I remember exclaiming loudly to Gopi (our auto driver for this trip) “yeah kya hai?” (what place is this)? He replied, “Hawa Mahal” (Palace of Winds would be the rough translation). I wonder how I had never crossed it before in all my previous trips to Jaipur! But Sunil and I were so tired by the evening that we refused to get out of the auto, the place would anyway be closed. Both of us clicked pictures of Hawa Mahal from inside the auto.
Very soon we were near Chand Pol gate and Gopi pointed out, “kuch samay pahle yahan per hi Hanuman temple ke paas bomb chale the” (a while ago it was only near this place, where the Hanuman Temple is, the bombs went off). I did not think much about it then, though for that moment I definitely shivered for a second. I mean the place as chock-o-full with traffic of all kind (pedstrains, cycles, cows, cars, motorcycles and what not, I wonder if it was like that when the bombs went off in Jaipur in May 2008). Even a fire cracker could cause a panic around this place! I keep thinking of this incident much more now, after the Mumbai terror attacks.
Would never stop me from going where ever I want and yet I just can’t get over Mumbai. But of course there were so many travelers in Jaipur this November in spite of the bomb blasts of May 2008.
That’s one of the best pictures of the Hawa Mahal that I’ve seen! Well lit and in sharp focus.
So beautiful! I have never been to North India and how I wish I could see it 🙂 Jaipur seems like a very interesting city through this snap :)Hey Mridula, I came across this travel blog http://travel.paintedstork.comYou might enjoy browsing through his site.
This heritage building is dangerously close to public road and is a big security threat. Traffic should be banned in this road, to prevent possible attacks
I can see the paint is fresh!They were working on the place while I was there.@Shrinidhi, the trouble with Jaipur is, a lot of roads will have to be closed in such case. In any case, Hawa Mahal is not really as interesting and valuable place as they try to project. It is one of the biggest disappointments in my Rajasthan trips this year. Must admit though, the front wall is very very photogenic.
I agree with Arun..I found it a bit disappointing too during my trip to jaipur last year.. This is the 4th post on rajasthan that I am reading today..wondering …
I wonder what it is with Hanuman temple and bomb blasts? We were in varanasi recently and were told that the hanuman temple near hanuman ghat was the site of a bomb blast. I was also wondering about the impact of a bomb blast in such a densly populated area.
Thanks Bindu.Doli, I know about Arun’s blog since a long time and took his help in planning this trip too!Shrinidhi, I also think this is so much part of the city that closing traffic would not be possible.Thanks Arun, I did not know that, though I found restoration work going on both at City Palace and Amber Fort.Lakshmi, I never ventured inside as I was too tired by evening and clicked this picture sitting inside the auto-rickshaw itself!Srividya, no idea 🙁
I missed the palace of the winds at first. I mean, can you imagine? I had to go back and SEARCH for it. Ridiculous!
Fida, yes it is kind of difficult to miss 🙂