By Shreyas Kabuliwala
It was beautiful rainy day. The clouds had made their place in the sky-land
were hovering from one lane to another. It looked as if the clouds were on a
city site seeing. I was here in the city of
Jaipur. Two days
have passed by and i have seen a number of places in the town. The special
ones were the
Hawa
Mahal,
Sawai
Madho Singh Museum,
Lake Palace
(there are two of them - one in Jaipur and one in Udaipur City) and the
Rotating Restaurant. Today - the third day in the City, I had to set off
seeing the beautiful City Palace. I was more interested in seeing the most
beautiful thing in the City Palace - the Chandni Mahal.
Chandni Mahal, the adobe of the then Queen now stands in its relics - with
the same beauty and attraction it used to have in the older. As we (me and
my guide), moved through the lanes of Jaipur City, I could see the dilemmas
of upper and lower class.
The entrance is huge - vast and plain. From the entrance itself one could
see the Jhalars of the Windows, the red paint it had and the Balcony where
the Queen of Chandni Mahal used to stand. Standing inside the City Palace of
Jaipur, the Chandni Mahal has its own story to tell.
Calmness stills here and even the drop of a pin can be heard here. On the
entrance there is large courtyard. There used to be a time, when the Vintage
Cars and the Elephants used to stand in this courtyard. Today only
imagination works here. Running like a rift, inside the palace, the vast
living hall calls for you. At the centre of the living Hall, there is the
Queens Chair, made of pure silver. It is here in this Hall, the Queen used
to entertain her. Dances were done, songs were sung and Queens entertainment
were done here.
Just from the ground floor of the Chandni Mahal, a huge and heavy staircase
takes you to the Royal Rooms. The biggest one was the Queens Chamber. This
room has also the huge Balcony which can be seen from the entrance. There on
the walls of the Queen Room, still there are relics of the Kundan Painting.
From the tiny Jalis on the windows one can clearly see the outside
courtyard. The best thing about the Mahal is that ventilation which has been
provided by the way of the Jalis. Cool air breezes in the room, keep is
cooled through out the year. The Silver bed used to be in the middle of the
room and the chandler used to hang just above the bed. The paintings on the
walls have somewhat faded away, but still one can see the images of the
yesteryear through these faded paintings.
Next to the Queens room is the guest room where the queens relatives could
stay if they wished. On the back side of the Mahal is another balcony from
where the City could be seen by the Queen.
With a number of visitors coming here to experience the life of the Queen,
Just next to the Chandni/ Chandar Mahal is the huge dining Hall. Spread over
a large area, its has queens decoration. Red colored Chatris and the golden
table cloths these give a royal look. Once meant only for the Royal Clan,
today these have been opened for the general public. Its open only in the
evenings. The common folk can have the royal dinner, in the evenings. Just
as the Guide was telling me, i could only say - Me Too!
