Jaipur, the vibrant capital of of Rajasthan is popularly known as the "Pink City" because of the pink coloured building in the old city. It sits on the dry lake bed in a somewhat arid landscape surrounded by barren hills surmounted by forts and crenelled walls. This buzzing metropolis is certainly a place of wild contrasts and a feast for the eyes. Vegetable - ladden camel carts thread their ways through streets jam-packed with cars, rickshaws, bicycles, tempos, motorcycles and pedestrains frantically dodging the crazy trafic. Traditional dressed Rajput men sporting bright turbans ans swashbuckling moustaches discuss village politics outside restaurants serving spaghetti bologneseand American ice-cream sodas. Ramshackle roadside stalls selling jootis beside Kitsch shops flogging a mishmash of modern trinkets.

The capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur is not only the gateway to the state, it is also the most natural place to begin a discovery of Rajasthan's multifaceted attractions. For visitors unfamiliar with its history, a little explanation may be necessary, since it will aid their understanding of one of the most fascinating cities of India.

As a city, Jaipur is fairly young, less than three centuries old. It was laid out by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of the Kachchawaha dynasty from Amber which, less than 10 km away, was the former capital of the state. Markets and residential areas have bridged this gap so that, for all practical purposes, Jaipur includes Amber within its sway.

The city is rectangular in shape and divided into nine blocks on the basis of principles laid down inthe"Shilpa Shastra", the ancient Indian treatise on architecture. Built on the pattern of a grid, the city has wide straight avenues, roads, streets and lanes and uniform rows of shops on either side at the main bazar, all arranged in nine rectangular city sectors (Chokris). The principal monuments of Jaipur are concentrated in the centrally situated Palace area (Chokri Sarhad ) in and around the city Palace. In course of time, the sunset-pink tinge of its walls, buildings and temples gave it the name Pink City.

Jaipur was and remains the only city in the world symbolizing the nine divisions of the Universe through nine rectangular sectors subdividing it. A young Bengali architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, formalised the city's plans on the 'Shipa Shastra', the epochal Hindu treatise on architecture, tempering it with sublimity of Mughal and Jain influences of the times. The Palaces and forts of the yesteryears that were witness to royal processions and splendour are now living monuments. There is a timeless quality to Jaipur's bazaars and of eternity to its people. Could the woman drying chillies under the sun, in the shadow of the fort, have been there a hundred years ago? Could not the Jeweller, so carefully crafting the gold and precious stones of his trade, be equally its vision of the future.

Jaipur's architectural planning may have been ancient, but its execution was definitely modern. Best represented by the City Palace complex, it brought together all that was excellent in Rajput and Mughal architecture, creating a new tradition that found wide currency over much of north India. As in the Mughal tradition, the durbar or court areas became much more open, characterised by a series of arched pavilions held on delicately crafted pillars. Ornamentation had always been a part of the state's architectural heritage, now it became much more opulent. The private wings of the family also extended their entertainment areas. Since defence was no longer a primary concern, larger, more ornamental windows were built to over look the streets or courtyards outside these wings. Gardens were no longer planned within the internal courtyards only, but were added to the external vistas, and water, a basic feature of Mughal palaces and gardens, was utilised in a similar fashion, in canals and fountains.

Some of these experiments had begun at Amber itself, in the palaces that were its more recent additions. A major distinguishing feature of the Mughal palaces was the use of marble and pietra dura inlay. Amber and Jaipur used marble more judiciously, but were able to achieve the same effect on polished wall surfaces using a mixture of lime and eggshell, in a style that was referred to as araish. Rather than stone inlay, it preferred the delicate art of painting, especially religious and historical sequences, the depiction of which is forbidden in Islamic art. The concept of the Sheesh Mahal or 'Palace of Mirrors', however, was equally favoured in both architectural traditions: it consists of small, even sized mirrors used to embellish all surfaces so that, when a match is lit in the darkened room, its flame bounces off then giving millions of reflections.

Jaipur is still one of the beautiful cities in India with most of its forts and palaces perfectly in shape. Forts and palaces in and around Jaipur are what attract tourists to the Pink City. Jaipur has a number of fine hotels that provide best hospitality service to guests touring Jaipur. Jaipur Discount Hotels offers complete information on Jaipur and online booking for hotels in Jaipur. Discover the architectural wonders of Jaipur with Jaipur Discount Hotels. Jaipur Discount Hotels offers a number of tour packages to Jaipur and provides online booking facility for tours to Jaipur.