THE CITY PALACE, JAIPUR

City Palace of Jaipur was the court and administrative headquarters of the former rulers of Jaipur. It is a unique complex of several buildings, courtyards, Gardens, Pavilions and temples. It was Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II who got it constructed and moved his court to Jaipur from Amber in the year 1727, because of increase in population and water shortage, The city in which the palace is situated was called after his name as Jaipura and later on, it was shortened as Jaipur. He ruled for 45 years from 1699.

The Jaipur city, then called as, Jayapura was planned as nine squares. One square was left for the palace. Vidyadhar Bhattacharyya designed the palace. The most visited places in city palace is Chandra Mahal, Mubarak Mahal, Shree govind Dev temple and the City Palace Museum.

The Palace has four entrances for the four seasons of the year. It is distinctly distinguishing by four beautifully designed painted doors and supporting walls. 

CHANDRAMAHAL is the residence of the rulers. It along with other places in City Palace was constructed according to Shastra’s, combined with Rajput, Mughal and European Architecture. As per human anatomy head forms one nineth of the body. Similarly, City Palace S formed one nineth of Jayapura. The building has five stories surrounded by the receding hills, the terraces of Chandra Mahal, the Moon Palace of Sawai Jai Singh forms the core of the Central Square, which has a number of other public buildings and impressive public squares. The rectangular ground floor, with its extensive Verandah, forms a part of the symmetrical, formally laid out garden with its fountain and waterfalls in the well-known Rajput theme, using the natural slope of the terrain to control the flow of the water. The vista extends up to Badal Mahal on one end with its square water tank called Talkatora. Floored with marble and glazed with tiles this romantic set-up is called Pritam Nivas (Abode of beloved). Aesthetically set-up most appealing palace colonnaded Verandah facing the garden and Govind –deoji temple, the present Maharaja has receptions non ceremonial and religious occasions. There are life size portraits of various rulers of Amber and Jaipur painted on walls. The paintings were made by famous German artist Archibald Herman Muller. The other wall painting is best preserved and are sober where deep hues of amber, maroon, brown combined with the inevitable gold still retain their original luster. The mofifs of the painting are basically flowers, creep, vines etc.

The first floor is called Sukh Nivas (Abode of Comfort). This is the palace where Maharaja receives his royal guests. Silver Chairs and sofas upholstered in brocade form the central seating arrangement, with low stools standing in for coffee tables with earns and decorative figurines. Miniature painting adorn the walls while tables and consoles are dotted with family photographs in classic silver frames. The most magnificent pair of antique silver frames are on a console table of coronation Polo Club. The Photographs also contain the autographs of British, Spanish and German and Indian Monraks. Behind this arrangement, is a very unusual leather screen, embossed and painted in vivid colors on a white background.

The Mubarak Mahal is a small, two storeyed building, with rooms grouped around a central, double-height hall. It was originally intended as a guest house where the Maharaja could receive and accommodate foreign visitors; later, it was occupied by the durbar offices and currently it houses a part of the Palace Museum. The plan provides some satisfyingly related spaces; in particular, on the upper storey, a fring of communicating chambers overlooks the central, open core, which was probably the main ceremonial space. This arrangement, together with the basic plan- a square subdivided into a three by- three square grid – revives the theme of the Vastupurusha Mandala, the cosmological diagram that inspired the 18^th century planners of Jaipur city and had long been a motif in Rajput Palace design.

Govind deoji Temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna and is an architecture marvel, stands as a stunning example of Rajsthani architecture. The temple celebrates Janmasthami and other festivals with great fervor and its enthusiasm.

Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II constructed 5 Astronomical observatory in New Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain and Mathura. The last one was destroyed after Sippai Mutuany. The others still remain. He sent emissaries around the world to collect information relating to movements of the planets. They brought tables containing lot of information .

The Maharaja made accurate calculations of the celestial movements and built instruments shades of which show the accurate meridian time.

The Maharaja was quite young when his father died. However, he continued his studies along with his princely duties and was lucky enough to have a prodant mother, Raj matha Indra kanvar of Harwah near Ajmer. She saw her brilliant sons grew under the shadow of scholars.

The Maharaja Swai Jai Singh learnt Astronomy in detail from various Indians and International classes. As a devoted student Sawai Jai Singh was unhappy about the results he got from the regular brass instruments. He decided to construct more accurate astronomical observatory. The best among the five happened to be the one constructed alongside the City Palace in Jaipur.

21^st March and 22^nd September are days when sun reaches equinox. The positions of sun are in the northern hemisphere from 21^st of March to 23^rd of September where as it is in the southern hemisphere from 23^rd September to 21^st of March. The Yantra which helps calculating this is The Narivalaya Yantra.

There is an instrument which is inclined to an angle equivalent to the altitude of Jaipur. This is one which helps to find the geographical North, the position of the pole star.

There are many more instruments in the Jantar Manthar publicizing the name of Maharaja Swai Jai Singh II for the future generations.