Welcome to The Baba Times

Your Window to the World of Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality!

This website is devoted to Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality and Science. We bring in articles on teachings by Great Saints like Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, Adi Shankara, Swami Sivananda, Swami Krishnananda, Aurobindo, Mother of Auroville and others.

LATEST NEWS We are conducting 'Guided Meditation Session' every Saturday at 5.30 PM EST from New York.

This will include discussions on various topics like Upanishads, Philosophy, Spirituality & Meditation through Skype. Please send 'Add Request' to 'DLSNewYork' from your skype account so that you can participate in this Satsang. These sessions are part of Divine Life Society from Rishikesh

Hari Om. The Baba Times Team, Contact thebabatimes@gmail.com

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Movies - Adi Sankara

Adi Sankara - Movie

Adi Shankaracharya (film)

Adi Shankaracharya is a 1983 Indian film in Sanskrit language directed by G. V. Iyer. The film depicts the life and times of 8th century Indian philosopher, Adi Shankara, who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta (Non-dualism) in Indian philosophy. It was the first film in India to be made in Sanskrit.

At the 31st National Film Awards, it won four awards, including Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Audiography.

Cast and Crew

Cast

Crew

Awards

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Movies - Guruvaram

Guruvaram - Movie Review

Guruvaram is a telugu documentary movie, about the Saint Shirdi Sai Baba directed and produced by Lakshmi Vinayak. This movie was released on May 24, 2012, of course on a Thursday, as a tribute to Baba who attained Maha Samadhi on the Vijaya Dasami day, a Thursday.

Rami Reddy plays the lead role as Sai Baba. Cast includes Babu Mohan, Annapurna, Telangana Shakuntala, Uttej and others. According to the movie director, Shirdi Sai Baba is worshipped by many as Guru and Guruvaram (Thursday) is a very significant day for offering prayers to one’s Guru.

Lyrics and music in Guruvaram is by Sai Sri Harsha, Jaya Surya, Sashibala, Anuradha and Ravi Shankar. Yamesh, has missed the opportunity to make the movie more lively with his cinematography. It would have been a good movie to watch if more of Baba’s life and teachings were brought out than his miracles.

Acknowledgements:

http://popcorn.oneindia.in/movie-view-photos/6894/272655/guruvaram.html

http://www.cinegoer.com/telugu-cinema/sunitas-reviews/guruvaram-movie-review-280512.html)

[Source]

Celebrities - Amit Goswami

Amit Goswami

Amit Goswami is a theoretical nuclear physicist and member of The University of Oregon Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Elementary particles make atoms, atoms make molecules, molecules make cells, and cells make brain. There is also downward causation. I had a dream that felt like an admonition to me. I heard it so clearly: “The Tibetan Book of the Dead is correct. It’s your job to prove it!” Mystics, contrary to religionists, are always saying that reality is not two things — God and the world — but one thing, consciousness.

Now, the opposite view is that everything starts with consciousness. That is, consciousness is the ground of all being. In this view, consciousness imposes “downward causation.” In other words, our free will is real. When we act in the world we really are acting with causal power. This view does not deny that matter also has causal potency — it does not deny that there is causal power from elementary particles upward, so there is upward causation — but in addition it insists that there is also downward causation. It shows up in our creativity and acts of free will, or when we make moral decisions. In those occasions we are actually witnessing downward causation by consciousness.

Mystics, contrary to religionists, are always saying that reality is not two things — God and the world — but one thing, consciousness. It is a monistic view of reality based on consciousness that mystics claim to directly intuit. The problem with science has always been that most scientists believe that science must be done within a different monistic framework, one based on the primacy of matter. And then, quantum physics showed us that we must change that myopic prejudice of scientists, otherwise we cannot comprehend quantum physics. So now we have science within consciousness, a new paradigm of science based on the primacy of consciousness that is gradually replacing the old materialist science. Why? Not only because you can’t understand quantum physics without this new metaphysics but also because the new paradigm resolves many other paradoxes of the old paradigm and explains much anomalous data.

reference amitgoswami.org AND www.alinssite.info in credit

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Celebrities - Swami Krishnananda

Swami Krishnananda

Swami Krishnananda Saraswati (April 25, 1922 – November 23, 2001) was a Hindu saint. He was a disciple of Swami Sivananda and served as the General Secretary of the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, India from 1958 until 2001. Author of more than 200 texts, and lecturing extensively, on yoga, religion, and metaphysics, Krishnananda was a prolific theologian and philosopher.

