All the things that will make you go WOW at the City Palace Jaipur

A fusion of architectural styles
With numerous treasures along its aisles
Four gates for four different seasons
Visiting the Jaipur City palace needs no more reasons. 

Discover the best things to see in City Palace Jaipur. This City Palace Jaipur guide also, includes the history and information on how to visit, the best time as well as the ticket prices.

The City Palace Jaipur is one of the most popular tourist destinations, especially for first-timers in Jaipur. Me – being a sucker for palaces, have managed to visit this famous palace in Jaipur – not once but twice. I still recall the first time I saw it. Bang opposite the Jantar Mantar, my heart pushed me to just cross over and explore it before the ancient observatory (Jantar Mantar) but the rational part of my brain asked me to wait a bit so that we could seek some shade at noon by exploring it later. The 2nd time around, I did this Jaipur castle exclusively with its Royal tour which allowed me to see the restricted areas of the City Palace. I found myself as enamored as I was on my first visit here.

There is no avoiding the Jaipur City Palace when in the city. After all, it is possibly the most important among the palaces of Jaipur – especially since it has given the city the sobriquet of Pink City. How, what and why is just one of the many stories in this guide to the City Palace Jaipur.

This City Palace guide takes you through the history of the palace and finally reveals the key things to see in Jaipur City Palace. I have also, included practical tips on visiting this famous Jaipur sightseeing attraction – best time to visit, City Palace ticket prices and different tours that are available. By the end of this post, you will be all prepped to do the Jaipur City Palace tour by yourself.

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History of Jaipur City Palace

The former capital of the reigning family was the famous Jaipur attraction – Amer fort. However, owing to the growing population and water scarcity, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II sought a new place for his capital. He found a perfect spot amid his royal hunting ground and built the City Palace. This was in the late 1720s and along with the new palace was born – the city of Jaipur.

The palace became the administrative capital and the fulcrum of power for the Jaipur rulers. With the British influence getting stronger, there came a time when the rulers had to pick a side to support. The then Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh chose to help the British in the epic siege of 1857. He earned favors from them and became a favored ruler. When the Prince of Wales who became the King later – King Edward VII visited India, it was for his reception that the Maharaja changed the color of the entire city of Jaipur. Borrowing from his own city palace, he painted the city pink. So, if you are looking for the answer as to why Jaipur is called the Pink City, you have it :D.

The Architecture of City Palace Jaipur

The architecture of the City Palace Jaipur is a lovely amalgamation of three different styles – the Rajput, Mughal and European. Technically, the palace complex includes the Jantar Mantar and the Hawa Mahal. However, for the tourists, given the separate entrances, they are considered three separate Jaipur tourist attractions. The Jaipur City Palace architecture is credited to two architects. The first is a Bengali one called Vidhyadhar Bhattacharya and the 2nd is a British – Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob.

The layout of City Palace Jaipur includes a temple, a royal guest house, the royal courtrooms and a residential complex. There are three different gates to enter the City Palace. The first, called Virendra Pol is right opposite the astronomy complex – Jantar Mantar and this is where I entered the palace. The 2nd is the gate in Jaleb Chowk which is closer to the Hawa Mahal and is called the Udai Pol. The last one is a set of three gates called Tripolia. This is reserved for the royal family, who still reside in this gorgeous palace in Jaipur.

Things to see in City Palace Jaipur

Still owned by the Royal Family of Jaipur, parts of this palace have been opened out to the public by the private trust of the royal family. The palace is well-curated and organized with an audio guide but we being a larger group, opted for a regular guide. While the palace has plenty of interesting things to talk about, I will share all the things that made me go WOW about the City Palace Jaipur.

1) Mubarak Mahal at City Palace Jaipur

Mubarak in Urdu refers to an auspicious blessing. The word doubles up as a greeting to welcome guests. The “Auspicious palace” or “Welcome Palace” in the Jaipur City Palace complex was built as a royal guest house. This building was the last addition to the original palace, made by Maharaja Man Singh II.

