Jaipur

Jaipur sits at the threshold of the Aravalli hills, its walls rising in a muted rose that both defies and recalls the ochre of desert sands. Founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of the Kachhwaha dynasty, the city bears the name of its patron and the imprint of Vidyadhar Bhattacharya’s geometric vision. As one of the earliest examples of a planned metropolis in South Asia, its street grid, ramparts and nine-sector layout owe more to Vāstu Śāstra than to chance. Yet behind each fortified gate—Suraj Pol to the east, Chand Pol to the west and the northern portal facing Amer’s old citadel—lies a tapestry of human endeavour that extends well beyond the original blueprint.

Spanning some 467 km² in north-eastern Rajasthan, Jaipur slopes gently from the Nahargarh hills in the north toward the alluvial plains to the south and east. The Aravalli ridge, lightly wooded and severed by granite ridges at Jhalana, offers both a backcloth and a barrier. Until recently, the Dravyavati River ran as a seasonal trickle at the city’s heart; by 2014 it had become little more than an open sewage channel. A rejuvenation scheme launched by the Jaipur Development Authority in 2015 restored a 13 km stretch by 2018 and completed the remaining 34 km by 2022, renewing public promenades and reintroducing native flora.

Jaipur endures long, furnace-hot summers punctuated by brief monsoon rains. Classified as BSh under Köppen, the city records average temperatures above 40 °C in May and June and falls to mild lows—though never far below 20 °C—between December and February. The highest temperature, 49.0 °C on 23 May 1994, still stands as record; winters have edged down to −2.2 °C on rare occasions, most recently in January 1964. Despite monsoon deluges in July and August, flooding remains exceptional. The contrast between urban and rural readings underscores Jaipur’s status as a pronounced heat-island zone.

By the 2011 census, Jaipur’s 3.1 million residents occupied roughly 600,000 households, making it India’s tenth most populous city. Children under seven numbered over 380,000, while the literacy rate stood at 83.3 percent among those aged seven and above. Women accounted for 900 per 1,000 men; Scheduled Castes and Tribes comprised almost 17 percent of the populace. Hindi and English serve as official languages, though Dhundari remains the vernacular cornerstone, joined by Marwari, Sindhi, Urdu and other dialects. Linguistic self-identification in 2011 placed 70 percent under Hindi, nearly 10 percent under Rajasthani and smaller shares in Urdu, Marwari and Dhundari. Religiously, Hindus form nearly 78 percent of the city, with Muslims at 18.6 percent, Jains 2.4 percent and others the remainder.

In the waning hours between 28 and 29 March 2025, the city witnessed an act of desecration at the Veer Tejaji Temple in Pratap Nagar. Local residents, joined by members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, blocked Tonk Road on 29 March to demand swift justice for the vandalism of their sacred idol.

When Jai Singh II shifted his court from Amer to the newly laid-out campus at Jaipur, he set a precedent among Indian rulers for urban engineering. The “Pink City” nickname dates to 1876, when the facades were repainted in terracotta to welcome the Prince of Wales, emulating the red sandstone of Mughal capitals. Under British suzerainty, Jaipur remained the state capital; after 1947 it was designated the administrative seat of Rajasthan in 1949. On 6 July 2019, UNESCO inscribed Jaipur among its World Heritage Cities, recognising both Amer Fort and the Jantar Mantar observatory, the latter a testament to Jai Singh’s astronomical ambitions.

Jaipur’s economy, valued at roughly INR 122,140 crore (US $15.8 billion) in 2020–21, blends traditional crafts with modern industry. Tourism underpins much of the city’s revenue, drawing visitors on the “Golden Triangle” circuit alongside Delhi and Agra. Gem-cutting workshops and luxury-textile mills line the older quarters, while information-technology parks cluster in Mahindra World City. The Bhamashah Techno Hub—Asia’s largest incubator at its inauguration—embodies the region’s pivot toward startups. Major chambers of commerce, including FICCI, PHDCCI and CII, maintain regional offices here. Historic enterprises such as the Jaipur Stock Exchange flourished from 1989 until its closure in March 2015. Automotive manufacturers—JCB, Hero MotoCorp and Robert Bosch—operate factories on the city’s periphery, and chemical producers such as Emami and National Engineering Industries contribute to its industrial profile. Not least, the Jaipur Foot prosthesis, produced locally, offers mobility to thousands of amputees across India.

