| | Overview (Source: Frommers) |
262km (162 miles) SW of Delhi; 232km (144 miles) W of Agra After independence, Jaipur became the administrative and commercial capital of what was known as Rajputana, a suitable conclusion to the dreams of its founder Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, a man famed for his talents as a politician, mathematician, and astronomer. At age 13 he ascended the throne of the Kachchwaha Rajputs, a clan that had enjoyed tremendous prosperity and power as a result of their canny alliance, dating back to Humayun's reign, with the Mughal emperors. It was in fact the emperor Aurangzeb, a fanatically pious Muslim, who -- despite the fact that Jai Singh was a Hindu prince -- named him Sawai, meaning "one and a quarter," for his larger-than-life intellect and wit. Having proved his prowess as a military tactician for Aurangzeb, increasing the emperor's coffers substantially, Jai Singh felt it safe to move his capital from the claustrophobic hills surrounding Amber to a dry lake in the valley below. Begun in 1727 and completed in just 8 years, Jaipur was the first city in India to enjoy rigorous town planning according to the principles laid down in "Shilpa Shastra," an ancient Indian treatise on architecture. The city is protected by high walls, with wide, straight avenues that divide it into nine sectors, or chokris (apparently reflecting the nine divisions of the universe, resembling the Indian horoscope), each named after the commodity and caste who lived and practiced their specific
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| When To Go (Source: Fodors) | Top | The best time to visit Rajasthan and Gujarat is from October to March. Unfortunately, everyone knows this, so Rajasthan sights are packed and hotel tariffs are at their highest. If you're planning your Rajasthan vacation during the peak season, do so in advance. (Because Gujarat gets a fraction of the tourists that Rajasthan does, this advice is less important if you're heading there.) If you want to get away from the hordes and can bear the heat of a desert summer, go to Rajasthan in April. By May and June, it's brutally hot. The monsoon season (July-September) is fine unless you want to see the wildlife parks, which tend to flood. Southern Rajasthan, especially Udaipur, is lovely at the tailend of the monsoons: everything is fresh and green after the rains.
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