Amber Fort

Amber Fort is a fort located in Amber, Rajasthan, India.

Amber is a town with an area of 4 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi) located 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. Amber city and Amber fort were founded by ruler Alan Singh of Chanda dynasty of Meenas.

Amber Palace is a great example of Rajput architecture. Some of its buildings and work have influence of Mughal architecture. Constructed of red sandstone and marble, the attractive, opulent palace is laid out on four levels, each with a courtyard.

Amber Fort seen from the southeast.
Maotha Lake can be seen at the bottom of the photo.

Located high on a hill, it is the principal tourist attraction in Jaipur. Amber Fort is known for its artistic style elements. With its large ramparts and series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks Maota Lake, which is the main source of water for the Amber Palace.

Snake charmers at Amber Fort.
Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnotize a snake (often a cobra) by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi.

A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerous acts, as well as other street performance staples, like juggling and sleight of hand.
See more at Snake charming - Wikipedia.

Climbing towards the fort.

View of Amber city from the Fort.
In the center of the photo is the Jagat Shiromani Temple.

Moon Gate (Chand Pol).
Entering the Fort through the Moon Gate.

First courtyard

Elephants in the Parade (Jaleb Chowk).
This was the place where armies would hold victory parades with their war bounty on their return from battles, which were also witnessed by the Royal family's womenfolk through the latticed windows.

Jaleb Chowk is an Arabic phrase meaning a place for soldiers to assemble.
This is one of the four courtyards of Amber Palace, which was built during Sawai Jai Singh's reign (1693–1743 AD).
Maharaja's personal bodyguards held parades here under the command of the army commander or Fauj Bakshi. The Maharaja used to inspect the guards contingent.
Adjacent to the courtyard were the horse stables, with the upper-level rooms occupied by the guards.

Shila Mata Temple (Shila Mata Mandir).
An impressive stairway from de Parade (Jaleb Chowk) leads into the main palace grounds. Here, at the entrance to the right of the stairway steps is the Shila Devi temple where the Rajput Maharajas worshipped, starting with Maharaja Mansingh in the 16th century until the 1980s, when the animal sacrifice ritual (sacrifice of a buffalo) practiced by the royalty was stopped.

Shila Devi was an incarnation of Kali or Durga.
The entrance to the temple is through a double door covered in silver with a raised relief.
The main deity inside the sanctum is flanked by two lions made of silver.
At the entrance to the temple, there is also a carving of Lord Ganesha, which is made out of a single piece of coral.
One practice that is associated with this temple is the religious rites of animal sacrifice during the festival days of Navrathri (a nine-day festival celebrated twice a year). The practice was to sacrifice a buffalo and also goats on the eighth day of the festival in front of the temple, which would be done in the presence of the royal family, watched by a large gathering of devotees. However, now the practice of animal sacrifice has been totally stopped at the temple premises and offerings made to the goddess are only of the vegetarian type.
See more at Shila Devi - Wikipedia.

View of the Parade (Jaleb Chowk) from Shila Mata Temple.

Second courtyard

Hall of Public Audience (Diwan-i-Aam).
The second courtyard, up the main stairway of the first level courtyard, houses the Diwan-i-Aam or the Public Audience Hall.

Built with a double row of columns, the Diwan-i-Aam is a raised platform with 27 colonnades, each of which is mounted with an elephant-shaped capital, with galleries above it.
As the name suggests, the Raja (King) held audience here to hear and receive petitions from the public.

Arcade between the Hall of Public Audience and Ganesha Gate.

Saffron Garden (Kesar Kyari) on Maotha Lake.

City of Amber seen from the Fort.

Hall of Public Audience (left) Ganesh Gate (right).

Ganesh Gate (Ganesh Pol).
Ganesh Pol, or the Ganesh Gate, named after the Hindu god Lord Ganesh, who removes all obstacles in life, is the entry into the private palaces of the Maharajas.

It is a three-level structure with many frescoes that were also built at the orders of the Mirza Raja Jai Singh (1621–1627).
Above this gate is the Suhag Mandir where ladies of the royal family used to watch functions held in the Diwan-i-Aam through latticed marble windows called jalis.

Third courtyard

Pleasure Garden (Aram Bagh).
The garden, located between the Jai Mandir on the east and the Sukh Niwas on the west, both built on high platforms in the third courtyard, was built by Mirza Raja Jai Singh (1623–68).

It is patterned on the lines of the Chahar Bagh or Mughal Garden. It is in a sunken bed, shaped in a hexagonal design.
It is laid out with narrow channels lined with marble around a star-shaped pool with a fountain at the center.
Water for the garden flows in cascades through channels from the Sukh Niwas and also from the cascade channels called the "chini khana niches" that originate on the terrace of the Jai Mandir.

Hall of Pleasure (Sukh Mahal).
The Sukh Mahal is where a cool climate is artificially created by winds that blow over a water cascade within the palace.

This hall is approached through a sandalwood door.
The walls are decorated with marble inlay work with niches called "chînî khâna".
A piped water supply flows through an open channel that runs through this edifice keeping the environs cool, as in an air-conditioned environment.
The water from this channel flows into the garden.

Mirror Palace (Sheesh Mahal).
The building to the left of the entrance gate is called the Jai Mandir, which is exquisitely embellished with glass inlaid panels and multi-mirrored ceilings.

The mirrors are of convex shape and designed with colored foil and paint which would glitter bright under candlelight at the time it was in use.
Also known as Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace), the mirror mosaics and colored glasses were a "glittering jewel box in flickering candlelight".
Sheesh Mahal was built by King Man Singh in the 16th century and completed in 1727.

Carved marble relief panel.
The walls around the hall hold carved marble relief panels.

A particular attraction here is the "magic flower" carved marble panel at the base of one of the pillars around the mirror palace depicting two hovering butterflies; the flower has seven unique designs including a fishtail, lotus, hooded cobra, elephant trunk, lion's tail, cob of corn, and scorpion, each one of which is visible by a special way of partially hiding the panel with the hands.

Jas Mandir.
On top of Jai Mandir is Jas Mandir, a hall of private audience with floral glass inlays and alabaster relief work.

Fourth courtyard

Royal Women's Apartments (Zenana).
The fourth courtyard is where the Zenana (Royal family women, including concubines or mistresses) lived.

This courtyard has many living rooms where the queens resided and who were visited by the king at his choice without being found out as to which queen he was visiting, as all the rooms open into a common corridor.

Baradari Pavilion.
South of this courtyard lies the Palace of Man Singh I, which is the oldest part of the palace fort.

The palace took 25 years to build and was completed in 1599 during the reign of Raja Man Singh I (1589–1614). It is the main palace.
In the central courtyard of the palace is the pillared baradari or pavilion; frescoes and colored tiles decorate the rooms on the ground and upper floors.
This pavilion (which used to be curtained for privacy) was used as the meeting venue by the maharanis (queens of the royal family).
All sides of this pavilion are connected to several small rooms with open balconies.

Leaving Amber Fort through the Sun Gate (Suraj Pol).
The main entry to Amber Fort is through the Suraj Pol (Sun Gate) which leads to the first main courtyard.

This gate was built exclusively and was provided with guards as it was the main entry into the palace.
It faced east towards the rising sun, hence the name.
Royal cavalcades and dignitaries entered the palace through this gate.