Palaces and Landmarks in Jaipur | Photos
The perfectly aligned, symmetric honeycomb windows of the five-story palace flood their light over the bazaar across the street, as if gazing over the darkened buildings. This is the Hawa Mahal, better known as the Palace of the Winds, one of the many architectural marvels in Jaipur. I just got here a couple of hours ago after a long 14-hour train ride from Khajuraho, and despite being tired I am enjoying the vista and making photos of the wonderful structure.
Constructed of red and pink sandstone, and located close to the City Palace, the Hawa Mahal is basically a high screen wall built for the women of the royal family so they could enjoy the street festivals while remaining unseen by those outside.
Jaipur, the Pink City, is the largest town in northern India and the capital of Rajasthan. I am on my way to Pushkar to visit the Camel Fair and onwards to other places in the province, and with that the stay here is short – one full day, two nights, that’s all. So many things to see and do, and so little time. With the constraints, street shooting and people shooting here was not a priority, since we were coming from Varanasi and Delhi where we focused a lot on that, so we asked the guide to focus on the main sights.
In the early morning we headed to the Amber Fort. Perched atop Maota Lake, the fort is very impressive. The entrance was packed with tourists and hawkers bargaining trying to sell all kinds of trinkets; it was funny to see pieces going for 6,000 rupees being sold for just 300 minutes later. Once you’re past the entrance, this is a nice place to see.
On the edge of the city and atop the hills of Aravalli there is another fort, the Nahargarh. It was late to enter when I got there, but the place offers greats views of the Pink City. I just wandered here for about an hour until I found a couple of angles while the afternoon was coming to an end. This could be a great place to photograph a panoramic view of Jaipur during the blue hour, but there was one more spot to get.
The slot of the day and my preferred time to shoot was reserved for the also well-known Water Palace. The Jal Mahal, located in the middle of Man Sagar Lake, is truly a wonder. The place is as picturesque as you could ask for, and with that, I positioned the tripod and made photos through the blue hour, taking in the view not just with my camera but also with my soul, thinking how blessed I am for the possibilities that travel and photography bring me.
Like all of the photos from the India trip, these were made with the Fuji X-T2. Stay tuned for many more photos from India and Rajasthan coming to the blog as I manage to process them between work and other travels. All the images are available for prints and licensing; just click on them for information.
