The Amber (or Amer) fort is a massive structure encompassing 4 square miles and located on top of craggy hills 11 KM from Jaipur. It is said to be named for Ambikashwara, the local name for the lord god Shiva, with construction beginning in 967. Over the years the palace has been enhanced and renovated – through the 1700s – and now stands as one of the largest intact forts in India. The approach to the Fort is great for photos as the majestically fort appears to our left, perched on the hillside with cattle grazing below.
After a quick long shot, we also get to stop for a true Indian tradition: Snake Charmers! A bunch of us get off the bus, but I stay behind, safely inside the bus and still get some great shots through the windshield – yep, just call me chicken.
Ok, enough with the snakes! Time to move on up the hill to where most of us hop on a jeep to ride up the long steep hill to the Fort entrance, but a few opt to take an Elephant ride up. Ok, so we won’t go into our rant, and we know for many people it is quite an experience, but, you know….we aren’t fans from an ethics perspective. And besides, to us, the jeep ride is much more fun! It’s a raggedly old jeep with six of us squeezed into seats bolted into the back rumbling up these little teeny, narrow alley/roads to the top of the fort. Yeah, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride!
After gathering near the entrance gate, we troop into the the huge exterior courtyard, called Jaleb Chowk (Arabic for where soldiers assembled) to wait for the elephant riders. We are immediately swarmed by vendors, who we just shake off, knowing the Price is Right will come back on the bus. As the elephant people arrive, we start up the stairs to the main entrance to the palaces, through a large gate with monkeys playing on the walls and rails as we ascend the stairs.
Now we are in the 2nd large courtyard, in the main palace grounds, which contains the Diwan-I-Aam, the Hall of Public Audience, where royalty met with officials and his subjects. It is a large area, filled with carved columns depicting elephants and vines. Toward the back of the structure is a narrow colonnaded area called “27 Kachehris,” or 27 offices, which are no more than archways where the Government Secretariat administered the the state. All made of red sandstone, it’s a grand structure, with lots of good views out over the hills and to what looks like the great wall of India (obviously fortresses built onto a wall around the Fort) in the distance.
Before entering the main Palace area, we first explore the Turkish baths, which are huge tub areas made completely out of marble. They are gorgeous, even for current times – and we all agree we’d take our baths here right now!
After waiting in the courtyard for a while, watching everyone pose and take their pictures at the Ganesh gate, we finally pass through the monstrous ornate gate to enter the Palace proper.
This area is where the Maharaja and his family lived, as indicated by the difference in the architecture and decorations inside. After a brief explanation of the layout, we head upstairs to the upper promenade to get a bird’s eye view of the palace area, complete with the Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace) and the across the beautifully landscaped gardens, the summer palace all in white with cool (literally) blue ornamentation designed to be cooler in the summer months.
On the other side of the promenade, we get an awesome view of the exterior courtyard with the Diwan-I-Aam (and the courtyard now filling up with people!) as well as views out over the mountainsides and ridges, providing us with an good understanding of why they built this fort up here and how its location makes it so much easier to protect.
Back on the ground level, we go explore the Sheesh Mahal in more detail (well, as much detail as we can from outside, we aren’t allowed inside the palace. Talk about a study in excess! It is stunning in its design, but mirrors, mirrors everywhere! I must admit though, the mosaic work and intricate patterns of the design do tend to leave you breathless. I mean, this is from the 16th century! Incredible!
Across the courtyard, the summer palace is a welcome cool contrast to the overwrought, but beautiful, Sheesh Mahal.
With a ton of free time still on our hands, we meander around the gardens and then into the final section of the palace area where the Zenana, or Royal women, lived. Here also is a Baradari (a pavilion like structure, all open air) that was used as a meeting place for the queens of the royal family, and in past times was curtained off for privacy.
Bhanu is waiting here for us (you can see him at the right of the last picture!), waiting to corral his little group of travelers to take us back down the hill in our jeeps and off on the rest of our morning tour journey. Next up: The rug factory!
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