Khyati Shree

Khyati Shree Instagram – The only place I could visit in my short Jaipur trip was the City Palace. Jaipur is named after Maharaja Jai Singh, the King who founded Jaipur and this is the palace where he resided. The walled and well planned Pink City that he founded was governed by his family from this very palace from 1727 till 1949, when monarchy was eventually abolished by the adoption of Constitution. Even before 1727 forefathers of the 25 year old Sawai Padmanabh Singh were those Rajput Kachwaha Kings who presided from the neighbouring Amber Fort but the family had to relocate to City Palace due to water shortage in Amber Fort. Beyond the historic walled city, the newer localities of Jaipur do not look as neatly planned. The current Deputy CM from BJP of Rajasthan is Diya Kumari, mother of the head of Royal Family. The City Palace is still where the Royal Family lives, however they have opened the gates for tourists who want to visit the Royal Family grandeur closely. The tickets to City Palace range from ₹300 to ₹3000. In the ₹3000 ticket that we took, we got a guide and we got to visit Chandra Mahal palace which is oldest building in the compound and where the family still lives. The tour included visit to the unrestricted areas of the palace like Shobha Niwas and Sheesh Mahal, some of the other areas still remain private and are obviously not open for visitors. Tea and snacks on the rooftop cafe was also part of the package. We got a number interesting insights to the royal way of living by the guide (who was very knowledgeable), we meet the royal artisans who had all received Padma Shri and had been given a space in the building to sell their art. I could not capture the artisan’s work as photography was not allowed in the hall they were working in, also photography is restricted in a number of galleries and halls of the palace. The money from the tickets go towards maintaining the Palace as I was told. Today, titles like Raja or Rani are all unofficial titles that the family uses, it has no other significance. | Posted on 09/Apr/2024 23:07:25