History of City Palace, the pride of Jaipur city
City Palace - The City Palace is situated in the heart of the city of Jaipur, as well as the palace complex is also built on high hills, which is five miles to the south of the city of Amber.
The history of the City Palace is intertwined with the history of the city of Jaipur and its rulers, beginning with Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, who ruled the city from 1699 to 1744.
The credit for the construction of the palace is first given to him, because he was the one who started the construction of the wall spreading over a lot of acres in the palace here.
Initially, the Maharaja ruled Jaipur from his city of Amber, which is located at a distance of 11 km from Jaipur.
But in 1727, due to the problem of population and lack of water in Amber, he made Jaipur his capital. According to Vastu Shastra, he had planned to divide this city into 6 different parts.
He did all this at the behest of his mentor Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, a Bengali architect living in Nainital. Initially he was the account-clerk of the treasury of Amber and later the king made him the chief architect of the court.
After Jai Singh's death in 1957, the Rajputs of the region were at war with each other but maintained cordial relations with the British Raj.
Maharaja Ram Singh also sided with the British in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 and established himself as the imperial ruler.
It is said that this is the reason for all the heritage of Jaipur being pink, according to the sources, according to the plans of the ruler, the city was named Pink City aka Pink City. Since then this color has become the trademark of the city of Jaipur.
Man Singh II, the adopted son of Maharaja Madho Singh II, was the last Maharaja of Jaipur, who ruled the Chandra Mahal of Jaipur. From the very beginning, this palace has become a place of residence of royal families, in fact, in 1949, despite joining the Indian Union of Jaipur Kingdom along with Rajasthan's Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner, the royal family lived here.
After this, Jaipur was made the capital of the Indian state of Rajasthan and Man Singh II was made Rajpramukh and later he was also made India's ambassador to Spain.
The City Palace is located in the central-northeastern part of the city of Jaipur, whose complex is quite spread. Its complex is surrounded by many palaces, gardens, pavilions and temples. The most famous monuments inside the complex include Chandra Mahal, Mubarak Mahal, Mukut Mahal, Maharani Mahal, Shri Govind Dev Temple and City Palace Museum.
City Palace Entrance gates
The main entrances to the City Palace include Virendra Pol, Uday Pol and Tripolia Gate. Out of which only the people of the royal family enter from the Tripolia Gate.
The general public and travelers are given entry inside the City Palace through Virendra Pol and Uday Pol or Atish Pol. After entering from Virendra Pol, it directly takes us to Mubarak Mahal. The entrance to the City Palace is adorned with ancient architecture.
Mubarak Mahal
Mubarak Mahal meaning 'Auspicious Palace', was built as a reception center by Maharaja Madho Singh II in the 19th century based on the ideas of Islamic, Rajput and European architectural styles.
It is a museum: in which the costumes of the royal family and their clothes, shawls, Kashmiri clothes, ancient sarees, etc. have been displayed. There is also a display of the clothes worn by Sawai Madho Singh I, which is 1.2 meters wide and weighs 250 kg and is said to have had 108 wives.
Pritam Niwas Chowk – Pritam Niwas Chowk
This is the inner courtyard of the palace, from where we can Mahal. There are also four small gates, decorated with the theme of Hindu Gods.
These gates are mainly the North-Eastern Peacock Gate (Peacock motif is made on this gate) which also represents autumn and this gate is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, the South-Eastern gate is the Lotus Gate, which represents the summer season. represents and this gate is dedicated to Lord Shiva-Parvati, the north-west gate is the green gate, also known as Laheriya and this gate is dedicated to Lord Ganesha and the last gate is the Gulab Dwar which is dedicated to the goddesses and this last The shape of flowers has also been made on the door.
Diwan-e-Khas
The Diwan-i-Khas is an enchanting hall, whose ceilings are decorated in rich red and gold colors, which still seem alive to us today. This is the main attraction of the Mubarak Mahal complex.
This room is currently being used as an art gallery, displaying many ancient Rajasthani, Mughal and Persian paintings, ancient inscriptions and Kashmiri carpets.
Its ceiling is also beautifully decorated. Ancient Manusmrutis are also displayed in this art gallery. Also, in this art gallery, we also get to see the royal throne (Takht-e-Rawal), which used to be the chair of the Maharaja during public audiences.
When the Maharaja used to travel outside the palace, he used to ride on his elephant accompanied by his horse riders and he was also accompanied by a palanquin holder. Two huge elephants are made of marble stones at the entrance of this hall.
Diwan-i-Aam
The Diwan-i-Aam is a hall of public audience. The surface of this hall is decorated with marble. Along with this, there is also a 1.6 meter high silver vessel, which has a capacity of 4000 liters and weighs about 340 kg. These were made by melting 14000 silver coins without stitching them.
His name also holds the record of being the world's largest silver vessel. These pots were made by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II, who was a pious Hindu.
He made these pots to carry water from the Ganges to drink during his visit to England in 1901, because according to him, if he consumed English water, his Hindu religion would be corrupted. After this the name of these utensils was also named Gangajali.
There are also many chandeliers decorated with crystals, which hang on the ceiling of Diwan-i-Aam, which are often decorated on many festivals at present. (At present they are covered with cloth due to damage from dust.)
Chandra Mahal
Chandra Mahal or Chandra Niwas is the most famous building of the City Palace, which is built at the western end of the palace.
It is a seven-storied building and each floor is named differently, such as Pitam-Niwas, Sukh-Niwas, Rang-Mandir, Shri-Niwas, Chabi-Niwas, and Mukut-Mandir or Mukut-Mahal. . There are many attractive paintings, mirrors and walls in this palace.
At present, only the ancient followers of the Jaipur rulers live in this palace. Travelers are allowed to go here only on the lower floor, where a museum is built, in which we see many things related to the royal family.building,
While entering the palace, there is also a beautiful peacock gate here. Also, there are many beautiful balconies in the palace, from where we can see the charming and exquisite form of Jaipur city.
Govind Devji Temple – Govind Dev Ji temple
Govind Devji Temple is a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shri Krishna, which is built in the city complex. It was built in the beginning of the 18th century. In this temple we also get to see European chandeliers and Indian paintings. The ceilings of the temple are decorated with gold ornaments.
It is built at such a place that we can directly see the Maharaja from the Chandra Mahal complex here. Here the devotees see the deity only seven times in a day while performing the aarti.
Maharani Mahal
Actually Maharani Mahal used to be the residence of the royal queens. But later it was converted into a museum, where the weapons used during the imperial war are kept, some of which were also used in the 15th century.
Unique frescoes have been done on the ceilings of this room, which are decorated with dust of jewels. The main weapons displayed here mainly include scissors – functional scissors.
Other weapons displayed in the hall include a sword with a pistol attached, which is said to have been gifted by Queen Victoria to Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh.
Baggi food - Bhaggi Khana
Baggi Khana is also built in the palace complex of the City Palace, which is a museum. Antique carriages, palanquins and European taxis are on display here.
The attractive buggy was presented to the Maharaja by the Prince of Wales in 1876, also known as the Victoria Buggy.
Other items displayed here include Mahadol, which is a palanquin made of bamboo and this palanquin was used to carry the priests from one place to another. Also, this palanquin was used for Hindu deities during Rath Yatra.
