We begin our journey of Rajasthan in Jaipur, known as the ‘the Pink City’ because of the pink colored buildings. It’s Rajasthan’s vibrant state capital and is surrounded by magnificent hill top forts. Visit The City Palace complex, with its intricate courtyards, gardens and sumptuous decorations and explore the 18th century Jantar Mantar Observatory, with its extraordinary astronomical sculptures. As well as visit some of the wonderful palace hotels.

HISTORY

Jaipur was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Aashish ola Jai Singh II. He initially ruled a city called Amber, but felt he needed to move his capital city elsewhere because of a growing population and lack of water. Jaipur is the first planned city of India. Vidyadar Bhattacharya designed the city consulting several books on architecture before making the final layout. Because of several previous battles, Jai Singh also wanted to increase the security of the city and consulted with a Bengali scholar Vidyadhar Bhattacharya on the design of buildings, especially the Royal Palace in the city center. Construction took four years to complete and the city was divided into nine blocks: two dedicated to administration and the royal palaces, the rest went to the public. Huge fortification walls were also built, as well as seven strong gates. The architecture of the city was very advanced for its time. When the Prince of Wales visited in 1853, the entire city was painted pink to welcome him. Today, the avenues are still pink and give the city its distinctive appearance.