Three ideas behind every building
Defence: Rajasthan was long a land of small kingdoms at war, so kings built on hills, behind walls, with gates that bent and turned.
Layers of protection: even the palaces inside the forts are arranged in layers, each more private and protected than the last.
Climate: thick stone and lime walls hold the night's cool, and courtyards pull air through a house.
- Defence
- Hills, walls, bending gates
- Climate
- Thick walls, courtyards, screens, tanks
- Hierarchy
- Public halls to the hidden zenana
- Guiding science
- Vastu shastra
- Later influences
- Mughal, Indo-Saracenic, Art Deco
- Sun and breeze: screened windows let breezes in and keep the sun out, and roof terraces were for sleeping on hot nights.
- Water: precious, so every fort, palace and town stored the monsoon in tanks, wells and lakes.
- Hierarchy and privacy: halls where the king met his people, more intimate halls for nobles and envoys, and the zenana, the women's quarters, hidden behind stone screens.
- Faith in the plan: temples at the heart of every fort, and the old Indian building science of vastu shastra guiding orientation, proportion and layout.
- Mughal alliance: from the sixteenth century it brought gardens, arches, domes and fine inlay.
- British and modern: the British era brought Indo-Saracenic public buildings, and the twentieth century brought Art Deco.
- Still its own: each influence was absorbed into a style that is still unmistakably Rajasthani.
Forts: built so no army could rush the gate
- Hill forts
- Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Amber
- Water fort
- Gagron, Jhalawar
- Desert fort
- Jaisalmer
- Forest fort
- Ranthambore
- UNESCO
- Six Hill Forts of Rajasthan, 2013
- Kumbhalgarh wall
- About 36 km
Every kind of fort
From the old texts: Indian texts on kingship describe several kinds of fort, and Rajasthan has examples of almost every one.
On ridges and plateaux: Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh and Amber.
- Among rivers: Gagron in Jhalawar is surrounded on three sides by water.
- From the sand and the jungle: Jaisalmer rises from the desert on its ridge; Ranthambore hides in forest.
- UNESCO: six were listed together in 2013 as the Hill Forts of Rajasthan. See the UNESCO forts of Rajasthan.
The parts of a fort
Pol: a gate; forts have a series of them set at sharp angles along a steep approach, so attackers could never build speed.
Spiked doors: studded with iron spikes at the height of an elephant's head.
- Burj: a bastion, round or angled, from which defenders fired along the walls.
- Kanguras: the merlons that crenellate the tops of the walls.
- Inside: rock-cut water tanks, granaries, armouries, temples and a palace at the highest point.
- Handprints: small handprints carved on some gates were left by royal women who died by sati, and our guides explain them carefully.
Each fort's character
Chittorgarh: a whole ruined city on a long plateau.
Kumbhalgarh: a wall about 36 kilometres long running over the hills.
- Mehrangarh: rises sheer from its rock above Jodhpur, its walls growing out of the cliff.
- Jaisalmer: still lived in, with houses, temples and shops inside its sandstone walls.
- Amber: as much a palace as a fort. Our page on forts and palaces explains how we visit them.
Palaces: a journey from public to private
- Outer court
- Troops, horses, elephants
- Diwan-i-Aam
- Hall of public audience
- Diwan-i-Khas
- Hall of private audience
- Private apartments
- The ruler's rooms
- Zenana
- The royal women's quarters
The sequence of courts
The outer court: where troops, horses and elephants gathered.
Diwan-i-Aam: an open pillared hall where the ruler sat to hear petitions.
- Diwan-i-Khas: for nobles and visitors of rank, often more richly decorated.
- Beyond: the ruler's private apartments and, separately, the zenana, a maze of rooms, terraces and screened galleries.
- Amber shows it best: from Jaleb Chowk through the Ganesh Pol, the painted gateway to the private palace, to the Sheesh Mahal and the zenana.
Mughal borrowings, Rajput forms
Borrowed: cusped arches, four-part gardens, fountains, marble halls and fine inlay, especially where rulers served at the imperial court.
- Kept: projecting balconies, curved roofs, skylines crowded with domed pavilions, and palaces stacked up hillsides rather than laid on flat ground.
- Purely Rajput: Bundi's Garh Palace tumbles down its hill in a cascade of balconies and brackets.
What to look for inside
Sheesh mahal: thousands of pieces of convex mirror glass set into plaster, so a single lamp fills the room with stars.
- The finest: at Amber, Junagarh in Bikaner and Mehrangarh.
- Other treasures: painted rooms, stained-glass windows, gilded ceilings and doors inlaid with ivory.
- Living buildings: the City Palaces of Jaipur and Udaipur are still partly lived in by the former royal families.
The elements you will see everywhere
Jharokha, the balcony window
What it is: a projecting balcony window on carved brackets, usually under a small roof.
- Open or screened: open ones let a ruler show himself to his people; latticed ones let the women watch the street unseen.
- A whole building of them: Hawa Mahal in Jaipur. Read what a jharokha is.
Jali, the stone screen
Pierced stone: carved into geometric or floral patterns.
