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The Geometric Planning of Jaipur

Many city planners consider the city of Jaipur, India to be one of the most considered plans, one of the best laid out cities in the world. During times of war and dispute the kings of Jaipur remained diplomatic, which served to support and enhance their control, meanwhile they retained relations with the fighting sides. Focusing on the prosperity of the citizens, as well as their physical and spiritual comfort, this is a city planned in accordance with the Pouranic and Vedic way, the Vastu Shastra.

This brings into importance just the simple directions that the building would face, and the directions of the way the streets and road run. Every street runs north and south, and market places and five star Jaipur hotels face to the west. This exhibits a bit of the yin and the yang, the sun and the moon. The name for the gate to the East of the city is Suraj, which translates in English to Sun, and the name for the gate to the west is Chand, which means moon. The Northern gate is positioned to face the city of Amber, an ancestral capital and focal point. These are the only gates that face, one to the North, one to the West and one to the East…while many do face South.

The planning that originally built the city of Jaipur, has been expanding outside the city’s boundaries. The gates that were once opened in the morning with sunrise and closed in the evening with sunset, are now left open. This may have something to do with not only the expansion of the culture and the dropping of the boundaries, but with the continuance of such organized city planning. Many cities in India have been portrayed with winding, narrow streets, confusion and run down temples and shack houses. But this is not the way the Hindu’s envisioned the construction of the cities. The requirements were strict and focused on exact geometric design.

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