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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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were enough to sustain the lavish lifestyle of the warrior-kings. In 1976, the Indian government dried up the 60,00,000-gallon water tank in the fort in search of the legendary treasure, in vain.

The huge underground tank, supported by 81 pillars, which harvest rainwater through a network of canals, was meant for emergency. Inhabitants of Jaigarh and Amber fetched water from a reservoir tucked away in the barren mountainscape. The treasury, with which Jai Singh II founded Jaipur, was hidden in the small tanks behind the big one.

The tanks protected the riches and strengthened the fort against any siege. Jaigarh Fort is a classic example of the military architecture of medieval India. The vantage point and tough terrain gave the fort's occupant an edge over intruders. A museum inside the fort offers a history of arms - from the crude to the refined. Guns, axes, swords, shields, muskets...the long hall has inherited the memories of bloody battles.

The fort boasts of a cannon foundry and feared firearms. An inscription on Bajrang Vana, built in 1691, says the cannon was driven to the battlefield by 32 oxen. Jaivana, arguably the world's largest cannon on wheels, eclipses Bajrang Vana. The barrel itself weighs 50 tons and legend has it that four elephants were needed to move it. The gigantic weapon, built in 1720, was never put to use in a battleground.

If the museum is all about wars and warriors, the Lakshmi Vilas Palace still dreams of love and lovers. Dance, music, puppetry...princes and princesses had a rocking party here. Dining halls, where the king and the queen entertained their guests, now house mannequins assembled around a feast. A Mughal garden, where royalty gave in to exotic dancers and enthralling musicians, may magically come alive in a moonlit night. But for now, puppetry is the only surviving art in this fort.

The kings did not even get a chance to be puppet leaders. Princely states were absorbed into the republic and privy purses were abolished later. Bhavani Singh, who inherited a kingdom of lore, dominates the photograph collection in the museum. Black & white memories of the former Indian military officer, who served on many warfronts.

A king who never ruled in a fort that never fell.

Back in Pink City, Hawa Mahal, which welcomes the wind through its numerous windows, is closed for the day. The old Rajput capital has exhausted us, anyway. We roam around Jaipur in cycle rickshaws till a sleeper bus takes us to New Delhi.