Jaipur - The Amber Fort

March 2007

Sweet Songs in the Mirrored Temple

 

The day after the parade we hired a motorized rickshaw driver to take us to the Amber Fort.  Our rickshaw driver insisted on stopping at a temple that “no one else will be showing to you, no other tourists are seeing.” We reluctantly agreed, as he said it was on the way to the fort.  As it turned out, the very slight detour was well worth it.  The Shree Brahm Ram temple looks like any other from the outside - a white painted plaster building topped by a white dome.  But on the inside, the ceiling and walls are completely covered with over 90,000,000 tiny pieces of mirror and coloured glass.  The brilliance of the mirrors is enhanced by the many-coloured hues of the stained-glass windows.  The effect is both dazzling and very very beautiful.  Amazingly, it does not appear gaudy or over-the-top (as do many of the over-decorated Hindu temples).

My enjoyment of the jeweled temple was profoundly enhanced by a group of 20 to 25 women, all dressed in the very bright-coloured saris typical of Rajasthan, sitting together, singing and clapping.  I sat, trying to make myself as inconspicuous as possible, painfully aware of my uncovered head and shoulders (why did I forget my shawl on this of all days?).  Several of the women turned around and waved to me, or put their hands together to signify a “namaste,” which I returned.  And when they were finished, and we all got up to go, many stopped to shake my hand or say “namaste” again.  Apparently they meet weekly there to sing.  I thought how wonderful it would be to meet in such a resplendent and magical place to sing with friends.

 

The Amber Fort

 

The Amber Fort – or Amber Palace (or Amer Fort or Palace) – is Jaipur’s biggest tourist attraction, and deservedly so.  It’s situated around 10 kms north of Jaipur, perched on a hill – the ‘Hill of Eagles’.  

Many tourists rode elephants up to the main gate.  We walked, in the heat, like fools.

The 'Sun Gate'.

The main gate, called the ‘Sun Gate’, faces east towards the rising sun.  It’s the main entry, and the one we – all of us (thousands per day visit the Fort) – went through to reach the ‘first courtyard’, with two temples.  

From this courtyard we ascended the main staircase to the ‘second courtyard’ with its fabulous elephant topped columns that form an audience hall where the Raja held court, listening to the petitions of his subjects.  From here we went through the Ganesh (elephant) Gate and into the private quarters of the Maharaja.  

A huge interior garden

This area contains a garden with a star-shaped pool, the ‘Hall of Pleasure’, with its marble inlay work, and the most fantastic and celebrated building – the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ – with its inlaid mirror and coloured glass walls and ceiling.  Truly an amazing place to experience.

 

The fourth courtyard is where the women of the royal family – wives, concubines, daughters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers – resided.  The many separate quarters were all resplendent, and all beautifully furnished, of course.

From the top of the fort we had a wonderful view of just a small part of Jaipur....

For more information on Jaipur go to:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaipur

 

For more information about the Amber Fort go to:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Fort