If you happen to be in Jaipur, you cannot miss the Hawa Mahal. It is such a gorgeous place to visit in Rajasthan. A technical marvel and historic grandeur.

This post is the continuation of my Rajasthan trip. My journey in Rajasthan started from the blue city of Jodhpur followed by a motorcycle ride in the desert of Jaisalmer district for 3 days and now I was in Jaipur.

All I had was one day to tour Jaipur. Though my time was limited but I was determined. And luck was on my side.

Hotel, Car and a driver all in Rs. 800 to explore Jaipur

We were late by 2 and half hours. The Jaisalmer to Jaipur train reached at 7:30 AM at Jaipur station. Just as we came out of the station, an auto driver reached us and asked ‘kidhar jaaoge?’

We said ‘kisi saste aur ache Dharamshala me lekar chalo?

‘Dharamshala me kya karoge ji, aap ko 500 me acha hotel aur 700 me Indica karwa deta hoon. Ek din me pura city ghuma dega?’

Seemed good. Negotiated hard and finalised the deal with Rs 300 for the hotel room and Rs. 500 for an Indica car with a driver. WOW 🙂

‘Hotel Jaipur‘ was neat and clean, good water and a decent breakfast.

The legend of Masterji

We came out to see if the Indica car had reached. Yes, it was. And next to it was an old man, probably 60+ years. He was slim.  His short beard spread scarcely across his face. He had a big white moustache. When I met him he was in a ganji pyjama and maintained his dressing the whole day 🙂

He was fast, rough, scary, funny, honest. His attitude would shame James Bond. 

We called him masterji. Masterji zipped his car through the busy Jaipur streets towards the old city. He dropped us at the entrance and pointed out at the ticket window. ‘I will wait right at this spot’ he said and he left towards the parking.

Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal had no more than 5-10 visitors then. We purchased the composite ticket of Rs.200 per person. It’s valid for almost all the tourist spot in Jaipur. You buy that once and use it on the spots mentioned on the ticket. Entry fee for a single person and regular ticket is Rs. 20.

The timing for Hawa Mahal is from 9 AM to 4:30 PM.

We went inside, but where is the Hawa Mahal? Where is that red coloured wall with lots of windows? We confirmed a guard there. He said the windows are visible from outside.

Hawa Mahal was big from inside. It has too many small passages and doors. The walls were decorative. Palace is built from red and pink sandstone. It is more than 200 years old and was built by Sawai Pratap Singh.

Some of the gates are delicately embroidered. Windows had colored glass. It sparkled colored lights when the sun rays hit on the glass windows.

The outside wall is said to have 953 windows called Jharokhas. Windows had beautiful latticework. It was an excellent example of air conditioning. Royal women in the palace could see outside without being visible from outside.

There is a fountain in the central courtyard. Though it was not functional. We were mesmerized by the beauty of the palace. Roamed around and returned to the exit where masterji was waiting for us.

If you liked it, write down a word for me. It means a lot 🙂

3