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commercial district, with the bazaars still forming the heart
of the city. Shops with beautiful colourful textiles, handmade
decorations, puppets, carved stone animals, handmade
leather shoes and goods, and gem-studded jewellery unique to
Rajasthan line the streets at ground level. Shopping here is one
of the most pleasurable and meditative experiences. You cannot
rush this full sensory experience. It has to be done at a leisurely
pace; browsing the wares laid out in front of the shops on the
pavements, chatting to shopkeepers, haggling over the price is
all part of this experience.
The shops were designed in Jaipur in the multiples of
nine, having one cross street for a planet. The proportions,
inclination and width of the main commercial streets and inner
roads were arrived at with detailed mathematical calculations
and are said to be derived from the astronomical proportions
used in the Jantar Mantar observatory.
Jantar Mantar, literally meaning ‘calculating instrument’ is
one of the most unique places with the world’s largest stone dial.
So ahead of its times, it was completed in 1734 in the Ptolemic
traditions. Combining architectural forms with astronomy
principles, it is a large complex of larger than life buildings,
16 made out of local stone and marble, and six from metal,
mapping the movement of sun and moon. Walking around here,
it is easy to have an out-of-body celestial experience and feel
closer to the stars. The marble feels cool to the touch even on
the hottest afternoons, and you can spend hours here, as time
just seems to slow down.
Jantar Mantar sits next to the City Palace, established at the
same time as the city of Jaipur in 1727. It houses the Maharaja
Sawai Man Singh II Museum, and continues to be the home of
the Jaipur royal family. The current maharani (the queen) heads
the museum trust which carries out many charitable initiatives,
such as the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation to empower
underprivileged and underemployed women of Rajasthan.
The palace is laid out in a grid pattern with many gardens,
palaces and open-air pavilions, some of which house museums
of royal clothes and weapons. One of the highlights are the
two huge sterling silver vessels of 1.6 metres height and each
with capacity of 4000 litres and weighing 340 kilograms, on
display in the pavilion that was once the Diwan-i-khas. They
hold the Guinness World Record as the world’s largest sterling
silver vessels. These vessels were specially commissioned by
Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II to carry the water from the
Ganges to drink on his trip to England in 1901 for Edward
VII’s coronation.
There is so much to see here that this is merely scratching the
surface. The city with an underlying palette of pink is truly an
explosion of colour, pattern and stories. Every street in Jaipur
is resplendent in the brightest colours – pinks and turquoise,
greens and purples. But despite the hustle and bustle, and the
narrow streets, there is a peace and calm that permeates the
whole being. There is a beauty and elegance to how people
interact with each other, and tradition stands shoulder to
shoulder with modernity, existing harmoniously and easily.Most of the block printing traditions in Jaipur are
continued from one generation to the next, in small
communities living in mohallas, and small villages
around Jaipur. The main cogs of the community
are ‘chhipas’ (printers), ‘rangrez’ (dyers) and ‘dhobi’
(washers), and each family performs usually just
one function in the manufacturing process. The
intricately designed blocks are carved by hand into
cross-sections of sisam wood. I really recommend
a visit to the Anokhi Museum of Printing in Amer
village, just below the fort. It's a fantastic way to
relax: making and talking to the block makers.
Printmaking can be a very calming experience, the
repetitive and deliberate actions are meditative,
creating a feeling of flow. I took up linocut
printmaking in 2016 and sell my work online as
Hedge & Hog Prints (hedgeandhogprints.com),
giving workshops from my studio near the English
sea. It has helped me so much with anxiety. It's
time I can find just for myself and my whole body
relaxes. Although engagement with visual art even
as a viewer can help promote a sense of well-being,
research has shown that this is massively enhanced
by active engagement. Printing inspired my social
enterprise The Art Tiffin (thearttiffin.co.uk) and my
TEDx talk, How to Develop a Creative Habit, which
you can watch on YouTube.BLOCK PARTY
From left: A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the
Maharani of Jaipur by Gayatri Devi, Maharani of Jaipur.
Homage To Jaipur by Mulk Raj Anand. Jaipur Nama: Tales
From The Pink City by Giles Henry Rupert Tillotson. Building
Jaipur: The Making of an Indian City By Vibhuti Sachdev.FURTHER READING