Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal, the Palace of Winds, stands on Hawa Mahal Road at Badi Choupad in the Old City of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh built it in 1799, and the architect Lal Chand Ustad is traditionally credited with its design. It forms the street-facing facade of the City Palace's women's quarters, and its purpose was to let the women of the royal household observe street festivals and processions while remaining unseen, in keeping with the custom of purdah. The five-storey structure is made of red and pink sandstone with white lime detailing and contains 953 small windows, called jharokhas, each with fine lattice screens. The latticework allowed breezes to pass through and cool the interior, which gives the building its name. The shape is often compared to a honeycomb or the crown of Krishna, to whom Pratap Singh was devoted. Behind the famous facade the building is only one room deep, a series of narrow chambers, passages and ramps rather than stairs, and the upper floors include the Prakash Mandir and Hawa Mandir. Visitors enter through a courtyard reached from the rear of the building, not from the main street, and a small archaeological museum on the ground floor shows sculptures, miniatures and artefacts relating to Jaipur's history. The experience is an architectural one rather than a curated exhibition, concentrating on views of the street below and the Old City skyline, including the nearby City Palace and Jantar Mantar. The Rajasthan archaeology department has repaired cracked sandstone and restored the colourful stained-glass panes, and a major conservation programme in the early 2000s was carried out to stabilise the structure. The facade is best photographed from cafes across the street, and the building is a key part of the Walled City heritage listing. It is a short walk from the City Palace and the main bazaars, so most visitors see it as part of a wider Old City itinerary.