Of the pink city
Purabi Panwar
Pakistani novelist Sara Naveed
Jaipur is one of the most
popular tourist destinations
in India, both for the
domestic and the international
tourist. It is part of the golden
triangle - Delhi – Agra- Jaipur –
Delhi. A number of books have
been written on Jaipur and this
includes some coffee table
books as well. Jaipur: Gem of
India by D.K. Taknet is different
from the others in the sense
that the visuals are
accompanied by a well
researched and comprehensive
text.
The book starts with a look
at the historical evolution of
Jaipur, which was founded in
1727. Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh shifted his capital from Amber
to Jaipur, eleven kilometers
away, for a number of reasons.
Jaipur was designed, planned and built by Indian master
builders and the second
chapter takes up its plan and
architecture in detail. Jaipur
architecture stands out for its
use of very fine mortar, with
which light constructions are
carried out easily, something
that intrigues modern architects
and engineers.
The book starts with a look
at the historical evolution of
Jaipur, which was founded in
1727. Maharaja Sawai Jai
Singh shifted his capital from
Amber to Jaipur, eleven
kilometers away, for a
number of reasons.
D.K. Taknet
The perfect symmetry of the
plan can be seen in its wide
arterial roads and avenues
crossing at right angles, lined by houses by such a manner
that they produce a uniform
effect and the symmetry is
perfect. The mathematical plan
clearly marked out areas for
residence, markets and other
specialized purposes. Even the
colour of houses in
the city is uniformly pink,
which is why it is often called
t h e
pink city.
Vidyadhar, the chief architect
of the city was also the chief
officer to approve the building by – laws so that there was a
strict symmetry between the
Chhoti Chaupar and the Bari
Chaupar and the skyline was
even and proportionate. Of
course this holds true only for
the walled city today. Being a
state capital, Jaipur has
expanded enormously and the
newer colonies are like their
counterparts in any other big
city.
The architectural landmarks
of Jaipur have made it such a
major tourist attractions have
been taken up in detail, with
visuals to match. This reviewer
remembers being overawed by
the two silver vessels in the
City Palace, each with a
capacity of 4000 litres, that the
maharajas filled with gangajal
and took with them when they
went abroad.
Jaipur has a number of
museums and the author talks
about them, giving the reader a
vivid picture of what to expect.
Jaipur is an important centre of
precious/semi-precious jewellery as well as gemstones, not only
in India but throughout the
world. This had started with
Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh, a
connoisseur of all finely crafted
and artistic things, invited the best of jewelers and their
artisans from all over northern
India and offered them security
and congenial working
conditions.
The concluding chapter looks
at Jaipur as it stands today
maintaining a delicate balance
between modern structures and
age- old heritage buildings. To
quote from the book, " It is
one of the few cities in the
world that has a heritage
management plan in place."
The last section in this
chapter takes up the different
kinds of food one can find in
Jaipur. While it is quite
comprehensive, one wishes the
author had talked about Rawat
Kachoriwala at Polo Victory,
whose kachoris attract large
numbers of people. Another
thing that the author could
have talked about is the Jaipur
Literary Festival which was the
first of its kind and has
become an annual feature,
attended by large numbers of
people.