Discovering Jaipur on Foot

The pink city of Jaipur is a well established tourist destination of north India . Thousands of Indian as well as foreign tourist visit my city annually . The customary  things to do in  Jaipur  for tourist ,  is visiting Amber Fort , City Palace and Observatory . Of course I take pride in these majestic monuments but Jaipur has so much more to offer than popular monuments .

Front Facade of Jaipur Markets

To me its the walled city of Jaipur , which fascinates me the most . Nowhere in India i  have witnessed  such profound example of town planning , with dead straight roads , symmetrical pink coloured buildings, wonderful chatris and intricate screen work , its truly a architectural marvel.

Old Picture of Jaipur City

Jaipur has  recently celebrated its 286th birth day on November 18th. Thankfully inspite very little attention from the concerned  authorities , the original city’s  fortification wall, gateways , historic temples and Havelis of Jaipur are still standing tall , sounds as if even the God has too fallen in love with the PinkCity and is showering  its blessing  of “ Long Life” on these weary  structures.  

 

Its spell bounding to know about  the town panning of  Jaipur. Its hard to believe that even 286 years back the width of the main roads was  108 feet,  so that the city road can cop up with maddening tariff of today . There were proper shaded verandas  in the main markets , so people  can do shopping in shade, gradients of streets were carefully calculated so city can be saved from disgrace of flooding .   There were Gas lamps in front of all important building , which were imported  from Birmingham ( U.K.) in those times .   Its a shame that our new  cities , though having  modern  look of glass facade buildings and far less visionary in other civic amenities and town  planning.  

Historic Temple of Walled City

Traders , priests , artisans were called from various  regions on India and well as outside to come and reside in Jaipur . Different communities were allotted in specific areas of the walled city . Hence the streets of the old city is marked by the trade , community and occupation of its inhabitants  . For example “ Johari Bazaar” ,since the early day till today , its a major centre for jewellery trade and manufacturing. 

Old Haveli in Johari Bazaar area

For me discovering my city on foot  has always been like “Vipul in Wonderland “ , engulfed in deep curiosity to know what lied behind these historic  gates and arc shape  entrances   , took  me to many hidden nooks and corners of the old city . To my surprise many of these historic havelis of Jaipur  are inhabited by the same family whose forefather were invited to live  in Jaipur in the early years . For instance  I know a family whose forefather came 17th generations before , much earlier than  Jaipur city came into existence and Amber served as capital  . They originally belonged to Fergana Province ,now a part of Uzbekistan. To my surprise they were invited to make arrow and teach archery to former Jaipur army . Likewise most of these havelis  and their residents have a captivating tale to tell .  Hence my thirst to know about my city remain unquenched , as the more I try to discover my city the more lost I get . The more I came to know undocumented facts of my city and more spellbound I get.

Typical Haveli of Old Jaipur

 My passion to discover  and share the hidden wonders of our  Jaipur city resulted in the birth of  www.virasatexperiences.com , three years back , where we  specialize  in Walking Tours and offering other unique  travel activities in Jaipur and other cities of Rajasthan .  If you have interest to know about our captivating cities beyond its tourist monuments , we welcome to you take part  on our tours.