This beautiful extension to the main palace in Jaipur, India is this delightful “Palace of the Winds” which was built in 1798 by Maharaja Pratap Singh in the shape of the crown of Krishna, the Hindu God. It is a beehive of 953 small windows attached to the apartments of the ladies of the Maharajah’s harem which allowed them to view everyday life in the busy commercial street below without breaking their strict “Purdah” (covering of their faces).
The street below is relatively narrow, with shops selling every possible commodity. Getting a neat and uncluttered photo of this delightful building from a odd angle is a lucky shot but immediately illustrates the isolation of the harem ladies who could only gaze down on the throngs below and, perhaps, wish that they too could have been allowed a life of greater freedom…
Jaipur offers visitors many fascinating points of interest to visit. Amongst these is the Jantar Mantar which is a collection of shaped, constructed, architectural astronomical ‘devices’ (looking like staircases and walls) built by Sawai Jai Singh who was a Rajput king. Although it is easy to be sceptical about devices that are apparently ‘just big sundials’ it comes as a very sharp surprise to see, right in front of your eyes, just how accurate are these enormous ‘sundials’.
