Built in 1799, by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, the Hawa Mahal Palace or Palace of the Wind , is one of the major landmarks of Jaipur in the Rajasthan state in India. The structure is a combination of red and pink sand stone, carefully outlined with white borders and motifs. Jaipur's signature building the Hawa Mahal, a multi layered palace, was built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II. It's Beehive like structure is pretty famous.
If one were to select the most outstanding of all buildings in the walled city, or the most unusual, then the Hawa Mahal would easily stand out. Sawai Pratap Singh was a great devotee of Lord Krishna and he dedicated this mahal to the Lord, its intricate exterior wall looks like a mukut, or crown, which adorns Lord Krishna’s head. It overlooks one of the main street and lies sandwiched between more prosaic buildings.
This five-story, pyramid-shaped structure is made up of small casements, each with tiny windows and arched roofs with hanging cornices, exquisitely modeled and carved. Its top three stories are just a single room thick but at the base are two courtyards. It is a fifty-foot high thin shield, less than a foot in thickness, but has over 900 niches and a mass of semi-octagonal bays, carved sandstone grills, finials and domes, which give this palace its unique fame.
The Hawa Mahal lives up to its name as one climbs up to the balconies and is almost swept away by the cool breeze. Today, Hawa Mahal provides the visitor with some excellent views of the city and a bird’s eye view of the Jantar Mantar, which a medieval observatory and an important tourist place in Jaipur. The best time to view Hawa Mahal is sunrise when it catches the early morning sun and is bathed in its golden light making it glow like a gem. The entrance to this strange building is on the rear side.
As one looks at it, one realizes that the rear side of the building is comparatively very plain and lacks much of ornamentation. One is rather surprised at the contrast, since in the front there is intricate carving and much attention has been paid to even minute details yet the backside is more a mass of pillars and passages.
Since the Hawa Mahal was built at a time when women of the royal families had to observe strict purdah, many believe that the Hawa Mahal was built, just so these ladies could watch the processions and various activities taking place on the streets. This does explain why Hawa Mahal has such tiny windows and many screened balconies. The royal ladies could look below at the people without showing themselves and thus enjoy a sense of freedom.
The Hawa Mahal is a great example of the Rajputana architecture, which was strongly influenced by the Mughal style of architecture. This particular style of building that we observe in Hawa Mahal, uses the best features of Mughal architecture with other features that could better adapt to the inhospitable weather conditions of Rajasthan.
