Hawa Mahal
That towering honeycomb wall everyone photographs from the street? It's the back of the palace.
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Built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, this five-storey red and pink sandstone screen was engineered so royal women could watch street festivals unseen. The 953 latticed jharokhas also channel the Venturi effect, keeping the interior cool through Rajasthan's summers. Designed by Lal Chand Ustad, the pyramidal structure rises about 50 feet — and the top three floors narrow to a single room's width.
What to look for
- 953 jharokhas (latticed balcony windows) arranged in a repeating honeycomb grid across the entire facade
- Delicately modelled hanging cornices carved into the sandstone between window tiers
- The pyramidal taper as you step back — the silhouette narrows sharply toward the top three floors
The facade faces the street but is the rear of the building; the palace is an extended part of the larger City Palace complex, so allow time to explore beyond the screen.
Hawa Mahal is one of 7 sights worth the detour in Jaipur, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Jaipur pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Jaipur
- Jantar MantarA Rajput king built 19 stone instruments here to fix the royal star charts — and the world's largest stone sundial is still the centerpiece.
- Amber FortA hilltop palace where Raja Man Singh built twelve queens' rooms each with a staircase to his chamber — yet the queens were forbidden from ascending it — and engineers cooled a room using wind blown over a water cascade.
- Jal MahalA five-story sandstone hunting lodge sits in the middle of Man Sagar Lake — its lower floors beneath the waterline when the lake is full.
- Jaigarh FortFour hundred metres above Amer, the fort that cast the world's largest cannon on wheels still commands the valley.
- City PalaceThe Jaipur royal family still lives here — around 500 personal servants included.
- Nahargarh FortBuilt in 1734 as a hilltop retreat, named for the ghost its builders had to appease.