Jaipur--The Pink City

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Jaipur is one of the most famous tourist destinations in India. Jaipur is popularly known as "the pink city". Every year, it attracts millions of tourists from different corners of the world. In terms of tourist traffic, Jaipur is next only to Agra--the city famous for the Taj Mahal.

Jaipur offers everything that a tourist wants to see. It has a heritage spanning back to several centuries, it offers plenty of adventure tours, and its architectural marvel has no parallels. It interests tourists of all kinds--from business men to backpackers.

Jaipur is situated in Rajasthan--a state famous for its rich abundance of mineral wealth especially marble stones and gems. Jaipur is thus a market place for both raw and finished jewellery products. "Meenakari" and "Kundan" are two indigenous jewellery traditions of Jaipur that are world famous.

The city of Jaipur was founded by Maharaja Jai Singh II in 1727. The Maharaja was a patron of sciences and mathematics and so consulted Vidyadhar Bhattacharya--a Bengali scholar to design the layout of the city. Jaipur is well planned and in fact, it is one of the first planned cities in India. The city was constructed over a span of four years. The city was divided into 9 blocks with 2 blocks reserved for government buildings and the rest being residential areas.

In 1853, the Prince of Wales visited Jaipur. To welcome him, the whole city was painted pink and thus the city came to be known as the pink city. Today, many of the main buildings of the city are still painted pink and this gives the city a distinctive look.

Here are some of the famous tourist attractions of Jaipur:

Hawa Mahal:
“Hawa Mahal” means “The Palace of Winds”. This palace was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. The palace was designed after the crown of Krishna.

Amber Fort:
Amber Fort is located in is located in Amber, 11 km from Jaipur. It was the palace of the Maharaja of Amber, before the capital was shifted to present day Jaipur.

Jaigarh Fort:
Jaigarh Fort is located around 15 km from Jaipur and is one of the most spectacular forts in India. The various structures and constructions of the fort are almost intact even today.