Jaipur, India Travel Pictures

The whole town of Jaipur was supposedly painted pink to provide a hospitable welcome to a high British official in the mid 19th century. Most of the buildings are still pink, explaining it's title of 'pink city'. The star attractions are the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds), which is a facade from which women of the court could watch the going-on's of the street below without being seen; the City Palace with the Jantar Mantar, a large, spread out observatory; and the Amber Palace, located on a nearby hill.

The Palace of the Winds (Hawa Mahal) Facade	Looking down onto the street below from one of Hawa Mahal's main windows
One of the windows of Hawa Mahal from the inside	Hawa Mahal Facade from inside
Jal Mahal Palace, located in the middle of a lake	From one of the highest points of the Jantar Mantar observatory. The fortification on the distant hill is Ambar Fort
The Birla Temple, built of white marble	Shiva statue at Birla Temple
A busy intersection. The Palace of the Winds is at the top right	The City Palace
On an elephant on the way up to Ambar Palace. It's well worth it to take the elephant	The intricate entrance to Ambar Palace
One of the many beautiful doorways of Ambar Palace	Another beautiful door at Ambar Palace
An airy hallway at Ambar Palace	A hallway at City Palace
This proud nut seller's paid a lot of attention to the presentation of his wares	There are plenty of Monkeys at Ambar Palace who are used to being fed. Careful, they might get agressive
Look at this beautiful screen made out of one piece of stone	A colourful side street in Jaipur: A water buffalo, a fruit seller, several local women on the left, and a scooter driver winding his way through the straw-covered chaos
Fruit juice seller at Ambar Palace	Family singing and dancing on the way to Jaipur