Jaipur amber fort jewelry stones precious. Amber Fort in Jaipur

Indians / foreigners Rs 25/200,
guide 200 rupees,
audio guide Hindi / English / other European languages ​​/ Asian languages ​​100/150/200/250 rupees;
8.00-18.00, the last group at 17.30

Amber built the Kachwakh Rajputs, who were originally from Gwalior, now Madhya Pradesh, and ruled there for over 800 years. At the expense of the loot during the wars, they financed the construction of the Amber castle-fortress, which began in 1592 by the Maharaja Man Singh, Rajput and the commander-in-chief of the Akbar army. Amber was later enlarged and completed by Jai Singhs before they moved to Jaipur, in the plain below. Dominating the gorge, the fort gave a military advantage, but was not suitable for the direction of the development of the capital, prepared for him by Jai Singh.

The road to Amber runs through the typical landscapes of Rajasthan, with sun-scorched hills around Lake Maota, where buffaloes lazily lie on the shore near the water. Perhaps you will see a camel pulling a loaded cart.

This magnificent fortress is more like a city: built of pale yellow and pink sandstone and white marble, it is divided into four main sections, each with its own courtyard. Fort Amber is also an exquisite example of the wealth of the Maharajah: artists expelled by Emperor Aurangzeb worked on the columns and arches, and also adorned the gallery around the Public Audience Hall.

You can trudge to the fortress from the road for about 10 minutes (soft drinks can only be bought upstairs)... It costs 200 rupees to get to the fortress by jeep. Elephant back riding is very popular (Rs 900 per two passengers; 8.00-11.00 and 15.30-17.30).

On foot or on an elephant, you will enter the fortress through Surazh Pol (Solar Gate) that lead to Jaleb Chowk (to the main courtyard) where the army returning from the campaign showed its booty to the public - women could watch it through the curtained windows of the palace. Ticket office located across the courtyard from the Sun Gate. If you come by car, you will enter through Chand Paul (Moon Gate) on the opposite side of Jaleb Chowk. We highly recommend hiring a guide or taking an audio guide, as there are few explanations and many hidden passages.

From Jaleb Chowk, there is a massive staircase going up to the main palace of the Amber Fort, but first turn right along the steps that will lead to the small temple of Siladevi (Ciladevi Temple; photography is prohibited; 6.00-12.00 and 16.00-20.00)... This temple is dedicated to the Goddess Force, the embodiment of the bloodthirsty goddess Kali. On the silver doors of the temple, she is depicted sitting astride various animals. Her statue was brought here from Bengal, where the Kali cult is especially popular. Every day from the 16th century to 1980 (when the government banned this practice) a goat was sacrificed here.

If you return to the main staircase, you will be taken to the second courtyard and to the Divan-i-Am (Public Audience Hall) with a double row of columns, each of which is crowned by an elephant, and on them - lattice galleries.

In the third courtyard of the Amber Fort there are the Maharadoka's apartments - entrance through Ganesh Paul (Ganesh Pol) decorated with mosaics and sculptures. Jai Mandir (Hall of victories) famous for its Indian panels and ceiling of many mirrors. Carved marble panels throughout the room display amazing delicate insect and floral motifs.

Opposite Jai Mandir is Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure) with sandalwood doors inlaid with ivory, and a channel that once brought water inside. Jai Mandir offers a wonderful view of the bastion and picturesque lake Maota.

Zenana (women's quarters) surrounds the fourth courtyard of Amber. The rooms were designed so that the maharaja could visit the rooms of one of the wives and concubines and the others would not know about it; the chambers of each are not connected with each other, but go out into a common corridor.

Anokhi Hand Printing Museum

Anokhi Haveli, Kheri Gate;
children / adults 15/30 rupees,
photo / video 50/150 rupees;
10.30-16.30 Tue-Sat, 11.00-16.30 Sun,
closed from May 1 to July 15

This interesting museum The collection of handcrafted woodblock fabrics on display is located just behind the Amber Fort, in the city of Amber.

Road to Amber Fort and back

There are frequent (crowded) buses to Amber from Jaipur, near Hawa Mahal (Hawa Mahal; 10 rupees, 25 minutes)... Autoshaws or taxis start at Rs 150/550 for the return trip. Fort Amber is included in city tours from RTDC.

