This palace is also famously known as the ‘Palace of Winds’ and is very famous amongst those who visit Jaipur for the first time. Tourists make it a point to visit this monument once. This gorgeous five-storied palace is situated right in the hustle-bustle of the city and was constructed by Maharaj Sawai Pratap in the year of 1799. Lal Chand Ustad is the one who built this red and pink sandstone monument and is said to have the shape of Lord Krishna’s crown. It is an important architectural landmark famous for its 953 windows or even known as Jharokas and the pyramid shape of Hawal Mahal. This Mahal was constructed for the royal women to get a view of the city through those many windows as they were not supposed to appear in public. This place has been an important landmark for everyone visiting Jaipur with an aim to understand and experience the beauty of the monuments.

History

Sawai Pratap Singh, the Kachhwaha Rajput ruler and the grandson of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh who was the one who built Jaipur, made this grand palace as a part of the Royal City Palace. This ruler was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna which is very much evident in its construction pattern. All these years, many vague reasons have been said stating the need of the construction but as per the history, this palace was built for the convenience of the royal women and the stringent purdah system followed by the Rajput reign was one of the majorly cited reasons for its development. The royal women then did not have the permission of coming in public but they used to be keen to know about the happenings in the town. That’s the reason for the construction of these numbers of windows for the women to get a view of the city. All this helped get the women a sense of freedom without even getting in public.

Architecture

This grand Mahal is 50 feet from its base. It is made in the form of a beehive castle with end number of windows. It stands on a thin podium base with less than foot thick walls. The most famous thing about this red and pink sandstone fort is the windows which lead to a good amount of circulation in the beautiful palace. The spacious courtyard room is surrounded from three sides by two-storied building. The bottom storey has courtyards while the above three stories are as thick has a single room. The interior of the Hawa Mahal is bare and plain with channel and pillars reaching to the top storey. Each floor is connected by slopes and has no stairs to climb to different storey. One can get a magnificent view of the city from the Hawa Mahal and is considered as an important archeological museum.

Major Structures

The Mahal enables one to see the whole city that also includes many beautiful havelis and other palaces and forts. The interior is not very grand but the construction of it is so beautiful and also resembles the crown of Lord Krishna. The most amusing and the beautiful aspect of this fort is the many windows that helps ventilation in the Mahal.

Nearby Tourist Attractions

One can enjoy many attractions around this grand palace like the famous and divine Govind Devji Temple, the Jantar Mantar, Nahargarh Fort, Ajmer Fort and are considered as important monuments. Also other attractions are Ram Niwas Bagh, Sisodia Rani Garden, Jain Temple, B M Birla Planetarium and so on. The Rajpur Culture is very evident and is the main essence of Hawa Mahal and stands strong and pretty in the heart of the city as one of the major attractions.

How to Reach

Jaipur city is very well connected to the whole of India by all the means of transport like rail, airways, and road. The railway station is a broad gauge and is the main station. The closest airport is at Sanganer which is an International airport. It is 13 kms away from Jaipur city.

Visitor Information

The entry to this beautiful Mahal is from the side and goes towards the rear end. Also explore the great and rich Rajput culture which is evident at Hawa Mahal.