Rajasthan Patrika launches a website for Jaipur

The city-centric website is the first English portal by the media house.

The Patrika Group, publishers of the Hindi newspaper Rajasthan Patrika, has launched its first English offering -- a website titled Jaipur.co. The website will be a city-centric site catering to various needs of the state capital of Rajasthan.

Jaipur.co will not only highlight happenings in the city, but also provide information on travel, food, entertainment and sports in the city. The portal also includes articles, interviews, social networking, movie reviews and many other features. It will cater to the youngsters of the city.

The portal was launched by Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor. To create a buzz about the portal, the group launched a series of teaser ads a few days prior to the launch, to generate interest and curiosity among the youth. This was followed by a front-page ad, symbolising Jaipur on a platter.

Talking about the new website, Sandeep Purohit, online in-charge, Patrika, says, "For our Hindi readers, we have a dedicated website in Hindi but we did not have anything for the English readers. So, this portal fills that gap. The portal is designed with an air of contemporariness. Since there is no other site dedicated solely to Jaipur, we don't have any direct competitors. Jaipur.co represents the Rajasthani diaspora residing in India, as well as abroad."

There will be a synergy of content between Rajasthan Patrika's portal (Patrika.com) and Jaipur.co. But, there will be a clear difference between the two as Patrika.com is a national portal which focusses on news, whereas Jaipur.co is a local info-entertainment portal.

The portal will have live and exclusive coverage of parties and celebrity interviews. For die-hard foodies, the food section will have recipes and contests surrounding it. Another section, Plan Your Trip, offers the users to plan trips in and around the city. The portal will also allow its members to create different communities in the online space and upload videos. Users can interact and share their thoughts and grievances in the 'speak out' section.

Purohit adds that the purpose behind launching a Jaipur-centric website "is to let the local populace explore events and happenings taking place in their city".

He further adds, "The Jaipur-centric portal will provide information about hotels, restaurants, eating joints, shopping destinations and other information about the Pink City. Keeping the young in mind, we have developed our own community, as well."

The site is also available on mobile, and is supported by iPhone and Android phones.

For the record, Rajasthan Patrika has completed 55 years of existence. The daily that started as an evening newspaper with a borrowed capital of Rs 500 has 30 editions across 7 States i.e.Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat & Karnataka.