The text of the article was updated: 05/29/2018

Ready plan Traveling to India caused me only one gripe: we stayed in most places after dark, which means it will be more difficult to bargain with rickshaws. And in the dark it is difficult to look for accommodation - I had to book hotels in advance. In Delhi, the receptionist, sleepily, could not find my reservation at the Vivek Hotel. Check-in in Jaipur also did not go very smoothly.

But first things first. Train # 14659 "Delhi Jaisalmer Express" arrived at Jaipur station almost without delay: at approximately 12 o'clock in the morning. We went out into the street and were immediately surrounded by a ring of noisy auto rickshaws who wanted to take two white tourists wherever they pleased for a measly 300 rupees. And we decided to get into a wonderful inexpensive hotel Rawla Mrignayani Palace, which is located just half a kilometer from such popular attractions of Jaipur as the City Palace, the Palace of the Winds (Hawa Mahal, Hawa Mahal) and the Jantar Mantar observatory. Paying 300 rupees was not part of our plans and there was no desire to bargain from fatigue. Therefore, we agreed with Katya that we would leave the station square to the “city”, and there the rickshaws should be more accommodating.

On the street, the fare began at 200 rupees, but they agreed for 60 Indian rubles. We load the luggage and rush through the city at night. However, I must admit that the worm of doubt is gnawing at me: the rickshaw, as it seemed to me, was not quite sure of reading the hotel address (opposite the Silver Art Palace hotel next to Subhash Chowk).

And for sure! I drove two kilometers from the station, slows down and asks a passer-by for directions, then turns to us:

- Ooh, sir! The hotel turned out to be extraordinarily far away! I can bring it for 160 rupees.

- No, brother, we agreed for 60 ...

- Well, I didn't know. I won't take it so far.

- Then plant it!

- Yes and please!

The auto rickshaw, hustling discontentedly, hides in the dark, and we, with a suitcase and a photo backpack full of expensive photographic equipment, stay at some overpass, under which local homeless people, wrapped in rags, burn fires to warm ourselves on a cold February night.

Hmmm ... A good friend told me: "Kroilovo leads to a popalov!" Nothing to do, passing from the side railway station the rickshaws are driving busy, so we cross the road and wait on the other side of the flyover, hoping to return to the starting point of the journey through Jaipur. Then our savior-rickshaw floats out of the darkness like an iron green-yellow swan:

- Where would you like, Sir?

- Hotel Rawla Mrignayani Palace, 150 rupees.

- Go! - we agree willingly, because we want to go to bed faster.

What a trouble! We arrived in one place - there is no hotel there, in another - too. The rickshaw stopped several times and asked rare nocturnal passers-by - he could not find.

As luck would have it, I didn’t print the booking voucher, and I didn’t even download it to my netbook, and we didn’t buy an Indian SIM card, the driver doesn’t have a navigator on his phone, the Maps.me application, for some reason, doesn’t connect to satellites.

In general, we drove into some slums, stopped and ... it feels like the rickshaw will now say: “Damn your 150 rupees, I’ve already dashed off for 300. Free vehicle, gentlemen, white-skinned tourists! "

No, he didn't give up. And I opened a map in Maps.me and, without connecting to satellites, showed a close-up of how to get to Rawla Mrignayani Palace. So, at two o'clock in the morning, we still found our hotel.

Excursion to Amber Fort (Amber Fort, Amer Fort)

The Rawla Mrignayani Palace is truly like a palace. And the walls are pink, like everywhere else in Jaipur, and the architecture is arches, like in many ancient Indian cities.

I slept well. In the morning I noticed how tightly all the shutters were closed, opened the door and understood the reason: right under the windows - a flock of macaques. If you don't close, they will carry off more documents! We overslept breakfast time, the administrator suggested choosing from the menu. Ay, we don't want to! We'll find food on the street ...

No matter how it is! Along the road there are only workshops and unsightly shops. Probably passed a kilometer until we found a quarter with awful looking restaurants ... Well, time is ticking, we only have half a day to see Jaipur, so there is nothing to be capricious, and we had to have breakfast in such an unsanitary place that we still shudder. And it's surprising that we didn't have stomach problems.

