After an amazing time in Delhi, we hopped on the train and headed to Jaipur! Our early morning, 4.5 hour train trip was very comfortable, even if the guy sitting next to me practically had his head on my shoulder and was snoring like a chainsaw! I even heard an Indian Grandmother behind me say “Wow, that guy can snore!”
We thought that this time we would do something a bit different, and rather than stay at a hotel in Jaipur, we tried out a home-stay instead. The Jaipur Friendly Villa turned out to be exactly that…an amazing, friendly, home-stay experience with a local family. Shveta and Kul were fantastic hosts, and helped us to organize our visits and transportation to the various sites around Jaipur. Each morning we started our day with a delicious breakfast; each evening we returned and shared our adventures of the day and had some fantastic conversation.
As with the other places we have visited in India, we have continued to be amazed with the sights and sounds of India!
We could not begin our tour of Jaipur without experiencing a local specialty – Lassi, a creamy drink made with yogurt and served in a terracotta cup. When in Jaipur…
While the Lassi was rich, it was fine for our “western” stomachs…
Being all energized, we were now ready to tour!
The City Palace
This was the former home of the Jaipur royal family, once one of the richest families in India. The palace is rich in Rajasthani and Mughal architecture with many arches and intricate carving.
One of the courtyards in particular really stood out for us, as it had 4 very colourful doors, each representing one of the four seasons.
Our next stop was…
The Water Palace
This was a former hunting lodge of the Maharajah. Though it is called a palace, it was never actually used as one…just a place for the Maharajah and his party to stay when they were on hunting expeditions. The interesting thing about this palace is, that while you only see 2 stories above the level of the water, there are 4 more stories below the water’s surface! It used to be accessible to tourists via a gondola, but it has since been closed to tourists…
Hawa Mahal – The Palace of the Winds
This was a palace built for the royal women, and the only man allowed in the palace was the Maharajah. Since the women were not allowed to be viewed by other men, the screens over the windows allowed the women to look out into the streets to see what was going on without being viewed from the outside. The palace gets its name from the 365 windows found throughout the palace. It is said that when all of the windows are opened you can feel a cool breeze no matter where you are in the palace. Again we were taken by the lovely architecture throughout the palace.
The Jantar Mantar
The Jantar Mantar are a collection of astrological instruments that were built in the 1700’s. These were built by the Maharajah Raj Singh II between 1727 and 1734, and were used for astronomical and astrological observations. The Maharajah would make decisions e.g. whether to go to war or not based upon the readings from the skies. These instruments were phenomenal, and HUGE! They include the world’s largest sundial (Guinness World Book!), which is accurate to 2 seconds! You can see the shadow moving on the scale!
There were also astrological instruments that were used to understand how the sun and planets were aligned. This information was used for “strategic” decision making!
The Amber Fort
This was a very impressive fort built in the hills about 30 minutes outside of Jaipur. It reminded me of our time in Israel when we visited Masada, though honestly the walk up the hill was not nearly as long!
The Jewel in the crown of the Amber Fort is the Mirror Palace. In this meeting hall, there are thousands of small mirrors built into the walls and ceiling, and it is said that a single candle can light up the whole room.
What trip to a palace is complete without seeing…
…complete with snake charmer playing music! The girls got to pet the cobra, though they were not so sure about it…
We really enjoyed our time in Jaipur, with lots of interesting things to see and do in and around the city.
Bonus Material!
While staying at the Jaipur Friendly Villa, our host Shveta made dosas for breakfast for us. We asked her for her delicious recipe and here it is!
For the batter
- Take 3 cups of rice and 1 cup of white lentil (urad dal). Wash these well and soak for 5-6 hrs.
- Drain out the water just keeping enough to grind the rice and dal into a paste (use a blender). Add a teaspoon of salt and a little water to make the batter and leave it overnight to ferment well. In the winter months it may take two days for the fermentation.
For the potato filling
- Boil 5-6 potatoes. Peel, mash and keep aside.
- Add a tablespoon of oil in a pan and heat it on the stove.
- Add a teaspoon of mustard seeds and a teaspoon of white lentils. When the mustard seeds start spluttering and the dal turns red add a few curry leaves washed and chopped finely and 2 onions sliced thinly and sauté well till they turn pink.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder, 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder, and salt to taste and mix well. Finally, add the mashed potatoes and mix together. Keep aside.
For the coconut chutney
- Take a cup of coconut powder and put it in a grinder (a blender should work). Add half a cup of yoghurt, salt and grind them together and take the mixture out into a bowl.
- For the tempering, add a teaspoon of oil to a pan and heat it.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of white lentils and 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds. Let the seeds splutter and the lentils turn red. Add a whole dried red chili and a few curry leaves finely chopped.
- Sauté for two minutes and add 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder and mix this tempering in the ground coconut mix.
Now heat a flat pan (tawa) and add a big spoonful of dosa batter and spread it out like a crepe finely. Add oil all around it and cook both sides till crisp. Place a spoonful of potato mix onto the dosa and roll it.
Serve hot with coconut chutney.
Enjoy!
Comments
9 responses to “The Jewel called Jaipur!”
What a beautiful city, such different architecture and not so crowded… Found the Water Palace very interesting, wonder what went on below the water level all those years ago. Travel Safely…Love to all, Doreen
Hi Doreen,
The city was lovely, but don’t get me wrong…it was still crowded! I think that’s par for the course here. I’m not sure if I’m getting used to it or not. As for the Water Palace…I haven’t been able to find anything documented about what happens under water…
Interesting? Now there is an understatement in the truest sense!! Wow! The architecture is amazing! Whatever happened to these places that they lost the beauty of design? Do they maintain the buildings? It is probably quite costly, but the historical aspect…
The stories that these building tell must be fascinating.
Your experiences as houseguests are also so enriching for your family ( esp for the girls) to be immersed in the culture of the country that you are visiting.
I did not get a chance to comment on your wedding crashing experience yet, but as they say in text lingo, OMG!!! Who else but your gang would have ridden with the groom? Sheesh!!??!!
Hi Herta,
I’m always amazed whenever I go into any of these old buildings, because you’re right…they must have been witness to many important moments in history. The buildings are maintained, usually by the Archaeological Survey of India. At least the ones which are in government possession are. There are a number of buildings we have come across in our travels through India that have been “marked” as heritage buildings by the government but are still owned by private citizens. The problem is that to make any changes or to do any maintenance to these buildings requires a fair amount of “red tape” (words of the locals!) to make the changes…and so, because it’s so difficult, people don’t bother. We have seen beautiful building which have fallen into ruin because of the process. Sad but true.
On the wedding crashing side…I hope you get to comment on Zoe’s blog post so that she can give you her 2 cents worth! But in a nutshell, it was awesome!
BE…utiful!! You must feel like royalty as you walk by, and through such elegant places. The intricate patterns, colours and designs are absolutely stunning. I knew we should have kept those mirrors on the wall in the foyer…could have saved money on electricity, with one candle. BRILLIANT idea…get it?
Great photos Oliver!
Hi Aunt Mary!
The buildings are beautiful…they make taking the photos easy! The biggest problem is that I took too many and it’s difficult to select just a few!
Hi Ollie,
I really enjoyed the commentary and your great photos! The architecture is certainly very beautiful!!! Mom
Thanks Mom, I’m glad you enjoyed the post! We had a good time exploring Jaipur!
What an amazing place!