- Why: privacy, less glare, and breeze that cools slightly as it passes through the small holes.
- The finest: carved from a single slab, their shadows moving across the floor through the day like a slow clock.
Chhatri, the memorial pavilion
Literally an umbrella: a domed pavilion raised on pillars.
- Two uses: decoration on rooftops and walls, and a memorial over the cremation site of a ruler, queen or noble.
- Cenotaph grounds: Bada Bagh in Jaisalmer, Gaitore in Jaipur and Mandore in Jodhpur. Read what a chhatri is.
The curved Bengal roof
- Bangaldar: a roof that bends down at both ends, originally from the thatched huts of Bengal.
- Its journey: it reached Rajasthan through Mughal architecture and crowns pavilions, jharokhas and small shrines.
Brackets, torans and kanguras
Brackets: carved stone supports under every balcony, often lotus buds, elephants or peacocks.
- Toran: a decorative arched gateway; at weddings a carved wooden toran still hangs over the bride's door.
- Kanguras: the rows of crenellations crowning fort walls and palace parapets.
Araish and mirror work
- Araish: polished lime plaster with fine ingredients, burnished until it shines like marble, and perfect for fresco.
- Mirror work: small pieces of convex glass set into plaster in the sheesh mahals to catch and multiply light.
Havelis: the merchant's palace
What it is: a townhouse built around one or more courtyards, home to a merchant, banker or noble family. Read what a haveli is.
Turned inwards: the street facade is decorated, but life happens around the courtyard, which brings light, air and privacy.
Baithak: the outer court and reception room, where the men met visitors and did business.
- Inner court: for the women and the household.
- Rooftops: for sleeping in summer and flying kites in winter.
- Jaisalmer: yellow sandstone carved so finely the facades look like lace.
- Patwon ki Haveli: Patwon ki Haveli is a cluster of five houses built for one family.
- Salim Singh ki Haveli: Salim Singh ki Haveli has peacock brackets and swelling upper storeys.
- Bikaner: the havelis of the Rampuria family are built in rich red sandstone.
- Shekhawati: merchants who made fortunes in Calcutta and Bombay covered their havelis with frescoes of gods, heroes, trains and motorcars. See painted havelis and the Shekhawati frescoes guide.
- Stay in one: many are still homes and some are hotels; a night shows how the courtyard cools the house and how four generations lived under one roof.
Stepwells, tanks and lakes: architecture for water
The ruler's first gift: with a short monsoon and long dry seasons, water was the most important thing a ruler or rich family could provide.
Kund: like the geometric Panna Meena ka Kund near Amer.
Jhalra: like Toorji ka Jhalra in Jodhpur, built by a queen in the 1740s.
- Baori or bawdi
- Stepwell down to groundwater
- Kund
- Stepped tank, open to the sky
- Jhalra
- Stepped pool fed by seepage
- Taanka
- Covered underground cistern
- Johad
- Rain-fed pond
- Chand Baori
- 8th or 9th century, 13 storeys
- Taankas: in the desert, these cisterns collect rain from house courtyards.
- Social and sacred: women gathered to fetch water, travellers rested in cool galleries, and many stepwells have small shrines in their walls.
- Raniji ki Baori: Raniji ki Baori in Bundi, built by a queen in 1699, has carved gateways and pillars at every level. See the stepwells of Rajasthan.
- Lakes: rulers dammed valleys to make Pichola and Fateh Sagar in Udaipur and the vast reservoirs of Jaisamand and Rajsamand, with marble pavilions on their embankments.
- Johads: desert towns built rain-fed ponds, like the Sethani ka Johara in Churu.
- Public generosity: every one was a gift, and many still hold water today.
Temples: from sandstone towers to marble halls
- Garbhagriha
- The dark womb-chamber sanctum
- Mandapa
- Pillared hall for worshippers
- Shikhara
- The curving tower
- Amalaka
- Ribbed stone disc on top
- Approach
- From the east, walk clockwise
The Nagara temple
North Indian tradition: Rajasthan's temples belong to the Nagara style.
The sanctum: the garbhagriha, a small dark chamber holding the image of the deity.
- Halls and tower: one or more mandapas stand in front; above the sanctum rises the shikhara, crowned with the amalaka and a finial.
- Movement: approached from the east, with worshippers walking around the sanctum clockwise.
- Proportion: every element, from plinth to tower tip, follows rules set out in old architectural texts.
Maru-Gurjara masterpieces
The style of Marwar and Gujarat: grew up in western India from about the eleventh century, often linked with the Solanki kings.
Its marks: dense, delicate carving, clusters of smaller towers around the main shikhara, and ornate ceilings.
- Before it: the earlier temples of Osian show the sandstone carving of the age before.
- Dilwara: the Dilwara temples, built from the eleventh century onwards.
- Ranakpur: the fifteenth-century Jain temple at Ranakpur, with a forest of carved marble pillars traditionally counted at 1,444.
Later forms
Jagdish Temple: a tall seventeenth-century Nagara temple in the heart of old Udaipur.
- Temple as haveli: many Pushtimarg Krishna temples, including Shrinathji at Nathdwara, are built like large havelis, because the god is treated as a beloved child at home.
