Into Jaipur
India had never been on my bucket list. All accounts I had read sounded fascinating but the poverty and the masses of people and the sheer size of it didn’t appeal to me in any way. But I am starting to understand why people become so fascinated with India: it is despite the poverty, the masses, the vastness. It is the colors, the people, the sounds and the smells that combine to create a unique energy.
Jaipur was built in the 1730’s as a planned city on a grid. It was supposed to house 50,000 people but today there are over 3 million so obviously space is tight and pollution is a problem. But judging by the numbers of tourists (both foreign and domestic) tramping through its monuments and strolling along its streets, the city hasn’t lost its charm.
We started our day at the Jantar Mantar, an open-air observatory built at the same time as the city in the early 1730s. (It was updated in 1901 which explains its semi pristine state.) All the instruments in the park are built with near perfect precision and are meant to be used with the naked eye to observe astronomical positions. There are also sundials of various kinds, including the largest sundial in the world.
There are also more accessibly sized sundials, like this one that has a side for winter and summer.
The left side of the instrument has the winter dial and the right side, the summer. That’s the summer dial in action.
And instruments that point at the different star signs of the zodiac.
After the Jantar Mantar we headed to the City Palace, where the maharaja and his family reside to this day. Albeit nowadays without their ancestors‘ power or money. The beauty of the palace is slightly overwhelming. It’s an explosion of colors, patterns and materials designed to impress with intricacy instead of opulence (though there’s plenty of that too).
And don’t get me started on the paintings of the facades! Especially the ladies’ courtyard, where the wives of the maharaja could hang out, was absolutely amazing.
Since I’m typing this up on my phone I can only hope that the pictures do it justice but then again it might also be one of those things you simply have to see in person to really appreciate. But I will bury you in pictures regardless because there is just so much beauty here.
The muezzin are calling for the afternoon prayer and coincidentally we have another yoga session in the garden. Yesterday a whole troop of monkeys raced along the wall, chased by a hotel guard with a BB gun. Let’s see what entertainment we get today.