The city of Jaipur is in a valley, so there are a number of places to go up into the hills and look down on it, and I had plenty of those opportunities.
There it is: Swargasuli tower in the center of the old city.
From seven stories up, I had a pretty good view, but Nahargarh fort is even higher, and that's where I took this picture from.
Jaipur is called the "Pink City". What do you think, after seeing the city from all these different angles, does it look like a pink city?
The Jal Mahal is so pretty.
I like to just look at it.
And so here are just a few different views of it as seen from around the Jaipur area.
The palace as seen from the hills above the city.
Mansagar lake is artificial; created just for the purpose of surrounding the lake with water.
Both the lake and the palace have undergone extensive restoration in the past ten years in order to save it from damage.
The building is five stories high, four of which are underwater. Someday I want to go and see it up close.
The palace in the lake.
Ah yes, it's a lovely sight.
And now for part two of my series on Jaipur's animal traffic: Elephants.
Who could get tired of taking pictures of them on the road?
Really, it's exciting every time to see them lumbering along with the buses and motorcycles, carts and bicycles.
And most of them have "detailing" just like the rest of the vehicles.
Sagar lake is a man made lake just behind the Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur. It was most likely used as a source of water. People would take it up to the fort in pots, some carried by elephants.
Today it's a picnic area and a favorite bathing spot for these buffalo.
If it wasn't already true that I love stepwells, this one would solidify that fact.
The Panna Mian near Amer Fort in Jaipur is a marvelous optical illusion.
Built in the 1600s, this one is newer than the others I have visited. It was dug as a sort of community gathering area. A place where people could come for water, a swim, a chat with a neighbor while doing some washing.
The criss-cross of stairs, the octagonal gazebos, and the recessed doorways--this baoli was so fun to walk around and photograph.
The spectacular visuals of the place makes it an appealing location to film a movie. The clip here (fantastic bit of Bollywood) highlights several Jaipur locations. Sadly, during my visit, none of the dancers were out dancing.
I never get bored of taking note of the animals in the road here in India. So here is the beginning of a short series on what animals are to be found on the streets of Jaipur.
Part 1: Cows.
The cows stand everywhere and anywhere they like. Traffic just accepts the need to go around them, and go on like it's nothing. The cows also act like this is nothing.
It is nothing, right?
The only other time I was in Jaipur, my friend and I walked around looking for a tower that was supposed to have an excellent view of the city.
We never found it.
Instead, we found a shoe shop where she bought shoes, and a shopkeeper who let us climb up to see the view from his roof when he couldn't tell us where any tower was located.
This time, I found it.
And yes, what a view.
Built in 1749 to commemorate a military victory, it's the tallest structure on Jaipur's skyline at seven stories high..
It's name, Swargasuli Tower, means "tower to heaven" or "the heaven piercing minaret". It's also known as Isar Lat--and maybe that's why I couldn't find it the first time: I was calling it by the wrong name?
Ishwari Singh's victory over his enemies is what instigated the building of the tower, yet there were other rumors as to why he wanted to build it. One being that from this vantage point, he could watch the neighbor's daughter when she was out in the garden.
It seems he just wasn't very serious about fighting battles, and when they attacked again, he chose to kill himself rather than fight the army that might be too strong for him.
That's too bad, because what he did like more than anything else was art and poetry. In fact, he excelled at the art of making designs and figures in paper cutting--his favorite hobby.
Sigh.
The world will never know what great art it has missed with his early demise.
But the tower remains. And from this lookout far above the city, the view is still pretty spectacular.
Jaipur
