Jaipur's five frames in one minute
Sunrise at Hawa Mahal: the first sun falls full on its 953 windows while the street below is still empty.
Opening time at Amber Fort: the courtyards are quiet and the walls glow above Maota Lake.
- Hawa Mahal
- Faces east, so shoot it at sunrise
- Amber Fort
- Opening time, from Maota Lake
- Jantar Mantar
- Late morning, when shadows are sharp
- Nahargarh
- The last hour of light
- Albert Hall
- Just after sunset, when it is lit
- Late morning at Jantar Mantar: the instruments need hard sunlight to cast their shadows, so this is the one place that loves the middle of the day.
- Sunset from Nahargarh: the whole pink grid laid out below the ridge as the lights come on.
- Blue hour at the Albert Hall Museum: the Indo-Saracenic facade lit against a deep blue sky.
Inside the walls at first light
Hawa Mahal from across the road
Where to stand: a rooftop cafe across Siredeori Bazaar gives the clean, straight-on frame. Our guides know which ones open early and let you set up quietly.
- When: the first twenty minutes after the sun clears the buildings, when the facade burns pink against a pale sky.
- Lens: a standard zoom for the whole facade, a short telephoto for a single row of jharokhas.
- Then go round the back: few visitors climb inside, and the upper terraces look along the bazaar and across to the City Palace.
Badi Chaupar waking up
What you'll see: pigeons lifting off the square, flower sellers, the first cycle rickshaws and temple bells.
- When: straight after Hawa Mahal, while the light is still low down the bazaars.
- At dusk: come back for kulfi sellers and families out walking, with the walls turning from pink to rose.
Johari Bazaar, the jewellers' street
The frame: long colonnades of pink arcades, painted in white, with the shutters still half down.
- When: before ten, before the traffic thickens and the shoppers arrive.
- Manners: these are working shops. Ask before photographing inside, and never block a counter.
Maniharon ka Rasta, the lane of lac bangles
Why: families shape lac bangles over small charcoal fires and press glass and stones into the lac while it is warm.
- How: buy a few bangles first and ask. Hands at work make better pictures than faces here.
- Light: the lane is narrow and shaded, so raise your ISO and look for the glow of the fire.
The City Palace and Jantar Mantar
The four gates of Pritam Niwas Chowk
Why: four painted gates stand for the seasons, and the Peacock Gate, with its birds in relief in blue and green, is the one everyone wants.
- When: early, because the Peacock Gate is busiest by mid-morning. The warm late-afternoon light suits it too.
- Lens: a wide lens for the doorway and its arch, a short telephoto for the peacocks themselves.
Mubarak Mahal and the Chandra Mahal
- The frame: the carved, almost lace-like Mubarak Mahal in the first courtyard, with the seven storeys of the Chandra Mahal rising behind Pritam Niwas Chowk.
- Inside: a private tour of the royal apartments opens rooms most visitors never see. Follow the photography rules your guide explains.
Jantar Mantar in hard sunlight
Why: nineteen instruments of stone, marble and bronze, completed in 1734, make abstract shapes of curves, stairs and shadows.
- When: late morning to early afternoon, the rare Jaipur picture that wants a high sun.
- Look for: the Vrihat Samrat Yantra, about 27 metres tall, and the zodiac instruments in a row.
Amber and its neighbours
Amber Fort from Maota Lake
Where to stand: the lakeside below the fort, or the road as it curves above the water, with the walls reflected in calm water.
- When: opening time, when the sandstone is warm and the lake is still. The fort lit at night is a second picture entirely.
- Our rule: we walk up the old ramparts or drive to the upper gate, never by elephant.
The Sheesh Mahal
Why: walls and ceilings set with thousands of tiny mirrors, which turn a little light into a glittering room.
- How: no flash. Stand off-centre and shoot at an angle so you are not in every reflection.
- When: early, before the courtyard fills, or at midday when the outdoor light is too harsh anyway.
