Travel: Amer/Amber Fort and Palace, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Amer Fort

I kept calling it Amber Fort only to be continuously corrected by the locals.

"You mean Amer Fort?" they would ask. "That's the highlight. You should spend the most time there."

Amer Fort, also known as Amber Fort, - it's an impressive site to behold as you approach Jaipur from Amer as it sprawls across the Cheel Ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) on the Aravalli Hills overlooking Moata Lake. Built by Man Singh I in the 16th century, it was expanded on by his son, Jai Singh I and continued to be renovated until the capital moved to Jaipur in 1727.

Man Singh I, just to acquaint you with some Indian history, was one of Akbar the Great's most trusted generals. Akabr, as you recall, was the son of Humayun (I visited his Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi earlier) and the third Mughal Emperor. The Kachwaha Rajputs had allied themselves with Mughal Empire when Man Singh I's grandfather, Raja Bharmal provided Humayun with an army and wed his daughter to Akbar.

Amer Fort

I visited in the summer - which means it was scorching and I took a bath in my sweat every five minutes though the silver lining was that not many people were there and I got some fantastic pictures of the Fort. When you do arrive at the Amer Fort, you will be mobbed by tour guides - in all honesty, it's a little overwhelming. We ended up getting a tour guide at the man's insistence (which was him following us around for about 10 minutes telling us how we wouldn't know what we were looking at without him) who did a great job of explaining the history of Jaipur and the Fort and directed us to the best places to photograph us in the fort.

Inside Amer Fort

Amer Fort

One of the gates of Amer Fort

Built largely in a Hindu style, it's vastness is filled with opulence in every corner. And it's massive. It operated both as a fort and a palace. While doing some research for this post - I am fairly certain I didn't see all of it. That's one possibility. The other possibility is that all recollection of those structures evaporated from my brain ( I am betting on the second option.)

Diwan-i-Am and Diwan-i-khas were two places where the king met people. The former was for the public and the latter for higher officials.

Diwan-i-Am

Detail of one of the pillars in the Diwan-I-Am

Ganesh Pol (Ganesh Gate) is the entrance to the royal chambers. We were able to see many of them and saw an impressive bathroom (complete with heated water) - unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of it since I was afraid I would fall in.

Ganesh Pol

The Sheesh Mahal, which translates to "Mirror Palace" is a room that is just covered with mirrors and ornate mosaics and gemstones. Our guide said that you just needed to light one candle in the middle of the room, and the entire place would be filled with light. It's one of those places where you just stare and wonder how it is even humanly possible to create such a place. It overlooks one of the gardens that is shaped like a Char Bagh showing the influence of Mughal architecture as well. The Fort also has other numerous gardens such as the Kesar Kyari garden that built to grow saffron.