A is for Amer Palace/ Amber Fort

Amber Fort is located at Amer about 11 kms outside Jaipur in Rajasthan, India and was made a world heritage site in 2013.

This was one of the places on our trip that I wouldn’t have known to visit without the wonderful itinerary arranged for us by the tour company we used, Indian Excursions. Clearly others were not so ignorant as I. We arrived early thanks to the advice of our guide but still the road up to the fort was packed and we had to wait until a space became available before we could park and make our way in.

Others had arrived by elephant, travelling up the hill, possibly to avoid the traffic jam.

Historically, the place was the palace of the Rajput rulers and was called Amer Palace. During the British colonial period, the name ‘Amer’ morphed into ‘Amber’ and, because of its strategic location, was considered more a fort than a palace. So Amer Palace and Amber Fort are one and the same.

The structures themselves were a delight to behold, built of red sandstone and marble, and the level of engineering for water reticulation, cooling, and irrigation was impressive.

I’ve included a photo of the gardens, the reception hall decorated with hundreds of mirror tiles (the one where I’m standing with husband) and a couple of others that I think you’ll like.