The royal city of India Jaipur has recently made the entry in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. For its arcade and royal architecture, Jaipur has always been on the heritage list. The announcement was made after the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee at Baku (Azerbaijan). As Jantar Mantar has been already marked as World Heritage Site and now as the wall city has bagged the title is a proud moment for all of us.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his happiness through Twitter and posted “Jaipur is a city associated with culture and valour. Elegant and energetic, Jaipur’s hospitality draws people from all over. Glad that this city has been inscribed as a World Heritage Site by @UNESCO.
“The city was proposed to be nominated for its value of being an exemplary development in town planning and architecture that demonstrates an amalgamation and important exchange of ideas in the late medieval period. In town planning, it shows an interchange of ancient Hindu, Mughal and contemporary Western ideas that resulted in the form of the city,” UNESCO
They say Diwali is all about lights, festivity, and celebration. But is it just about that?
Diwali is also about cleaning the whole house like never before; it is also about nostalgia on finding out old stuff, and about remembering the old Diwali days. Jaipur Beat takes you on a trip to find the lost treasures that we only find out and remember about in “Diwali ki Safai”. Here follows a list of things that we find during our Safai Mania!
The Memories!
There are always some pictures from childhood that our parents took of us having made the mess. There are also the pictures from family trips to hill stations or simply to Amber Fort in Daddu’s lap or papa’s shoulders. Good times!
The Money
We all have that secret place for keeping extra cash that we never told anyone about. Moreover, we ourselves forgot about having kept it there! And Tada! It pops out of nowhere during Diwali Safai.
Toys
Those childhood treasures, miniature cars, teddy bears, dolls, planes and whatnot. Those toys are just there to stay and be admired year after year, and you smile thinking about the tantrums you used to throw at losing them for the shortest span of time.
Clothes
The long forgotten dress that used to be your favourite but you grew out and eventually forgot about it. It’s about time you donate them at the Mother Teresa Home or Neki ki Deewar in Jaipur
Home Décor Items
Year after year we buy new stuff to decorate our house on Diwali, and the old stuff just gets dumped in the storeroom, only to be noticed on next Diwali safai!
Cards
Birthday cards, wedding cards, written letters and messages that you kept under the mattress and forgot about.
Trivial things
That lost jewellery piece that you kept safely in your drawer only to take it out now, or the coins and pennies in nooks and corners.
Diwali is the biggest festival of the year and the most exciting one too, but the “Diwali Safai” also has its own advantages, that bring along a lot of things that we loved and lost, or forgot about during the year!
Did you start your Diwali Safai yet? What did you find? Let us know in comments!
The most pleasant time of the year is right here when not just the Jaipurites but the tourists from all over the world throng to Pink city.
Let us take you to those little things that make winter one of the favourite seasons for the locals as well as for those who travel to Jaipur.
The feeling of winter mornings that start with a warm sunlight to afternoon sunbathing with family whilst devouring our favorite moongfali and santara, sipping tea from the corner wala thela, marching out in the most fashionable leather jacket during pleasant evenings and finally getting cozy in the warm blanket as the night falls are few most cherished things that we all enjoy.
Wait. That’s not it. The thought of festivals and vacations at this time of the year makes this period even more special.
Here are the Five little things that make this season more joyful.
Change is all around us
The mundane summers and the long sunny sweltering afternoons no longer deprive us of going outside for a long spell. The weather is just perfect; offering a perfect mix of sun and clouds. The soft morning mist mingling with the early morning light and the little dew drops falling on the leaves give us the most dramatic scape to be witnessed as soon as we leave our beds. Feel it while taking a morning walk at Rambagh Golf club, Central Park, Smriti van or to any other park.
Morning at Jal Mahal, Mansagar Lake
2. The Festival Season
The Pink city has always been synonymous with festivals and colours. The festivals make it worth to experience this season in all its glory. The aura of festivity starts from Diwali celebration in Jaipur when the city is dressed in its beautiful best.
Diwali Celebration in JaipurMotisons decoration
Then comes the fascinating World famous Pushkar Fair carrying along the true essence of Rajasthani culture and vibrant colours of dessert exuding absolute delight.
Camel Safari at Pushkar Fair
As you are back from delightful desert land, the glittering Jaipur Jewellery Show-JJS welcomes you, followed by an unparalleled melting pot of amazing thoughts, great thinkers and minds, and the JLF music stage at the Jaipur Literature Festival giving us some serious fashion ticks. How could you miss our passion for kite flying making the sky a colourful canvas?
Jaipur Literature Festival
Kite Flying in Jaipur
We bet no other city has this much to offer in just one season.
3. Time to Gorge on Season’s Treats
Winter and winter delicacies walk hand in hand. When you’re in Jaipur, nothing compares to the pleasures of indulging in winter delicacies that offer a variety of veg and non-veg choices. From warming yourself on a wintry day with some Garma Garam Doodh Jalebi at Saras Parlour or the piping hot samosas at Shankar, winter months are much awaited to savour Gajak, Ladoos, Bajre ki khichdi, kadhai Ka doodh, Malpue, Dal ke Pakore, Moong Dal Ka halwa and variety of irresistible egg joints. Streets full of amazing winter delicacies make us forget about all our weight loss resolutions.
Doodh Jalebi at Saras ParlourKadahi ka doodhTikkiSmoky Tikkas
4. It’s time for Band Baja Baraat
The beautiful backdrop of forts and palaces become more pretty when decked up under the open sky in winters. Thus, the wedding planners and pandits are set for the winter wedding packages. Not just those coming for destination weddings, there is always some or the other member of the family who is getting married in winter months allowing us to do a lot of winter shopping and dressing later 😉
5. Atithi Devo Bhava
Last but not least, we love it to have guests at home this season. As this is the best time to take them on a city tour, from climbing up to Amber or Nahargarh to walking on the streets- everything seems so much of fun when compared to doing the same activities in the sweltry and humid harsh summers. So, if you want to visit your family and friends who are in Jaipur, kindly make a note that this is the season when they will happily welcome you.
Aren’t we so fortunate to be able to live in a place where we have this liberty to enjoy all the seasons and can actually see it happen how weather changes slowly and beautifully each day?
Jaipur Beat 