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Jaipur is 260 km from Delhi
and 240 km from Agra and forms the most chosen tourism golden
triangle of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. It a bustling capital city
and a business centre with all the trapping of modern metropolis
but yet flavored strongly with an age-old charm that never
fails to surprise a traveler. The old Jaipur painted in Pink
can grip any visitor with admiration. Stunning backdrop of
ancient forts Nahargarh, Amer, Jagarh and Moti Dungri are
dramatic testimonials of the bygone era and a reminder of their
lingering romance.
Jaipur is named after its founder the warrior and astronomer
sovereign Sawai Jai Singh II (ruled 1688 to 1744). The decision
to move out of his hilltop capital Amer was also compelled by
reasons of growing population and paucity of water. Moreover in
the early seventh century the power of the great Mughals was
dwindling with its aging Monarch Aurangzeb and after several
centuries of invasions the north was now quite and the wealth of
the kingdom had become greater than before. Seizing upon this
opportune time Jai Singh planned his new capital in the planes.
Jaipur is a corroborative effort of Sawai Jai Singh's strong
grounding in sciences and astrology and a Bengali architect
Vidyadhar with a strong instinct for planning.
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The sovereign of Amber, built
Jaipur in the eighteenth century. It was also around that time
that the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had died and the decline of
the Mughal Empire had set in. Jai Singh had started distancing
himself from the affair of the Mughal Court and he began
concentrating on building of Amber. His search for a safe place
for the increasing population of Amber resulted in Jaipur, This
was India's first planned city and a brilliant architect
Vidyadhar Bhattacharya from Bengal was commissioned to plan the
city. He designed it in accordance with ancient Hindu treatise
on architecture, the Shilpa Shastra (Vaastu).ws |
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