Rajasthan tourism department's punchline quotes- "Jane kya dikh jaaye" that means "be ready for surprises" and that's on point. I experienced this punchline in my recent visit to the Royal fort of Amber or Amer.
I was surprised and spellbound with this magnificent architecture. I even felt like I'm walking through a maze. Thanks to my sharp knowledge and sense of directions what helped me in finding ways. Actually, there are staircases and cave like galleries in every corner.

Tour without a tour guide

It was an unplanned visit or I can say it was an urge on the rainy day. So, when me and my companion reached to the fort entrance, some guides approached us and offered to guide us but we both wanted to visit by our own (budget and mood were back in mind). I proudly refused, saying, "We're local visitors, we know the history"(easy lines to get rid).

My gal pal, channeling her love for monsoon.

Tip: Hire the guide if you want to have a clear vision of fort's history.

Now, don't judge me If I say I visited the fort for the first time in my 7 years of living in Jaipur. My friend and I was confident enough to visit the fort without any guidance.

How it's different?

Coming to the point, there are numbers of articles on the web or written in the guide books about Jaipur's Amber fort, so not going to repeat that. This is about how I saw this greatness. No common pictures...no ghisa-pita travel blog.

We live in multistory, 6 inches thick, brick walled matchboxes and confined rooms. Despite of RCC constructions our buildings cannot achieve the strength of these 3 to 4 feet thick stone walls jointed with interlocking. Red sand stone and white marble stone are majorly used here. Lime plaster make these building cool. In humid days when we suffocate even in open air, these buildings feel like air-conditioned. I also came to know about natural geyser and water cooling system in here.

Visible strength

As I mentioned earlier, there are numbers of staircases, rooms, galleries, halls, and chawks. Some of them are restricted and guarded by fort security but I'm privileged with the Press card. I grabbed the chance to see water harvesting system of the fort, the storage tank named 'Sawai Man Singh Tanka'. We caught strange vibes, may be because nobody was here, just two of us and the stink.

Tank is about 10 feet deep.

She's capturing the photographer (Note the thickness of walls)

Entrance to the tank area

We live in technically sound era and we think that this is the smartest generation. We have machines and robotics to help in building skyscraper and cities but these magnificent structures were made by hands, with the help of some tools. We can only imagine that how many years and lives were spent in building these giants.

No moulds , No machines

These pillars are not carved with cutter machines but by the hands and patience of artisans. I wonder, what perfection!
![IMG_0028.JPG]
()
Nature inspired carving on marble stone

Handwork level- expert!

Pillars and support made of red sand stone

Hardwork shows up

Colors used in here are natural and long lasting

The Wonder!

This Sheesh Mehal (Mirror palace) concept is just amazing. Millions of convex mirrors are jeweled in mosaic pattern. From ceiling to walls...Perfection. Historians says that the design was inspired by Mughal architecture but I think, this design in amalgam of Mughal, Hindu mythology and folk art.

![IMG_0080.JPG]
()

Charming Sheesh Mehal was built for celebrations. In the dark, just a candle light can enlighten this entire area. Isn't it amazing?

We always have a blurry imagination of the history during the visits. Even the Bollywood movies have been portraying and stereotyping history but being a Rajasthani, I have little better vision about the culture, living, language and even dress-up. So, my mind was adapting the lives of fort residents in an unclear film...and that was really different feeling.

My incomplete journey

I could visited about 3/4 area of the fort and I my neck was already hurting. I needed to look up almost entire time. My health app monitored that I covered about 3.5 Kilometers in the fort only. I know...I know, this much of walk shouldn't be tiring. But my neck pain and headache drained me. I dragged myself down the hill to grab a cup of tea. I wanted to explore more.