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Hawa Mahal

The Hawa Mahal is a palace in Jaipur, India built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. It was designed by Lal Chand Ustad and built from red and pink sandstone. The five-story pyramidal structure has 953 small windows that allowed royal women to observe the street without being seen while obeying purdah rules. The intricate lattice work also allowed air to flow through and keep the palace cool in the summer heat. Many visitors see only the ornate back side from the street and do not realize it is actually the rear of the larger palace complex.

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312 views2 pages

Hawa Mahal

The Hawa Mahal is a palace in Jaipur, India built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. It was designed by Lal Chand Ustad and built from red and pink sandstone. The five-story pyramidal structure has 953 small windows that allowed royal women to observe the street without being seen while obeying purdah rules. The intricate lattice work also allowed air to flow through and keep the palace cool in the summer heat. Many visitors see only the ornate back side from the street and do not realize it is actually the rear of the larger palace complex.

Uploaded by

Annabeth
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Hawa Mahal 

is a palace in the city of Jaipur, India. Built from red and pink sandstone, it


is on the edge of the City Palace, Jaipur, and extends to the Zenana, or women's
chambers.
The structure was built in 1799 by the Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, grandson of Maharaja
Sawai Jai Singh, the founder of the city of Jaipur, India.[1] He was so inspired by the unique
structure of Khetri Mahal that he built this grand and historical palace.
It was designed by Lal Chand Ustad. Its five-floor exterior is akin to a honeycomb with its
953 small windows called Jharokhas decorated with intricate latticework.[2] The original
intent of the lattice design was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life and festivals
celebrated in the street below without being seen, since they had to obey the strict rules of
"purdah", which forbade them to appear in public without face coverings. This architectural
feature also allowed cool air from the Venturi effect to pass through, thus making the whole
area more pleasant during the high temperatures in summer.[2][3][4] Many people see the
Hawa Mahal from the street view and think it is the front of the palace, but it is the back.[5]
In 2006, renovation works on the Mahal were undertaken, after a gap of 50 years, to give a
facelift to the monument at an estimated cost of Rs 4.568  million.[6] The corporate sector
lent a hand to preserve the historical monuments of Jaipur and the Unit Trust of India has
adopted Hawa Mahal to maintain it.[7] The palace is an extended part of a huge complex.
The stone-carved screens, small casements, and arched roofs are some of the features of
this popular tourist spot. The monument also has delicately modelled hanging cornices.

Architecture[edit]
See also: Rajput architecture

Details of the eastern facade

This palace is a five-story pyramidal shaped monument that rises to about 50 feet (15 m).
The top three floors of the structure have the width of a single room, while the first and
second floors have patios in front of them. The front elevation, as seen from the street, is
like a honeycomb with small portholes. Each porthole has miniature windows and carved
sandstone grills, finials and domes. It gives the appearance of a mass of semi-octagonal
bays, giving the monument its unique façade. The inner face on the back side of the
building consists of chambers built with pillars and corridors with minimal ornamentation,
and reach up to the top floor. The interior of the palace has been described as "having
rooms of different coloured marbles, relieved by inlaid panels or gilding; while fountains
adorn the centre of the courtyard".[8][9]
Lal Chand Usta was the architect. Built-in red and pink coloured sandstone, in keeping with
the décor of the other monuments in the city, its colour is a full testimony to the epithet of
"Pink City" given to Jaipur. Its façade with 953 niches with intricately carved jharokhas
(some are made of wood) is a stark contrast to the plain-looking rear side of the structure.
Its cultural and architectural heritage is a reflection of a fusion of Hindu Rajput
architecture and Islamic Mughal architecture; the Rajput style is seen in the form of domed
canopies, fluted pillars, lotus, and floral patterns, and the Islamic style as evident in its stone
inlay filigree work and arches (as distinguished from its similarity with the Panch Mahal
at Fatehpur Sikri).[10]
The entry to the Hawa Mahal from the city palace side is through an imperial door. It opens
into a large courtyard, which has double-storeyed buildings on three sides, with the Hawa
Mahal enclosing it on the east side. An archaeological museum is also housed in this
courtyard.[11]
Hawa Mahal was also known as the chef-d'œuvre of Maharaja Jai Singh as it was his
favourite resort because of the elegance and built-in interior of the Mahal. The cooling effect
in the chambers, provided by the breeze passing through the small windows of the façade,
was enhanced by the fountains provided at the centre of each of the chambers.[12]
The top two floors of the Hawa Mahal are accessed only through ramps. The Mahal is
maintained by the archaeological department of the Government of Rajasthan.[11]

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