Jaipur (the pink city), the capital of Rajasthan is a walled city with 7 gates. It is surrounded by rugged hills with forts and palaces as adornment. The city was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Jai Singh II (1699-1744). He felt the need to shift his capital from Amber. The city of Jaipur was planned according to Shilpa Sastra and was built by a Bengali architect Vidhyadhar Bhattacharya. The city is laid out with 6 rectangular sections with broad roads and spacious bazaars. In 1863 AD, numerous pink sandstone forts arose to welcome Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria.

City Palace
The city palace, a former royal residence is built in traditional Rajasthani and Moghul styles, with ornate gtes, arches, balconies and courtyards. The ground and first floors of the seven storey Chandra Mahal houses the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum with its rich collection of ornaments, arms, royal costumes, carpets, miniature paintings of both Rajasthani & Moghul styles, illustrated Persian and Arabic manuscripts, chariots, carraiges, royal howdahs (elephant seats) and other art objects. Adjoinging the palace is the beautiful Jal Niwas Gardens.

The Hawa Mahal is also known as the Palace of Winds. This elaborate five-storyed pyramidal building with overhanging latticed balconies was built in 1799 by Maharaja Pratap Singh so that the royal ladies could witness processions and activities in the market place.

The Jantar-Mantar is an astronomical observatory that was built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Sing in the 18th century. This king with his enormous interest in astronomy had instruments laid in concrete which were used to study the constellation & stars. The enormous sun dials are found to beaccurate to date. The Samrat Yantra (King of Dials) is absolutely accurate & precise. Later he built such observatories in other cities - Delhi, Varanasi, Ujjain, Mathura.