Built
in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, Hawa Mahal is the
most stunning sight in the city of Jaipur. The palace, part
of a huge complex, overlooks one of Jaipur's main streets
and was originally constructed to offer women of the court
a vantage point, behind stone-carved screens, from which
to watch the activities taking place in the bazaar and the
surrounding streets. This five-story, pyramid-shaped structure
is made up of small casements, each with tiny windows and
arched roofs with hanging cornices, exquisitely modeled
and carved. Its façade makes Hawa Mahal look more
like a screen than a palace. Its top three stories are just
a single room thick but at the base are two courtyards.
It is a fifty-foot high thin shield, less than a foot in
thickness, but has over 900 niches and a mass of semi-octagonal
bays, carved sandstone grills, finials and domes, which
give this palace its unique façade. |
