City Palace, Palace museum in Jaipur, India.
The City Palace is a palace and several museums in Jaipur, India, where large courtyards are surrounded by multistory buildings with open colonnades. The entire site combines tall sandstone entrance gates with wide galleries and halls decorated with ornate wall paintings.
Jai Singh II had the building constructed from 1732 as the seat of his dynasty after he founded the new capital. Later rulers added more pavilions and gates during the following two centuries.
The former ruling family still lives in the rear section of the compound and maintains many ceremonies from earlier times. Visitors often see local craftspeople in the courtyards making textiles or jewelry using traditional methods.
Visitors should come early in the morning to avoid large groups and wear comfortable shoes because the paths between buildings are long. Some areas do not allow photographs, so it helps to watch for signs.
In one hall stand two enormous silver vessels that once carried water from the Ganges to England so a maharaja could remain ritually pure during a journey. The vessels are among the largest silver objects in the world and each weighs several hundred kilograms.
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