One of the key features of the Mubarak Mahal is that it is symmetrical in its design – quite like the Taj Mahal in Agra. However, what I loved about this palace was the beautiful fusion of designs from three different cultures – Mughal, Rajput and British. You can see the lovely arches with intricate designs that have been inspired by the Mughal palaces. The doorways and the pillars in this guest house showcase Rajput Hindu temple designs while the higher floors have the cross -shaped alignment usually seen in colonial buildings.

2) The Royal Clothes in the City Palace Museum Jaipur

The Mubarak Mahal now houses a textile and handicrafts museum where you can see a display of the Royal wares and clothes. Unfortunately, I cannot treat you to any of the pictures as photography is not allowed here. There are some pretty interesting City Palace stories lurking among the exhibits.

Let’s start with the ostentatious dresses of the princesses and Queens that weighed 9 kgs. They were so heavy that she could not carry it herself and needed more than a maid to help. What was even more fascinating was that she could not walk with all that weight. So, a palanquin or a wheelchair was used to move around within the palace. I am not sure if I would have liked that!  

The highlight of all the exhibits inside the Museum of City Palace Jaipur is the voluminous clothes worn by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh I. Humungous may be the right term here for the clothes are 4 ft wide. Yes, you could say it was for a giant man weighing 250kgs. Seeing those clothes was quite a wonder – I think two of normal-sized humans would have fit into them. And if that has not popped open your mouth – here is one more astonishing fact. The Giant Maharaja had 108 wives!!!   Like my hubby remarked – managing one is a task and over 100…GOSH!

3) Rajendra Pol – the gateway to the Royal palace

A gorgeous marble gate connects the Mubarak Mahal section to the royal court and residential section of the City Palace. Don’t dismiss it as just another picturesque gate. The marble used in this gate was brought from a place called Makrana in West Rajasthan – which is the same place that supplied marble for the famous Agra monument – Taj Mahal. Quite like what you might have seen at the Taj Mahal, there is stone inlay work along these marble walls.

The other impressive feature here is the monolithic marble elephants kept on either side of the gate. The elephant with its Mahout is a stunning gate decor. There are always two guards near the gate. Dressed in their royal uniform, they are more than happy to complete a postcard picture with you – a memento of your visit to the Jaipur City Palace.

4) Gangajelies & Chandeliers of Diwan-I Khas

The first building that you can see from the Rajendra pol is the Diwan -i- Khas or the Hall of Private Audience. Right opposite the Chandra Mahal, this huge hall is full of impressive crystal Chandeliers. Diwan-i-Khas is more of a Mughal term. In the Jaipur City palace, this is called Sarvato Bhadra. The grand hall with its high ceilings, sparkling chandeliers and marble floors is quite an architectural gem.

The whole structure might seem like an open one but there are four closed rooms at each corner. The open area was covered with curtains in its heydays. This was the actual court of the king, the stronghold of his power.

The main hall was not just important back then. It is quite symbolic and important in today’s world too. This is the hall where major religious rituals and festivals take place. During Dusshera, Gangaur and Teej, the hall has a statue of the Goddess, who is decked and taken out in a procession through the city of Jaipur. It turns into an exhibition of kites used by the Maharaja himself during the festival of Makar Sankranti. However, the thing that will make you go WOW is yet to come!

The most interesting artifacts here are the Gangajelies or the water urns that carry Ganga water. 2 huge silver urns that are 5 feet high and weigh around 340 kgs are on display. Our guide told us that they are officially the biggest sterling silver urns in the world– and are a part of the Guinness Book of World Records. These urns were made for Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II for his visit to London. The Maharaja would only drink Ganga Water and hence, 2 large silver urns with 4000 liters of water were packed for his visit to Britain. 🙂 Each of these silver flasks was made by melting 40,000 silver coins. The large size and this City palace story are what had me go WOW.