- Govind Dev Ji: in Jaipur, it stands in the palace gardens on the same axis as the ruler's apartments.
- What happens inside: our guide to religion and temples.
Mosques, tombs and the Mughal touch
Arrival: Islamic architecture came with the Ghorid conquest of Ajmer at the end of the twelfth century.
Adhai Din ka Jhonpra: Adhai Din ka Jhonpra, the hut of two and a half days, was begun in 1192 with carved columns from older temples.
- Its screen: later given a great screen of arches inscribed with calligraphy; one of the earliest mosques in India.
- Ajmer Sharif: the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti grew over centuries, with gateways and mosques added by Mughal emperors and devotees.
- The Mughal style: domes, arches, gardens and white marble influenced Rajput building deeply from the late sixteenth century, as at Amber, Bikaner and Bundi.
- Across the border: Agra and Fatehpur Sikri show Mughal architecture at its height.
- Rajasthan's marble: the white marble of the Taj Mahal came from the quarries of Makrana.
Jaipur: a city drawn on paper
By the old texts: Sawai Jai Singh II and Vidyadhar Bhattacharya laid Jaipur out on a grid of large rectangular blocks divided by broad, straight bazaars.
The centre: the palace took the central blocks.
- Founded
- 1727
- Planners
- Sawai Jai Singh II, Vidyadhar Bhattacharya
- Plan
- Grid of blocks and broad bazaars
- Gates
- Seven
- Painted pink
- 1876, for the Prince of Wales
- UNESCO
- 2019
- Rastas: the other blocks went to different trades and communities, each in its own lane.
- Chaupars: great squares marked the crossings of the main streets.
- Shopfronts: the bazaars were lined with uniform arcades.
- The wall: seven gates surrounded it all.
- Why pink: the city was washed in terracotta in 1876 to welcome the Prince of Wales, and rules have kept it pink since. Read why Jaipur is pink.
- World Heritage: listed in 2019, one of the earliest and most ambitious planned cities in India.
Indo-Saracenic, Art Deco and after
Indo-Saracenic: British architects working for the princes put Indian domes, arches, chhatris and jharokhas onto museums, colleges and railway stations.
Samuel Swinton Jacob: the most important architect in Rajputana, who designed the Albert Hall in Jaipur and the Lalgarh Palace in Bikaner.
- Indo-Saracenic
- Late nineteenth century
- Key architect
- Samuel Swinton Jacob
- Umaid Bhawan
- 1929 to 1943, Henry Lanchester
- Murals
- Stefan Norblin
- Modern
- Jawahar Kala Kendra, Charles Correa
- Mayo College: in Ajmer, built for the sons of the princes, another fine example.
- Art Deco: Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur, by Henry Lanchester, is one of the great Art Deco buildings of Asia.
- Inside Umaid Bhawan: a central dome, streamlined interiors and murals by the Polish artist Stefan Norblin. See the Umaid Bhawan museum.
- After independence: architects returned to Rajasthan's traditions in new ways.
- Jawahar Kala Kendra: Charles Correa's arts centre in Jaipur is planned on a nine-square grid inspired by the city itself.
Stone, lime and colour
Yellow sandstone: quarried around Jaisalmer, it gives the golden city its colour and carves beautifully, which is why its havelis look like lace.
Red and pink sandstone: Jodhpur, Bikaner, Karauli and Dholpur are famous for it, used for forts, palaces and havelis.
- Dholpur stone: used widely in New Delhi's government buildings.
- Makrana marble: the white marble of Makrana, in Nagaur district, was used for the Taj Mahal and for Rajasthan's marble halls and memorials, including Jaswant Thada in Jodhpur.
- Lime plaster: burnished araish covers palace and haveli walls, takes fresco and keeps rooms cool.
- Kota stone: the smooth grey-green limestone of Kota is laid as flooring across India.
- Mud and thatch: round village houses of mud and dung in the Thar stay cool in summer and warm in winter, and women decorate them with white and ochre patterns.
Where to see the best of each
Forts: Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Mehrangarh, Jaisalmer, Gagron and Ranthambore. Our journal ranks the best forts of Rajasthan.
Palaces: Amber, the City Palaces of Jaipur and Udaipur, the Garh Palace at Bundi and Junagarh Fort in Bikaner.
- Havelis: Patwon ki Haveli in Jaisalmer, the Rampuria havelis of Bikaner and the painted towns of Shekhawati.
- Stepwells: Chand Baori at Abhaneri, Raniji ki Baori in Bundi, Toorji ka Jhalra in Jodhpur and Panna Meena ka Kund near Amer. Our stepwells experience links them.
- Temples: Dilwara on Mount Abu, Ranakpur, Osian, the Jain temples inside Jaisalmer Fort and the Kiradu temples near Barmer.
- Memorials: Bada Bagh in Jaisalmer, Gaitore in Jaipur, Mandore and Jaswant Thada in Jodhpur.
- Colonial and modern: the Albert Hall, Umaid Bhawan, Lalgarh Palace and the Jawahar Kala Kendra.