Paint the town green sounds upbeat in ‘The script’s’ song, painting the city pink not so much and yet, Jaipur stands tall and proud of its color scheme that was slashed during the British period. If only, a hyperbole could live to see this – that every brick to the earth pots to reflect the shades of pink, couldn’t have been a hyperbole.
The idea of Pink.
During the reign of Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II, who was said to be one of the most powerful and influential kings of his time, wanted to impress Prince Albert and lure him to visit Jaipur. And Maharaja Sawai did it with such a swag, that Prince Albert was very much impressed by the center piece that was erected in the middle of the city – a pink concert hall. Maharaja Sawai did not stop there, he went only naming this structure after the Royalty and adding his name in his good books.
The other half
Prince Albert was so fascinated with the hall that it motivated the King to beautifying the whole city into pink paint which was the other half of the pink city of Jaipur. However, the other favorite half of the King – his favorite Queen whispered saying she loved the vibrancy that brought to the city and would like it to be the same. The King passed a law of to paint all the building to be pink and be illegal to have another color.
The science
The color pink is not the baby pink color or feminist as I may sound, girly pink – it was Terracotta pink, to a layman’s eye it is more on the lines of brown. Also the color stands for warmth, welcoming gesture and hospitality – which severed the purpose during the time of Prince Albert’s visit. The paint was made from Calcium Oxide Compound to immune itself in the extreme weather conditions of the city of Jaipur.
