PINK CITY AND HAWA MAHAL

It is said that Sawai Jai Singh had intended to build his capital at Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi without using sandstone because of its non-availability. He, therefore, pigmented the walls of his City Palace to resemble the colours of red sandstone. Some say that in 1876 all the buildings of Jaipur were painted a uniform rose pink in honour of the visit of Queen Victoria's son, the Prince of Wales(later King Edward VII). This led to people describing Jaipur as the 'Pink City' and label lingers.
The Hawa Mahal of jaipur is a unique momument. It looks like a huge beautiful palace but all it has are passages and balconies! This five-windows and covered balconies behind pink sandstone jalis. The first two storeys are backed by a basement but the three storeyes above it have just passages and windows. This unusual structure was built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799 for the royal ladies so they could see all that went on in the streets below while remaining unseen by the public. The windows served both as a screen for privacy as well as to provide ventilation and allow the cool air to circulate. The Hawa Mahal has become a landmark by which Jaipur and often the whole Rajasthan is represented.

INTRODUCTION TO CITY

Jaipur,the capital of the state of Rajasthan is named after its founder Maharaja Sawai jai Singh II. Jai Singh belonged to the Kachhwaha clan of Rajputs. They claimed to be Suryavanshi, deceendants of the sun god. Jai Singh was the 28th Kachhawha ruler who ascended the throne at the young age of 13. He distinguished himself early for his cool courage and mature grasp of the politics of that turbulent period. A man of vision, he proved to be an able statesman and administrator.
The Kachhawahas ruled from Amber, a rockbound stronghold nestled among the Aravillis. It was abandoned when Maharaja Jia Singh built his new capital at Jaipur. Long before he died at the age of 56, Jai Singh had made Jaipur one of the most important wtates in Rajasthan both in area and prosperity. After his death, nine successive rulers occupied the Jaipur throne was merged with other Rajput states to form the state Rajasthan of the Indian Union. Jaipur is built according to priniciples of town planning set down in the Shilpashastra, an ancient Hindu treatise on architecture.
Jai Singh laid out the city with the help of a brilliant Brahmin scholar Vidyadhar Bhattacharya in 1727. Rectangular in shape, the city was divided into nine blocks separated by wide roads. The Shahi Mahal (City Palace) and its gardens were at the centre. Along the main streets were the bazaars built with remarkable uniformity. Above the bazaars lived the city dewellers who entered their homes through bylances that branched off the main roads. The city was surrounded by high walls with eight magnificent gateways. Rugged hills surmounted with forts provided natural defences in the north and the east, while strong defensive walls protected the city from the south and the west.
Jaipur took seven years to build and became one of the best planned cities in india. Although the city has spread far beyond its original limits, the grid pattern of modern cities in the West.