Every colour has a history

Sharing The Stories Of The Most Colourful Towns With A Tinge Of History

Jodhpur

Where: Rajasthan, India
Jodhpur blends perfectly with the blue sky, all thanks to its blue tinted buildings. If you’ve been to Jodhpur, you know it’s much more than just beautiful. But did you know that its past isn’t as pretty? The buildings that were initially painted blue were for the upper caste people of the city. Just as the caste system started to lose its prominence, the entire city gradually painted blue, just like the sky.

Willemstad

Where: Curaçao, Kingdom of Netherlands
The history of this colourful town is one of its kind. This town was once completely whitewashed like a plain canvas, until its then governor blamed his suffering from migraine because of the white walls. He ordered the town to be painted in anything but white. The policy has been continuing ever since mostly to avoid any more migraines and the stress that excessive use of white can cause on eyes.

Bo-Kaap

Where: Cape Town, South Africa
Bo-Kaap’s colourful vibrancy can be felt as soon as you step on its land. The town is filled with colour as far as the eye can see. Interestingly, this also has a reason. The colour in this town marks the end of the South African Apartheid, a major milestone in the South African history.

La Boca

Where: Buenos Aires, Argentina
It is saddening when you find out that a town as beautiful as La Boca has such an ugly history. La Boca was traditionally built by city dock workers. Since they were poor and didn’t have enough material to build houses, they had to use leftover materials. Due to shortage of supply of paint, the houses were painted in patchwork which has now become a point of attraction for the tourists.

Jaipur

Where: Rajasthan, India
Everybody knows about the pink city of India, but do you know why it’s pink? In 1876, when Prince of Wales, Edward VII, was to visit India, Sawai Ram Singh painted the royal and official buildings in pink colour because it represents welcoming and hospitality. The trend soon spread across the city and Jaipur was all pink in no time ready to welcome its tourists from around the world.

Juzcar

Where: Málaga, Spain
Better known as the official Smurfs village, Júzcar was first painted Smurf-blue in the summer of 2011 as part of the marketing campaign for Smurfs movie. Why Júzcar? Because every autumn, the village brims with all kinds of delicious fungi including mushrooms and who loves mushrooms? Smurfs, of course. Since then, the locals voted for the town to be painted blue as it attracted a lot of tourists. They also started holding fairs of their own that matched the theme.

Text: Pihu Yadav, GT Network, Imaging: Pankaj Mallik, GT Network