Arts & Culture
January 2014Jaipur Literature Festival
This five-day Asian literature festival attracts an array of leading writers to the beautiful setting of the Diggi Palace in central Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Now entering its ninth year, the Jaipur Literature Festival has hosted many internationally recognised writers, including Kiran Desai, Ian McEwan, Vikram Seth, Thomas Keneally, Donna Tartt, Salman Rushdie and Christopher Hampton. Writers attend a range of readings, talks, literary lunches and debates, and there is a full programme of children's workshops and interactive activities.
The 2013 festival featured writers and speakers include: J.M. Coetzee, Orhan Pamuk, Salman Rushdie, Wole Soyinka, Ian McEwan, Vikram Seth, Niall Ferguson, Simon Schama, Thomas Keneally, Hanif Kureishi, Colin Thubron, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Geoff Dyer, Amit Chaudhuri, Fatima Bhutto, Michael Frayn, Stephen Frears, Alexander McCall Smith, Donna Tartt, Tina Brown, Mohammed Hanif, Christopher Hampton, Nadeem Aslam.
The city of Jaipur is celebrated for its stunning forts and palaces, including Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds), Amber Fort, Jaigarh Fort, Nahargarh Fort. The Jahauri Bazaar in the heart of the old city is a fantastic place to buy jewellery, leather goods, textiles and handicrafts.
The weather in Rajasthan in January is warm and bright, with slightly cool evenings - a perfect antidote to post-Christmas blues and grey January days.
