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Raffles 1887

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Portrait of the Pink City

Jaipur has been an open-air art exhibition since it was founded by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727. Built by master craftsmen and shaped into a cauldron of creativity, the Pink City is the artistic heart and soul of Rajasthan. By JOE MORTIMER

HIGH above Jaipur on a tributary of the Great Wall of Amer, the sounds of sunrise drift through the early morning haze. Voices, car horns and the din of a waking city join the chorus of birds around the hilltop watchtower where I’m standing. An early start and the steep hike uphill from Sagar Lake are rewarded with spellbinding views of Amer Fort haloed by the golden glow of dawn.

Climbing higher still, we reach the imposing triple archway in the northern wall of Jaigarh Fort, which supplied cannon, arms and armour to its neighbour Amer via secret tunnels hewn into the slopes of the Aravalli Hills. Behind us the mighty wall, built to protect the town of Amer and later the fledgling city of Jaipur, snakes across a lush landscape.

Although he lived during an era when forts and walls were a necessity, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, who established the new city of Jaipur in 1727, also found time to appreciate the finer things in life. A man of science and the arts, he built the city in a grid pattern according to the traditional architectural principles of the Hindu texts, Shilpa Shastra and Vastu Shastra. Broad, tree-lined avenues (chaupars), sprawling bazaars and public squares all emanate from the City Palace. Six-metre-high walls dotted with watchtowers surrounded the new city and access was controlled by eight sandstone gateways, lovingly adorned with white floral motifs.

"Artists, architects and craftsmen came together to mould India’s first planned city, where public areas combined form and function and new art schools nurtured talent"

Urban planning skills aside, the Maharaja wanted to create a city where art and culture thrived. He invited artists and craftsmen from all over the country to make Jaipur their home and provided space for them to work and trade in 36 kharkanas (creative quarters) dedicated to different artistic genres. Artists, architects and craftsmen came together to mould India’s first planned city, a symphony of traditional Hindu and Mughal architecture where public areas combined form and function and new art schools nurtured talent.

In 1876, in anticipation of a visit by the Prince of Wales (heir apparent to the British throne and the future Emperor of India), the young Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II ordered that every building in the city should be freshly decorated. After a coat of paint made with pigment from the local sandstone, Jaipur took on a dusky rose blush and the Pink City nickname was coined.

Inhabitants of what is now a UNESCO World Heritage City still ply their wares in the labyrinthine bazaar where women haggle over jewellery and gemstones and hand-stitched jutti slippers, colourful textiles and embroidered clothing spill from doorways and market stalls. From the beautiful symmetry of Hawa Mahal, where ladies of the court peeked out from 953 intricately carved jharokha balconies, to the master craftsmanship of the City Palace with its elaborate chambers bejewelled in colourful cut glass and mirrors, the city remains an exhibition of Rajasthani arts.

Jaipur’s artistic heritage is also carefully preserved in the Albert Hall Museum, established in the same year as the Prince of Wales’s visit and named in his honour. Its collection of artworks, sculptures, wood engravings, musical instruments, block prints and weaponry chronicles the history of craftwork in the region and the building itself is a wondrous medley of Rajput and Mughal architecture, with domed chhatri roofs, hundreds of marble archways and colonnaded courtyards painted in cool mint green.

"Life within the walled city was one of artistic nourishment"

If life within the walled city was one of artistic nourishment, the landscape beyond took on a more martial tone. On the steep hills above Jaipur’s arrow-straight streets, Nahargarh Fort is a formidable presence, its steadfast ramparts commanding uninterrupted views over the entire city. The road from Nahargarh leads north along a ridge to Jaigarh Fort, once a vital supply route, now a popular spot for sunrise salutations like ours.

Carefully descending the steep steps of the wall towards the sanctity of Sagar Lake, we notice the heat of the day is beginning to take hold. Meanwhile, birdsong echoes between the hills, monkeys are running amok in the dusty car park and cows amble along the road to Amer town.

Life here rolls forward at a slower pace since the exodus of residents to Jaipur over the years, but restoration projects are breathing new life into ancient structures. The waters of Panna Meena ka Kund stepwell glow iridescent green below symmetrical staircases where townsfolk once exchanged stories and gossip, and the decorative 17th-century walls of Bihari Ji Ka Mandir temple and its magnificent elephant-flanked archway are resplendent once more after meticulous restoration.

A short stroll away, Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing celebrates the history of Jaipur’s oldest art form in a beautifully restored three-storey haveli (mansion) built into the Great Wall of Amer, bringing together two defining characteristics of this formidable Rajasthani jewel.

Photography by Aarin Husain

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Raffles 1887

Portrait of the Pink City

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