According to tourists, it is not difficult to get to this fortress by bus: next to the square near the Palace of Winds (Hawa Mahal) there is bus stop ordinary PAZiks. The fare costs 20 rupees, but we have no time to look for a stop, we go to Amer on a rickshaw (150 rupees - 10-15 minutes on the way, obviously overpaid).

Honestly, Fort Amber was the trigger that made me decide to go to India for the first time, in the fall of 2015. Open Misha Shmakov's report (link below): amber walls, emerald hills with meandering " Chinese wall", A black and blue stormy sky and a flock of birds over the towers of the citadel ... That's what melted my heart and made me buy tickets to Delhi ...

The road to Amber Fort runs through picturesque hills. On the way, on the right, you can see the Palace on the water (Jal Mahal, Jal Mahal), on the shore of the lake - an innumerable flock of pelicans, tall camels ride tourists. Guys, I like Jaipur 2 times more than Delhi. Very nice!

Half a kilometer before the entrance, the rickshaw made a stop so that I could capture the famous view of the Amber fortress.

There's a cliff right below me. If you want to take a delightful photo of Amber, come here during working hours, from the entrance return to this place, but to the shore of the lake, and take a photo with the reflection of the fortress in the water. Then there will be "ah, beauty"!

The Jaigarh Fort (or Jaigarh Fort) rises above Amber, and we will definitely get into it, having climbed the fortress wall.

In my notes, collected while preparing a trip to India, it is noted: entrance 50 rupees for foreign tourists, photography - 70 rupees. The Amber Fort is open from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Strange, but there were no ticket offices at the entrance, they passed freely.

I will say this: despite the abundance of tourists, the atmosphere here is somehow special, and it is very pleasant to be at the foot of these hills and ancient walls. It's a pity that we arrived in Jaipur for one day, did not manage to climb that mountain with a fortress wall and watchtowers... The view must be extraordinary from there.

An attraction for tourists is the entrance to the Amer Fort on horseback. When we went up, it was apparently already too hot - from above, only "empty" drivers were returning.

Amber Fortress was originally the capital of the state, before Jaipur became it. Construction began under Raja Man Singh I (on the shores of Maotha Lake in 1592). Later, the structure was rebuilt and expanded under Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II.

Hehe-he, unfortunately, in the afternoon, we had planned an excursion to the Palace of the Winds, so we did not have time to climb to the top of that hill in the back. I really wanted to! I would bring photos from Jaipur with an extraordinary perspective of both citadels.

We didn't quite understand the intricacies of the architecture of the fort: somewhere there was a reconstruction, somewhere a restaurant, somewhere at the "mirror gate" there was a guard and almost beat me with a stick when I tried to photograph them.

In 2013, the architectural complex of the fortress was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, as evidenced by the plaque.

In general, we wandered around, stared at the wonderful architecture and at the tourists who came here, probably from all over India.

It's time to climb to the second attraction on our list, for this we go down to Lake Maotha and, along the fortress wall, which for some reason is called Sagawr Rd on Google maps, we begin our ascent under the scorching rays of the Rajasthan sun.

How we climbed to the Jaigarh fort

If we compare in terms of the degree of fascination excursions to Delhi and to Amber Fort in Jaipur, then in the second it was 2 times more interesting than in the capital. And climbing the fortress wall to the Jaigarh fort is generally one delight.

As soon as you leave the main staircase towards Maotha Lake and Kesar Kyari Garden, the rumble of tourists dies down, only natural sounds remain: birds, grasshoppers in the grass, warm breeze. We climb the fortress wall and slowly move upward, constantly gasping, looking around the picturesque surroundings.

Somewhere in the middle of the way we meet a monkey sitting on the teeth. During an excursion to national park in Thailand, we almost got into a fight with a pack of formidable primates, so we are wary of them. I had to go down to the bush to look for a stick for self-defense.

Langur sat and looked around, completely ignoring our presence. And he did not take an eye, even when we walked cautiously past the edge of the wall. And only looked after him contemptuously when we passed him.

Well, my friends, it was worth getting up, despite the heat! Where else can you see such beauty?

Photo 15. View of the Amber Fort. Behind - "Great Chinese Wall India ". Self-guided excursion reports. 1/800, -0.67, 8.0, 100, 70.

