A couple of days ago we visited the Amber Fort in Jaipur. Jaipur is know as the pink city, although technically it should be called the orange city as it gets its nickname from the terra cotta clay wash that they put on the outside off all of the old city buildings here. This practice originated with the British who found the glare coming from white buildings to be blinding in the intense sun and heat. Coating the buildings with terra cotta was a genius idea. Not only did it cut the glare, but it made the city unique and very beautiful.
The Amber Fort was built to protect a maharaja’s palace. And let me tell you, the maharajas of India knew how to build a palace! Oh, my goodness! The workmanship and artistry of the Rajasthani maharajas was every bit as amazing as that of the Mughal emperors. And we all got a taste of the maharaja life by arriving at the Amber Fort in true maharaja form - on the back of an elephant! What a super fun experience!
The palace of the Amber Fort was amazing. It has Hindu style elements and was constructed out of red sandstone and marble. Here are some pictures so you can see for yourself what an impressive and beautiful place this was.
Inside the hall of public audience
Hall of private audience. This place took my breath away. The detail work inside has tiny mirrors all through it. At night by candlelight, the ceiling and walls would sparkle and twinkle like stars.
Here are more parts of the palace at Amber Fort.
As you can see, this place was absolutely amazing. And amazingly well-preserved, considering it's over 400 years old. They just don't build 'em like they used to.
We just got back to the States today after 40 hours of travel. Yeah, we're dead tired. I've been without internet for the past couple of days and was unable to post to the blog. I'll have one more post coming tomorrow to wind everything up. Stay tuned....
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