Jaipur Panorama: Jantar Mantar, City Palace & Nahargarh Fort
Sunny early evening light as the sun sets over Jaipur. The warm light basks on the Jantar Mantar, and City Palace. Both were designed and built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler who shifted Amber to the new city once Mughal power declined sufficiently.
Towards the background, sitting on a hill which is part of the Aravalli range is the Nahargarh Fort, where the current Maharaja's (unofficially, of course) mother, Gayatri Devi lives today. Below the foothills of that hill lies the Birla Mandir (Hindu temple), which is one of many Birla temples in India. Birla is a family held industrial company with many arms, similar to the Korean concept of 'Chaebol'. Similar companies in India include Tata and others. Right in the middle of the image, rises a mid height expanse of red gate - this is the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) - earlier images in this set explain the wonders of this structure.
There is a great deal of complexity in this image. In the Jantar Mantar area, one can see 3 people. One is a Muslim man, dressed in the manner typical for this part of Northern India, with the 'topi' (hat) characteristic, with long kurta (shirt, worn by all religions). The other two appear to be Western tourists. I also note that both the main and quarter ("sawai") flags of Jaipur are flying at full mast - the large one always is, and the smaller flag does when the Maharaja is in town. There are various levels of Maharaja, and the people of Jaipur regarded their one highly enough to give him the additional title, 'Sawai', which means 'one and a quarter', denoting that he was 'one and a quarter' Maharajas, above the ordinary.
Late afternoon and evening is when pollution is at its most in India's cities. This is unfortunate as it robs us of clear light towards the posterior depths of the image, and in the sky. Alas, this is a reality of India. However, as I later found in Delhi, modernisation there has meant that the metro and use of natural gas (CNG) in all public transport has cut pollution buy around 30%. That is significant and gives me hope. As India's economy continues to rapidly grow, metros and further advances should make their way to the smaller (Jaipur is a small city at 3 million) cities.
Jaipur Panorama: Jantar Mantar, City Palace & Nahargarh Fort
Sunny early evening light as the sun sets over Jaipur. The warm light basks on the Jantar Mantar, and City Palace. Both were designed and built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler who shifted Amber to the new city once Mughal power declined sufficiently.
Towards the background, sitting on a hill which is part of the Aravalli range is the Nahargarh Fort, where the current Maharaja's (unofficially, of course) mother, Gayatri Devi lives today. Below the foothills of that hill lies the Birla Mandir (Hindu temple), which is one of many Birla temples in India. Birla is a family held industrial company with many arms, similar to the Korean concept of 'Chaebol'. Similar companies in India include Tata and others. Right in the middle of the image, rises a mid height expanse of red gate - this is the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) - earlier images in this set explain the wonders of this structure.
There is a great deal of complexity in this image. In the Jantar Mantar area, one can see 3 people. One is a Muslim man, dressed in the manner typical for this part of Northern India, with the 'topi' (hat) characteristic, with long kurta (shirt, worn by all religions). The other two appear to be Western tourists. I also note that both the main and quarter ("sawai") flags of Jaipur are flying at full mast - the large one always is, and the smaller flag does when the Maharaja is in town. There are various levels of Maharaja, and the people of Jaipur regarded their one highly enough to give him the additional title, 'Sawai', which means 'one and a quarter', denoting that he was 'one and a quarter' Maharajas, above the ordinary.
Late afternoon and evening is when pollution is at its most in India's cities. This is unfortunate as it robs us of clear light towards the posterior depths of the image, and in the sky. Alas, this is a reality of India. However, as I later found in Delhi, modernisation there has meant that the metro and use of natural gas (CNG) in all public transport has cut pollution buy around 30%. That is significant and gives me hope. As India's economy continues to rapidly grow, metros and further advances should make their way to the smaller (Jaipur is a small city at 3 million) cities.