Swami Krishnananda was President of the Sivananda Literature Research Institute and the Sivananda Literature Dissemination Committee. He served as editor of the Divine Life Society’s monthly paper, Divine Life, for 20 years.

Early life

The eldest of six children, Swami Krishnananda was born on April 25, 1922, into a highly religious and an orthodox Madhva Brahmin family. He was named Subbaraya by his parents. He was educated at the high school in Puttur, Karnataka.

By the study of Sanskrit works like the Gita, the Upanishads, and the Vedas, Swami Krishnananda became rooted in Advaita Vedanta philosophy, though he belonged to the traditional Madhva-sect (Dvaita Vedanta), which follows the dualistic philosophy. In 1943, Subbaraya took up Government service at Hospet in the Bellary District, but it did not last long. Before the end of the same year, he left for Sivananda’s ashram, the Divine Life Society (DLS). Sivananda initiated the young man into the holy order of Sannyasa (Hindu monasticism) on the Indian sacred day of Makar Sankranti, January 14, 1946, and he was named Swami Krishnananda.

Ashram life

Krishnananda was initially engaged at the DLS in letter writing, writing messages and assistance in compiling and editing books. Later, he typed manuscripts produced by Sivananda, including the two hand-written volumes of the Brahma Sutras. In 1948, Sivananda asked him to write books on philosophy and religion; from then onwards he also conducted classes and lectures.

Krishnananda later worked with a committee that was established to improve the management of the DLS and at this time he became a Secretary, concerned especially with the management of finance. He continued this work until 1961, when, due to the extended absence of Swami Chidananda, then President of the DLS, Sivananda nominated him as General Secretary. He held that position until his death, at which time he was the longest serving General Secretary of the institution.

Sivananda appointed Krishnananda as President of the Sivananda Literature Research Institute when it was formed in 1958. Krishnananda was also appointed as the President of the Sivananda Literature Dissemination Committee, which was formed to bring out translations of Sivananda’s works in the major Indian languages. In 1961, Krishnananda became editor of the DLS’s monthly publication, Divine Life. He held the position for 20 years.

Death

He died on November 23, 2001.

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Celebrities - M S Subbalakshmi

M S Subbalakshmi

Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi September 1916 – 12 December 2004), also known as M.S., was a renowned Carnatic vocalist. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor. She is the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award, Asia’s highest civilian award, in 1974 with the citation reading “Exacting purists acknowledge Srimati M. S. Subbulakshmi as the leading exponent of classical and semi-classical songs in the Karnataka tradition of South India.”

Early years

Subbulakshmi (Kunjamma to her family) was born in Madurai, Madras Presidency, India to veena player Shanmukavadiver Ammal and Subramania Iyer. Her grandmother Akkammal was a violinist.

She started learning Carnatic music at an early age and trained in Carnatic music under the tutelage of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and subsequently in Hindustani music under Pandit Narayanrao Vyas. She also learned Sanskrit and Telugu under Dr. Nedunuri Krishnamurthy.

Her mother, from the devadasi community, was a music exponent and a regular stage performer, and Subbulakshmi grew up in an environment very conducive to musical learning. Her musical interests were also shaped by regular interactions with Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer, Mazhavarayanendal Subbarama Bhavathar and Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar. Subbulakshmi gave her first public performance in 1929 when she was 13 years old at the prestigious Madras Music Academy. The performance consisted of singing bhajans (Hindu hymns). The academy was known for its discriminating selection process, and they broke tradition by inviting a young girl as a key performer. Her performance was described as spellbinding and earned her many admirers and the moniker of musical genius from critics. Soon after her debut performance Subbulakshmi became one the leading Carnatic vocalists.

Move to Madras

In 1936 Subbulakshmi moved to Madras (now Chennai). She also made her film debut in Sevasadan in 1938.

