Within the City Palace complex in Jaipur there are four gate buildings that surround the inner courtyard, which leads to the Chandra Mahal - the main palace building within the complex. The four gates are adorned with themes that represent the four seasons and Hindu Gods. The Lotus Gate, which sits to the southern side of the courtyard, and is dedicated to Lord Shiva-Parvati was the inspiration for this design. The Lotus Gate represented the summer and the incredible painted patterns within the archway around the central wooden doors feature a continuous fanned flower tessellation and Lotus flowers in full bloom are featured on the facade. The Lotus Gate alone features a huge amount of wonderful surface pattern and therefore design inspiration, but it is the Peacock Gate, which sits to the Northern side of the courtyard and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and the winter season, which is the most ornately decorated. If you ever get a chance to visit Jaipur, you must make sure you go to the Palace and seek out the gates, or, if you’re not likely to visit India, you can always search online. The design is relatively easy to crochet, but this is a “join as you go” project, which you could find a little tricky if you have never done it before. The printed brochure pattern includes lots of step by step images, charts and diagrams to help. The stitches used in the design are ch, ss, dc, htr, tr, MP, dtr, dtr3tog and dtr4tog. 12 Page pattern booklet
