The Best Royal Palace Of Rajasthan: City Palace

City palace is situated in the heart of the Pink city, slightly northeast, the very center, Jaipur. Although the Palace was designed according to the Vaastushastra but still Rajput, Mughal, and European architectural styles are reflected in the City Palace. The City Palace was built under the rule of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in the year 1699 and continued till 1744. The city palace is divided into two parts- One part Sawai Man Singh Museum and the other is still the residing palace of the former Maharaja.

Visitor's Timings

Courtyards & Museum

Beautifully carved, two marble elephants greet at the doorstep of the City Palace, where the ‘Mubarak Mahal’ emerges first or welcome palace which is also known as reception center which was constructed by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II, who was the grandfather of the present Maharaja. Mubarak Mahal contains the textiles and arms museum in it, where the ornaments and the dresses of the earlier Rajas are kept which gives the tourists the tremendous look. There is a Clock Tower near Mubarak Mahal. Sileh Khana has a collection of armory and weapons. The next courtyard shows the Diwan- E-Khas which is also known as Hall of Private Audience which is fully built with marble and sandstone. It has two huge silver vessels on display. On the western side of it is the Pritam Chowk also called Peacock Courtyard, which is having four beautifully designed gates. Diwan- I- Am is the hall of Public Audience which contains miniature paintings, carpets, photographs. To construct this fabulous palace Rajasthani and Mughal architectural techniques are used them.

In Chandra Mahal there is a fantastic inner courtyard where we can see four different gates that represent four different seasons: the Peacock Gate is associated with autumn, the Green Gate – with summer, the Leheriya gate – with spring, the Rose Gate – with winter. Each gate is decorated with different kinds of flowers. Mubarak Mahal is also one of the major attractions of City Palace.  Mukut Mahal is on the top floor of the Chandra Mahal. Mubarak Mahal is a dazzling large Haveli that is famous for its structural charm. This haveli contains spacious rooms in it and the most attractive thing in this haveli is the reception hall, which has lovely things of Murals in it.

Textile Museum is the first museum that one can see while entering the City Palace area. This museum contains many ornaments as well as the garments which are worn by the Kings and the other people of the Royal families that belong to the medieval period. The Arms Museum of the City Palace. Various kinds of weapons are found here in this museum. We can see the different kinds of pistols and daggers here. Art Museum is the most attractive out of the three museums. This museum is worth loving by the tourists. One can see the paintings of Sawai Ram Singh in a 3D view, which seems like as he is looking in your eyes no matters you are standing on which side or you are watching the painting from any angle.

The Sunset Terrace Restaurant is rich and royal with enthusiasm in all aspects of life. This restaurant is popular because of the blend of great spices and lots of ghee in Rajasthani cuisine which is a unique trademark. Some of the attractive things in the City Palace are Udai Pol, Jaleb Chowk, Tripolia Gate, and Virendra Pol, or we can consider them as the various entrances to enter into the Palace.  They all are decorated in a fabulous way. The Tripolia gate is reserved for entry into the palace by the royal family. Common people and visitors can enter the palace complex only through the Virendra Pol and the Udai Pol or the Atish Pol.

Raja Man Singh II was the last to have a throne in this palace.