We hired Innova for 2 days to get the glimpse of Jaipur. Our journey started with Albert Hall.
Albert Hall: It is a museum of industrial arts, displaying the product of local craftsman. Rare collections of traditional Indian arts, crafts and architectural forms are developed and preserved here. Few of the items displayed are guns and other armors used, plate and ring helmet, Iranian helmet, punjabi helmet, the Ramayan shield, Delhi blue pottery, various musical instrument, Yogasana models, various professions like potter, seller of pulses etc.
Jal Mahal: The Mahal is surrounded by water. Hence the name. One has to take boat to reach this Mahal. Currently this is closed for public. We can enjoy the view only from the distant.
Jantar Mantar: Jantar Mantar is a must to see for all those who loves astronomy. It was built by using stone and marble. It exhibits how to measure the altitude of an an object in the sky (Unnatamsa), sundial (Vrihat Samrat Yantra) that can give the time to an accuracy of 2 seconds, Rasivalaya an instrument use to measure the latitude and longitude of celestial object etc. We were able to find the exact local time and Indian Standard Time. We spent about two hours here.
City Palace: This is the palace with a fusion of Rajput and Mughal styles of architectural built by Maharaja Jai Singh situated at the heart of the city and just opposite to Jantar Mantar.
After City Palace we visited for shopping and purchased Jaipur Bangles,Gagra Choli,Tie and dye chuditaar material and Sarees.
Birla Mandir: This temple is dedicated to Lord Lakshmi Narayanan built in pure white marble. It is situated below Moti Dungri Fort.. We had good darshan and saw Mangal aarthi. Below this temple there is a Birla Muesum.Taking photos inside the temple is prohibited. Outside the temple, within the complex Rajasthani dresses are available for hire for photo snap.
Ganesh Temple: Nearby Birla Mandir, there is a Ganesh temple where we had a darshan of Sentooram Ganesh.
Hawa Mahal: Next stop was Hawa mahal. This is called 'Palace of Winds' and is five storied building. A beautiful crown shaped palace situated in the main road and also in the heart of the city. The 1st storey is known as Sharad Mandir where the autumn celebrations took place, 2nd storey is known as Ratan Mandir where a dazzling glasswork on its wall, 3rd storey known as Vichitra Mandir where the Maharaja worshipped the Lord Krishna, 4th storey Prakash Mandir has a open terrace on both sides and 5th storey is known as Hawa Mandir. Hence the whole structure is named as Hawa Mahal.
Amber Fort: It is the complex of palaces, halls, pavillions, gardens and temples built by Raja Man Singh, Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Sawai Jai Singh over a period of two centuries. This fort has the tunnel of 1.5 km in length which connects to the Jaigarh fort. They were used to conceal the movement and to allow the royal families to escape.
Jaigarh Fort: It consists of armory museum, cannon foundary museum, cannon foundary and it has the world famous cannon named Jaivana which was manufactured here. This is a destructive weapon and has the range of 22 miles. Due to its power, enemy never dared to enter this Fort and hence never had a chance for using it.
In Cannon foundary, they have preserved the manufacturing units of Cannon. From here one can view the boundary wall similar to that of great wall of China.
The two days of stay in Pink city was a memorable one.