A succession of royal patrons over three centuries has fostered a living tradition of handicrafts: block printing and bandhani dyeing, stone carving and zardozi embroidery, kundan and meenakari jewellery, miniature painting and blue pottery. The city is among India’s foremost rug-weaving centres. Modern retail spaces like World Trade Park coexist with stalls in Johari Bazaar, where silver filigree mingles with contemporary Anokhi fabrics.

Jaipur’s performing-arts vocabulary includes the Jaipur Gharana of Kathak, known for its brisk footwork, sinuous pirouettes and nuanced expression, and the communal swirl of Ghoomar, a dance performed at weddings and festivals. Tamasha-style Kathputli puppetry recounts folk legends in open courtyards. The city’s calendar is marked by Elephant Festival, Gangaur, Holi, Diwali, Teej and other celebrations; its literary pulse beats fastest at the annual Jaipur Literature Festival, the world’s largest free gathering of authors and readers.

Visitors encounter an array of palaces and temples: the City Palace complex (including the Chandra Mahal), the five-storey lattice-window façade of Hawa Mahal, Jal Mahal floating on Man Sagar Lake, and the Albert Hall Museum housed in a colonial-revival edifice. Hilltop forts—Amer, Jaigarh and Nahargarh—command views across the old city’s ramparts. Sacred sites include Govind Dev Ji Temple, Galtaji and the Birla Mandir marble shrine. Two verdant retreats—Sisodiya Rani Bagh and Kanak Vrindavan—offer respite amid formal gardens.

Jaipur International Airport at Sanganer, 13 km south of the old city, attained international status on 29 December 2005. In 2015–16 it handled some 363,900 international and 2.54 million domestic passengers daily, with apron space for 14 aircraft and a terminal capable of moving 1,000 travellers at peak. On foggy Delhi mornings, flights occasionally divert here. Jaipur Junction railway station, first built in 1875 and rebuilt between 1956 and 1959 under Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II, serves over 45,000 passengers each day. It harnesses solar power and functions as the headquarters of the North Western Railway zone.

The Jaipur Metro—India’s sixth—commenced service on 3 June 2015, running from Mansarovar to Chandpole along a mostly elevated track. Phase 1B extended to Badi Chaupar in September 2020, completing a corridor whose stations include Mansarovar, Sindhi Camp and New Aatish Market. Notably, the line weaves above a triple-deck roadway, an engineering first in India.

Highways radiate from the city: NH 48 connects Delhi and Mumbai, NH 52 links to Kota and Tonk Road to Agra. The Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation and Jaipur City Transport Services Limited operate over 400 buses along urban routes, with depots at Vaishali Nagar, Vidyadhar Nagar and Sanganer. A Bus Rapid Transit system began partial operation in 2010, and a 150 km ring road project—57 km of six-lane roadway completed at a cost of ₹1,217 crore—now circles metropolitan Jaipur. Bhawani Singh Road, passing Rambagh Palace and the Golf Club, remains one of the city’s most prestigious stretches.

Beyond its tangible fabric, Jaipur persists in song and screen. Paul McCartney’s “Riding into Jaipur” (from his 2001 album Driving Rain) evokes a night-time approach to “the fabled pink city.” The films The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel stage European retirees among Jaipur’s lively bazaars and palace-convert hotels. In 2000, The Mountain Goats opened their album The Coroner’s Gambit with “Jaipur,” a track that signals the narrator’s arrival at its storied gates.

By every measure—historical depth, architectural coherence, cultural vitality—Jaipur defies simple classification. It stands, rather, as a city of layers: of planning and improvisation, of royal ambition and democratic impulse, of tradition in full conversation with the modern world. Its hue may be pink, but its character is varied and enduring.