Jaipur in pink: the Rajasthani capital and its astonishing architecture

It’s 7:14 a.m. and I’m standing in front of the Hawa Mahal — the Palace of Winds — the 1799 facade that fronts the old city of Jaipur and is, by accident of design, one of the most photographed buildings in India. The 953 small honeycomb windows are still in their original lacework. The morning light is hitting the pink-orange sandstone at an angle that makes the entire facade look almost cantilevered against the sky. A camel cart is passing slowly in the street. A schoolchild in uniform is balancing a school bag and a paratha. This is the version of Jaipur I keep coming back for.

Why I keep coming back

Jaipur is the rare planned 18th-century Indian city. Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II — astronomer, mathematician, town-planner — laid it out in 1727 on the principles of the Vastu Shastra and the Shilpa Shastra, in a grid of nine rectangles (representing the nine planets of the Indian astronomical system), with the central palace and observatory at the centre. The pink colour was applied to every building inside the city walls for the 1876 visit of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), and never washed off.

The Rajasthani culture, of which Jaipur is the modern capital, is one of the most architecturally and chromatically rich in India. The forts at Amber, Jaigarh, Nahargarh, ringing the city in the hills, are extraordinary. The Jantar Mantar observatory, with its giant masonry astronomical instruments, is a UNESCO site.

Where to base yourself

Inside the old city walls (around Hawa Mahal or Johari Bazaar) for the pink-city experience, with the caveat of significant noise.

C-Scheme for a quieter, residential, slightly upmarket base.

A heritage haveli — converted aristocratic mansions like Samode Haveli or Alsisar Haveli in the older areas, for the proper Rajasthani-stay experience.

What to actually do

Amber Fort (Amer Fort) at first opening. The 16th-century hilltop palace of the Kachwaha Rajput rulers, 11 km north of Jaipur. The mirror-tiled Sheesh Mahal (Hall of Mirrors) is the postcard moment. Go at 8 a.m. before the tour buses; the queues at peak are an hour.

The City Palace and Jantar Mantar. Adjacent in the centre of the old city. The royal apartments, the textiles museum, and Jai Singh’s giant astronomical instruments (the world’s largest masonry sundial reads time to two seconds; the giant astrolabe; the zodiac instruments).

Walk Johari Bazaar. The jewellery bazaar of the old city; coloured-gemstone shops have been here for two centuries. Jaipur is one of the world’s centres for gemstone cutting; the Gem Palace is the established showroom but smaller dealers in the lanes are where the real trade happens.

Watch the sunset from Nahargarh Fort. Above the city on the ridge, the fortress and its restaurant terrace. The view over the pink city at golden hour.

Visit the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing. A small private museum in Amber dedicated to Rajasthani block-printing on cotton; the demonstrations and the small shop are worth an hour.

Take a day trip to Pushkar. Three hours west; a small Hindu pilgrimage town around a sacred lake, with the world’s largest camel fair in November.

Where to eat

Rajasthani food is rich, ghee-heavy, and distinct from the rest of Indian cuisine — dal baati churma, gatta curry, laal maas (red mutton curry, fiery).

Suvarna Mahal at the Rambagh Palace — Royal Rajasthani fine dining in the former palace dining room. Spice Court — Reliable mid-range Rajasthani. Lassiwala (MI Road) — The classic Jaipur lassi shop; thick, sweet, served in unfired clay cups you discard after. Rawat Mishtan Bhandar — Pyaaz kachori (onion-stuffed pastries) and the Rajasthani sweets. Tapri Central — A modern café with chai variations and good people-watching. Chokhi Dhani (south of the city) — A ‘Rajasthani village’ theme experience with traditional food and performance; touristy but actually enjoyable if you accept the theme-park frame.

When to come

November through February is the only sensible window. Daytime temperatures 22–28°C, comfortable evenings.

March through May is brutally hot (40°C+). June–September is the monsoon (less crowded, less reliable weather, occasionally gorgeous).

The Jaipur Literature Festival in late January is the city’s calendar event; it’s free, it’s massive, and accommodation books up six months ahead.

Practical notes

• Visa: E-visa available online for most Western passports.
• Money: Indian rupee. Cash useful at street level; UPI mobile payments are now near-universal but require an Indian bank account, so for foreigners cash and card remain primary.
• Transport: Auto-rickshaws (tuk-tuks); negotiate the fare before getting in. Uber and Ola apps work. A car with driver for the day is around ฿1500–2500 INR.
• Hassle factor: Real but manageable. The persistent shop-touts at the major monuments. The ‘special tour’ offers. The textile shops that don’t want you to leave. A polite firm ‘no, thank you’ is your friend.
• The crowds: Jaipur has been overrun in season since around 2015. Early morning is essential.

A final thought

Jaipur is one of the few Indian cities I have returned to four or five times and continued to find new corners of. The pink-city core, walked at dawn, is one of the most distinctive architectural experiences in Asia. The forts in the surrounding hills, in different lights, become different buildings.

The city is also the gateway to broader Rajasthan — Jodhpur (the blue city), Udaipur (the lake city), Jaisalmer (the desert fortress city), Pushkar (the pilgrimage town), Bundi (the smallest and quietest of the painted-step-well towns). Most travellers do a Rajasthan loop of 10–14 days. Jaipur is two or three days of that.

Go in winter. Stay in a heritage haveli. Walk in the dawn light. Watch one sunset from Nahargarh. Take a tuk-tuk to Amber Fort at 8 a.m. Eat a thali. Buy nothing you do not specifically want. Come back.