• Jaipur lies at a distance of about 320 kms fromDelhi, 240 kms from Agra and 135 kms fromAjmer.

• located amidst the Aravali hill ranges at analtitude of about 430 m above sea level.

• Latitude – 26 55’ ; Longitude – 75 50’• The current district of Jaipur lies in Eastern

Rajasthan, in the Banas River basin and forms apart of Eastern Plain of Rajasthan.

• The eastern Rajasthan, lying to the east andsouth east of the Aravali divide includes themodern administrative districts of – Udaipur,Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Banswara, Durgapur,Kota, Bundi, Baran, Jhalawar, Bhilwara, Ajmer,Jaipur, Tonk, Dausa, Dholpur, Karauli, Bharatpurand Alwar.

The walled city of Jaipur

ABOUT JAIPUR CITY

MILITARY REASONS

• Defence• A site at the South of Amber ensured greater

distance from Delhi.• the out skirting hill ranges (Nahargarh hills)

shaped as a horseshoe would allow the newcity to expand only in the South.

• It was an open plain bounded on the north-west and east by hills.

GEOGRAPHICAL REASONS

• The rocky terrain of Amber restrictedexpansion.

• Jaipur had the potentialities of developing intoa city with adequate drinking water due to thepresence of a perennial stream nearby andgood drainage system.

• Its rugged hills also ensured a constant supplyof building material.

REASONS FOR MAHARAJA SAWAI JAI SINGH TO CHANGE HIS CAPITAL FROM AMBER TO JAIPUR (1727)

• The need of a new capital for 18th century Dhoondhar as theearlier one of Amber built on a hill was getting congested.

• Sawai Raja Jai Singh’s vision of the new capital as a strongpolitical statement at par with Mughal cities and as a thrivingtrade and commerce hub for the region.

• SITE : a valley located south of Amber and the plains beyond, aterrain that was the bed of a dried lake ; dense forest cover to thenorth and the east of the site.

• PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS : hills on the north that housed thefort of Jaigarh and the Amber palace beyond, and the hills on theeast, which contained the sacred spot of Galtaji.

• WATER SUPPLY: the Darbhavati river in the north was dammedto create the Jai Sagar and Man Sagar (that later housed the JalMahal) lakes. Later the Jhotwara River in the north west wasdiverted through the Amani Shah Nallah and a number of canalswere channelized through Brahmapuri and Jai Niwas to supplywater to the city.

TWO SIGNIFICANT FACTS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ORIGIN OF THE CITY AND ITS SUBSEQUENT LAYOUT

• Unlike Dausa and Amber, the two previous capital citiesof the Dhoondhar region established on hill-top, whoseplanning was guided by topographical structure of theareas, Jaipur city was revolutionary both in terms of itsgrid-iron pattern planning and its location at the baseof the hills.

• There was also a significant economic shift from anagricultural base in Dausa and Amber to trading in thecapital of Jaipur.

• The layout of the city of Jaipur wonderfully links theconcept of a Shastric city with the practicalities of thechosen site.

• First, the straight line of the ridge suggested itself asthe route for one of the main east-west thorough faresand building a road along its crest makes best possibleuse of the topography for the purpose of drainage.

• What followed then was to regularize the Amber-Sanganer road as a north-south route at right angles toit.

• The point of intersection would be one of the city’smain cross-roads (chaupar)

PLANNING OF THE CITY

The intersection of the axes to define the Badi Chaupar (City Square).

• A road cutting the plain from N to S linking Amber,the capital to Sanganer, the principal trading town.This road had to be preserved and controlled andtherefore had to fall within the city’s boundaries

• A second road ran E to W between the Mughal citiesof Agra and Ajmer and placing the new city on thisalready established communication line would helpsecure its economic success. However since thiswas an imperial road that could not be encroachedon, thus the city had to be contained to the north ofthis line.

• Also, a natural ridge runs across the plain, N of theroad and parallel to it, in a roughly EW alignment(with a slight deviation of15 deg. from the cardinalaxes). The area to its S is flat while that to its Nslopes down gently. In Shastric terms, this is an idealarrangement as declivity towards the north-east Isconsidered the best site. In practical terms, theridge too had to be accommodated

Ends of the roads marked by Gates in the City Wall

PLANNING OF THE CITY

CONCEPTUAL PLANNING

• It is a model of town planning the firstplanned city in India. It is based onHindu systems of town planning andfollowed the principles prescribed inthe Shilpa-shastra, an ancient Indiantreatise on architecture .according tothis shastra the site should be dividedinto grids or mandalas ranging from2x 2 to 10 x 10.

