Amar Singh, our guide today, says that there are 1200 castes in the Hindi religion. The Brahmans (priests and philosophers) hold the highest caste, followed by the Rajput (warriors), the Vaisia (merchants and businessmen) and the Sudra (the largest community with many sub-castes). The Singh ("lion") last name of our guide places him in the warrior caste.
He explains further that it is the Hindi custom for a wife of an upper class marriage not to ever show her face to adult men other than her husband. Amar has had an arranged marriage, but his father has never seen the face of Amar's wife.
He points out several women in town and identifies their jobs by the colors of their dress.
Although salaries seem very low to us for many of the jobs, Amar points out that vegetables are inexpensive, only about 10 Rupees for a kilogram. (This comes to about a dime a pound, in U.S. terms.)
Jaipur is known as the Pink City, because of the pink colors of much of its architecture, including the Hawa Mahal, which we pass frequently though do not tour. It has 300 windows and is also known as the Wind Palace.
Our first main tour is of the Jaipur Fort. This begins with elephant rides for all of us. Lindy and I ride on "Lakshmi", a name I wrest with some difficulty from our uncommunicative mahout (elephant driver).
In the courtyard where we arrive with our elephants, a mother monkey scampers across the bulwarks with its baby hugging on securely. Bob is soon swarmed by a group of students eager to add his signature to their books. We take a tour of the castle to see some of the luxury in which royalty lived. Amar, enthused by Andrew and Isa's obvious affection and the tale of their upcoming betrothal, regales Isa with stories of how one window in the fort is where the wife would dutifully await her husband's return, so she could shower him with rose petals as he enters the palace.
A mirrored room, meant to catch and reflect sunlight or lit lamps, gives me an opportunity to catch Andrew in a fun photo.
A covered small room on the roof has a wide view of the terrain below, and the garden. It was a favorite place to listen to the rain.
Back in town, Andrew and Isa get their chance to ride a camel.
A visit to the astronomy/astrology site Jantar Mantar gives us a chance to see some unusual architecture. A staircase to heaven serves as a giant gnomon, casting the sun's shadow onto an inscribed arc that measures time to an accuracy of a few seconds. Other displays are devoted to showing the position of the sun in the Zodiac, and separate structures for examining each of the sign's influences.
Nearby Jantar Mantar, we visit the City Palace. A covered pavilion in the central courtyard is sometimes rented out to wedding parties. For a mere 2 lakh (about $4,000 USD), your wedding party of 200 will be amply fed and a palatial setting provided for your wedding. Andrew has a picture taken of him wearing the cape of Rajasthani royalty. With his curled mustache, he looks the part.
He explains further that it is the Hindi custom for a wife of an upper class marriage not to ever show her face to adult men other than her husband. Amar has had an arranged marriage, but his father has never seen the face of Amar's wife.
He points out several women in town and identifies their jobs by the colors of their dress.
Although salaries seem very low to us for many of the jobs, Amar points out that vegetables are inexpensive, only about 10 Rupees for a kilogram. (This comes to about a dime a pound, in U.S. terms.)
Jaipur is known as the Pink City, because of the pink colors of much of its architecture, including the Hawa Mahal, which we pass frequently though do not tour. It has 300 windows and is also known as the Wind Palace.
Our first main tour is of the Jaipur Fort. This begins with elephant rides for all of us. Lindy and I ride on "Lakshmi", a name I wrest with some difficulty from our uncommunicative mahout (elephant driver).
A mirrored room, meant to catch and reflect sunlight or lit lamps, gives me an opportunity to catch Andrew in a fun photo.
Back in town, Andrew and Isa get their chance to ride a camel.
A visit to the astronomy/astrology site Jantar Mantar gives us a chance to see some unusual architecture. A staircase to heaven serves as a giant gnomon, casting the sun's shadow onto an inscribed arc that measures time to an accuracy of a few seconds. Other displays are devoted to showing the position of the sun in the Zodiac, and separate structures for examining each of the sign's influences.
Nearby Jantar Mantar, we visit the City Palace. A covered pavilion in the central courtyard is sometimes rented out to wedding parties. For a mere 2 lakh (about $4,000 USD), your wedding party of 200 will be amply fed and a palatial setting provided for your wedding. Andrew has a picture taken of him wearing the cape of Rajasthani royalty. With his curled mustache, he looks the part.
In re Amar's story about his wife keeping her face covered for all other men- he says his wife doesn't like it and hopes their daughter's future will not have that in it. She wants her daughter to be a modern women and she is attempting to raise her so.
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