We spent almost 12 hours straight today trying to pack in our experiences in Jaipur. This is such a beautiful place, with so many interesting opportunities. We are trying to do as much as we can, even despite the heat and powerful humidity. And it is really hot and humid here!
We started early this morning at the Amber Fort, way up on a rocky hilltop outside the city. The walk up is very steep, over uneven stone paths, so instead of climbing ourselves, we rode elephants to the top. Each elephant had a sort of saddle platform, and we paired up and sat side-saddle for the ride. The elephants plodded and lurched as they carried us, rocking us back and forth the whole way to the top. There was more than an occasional squeal over a particularly powerful lurch! All the way up, hawkers tried to sell us various trinkets and photographers tried to sell us personal pictures. It was all quite stimulating and fun.
The fort contained three palaces-- one for winter (lined with reflective mirrors to help spread heat and light) one for summer (angled to catch the breeze) and one called the water palace, which contained the king's bedroom, constructed with a water cooling system built into the walls. The palaces were highly decorated with carvings and murals and colorful mosaics made of precious stones.
One of the most striking things about the palaces, however, was how clearly the architecture was created around the system of purdah. Purdah is the term for the tradition of separating women from men to 'protect' them. All the main areas were lined with carved marble screens, behind which the women of the court were kept. They could watch the proceedings and events without being seen or being able to participate. We also saw the huge area where the wives lived ( the king who built the palaces had 12 wives). There was also a dark and large harem area. In addition, there were ramps instead of stairs most everywhere. This was because the court women used to wear clothes and jewelry that was so heavy they literally could not walk on their own and had to be rolled or carried around. We sure got the idea of what purdah meant for women back then!
After our visit to the Amber Fort, we went back to the old city to visit the Jantar Mantar, which has to be one of the coolest places we have seen so far. Jantar Mantar is the Sanskrit term for instruments of calculation, and it is a large park filled with huge stone structures designed to help astronomers and astrologers calculate where the sun is, where the constellations are, what exact time it is, and what star and moon sign a person has at birth. We saw the world's largest and most accurate sundial, which was a huge (100 foot or more?) central pillar angled at 27 degrees to match its latitude. Surrounding it is a huge semi circle on which notches and lines are carved. This massive instrument can tell the time from the sun's shadow to within 2 seconds of accuracy. Other large stone structures on the site included 12 large figures designed to line up with the constellations of each astrological sign. We also saw the giant rounded pits where the shadow of a central metal star helped determine a detailed horoscope for newly born children. The Jantar Mantar was absolutely fascinating, and not just to the professor. I actually overheard students talking about how they were geeking out. Which is a good thing!
We walked out of the Jantar Mantar and over to the city palace, which is now a textile museum. We had the chance to see some amazingly fine examples of traditional costumes and textiles. Most impressive were probably the wedding clothes of the royal family, covered in jewels and embroidered in gold thread. They were beautiful and powerful, as I'm sure they were intended to be.
We also fit in today a demonstration of the block printing that Jaipur is famous for. Block printing is done by hand, using intricately carved wood patterns that fit 4 or 5 separate blocks right over each other. The artisan starts with the first block, dips it in vegetable dye, and makes a print on plain white fabric. The next block uses a different colored ink, and is designed to go right on top of the first print. The next uses a third color, and etc. Once the full print has been repeated, with borders, on a large piece of material, it is washed in a special fixing fluid, the recipe of which is a closely guarded secret passed down in the families that traditionally do wood block printing. The fixing bath changes the colors of the dye, and makes them permanent. It was very interesting.
While we were at the textile center where we had the printing demonstration, some students took the opportunity to order hand-made clothes that were measured to fit perfectly. I believe there are many bespoke pairs of harem pants coming home, as well as a few shalwar kameez. A number of students tried on beautiful saris in gorgeous colors, but no one bought one. Yet.
We have another long full day tomorrow. There is so much to do and see and experience in Jaipur!
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