Jaipur, the ‘Pink City’, needs no introduction. Perhaps everyone reading this has been there at least once. I, of course, proudly belong to that City and like to spend as much time there as I can. Its history, palaces, forts, monuments, gardens and museums are well known to all and its ever growing tourist industry is busy adding exquisite hotels and lovely cafes by the day. But the soul of the ancient pink city lives on in its quaint streets.
Jaipur lays claim to be the first planned city in the world in the modern era. It is a grid of wide roads connected by a number of narrower streets. The roads have interesting names like ‘Johari Bazar’ meaning a market of jewellers as they set up their business there from the time the city was built. A parallel road is ‘Chaura Rasta’, literally meaning ‘Broadway’, a wide road even by present day standards. At the risk of being termed presumptuous, might I suggest that the Broadway of New York City took its name from here. After all, Jaipur was built in early 18th century and New York in late 19th.
Connecting Chaura Rasta and Johari Bazar is a comparatively wider street named ‘Gopalji Ka Rasta’ so named because of an ancient temple of Lord Krishna known in childhood as ‘Baal Gopal’. In the ‘50s, we could easily drive our Ford Prefect right upto the shops well inside the street. Apart from jewellery shops, the street has been housing ‘halwai’ shops known for fresh milk sweets like ‘kalakand’ and ‘misri mawa’ ever since we came to Jaipur and was the main source of ‘bhog’ offerings for Mataji’s ‘mandir’ at home.
Right opposite on the other side of the road is Haldiyon Ka Rasta. I do not know how it got its name as ‘haldi’ actually means turmeric while the street has been famous for being home to many jewellers including their doyen, the late Bhuramal Rajmal Surana, who has a haveli there. Originally, that was his family’s residence which I visited often as his second son, Vimal, was my classfellow at St. Xavier’s. The original Surana showroom was also located in the haveli and is now home to artisans as the Surana sons have shifted showrooms and their residences outside the old city.
Just outside Gopalji Ka Rasta, on the main road is the entrance to ‘Purohitji Ka Katla’. ‘Katla’ means a portion or slice and the small area is full of shops selling wholesale dresses for weddings and festivals at bargain prices. It is a favourite haunt of Akhila to buy gifts for relatives and friends.
The next street down south from Haldiyon Ka Rasta is ‘Gheewalon Ka Rasta’. More than ghee, it is famous for special sweets such as ‘Gulab Sakri’ with its unique yummy rose flavour. Next to it is ‘Dhadda Market’, a centre for homeopathic medicines, both German and Indian. On the other side of the road is Laxmi Mishthan Bhandar which lays claims of being the most popular eating place in the old city.
Moving north towards ‘Badi Chaupar’, just short of it after Purohitji Ka Katla, one can see rows of typical multicoloured Jaipuri ‘safas’ and ‘pagris’ displayed on the rooftop of shops. These turbans form an essential part of the formal attire for weddings and ceremonial occasions.
Beyond ‘Badi Chaupar’ and the iconic Hawa Mahal, we enter the palace compound through a gate named ‘Sireh Deori’ and on to another one, ‘Dhundhubi Pol’ also called ‘Naqqar Khana Ka Darwaza’ where in days gone by the playing of Shehnai and Dhol (drum) preceded announcement of the Maharaja’s daily schedule. And so we arrive at ‘Jaleb Chowk’. In Persian, ‘Jaleb’ means ‘soldier’ and the site was so named because the Maharaja’s Army used to carry out its drills there. Later it became popular for being the abode of the sweet ‘jalebi’ which was exclusively prepared here. Pitaji was very fond of jalebis and used to send someone from his domestic staff to fetch hot and juicy ones fresh from the ‘kadhai’ to be had with hot milk for breakfast on Sundays.
A gate to the west leads to the City Palace and Jantar Mantar while one to the north opens the path to Govind Devji Mandir patronized by the Maharaja. It is said that the Maharaja could have his daily ‘darshan’ with powerful binoculars from the Palace’s balcony across the vast lawn between the temple and the Palace.
Now for some interesting names of streets in the old city. Off Chaura Rasta, there is a lane called ‘Lal Ji Saand (bull) Ka Rasta’. The story is that Lal Ji, son of Maharaja Madho Singh from a concubine, used to reside here. He was of a huge build and fat, hence the name.
Then there is ‘Jat Ke Kue Ka Rasta’ off Chandpole Bazar. I suppose it took its name from a well belonging to someone from the Jat community although the ‘kua’ must have been covered long ago. In fact, in my readings, I have come across ‘Bhoot Ke Kue Ka Rasta’ although I couldn’t find one on the map. However, Nahargarh Fort and Jai Mahal Palace are supposed to be haunted.
Off Badi Choupar, there is a ‘Chatouri Aurton Ka Chouraha’ named after women who used to gather there to indulge in devouring delicious street food.
An interesting site is ‘Barah Bhaiyon Ka Chouraha’ (twelve brothers’ crossroads), on Nahargarh Road where a dozen friends of different religions and castes used to meet regularly in a show of solidarity. There is a unique Ganesh temple here with one Ganesh idol on top of another. Presently, it is famous for speciality Jaipur bangles and cosmetic items. There is also ‘Bagruwalo Ka Rasta’ in Chandpole area so named for shops selling Bagru fabrics. ‘Bagru’ is a form of hand block printing, an old tradition of over 300 years.
Off Chandpole, there is a ‘Khajanewalon Ka Rasta’ which takes its name from caretakers of the Maharaja’s vault. The ‘khajanchis’ have long gone and now it has shops selling exquisite statues in stone, marble, plaster of paris, etc., as also garments.
A street named after artisans is ‘Thateron Ka Rasta’ in a locality known as Modikhana in Kishenpol Bazar. ‘Thaterey’ are utensil makers and the clan is as old as the city itself. 200 families of these artisans were invited by the Maharaja in 1727 to shift here from Amer out of which 80 still exist. They make household items like ‘lota’ for storing water, ‘paraat’ for kneading flour dough and items for storing food, out of a mix of brass and copper called ‘peetal’. The beating of the metal with a mallet to give the desired shape makes a sound which gave the name ‘thatera’ to the artisans.
There are many more and this list is just indicative of what makes the pink city streets so interesting. In a small way, modern Jaipur is keeping the tradition alive. At the junction of Prithviraj Road and Sarojini Marg, there is ‘Aunty’s Café’ followed by a number of vendors of street food. Thus that end of the Marg is now popularly known as ‘Auntyji Ki Gali’. And right across on Prithviraj Road, just after the Statue Circle roundabout, there is a stall boasting of ‘Uncle Coffee’, hot or cold.
