City Palace Jaipur

The main palace of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, is known as the City Palace. The palace’s structure depicts the mixture of the traditional Mughal and Rajasthani architecture. The palace complex is huge and occupies about one seventh of the total area of the walled city of Jaipur.

The City Palace was built by Maharaja Jai Singh II. However, his successors have made many additions to the palace complex. The palace complex has splendid structures like the Chandra Mahal, Badal Mahal, Mubarak Mahal, Shri Govind Dev Temple etc. There is a local handicraft market in the complex. The famous City Palace Museum is also inside the palace complex. At this museum you can see ammunitions used in wars, dresses worn by the Maharajas and their Maharanis and a number of other things. The main gate to the stately courtyard is of brass and is simply magnificent. The other attractions in the City Palace are the two huge silver vessels which according to the Guinness Book of World Records are the largest silver vessels of the world. In earlier times these vessels were used to carry water from the holy river Ganges for the royal family’s personal use.

There are many things in the City Palace which cannot be expressed in words. Its beauty can only be felt by our eyes. Members of the royal family are still residing in one part of the palace. However, visitors are not allowed to enter that part of the palace.