Hawa Mahal is a pink-washed “Palace of the Wind” in Jaipur, India. It was built as an extension of the nearby City Palace. Both of these palaces should be visited, one after the other. While the City Palace is used as a residential area for the royal families, Hawa Mahal wasn’t built to have that same purpose. It was used for lady members of the royal family to see the excitement on the streets below during festivals – without being seen from the public.
Jaipur is aptly called as the “Pink City.” If you go around the old city, the buildings are painted in pink and most ancient fortresses and palaces here are made of pink-washed sandstone. Despite the conspicuous filth and the unbearable traffic from all sorts of transport, the city has a unique presence of regal splendour. Haha Mahal carries that timeless splendour of Rajasthan.
The best time to see Hawa Mahal’s imposing beauty is in the morning. When the soft rays of the sunrise lit the palace, it’s a kind of beauty you’re never forget.
By Alain – Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander
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Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat is a Hindu ritual by the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. This nightly ceremonies is attended and watched by hundreds of worshipping locals and curious tourists from all over the world. It is free for all to witness but you should arrive earlier than 6 in the evening to get a good viewing spot. Watch out for your personal belongings when the crowd gets thicker as the ritual progresses.
On my way back to downtown Jaipur from Amber Fort (or Amer Fort, as the locals call it), I saw dream-like water palace by the roadside. I had to ask my Uber driver sweetly if he’d be kind to stop for a while so I could see the floating palace in good, full view. Since the Uber price is already fixed, I told him I’d give him a tip in cash. He pulled over and told me to take my time.
It was a very cloudy day so these photos don’t really give justice to its dreamlike appearance. It’s different when you see it in your own bare eyes. I never had the chance to go back at night because I had to catch a train that afternoon. I have no doubt that Jal Mahal glows romance when darkness falls.
Jal Mahal is a Dream-like Water Palace in Jaipur. It’s built right in the middle of an artificial lake built in 1610. Does it look like a floating palace, too?
Visiting Taj Mahal – The Monument of Love – is something you should include in your bucket list. What comes to mind when Taj Mahal is mentioned? Love. Undying love.
Yes, Taj Mahal is always synonymous with the undying love of Emperor Shah Jahan to his favourite wife. He built it to honour the memory of his beloved who died while giving birth to their 11th child. Her death affected the emperor so hard that his hair and beard turned white in few months. Theirs is a love story that has been told from one generation to another. The Emperor’s love to his wife is bigger than the size and fame of this monument.
You might wonder why the Taj resembles like that of a mosque – that’s because Shan Jahan was a Muslim and India has long history with the religion.
Don’t get us wrong, we absolutely fell in love with India. But its government just has major problems accepting its LGBT community.
A very old law dating back to 1861 (Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code) criminalises gay sex with up to 10 years in prison. This was invalidated by the Delhi High Court in 2009, but in 2013, the Supreme Court reintroduced Article 377. In January 2016, the Supreme Court announced it would review this decision, but until this is done, being gay in India remains a crime. We couldn’t find any evidence of Article 377 being enforced, but its very existence is a symbolic slap in the face to the LGBT community.
We interviewed a gay Indian couple anonymously who said that Article 377 is used by the authorities as a validation for all sorts of bullying and harassment of the LGBT community, in particular the Indian police who use it as a way to get bribes. We experienced this first hand in Delhi.
The backwaters of Kerala are a network of inter connected canals, rivers and lakes with a number villages. One of the highlights for travellers in India is to rent a house boat in Kerala and drift along the backwaters for a day or two and watching the world go by around you.
Naturally this was high up on our Wish List of things to do in India. It is however quite pricey, around 6,000-8,000 Indian rupees (around #60-80 / $95-125) a night. But, it’s a splurge that is well worth the experience.
Where to Find the House Boats
There are several places in Kerala you can use as a base to start your house boat cruise, but Alleppey is the most well known and popular. It has a large number of boats (around 1,000), which far outstrips demand for them.