History of Hawa Mahal – Jaypur Travel tour

The Hawa Mahal is situated on the main road in the heart of Jaipur's business centre. The meaning of Hawa is Wind and Mahal is Palace, so we can also call it "Palace of Winds" or "Palace of the Breeze". It was designed with red and pink sandstones in the form of the crown of Hidu God Krishna. Lal Chand Usta was the designer of this beautiful heritage building. It is five-storied exterior looks similar to the honeycomb of the beehive. It has 953 small windows that are called jharokhas and decorated with complex lattice work. These small windows were constructed to circulate air throughout the year and make the palace naturally cool especially in the summer seasons. Hawa Mahal literally means Palace of the Winds.

Kachwaha Rajput Sawai Pratap Singh built the Hawa Mahal in 1799 as a continuation of the Royal City Palace. He was the son of Maharaja Sawai Madhosingh I and grandson of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh (who build Jaipur city in 1727). Hawa Mahal is a devotion to Loard Krishna (Hindu God) by Sawai Pratap Singh. You can see that it looks similar to the crown of Lord Krishna. Many reasons were also there for building this palace. The Rajputs had a restrict tradition called "purdah (face cover)"because of this Rajput ladies were not allowed to be seen by general public. Rajput Ladies also were very conscious about self-respect and status, so they did not prefer to be common in public and strangers. This all was because of a strict ritual they had to follow. They were still keen to know about general public and all the events out there in the street.

The palace is a five-story pyramidal shaped monument that rises to a height of 50 feet (15 m) from its high base. The top three floors of the structure have a dimension of one room width while the first and second floors have patios in front of them, on the rear side of the structure. The front elevation, as seen from the street, is like a honeycomb web of a beehive built with small portholes. Each porthole has miniature windows and has carved sandstone grills, finials and domes. It is a veritable mass of semi-octagonal bays, which gives the monument its unique façade. The inner face on the back side of the building consists of need-based chambers built with pillars and corridors with least ornamentation, and reach up to the top floor. The interior of the Mahal has been described as “having rooms of different coloured marbles, relieved by inlaid panels or gilding; while fountains ado
the centre of the courtyard.

Hawa Mahal is counted one the most famous heritage building of Jaipur that is appreciated by visitors from all over the world. This is standing on one of the main streets of Jaipur monitoring the happenings of the city. The best time to visit Hawa Mahal is early in the morning when it starts to dawn. It looks most beautiful this time with golden sunlight pouring on it. I personally found myself speechless to tell the beauty of this scene. Jaipur is located to the north of the Jaipur city. This is well-connected by road, rail and air links with the rest of the country. The palace, part of a huge complex, overlooks one of Jaipur's main streets and was originally constructed to offer women of the court a vantage point, behind stone-carved screens, from which to watch the activities taking place in the bazaar and the surrounding streets.

Hawa Mahal Jaipurfive-story, pyramid-shaped structure is made up of small casements, each with tiny windows and arched roofs with hanging cornices, exquisitely modeled and carved. Its facade makes Hawa Mahal look more like a screen than a palace. The panoramic view from the roof of the Mahal is stunning. The top two floors of the Hawa Mahal are accessed only through ramps. The Mahal, called as the “specimen of fanciful architecture”, is located to the south of the Jaipur city, at the main road intersection called the Badi Chaupad (big four square).