The Rustic Beauty of Jaipur

On the cloudy morning of 5th August, 2021, two suitcases stood near the door of my house as my mom and I prepared to depart on an impromptu trip to Jaipur, Rajasthan. “It’s going to rain cats and dogs there,” my mom said, to which I replied, “It’s an arid state. It won’t rain that bad.” Exactly 4 hours and 23 minutes later, we stood at the gates of Jaipur International Airport and watched as the sky poured torrents of rain down. I smiled sheepishly at my mom. “My bad.”

The peacocks perched on a vacant football goalpost, basking in the cool rain. Photo By: Sampurna Dutta (2021)

Another 20 minutes later, we arrived at our hotel in central Jaipur. A hotel specifically chosen by my mother to meet her requirements – close to the old bazaars and authentic Rajasthani restaurants. I was rushed into the hotel and we promptly dumped our bags in our room to go explore the city.

Our first stop? The Baapu Bazaar. This is one of the oldest Bazaars in Rajasthan, and is aptly placed in the older part of the Pink City with high palatial mud walls and ancient-style footpaths. Here, we got our loot on, and splurged on original Lehriyaa Dupattas and Kurtis, Jaipuri accessories and handwoven Bandej sarees.

Not satisfied with the number of shopping bags that I was dumped with, we then travelled via a hand-pulled autorickshaw to the next bazaar – Johari Bazaar. Now we were laden with bags full of Jaipuri chappals, accessories and more sarees.

A Mughal Jaipuri design at Johri Bazaar Photo By: Sampurna Dutta (2021)

Situated right nest to the last shop we visited was Laxmi Mishtan Bhandar which served authentic and rustic Rajasthani food since 1954. We filled our stomachs with the iconic and spicy Gatte Ki Sabzi (Deep fried and rolled gram flour balls in curd and spice gravy) paired with Missi Roti.

The trip would have been absolutely pointless if we hadn’t visited another relic of the Pink City – The forts and palaces of Jaipur. The 3 days, we set out with a backpack on our bags and binge-visited the Nahargarh Fort, Amber Palace, Amagarh Fort, the Hawa Mahal, and the City palace where the current king and his family resides. As we toured, we discovered the rich history of the state and the bravery of its kings and people, marveled at the ingenuity of the ye-old architectural finesse, and witnessed first-hand the beauty of the Rajasthani culture of weaving A-Grade shawls, hand printing sarees and dancing and singing to folk songs.

On the very last day of our 7-day trip, we decided to visit the renowned temples of Jaipur, all of which were situated conveniently close-by to each other. The Ram-Krishna Temple sat atop a mountain and was made of pure white marble, symbolizing purity and peace. At the foot of this mountain was the Ganesh Temple, carved into an amalgamation of gold and marble. The serene beauty of it all could make even the non-believer devout.

The Ram-Krishna Temple’s untouched white marble glistens in the noonday sun. Photo By: Sampurna Dutta (2021)

As my mom and I sat in the plane as it got ready for take-off, we already had begun reminiscing of our time in Jaipur, however short. We promised on that day in that seat, we would be back.