Photographer: Raja Deen Dayal & Sons
Photograph of the east façade of the Hawa Mahal (Wind Palace) at Jaipur in Rajasthan, taken by Raja Deen Dayal & Sons in the 1890s, from the Curzon Collection: 'Views of places proposed to be visited by Their Excellencies Lord & Lady Curzon during Autumn Tour 1902'. It was designed by Lalchand Usta and built by Sawai Pratap Singh (r.1778-1803) in 1799 as an addition to the existing City Palace. Like all the buildings in the old walled quarter of the city it is painted a rusty pink. The building consists of two courtyards with residential ranges, fronted by a five-storey façade with a curved roof-line shown in this view. The façade is composed of a multitude of window bays arranged in tiers, each crowned by an arch or dome. The lattice-work designs of the windows created a purdah screen behind which ladies of the court in the zenana or women’s quarters could observe the outside world in privacy and enjoy the breeze.
From: British Library