As you take the winding road from modern
Jaipur between the barren hills immediately
to the north there is little hint of tlw
magnificent fort and palace which once
dominated the narrow valley. Today there is
no town to speak of in Amber, just the
palace clinging to the side of the rocky
till, overlooked by the fort above, with a
small village at its base.
Amber was the site of a Hindu temple built
by the Mina tribes as early as the 10th
century. Two centuries later the Kachhawaha
Rajputs made it their capital, which
it remained until Sawai |ai Singh 11 moved
to his newly planned city of Jaipur in 1727
Its location made Amber strategically
crucial for the Mughal emperors as they
moved south, and the Maharajahs of Amber
took care to establish close relations with
successive Mughal rulers.
The building of the fort palace was begun by
Raja Man Singh, a noted Rajput General in Akbar's
army, in 1600.
In the high season this is one of India's
most popular tourist sites, with a
continuous train of colourfully decorated
elephants walking up and down the ramp. One
penalty of its popularity is the persistence
of the vendors. From the start of the ramp
you can either walk or ride (10 minutes) by
elephant; the walk is quite easy and mainly
on a separate path. A stroll uphill just
before sunset avoids crowds and captures the
magic of the place.
The
Amber Palace
After passing through a series of five
defensive gates, you reach the first court
yard of the Raj Mahal built by Man Singh 1
in 1600, entered through the Suraj Pol (Sun
GATE). Here you can get a short ride around
the courtyard on an elephant, but bargain
very hard. There are some toilets near the
dismounting platform. On the south SIDe of
this Jaleb Chowk with the flower beds, is a
flight of steps leading up to the Vingh Pol
(Lion Gate) entrance to the upper courtyard
of the palace.
On your right after climbing the steps is
the green marble-pillared Shila Mata Temple
(to Kali as Goddess of War) which contains a
black marble image of the goddess Man Singh
I brought back from |essore (now in
Bangladesh; the chief priest has always been
Bengali). The silver doors with images
of Durga and Saraswati were added by his
successor.
In the left hand corner of the court yard,
the Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience) was
built by Raja )ai Singh 1 in 1639.
Originally, it was an open pavilion with
cream marble pillars supporting an unusual
striped canopy-shaped ceiling, with a
portico with double red sandstone columns.
The room
on the east was added by Sawai Ram Singh II.
The Ganesh Pol (circa 1700-25), colourfully
painted and with mosaic decoration separates
the private from the public areas.
This
leads onto the Jai Singh I court with a
formal garden. To the east is the two-storeyed
cream allowed marblr paviliojn - Jai Mandir
with a curved bengali roof, on the terrace
above. The former with its marble columns
and painted ceiling, has lovely views across
the lake. the latter ha colourful
mosaics, mirrors and marble jali screens
which let in cooling breezes. Both have
shish Mahals faced with mirrors, seen to
full effect when lit by a match. To the west
of the chowk is the Sukh Niwas, a pleasure
palace with a marble water course to cool
the air, and doors inlaid with ivory and
sandalwood The Mughal influence is quite
apparent in this chowk.
Above die Ganesh Pol is the Sohag Mandir, a
rectangular chamber with beautiful latticed
windows and octagonal rooms to each side.
From the rooftop there are stunning views
over the palace across the town of Amber,
the long curtain wall surrounding the town
and further north, through the 'V shaped
entrance m thehills, to the plains beyond
(particularly good for photographs). Beyond
this courtyard is the Palace of Man Singh I.
A high wall separates it from the |ai Singh
Palace. In the centre of the chowk Which Was
once open is a baradari (12-arched
pavilion), combining Mughal and Hindu
influences. The surrounding palace, a
complex warren of passages and staircases,
was turned into zenana quarters when the
newer palaces were built by Jai Singh.
The
Jaigarh Fort
Above the Palace on the hill top stands the
gigantic bulk of jaigarh, impressively lit
at night, a testimony of the power of the
Jaipur rulers.
From Amber Palace, turn right out of the
Suraj Pol and follow a stone road past the
old elephant quarters. This is the start of
the ascent - a steady climb of about a
minutes. The road is protected throughout
its length by a strong wall which zig up the
hill to the fort's main gate. What appears
at first to be two adjoining forts is in
fact all part of the same structure which
follows the contour of the hilltop. From
Nahargarh to jaigarh is an 8-km walk.
The forbidding medieval fort was never
captured and so has survived virtually
intact which makes it particularly
interesting. In the 16th century
well-planned cannon foundry you can see the
pit where the barrels were cast, the
capstan-powered lathe which bored out the
cannon and the iron-workers' drills, taps
and dies. The armoury has a large collection
of swords and small arms. There is a small
cafe out side the armoury.
There are gardens, a granary, open and
closed reservoirs; the ancient temples ( Ram
Harihar (10th century) and Kal Bhairava
(12th century) are within the fort. You can
explore a warren of complicated dark
passageways among the palaces. Many of the
apartments are open and you can see the
collections of coins and pup- pets (shows on
demand).
The other part of the fort, at a slightly
higher elevation, has a tall watch tower,
From here there are tremendous views of the
surrounding hills. The massive 50 tonne Jai
Ban cannon stands on top of one tower.
Allegedly the largest cannon on the wheels
in the world, with an 8 m barrel, it had a
range of around 20 Km, but it was never
used. Some 7 km further along the top of the
hill is the smaller Nahargarh Fort
overlooking Jaipur itself.
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