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A procession of decorated elephants snake through the winding stone path to the Amber Fort. Rajasthani men in their traditional dress and flashy turbans ride their big pets on a neat line. Amused foreign tourists, playing to the mood with hired headgear, silver ornaments and tilak, fight their fears atop the animals’ spines. The scene looks a straight lift from David Lean's A Passage to India.

The fort that never fell

Don Sebastian
2007-03-08 19:39:57

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Fort too was built on the spoils of war. Raja Man Singh, who had fought with the Mughals, built the fort as a treasure house and symbol of power. The Meenas, who controlled the area, became loyal to the victor. Amber or Amer became the seat of power. Man Singh's successors Jai Singh I and Jai Sing II built upon the legacy.

Ganesh Pol, a gateway guarded by the divine elephant, leads to an open-air parlour. Then a series of narrow paths - up and down, left and right - leads the visitor to deserted dark quarters or splendid structures. The palace complex comprises temples and lounges. Sheesh Mahal, a building studded with hundreds of mirrors, reflects the lavish charm of royalty.

Roaming the royal houses, we come across a portico covered with bacchanalian motifs. Wine and poetry might have flowed here as in Omar Khayyam. Workmen are busy sprucing up the palace. Yonder, the rampart winds up a hill. We descend from the palace through a shaky ladder put up by the workers. We decide to trek.

The stone-paved path is deserted but for an occasional group. Cow dung replaces elephant dropping on the tedious path. Pleasure trips end at the lower palace, we thought. Uphill, another rampart. We took it for an outpost or watchtower of Amber Fort. There another counter awaits us. Money per head, per camera, per video camera...

We are on the Hill of the Eagles (Chilh ka Tola), where Jai Singh II built Jaigarh Fort in 1726. There are as
many people there as in Amber Fort. While we trekked the distance, most tourists drove there on a longer tarred road. Amber and Jaigarh are twin forts. An underground passage linked the two installations, a guard tells me. Like all secret paths of the past, it has been blocked, he adds.

The legendary treasures of the Maharajas, it was believed, were hidden in the Jaigarh Fort. Even after spending on Amber, Jaigarh and the numerous forts and palaces in the new capital Jaipur, the riches were ...