Knock Knock!

As promised from yesterday, here are some images of doors and windows that I snapped whilst in Rajasthan. I realised that I have lots of great pics so I'll put a few more together as a final instalment tomorrow.

Practically all of the doors appear to be very heavy duty – perhaps to protect the jewels that were adorning the walls inside the palaces or to protect against elephants attempting to barge in (which was common in the palace forts during an invasion!)

And many of the doors are green for some reason? Does anyone know why…..?

Amber Fort, Jaipur

Jaswant Thada, Jodhpur

Peering into a private doorway - Sanganer, Jaipur

City Palace, Udaipur

Saheliyon-ki-Bari Gardens, Udaipur

Doors and Archways

My home is currently in the deep midst of renovation and whilst I’ve been searching through magazines and the internet for décor ideas, my trips to India never fail to provide a mass of inspiration. 

I love unusual doors and archways and during my recent trip to India I saw some real jems.  Whether I was wandering through royal palaces, villages or markets, the humble door and archway took on a story of it’s own…….

A key feature is the scalloped archway, which normally act as a kind of portal or frame for the view which lies beyond.

An example of this is the entrance to the Taj Mahal from the Great Gate (darwaza –i-rauza) which leads into the decorative gardens and ultimately the mausoleum of Mumtaz Mahal. It was designed in such a way that it would be impossible for the Taj Mahal to be seen from any angle until you reached the main archway.  The pointed arch frames the visitor’s first glimpse of the great white monument.

Great Gate, The Taj Mahal

City Palace, Jaipur

Other key decorate features of archways include swirling pietra dura patterns, marble inlay work, inscriptions and motifs. Normally most of them have some form of religious or fable connotations. Also, I noticed archways tended to be either in single or triple forms as odd numbers are frequently used in Indian architecture. 

Doors and windows coming tomorrow….Enjoy!

Nahagarh Fort, Jaipur

Amber Fort, Jaipur

City Palace, Jaipur

Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur

Red Fort, Agra

Jaswant Thada, Jodhpur

India Inspiration Trip - Day 6

Jodhpur

After arriving in Jodhpur very late last night, today we had a lie in and then headed out to explore the magnificent Mehrangarh Fort. The fort sits perched on top of a rocky ridge overlooking the brilliant blue city and is still run by the present Maharaja of Jodhpur. The fort is definitely one of Rajastan’s finest - huge, imposing walls and winding paths, all chiselled from the rock the fort stands on. 

The fort has seven gates and as you enter the first, you can still see where the walls were scarred by cannon ball hits. Another gate to the fort was built at the top of a slope, after a sharp turn, its aim was to stop the onslaught of elephants by an enemy. Clever thinking! 

Once inside, the fort is a network of stone latticed courtyards and palaces, all fine examples of Rajput architecture. 

Within the fort complex there are several small palaces all beautifully decorated. Rooms such as the Phool Mahal (Flower Palace) are adorned with delicate gold leaf design using over 80kg of goldplate! With the sun shining into the room through the brightly coloured stained glass, you can just imagine how this room would have looked during the Maharaja’s reign.

After wandering around the fort for a few hours, we had a Rajasthani thali lunch at the lovely Café Mehran and then headed to nearby Jaswant Thada. This is a memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II and has superb views across to the fort. The brilliant white marble structure looks stunning in the sunlight and has intricately carved wooden doors and lattice work on the windows. 

 

The sun had started to set on the glorious fort as we made our way down from the dizzying heights of the hill. I looked back from the rickshaw and smiled, reminding myself of being fortunate to have experienced yet another day so full of history and grand opulence.