Singing career

M.S. Subbulakshmi began her Carnatic classical music training under her mother Shanmugavadivu; and later in Hindustani classical training under Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas. Subbulakshmi first recording was released when she was 10 years old. She gave her first public performance, at the age of eleven, in the 100 pillar hall inside the Rockfort Temple, Tiruchirappalli; with Mysore Chowdiah on the violin and Dakshinamurthy Pillai on the mriganga. By the age of 17, Subbulakshmi was giving concerts on her own, including major performances at the Madras Music Academy, a prestigious centre for the study and promotion of Carnatic music. Performance in Carnatic music concerts, was until then, a domain, traditionally reserved for men. She performed a vast variety of devotional musical forms in different languages including Tamil, Kannada, Sanskrit, Panjabi, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati and Marathi.

When the governor of Madras wanted the famous spiritual leader, Mata Sri Anandamayi Ma, to reside in his residence, Anandamayi Ma replied, “I will stay in the house of Subbulakshmi. She is Meera to me.” Within two days, Sadasivam had special quarters built in their garden for Mata to give darshan and arranged for a new well to be dug nearby for fresh drinking water. Every evening thousands of people gathered there.

She traveled to London, New York, Canada, the Far East, and other places as India’s cultural ambassador. After the death of her husband Kalki Sadasivam in 1997, she stopped all her public performances.

The doyen of Carnatic music M S Subbulakshmi died in Chennai on Saturday night of broncho pneumonia and cardiac irregularities, according to hospital and family sources, on 12 December 2004. She was 88.

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Celebrities - Gandhi Acharya Meeting

Gandhi - Acharya Meeting

MAHATMA GANDHI was touring the South in the latter half of 1927. He had heard about the Sage of Kamakoti Peetha , and wanted very much to meet him. The Sage was camping at Palghat at the time in the course of his vijaya-yatra. The Mahatma went there on the 15th of October, 1927; the meeting took place on that day at Nellisseri village, Palghat, Kerala.

His, Holiness received the Mahatma in the cattle-shed situated in the backyard of the camp. It was a unique experience for the Mahatma. Here was an authentic successor of Sankara, dressed in a piece of’ ochre cloth made of khadi, and seated on the floor. The Acharya too appreciated the occasion provided for getting to know, at first hand, the leader of the nation who had adopted voluntarily the mode of a simple peasant’s life. At the very first sight, the Mahatma was drawn to the Perfection Incarnate that was seated before him. The atmosphere was surcharged with spiritual silence. After a few moments the Acharya spoke in Samskrit and invited the Mahatma to take his seat. Gandhiji offered his obeisance and sat near the Acharya. He said that, as he was not used to speaking in Samskrit, he would use Hindi if that was permitted, and that he could understand what is spoken in Samskrit. So, the conversation took place without the need for an interpreter-the Acharya spoke in Samskrit, and Gandhiji in Hindi.

This was purely a private interview; there were no reporters; and except for one or two attendants of the math, no one was present. The conversation, which took place in a most cordial atmosphere, lasted for over an hour.

On taking leave of the Acharya, the Mahatma gave expression to the immense benefit he had derived from this unique meeting. How profoundly he was drawn to the Acharya will be evident from an incident that occurred during the interview. It was 5.30 in the evcning. Sri C. Rajagopalachari who had accompanied the Mahatma had been waiting outside, went inside the cattle-shed and reminded the Mahatma about his evening meal; for the Mahatma would not take any food after 6 P.M. The Mahatma made this significant observation to Sri. C. Rajagopalachari: “The conversation I am having now with the Acharya is itsclf my evening meal for to day” As thc Mahatma was leaving ,after a very fruitful interview, the Acharya gave him a pomelo fruit with his blessings. The Mahatma received it with great reverence, remarking that pomelo is a fruit which he liked best

Later in the evening, Gandhiji addressed a public meeting in Coimbatore. Some people in tbe audience were eager to know about the interview Gandhiji had had earlier with His holiness. Gandhiji replied saying that they discussed points of mutual interest, that the interview was a private one, that because of this, news paper reporters were not present there and that there was no point in his disclosing the details of the interview. Nothing more was known about this historic meeting.

Above, you can see the house at Nelliseri Village, Palghat, Kerala, in which Mahatma Gandhi and H.H. Jagadguru Sankaracharya met on October 15, 1927.

