Magnificent Rajasthan, land of kings

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18 SEPTEMBER 2003
Rajasthan, the land of kings, is India at its most colourful and exotic. Diagonally divided into the rugged southeasterly region and the barren northwestern Thar Desert that spills in to neighbouring Pakistan, this diverse state offers some of the most magnificent architectural treasures and breathtaking scenery in the world.

The pink city of Jaipur was the setting in which Sir Paul McCartney presented then-girlfriend Heather Mills with an engagement ring while on holiday, and Prince Frederik of Denmark recently stopped of in Rajasthan to relax before returning home after a six-day tour. Meanwhile, the region's beautiful landscape has been used as the backdrop for everything from a Heather Graham photo shoot, as she promoted The Guru, to an episode of celebrity chef Keith Floyd's cooking show.

The impressive and imposing forts recall the pride and valour of the Rajputs who ruled India for some 1,000 years and fiercely defended to the death their territories, while the sumptuously decorated palaces of the kings conjure up the royal lineage of the maharajahs.

Jaipur: the Pink City Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, is known as the Pink City for the painted walls in the old quarter which take on a rosy hue at sunset. Pink is traditionally associated with hospitality, so when Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) was due to visit in 1897, the maharajah ordered the entire city to be given a lick of pink paint to welcome him.

One of the highlights of Jaipur is Hawa Mahal, the Palace Of The Winds, an impressive five-storey sandstone palace with almost 1,000 delicately moulded windows carved into its façade. These enabled the ladies of the royal household to watch the goings-on in the outside world without being seen.