SSC
The Hawa Mahal, built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, is located in:
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Answer: Option A — Jaipur
Detailed Solution
The Hawa Mahal ("Palace of Winds") is located in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.
About the Hawa Mahal:
- It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh of the Kachhwaha dynasty.
- It was designed by the architect Lal Chand Ustad.
- It is a five-storey building made of red and pink sandstone.
- Its facade has 953 small windows called "jharokhas", decorated with intricate latticework (jali).
- The latticework allowed the royal women, who observed "purdah", to watch street festivals, processions and everyday life without being seen.
The small windows also allowed cool breezes to pass through, which is how it got its name, "Palace of Winds". This effect is called the "Venturi effect".
Its shape is said to resemble the crown (mukut) of Lord Krishna, of whom Sawai Pratap Singh was a devotee.
It has no proper front entrance; it is entered from the back, through the City Palace side.
It is often described as the "tallest building in the world without a foundation", because it stands on a curved base without a deep foundation.
About Jaipur:
- It is known as the "Pink City" because, in 1876, Maharaja Ram Singh II had the city painted pink (the colour of hospitality) to welcome Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII), the Prince of Wales.
- It was one of the first planned cities in India, laid out according to the principles of "Vastu Shastra" and "Shilpa Shastra", with the help of the architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya.
- The "Jaipur City" was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.
- Its other famous monuments include the City Palace, the Jantar Mantar (UNESCO, 2010), Amber Fort, Nahargarh Fort and Jaigarh Fort.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Udaipur is called the "City of Lakes".
- ✗Jodhpur has the Mehrangarh Fort and Umaid Bhawan Palace.
- ✗Bikaner has the Junagarh Fort.
Quick tip
Remember: Hawa Mahal = Jaipur (1799, Sawai Pratap Singh; architect Lal Chand Ustad; 953 jharokhas; shaped like Krishna's crown); Jaipur = "Pink City" (painted pink in 1876); UNESCO 2019.
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.