Jaipur: Galta Peeth & Jawahar Kala Kendra and more

For a second day in Jaipur

If you have already done Amber Fort and City Palace, this is the better use of six hours. None of these stops are secret, but they are the ones locals would send you to rather than the ones the coaches run.

Galta Ji

A temple complex built into a gorge in the Aravalli hills, 10 km east of the old city. Natural springs feed a series of stone tanks — the Galta Kund at the top is the one that never runs dry, and pilgrims bathe in it.

The buildings are 18th century, pink sandstone, painted inside with frescoes that are fading in exactly the way that makes them worth seeing now. A troop of rhesus macaques lives here, which is why it appears online as the "monkey temple". They are wild animals. Do not carry food in your hand, do not hold your phone out, and they will leave you alone.

The walk up the ridge from the Surya Temple gate gives you the whole city laid out at dusk.

Jawahar Kala Kendra

The opposite end of Jaipur in every sense — a 1990s arts centre by Charles Correa, built as nine squares echoing the nine-square plan Jai Singh II used for the city itself, with one square rotated exactly as the old city's is. It holds galleries, a museum, theatres and a café, and it is where the city's own artists actually spend time.

If you care at all about architecture, this is the building in Jaipur that is not four hundred years old and still worth an hour.

Plus

The itinerary fills out with stops chosen for the day and the season — a stepwell, a bazaar lane, a temple your guide rates. Ask for what interests you; there is room in six hours.

Included

Hotel pickup, private car with driver, and a local guide. Entrance fees and meals are separate; most of these sites are free or a few rupees.