On caparisoned elephants who marked the path with giant mounds of “ellie dung”, we made our way up through the 7 kilometer-fortress walls passing the Sun Gate till the courtyard of Amber Fort. Swaying left to right then back, I dared not use my monopad for some selfie shots for fear I’d drop it in that noble beast’s mound. Yay!
Most everyone seems to be having a great time. Giggling as they “slide” while the ellie sways, on this square space atop the beast that seats 2 people. I had a good look on the beast’s painted face and felt guilty. I bet these animals didn’t relish all these facepainting. Nor did they enjoy going back and forth through the serpentine cobbled pathways and ramparts ferrying camera-toting tourists from all corners of the world
High up on a hill, this 17th century fortress palace in terracotta looks impenetrable. Absolutely a top attraction of Jaipur although it is situated in Amer a town some 11 kilometers from Jaipur, the Pink City. Inside, there are halls with ornamented pillars, doors made of sandalwood and ivory, beautiful mosaic work in glass.
The story goes that the beloved queen loves starwatching so much that the King had the Sheesh Mahal built. This top attraction and many visitors’ favorite has walls and ceilings carved with beautiful flowers made of pure glass. Thus, a singular light — like from a candle — is reflected around the Hall like thousands of stars.
Wow, you can say the Mughal Emperor Akbar knew how to live once you get here. But then of course, what do you expect from this great man with over 300 wives? Nearly one for each night of the year! But I do wonder about the lives led by the wives and concubines. What occupies their minds? How do they spend their time in this royal fortress- residence? I bet there’s a book to read about this. Curious, Curious!
Some photos on this spread were grabbed from the albums of Maricel and Chit. Thank you, dear friends.
lifeisacelebration 
1 Trackback or Pingback for this entry:
[…] Amber Fort […]