A platinum sun blasted naked white heat as we walked toward the Samode Haveli foyer where Ravi and our driver Ajay were to pick us up for our day's tour of the famous Amber Fort, the Pink City and Jaipur's City Palace. It was stifling, not a breath of air greeted us and as usual, neither did Ravi and Ajay - well, for at least another twenty minutes. We were pleased we had negotiated a later start.

An opportunistic stall holder was selling tourist items and miniature paintings of ancient Indian theatre, festivities and weddings. Exquisite in detail and beautifully hand painted in vibrant colours of pinks, blues, greens and brilliant gold, these delicate pieces of artwork on tatty paper backings caught our eye as we waited in the heat. Displayed in our hotel entrance, they were understandably expensive and we decided we would explore the markets of Jaipur before we came back to consider any purchases.

Travelling by elephant up to the entrance of Amber Fort sounded appealing to me and needless to say, not at all appealing to Alan. He had vivid memories of his unfortunate camel ride in the Gobi Desert, China some years ago and more recently recalled the photo of our friend Peter's grimacing face as he rode by elephant up to the fort on his travels in Rajasthan the year before.

By 9.00 am the temperature had already reached the mid thirties and a 45 minute elephant ride in the blazing heat was starting to sound like not such a great idea. In the end even I had to agree that it was a rather tacky tourist attraction, let alone heartless for the poor subservient elephants. 
 
THE AMBER FORT

The forts and palaces we visited in India were massively robust yet majestic, and all in remarkably good condition considering their extraordinary age and turbulent history. It is indeed a credit to the Indian heritage and tourist organisations.

Amber Fort did not disappoint. This formidable yet magnificent pink sandstone fort and palace is built high on a hill in Amer (pronounced Amber) some 11 km from the city of Jaipur. On our approach (by the then very sensible motor vehicle option) the commanding fort soared majestically into a cloudless blistering azure sky. High above the complex the Jaigarh and Narhagarh Forts stood on solemn noble guard, their ramparts following the contours of the surrounding hills forming a wonderful defence from any would-be attacking armies. Below laid the artificial Maota Lake, built in ancient times to supply water to the fort. Extending into the water are the Persian inspired geometric gardens of Dilaram Bagh and Mohan Bari. The postcard perfect vistas from the fort were breathtaking.

Like many tourists, we were lured into thinking that the name Amber must, like the Red Forts of Agra and Lahore, have derived its name from the colour of the stone from which it was built. And after all, the stone did have an amberish hue. In actual fact its name was derived from the Goddess Amba Mata - or Mother Earth - who was worshiped by local tribes at the site prior to the fort's construction. It is also known as Man Singh or Amber Palace

Amber Fort complex was first established as a citadel in 1529 by Maharajah Man Singh I, the Kachwaha Rajput (one of three warrior dynasties of the historical region of Rajputana) King of Amber and was constructed on the remains of an 11th century fort. Later additions by descendant Jai Singh I and successive rulers served to further enhance its architectural beauty. The Kachwahas ruled at Amber for 150 years when they shifted their capital to Jaipur under the reign of Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727.

LAYOUT OF THE AMBER FORT

We entered by foot up an imposing stairway and through the Suraj Pol or Sun Gate into the Jaleb Chowk. Situated on the eastern side of the complex, the Suraj Pol symbolises the Kachwahas' Rajput belief that they were descended from the sun. To the right of us was the small Sila Devi Temple where the Rajput Maharajahs once worshiped with offerings of sacrificial buffaloes. Pleased to hear that the practice is now banned, we hurried past and into the vast shimmering courtyard of the Jaleb Chowk.

THE FIRST COURTYARD - The Jaleb Chowk

"Chowk" is a Hindustani name which means a place for soldiers to gather but can mean town square, courtyard, market place or even - as we saw on our travel to Lahore, Pakistan - an intersection or a roundabout.

The Jaleb Chowk is the first of four courtyards in the fort complex. It was the place where the Maharajah's personal body guards held parades under an army commander or Fauj Bakshi and where the Maharajah would inspect his Guards contingent. It is also thought to be the place where returning armies would display their war booty to the royal family and local community.

On this occasion it was where the hard working elephants were tethered and which we had to admit added to the exotic ambiance of the fort and palace. From the extensive courtyard or Chowk we could view the fort structures from a distance that provided us with a wonderful sense of the massive size but elegant proportions of the old stone and marble structures surrounding us.

