Last updated 29 September 2026
Hawa Mahal is open daily from about 9 AM to 4:30 PM and costs around ₹200 for foreign visitors and ₹50 for Indian citizens. Thirty to forty-five minutes covers the inside.
The thing to know before you arrive: the famous facade faces the main street, and the entrance is round the back. You cannot photograph the front from inside the building, and a great many visitors work this out only after paying.
Where the photograph is taken from
The image everyone has seen — five storeys of pink honeycomb, 953 small windows — is shot from across Hawa Mahal Road, from street level or from one of the rooftop cafés directly opposite. Those cafés charge for a drink rather than an entry fee and the view is the whole business model.
Morning light is what you want. The facade faces east, so it takes the sun until around ten and is in shadow for the rest of the day. A photograph at four in the afternoon is a flat grey building.
From inside, you are behind those windows looking out. That is a genuinely interesting thing to do and it is not the picture you came for.
| Open | About 9 AM – 4:30 PM, every day |
| Entry, foreign visitor | around ₹200 |
| Entry, Indian citizen | around ₹50 |
| The famous view | From the street opposite, or a rooftop café |
| Entrance | Round the back, not on the facade side |
| Best light | Before about 10 AM — the facade faces east |
| Time to allow | 30 – 45 minutes inside |
What it was actually for
Sawai Pratap Singh built it in 1799 as an extension of the City Palace zenana — the women's quarters. The 953 jharokhas let the royal women watch street processions and daily life without being seen, in observance of purdah.
The windows also do what the name says. Hawa Mahal means palace of wind, and the lattice was designed so that air moving through the small openings cools the interior — the Venturi effect, several centuries before it had a name.
It is essentially a five-storey screen. The building is only about one room deep for most of its height, which is why it looks like a palace from the street and feels like a corridor from inside.
Is it worth going in?
It depends what you want. Inside there are ramps rather than stairs for most of the climb — built so the women could be carried up in palanquins — and the upper floors give a good view over the old city and across to Jantar Mantar.
Sitting behind one of those windows looking down on the street does something the photograph cannot: you understand immediately that this was built so that people could watch without being watched, and what that meant for the women who lived here.
If your time in Jaipur is short, photograph it from the café opposite and spend the forty-five minutes at the City Palace instead. If you have a full day in the old city, go in.
Getting there and what is nearby
It is on Hawa Mahal Road in the old walled city, a five-minute walk from the City Palace and Jantar Mantar. The three together are a comfortable half-day on foot and are how a Jaipur afternoon is usually built.
Traffic on the road in front is heavy and there is nowhere to stop a car. Most drivers will slow rather than park; if you want the photograph properly, get out at the City Palace and walk the five minutes.
Johari Bazaar and the jewellery quarter are immediately behind it, which is where the afternoon usually ends up.
Common questions
Where do you take the famous Hawa Mahal photo?
From across Hawa Mahal Road — at street level or from one of the rooftop cafés directly opposite, which charge for a drink rather than an entrance fee. You cannot take that photograph from inside the building, because the entrance is on the other side and you end up behind the windows rather than in front of them.
What are Hawa Mahal timings and ticket prices?
About 9 AM to 4:30 PM daily, around ₹200 for foreign visitors and ₹50 for Indian citizens. Thirty to forty-five minutes covers the interior. Composite tickets covering Amber Fort, Jantar Mantar and Nahargarh usually work out better if you are seeing several sites.
Is it worth going inside Hawa Mahal?
If you have a full day in the old city, yes — the upper floors give a good view and sitting behind one of the windows explains what the building was for in a way the photograph cannot. If your time is short, photograph it from the café opposite and spend the time at the City Palace instead. It is essentially a five-storey screen, only one room deep.
Why was Hawa Mahal built?
Sawai Pratap Singh built it in 1799 as an extension of the palace women's quarters. Its 953 small windows let the royal women watch street processions without being seen, in observance of purdah. The lattice also cools the interior by accelerating air through the openings, which is where the name — palace of wind — comes from.
What time of day is best for photographing Hawa Mahal?
Before about ten in the morning. The facade faces east, so it takes direct sun early and sits in shadow for the rest of the day. An afternoon photograph is a flat grey building, which is why so many visitors are disappointed with the shot they got.