The entrance to the territory of the Jaigarh Fort is paid: the ticket price is 200 rupees from a foreign tourist. Opening hours: from 9:00 to 17:00 daily.

Oh, how pleasant it is to walk there! There are almost no people, the view of the surroundings is breathtaking. You are mentally transported to the Middle Ages ...

Jaigarh Fort was built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1726. It is located on a mountain called Chell ka Tella (Eagle's Hill) and is clearly visible to anyone entering Jaipur.

During the Mughal times, located 240 km from the capital, it became the main foundry for the manufacture of guns and storage of military ammunition. It is a pity that before my trip to India I did not come across an article about the fact that the Indian Tsar-Cannon Jaivana (Jaivana cannon) is now installed in this fortress.

The guidebooks say that it is the largest in the world made on wheels. The dimensions of the barrel are 6.5x2.2 meters, which is larger than the weapon in the Kremlin (5.34X1.2 meters). And she shot, unlike ours, once in her history, though it was a test shot.

There are several palaces on the territory of the complex: (Laxmi Vilas, Lalit Mandir, Vilas Mandir and Aram Mandir).

Lovers of antiquity will be especially pleased to wander through the narrow corridors and staircases that look like an ancient prison.

To be honest, we climbed into the Jagar Fort first of all for the canonical, postcard view of Hanuman Sagar Lake.

It seems that the beauty of Rajasthan is liked not only by people, but also by the more ancient inhabitants of these lands.

Only from above can one understand that in Amer Fort we visited only a small part of the territory, the rest was left behind the scenes.

Below is the eponymous city of Amer, it reminded me of the blue city of Jodhpur - also in Rajasthan, and I want to visit there in the future.

All guidebooks to Jaipur write that there is an underground reservoir on the territory of the Jaigar fortress and, according to rumors, the untold wealth of the Kacchava dynasty, which ruled this region for many centuries, was stored there. So, the rumors were so convincing that in 1977, by order of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, a delegation went to the fort to search for the treasure, but the owner of the Maharani fortress Gayatri-Devi (the last queen of Jaipur) opposed this. And then troops were sent to Jaigarh.

The search lasted 3 months, but, as announced, were unsuccessful. As the army retreated, the road from Jaipur to Delhi was closed for three days, and evil tongues said they saw trucks cruising along it heading for the Prime Minister's residence. The answer to the question whether there were treasures in the Jaigarh Fort still excites Indian heads.

Having been enough on the territory of the fortress, they took off the tall dromedary as a souvenir and rushed down, not forgetting to photograph the local animals along the way.

At 17:10 our train departed from Jaipur to Bharatpur, where the Keoladeo Ghana bird sanctuary is located. National Park). Until that time, we still managed to look at the Palace on the Water (Jal Mahal) and the Palace of the Winds (Hawa Mahal), but I will tell you about this in the next part of the review.

Well, friends, today you learned how to get to the Amber and Jaigarh fortresses in Jaipur, how much tickets cost and what time these attractions are open, saw their photos. You are now ready for self-guided tour on the "Golden Triangle of India". If you are traveling in our footsteps, please write in the comments fresh "news from the fields" - other tourists will come in handy, and clean up your karma. See you on the site!

Jaipur is the city that we liked the most in India. In Jaipur, our driver buckled up and again began to pay attention to the traffic lights. In Jaipur, we first saw people sweeping the streets, for this reason it is much cleaner than the same Delhi or Agra. An overground metro is under construction in Jaipur. The Silk Road passed through Jaipur and its rulers quickly figured out how to make money out of it. They built up huge neighborhoods with two-story shops at the top of which they housed living rooms and rented them out to merchants for free. Unsurprisingly, the city quickly turned into shopping center... Even now, the volumes of those buildings are impressive. You can imagine how trade was boiling here before. But the main attraction of Jaipur is still different.

Fort Amber

The main attraction of Jaipur on our list, Amber Fort is located 11 km north of Jaipur and is a beautiful complex of palaces, halls, pavilions, gardens and temples, built over two centuries.

Fort Amber is located on the side of a mountain and to get to it you need to travel a long way from Lake Moata, located at the foot. Usually tourists are raised on elephants, but this time there was some kind of holiday, so a myriad of the local population rolled over and there were not enough elephants for everyone.

