Understanding the Meaning of Jaipur

Many people wonder why the Pink City is called Jaipur or what is meaning of Jaipur. It is a logical question. The city has been known by many variations of its current names. Some of the old ways of writing Jaipur were Jeypore, Jepar, Jaipoor, etc, to name a few. 

To answer this question about the meaning of Jaipur, we must first ask the following questions regarding the city name. 

  • Why do cities have names?
  • Are there any alternatives to naming a city?
  • What does the name of a city convey?
  • What information does the city name contain? 
  • History of naming of Indian cities

It is through the above process that we will arrive with the right answer to the meaning of Jaipur. 

The word Jaipur is derived from Jai+Pur. The word Jai is derived from the founder of the city, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II and Pur is an old Indian suffix for the city name. In that respect, Jaipur is just one name like, Nagpur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Kanpur, to name a few cities. 

While the word “Jai” doesn’t require any explanation, the word “Pur” refers to the city or fort. The word owes its origin to Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language that predates Hindi. This information is available in common domain and is based on common belief. 

It was a tradition that founders would name cities after themselves. This is also true for cities like Udaipur and Jodhpur. Therefore, the meaning of Jaipur refers to the city founded by ruler Sawai Jai Singh II, a Kachhawa Rajput. So, in the process, Sawai Jai Singh II added his identity to the pink city by adding a few letters from his name. It is very difficult to segregate the identity of Jaipur from Sawai Jai Singh II. He has sealed the city’s fate and identity with himself. 

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