Lost in Asia: Jan 16th - Jaipur Forts

Today i did a whistle-stop tour around the other major attractions that Jaipur has to offer: the monumental forts of Amber, Jaigarh and Nahagarh.

Amber is the main fort, just outside of Jaipur town itself, and formed the old capital. Its hard to do justice to the immensity of this structure, how on earth they managed to construct this place into the existing rock-face with the materials they would have had is a mystery, but with its steep slopes it must have seemed pretty impenetrable. The Rajput kings who built it around 900 years ago clearly had an eye for military defence, but also promoted aesthetic pleasure in the design of their forts, and walking around the place there is a real sense of history, and it was easy to envisage Man Singh I, the principal ruler of the place, returning from battle atop his elephant surrounded by his minions.

Built of red sandstone and marble, it looks down onto an artificial lake that supplied it with water, and has a garden for the women of the royal court to entertain themselves. Together with Hindu temples within the fort, there are open spaces where the king would resolve local disputes in consultation with his ministers, and there is a fantastic mirrored palace filled with concave mirrors that would have lit up the place when illuminated by candles.

The fort/palace is physically linked to the adjacent Jaigarh fort, which was built a little further along the same Aravalli range of hills, and there is a tunnel that links them in case the maharaja and his family needed to escape from enemy attack, as Jaigarh sits further up the range of hills and provided greater security.

The main attraction at Jaigarh is that its home to reputedly the world's largest cannon during the 1700s. Its not as beautiful as Amber fort and it seems to have had more of a military role rather than the dual role of fortress/palace as Amber, and was mainly used for building and storing weapons, particularly cannons, in a huge foundry. However, there are garden spaces and temples, but its not as visually stunning as Amber fort.

Nahagarh Fort is closer to Jaipur and gives a fantastic view over the city. Built by Jai Singh II in the 1700s, it connects with Jaigarh.