Things to do
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Albert Hall Museum
Samuel Swinton Jacob designed this Indo-Saracenic hall for Ram Niwas Garden, and it opened in 1887 as the state's first public museum. The collection runs to Rajasthani miniatures, a seventeenth century Persian garden carpet and an Egyptian mummy that draws school parties all week. Floodlights come on after dark, which is when most photographs of it are taken.
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Amber Fort
Raja Man Singh's palace fortress stands above Maota Lake, eleven kilometres north of the city, and was finished at the close of the sixteenth century. Courtyards climb in tiers to the Sheesh Mahal, where mirror inlay was cut to catch candlelight. Jeeps run up the ramp from the lake; elephant rides are now discouraged on welfare grounds.
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Hawa Mahal
Nearly a thousand small windows perforate the five storey street front, built in 1799 so the women of the court could watch processions below without being seen. The facade faces east and takes the early light. Its entrance is round the back through the City Palace complex, which catches out arrivals who stop at the pavement to photograph it.
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Jal Mahal
A sandstone palace sits alone in Man Sagar Lake on the Amber road, its lowest floor under water whenever the lake is full. The interior is closed, which makes this a stop of a few minutes on the way north. Dawn and dusk from the lakeside promenade give the reflection, and water birds work the shallows.
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Nahargarh Fort
Built in 1734 on the Aravalli ridge, this fort was never attacked and served instead as a retreat and part of Jaipur's defensive ring. Madhavendra Bhawan, added later in the nineteenth century, sets matching suites for the queens along a single corridor. The road up is short and the terrace above the city is the standard place to watch the sun go down.
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City Palace
Begun in 1727 as Jaipur was laid out, the palace complex remains the home of the former ruling family, with Chandra Mahal only partly open. Four painted doorways in Pritam Niwas Chowk stand for the seasons, and two sterling silver urns in the Diwan-i-Khas hold a world record for size. The public rooms and museum galleries take about two hours.
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Jantar Mantar
Sawai Jai Singh finished this observatory of nineteen masonry instruments in 1734, each one built to measure something the eye could otherwise only estimate. The great sundial rises 27 metres and was made to read local time to within about two seconds. Guides earn their fee here, since the instruments give up nothing unexplained.
