The Royal Touch

01 Jun 2011

The 284-year-old city of Jaipur opens a window to India’s royal past through its architecture, handicrafts, art and traditions. And the lavish influences of that bygone era continue to feature largely today, as NEELAM MATHEWS discovers.

Hawa Mahal or Palace of the Winds was so named for the breeze that flows through the 953 screened windows of the five-storey building.

The Pink City, as Jaipur is known because of its houses and city walls which were painted thus to welcome Britain’s Edward VII in 1876, is traditionally the first stop for visitors from New Delhi. The capital of Rajasthan (or the Land of Kings), Jaipur is named after its founder, Maharaja Jai Singh II, who moved there in 1727.

For me, Jaipur holds a store of royal memories. I was a student at Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ School, a private girl’s school founded in 1943 by its namesake, who believed strongly in education for girls. I distinctly remember the day when Her Highness dropped by for a visit while we were playing pithoo, a version of cricket. Stepping out of a Fiat she had driven herself, she was a vision of grace and beauty, timeless elegance wrapped in soft chiffon and her signature pearl necklace.

Born into a royal family, the third wife of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II eased into her role as maharani, charming Indian and international high society alike. Her eminently stylish ways didn’t go unnoticed – her fashion sense was likened to that of former US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and American Vogue hailed her as one of the world’s 10 most beautiful women at the time.

Maharani Gayatri Devi (in blue) entertaining foreign guests at one of the royal palaces.

And while she lived as lavish a lifestyle as one would expect of Indian royalty, complete with overseas shopping trips and celebrity friends, she made considerable contributions to society through her charity work. This included setting up schools for the handicapped, and poor and refugee children. During her political career, she won a parliamentary seat in a landslide victory, worked to improve the welfare of the poor by starting an at-cost grain store, took a firm stand against corruption and was even imprisoned, after which she retired from public life.

IN THESE WALLS

Now, four decades after India formally abolished royal titles, influences from Jaipur’s royal age still resonate in the city’s architecture, art, traditions and festivals. Across Jaipur, architectural styles – from temples to palaces, roads and observatories – owe its patronage to royalty. One piece de resistance is the UNESCO world heritage site Jantar Mantar, a futuristic-looking observatory, one of five built by Jaipur’s founder Maharaja Jai Singh II, who was also a renowned architect and astronomer. Here at the world’s largest stone observatory, he designed his own instruments from marble and stone to ensure accuracy when measuring time and predicting eclipses. The striking sundial, the largest in the world, with its 27m-high gnomon (part of the sundial that casts a shadow), tells the time to an accuracy of about two seconds in local time.

A stone’s throw away is the 18th-century Hawa Mahal palace or Palace of the Winds. The five-storey building boasts a honeycomb-like design and 953 windows with intricate lattice work that allowed royal ladies to stay hidden from sight while they observed the goings-on in the streets from the screened windows – like the spectacular street processions where the maharaja would pass by on his decorated elephant together with his royal entourage.

The majestic Sawai Man Singh II Museum is one of several palatial structures within the City Palace.

The world’s largest sundial can be found at the Jantar Mantar observatory, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Also in the immediate area is the City Palace, one of Jaipur’s main attractions. It houses several palatial structures including Mubarak Mahal, a two-storey mansion with a stunning reception hall embellished with ornamental pillars. There’s also the Diwan-i-Khas or Hall of Private Audience, located between the armoury collection and art gallery, which holds the world’s two largest sterling silver vessels. The vessels were said to hold drinking water from the River Ganges for one of Jaipur’s maharajas when he went to England in 1901.

SOUK IT UP

Close to Hawa Mahal palace lies the bustling Johari Bazaar, the jeweller’s market known for its precious and semi-precious stones and traditionally designed jewellery, some of which are inspired by the delicately fretted marble grilles on the windows of the Hawa Mahal. Here, you’ll also find kundan jewellery, one of the oldest forms of jewellery in the country. The highly elaborate pieces see skilled artisans inserting gold foil between the gem and its mount to produce elaborate necklaces that many believe originated from the royal courts of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

In the vicinity are a string of souks or bazaars, touting everything from leather bags to trinkets and local perfumes made from botanical extracts. The Ramganj Bazar specialises in jutti, or vibrant-coloured embroidered footwear made from soft camel leather, that’s known for its comfort and durability. For colourful lacquer bangles and handicrafts, head to Maniharon Ka Rasta in Tripolia Bazar, which also purveys a wide range of carpets incorporating everything from landscapes to geometric designs.

From local craftwork to embroidered footwear, an endless array of handicrafts awaits you at the city’s bazaars.

Some 16km from Jaipur is the village of Sanganer, made famous by its handmade paper industry that began in 1728 and for hand block textile printing in bright colours. You can’t leave the village without checking out its blue pottery, named after the Persian blue dye used to colour the clay. Semi-transparent and largely decorated with animal and bird motifs, the blue-glazed wares, a favourite with Jaipur’s rulers, received a boost from Maharani Gayatri Devi who helped revive the dying art form.