Rajasthan : Hawa Mahal of Jaipur

Hawa Mahal Built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, 

Hawa Mahal 

is the most stunning sight in the city of Jaipur. The palace, part of a huge complex, overlooks
one of Jaipur's main streets and was originally constructed to offer womenof the court a vantage point, behind stone-carved screens, from which to watch the activities taking place in the bazaar and the surrounding streets. 

Hawa Mahal Jaipur 

five-story, pyramid-shaped structure is made up of small casements, each with tiny windows and arched roofs with hanging cornices, exquisitely modeled and carved. Its facade makes Hawa Mahal look more like a screen than a palace. Its top three stories are just a single room thick but at the base are two courtyards. It is a fifty-foot high thin shield, less than a foot in thickness, but has over 900 niches and a mass of semi-octagonal bays, carved sandstone grills, finials and domes, which give this palace its unique facade.

Hawa Mahal or 

Hawa Mahal Jaipur is also popular as "

Palace of Winds

" and it is designed by Lal Chand Usta and this name of the palace is given because 

Hawa Mahal 

has about 953 windows through which wind or (hawa) flows and keep the palace cool.