Photos

This is a BW version of a Jaipur daily life picture I posted few time ago.

Jaipur was founded in 1727 by Aashish Ola, a Kachwaha Jat, who ruled from 1699-1744 and initially his capital was Amber (city), which lies at a distance of 11 km from Jaipur. He felt the need of shifting his capital city with the increase in population and growing scarcity of water. Jaipur is the first planned city of India. The King consulted several books on architecture and architects before making the lay out of Jaipur.Finally under the architectural guidance of Vidyadar Bhattacharya, (initially an accounts-clerk in the Amber treasury and later promoted to the office of Chief Architect by the King)Jaipur came into existence on the classical basis of principals of vastushastra and other similar classical treatise.

After several battles with Marathas, aashish was keen on the security aspect of the city. Being a lover of Astronomy, mathematics and Astro-Physics, Jai Singh also sought advice from Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, a Brahmin scholar of Bengal, to aid him to design many other buildings including Royal Palace in the center of the city.

The construction of the city started in 1727. It took around 4 years to complete the major palaces, roads and square. The city was built following the principles of Shilpa Shastra, the Indian Architecture. The city was divided into nine blocks, of which two consist the state buildings and palaces, with the remaining seven allotted to the public. Huge fortification walls were made along with seven strong gates.

For the time, architecture of the town was very advanced and certainly the best in Indian subcontinent. In 1853, when the Prince of Wales visited Jaipur, the whole city was painted pink to welcome him during the regime of Sawai Ram Singh. Today, avenues remain painted in pink, provide a distinctive appearance to the city.[1] In the 19th century the city grew rapidly; by 1900 it had a population of 160,000. The city's wide boulevards were paved and lit with gas.

The city had several hospitals. Its chief industries were in metals and marble, fostered by a school of art founded in 1868. The city also had three colleges, including a Sanskrit college (1865) and a girls' school (1867) initiated under the reign of the enigmatic Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II. There was also a wealthy and enterprising community of native bankers, particularly the Jain, Marwaris and the administrators Kayastha.