It was the month of June (18.06.2019) when I started doing my summer internship from Zetron Networks, Jaipur. I was eagerly waiting for the weekends to arrive so that I can plan my trips accordingly. I am Ananya Tiwari, and I love to travel and explore different places. Jaipur is one of my favorite states as well as it is unique for its architecture, forts, monuments. The pink city is also known as heritage city because of its vast culture, traditions, customs, etc.
I choose this location so that I can easily explore the stories behind every historical place. The main attraction of Jaipur is Amer Fort, Nahargarh Fort, Jaigarh Fort, Hawa Mahal, etc, but I found Amer Fort to be the best one. Amer Fort is considered as one of the best places of Jaipur to visit. It was a fine Sunday morning when I thought of visiting Amer Fort. It took me almost 45 minutes to reach the main city. The moment I stepped down from the cab, I got the first glimpse of the fort. I was mesmerized by the beautiful view of the fort.
I started feeling low due to the heat and the crowds but still was very much excited to discover. The pathway to the fort was quite steep and I found myself difficult to walk through. In between, I took a halt and captured some beautiful pictures of the fort from different angles. Once I reached the top, I headed towards the fee counter to pay the entrance ticket. I thought of hiring a local guide so that I can easily come to know about the magical facts behind every place, but then I decided to explore alone with the help of YouTube and Wikipedia.
What you can discover
Amber fort consists of four courtyards, halls, palaces, and gardens. The first most entrance was Jaleb Chowk, where the soldiers used to parade. This courtyard also led to Suraj Pol (sun gate), and Chand pol (moon gate). As I moved forward, I saw a small Sila Devi temple which was built during ancient times replicating the worship of lord Durga by the Hindus in various forms such as the goddess of power, generation, destruction, etc.
It was said that the Sila was basically a stone or a slab recovered from the sea, washed away properly and placed in the temple. I could really feel the positivity of this place. Walking around the fort, I saw a huge hall where a large number of visitors were relaxing. This place is basically known as Diwan-e-Aam where kings used to solve the problems of common people. Large meetings used to take place in this hall.
History
It was built during the 16th century. It’s been a long time when this hall was made still it shines the same it used to be in the 16th century. I was almost tired till this time but still energizing myself to explore more. I saw a huge crowd gathering at a place which was known as Sheesh Mahal, this was the place where the kings only used to meet with their closed ones. The walls of a mahal were covered with millions of small mirrors and during the night these mirror reflects the light of a torch.
It is seriously unbelievable because during the 16th century there were no possibilities of technologies and still this technique of mirror work made it so unique. This fort is so unique within itself. It’s been more than an hour since I am walking around, taking photos and learning about the old methodology of ancient times.
Apart from this, I came across the Sukh Mahal which is also known as Sukh Mandir, it was a personal chamber of the kings and it has one amazing feature that this place always remained cool even during the peak summers. During the 16th century, things were so perfectly organized, each and everything made had its own significance.
Moving around the palace got to know about one more interesting thing that is the tunnel connecting from Amer Fort to Jaigarh fort. This tunnel was made for the emergency escape. To some point it is continued as a tunnel, afterward, it is roofless. Lastly, my endpoint is Naqqar Khana which is basically the de-boarding point for an elephant ride. The Naqqar also refers to the drums.
The musicians play a variety of music using instruments of ancient times. The pieces of music replicate the importance of an old era. Many other activities are also performed in the fort such as elephant ride, electric vehicle ride, jeep ride which mostly connects to nearby places inside the fort. People avoid using elephant ride because it is considered as ‘cruelty’. So this is how with lots of memories, knowledge, and photographs I end my beautiful trip to Amer Fort and it is truly said that a trip is incomplete without visiting an Amer Fort and always remember to capture the pictures so as to cherish the memories forever.
On the way back to Jaipur city you can also visit Jaigarh and Nahargarh because it is close to each other and provides amazing viewpoints of the city nearby and a great spot too for the localities. Things to do in both the forts are visiting the wax museum, Char Bhag, Laxmi villas, etc. One can have a wonderful time spending in these forts. My trip was successful and I was happy spending a day in Amer Fort discovering the facts and it’s significant. My special thanks to PinkPedia for arranging this memorable trip to Amer Fort Jaipur. They truly have awesome Jaipur Tour Package.
Amer Fort Experience Shared by Ananya Tiwari (Kolkata)