Where? - Location Compass
Jaigarh Fort is situated on the promontory called the Hill of Eagles of the Aravalli range; it overlooks the Amber Fort and the Maota Lake, near Amber in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The fort was built by Jai Singh II in 1726 to protect the Amber Fort and its palace complex and was named after him. It is pink in color and is home to the World’s Largest Wheeled Cannon (That was only used once.) Jaivanan Cannon. It is one of the strongest Forts of Jaipur and India. It is well crafted and well equipped to be able to go past odds.
How To Get There:
- Around 4 km’s away from Amber Fort & Connect by A Tunnel (Network)
- Rickshaw can be taken (Economical)
- Taxi’s are also available for group travellers (Beware of cheats, pay by meter.)
- There are local busses also who run the same route, that can be taken by enquiring with the locals and figuring the frequency and timings.
Jaigarh Fort - Exploration Time: 1-2 Hours
How Old - Built In: 1726 / 18th Century
When? - Ideal Time To Getaway
Best Period To Getaway: December - May (Winter & Summer)
Timings: 9 am - 4:30 pm (Entry Timings) - Important
Contact Numbers: +91-141-2671848 | +91-141-5110598
Charges: Indians - 35 Rs Foreigners - 85 RS (Camera/Add On Charges Separate)
My Happy Getaway - Jaigarh Fort 2015
We were out in Jaipur exploring and chilling after quite a lot of planning and going back and forth. I was with a few of my favourite people (Tattva 2) yes a travel group that we have now converted into a small circle of family, friends and explorers. Dua figured the place out and after not a lot of convincing and deciding to stay a day longer to explore we set out to see what the pink city had to offer us. One of the first places, and what i’ll be writing about here is the Jaigarh Fort.
We took a Qualis, a spacious and roomy car that all of us comfortably got into. And then our road trip to the fort began. The signing (And all the Kya’s? - Ignore the Inside Joke) began to fill the car with laughters and smiles. Dhruv (My finance man) and his flirting and anticipation of the flight he had to catch later surely kept us occupied. We soon began to climb up a hill and passed a few gates and a narrow entry point. We could see Amber Fort and Aravalli Hills from the hill and the beautiful water streaming by. Jaipur is a beautiful and artsy city that will make you feel warm and one with our culture, traditions and people. At no point did I feel out of place or out of sync, I believe every traveller should at least once backpack to Jaipur. (There is way too much to see, feel and experience there.) I wish I stayed longer.
So a bit about the Jaigarh Fort. It is built with thick walls of red sandstone and is spread over a vast range of 3 kilometers in length, with a width of one kilometer. The fort houses the world's greatest cannon on wheels known as the Jaivana Cannon and a huge palace complex. This includes the Laxmi Vilas, Lalit Mandir, Aram Mandir and the Vilas Mandir. The fort has a well-tended garden which can be viewed by tourists even today along with an armory and a museum.
The Jaigarh Fort is an opulent structure built in the early 18th century. Amer, the city in which the Jaigarh and the Amer fort are located, was ruled by the Kachawahas from the early 10th century. During the Mughal dynasty, the Jaigarh Fort became their empire's main cannon foundry and was also used as storage stronghold to store ammunition and other metal required for war. During the successive wars that broke out in the Mughal dynasty in 1658, the cannon outpost at the Jaigarh fort was protected until the protector, Dara Shikoh, was defeated and executed by his own brother, Aurangzeb. Later, the fort was handed over to Jai Singh II and he is known to have molded the great ‘Jaivana Cannon', along with using the devices and the foundries inside the fort.
The Jaigarh fort was never conquered in battle, and was also the strongest of the three forts in Jaipur. During the Mughal dynasty, the fort bore witness to an ambush by Aurangzeb who defeated and killed his own brother who was the overseer of the cannon outpost in the fort. Apart from that, the fort never witnessed any major resistance, and only test-fired the world's largest cannon, once.
We explored the fort right from the start to the end point. The fort is filled with monkeys, and at a fair distance you can also spot a lot of peacocks (We spotted a beautiful one sitting on a tree on our way back, and two running away on our road trip to our next destination.). Peacocks are just so beautiful aren’t they with their beautiful necks and colourful feathers and graceful walk. Was bliss to catch a view of them. The fort is really majestic and well crafted, the detailing work and mightiness of the fort shows how strong it was and how much damage it could withstand. The fort is pink in color and is surely one of the most renowned places in Jaipur. There is a lot of history in the walls of the fort, secret view and gun points. Also the height it was on gave a clear view of enemies or threats from a distance. It is known to be one of the most strongest forts in India.
This was surely a memorable experience, and I hope I can do many more such trips in the future, with my happy set of people. And to many more such forts and experiences.
This is Happy (Or you can call me Al) signing off, until next time.
Have a great day.
And an adventurous weekend! :)
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