The Old City — known as the Pink City — is a planned Mughal-era grid enclosed by a crenellated wall, all of it painted in the particular terracotta-rose color that gives Jaipur its nickname. The city was designed in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II with remarkable foresight: streets running north-south and east-west, divided into nine blocks corresponding to the nine divisions of the universe in Hindu cosmology.
Walking through the Pink City means navigating bazaars that have traded the same goods for three centuries, temples at every street corner, and the constant company of auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, cows, and schoolchildren. Hawa Mahal, City Palace, Jantar Mantar, and Johari Bazaar are all within this area. The main bazaar street, Tripolia, runs through the old city's heart.
The best way to experience the Pink City is on foot in the early morning before the heat and traffic build up, or in the evenings when the streets light up and the air cools.