Jaipur

Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan. This lively city goes by the name of The Pink City, thanks to the many pink buildings in the old city. Centrally located in the city centre is the City Palace, an enormous complex of gardens, courtyards and buildings, of which a large number is still inhabited by the former royal’s family.

Another important tourist attraction is Hawa Mahal, Palace of Winds. It’s really not so much a palace as it is an gigantic facade. Behind the facades aren’t any rooms, but is a corridor. That’s because Hawa Mahal was built so the women in the harem could watch the yearly parade, without being seen from the streets. The palace is five stories high and the facade contains 953 windows, balconies and niches.

Jantar Mantar is the largest and the best preserved observatory in the world. Jai Sing II, the maharaja after whom Jaipur is named, loved science and technology, especially astronomy. He ordered the construction of the observatorium, which completed in 1738. Most of the nineteen instruments still work today. They measure things like time, distance, latitude and longitude of celestial bodies and can predict an eclipse. Jantar Mantar is a UNESCO World Heritage site.