About

The structure was built in 1799 by the Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. It was designed by Lal Chand Ustad. It is designed to look like the crown of Lord Krishna.

The entrance is through the City Palace where doors open into a open spacious courtyard with two-storeyed buildings on three sides. The palace complex includes the residential quarters and offices for the royal household. The main entrance to the palace is through a gate on the west known as Anand-pol. At the far end of the courtyard is a second gate known as Chandra-pol. Both of these gates are topped by pillared gazebos. A water fountain stands in the middle of the inner courtyard, with Pratap Mandir, the Maharaja's personal rooms, on the south. Hawa Mahal forms the eastern facade of the palace. It is connected to the City Palace by a passage with ramp and staircase access. The inner side of the facade has chambers built with pillars and corridors with minimal ornamentation.

Hawa Mahal is made of red and pink sandstone. It has 953 small windows or jharokhas many of them decorated with latticework. The intent of the lattice design was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life and festivals celebrated in the street below without being seen. This architectural feature also allowed cool air to pass through the building. The structure has stone-carved screens, small casements, and arched roofs along with delicately modelled hanging cornices. The stained glass panes in the windows create a colourful pattern inside the chambers when the sunlight streams in.

There are five levels to Hawa Mahal.
The lower-most of these is the Sharad Mandir where autumn celebrations were held. The first level is Ratan Mandir earning this name because of the stained glass windows which create a dazzling jewel-like effect. Vichitra Mandir is the third level where the king worshipped Lord Krishna. The Prakash Mandir is the fourth with open terraces on both sides. The uppermost level is known as the Hawa Mandir. The top three floors of the structure have the width of a single room, while the first and second floors have patios in front of them.

A domed pavilion stands on the south-eastern corner of the palace overlooking the Badi Chopad square. The walls and ceiling of the pavilion are decorated with elaborate floral and geometrical patterns painted in vibrant colours on a plastered surface. The eastern and northern walls of the pavilion, which look out upon the public street, have arched lattice windows framing smaller shuttered windows, while the west and south, which are open to the palace, have pillars supporting the arches. The outer dome is also beautifully painted, and has a brass finial on its top.

Trivia

It is the tallest structure in the world without a foundation. The five-storey building stays upright because of it is curved shape.

The City Palace was modeled on the Khetri Mahal which was built a few decades before the palace in Jaipur, and draws upon the Khetri Palace as inspiration for the design of the windows which allow for so much cross-breeze and ventilation.