Jaipur

Sister cities

• Fremont
• Calgary
• Lagos
• Port Louis
• Dodoma

History

Jaipur was founded by the Rajput chief of Kachhwaha clan, Jai Singh II, on 18 November 1727, who ruled the region from 1699 to 1743. He planned to shift his capital from Amber, to Jaipur to accommodate the growing population and increasing scarcity of water. Jai Singh consulted several architects while planning the layout of Jaipur and established the city based on the principles of Vastu Shastra and Shilpa Shastra, under the architectural guidance of Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. Many of the avenues remain painted in pink, giving Jaipur a distinctive appearance and the epithet Pink City. In the 19th century, the city grew rapidly and had a population of 160,000 by 1900. The wide boulevards were paved, and its chief industries included metalwork and marble, fostered by a school of art founded in 1868. In August 1981, large areas of the city including the airport, were flooded due to heavy rains from a cloudburst, resulting in the deaths of eight people and much damage to the city's Dravyavati River. On 6 July 2019, the city was named to the World Heritage Cities list.

Geography

Jaipur is located in the northeastern part of Rajasthan and covers a total area of . The city is surrounded by fertile alluvial plains to the east and south, and hill chains and desert areas to the north and west. Jaipur generally slopes downwards from north to south and then to the southeast. The Dravyavati River is the primary drainage channel, which by 2014 had degenerated into an untreated sewage nallah. To address this issue, a plan for the rejuvenation of the river was developed by Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) in 2015. A stretch of Dravyavati riverfront out of was opened after rejuvenation in 2018 and the remaining project was completed in 2022. Jaipur has a monsoon-influenced hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh) with long, extremely hot summers and short mild to warm winters. Annual precipitation is over , falling mostly in July and August due to the southwest monsoon, causing the average temperatures in these two months to be lower compared to drier May and June. During the monsoon, there are frequent, heavy rains and thunderstorms, but flooding is not common. The highest temperature ever recorded was , on 23 May 1994. The city's average temperature remains below between December and February. These months are mild, dry, and pleasant, sometimes chilly. The lowest temperature ever recorded was on 31 January 1905, 1 February 1905, and 16 January 1964. Jaipur, like many other major cities of the world, is a significant urban heat island zone with surrounding rural temperatures occasionally falling below freezing in winters. Jaipur has been ranked 33rd best "National Clean Air City" (under Category 1 >10L Population cities) in India.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  2,906
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  2,842
• Red-vented Bulbul

  Pycnonotus cafer (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,759
• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,627
• Laughing Dove

  Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,512
• Rose-ringed Parakeet

  Psittacula krameri (Scopoli, 1769) · Aves
  2,478
• Red-wattled Lapwing

  Vanellus indicus (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  2,188
• Black Drongo

  Dicrurus macrocercus Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  2,159

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2023-07-20
  11 km ESE of Jaipur, India
• M 4 — 2015-09-03
  7 km W of R?ngas, India
• M 3.6 — 2013-02-24
  13 km SW of R?ngas, India
• M 3.9 — 2012-12-20
  9 km SW of Kotputli, India
• M 4.2 — 2006-12-24
  11 km ENE of Basi, India
• M 4.5 — 2003-08-10
  22 km WSW of Manoharpur, India