Jaipur: The Pink City and Hawa Mahal

Four of us arrived in Jaipur on January 18, 2020, for a one-day trip to this historical city. Video is narrated in Khmer with En-Sub.

Hello everyone!

Now, four of us are going to Hawa Mahal or the Palace of Winds in Jaipur.

But on the way, we are going to tell you something about the history of Jaipur.

Jaipur is an old city in Rajasthan northern of India, 268 kilometres from the capital New Delhi.

Jaipur reminds us of the Rajput King who once ruled the region

and that in 1727 founded Jaipur,

What it is now called the Old City or the Pink City.

[So, that's why this city is specially made for the Pink City.]

[The Pink City is the same city market.]

[Looks beautiful!]

The King who built the city was Maharaj Sawai Jai Singh II

who ruled Amer city, which will be shown in the next part of our video.

Jaipur is named after Jai Singh II.

which derives from Jai (victory) + Pur (city)

Meaning the City of Jai Singh II or the Victorious City.

[There are buildings in pink colour.]

[According to what the driver told us, the buildings are uniquely the same in this area.]

[And all the letters must be written in Hindi and in black.]

[All trademarks and plates in English are not permitted.]

[Because Rajasthan is one of the old states in India that mainly uses Hindi.]

[India is a country that has many languages.]

[But Hindi is spoken in some states like this one, Rajasthan.]

[Now we get off the car to see the Hawa Mahal.]

Now, we've just entered the Hawa Mahal complex.

And in the following, we will narrate something about the history of this Mahal.

But let us get the entry tickets first.

[Composite tickets for nine places for a foreign student cost Rs.450 and for an Indian student Rs.440.]

[Bunthorn! Please help me to buy the ticket.]

[Yes!]

Hawa Mahal is a palace in Jaipur. It was made with the red and pink sandstone.

After sometimes, we will get to know why it is called 'the Palace of Winds'.

The structure was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh,

the grandson of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh, who founded Jaipur.

If we see from the exterior, we will see that Hawa Mahal has five unique floors.

The special part of its is akin to the honeycomb of a beehive,

with its 953 small windows called Jharokhas decorated with intricate latticework.

Now, we are going up to the first floor and the next floors.

But first, we'd like to draw your attention to the design of the 953 small windows decorated with intricate latticework.

The original intent of the lattice design was to allow royal ladies

to observe everyday life and festivals celebrated

in the street below

without being seen, since they had to obey the strict rules of "purdah",

which forbade them from appearing in public without face coverings.

[Beautiful coloured glass work at Hawa Mahal looks like a night light view.]

The architectural feature of latticework in Hawa Mahal is that it also allowed cool air from the Venturi effect to pass through, thus making the whole area more pleasant during the high temperatures in summer.

That's why it is called Hawa Mahal. Hawa in Hindi means 'wind' and Mahal means 'palace' which are understood in Khmer as 'the Palace of Winds'.

We’ve noticed historical monument architecture in Jaipur is a mix of Hindi-Muslim styles.

This, perhaps, was due to the influence of the Mughal Empire that ruled Delhi and extended part of South Asia.