5) Chandra Mahal or the Moon Palace

The main residential palace is called the Moon Palace or the Chandra Mahal. The Palace is a 7-storied one, and some parts are still occupied by the Royal Family. A flag, larger than the regular flags flies atop this palace. The flag has five colors and there is an interesting story behind why this is the case. When Raja Man Singh I (ruler of Amer) served under Emperor Akbar, he had to travel to Persia as his commander-in-chief. In a single battle, he managed to acquire five different kingdoms. As this City Palace story goes, Raja Man Singh took the flag of each of these kingdoms and made it into his clan flag. Hence, it has five colors and is larger than the usual flags.

Besides this flag, pay attention to a smaller flag that has been given the name “Sawai” – meaning one and a quarter. Why so makes another interesting tale in this City Palace Jaipur.

Sawai was a title given by Aurangazeb to Maharaja Jai Singh during his wedding and was taken forth by the dynasty thereon. As the story goes, Aurangazeb was impressed with the witty quips of the young Maharaja Jai Singh and conferred the title – Sawai – someone who is one and a quarter. Since then, the name was adopted by the family and a smaller flag was added next to the five-colored one. Even today, it is unfurled when the Royal family is in residence.

Today, only the ground floor is open to the public on the general tour. There is a special luxury tour that takes you to the upper echelons of the Chandra Mahal. Each of the floors has a unique name and has been built by a particular Maharaja.

• The second floor is called the Sukh Niwas after the wife of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh
• Rang Mandir is the 3rd floor and is called so owing to its decor of mirrors and colors.
• Shobha Niwas is on the 4th floor of Chandra Mahal. This is where the king performed Laxmi Puja on the day of Diwali.
• Chavvi Niwas is on the 5th floor and has a decor of various images.
• The 6th floor is called the Shri Niwas
• The last and the 7th floor is called the Mukut Niwas. Mukut means crown and this is where the flags are hoisted. I believe, this is also, a place that gives a lovely view of the pink city.

There are plenty of treasures that these floors hold and I only managed to do the special royal tour during my 2nd visit. This tour deserves a post of its own that you can read here. However, even if your particular visit cannot accommodate this tour, I assure you that even exploring the ground floor will be the highlight of this entire City Palace Jaipur tour. 

6) The portrait gallery of Jaipur City Palace

This is a small passage that you will follow when you enter Chandra Mahal and walk to the Pritam Niwas Chowk. The walls have paintings and pictures of the royal family of Jaipur. You can even see the current family picture with Princess Diya Singh (member of parliament) and the current Maharaja Padmanabh Singh who is in his twenties.

There is an exquisite door and a mirror too, at either end of the gallery.

7) Pritam Niwas Chowk

The Pritam Niwas Chowk is one of the unique Royal Courtyards that I have come across. Pritam Niwas Chowk means “courtyard of the beloved” and was extensively used by the Royal family for festive occasions and ceremonies. The women observed the proceedings from the jharokhas on the first floor. The most beautiful feature of it is the four gates of the City Palace Jaipur which have been designed based on the 4 Indian Seasons. Each one is dedicated to a particular Hindu Deity.

The gates would be opened for the performance based on the season. Let’s start with my favorite – The Mor or Peacock gate, which represents the Autumn season.

Peacock Gate or Mor Gate

The gorgeous 3D models of peacocks made this a popular photography spot – so much so that we were not able to get one devoid of crowds. 🙁 Nonetheless, I managed to get a zoom-in of the peacocks on this gate. 😀 The gate is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

Lotus Gate at City Palace Jaipur

The next one is the Lotus Gate representative of the Summer season. The repetitive pattern of the Lotus petals is suggestive of the same. It faces the south-east and is dedicated to the heavenly couple – Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

Leheriya Gate of Jaipur City Palace

Dedicated to Lord Ganesha, this one has waves of green. The green gate or the Leheriya gate was done to showcase the greens of the Spring season.

