The Palace

(0900-1630 (it’s worth arriving at 0900), foreigners Rs 100, Indians Rs 10, camera Rs 75, video Rs 150 (tickets in the Chowk, below the steps up to Shila Mata). Take the green bus from the Hawa Mahal, Rs 5. Auto-rickshaw Rs 80 (Rs 200 for return, including the wait). Guides are worth hiring, Rs 400 for a half day (group of 4), find one with a government guide licence.)

After passing through a series of five defensive gates, you reach the first courtyard of the Raj Mahal built by Man Singh I in 1600, entered through the Suraj Pol (Sun Gate). Here you can get a short ride around the courtyard on an elephant, but bargain very hard. There are some toilets near the dismounting platform. On the south side of this Jaleb Chowk with the flower beds, is a flight of steps leading up to the Singh Pol (Lion Gate) entrance to the upper courtyard of the palace.

A separate staircase to the right leads to the green marble-pillared Shila Mata Temple (to Kali as Goddess of War), which opens at certain times of the day and then only allows a limited number of visitors at a time (so ask before joining the queue). The temple contains a black marble image of the goddess that Man Singh I brought back from Jessore (now in Bangladesh; the chief priest has always been Bengali). The silver doors with images of Durga and Saraswati were added by his successor.

In the left-hand corner of the courtyard, the Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience) was built by Raja Jai Singh I in 1639. Originally, it was an open pavilion with cream marble pillars supporting an unusual striped canopy-shaped ceiling, with a portico with double red sandstone columns. The room on the east was added by Sawai Ram Singh II. Ganesh Pol (circa 1700-1725), south of the chowk, colourfully painted and with mosaic decoration, takes its name from the prominent figure of Ganesh above the door. It separates the private from the public areas.

This leads onto the Jai Singh I court with a formal garden. To the east is the two- storeyed cream-coloured marble pavilion – Jai Mandir (Diwan-i-Khas or Hall of Private Audience) below and Jas Mandir (1635- 1640) with a curved Bengali roof, on the terrace above. The former, with its marble columns and painted ceiling, has lovely views across the lake. The latter has colourful mosaics, mirrors and marble jali screens which let in cooling breezes. Both have Shish Mahals (Mirror Palaces) faced with mirrors, seen to full effect when lit by a match. To the west of the chowk is the Sukh Niwas, a pleasure palace with a marble water course to cool the air, and doors inlaid with ivory and sandalwood. The Mughal influence is quite apparent in this chowk.

Above the Ganesh Pol is the Sohag Mandir, a rectangular chamber with beautiful latticed windows and octagonal rooms to each side. From the rooftop there are stunning views over the palace across the town of Amber, the long curtain wall surrounding the town and further north, through the ‘V’ shaped entrance in the hills, to the plains beyond. Beyond this courtyard is the Palace of Man Singh I. A high wall separates it from the Jai Singh Palace. In the centre of the chowk which was once open is a baradari (12-arched pavilion), combining Mughal and Hindu influences. The surrounding palace, a complex warren of passages and staircases, was turned into zenana quarters when the newer palaces were built by Jai Singh. Children find it great fun to explore this part....read more