A request was made to His Holiness in November 1968 for a message of the Seminar on The relevance of Mahatma Gandhi to the world of thought held at the University of Madras. Out of his abundant grace, jagadguru, the preceptor of the World, sent a message in which he recalled the meeting in 1927 with Gandhiji the Father of the Nation and paid the following tribute:

“We wish to place before this Seminar one of the’ many things which Gandhi and I we discussed when we met at Palghat, Kerala in the last Prashava year.

“Before Gandhiji arrived at Palghat there came the news of the assassination of Sraddhananda of the Arya Samaj. Referring to this incident Gandhiji remarked as follows:

“I have an apprehension in my mind that assassination of this kind would occur more often than now [in the coming years] Let not there arise in me hatred even in a small measure against the present assassin. There arises a desire in me that I should able to embrace with love even so cruel a man who commits a heinous crime, as this one, an atatayin. But it is extremely difficult to cultivate such heartfelt affection. Yet I shall make an honest attempt in this direction.”

All that we wish to point out that in this, world it is very rare even to hear about such a feeling expressed.”

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Culture - Indian Music

Indian Music

The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India’s classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as sources of spiritual inspiration, cultural expression and pure entertainment. India is made up of several dozen ethnic groups, speaking their own languages and dialects, having distinct cultural traditions.

Classical music

Main article: Indian classical music

The two main traditions of classical music are Carnatic music, found predominantly in the peninsular regions, and Hindustani music, found in the northern and central regions.

Further information: Indian classical music,Hindustani music,andCarnatic music

Hindustani music

Hindustani music is an Indian classical music tradition that goes back to Vedic times around 1000 BC. It further developed circa the 13th and 14th centuries AD with Persian influences and from existing religious and folk music. The practice of singing based on notes was popular even from the Vedic times where the hymns in Sama Veda, a sacred text, were sung as Samagana and not chanted. Developing a strong and diverse tradition over several centuries, it has contemporary traditions established primarily in India but also in Pakistan and Bangladesh. In contrast to Carnatic music, the other main Indian classical music tradition originating from the South, Hindustani music was not only influenced by ancient Hindu musical traditions, historical Vedic philosophy and native Indian sounds but also enriched by the Persian performance practices of the Mughals. Classical genres are dhrupad, dhamar, khyal, tarana and sadra.

The present form of Carnatic music is based on historical developments that can be traced to the 15th - 16th centuries AD and thereafter. However, the form itself is reputed to have been one of the gifts bestowed on man by the gods of Hindu mythology. It is one of the oldest musical forms that continue to survive today.

Carnatic music

Carnatic music is melodic, with improvised variations. It consists of a composition with improvised embellishments added to the piece in the forms of Raga Alapana, Kalpanaswaram, Neraval, and, in the case of more advanced students, Ragam Tanam Pallavi. The main emphasis is on the vocals as most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in a singing style (known as gāyaki). There are about 7.2 million ragas (or scales) in Carnatic Music, with around 300 still in use today.

Purandara Dasa is considered the father of carnatic music. Sri Tyagaraja, Sri Shyama Shastry and Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar are considered the trinity of carnatic music and with them came the golden age in carnatic music in the 18th-19th century

Noted artists of Carnatic Music include MS Subbulakshmi, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar (the father of the current concert format), Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Prapancham Sita Raman, TN Seshagopalan and more recently Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Balamuralikrishna, K J Yesudas, N.Ramani, Lalgudi Jayaraman, umayalapuram sivaraman, Dr.Mysore Manjunath, Mysore Nagaraj, TM Krishna, Bombay Jayashri, etc.

Every December, the city of Chennai in India has its six week-long Music Season, which has been described as the world’s largest cultural event. It has served as the foundation for most music in South India, including folk music, festival music and has also extended its influence to film music in the past 100–150 years or so.

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Culture - Indian art

Indian art

Indian Art is the visual art produced on the Indian subcontinent from about the 3rd millennium BC to modern times. To viewers schooled in the Western tradition, Indian art may seem overly ornate and sensuous; appreciation of its refinement comes only gradually, as a rule. Voluptuous feeling is given unusually free expression in Indian culture. A strong sense of design is also characteristic of Indian art and can be observed in its modern as well as in its traditional forms.

The vast scope of the art of India intertwines with the cultural history, religions and philosophies which place art production and patronage in social and cultural contexts.

