As a part of sightseeing tour, I visited the famous Hawa Mahal. I thought it would be like anyother monument but when I actually saw the exotic edifice, I easily understood the importance of it in Jaipur's history. Through the famous travel book, Lonely Planet, I came to know that it was Constructed in 1799, by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh the 'Hawa Mahal', Palace of the Wind, is one of the major landmarks of Jaipur. It is an integral part of the City Palace, an extension of the Zenana (women's chambers) standing away from the main complex. Hawa Mahal is ideally located at Serdohi Bazaar in Jaipur.

As our was a guided tour, I came to know about various facts quite easily. My guide told me that the five storey building was designed by Lal Chand Usta. He added that it is a stunning example of Rajput artistry made of red and pink sand stone, beautifully outlined with white borders and motif's painted with quick lime.

Actaully, I was quite enthralled by the pyramid-shaped structure is made up of small casements each with tiny windows and arched roofs. Its fascade makes Hawa Mahal look more like a screen than a palace. Its top three stories are just a single room thick but at the base are two courtyards. I was quite astonished to know it has over 900 niches and a mass of semi-octagonal bays, carved sandstone grills, finials and domes, which give this palace its unique fasçade.

I entered the Hawa Mahal from the City Palace side, through a magnificient door that opens into a spacious courtyard. The courtyard has a double storeyed building on three sides. There is a small archeological museum here. Only the eastern wing has three more storeys above, which are just a single room thick. The building, standing on a high podium, is a fifty-foot high thin shield, less than a foot in thickness, with small intimate chambers , which give this palace its unique facade. There are no regular stairs to reach the upper floors, but only ramps.