FULL DAY JAIPUR TOUR

Why it is called the Pink City

In 1876 the Prince of Wales came to India, and Maharaja Ram Singh had the whole walled city painted terracotta pink to welcome him — pink being the colour of hospitality. A city bylaw has required buildings inside the walls to stay that colour ever since.

So the pink is a political gesture from 1876 that became a legal obligation, which is a more interesting story than the one about romance.

Amber Fort

Eleven kilometres north on a ridge above Maota Lake, begun in 1592 by Raja Man Singh, Akbar's general.

The painted Ganesh Pol gateway; the Sheesh Mahal, where thousands of convex mirror fragments in the ceiling turned a single candle into a ceiling of stars; the Sukh Niwas, cooled by water running through channels in the marble; and the zenana courtyard with its twelve separate queens' apartments.

Jal Mahal

From the causeway. Four of five storeys underwater, and no entry.

City Palace

Begun in 1729 at the centre of Jai Singh II's new city. Part of it is still the royal family's residence. Courtyards, the armoury, the textile galleries, and the two enormous silver urns.

Jantar Mantar

Nineteen masonry astronomical instruments, UNESCO-listed, with a 27-metre sundial still accurate to about two seconds.

Hawa Mahal

The 953-window screen of 1799, best photographed from the street opposite in the morning when the facade goes properly pink.

The bazaars and the sanctuaries

Jaipur is also known for its markets — Johari for gemstones, Tripolia for lac bangles — and for the wildlife on its edges: Jhalana, which holds one of the densest leopard populations in India inside the city limits, and Nahargarh Biological Park.

Practical

Eight hours with a private car and driver.

Entrance fees are paid at each site — about ₹1,500 a head for a foreign adult.