a day from delhi found us in Jaipur. The capital of the state of Rajasthan (Land of the Kings), the land of deserts camels and maharajas typically associated with the romance of India. Lack of internet for two days broke the nice every-other-day rhythm we were updating to, so here are many many photos to consume your bandwidth.
Most cities in the state correspond with what were once different kingdoms and royal lineages, with varying versions of their collective history offered from each region. Most were Rajputs, a characteristically noble Hindu warrior caste. When possibly facing defeat, the Rajputs would commit ?, which consisted of rushing out to be slaughtered while all the women threw their children and themselves into burning pyres. Fiercely independent, the British exploited historic rivalries, playing the kingdoms off of each other before offering "protection" treaties that incorporated them into the Raj, yet maintained their status as Maharaj with hefty allowances. This led to a shift from noble warriors to international playboys. At Independence, India maintained their large allowances to earn their support in the new nation, until Indira Gandhi cut them off in the 1970s. Their families now rent out their palaces and estates to make ends meet. If the British learned from this lesson and cut off their royal leeches, perhaps we could all spend a night in Buckingham Palace.
The greatest maharaj of Jaipur reigned in the 19th century, and was heavily interested in Astronomy, Astrology, and related mathmatica. The entire city was constructed according to the Hindu model of the cosmology, a (oversimplification) three by three grid with the palace in the center (corresponding to Mt. Meru, where the gods lived) This makes for very wide straight streets and clearly delineated addresses.
We only visited Jaipur this trip, a major tourist destination probably second to the Taj in Agra, but perhaps first in 'annoyances.' It has been my experience that the less exposure to western tourists a city/region has experienced, the less bullshit there is to endure. From predatory rickshaw drivers, relentless touts, and avarice inspired "gem exporters," it is not the right place to form an impression of India. Unfortunately this is usually the case for many tourists on short-term visits. In the single year that passed since todd was last here, the increase in cellular phones and atms was remarkable. Jaipur is called the "Pink City" (Jodhpur is "Blue", Jaisalmer "Golden") because it was painted pink sometime during the early 19th century for an important somebody's visit. The old city is still largely pink. Mother Teresa operated from here. Any other questions?
rajasthan and the people inhabiting it are incomparably colorful. (no saturation gain here)
colorful street junk
even the narrow crowded alleys were not very much of either
the sammy man may make them spicy, but our stomachs were recovered from the pain of pakistan. it's difficult to buy samosas back home for $2.50/per when you can get hooked up on the street for 2 rupees (~$.06)
free roaming urban cows eat occasional offerings from resident hindus, from the garbage along the roads, and out of the few trash pails to be found
the desert locale provides for more urban camels to share the roads with the bicycles, autos, trucks, jeeps, buses, cows, elephants, and humans
one alley had rows and rows of shops churning out creepy life size sculpture. that's some lingam he's got there...
there were many floral items available near the temples, more so this day due to...
...the large random Hindu festival that one often encounters in the country
an elephant shall lead them
the ladies will have their place
the materially renounced spiritual ascetics, the Sadhus, will join in. "Shri Ram Jay, Ram Jay Jay Ram!" the repeated, giving up a unified shout-out to the great god Ram
big and greasy must have been a popular guru, they really nailed him with the confetti and rose petals
tournament of roses material
the occupants of the "float" were righteously bedecked (please dont look at the camera)
the plastic horses were pretty lame
elephant looked sleepy
security forces were at hand with twin tear gas launchers and multiple high pressure fire nozzles. We didn't see the potential for trouble, but you never know when those bastard pakistanis are going to strike
The Maharaj sent his scholars off to Persia and Europe to bring back knowledge of Astronomy and Astrology. What looks like a large garden of modern sculpture is the Jantar Mandir, an observatory he built with this knowledge. It's pretty hot. The large structure on the left is an enormous sundial, the small canopy over the maharajas observation seat. It can tell the time within 6 seconds. The small identical structures in the center are twelve smaller sundials each aligned and corresponding with one of the astrological signs.
the recessed marble "bowls" on the ground, along with most of the structures were for tracking the relative positions of the stars and the sun.
one of the 12 astrological sun-dials
view looking down from one side of the huge sundial, the accuracy and scale led to great precision
common to the streets and palaces, zenanas above street level allowed women to sit and watch the activity outside, get some breeze on, yet remain out of sight. The intricate lattice work carved directly out of the sandstone, jalli work, is pretty impressive. Especially the particularly delicately detailed work that has held up well for four or five hundred years. Pictured here is the Hawa Mahal, or "Palace of the Winds," aka, the Maharaja's personal harem.
detail
the black cloud of pigeons in front of the gate to the palace illustrated why this was the one place vehicles did not incessantly employ their horns
the gates to the palace. yawn.
they were shooting a commercial on the roof, many kichi kichi indian women milling about in gorgeous silk saris.
in the palace, zenanas with much jalli work
Rajput guards in front of the famous Peacock Gate
continued...
