On my second day in Jaipur we rode elephants up to the Amber Fort, spent a while there learning about the history of the place and exploring its many features, then went for lunch at a local restaurant (it was called The Pindi, and the food was delicious), and spent the afternoon hours walking the streets and visiting various shops in what I guess you’d call the shopping district or bazaar. Here’s some photos and witty captions!
Hawa Mahal, “Wind Palace” or “The Palace Of Winds,” is a palace built in 1799 for Maharaja Sawai
Pratap Singh in the form of Krishna’s (a Hindu God’s) crown. It contains 953 small windows, which
were originally designed so that the royal ladies (you could call them concubines I suppose) could watch
everyday street life in Jaipur without being seen.
You’re probably asking, “Why were the windows so small if their intent was to allow the royal
ladies to observe what happened outside?” Well, idiot, the royal ladies weren’t allow to show
their faces, so they needed to remain obscured so that the people outside the palace could not
see them. Does that answer your question? Good. I’m glad.
I guess if you looked at this photo and didn’t know that the windows were TINY you might
think that they were regular-sized windows. Supposedly the panoramic view from the roof is
supposed to be stunning (the streets of Jaipur and the bazaar are supposed to resemble Paris)
but we didn’t make it to the roof so I can’t vouch for that statement or support it with photos.
That’s the Amber Fort (also called the Amer Fort) in Amer, which is a town that’s only one square
mile in area. Most people just say it’s in Jaipur. It’s located high on a hill and is renowned for its
blend of Hindu and Mughal architecture. It was formerly used as a residence for the Rajput Maharajas.
If you look just above the Amber Fort you can see Jaigarh Fort, which is part of the same complex,
but it’s situated a little higher on the same hill. There’s an underground passage from one fort to
the other, which was used to usher the royal families from the residence (Amber) to the safer,
more redoubtable FORT (Jaigarh). We didn’t visit Jaigarh, but you can see it and its extensive
walls in many of the photos I took of (and from) the Amber Fort.
That’s a woman sweeping.
Considering I took this photo from the back of an elephant trotting uphill I’d say it came
out pretty good! That’s Maota Lake and Garden, situated below the fort. It’s an impressive garden,
and the lake provides really cool reflections of the fort and its surroundings. It probably also
provided water when the fort was a functional residence. I’m sure it wasn’t just used to reflect stuff.
I thought one of the coolest things about the Amber Fort (it’s not pictured here) is that a piped water
supply once flowed through an open channel that runs through the edifice, keeping the environs cool,
as in an air conditioned environment. It was a primitive form of A/C, but it was functional! Not bad for 1592.
Those are actually the walls of the surrounding Jaigarh Fort, which extend far beyond the fort
to — wait for it — fortify the palace! It’s sometimes (very informally) referred to as the great
wall of India. They stretch for almost 2 miles around. It looks really big and imposing.
That’s the Sun Gate, the main entry. Armies held victory parties there.
I don’t remember exactly where this was but it sure looks pretty!
This was taken in the third courtyard, in a structure called the Jai Mandir. It’s made with
glass-inlayed panels and multi-mirrored ceilings. It’s one of the most exquisite buildings in any
palace that I saw during my trip. It provided plenty of great photo opportunities.
I think that’s Old Jaipur. Whatever it is, that’s the view of it from higher up in the fort.
As far as I know, the name of this is “The Water Palace,” and judging by the picture you
can see why it was given that name. We didn’t take a boat out to visit it, so I have no idea
what it’s like inside, but if it’s anything like how I imagine it
(think Water Park meets a castle) I’m sure it’s pretty fucking awesome.
Street Scene. Jaipur.
This was taken from the bazaar in Jaipur. There are tons of little shops lining the streets, and
each alleyway hosts more and more shops. It’s an insane network of commerce. Granted, I wasn’t
there to shop so I didn’t get to take advantage of the area, but I got a lot of neat photos of life in Jaipur.
More importantly, I caught two baboons fucking. That’s not entirely true. I was standing in an alley
while my sister shopped for jewelry, and I looked up and saw these two sitting on the edge of that
building. And then one of them reached out and put its arm around the other. I thought it’d make
for a really cute photo so I grabbed my camera and snapped a pic. It was only when I looked at the
photo that I realized what I’d actually captured. Then I noticed they were fucking WHILE a baby
was hanging onto the underside of the female baboon. Not sure if that qualifies as a threesome.
The Questions – Can’t Get Over You [MP3]