Indian art can be classified into specific periods each reflecting particular religious, political and cultural developments.

Jewelry

The Indian subcontinent has the longest continuous legacy of jewellery-making, with a history of over 5,000 years. One of the first to start jewellery-making were the peoples of the Indus Valley Civilization. Early jewellery making in China started around the same period, but it became widespread with the spread of Buddhism around 2,000 years ago.

Temple and Sculpture-art

Indian rock art has continuously evolved, since the first rock cut caves, to suit different purposes, social and religious contexts, and regional differences. Obscurity shrouds the period between the decline of the Harappans and the definite historic period starting with the Mauryas, and in the historical period, the earliest Indian religion to inspire major artistic monuments was Buddhism. Though there may have been earlier structures in wood that have been transformed into stone structures, there are no physical evidences for these except textual references. Soon after the Buddhists initiated the rock-cut caves, Hindus and Jains started to imitate them at Badami, Aihole, Ellora, Salsette, Elephanta, Aurangabad and Mamallapuram.

Buddhist art first developed during the Gandhara period and Amaravati Periods around the first century BCE. It flourished greatly during the Gupta Periods and Pala Periods that comprise the Golden Age of India. Although the most glorious art of these Indian empires was mostly Buddhist in nature, subsequently Hindu Empires like the Pallava, Chola, Hoysala and Vijayanagara Empires developed their own styles of Hindu art as well.

There is no time line that divides the creation of rock-cut temples and free-standing temples built with cut stone as they developed in parallel. The building of free-standing structures began in 5th century, while rock cut temples continued to be excavated until the 12th century. An example of a free-standing structural temple is the Shore Temple, a part of the Mahabalipuram World Heritage Site, with its slender tower, built on the shore of the Bay of Bengal with finely carved granite rocks cut like bricks and dating from the 8th century.

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Culture - Kathakali

Kathakali

Kathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion. It originated in the country’s present day state of Kerala during the 17th century and has developed over the years with improved looks, refined gestures and added themes besides more ornate singing and precise drumming.

History

Kottarakkarao complement Krishnanattam, which had its origin under the Zamorins of Kozhikode.

Ignoring the first phase when it was Ramanattam, Kathakali had its cradle in Vettattnad. Here Vettathu Thampuran, Kottayathu Thampuran and many dedicated artists like Chathu Panicker laid foundations for what is known as Kathakali now. Their efforts were concentrated on the rituals, classical details and scriptural perfection. Kottayathu Thampuran composed four great works – Kirmeeravadham, Bakavadham, Nivathakavacha Kalakeyavadham and Kalyanasaugandhikam. After this the most important changes in Kathakali were brought about through the efforts of a single person namely, Kaplingad Narayanan Nambudiri (1739–1789). He was from the Northern Kerala, but after basic instructions in various faculties of the art in Vettathu Kalari he shifted to Travancore. In the capital and many other centres he found many willing to co-operate with him in bringing about the reformations.

Kathakali also shares a lot of similarities with Krishnanattam, Koodiyattam (a classical Sanskrit drama existing in Kerala) and Ashtapadiyattam (an adaptation of 12th-century musical called Gitagovindam). It also incorporates several other elements from traditional and ritualistic art forms like Mudiyettu, Thiyyattu, Theyyam and Padayani besides a minor share of folk arts like Porattunatakam. All along, the martial art of Kalarippayattu has influenced the body language of Kathakali. The use of Malayalam, the local language (albeit as a mix of Sanskrit and Malayalam, called), has also helped the literature of Kathakali sound more transparent for the average audience.

As a part of modernising, propagating, promoting and popularizing Kathakali, the International Centre for Kathakali at New Delhi has taken up a continuing project since 1980 of producing new plays based on not only traditional and mythological stories, but also historical stories, European classics and Shakespeare’s plays. Recently they produced Kathakali plays based on Shakespeare’s Othello and Greek-Roman mythology of Psyche and Cupid.

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Travel - Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal (translation: “Palace of Winds” or “Palace of the Breeze”), is a palace in Jaipur, India. It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, and designed by Lal Chand Ustad in the form of the crown of Krishna, the Hindu god. Its unique five-storey exterior is also akin to the honeycomb of the beehive with its 953 small windows called jharokhas that are decorated with intricate latticework. The original intention of the lattice was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen, since they had to observe strict “purdah” (face cover).