THE SECOND COURTYARD - Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience)

We thought we had seen plenty of Diwan-i-Am or Halls of Public Audience at the various forts and palaces we had visited in India. Each of these Mughal courts however was individual in the intricate detail of the patterned designs and in the massive supporting colonnades.

The Diwam-i-Am of Amber Fort is a raised colonnaded platform constructed from red local sandstone and marble masonry, with beautifully carved elephants' heads and grape vines. Like much of the fort's structures, it is a fascinating confluence of both Mughal and Rajput architecture. Interestingly, the Maharajah Sawai Ram Singh II converted the rear portion of the hall into a billiards room!

South of the Diwam-i-Am are 27 "Kachehris" or colonnaded arched offices that housed the Government Secretariat from where the administration of the Amber State was undertaken.

THIRD COURTYARD - Ganesh Pol  (Ganesh Gate)


We entered the third courtyard, once home to the King, his family and attendants, through the stunning Ganesh Pol or Ganesh Gate. Beautifully adorned with mosaics and sculptures, the gate presents a spectacular entrance into the garden setting of the garden courtyard of the Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace) and the Jai Mandir (Hall of Pleasure).

Ganesh Pol as the name suggests, is dedicated to the Hindu one tusked elephant-headed God Ganesh (often referred to as Ganesha) whose popular pot-bellied, four-handed figure had featured in many of the sites we visited. We felt like we knew him by first name - a statue of him even outside our room at our Samode Haveli hotel. Intrigued by what we saw was a pretty unusual but obviously very popular god to worship, we asked Ravi about the origins and significance of this legend.

This is one of the occasions where Ravi could be a very useful and obliging guide. Apart from his undeniable wealth of knowledge, he had a knack of explaining complex cultural and religious matters and issues in simple terms. Apparently there are a number of stories about how Ganesh, the son of the God Shiva and Goddess Parvati came to acquire an elephant head.

Ravi explained the most popular of these legends relates how Parvati, when she once took a bath, asked Ganesh to stand guard. When her husband Shiva wished to enter the bathroom (in other variations of the story, it is the bedroom), he was opposed by his son. In his rage, Shiva cut off Ganesh’s head. Distressed by her husband’s enraged behavior, Parvati asked him to replace his head; and Shiva did so with the head of the first living being that he encountered, namely an elephant.

With respect to Ravi and any other nearby Hindu people we nodded and grunted in appreciation of his explanation. Privately, we shook our heads in disbelief that the Hindu religion could embrace what seemed to us such absurd legendary characters as elephant headed and monkey gods. On the other hand we decided, if we were to re-visit Western religions, they all endorse some pretty far fetched stories and characters. It did not however help my poor understanding or appreciation of religious faiths.

The Mogul Gardens (Charbagh)

Between the palaces of the Sheesh Mahal and Jai Mandir is a wonderful Mughul styled sunken garden (Charbagh) with a central hexagonal pool and fountain.

The geometric beautifully presented garden reminded us very much of the Persian charbaghs we visited in Iran in 2011 and also those we visited during our earlier travels in Kashmir. The Mughul garden is laid out in a symmetrical fashion comprising four quadrants and was designed for the King's relaxation on warm and sunny days. They are also known as the King's Pleasure Gardens, fronting onto the Sukh Niwas or Hall of Pleasure.

The Sheesh Mahal (Jai Mandhir or Mirror Palace)

To the left of Ganesh Pol lies the Sheesh Mahal or Hall or Mirrors. This beautiful piece of architectural work is constructed of pillars which are decorated with thousands of pieces of mirror mosaics and coloured convex glass tiles. The palace was built for the King during the winter season; the mirrors cleverly using reflected light to warm the palace rooms. It is said that even if a single ray of light enters the Mahal then this light would be replicated in the mirrors providing natural light for the entire interior of the palace.

Ravi drew our attention to an intriguing carved marble fresco at the base of one of the Hall's pillars. Known as "The Magic Flower", the fresco reveals a flower that has seven unique designs of fish tail, a lotus, a hooded cobra, an elephant trunk, a lion's tail, a cob of corn and a scorpion, each being viewed by partially hiding the panel with one's hands. Accompanying the flower are two distinctive hovering butterflies.

The Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure)

Ivory inlays decorate the gorgeous sandalwood door of the Sukh Niwas. The Hall which was used during the summer months for the King and his royal court, made clever use of water from the channels in the Charbagh was used to cool the entire building. Relaxing in the Sukh Niwas overlooking the exquisite gardens must have been wonderful relief on scorching hot Jaipur days.

Palace of Man Singh I and The Bandari Pavilion

South of the Third Courtyard lies the Palace of Man Singh I, the main palace and oldest part of the palace fort. The palace took twenty five years to build - almost a life time in those days - and was completed in 1599.

In the central courtyard of the palace is a the pillared "Baradari" or pavilion. once fully curtained, the Baradari was used as the meeting hall for the royal queens of the palace.

FOURTH COURTYARD - The Zenana

This rather sad, drab complex was where the Zenana or women of the royal family resided, including the royal queens, concubines and mistresses. The courtyard comprised a myriad of rooms where the women resided and its design is said to have offered secrecy to the King as to which wife, concubine or mistress he was visiting at a particular time.

The Amber Fort was spectacular and definitely one of the special highlights of our stay in hot, hot Jaipur.

On Your Way Out - Beware of the Tout!

On our way out of the fort, true to form Alan and I were attracted by several market stalls selling hand painted miniature paintings. Ravi (like all guides) recommended one stall in particular which we had to admit did have the most exquisite paintings, some of which were being completed by the artists as we watched. Most were of festivities, including royal wedding parties with highly decorated elephants, royal couples, courtiers and carriages. We were pleased with what we bought although as usual, we had no real idea of the true price.

Two brightly turbaned men squatted over a pot playing a flute-like instrument (pungi). What I had not noticed was the large cobra winding its way out, looking as if it was swaying to the music*. I quickly took a photo before Alan grabbed my arm, warning me that I would be in great trouble if I didn't pay for the privilege.

We were highly relieved to find the tourists' toilet block and even happier that we had to pay, as we assumed this made some sort of guarantee that they were at least a bit clean. And this was true - to some extent. Negotiating a price for entry to the toilets was an experience in itself. Thankfully Alan went first and even with his bargaining skills, was still charged about ten times what the locals were. The Toilet Money Managers must have thought Alan's guy was causing to much of a scene as to my delight they intervened on my behalf and I was charged a lot less. I was given a toilet roll to take in with me which I assumed was because there was no paper left in the cubicle. I was about to close the door to depart when my Toilet Manager raced into the block, grabbing the roll I had left behind. Amused at the frantic scene, I assumed that many of the tourists must be toilet roll thieves.

We heaved a sigh of relief to see Ajay in the distance with our car. Dripping with perspiration, we stumbled across the dusty parking area only to be accosted by a horde of touts trying to sell us all sorts of goods from carved alabaster elephants to dolls on sticks and miniature clay replicas of the fort. I must have given an indication that I would have liked (which I did) one of the tiny elephants as the touts descended upon me like a swarm of bees. Trying to be polite just made things tens times worse. Ravi was no help whatsoever, walking off and leaving us to fend off the hordes.

"OK, OK - my price for the elephant is THIS!!" cried one of the touts. "No, no - THIS price!" I exclaimed. Needless to say my negotiating skills with these guys was sub-zero. In the end I didn't even want the elephant. All I wanted was to get away in and hide inside Ajay's air-conditioned car. "No" was obviously not a word in these guys' vocabulary....

"OK, OK - MY PRICE - but you can take FOUR elephants" cried my tout manically. I declined. "OK, TEN elephants...".

"I don't want TEN frigg'n elephants..". And so the charade went on.

In the end I bought one elephant and paid for the price of ten. Bargaining is definitely not my forte. Just ask Alan....

Ravi was obviously cross and lectured us for not telling then to go away. "They will go away if you tell them do not want to buy" he said.

Oh yeah????

* Note: Snake charming is the practice of pretending to hypnotise a snake by the playing an instrument called a "pungi". Contrary to popular belief, the snake is not hypnotised by the sound but by the physical action of the charmer and his pungi which the snake considers as a threat and responds as if both were predators. Snakes can sense sound but they do not have an outer ear that would enable them to hear music. The practice of snake charming was banned in India in 1972 but it is still widely practiced, and largely ignored by authorities.