My Weekly Powerup | #club100 | Magnificent fort in Rajasthan, India – Amber Fort | #steemexclusive / 28 photos

When I was in India some years ago, I was travelling with a friend from east to west by train. In the state of Rajasthan, we stopped in several cities. Rajasthan might have more magnificent palaces than any other state in India. There are so many, that you have to make choices if you don't have too much time to spend here. Every big city in the state has lots of palaces. One of them was Jaipur, a big city with lots of palaces. There is lots of places to explore in the city. But it's absolutely worth taking the trip to Amber, which is about 11 kilometers outside Jaipur. The magnificent fort / palace called Amber Fort, is definitely worth a day trip.

We took a taxi and arrange for pick up at the end of day. As we get closer, we could see how big and massive this fort is. After we were dropped off, we entered through the main gate and startet to explore the complex. There is a small cafe somewhere in the fort where it's possible to have a small break.

Amber Fort was built as a citadel in the capital of the state Rajasthan. At that time the capital was Amber. This prosess startet in 1592. Before 1592 there was an older fort from the 11th century on the same location as the one we see today. Around the 1720s the capital was mooved from Amber to Jaipur. But even so, the rulers kept coming back to now and then. That happend mostly on special occation. It is located on a hilltop overlooking the city of Amber. Behind it you can se the Jaigarh Fort that protected Amber Fort.

The main gate and entrance to the fort is through the Sun Gate. This name derives from the fact that it is facing east and the sunrise. The guards duty posts were located within the gate. After entering the gate, we found ourselves in a huge courtyard called Jaleb Chowk. The surrounding buildings used to house the stables (ground floor) and the upper was for the staff. The large courtyard were used for parades, such as the Raja's personal body-guard.

From the courtyard we walked up the stairs to the area called Diwan-i-Aam ( Hall of Public Audience). This is a large area overlooking the courtyard. Part of it has rows of columns and latticed galleries. Absolutely impressive. It's built in the same same style as many Mughal palaces in India. The Diwan-i-Aam is where the Raja gave audience to the people and his officials. From up here we get a good view of the Jaleb Chowk.

After the public area, we now enter the magnificent gateway called Ganesh Pol. This is the gateway to the private parts of the palace. This beautiful three – storeyed gate was built in the 1640s. Lord Ganesh is the deiety who is believed to remove obstructions, that are likely to come in the way of the humans. That's the reason a painting of him is seen over the main entrance.

On the upper level the Royal ladies could look through lattice work to see what was going on at Diwan-i-Aam, but they were not seen them selves. When we turn around we look down at the garden surrounded by other areas and rooms.

This part is called Jai Mandir (Hall of Private Audience). This building is beautiful decorated with latticed windows, relief work, mirrors and a floral ceiling. Very different from the Hall of Public Audience. Beautiful craft work.

On the opposite side of Jai Mandir there is another palace area called Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure). In between these two there is a courtyard and the garden. Vi spent most of our time here at the inner part of the palace. The architecture itself and all the detailed carvings is worth a closer look. There are lots of beautiful details to study.

End of tour. We leave the place through the same gate as we arrived and walk down to the parking and our waiting taxi. Amber Fort is an absolute must see when in Jaipur. The next day we continued to the next Rajasthani city of Udaipur and more palaces and forts to explore.