Hawa Mahal, Royal palace in Jaipur, India
Hawa Mahal is a palace of pink sandstone in Jaipur, India, rising five stories. The eastern facade displays 953 small projecting windows arranged in an elaborate lattice pattern.
Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh commissioned architect Lal Chand Ustad to construct this palace in 1799 as an addition to the City Palace complex. The structure was created during a period when Jaipur flourished under Rajput rule.
The lattice of small windows once enabled palace women to watch street festivals and processions without being seen themselves. Today this arrangement reminds visitors how spatial separation and social norms shaped architecture.
There is no direct entrance from the street side; visitors enter from the rear, through passages on the left or right of the building. The top two floors are reached only by ramps, not stairs. The facade faces east, so morning light falls on the windows.
The numerous windows together form a ventilation system that channels cooling air currents through the building during summer. Despite its delicate appearance, the structure was built without interior load-bearing walls.
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