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The Great Wall of Rajasthan |
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The Amber Fort |
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The Amber Palace |
We traveled to a small town a bit (10 km) outside of Jaipur by
the name of Amer. A large Fort was built here about 1000 AD that later on was
leveled and then rebuilt and expanded until it was even more
enlarged about 1700 and became the capital of the Rajput in Rajasthan.
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Inside the Amber Fort |
A Great
Wall of
China kind of wall surrounded and protected this Fort and could even be seen
from a distance of 3 km away. This wall, like in China sits on the peaks of the
surrounding hills, part of the Aravalli range. These walls would have been the first
hurdle to conquer if you chose to attack. Those walls fortify the
Fort inside of which is a Palace. Built with 4 distinct levels in a grand style, the Palace
housed the families of the Rajput Maharajas. Each level of the Palace had its
purpose, from reception areas for the masses, to the next level being a meeting
level for private audiences, to living spaces in winter and summer.
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Beautifully Carved Struts on the Pavilion |
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Open, Breezy Pavilion |
Walking up each
level inside the fort, we experienced a more luxurious display than the previous
level. The topmost area was sumptuous. Concave mirrors in the walls and
ceilings
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Amazing Art Work On Every Surface |
would reflect night lights and enhance candle or ghee lights. Terraces
could be converted to cozy rooms in winter, illuminated by ghee (butter)
lights, by hanging heavy woolen carpets, to block the air or view. Pillows on
the floors, lots of Ghee lamps, music and you would have a romantic setting
that is also very exotic. Those Rajput knew how to spend their time, knew what
splendor was.
A lake, Lake Maota,
supplied drinking water and its cooling effect was used in summer, when
temperatures can reach 130F (50C). This is desert living, cold
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Part of Lake Maota |
nights, cold
winters; hot days, cool nights in summer. Part of the lake was man made, lots of
digging by the not so fortunate.
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Jaigar Fort Is Behind Us |
Many today call this the Amber Fort, but the town near it is
the town of Amer.
Above the Fort, at the top of the mountain, connected by underground
passageways, is a true Fort (Jaigar Fort). A safety backup for the palace
and an even more safe and secure place, should anybody ever try to attack. The
set up was so successful that nobody ever even tried to conquer this “Amber”
Fort. It might have been built out of paranoia; with excessive defensive
strategies, but it proved itself a safe
place to live.
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Getting On the Elephant From a High Platform |
To get to this Palace Fort we used an elephant. It is a
steep climb up and every tourist gets a ride. A total of 120 elephants are
available, each elephant is only, by law, allowed 5 trips up and down a day.
The temperature is too hot, even for elephants. We had 90F when we visited in
early March. If you miss the elephants, jeeps will be used instead. Carol and I
were on one beast and we started out in the lead, but we had gotten an animal
with a strange disposition. We arrived last to the top. The animal did not want
to move faster than a very, very slow walk, despite the mahout’s urging. We
were the comic
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This Motorcyclist Has More Than Elephants to Worry About |
set of the trek up the hill. It was hot, not my kind of
temperature, maybe the elephant felt the
heat, too. I also understand why the
elephant was slow, when prodded I too go slower. Maybe the handler (Mahout)
was not the usual guy, we never know, but it was comical, we were that slow. We
took a jeep back down to the bus. The A/C in the bus felt good.
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Walking Would Have Been Faster But Harder |
The Amber Fort is outside the city of Jaipur and a defensive
marvel. Ladies of the court, while safe, were bored in this ‘Nowhere’ land and
wanted to see life happening around them, maybe even shop? Their complaints
fell on good ears because in 1799 the Hawa Mahal was built in downtown Jaipur.
It is a 5 story structure, with 593 veiled windows. Now those veiled Harem ladies
could get an idea about outside life, get some peeks of city life and watch
parades. This Hawa Mahal (also called the Palace of the Winds because of the
many windows) looks like an apartment building, and with its reddish sandstone frontage
kind of blends in today in old Jaipur.
The old town of Jaipur is a planned city. It did not develop gradually but was planned and
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Hawa Mahal, Palace of the Winds |
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Windows Allow Women To See
and Not Be Seen |
laid out by architects. One was British the other
Indian, so old Jaipur has a mixed feel to it, making Jaipur very progressive.
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Courtyard Of The City Palace |
Even a City Palace was planned. This City Palace contains
several buildings, palaces, courtyards and gardens. The complex is so large
that part of it today is a museum while another part is still the residence of
a young Maharajah. Tourists can visit the museum, (we
did) but the residence of
the Maharajah is off limits. This Maharajah of Jaipur is 18 years old and still
a bachelor. I am sure many an Indian mother would love to get him for her eligible
daughter. We did not see this eligible bachelor but he was within the building.
A signal flag is hoisted when this Maharajah is at “home”.
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Inside the City Palace |
Rajasthan is a desert province, sparse greenery, hot
summers, only very little rain falls during the off monsoon times. Years ago
camels were used to transport items, today trucks do this job. There are many
Tata trucks but there are also still about 700,000 camels in Rajasthan. We just
did not see them that much inside cities. But we did see some camels. Camels
might be more useful in rural settings; I am told the city of Udaipur has more
camels. The adage is: elephants in Jaipur, camels in Udaipur.
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Where the Shadow Falls Determines the Time of Day |
We ended our tour of Jaipur and the day with a visit to the
Solar Observatory. It was built in 1734
and uses the position of the sun, shadows and mathematical formulas on 19 complex
machines to determine the time, date, latitude and longitude. It was originally built
and started to compare these instruments to the times set in the Islamic calendar. Astronomers looked into the heavens and
determined how earth was aligned compared to other heavenly bodies. The setup
will also predict your future according to your astrological sign. I guess it
is important knowledge but I would be bored doing this kind of job. It was too
hot to spend much time here.
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All These Instruments Determine Your Horoscope
Depending On Your Astrological Sign |
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More Instruments Measuring? |
I was more blown away when someone told me that India has 22 official languages because each state has its own language. But Hindi is the
official language of India and English is widely spoken. In Rajasthan, Hindi is
the most common language, but some speak Rajasthani, a dialect.