Panna Meena ka Kund
Why: a stepwell of criss-crossing stairs on all four sides, one of the great geometric frames of Rajasthan.
- When: soft morning light, before the sun reaches the bottom and the contrast becomes too hard.
- Respect: guards now often stop visitors walking on the steps. Follow their word and shoot from the edge, which gives the best geometry anyway.
Jaigarh's walls above Amber
- The frame: crenellated walls running along the ridge, with Amber far below and the Aravallis folding away.
- When: mid to late afternoon, as the walls warm. The Jaivana cannon, cast here in 1720, is a fine detail shot.
Lake, ridge and cenotaph
Jal Mahal at sunrise
Where: the promenade along Man Sagar, on the Amber road.
- When: sunrise, when the water is calm and the palace sits gold above its reflection. It is seen only from the shore.
- Watch for: birds on the lake in winter, and the Aravalli hills behind in the mist.
Nahargarh at sunset
The frame: the city spread below the ridge, Jal Mahal in its lake and the lights coming on as the sky turns.
- When: arrive an hour before sunset and stay until it is properly dark.
- Inside the fort: the stuccoed suites of Madhavendra Bhawan give soft interior pictures before you go to the walls.
Gaitore in the early light
- Why: the carved marble chhatris, domed memorials, of the Kachwaha kings in a quiet valley below Nahargarh.
- When: early morning, when the light falls on white marble and carved pillars and almost nobody is there.
Galtaji in the gorge
Why: temples, sacred tanks and pavilions stacked in a gorge east of the city, with the Sun Temple on the ridge.
- When: early morning, when pilgrims bathe and the light enters the gorge.
- Care: the tanks are used for ritual bathing, so never photograph bathers. Keep bags closed against the macaques.
Beyond the walls
Albert Hall after dark
Why: the Indo-Saracenic museum by Samuel Swinton Jacob, opened in 1887, glows when it is lit in Ram Niwas Garden.
- When: just after sunset, while the sky still has colour. Inside, the galleries suit the late afternoon.
- Watch for: pigeons on the forecourt at dawn, if you come back in the morning.
Patrika Gate
Why: a modern painted gateway at Jawahar Circle whose arches show the art of every region of Rajasthan.
- When: a weekday morning, when you can frame the arches without a queue of selfie-takers.
- Lens: a wide lens for the corridor of arches, then close in on the painted panels.
Birla Mandir at dusk
- Why: a white marble Lakshmi Narayan temple below Moti Dungri hill, glowing as the evening lights come on.
- How: photograph from outside, and follow the rules at the door. It is a working temple, not a backdrop.
A photographer's day in Jaipur
Before six: your driver collects you with chai. Hawa Mahal from the rooftop as the sun rises.
Seven: walk to Badi Chaupar and Johari Bazaar as the shutters lift, with a guide who grew up in the lanes.
- Eight: pyaaz kachori and lassi for breakfast, as the old city does.
- Mid-morning: the City Palace and the Peacock Gate, then Jantar Mantar as the sun climbs.
- Afternoon: lunch and a long rest at your hotel. Back up the morning and pick the evening frame.
- Late afternoon: drive the ridge to Nahargarh and wait for sunset.
- Evening: Albert Hall lit up on the way back, then dinner in a haveli courtyard.
- Next morning: Jal Mahal at sunrise, Amber at opening and Panna Meena ka Kund before the sun gets high. Our Jaipur itinerary shows how the days fit together.
Jaipur's year, in pictures
January: on Makar Sankranti every rooftop of the walled city flies kites. A haveli roof gives a sky full of paper.
February: our favourite light of the year, clear and warm, with mustard yellow in the fields on the drive out.
- Kite day
- Makar Sankranti, 14 January
- Gangaur
- March or April, processions from the City Palace
- Teej
- July or August, green leheriya
- Diwali
- October or November, lit bazaars
- March and April: Holi colour, then Gangaur, when women in their finest dress follow the goddess through the old city.
