Jaipur 10 Easy Walks

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Jaipur 10 Easy Walks is the first book of its kind and gives the tourist a chance to explore the famed lanes of Jaipur. She the well planned streets from close quarters and discover the city's architectural beauty in its monuments - havelies, temples and other traditional buildings, its carefully preserved heritage, its culture and craft skills. The streets are crowded and lively and there is much to see and enjoy- the marble statue maker, the dyer and printer, the bangle seller, the mithaiwala, the artist and the jeweler…. This book gives the reader a chance to explore a totally different aspect of jaipur and shows that there is more to this 276 year old city than the famous Amber Fort and Hawa Mahal.

Dharmendar Kanwar studied at the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls Public School and went to University in Jaipur. She started her writing career immediately after finishing school and did campus writing for youth magazines like Hi Young People's Newspaper, Junior Statesman and Youth Times. Over the last twenty-five odd years she has done scripts for television documentaries, been involved in heritage conservation and contributed stories to national magazines and newspapers.

In the late eighties, she took to travel writing and was resident editor of Rajasthan Atithi for an year. She authored Rajasthan, a coffee-table book, besides writing several brochures on Rajasthan that won national awards. She was awarded the Best Travel Writer (English) for 1993-94 by the Government of Rajasthan. Dharmendar Kanwar has edited, designed and published Gourmet's Gateway by Rajmata Gayatri Devi, co-authored Delhi-Agra-Jaipur, written Fifty Years of Rajasthan Police and Enduring Grace a biography of Rajmata Gayatri Devi.

Introduction

This book is a tribute to the beautiful city to Jaipur and proposes to introduce the visitor to the city's fascinating inner areas. It is a city that never ceases to amaze. Consider this - today we have our planning departments equipped to take on the most complicated designing projects. We plan housing colonies and industrial areas, the best of technical know how is available and our designers have access to the latest computers. And what have we created? Is there anything even half as impressive as the city of Jaipur? What did Sawai Jai Singh have in the early eighteenth century except a vision? Yet, he designed a city so perfect, so beautiful, the likes of which cannot be found the world over. Not a single aspect of designing has been overlooked here, from the uniformity of the shops to the length and breadth of the streets. Houses were placed strategically so that the hot summer sun was blocked out, yet they received adequate sunlight and air. Proper sewage lines were laid and the wells ensured that no house went without its share of water. One does wonder how Sawai Jai Singh could visualize, in the eighteenth century, the needs of the city. It was the genius of the ruler that not only did he design a perfect city but he also made provisions for its future expansion. What kind of instructions must he gave given to his planner Vidyadhar Bhattacharya? How did he explain the different mohallas, the chaupars where the general public could relax, the temples that were placed just outside the lanes and the sections that were demarcated for different communities? And how did Vidyadhar Bhattacharya manage to follow the guidelines and execute them so perfectly? Not a lane, not a house, not a wall is out of proportion. Did those visionaries know that they were giving shape to a city that would become a marvel in town planning and that the most experienced of architects would visit the city to try and learn something from it?

The streets with their treasure of scalloped arches, deinty pillared cupolas make Jaipur, with its enclosing wall and seven gates, a tourist's delight.

These walks have been planned in a way that they allow you to get a glimpse into the enchanting city and its charmingly chaotic life but they are by no means comprehensive. Every lane in the walled city has something interesting to offer and these walks take you into most of the city's important blocks or chowkris from Chowkri Topkhana Desh to Chokri Ramchandraji. Sadly though, most of the temples mentioned are bing partly reused as schools, colleges and shops.

Availability of public transport has been kept in mind and care has also been taken to keep to the main streets. Though it is perfectly safe to go into the by-lanes, it is advisable not to venture alone.

Do keep in mind the fact that there are still a lot of areas that these walks do not cover and a there's a lot left to explore, to learn and to do.