Pritam Niwas Chowk, City Palace - Jaipur

In the Pink City of Jaipur, in Northern India, four small gates are dedicated to the four seasons. In the complex of the City Palace, in a courtyard called Pritam Niwas Chowk, four beautiful brass doorways are framed by brilliant paintings and decorations that recall the endless cycle of life. Each door is decorated with natural elements typical of this climate: the Peacock Gate, with the glorious, multicoloured tails of this superb bird, is the autumn or monsoon season; the Lotus Gate celebrates summer with hundreds of pink petals and unmistakable leaves; the Rose Gate represents winter with delicate blooms, and the Green Gate introduces spring with hypnotic green waves. From the doors, geometric patterns and floral details radiate outward, up to the above chajjas, the overhanging roofs. A closer inspection reveals small Hindu idols placed over the lintels. They are the murtis, the representation or better, the true incarnation and manifestation of Divine Spirits. Strict rules, codified long times ago, establish their size, shape and materials, the rites for their sanctification, and the appropriate ceremonies of worship. According to a more scientific interpretation, these small deities are the real subjects of the courtyard, giving to each door a proper sense. Vishnu is on the Peacock Gate to northeast, Devi on the Lotus Gate to southeast, Shiva and his wife Pravati on the gate strewn with roses to southwest, and Ganesh on the Spring Gate to northwest.

From the external gates on the road, subsequent passages lead to a series of internal palaces and courtyards. Traditional principles of Indian architecture, collected in the treaties known as vastu shastric, state that a maharaja’s palace has to be developed in a series of seven enclosed, concentric courtyards, accessible by ceremonial gates. The passage has to be progressive but firm in dividing the public and official life from the innermost area dedicated to private life and women, isolated and forbidden to most people. 


The Pritam Niwas Chowk, once dedicated to royal dances with musicians and singers performing from the balconies above the doors, is the fifth courtyard. Through a corridor from the Spring Gate, maharaja accessed the zanana mahal, or women’s quarter, the sixth courtyard, and from here, the seventh and last courtyard, the zanana majlis, or the women’s audience hall.  

Still from the Pritam Niwas Chowk, selected people had access to the Chandra Mahal, the maharaja’s private residence, and, crossing the courtyard, to the Anand Mahal, the Hall of Bliss, now a museum for a collection of Indian antique arms and armours. The pyramidal structure of the Chandra Mahal, the Palace of the Moon, dominates the court with its seven storeys of decreasing size that replicate the horizontal sequence of the seven courtyards. Today, the palace is not open to the public, as it houses the descendants of the maharaja, and the luxurious interiors of each storey, identified by a poetic name, characteristic decorations and specific use, can be seen only in pictures.

Traditional principles of Indian architecture extend beyond the courtyards of the City Palace to the planning and building of the entire town. Jaipur was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, who moved the capital from Amber. The design of the town expressed the Maharaja’s vision inspired by his passion for astronomy and his interest in religion and arts. With the help of an eminent architect, the town was designed following a strict, ordered geometric pattern. Every aspect, from the directions of the roads to the number of shops, referred to ancient architectural principles and to religious practice. Jaipur was divided into nine blocks, as the nine planets of the ancient zodiac, and surrounded by huge fortification walls, with seven gates. The City Palace was built in the centre if this grid, surrounded by broad streets lined with trees, shops and mansions. 

The geometrical harmony of the place, its external and internal connections, the sense of protection and privacy granted by imposing walls and gates, the refined decorations and colours could get lost in a quick visit. Do not forget it when you enter the Pritam Niwas Chowk, the Court of the Beloved.







Further reading:
Vibhuti Sachdev & Giles Tillotson, Jaipur City Palace, Roli & Janssen BV, The Netherlands, 2008.

Photos
Travelinagarden

Biodiversity - South Africa.

The group said: “Biodiversity” and the camera captured smiles and fragments of a newly planted flowerbed. In the background, there was life in a township near Cape Town, South Africa, in an ordinary day of August. The group had spent the day working at Melton Primary School, planting small shrubs and flowers, filling the gaps with cuttings, weeding, raking, refining the edge and sweeping the path.

For none of those people, biodiversity was just a word.
Some of them were part of a three-year project that involves township schools, in the windy Cape Flats, in learning about the environment and creating new gardens. Indigenous flora brings back the roots in the sandy soil enriched with handfuls of bone meal creating water-wise gardens, knowledge and awareness. Vegetable gardens often complete the program, providing food for the pupils and work for community. Each year, five new schools are selected to join the greening project taking into account, among different requisites, their interest and enthusiasm. Then, teachers and community members begin the training by studying plant cultivation, soil, and propagation. This is the first step to establish lasting, sustainable gardens, followed by the need to involve as many people as possible.

Gardening is a demanding activity, and that day, help came from a group of people who was spending two weeks in South Africa learning about biodiversity.

I was in the group with: European garden designers, landscape designers, promising landscape architects and an experienced teacher of garden design. Suitable venues for our studies were, from time to time, Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens, private and public gardens, natural reserves, museums and markets, wine estates and several restaurants. There, passionate experts introduced us to a variety of subjects: from fynbos vegetation to Bushmen culture, from the works in progress in a new children playground at Green Point Park to a marshland area where modern houses are built in a labyrinth of pools, streams, and canals surrounded by indigenous flora. In exchange, we worked. Our work had different shapes and sizes. It took seconds to pollinate a solitary cycad at Kirstenbosch, while more time and energy were required to plant beds of heathers before the rain, or to prepare a proper basket with fresh vegetables grown in the Cape Flats to be delivered in town.

Every day was different, and the outline of Table Mountain was never too far.


Table Mountain is part of the Cape Floristic Kingdom in Western Cape with around 9.000 species, of which 70% are endemic. The smallest of the six floral kingdoms of the world is an excellent example of biodiversity.

Biodiversity is the variety of life forms that lives in an ecosystem, or how late winter rains turn the ground into a carpet of daisies stuffed with bulbs, or smart succulents protect their leaves from the scorching sun. Or how, in a couple of years, proud children at Melton Primary School will see their garden bloom outside the windows of their classrooms.






Links:
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens – Cape Town South Africa
http://www.sanbi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&Itemid=57&id=139

Cape Town garden volunteers - London - UK
Ms. Patricia Walby organized the group of garden volunteers in Cape Town
http://www.capetowngardenvolunteers.co.uk

Photos:
Travelinagarden.