Huddling in the queue, the guide made a wise decision to replace the elephants with jeeps and go up on a gasoline traction.

Having fought off the annoying sellers, we hit the road.

Double headpiece

The tired elephants began to leave at the same time. It turns out that the poor animals used to work all day, lifting tourists up the mountain. It is clear that in this mode they worked for wear and tear. And after some time, an accident occurred when a tired elephant killed a tourist from Japan, who approached him to take a photo. After this incident, the elephants were transferred for half a working day. To be honest, in half a day the elephants look far from cheerful.

Are they lined up by height or do I think?

Unlike a jeep.

The lens sticking out of the jeep reminds us that there are still several gigabytes of unassigned video on the disk.

The path to the fort lies along narrow streets, on which hardworking Indians hurry. By the way, the color of the sari differs in different areas of India. Here everyone wore mostly yellow. And not always with a bag on his head, there were no bags.

For example, without a bag

The fort is actually almost a palace. What happened in it, as soon as the local rulers did not entertain themselves in the absence of television and the Internet. There are also rooms with heated floors. It would be more accurate to say a room inside a heated room for cold periods.

One of the courtyards

Rare group shot

Rooms for wives watching her husband's entertainment:

Those who, according to their status, were not supposed to be seen by mere mortals, had to be content with peeping through such windows.

According to the guide, this fort did not participate in military battles, the stone wall covering the nearby mountains, first of all, protected the predators that once lived in the jungle from the inhabitants of Jaipur. Now on the slopes of the mountains there is neither jungle nor living creatures. It is safe to say that the wall did not cope with its great mission.

Walking through the buildings of the fort, we noticed the low ceilings. For example, to go down to the basement where the water storage was located, you had to bend twice!

Apparently the Indians in those days were short. And they didn't care about safety. All balconies had railings that barely reached the knees, and some of the stairs had no railings at all.

I will not retell everything stated by the guide, I will only note the following curious fact. After India gained independence, numerous Indian kings and shahs lost their wealth. Most of their real estate passed into state ownership, and the royal families were left with relatively modest houses. Someone, in order to ensure their own life, opened hotels in them, someone rents out ancient buildings for parties, weddings and banquets. For example, we were offered dinner with a real royal family for only $ 200 per person. But somehow we were not tempted ...

And so that you don't get the wrong impression about the hard life of the Indians, a couple more photos. For example, this lady makes her living ...

... not at all by what sweeps the floor. 20-30 rupees per photo and the model is ready to pose for you as much as you like in any plan. Fix 35 mm. by the way for those interested:

I didn’t whiten my teeth.

In Jaipur, we finished our journey along the golden triangle. To save time and not bother ourselves with a long journey by car, we flew to Goa on a direct flight from Jaipur. We flew by SpiceJet, though we were a little worried, as the Internet is full of various rumors about their disorder. Like the fact that if there are no passengers, the flight can easily be canceled. But since there were already 8 of us, we decided that the risk of cancellation due to the absence of passengers is minimal. For those who will buy tickets on their own, I will note that we could not buy tickets on the airline's website, no matter how much we tried. The card simply did not pass and that's it. Therefore, we took tickets to one of the aggregators. Unfortunately, the aggregator did not allow to immediately redeem food on board, so I had to fight with the flight attendants during the flight.

The flight to Goa does not go directly, but with a stopover in Ahmedabad. It doesn't take much time, besides, you don't have to get off the plane, transit passengers stay in their seats.

On this, I will probably finish the cognitive part completely and move on to life in Goa. In part, I have already touched on it, now we will relax to the fullest….

I almost forgot - the last picture of our guide, the coordinates were at. Best recommendations from us.

The city was founded during the reign of Maharaja Bhagwan Dasha as the residence of his second son Mado Singh and for a long time was a very prosperous Indian city. Gradually its influence decreased and after the famine of 1783 it became uninhabited.

According to one of the legends, the city was cursed by a magician named Bala Nath. Initially, he blessed the construction of the city on the condition that the shadows of the palaces that are being built in it should not touch the place of his meditation, otherwise the city will be destroyed. But neither the Raja nor his son listened to him, and as a result, the city began to collapse. Since then, when building new houses, their roof collapsed.