- The monsoon: dark skies over the pink walls, the lakes filling and Teej with its green leheriya and swings.
- October and November: clear skies after the rains and Diwali, when the bazaars are strung with lights. We confirm festival dates each year.
Faces of the walled city
Start with a greeting: khamma ghani in Rajasthan, or a simple namaste, and a smile at the camera.
Find a background and wait: a painted doorway or a pink arcade in raking light, then let life walk through it.
- Look for repetition: rows of turbans in a shop, stacks of brass pots, a line of kites drying on a roof.
- Craft families welcome interest: a morning with the block printers of Bagru gives faces, hands and colour, with permission given freely.
- Never pay children: however charming they are, money for photographs keeps them out of school.
Tickets, rules and manners
Camera rules change: some monuments charge separately for cameras, and rules on video and tripods vary. We check them for the week you visit.
Flash: keep it off in the painted rooms and museums. It damages pigment and annoys everyone.
- Tripods: often refused at monuments. Leave it in the car and brace on a wall instead.
- Drones: not allowed near monuments, and we advise against bringing one to India at all. See our photography tips.
- Professional shoots: pre-wedding sessions and commercial work need written permission well in advance. Tell us early.
Three day trips with a camera
Chand Baori at Abhaneri
Distance: about 95 kilometres east, usually around two hours along the Agra road and a short village road.
- Why: thirteen storeys of steps falling into a deep square well, with a temple of the goddess Harshat Mata beside it.
- When: early light, before the sun reaches deep into the well and the shadows turn black.
- Allow: at least ninety minutes, more if you love geometry.
Samode, the palace in the hills
Distance: about 40 kilometres, roughly an hour through Chomu, longer in the morning rush.
- Why: a painted palace climbing the hillside, with a mirrored and frescoed Durbar Hall inside.
- When: a late lunch and the afternoon light on the hill, or a night at Samode Palace for both ends of the day.
Sambhar Lake and its salt flats
Distance: about 70 to 80 kilometres west, an hour and a half to two hours depending on traffic.
- Why: India's largest inland salt lake, with white salt pans, the tracks of old narrow-gauge salt trains and, in good winters, flamingos.
- When: sunrise or the last hour of light, when the salt turns pink and gold. Bring a long lens for the birds.
What to carry on a Jaipur shoot
One zoom and one short telephoto: the zoom for gates, courtyards and interiors, the telephoto for jharokhas, faces in the bazaar and kites in the sky.
A polarising filter: it deepens the winter sky above the pink walls and cuts glare on Man Sagar and Maota Lake.
- A small sling bag: easier than a backpack in crowded bazaars, and it stays in front of you.
- Slip-on shoes: you will take them off at every temple, and the ramps at Amber and Nahargarh are cobbled and steep.
- A scarf: for temple doors, the dust on the ridge road and a soft background for a detail shot.
What most photographers miss
The view from inside Hawa Mahal: looking out through a jharokha onto the bazaar, as the royal women once did.
Rooftops at golden hour: water tanks, kites caught on wires, pigeons and the Aravallis behind.
- Temple doors at dawn: the small temples of the old city open early, with bells and marigolds. Ask first.
- The ridge road at dusk: the walls of Jaigarh and Nahargarh in silhouette from the road.
- Hands in the workshops: blue pottery, block printing and gem cutting, at close range.
- The Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing at Amer: a restored haveli with fine light in its courtyards, and an introduction to the craft.
Before you go
Stay central: Samode Haveli puts you inside the walled city, a short walk from Hawa Mahal before dawn. Rambagh Palace has gardens full of peacocks for the early hours.
Allow three nights: enough for a second try when the sky is grey or the bazaar is closed for a holiday.
- Carry small notes: for the rooftop chai, the shoe-minder and the bangle you buy before the portrait.
- Dress for the temples: shoulders and knees covered, with a scarf in your bag.
- Read on: our state-wide piece on Rajasthan for photographers and our photography journey.