The Pink City Jaipur was established by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II (the Raja of Amer) in the 1727 AD and is named after him only. Maharaja Jai Singh was just 11 years old, when he came in power after the demise of his father, Maharaja Bishan Singh. His ancestors belonged to the Kachwaha Rajputs, who shared extreme enmity with Sisodia Rajputs (the rulers of Mewar) and had support of the Mughals.
Need for a New Capital for the Rajputana
Initially, Amber was the capital of the Rajputana, which is located at a distance of 11kms from the main city area of Jaipur. It was because of the increase in population and the rising water scarcity that there came a need of shifting the capital. Maharaja Jai Singh decided to build Jaipur as their new capital.
Jaipur – the First Planned City
Jaipur is the first planned city of the country. Maharaja Jai Singh conferred several books on architecture and consulted a number of architects while planning the layout of Jaipur. He also utilized his own technical and artistic interests so as to build a masterly brilliant city. The city was built under the architectural supervision of the Bengali scholar, Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, who was a ‘Shaspati’ (Hindu priest architect). The city’s layout plan is based on the principles of Vastu Shastra and Shilpa Shastra. The actual construction started in 1727 and it took a period of 4 years to complete all important squares, roads, offices and palaces.
For full story visit cityofjaipur.com
No comments:
Post a Comment