Char Darwaja

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Moti Katla Darwaza, one of the four gates that make up the Char Darwaza, in a July
2007 photograph.

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A painting by Shri Hamlet of the Moti Katla Darwaza depicts the structure as
it may have looked today had it been preserved in its original state

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SOURCE: Information supplemented by interviews with Shri Ranbir Sing, Shri Vinod Joshi
and Sushri Reema Hooja.
 


The old city of Jaipur was surrounded by a wall about 6 meters high and 3 meters thick. It had seven gates, a model number in a temple designed according to the shastric principles, one each on the east, west and northern flank and four on the south. The more exposed southern side, was further protected by a ditch, which is now mostly filled. The gates were closed at night, a practice continued in the city until as late as 1942. There were other smaller gates inside the city that separated some of the city’s chowkris (wards) one of which were the Char Darwazas, or the Four Gates. While two of the gates have been restored and one is currently being worked on, the Moti Katla Darwaza is not one them.

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