Tripolia Gate

The story of Tripolia Gate

Tripolia Gate is the ceremonial gateway between the palace and the bazaar in old Jaipur, and its arches still frame the route royal processions used to take out into the city. Sawai Jai Singh II laid out his new capital in 1727 on a chessboard of nine wards, and this gate was raised as the hinge between the palace he lived in and the city he had drawn. Guidebooks place it in the late 1720s or in 1734, so the exact year is left open, but its role is clear: a private passage for kings and queens of the Kachhwaha dynasty, reserved for grand ceremonies, religious processions, and royal events.

At Gangaur in spring and Teej in the monsoon, the palanquin procession leaves the Zanani Deodhi deep inside the palace and emerges through these arches into the bazaar, where a royal aarti is performed before the cortege moves west towards Chhoti Chaupar and Gangauri Bazaar. The gate itself is closed to public passage and, when you want a view, you take it from the street outside at any hour.

A bustling bazaar surrounds this 18th-century palace entry gate, and the night lighting gives you the best excuse to pause here and look back at the arch before moving on.