Rusty's Great Adventures: Jaipur Day 2

March 25, 2018

Today we explore the Amer Fort which was built in 1592 high on a hill above the town of Amer. It served as the residence of Rajput Maharajahs and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Constructed of red sandstone and marble it shines as a jewel on the hill.

It is reported that 5,000 people visit this fort daily. Today was especially busy as it was the last day of the new year festival.

You enter the private section of the palace through the Ganesh Gate.

The gate has extensive lattice work so the women could look out onto the common area and watch the proceedings. I was able to get a shot of this woman looking out much as it would have been years ago.

The Diwan-i-Aam (Hall of Public Audience) was just outside the Ganesh Gate.

You can see the mixture of red sandstone and marble in the columns.

Further up on top of the hill sits the Jaigarh Fort. It was built to defend the Amer Fort.

The palace had elaborate baths made of marble.

Below the fort is the Maota Lake and Kesar Kyari (Saffron Gardens).

Once you go through the Ganesh Gate, you enter the private courtyard of the Maharajah. There is this beautiful garden.

The Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace) is the main area where the Maharajah stayed. There were several bedrooms so that should an enemy enter the area they wouldn’t know exactly where he was staying.

The palace is covered with small mirrors and gemstones so that when candles where used it twinkled like stars in the sky.

Part of the Jaigarh Fort is a defensive wall that goes about 2 miles around the area. It looks much like the Great Wall of China.

This sweet lady told me I was her papa when I sat down by her.

There are fancy paintings and motifs around the wall of the courtyard.

There was an extensive latrine system within the palace. Water was brought up for a well to the top and flowed through channels down until the waste was carried outside.

Paintings of people and animals decorated the areas between the soffit supports.

The colorful dress of the people and surroundings set the tone for the festivities.

A market in town selling different styles of rice noodles.

After our fort visit we went to a textile and carpet center.

Here the man is demonstrating how they do the block imprinting of material. It is a slow and difficult process as a short block is dipped in the ink and then pounded by fist to make the print. This has to be repeated hundreds of times to make a bolt of cloth.

The older man on the left has been doing the block printing for 49 years and he said he was retiring after this year.

Next we observed the hand tying of wool carpets on a loom. Again this is a slow and difficult process. To make a small 3 X 6 rug takes about 6 weeks.

After the carpet is finished they burn the backside to seal the threads. They said that wool wouldn’t burn and that is why they are good to use in front of a fireplace.

A finisher then checks for small loose threads on the front and trims them by hand.

No wonder the handmade rugs from India cost so much.

Next we stopped at a turban museum to look at all the different styles and colors that’s used for the different ceremonies. This gentleman so graciously took his turban off and demonstrated how it is wrapped around his head. The material was light weight but was at least 30 feet long.

Here is a video of his demonstration.

I got to try it on after he was finished. Pretty stylish huh!

After a short rest period we went for our home hosted dinner with a local family. Our hostess was Renuka Garg. She is a school teacher and her husband is in real estate construction as a permit controller. It was a fantastic evening. I always enjoy this part of the trip. They showed us their humble home which has 2 bedrooms, the living room/dining area, kitchen, and a garden area.