’s Jaipur, the Pink City of India, famous for its vivacity of colours and, the vivacious environment with which it embraces the tourists. When we made the trip, I happened to be eight years younger, accompanied by friends only (that doubled the fun). Actually, we had a Marhwari friend with her ancestral house in Jaipur. Though there are a plethora of hotels in Jaipur, but Meera’s (our friend) parents insisted us to stay with them. During our stay, we managed to visit just a couple of the famous tourist attractions, but we learnt about the history of the city from Meera’s (my friend) grandpa. They were wonderful hosts, served us with delectable and authentic Rajasthani dishes soaked in pure ghee, including the flagship dish of Rajasthan, daal-batti-churma.’Daal’ is lentil curry, ‘churma’ is made of stuffed flour baked over charcoal fire and, ‘churma’ is a sweet dish made with flour, jaggery/sugar, and ghee. I still savour the taste of those homemade ‘ghewar’, a traditional sweet dish.

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My old PC crashed a few years ago and all my previous pictures are gone forever with it. This is the only memory I have from the said trip!

What attracted me most to the city was the planning and intelligent architecture. It’s all done with immaculate elegance and calculation. The history of Jaipur traces back to almost 300 years and, was established in the year 1727 by Maharaja Jai Singh II who was a Kachhwaha Rajput. Though the city was the dream of Maharaja Jai Singh and, was named after him, but the maestro behind its architectural marvel was Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, a Bengali architect who hailed from Naihati, Kolkata. It took four years to the completion of the city. The city was divided into nine blocks, seven blocks allocated to the use of the local people and, two blocks holding the state buildings and palaces of Maharaja. Later,Vidyadhar Garden or Vidyadhar Ka Bagh was built as a tribute to the designer of the city.

Jaipur was, undoubtedly, the finest city at that time and, the magnum opus of Maharaja Jai Singh. It is said, when Prince of Wales visited Jaipur in the year 1853, the entire city was painted pink as a mark of honour to him, and, hence, the name. Still now, you can see an abundance of pink in the city adding more allure to its beauty. The stucco buildings lining Jaipur’s wide streets hold proof to the same.

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Nahargarh Fort (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

During our stay, we managed to visit only two places; Nahargarh Fort, the fort used to serve as a strong defence ring around the city, and, Jal Mahal (Water Palace), being a perfect concoction of Rajputana and Mughal architectural style, the fort stands amidst the Man Sagar Lake.

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Jal Mahal  (Credit: flickr/araswami)

Though it was one of the most memorable and enjoyable tours ever in every respect, I regret missing the visits to City Palace, Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Wind), Jantar Mantar…the list goes on. I wish to explore the Pink City once again, soon.

Enjoy the song I mentioned at the beginning of the post to have a colourful glimpse of the Pink City.

104 responses to “Reliving the Moments, Pink City”

  1. Pingback: An Unforgettable Hotel Experience | Scattered Thoughts·

  2. The post reminds me of the two years I lived in Jaipur and the numerous weekend trips to Amber, Jaigarh and Nahargarh forts. I also loved to visit Birla Mandir during evenings. And I miss the yummy daal bati choorma!

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  3. Thanks for sharing this Maniparna 😊 Nice memory and I now want to see the Water Palace. I feel your pain with he losss of your pics- I have only one remaining pic from my trip to Canada a long time ago… I left all my rolls of film at the place I was staying and could never get them back 😕 I enjoyed the song although I have no idea what it is about 😝 The tune is very nice.

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  4. nice movie and lovely song .i can feel the sadness when your most fav collection of pics is gone with the pc problem as i too faced the same .but still you shared your visit brilliantly

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  5. So beautiful, dear Mani! 😉 The Jal Mahal left me speechless… listening to the song while I am typing … wow!… nice beats .. and such a gorgeous couple!… sending love, my friend. Aquileana ;D

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  8. Jaipur has its own unique charm. Even though of late it has increasingly become akin to a metro. I love the bazaars ( Johari, Bapu, kishanpole )

    Then the lovely forts ( amer, nahargarh ) and the best part is the food!! Love the ghewar, pyaz kachori and daal baati! So many new restros have come up now!
    Your post took me back to this beautiful city:)

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  15. Beautiful holistic account of the city Maniparna. I like Daal bati and ghewar. Each city of Rajasthan has a different colour and charm. Nice to learn about the city’s architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. Btw I hadn’t heard the song either 🙂

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  28. I have never been to Jaipur but I’ve always loved Rajasthani culture, their vibrant dances Kalbeliya and Ghoomar, their dresses and their handicrafts with intricate work.
    The song is also melodious, just as your post is informative!

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  33. Jaipur fascinates not once , always ! I have visited this place several times and every time I found it new with full of enjoyment , greenery and rajasthani dresses.

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  34. Lovely article about a beautiful city. During my biking days, we often planned for a trip to Rajasthan. Through Jaipur, Falna, Sikri, touching base to the sand dunes of Jaisalmer to the border of Barmer, but nothing materialized out of those dreams.

    I always believed that Jaipur was called the Pink City because of the pinkish shade of the sandstone, out of which it was constructed. Learned something new. 🙂

    Loved it!

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  37. Thanks Mani for stirring so many memories…I wish I had recorded those moments of visiting this historic city! Life was speeding at that time, full throttle…That was the time when we didn’t have digital cameras or smart phones but I have some wonderful pics of Hawa Mahal and Amer Fort, Ramgarh Lodge in my albums. But Jaipur has become like any other crowded city. Off-beat places in Rajasthan bear a testimony to the splendour of this state. Also, Jaisalmer is still very beautiful. 🙂

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  40. I visited India including Jaipur many moons ago. I liked Jaipur a lot. Perhaps, I get to stay in one of those palaces that have now been converted to hotels at some point. I had fond memories of the wonderful Indian food, very different from the ones in London.

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  41. Hi M! I thoroughly enjoyed the post…I have been to Jaipur and had the opportunity to spend a few days there and therefore I explored it till I could do no more. What a city it is and what rich history! The Rajputana sure knew splendour in every sense of the word! Your posts brings back my fond memories of the trip as well. Thank you so much for sharing this 🙂

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  45. Jaipur indeed is a beautiful city.. I have visited it twice now.. Once in school and once with friends in college.. have some beautiful memories.. sadly no photos in those days camera was not so common.

    You had a good time.. Make plan and visit again .. 😀😀😀

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  46. It’s nice that you have visited my city. I belong to the Jaipur region only. Yes, the town planning is admirable. Hope, you visit again and see the attractions missed by you in your first visit. Thanks for sharing your experience with the fellow bloggers.

    Jitendra Mathur

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