The pink Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, is one of the more amazing pieces of architecture in a country full of amazing architecture.
The exterior facade resembles an elaborate pink wedding cake, the building honeycombed with pierced windows that allow the breezes to keep the palace cool in the hot Indian summers, and also allow the haram trapped inside to peer out at the street without being seen. This curved exterior wall is essentially only one room thick; this is view of the facade from the other side looking down on a courtyard.
A curved roof top. The palace is primarily built of the local pink sandstone giving Jaipur the name the ‘Pink City’. Yellow and red sandstone also show up.
The Interior Walls.
The interior walls are elaborately decorated with various geometric, plant and bird motifs.
The doorways are amazing.
A small altar over the doorway features Ganesh, the Hindu elephant Boy God.
Elaborate pattern on the worked silver door.
Detail of the silver door.
This pattern of lotuses kind of reminds me of the Arts and Crafts movement in England as the country moved from excessive Victorian ornamentation to simpler Art Nouveau stylings.
This decorative painted balcony uses a motif of peacocks.
Here, a detailed painted peacock pattern around a doorway.
Another door with a silhouetted guard.
The Stained Glass.
I’ve done a whole post just on the beauty of the stained glass windows within the palace.
I have been dying to see Hawa Mahal, missed it last time 😦
Certainly it was spectacular on the eyes like most of Jaipur – a place worth visiting more than once!
Looks an incredible place
It was very beautiful but my record of it is in pictures only – I didn’t write a word about it in my travel journal…
Shame…
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