Today it is a deserted ruined place, where you can only be in the daytime. This is regulated almost at the level of the law: at the entrance to the city there is a sign of the Archaeological Department of India, which states that it is prohibited to stay in the city after sunset.

Coordinates: 27.09470100,76.29060400

Fort Amber

Fort Amber, built in 1592, is considered one of the finest fortified structures in India. It is located on the side of a hill, and its walls are reflected in the waters of Lake Moata. Delivery of tourists to the fort is carried out in different ways - amateurs hiking can independently climb up, lovers of comfort can go on one of the tourist roads, and lovers of exotic can go to the fort on an elephant. Inside the fort, in the first courtyard, there are many souvenir shops. A little further - the Shila Devi temple dedicated to the warlike goddess Kali. Wild monkeys can often be seen on the huge open terraces. If you move deeper into the temple, you find yourself in the Hall of Pleasure, not far from which there is a canal that was previously used as a reservoir of water. Their Jai Mandir temple next to the Maharaja's quarters offers a wonderful view of the entire complex and the lake below.

Another fort - Jaigar - is located above the Amber Fort. It was built by Jai Singh in 1726. Well preserved observation towers of this fort, and it is here that the world's largest wheeled cannon is located.

Coordinates: 26.98430900,75.85119700

Jaipur city is real architectural gem, which captivates the hearts of travelers from the first meeting. If you are lucky enough to visit this wonderful city, then your excursion will not be complete without visiting one of its main attractions - the majestic Amber`s Fort. Actually, Amber is not only a fort, but a whole ancient city, which is located 11 kilometers north of Jaipur.

SHORT STORY Prior to the founding of Jaipur by Jai Singh, the city of Amber for about seven centuries (1037-1728) served as the capital of the Kachwakh Rajput family clan. The city of Amber was built in the middle of a unique landscape area - on high and impregnable rocky ridges, and its defensive walls are like a continuation of the natural environment. The construction of the Amber fortress was started in 1592 by the commander of Emperor Akbar the Great - Man Singh I, and was completed only by his successor Jai Singh I.

DESCRIPTION
Fort Amber is an impenetrable and majestic structure built of white and red sandstone on top of a cliff. The protective structure consists of four levels of planning, on each of which there is an inner courtyard. The massive and high walls of the fort hide behind a whole complex of sophisticated architectural structures featuring incredibly lush Mughal-style finishes. During the excursion, you can visit the Shish Mahal ("Mirror Palace"), equipped with thousands of mirrors, which can be illuminated with just one candle. Palace complex also includes: the Sila Devi temple dedicated to the goddess Kali, the ancient temples of Kala Bhairava and Ram Harihar, the Divan-i-Am hall ("Hall of public receptions") decorated with a double row of columns, Divan-i-Khas ("Hall for private audiences" ), Man Singh's palace, Sukh Niwas is a surprisingly beautiful building in which the winds blowing from the water cascade located in the courtyard create artificial coolness in the room. Travelers will be able to view the richest exposition vintage maps, documents and weapons in the museum of the fort, as well as to get acquainted with many other structures, including the royal chambers, premises for guards, wives and concubines of the rajah. Tourists will be able to admire the multi-colored mosaic panels, marble sculptures, magnificent sandalwood and mahogany trimmings, gilded and ivory inlaid interior details, and from the walls of the fort in front of them will open a mesmerizing view of Lake Maota located below, orderly rows of city buildings, steep hills and mountain peaks going into the clouds.

HOW TO GET THERE AND PRICES
Daily depart from the Palace of Winds in Jaipur Shuttle Buses to Amber, which take passengers to the foot of the mountain slope on which the Amber Fortress rises. Travel time is about 15-20 minutes, the fare is up to 10 rupees. To the fort itself, it will be necessary to overcome a fairly long segment of the path along a steep slope. Tourists are offered three options to climb to the fort: take a jeep (about 600-750 rupees), ride an elephant (1100 rupees), as the great rajas did, or walk this path (about 30-40 minutes).

The cost of the excursion is 400 rupees, for shooting with a camera, an additional fee of 50 rupees is charged, for video shooting - 100 rupees.

The Fortress Museum is open to the public every day from 8.00 to 18.00.