Built of red and pink sandstone, the palace is situated on the main thoroughfare in the heart of Jaipur’s business centre. It forms part of the City Palace, and extends to the Zenana or women’s chambers, the chambers of the harem. It is particularly striking when viewed early in the morning, lit with the golden light of sunrise.

Maharaja Sawai Jai singh, the ruler of Rajasthan of the Kachwaha clan, was the original planner and builder who built the Jaipur city in 1727. However, it was his grandson Sawai Pratap Singh, son of Maharaja Sawai Madhosingh I, who built the Hawa Mahal in 1799 as a continuation of the Royal City Palace. Pratap Singh’s deep devotion to the Hindu god Lord Krishna is inferred to have prompted him to build it as a dedication, in the form of a Mukuta or headgear, adorning the Lord. Though no historical record is available to its exact history, it is conjectured that Royal family ladies, who were under strict observance of purdah (the practice of preventing women from being seen by men), had to be given opportunity to witness proceedings in the market centre and watch the royal processions and festivities sitting behind the stone carved screens. Hawa Mahal did just that in style, amidst its luxurious comforts and behind strict screened exclusivity, unseen by outsiders.

Royal family of Jaipur, during their reign, also used the palace as a hot weather retreat, during the suffocating summer season of Jaipur, for several years, since the unusually designed window screens provided the much needed cool breeze and ventilation.

The palace is a five-story pyramidal shaped monument that rises to a height of 50 feet (15m) from its high base. The top three floors of the structure have a dimension of one room width while the first and second floors have patios in front of them, on the rear side of the structure. The front elevation, as seen from the street, is like a honeycomb web of a beehive built with small portholes. Each porthole has miniature windows and has carved sandstone grills, finials and domes. It is a veritable mass of semi-octagonal bays, which gives the monument its unique façade. The inner face on the back side of the building consists of need-based chambers built with pillars and corridors with least ornamentation, and reach up to the top floor. The interior of the Mahal has been described as “having rooms of different coloured marbles, relieved by inlaid panels or gilding; while fountains adorn the centre of the courtyard”. Lal Chand Ustad was the architect of this unique structure who also planned Jaipur city, considered then as one of the best-planned cities in India. Built in red and pink coloured sand stone, in keeping with the décor of the other monuments in the city, its colour is a full testimony to the epithet of “Pink City” given to Jaipur. Its façade depicts 953 niches with intricately carved Jharokhas (some are made of wood) is a stark contrast to the plain looking rear side of the structure. Its cultural and architectural heritage is a true reflection of a fusion of Hindu Rajput architecture and the Islamic Mughal architecture; the Rajput style is seen in the form of domed canopies, fluted pillars, lotus and floral patterns, and the Islamic style is evident in its stone inlay filigree work and arches (as distinguished from its similarity with the Panch Mahal - the palace of winds - at Fatehpur Sikri).

The entry to the Hawa Mahal from the city palace side is through an imperial door. It opens into a large courtyard, which has double storeyed buildings on three sides, with the Hawa Mahal enclosing it on the east side. An archaeological museum is also housed in this courtyard.

Hawa Mahal was also known as the chef-d’œuvre of Maharaja Jai Singh as it was his favourite resort because of the elegance and built-in interior of the Mahal. The cooling effect in the chambers, provided by the breeze passing through the small windows of the façade, was enhanced by the fountains provided at the centre of each of the chambers.

The panoramic view from the roof of the Mahal is stunning. The bazaar (the Seredeori Bazaar or market) on the east resembles avenues of Paris. Green valleys and mountains and the Amer Fort form the scenario to the west and north. The Thar desert’s “interminable line of undulating vapour” lies to the east and south. All this transformation of the landscape, from a stark and desolate land of the past, occurred because of the concerted efforts of the Maharajas of Jaipur. So much so that the Mahal has been stated to be a counterpart of Versailles. Views of the Jantar Mantar and the City Palace can also be witnessed from the top floor of the monument.

The top two floors of the Hawa Mahal are accessed only through ramps. The Mahal is maintained by the archaeological department of the Government of Rajasthan.

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