Another stunningly beautiful fort of Rajasthan made of marble and red sandstone.
It took two centuries of dedicated efforts by three kings, Raja Man Singh, Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Sawai Jai Singh to complete this gigantic fort. The fort is a fusion of Hindu and Muslim architectural styles.
We walked through the beautiful walkways surrounding the typical Mughal garden, the Jai Mandir(Hall of Victory) on one side and the Zenana Mahal(Queen’s Palace) on the other side. The picture below shows how water was used to cool the rooms in those days. Water conservation was in vogue in those days too. The drains, which are now covered with glass panes, carried the water to the garden.
At Sheesh Mahal we were stunned by the minute mirror work in the walls. We were told that the entire room can be illuminated with a single match or candle. Renovation was on at some of the places, the workers deeply involved in their work, totally unmindful of the staring visitors.
The best part of the visit to the fort is the elephant ride. However the day we visited, we witnessed the Brazillian TV serial shooting which was using all the elephants there to picturise a festival scene. You can see some of the colorful elephants here. The kids there got no ride that day.
Famous Hindi movie, Jodha Akabar was filmed here. The most unfortunate part is that this 16th century fort is neither listed in the national heritage sites nor is it protected by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The star struck officials of this fort keep letting out the monument for all kinds of shootings and the edifice is crumbling little by little. The latest damage done to the fort was by Salman Khan’s movie unit 'Veer'.
May 18, 2009
Amber Fort, Jaipur
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56 comments:
What a beautiful fort. All great shots but the details in the second shot were especially beautiful to me.
Stunningly beautiful is right. It indeed is that.
Oh, Indrani, what an incredibly beautiful place! Really breathtaking! And your photos, as always, are exquisite! Thanks for sharing a piece of your world with us! Have a great week!
I'm disappointed because not all of the photos are loading for me. I can see the first and the third, and they're lovely.
You always bing such great sights to us. I hope that the fort will be protected in the future! Awesome photos.
another beautiful post and so enjoyed the commentary with it. a shame that they don't protect it but, seems someone is greedy for the money from renting the grounds/facitilies out?
These are amazing. "Ecumenical" is an old idea, to be sure. The mirror work and the garden boggle my mind.
What a shame it would be if all that beauty was allowed to crumble away...
Yes ..
its another beautiful fort :)
Its so nice architecture
in your country.
That mirror work in the walls
is very amazing, Wow!!
Thanks for the veryyy good shots!!
Its nice to see it all :)
What an eye for detail....I have been fascinated by forts especially after Satyajit Ray's film 'Sonar Kella' (The Golden Fort).
And I feel great at having managed to identify the elephant in your Camera Critters contest. Thanks.
What a beautiful place and so interesting to see how it's used today as A tv setting. Ancient meets the modern
What an amazing place! How much of it is open for the public? I can't stop thinking of how much work and efforts have been put behind it! Two centuries and three kings? Wow!
Such stunning architecture! You're right, conservation is the key for posterity to enjoy.
Thnaks for the wonderful pics.
Wow it is so huge, you must have walked a long way. So interesting to see how they cool the room. Amazing building.
I was here in 1984!! and remeber it as a stunningly beautiful place..thanks for the reminder!!
Such a lovely place - and such a pity it is being allowed to crumble away. Film makers will surely ring the death knell to many a place with their indifference and lack of sensitivity towards heritage. It is up to the people who manage/own these places to care for them. But it does take a lot of money to do that , and so they let them out to movie makers - a vicious circle.
I have read about this place countless times and I can truly understand how beautiful it is. It must be magical being there..and I would love to be there one day. hugs.....M
This was a definite treat. Though I have visited this palace as a child, but my memories are not very clear. Thanks for rekindling them.
I am always mesmerized by India's culture and architecture. You showed us beautiful photos and quite a bit of information.
Superb fort and a great post. I love the mirror room, a great idea for energy saving, and the gardens are so beautiful.
What an amazing fort. Love the mirrored mozaics. Truly conservationists of their time.
Isn´t it good that there is at least some fort where they can make movies? You can´t have them all protected.
Great pictures i would like to visit myself.
Indrani, this is a very nice and informative post. What wonderful places you depict here! Thanks for sharing.
must visit the fort before it is ruined and/or sold for a multiplex :)
It would be such a shame to lose this treasure!
Unbelievable handcraft! I just hope all the workers earned a good life.... Very good pictures.
