Amer Fort in Jaipur, India - Full Guided Tour
A full guided tour around the Amer Fort in Jaipur India.
Amer Palace (Hindi: आमेर क़िला, also spelled and pronounced as Amber) is located in Amer (a town with an area of 4 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi), 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Jaipur, Rajasthan state, India. It is the principal tourist attractions in the Jaipur area, located high on a hill. Amer Fort was built by Raja Man Singh I. Amer Fort is known for its artistic style of Hindu elements. With its large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks the Maota Lake, at its forefront.
The aesthetic ambiance of the palace is seen within its walls on a four level layout plan (each with a courtyard) in a well turned out opulent palace complex built with red sandstone and marble consisting of the Diwan-e-Aam or the Hall of Public Audience, the Diwan-e-Khas or the Hall of Private Audience, the Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace) or Jai Mandir, and the Sukh Niwas where a cool climate is artificially created by winds that blow over the water cascade within the palace. Hence, the Amer Fort is also popularly known as the Amer Palace. The palace was lived in by the Rajput Maharajas and their families. At the entrance to the palace near the fort's Ganesh Gate, there is also a temple dedicated to Sila Devi, a goddess of the Chaitanya cult which was given to Raja Man Singh when he had defeated the Raja of Jessore, Bengal in 1604. (Jessore is now in Bangladesh).
This palace along with Jaigarh Fort, located immediately above on the Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) of the same Aravalli range of hills, is considered as one complex, as the two are well connected by a subterranean passage. This passage was meant as an escape route in times of war for the royal family members and others in the Amer Fort to shift to the more redoubtable Jaigarh Fort.[
Annual tourist visitation to the Amer Palace in Amer town was reported by the Superintendent of Department of Archaeology and Museums to the Amer Palace as 5000 visitors a day, and 1.4 million visitors were reported during 2007
The Amber Fort is a very impressive structure from the exterior, set high on a hill with a big wall around it that looks like a smaller version of the Great Wall of China.
To reach the fort you walk up a steep incline that zigzags the hillside. A number of tourists hire elephants to take them up but they look mistreated and I totally disagree with this practice.
As usual the hawkers are everywhere trying to sell cameras, batteries, postcards and crappy puppets.
Once inside, the fort is very impressive with large open courtyards and even an area with convex glass on the ceiling to reflect heat in winter.
But, to be honest it is much the same as the other forts we have been too, this is not a bad thing as to me they are some of the highlights of the trip.
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