India Blog!

I initially heard about the beauty of the Indian state of Rajasthan through Edwin and Julie when I met up with them in Chennai. Julie told me she had fallen in love with Jodhpur ("The Blue City") during her visit and would love to travel back there someday. So when Mona mentioned she'd been wanting to take a trip to Jaipur (also in Rajasthan), I jumped at the chance!

Here, several painters are slapping a thick paste on the outer walls of the City Palace that is tinted to match the rest of the building. Apparently, this method is also used every few years in many Indian homes to refresh the look and quality of the walls (which are all 22 feet tall and 10 feet deep by the way in the inner city!). Should a tint be required, like this, it is mixed right into the plaster paste.

Now, these renovation mixes are quite common. Initially, though, the city was turned from yellow to pink by mandate of the Maharaja Ram Singh, who ordered the town painted in 1876 in order to give off a more welcoming vibe.