Location: – Jaipur, Rajasthan
Built By: – Raja Man Singh
Built In The Year: – 1592
Materials Used: – Red Sandstone and Marble
Purpose: – Main Residence of the Rajput Maharajas
Current Status: – Amber fort was declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site
Visit Timing: – 08:00 AM – 05:00 PM
Amer (Amber) Fort History
Amber Fort, a UNESCO world heritage site is standing on a hilltop in Aravali mountain range nearly 11 km from Jaipur city center, this hilltop earlier known as “Cheel Teela”. A small fort at the place of Amber fort was built by Meena Kings later it was won by Raja Dulhe Rao (Founder of Kachwah Rajput dynasty of Amber); the fort built by Meena Kings was very small the actual construction of this magnificent fort was done by King Kankil Dev (Successor of King Dulhe Rai). Amber fort which is witnessed today was built by Raja Man Singh I which was further expanded by Raja Jai Singh I. Apart from the majestic building Amber Fort is famous for the elephant rides on the ramparts of fort; Amber Fort is probably the only fort in Rajasthan where one can climb to fort on the back an elephant; prior bookings for the elephant ride is suggested as during peak season fort is highly crowded & it can be difficult to find an elephant for a ride. Amber fort is considered as the center of the tourist attractions in Jaipur. It is one of the most visited forts in Rajasthan.
It have 4 courtyards namely:
1.Jaleb Chowk: – Main palace ground basically used by the army for ceremonial parades before and/or after the war. This courtyard has an ancient & important temple dedicated to Goddess Sila (Incarnation of Goddess Kali- Goddess of death & power) having a beautiful complex of marble with silver carving gates, windows & skylights.
2.Deewan-e-aam: – It was used as public audience hall where King used to hear & respond to petition from the public. It was placed where King used to interact with people of his kingdom directly. With the beautiful architectural intelligence, roaming around this place is worthy.
Mahal: – It was a private residential area of the king; a garden of Mughal style is laid between the 2 main residential buildings of King namely Sheesh Mahal & Sukh Mahal. Sheeshmahal( palace of mirror) is a beautiful palace made up of thousands of mirrors carved in beautiful marble structure. Other building is known as Sukh Mahal literally means Leisure Palace; it was built using finest marble with furniture built using sandalwood. Magic flower carving is a point of amazement here. A water channel was established in the palace which ensured cool breeze lowering the temperature of palace making it really a leisure palace in scorchin summers of Rajasthan.
Zenana Dyodhi: – “Zenana” means ladies in Urdu; hence Zenana Dyodhi was a palace for the residence of royal ladies where they used to live with other mistresses & concubines of King. There is a large courtyard in the center of Zenani dyodhi where a grand courtyard was built which served as the meeting point of King & his consorts.
Maotha Lake: Maotha Lake on the foothills of this grand fort just adds some more awesomeness to the beauty of this fort; a perfect shadow of Amber Fort can be seen in the Maotha Lake which is really picturesque moment.
From banks of Maotha Lake one can take elephant ride to reach Amber fort on the hilltop; this elephant ride is one of its type; exclusively available here only in all Rajasthan & main USP of Amber Fort. There is garden built in middle of the Maotha Lake which is named as Kesar Qyari; Kesar Qyari literally means Safforn Plantation. King of Jaipur decided to grow saffron in middle of the desert to showcase the technical intelligence of his state but after many repeated attempts he was failed to saffron in hot climate of Jaipur, however, the garden got its name. It is very beautiful scene to embrace the beauty of Maotha Lake from the top of Amber Fort.
Jaipur Tourism –Places To Visit In Jaipur.