Someone must be looking after this incredible fort, because in your photos it looks great. As for filming... beautiful places should be filmed. Nice ork.
Stunning. I hope something can be done to preserve it.
Beautiful images and interesting information!!
The mirror work is stunning and will look amazing once it is all restored. The restoration worker is so totally engrossed in his work, isn't he !! :-)
Another place to add to my 'I Want To Visit' list. !
Lovely snaps... I have been there... its a lovely place.. nice memories have just been freshened up by you !
How ingenious to use water to cool down the palaces. And that mosaic work is intricate and gorgeous.
What a fantastic palace!
What a beautiful building! Such a pity that it's not on the list of world heritage! It should be kept in good repair.
What a magnificent fort. It's hard to believe that it's not protected in some way. Thanks for taking us with you on your tour.
It must be hypnotic to work on something as amazingly beautiful as that. A trance-like concentration, forgetting to eat and drink, and forgetting everything and time.
Wonderful images of amazing art!
Thank you for sharing, it sounds as though you had a wonderful time.
Such delicate, intricate designs on such a large building - amazing beauty!
Wonderful & lovely artwork! I especially love the detailed mirror work. ;)
Hi Indrani! Sorry for the absence, but I’ve been busy with my parents’ health; almost 180 years to care... ;)
It was lovely to re-visit Amber Fort now through your lens; so lovely memories!!
Blogtrotter is showing the new Vilnius as well as the old University. Hope you enjoy and have a great week!
The word fusion is very accurate to describe this art of a structure! Beautiful..and the mirrors..WOW
Yes, it is a stunning fort and palace. The view below from the top is excellent. The snaps are excellent as usual.
its a great fort, I enjoyed looking around admiring so many parts of it, like the mirror room and the mosaic work, but most of all I enjoyed the elephant rides up and down the hillside. That was special.
that beautiful reportage! nice photos, thanx for share!
Luis
Wow!
and it takes just a candle to light up the entire room.. brilliant idea in this energy deficit days..[mirrors are cheaper than oil and and other forms of energy aren't they? :)]
but it is sad to note that these structures are not being preserved for the future generations.. if the govt makes it a Heritage bldg then I am sure the expense for the maintenance can be managed somehow
Gorgeous! I've really got the travel bug now.
How sad for the deterioration. The water was quite innovative. The fort looked so majestic. It looked so huge, how long did it take to see the whole place or rather were you able to see the whole place? Great post as always!
Thanks all for the lovely comments. :)
Jenn: We toured the Amber Fort for around two hours. It was a fascinating experience. :)
I hope they will do something to keep the place high on their list of priority because it is grand and deserves to be categorize as a National Heritage. Very impressive architectural design. I love the mosaic windows and overall.
The mirror walls part sounds amazing and the time taken to built the fort. I too remember glass floors in Mysore palace, the picture reminds it.
And now water is being used to heat rooms in some green technologies. I am fascinated by the idea of rooms lit by reflection..what possibilities! Light is magical.
It does look as if there are attempts being made to conserve the fort, even with the filming going on.
How can this not be protected?!! How sad. Thanks for sharing this.
I can't remember if I answered your question or not, but the photo you commented on were seeds of the Manitoba Maple tree.
Each and every image depicts how beautiful the fort is.
TV Globo, Brazilian TV Channel, has shown Indian people and beautiful buildings: a TV series "Caminho das Indias".
Beautiful Country and People.
Luiz Ramos
Well this is just one aspect which you have seen...Infact there is one aspect of AmberFort which remains hidden from entire world and that is it's exquisite drainage system...
actually out of the most things that you might have seen...there is a massive wall on the other side of the fort...which is quite beautiful
the other side you would also see a place known as Upper Sagar and Lower Sagar which are actually much more beautiful than the original fort itself...and then if you have seen....there is the entire movie shooting of Bhool Bhulaiyya done there on it's backside....
@Byrningbunny.....
this is a protected monument and one of the monuments well preserved...infact only a portion of it is open to the general public which has been shown here in pics to you...
Namaskara! Chennagi deera?! Just a little leftover Kannada language from my 4 weeks in Bengaluru in Feb/March this year. I made it to Delhi and Agra but NOT to Jaipur. Bummer! Love your Jaipur snaps! Just discovered your blog. Fun to look through your photos! Dhanyavadagalu! Regards from EAGAN daily photo in Minnesota, USA
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