Rose Gate of City Palace Jaipur

The winter gate or the Rose Gate was a soft pastel shade with delicate blooms to indicate this season. This gate appealed to my feminine nature and is dedicated to a Goddess. Loved the soft pastel shades on it.

For me, the uniqueness of this courtyard is what I will always remember City Palace Jaipur for. It is not every day that you get such instagrammable spots all in one place.

8) The Golden Throne at Diwan-I Aam

Diwan-I Aam or the Hall of Public Audience is another place within the palace, where photography is not permitted. Hence, devoid of pictures, I am hoping you can visualize this. Imagine a huge hall of red and gold, with a painted ceiling and an ornate carpet, ending at a golden throne.

It is this Golden throne or the Takhat E Rawal is one of the best things to see in City Palace Jaipur. Ornate as a throne should be, this was used not just as seating in the Public Hall but also, doubled up as a howdah on an elephant. Well, multi-purpose utility existed back then too, and that too, in the most royal manner as possible!

Passages at City Palace, JaipurThe Diwan-i-Aam are called the Sabha Niwas in the City Palace Jaipur. While the King presided over the main throne, the women of the palace oversaw the proceedings behind the jhalis or curtains of the first floor. This was also, the place where family ceremonies like coronations were held.

Besides these highlights, you are bound to spot several other interesting things within the palace-like these gorgeous hallways. Like the miniature paintings exhibited in the gallery. Keep an eye out for the rare Bhagwat Geeta in these exhibits. It is handwritten and small enough to be hidden from the eyes of the invaders.

While these are just are the bigger of the things to see at the City Palace Jaipur, they aren’t the only ones. There is a Baggi Khana with its various chariots and buggies. Also, pay a visit to the Royal Govind Devji Temple. And yes, you cannot miss the old Clock tower just behind the Diwan-i-Aam. The clock was added to the tower later on to an existing tower. It is an 1873 one and still works.

Shopping at City Palace Jaipur

Before you exit the City Palace in Jaipur, you will come across a small shopping area that is called the Museum shop or the Palace atelier. where you can buy Jaipuri bedsheets, pashmina shawls, gemstones as well as local dresses. Most guides in City Palace will urge you to have a look, if not buy. The products here are made locally using genuine material and the prices I found, are quite reasonable. On both my visits, I ended up buying some of these products. In fact, the Pashmina shawl that I bought here has survived many of my travel trips and is my favorite. I even, ended up picking a new one this time when I visited again.

So, if you are looking for authentic articles from Jaipur, I highly recommend shopping in City Palace Jaipur. The proceeds of these sales goes to support the local NGOs including the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation which supports rural women. In some ways, you will be contributing towards some sustainable tourism. The shops also, offer to courier your articles anywhere in India – and yes, they do arrive.

I am sure you will find your own gems that make you go WOW at the City Palace. Check the next section of this City Palace Jaipur guide for some practical tips and don’t forget to pin the post to your board – as a reminder to share what are your WOW factors at the Jaipur City Palace.

Common FAQs section of this City Palace Jaipur Guide

Miscellaneous Travel Tips for City Palace Jaipur :

• Flat shoes are recommended for the sheer amount of walking to be done.
• Food is available at the Palace Cafe. There are restroom facilities as well.

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Ami

Popularly referred to as a Restless Ball of Energy. My Mom refuses to entertain my complaints about my equally restless daughter & assures my husband that I was born with a travel bug.

I am a Post-Graduate in Marketing by qualification and a travel blogger by passion. Besides travel, I enjoy photography and if you don’t find me at my desk, I would be out playing badminton or swimming or just running. I believe in planning for every long weekend through the year. And when I cannot travel physically, I travel virtually through this travel blog. My travel stories have also, got published on various websites and magazines including BBC Travel, Lonely Planet India and Jetwings. I have recently published my first book – When Places Come Alive – a collection of stories that are based on legends, landscapes, art and culture of a place which is available in both ebook and paperback format.

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