Jaipur Heritage Walk (जयपुर हैरिटेज वाॅक): Tripolia Gate to Albert Hall Museum (Part I)

Busy, new, narrow, crowded lanes but full of life as people go about their daily businesses. Walk past old temples and painted havelis and get a feel of how much thought has gone into the planning of this marvelous city. This beautiful triple arched gateway overlooks one of the newer streets in walled the city. You can start your walk from this gate and take a closer look at the enclosed balconies. This gate is under the care of Maharaja of Jaipur and only for use by the royal family. The only time this gate interests the local public is during the festivals of Teej and Gangaur because the processions of both come through this gate on their way to Talkatora, where they terminate. Jaipur has been a city of festivals. It has been said quite rightly that it celebrates nine festivals in seven days. There is a lot of festivity going on in the city throughout the year. The lights, bulbs, garlands, gates, and shobhayatras are ever existent in the bazaars and streets of the city. City planners left the terraces over the shops open so that people get to see the processions from there. Walk straight ahead with the Tripolia gate behind you. There are two very interesting buildings on both sides of Chaura Rasta, the wide street that lies in front of Tripolia gate. On the right is one of the oldest hotels in the walled city called the Hind Hotel. The owners ran into tax problems and had to give up the hotel. It has been lying vacant for many years but is now used by the department of tourism. On the left is another grand building – the maharaja public library. It is a beautifully designed building. Chaura rasta has many temples. The first temple is the Dwarkadheesh temple near shop number 190. The basic architectural and decorative features of most temples on this road remain the same. When we visited, some temples were open for darshan, and some were not. On the left side of the lane, there is a vary famous temple dedicated to lord Shiva – The Tarkeshwar Mahadev Mandir. This is one of the most important temples here. A majority of temples in the old city are dedicated to Lord Hanuman and Lord Krishna. This is one of the few temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is believed that Shri Tarkeshwarji was an earth born deity. Formally, this place was a hamlet occupied by Meena tribals. Shri Tarkeshwarji is believed to have appeared here, and the Meena’s then enshrined the deity’s image. The interior of the temple is very calming. You will notice that most of the temples on the main street are almost always located at a greater height. Chaura Rasta is popular with the students as there are a lot of book shops here. Since Diwali is around the corner, the market is abuzz with activity. Further ahead, there is a big red building called the Jaipur college. What might interest the tourist more is the very exciting collection of terracotta pots spread on the pavement outside Jaipur College. The items here are reasonably priced. It is perhaps the most photographed sights on the road. As you keep walking, you find many old buildings in the traditional Jaipur style. We were told that there is a Roop Singh ki Haveli behind Jaipur College. We went there and asked a couple of shopkeepers and residents but they had not heard about it so we just photographed some buildings from the old times at this location. One of these could possibly be Roop Singh ki Haveli. Overall, it was a good experience, and the hustle and bustle of the festive season added to it. We will take you further until the albert Hall museum in our upcoming video.