• Planned according to the Prastaratype of layout, which givesprominence to the cardinaldirections.

• Thus plan of Jaipur is a grid of 3x3with gridlines being the city’s mainstreets.

• The central axis of the town was laid from East to West between the gates of the Sun ( Suraj pol) andthe moon( Chandpol ) .

• This was crossed by two roads at right angles dividing the town into nine almost square, almostequally sized blocks, which were further sub divided by lanes and alleys all at right angles.

• By building the western boundary of the city right up to the hill’s southern apex, it provided acontinuous line of defence.

• The mandala could not be complete in the NW due to the presence of the hills.• On the other hand in the SE an extra square has been added that plugged the gap between the city

and the eastern hills.

CONCEPTUAL PLANNIG

1. RAMCHANDRASI2. GANGAPOI CHAUKRI3. TALKATORA4. TOPKHANA HAZURI5. PURANI BASTI6. TOPKHANA DESH7. MODI KHANA8. GHAT DARWAZA 9. PALACE

• South of the main road were four almost equal rectangles. The rectangle opposite the palace has been broken up into two equal and smaller rectangles by the Chaura Rasta. Thus altogether there are now five rectangles on the south of the main road called Chowkris.

• On the North of the main road from West to East are the Purani Basti, the Palace and Ramchandraji.

• The principal bazaar leads from the western gate in the city wall, The Chandpole, passing in front of the Tripolia Gate, to the eastern city gate, the Surajpole.

PLANNIG PROCEDURE

• The palace building covered two blocks, the townsix and the remaining ninth block was not usableon account of steep hills. So this North-West wardwas transferred to the South-East corner of thecity, making the shape of the plan as a wholeasymmetrical rather than square.

• The city’s division into nine wards was also inconformity with the Hindu caste system, whichnecessitated the segregation of people belongingto different communities and ranks.

• Even the lanes were named after the occupationsof inhabitants such as Maniharon ka Rasta,Thakaron ka Rasta & many others.

• Following the directions of the Hindu Shilpashastra, width of the main streets & other laneswere fixed. Thus the main streets of the city were111ft. wide, secondary streets 55 ft. wide & thesmaller ones 27ft. wide.

PLANNIG PROCEDURE

The map of early planned city of Jaipur

• Jaipur’s road network follows a definitehierarchy. The major east-west and north-south road ,form the sector boundaries andare called Rajmarg as they lead to the citygates. These measure 33m. wide.

• Next there is a network of 16.5m wide whichruns north-south in each sector linking theinternal areas of the sectors to the majoractivity spine.

• An orthogonal grid of 8.25mx4.00m roads inthe prastara-chessboard pattern further dividesectors into Mohallas.

ROAD NETWORK

PUBLIC SPACES

• Chaupars • Bazaars• Mohallas• Streets• Temples

• a square that occurs at theintersection of east west roads withthree north south roads.

• 100m x 100m• used for public gathering on festive

occasions• The distance between two chaupars

is about 700m which is ideal forpedestrian movement.

• It has controlled façade treatmentenveloping it.

CONCEPTUAL PLAN - CHAUPAR

View of a main bazaar street

View of a chaupar today

• The main markets, havelis and temples on the mainstreets in Jaipur were constructed by the state in the18th century, thus ensuring that a uniform streetfacade is maintained. The widths of roads werepredetermined.

• Junctions of the main axial streets formed the twosquare civic open spaces called chaupars (Badi chauparand Chhoti chaupar). The width of the square chauparswas three times that of the main street.

• Historically, the chaupars were outlets for intensesocial use with water structures connected byunderground aqueducts, supplying numerous sourcesof drinking water at street level. Presently, the centreof each chaupar has square enclosures withornamental fountains.

• The streets and chowks (central open squares in atown) of the internal chowkries (sectors) withnumerous clusters or mohallas were notpredetermined; hence show a mix of grid iron andorganic pattern, with the basic unit of built form beingthe rectangular haveli.

STREETSCAPES AND CHOWKS

THE VIEW WESTWARDS ACROSS THE CITY FROM THE DIRECTION OF GALTAJI.

SANGANERI GATE

VIEWS

P ANK A J

S H A RMA

V I I - S EM