April 24, 2012

• Amer Fort, more than A Mere Stronghold

  Garbed in Royal Attire, and armed with our newfound knowledge of hindi gleaned from watching Tere Ho Love Naal Gaya (seriously, go see it) we set off the next morning to go explore the Amer, or Amber Fort.

  

  Of course, this being India, Short Round and I certainly were not going to walk up to the fort like the rest of the peasants. No sir, we were going up in style

  

  That’s right, we rode up on a luxury elephant. What made it luxury? Well aside from the power steering, this particular model was pachy-dermed full of extras like air conditioning. Or so the driver told us when the elephant reached up his trunk and definietly did “NOT” sneeze all over us.

  

  Okay, so we totally went up like the rest of the peasants. Ascending to Amer Fort by elephantback is a popular tourist attraction. But animal lovers, dont fret. Each elephants workday consists of only 5 rides up and down the mountain total, or 5pm, whichever comes first and they are done for the day. Plus they get bathed in the lake at the bottom

  

  The Main entry is through the Suraj Pole (Sun Gate) which leads to Jaleb Chowk, which is the first main courtyard. This was the place where armies would hold victory parades with their war bounty on their return from battles, which were also witnessed by the Royal family women folk through the latticed windows.This gate was built exclusively and was provided with guards as it was the main entry into the palace. It faces the eastern direction towards the rising Sun and hence the name

  

  Ganesh Pol or the Ganesh Gate, named after the Hindu god Lord Ganesh who removes all obstacles in life, is the entry into the private palaces of the Maharajas.

  

  

  Just outside the Ganesh Pol is another Diwan-I-aam, or hall of Public Audience. So we made a public spectacle of ourselves and gained an audience by our awesome jumping photo abilities where we all totally landed in perfect balance as you can tell from the photos.

  

  Above is the Jai Mandir aka Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace, or sheesh, my hall is shiny), which is exquisitely beautified with glass inlaid panels and multi-mirrored ceilings. The mirrors are of convex shape and designed with coloured foil and paint which would glitter bright under candle nights at the time it was in use. Faced with craftsmanship of such beauty and clear importance…well, you know whats coming next, right?

  

  Explorers up close with a wide angle lens.

  

  

  This is the “Magic Flower”. The flower has seven unique designs of fish tail (western flower), a lotus, a hooded cobra (northern flower), an elephant trunk, a lion’s tail, a cob of corn and a scorpion (eastern flower), each is viewed by a particular way of partial hiding of the panel with hands. You find the rest, and best of luck!

  

  Having some more fun with the mirrors and playing with perspective on my camera

  

  just behind the sheesh mahal is this amazing view of Moat Lake, where the elephants relax after a long hard day of work.

  

  In the second courtyard of Amer Fort, you can see in the distance a slightly more defendable structure. It is connected to Amer Fort by secret passageways so the royal family could flee like rabbits tactically retreat if the main fort was ever taken.

  

  Of course, secret passageways werent just used for fleeing, they were also used for sexytime. The Raja would have multiple wives, and to prevent any of them from getting jealous of how often he was visiting the others, he had secret passages from his room to every one of the seven Ranis rooms. And presumably a swimming pool chock full of escorts and courtesans, but hey, pimpin aint easy

  

  Looking out over the palace, I tried to imagine what life would have been like back in those days

  

  Short Round however, quickly shoved me out of the way, so he could get a view of a “sweet piece of curry”

  

  No time for love, Short Round, we got places to be

  

  I promise, Doom Temples are quickly approaching.

  

  There’s one now!…probably.

  

  This was one of my favorite shots from the trip, although it is somewhat “hipster”. I do have a few hipster tendencies, (e.g. my love for hats) to the point that there has been a drinking game made of my behavior…the rules are as follows. Anytime Dr J

  A) does something hipster like take an artsy fartsy shot, say he liked something before it was cool, etc
  B) acts like a fattie foodie dreaming, fantasizing about, or photographing what he is about to eat or expressing food culture love or
  C) makes a terrible pun

  everyone who catches it takes a drink. If you travel with me, and play this game, you will be drunk, or well hydrated depending on your beverage of choice. As such, we decided to have some fun with it and took a few “Hipster Album Covers” that will go on our LP’s that are totally awesome but you would probably have never heard of

  

  Here is the first…what should our hipster album title be?

  Coming up next: The Treasure of Shahpura House

  And a bonus for you readers: The Water Palace!

  

  Not open to the public, so no accompanying story. Just two docs who love hats.

  • 12:56 am
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