Day
2
William Simpson's 1863 painting of the fort-palace of Amber at the first light of dawn. |
In the morning, we went to Amber, stopping
enroute for a few moments at Jal Mahal (Water Palace) and the recently restored Kanak
Vrindavan temple with its manicured gardens.
At Amber fort-palace, we hired an elephant
to take us up to the sprawling fort-palace complex. The main attractions are the Sukh
Mandir (Temple of Contentment – an aptly named pleasure chamber, cooled by a stunning
water cascade) and the Sheesh Mahal (Mirror palace).
We were closed into a tiny room with mirrors all
over the ceiling. In the pitch dark, an attendant lit up two candles and holding them,
waved his arms slowly over his head. In a typical guides’s tone (Don’t blame the
guy – he must be repeating the same thing hundreds of times a day!), he said – "Thish
is the winter bedroom of the rajah. Shince it was too cold to sleep in outshide, he made
thish bedroom with tiny mirrors on the ceiling. If you look up onto the ceiling, you will
find the same effect that the oil lamps beshides his bed made. Tinkle, tinkle, little
ishtar…" And it really was a marvellous sight - twinkling stars on a clear
night!!
On the way back to the city, we took a look at the
intricately carved Jagat Shiromani Temple. For lunch, we hopped over to Niros
(Web Link) - one of the most popular
restaurants on the bustling M.I.Road.
 Later, we visited the famed Hawa
Mahal (Palace of Winds), the five storeyed architectural marvel (frankly, it looks
better from outside!). We browsed through the nearby handicraft shops for some souvenirs.
I picked up a lovely pair of jootis, while Sonia bought a bandhej salwar-kameez. Rajasthan
is a shopper’s paradise and Jaipur is one
big emporium where you can buy just about all the Arts and Crafts from various parts of
the state. It is one of the leading centers in the world for Gems and jewellery, Gold
enamelling, Carpets, Hand block-printed textiles, Puppets, Handmade paper, Blue pottery,
Bangles, Marble work etc.
For dinner, we tried out ethnic Rajasthani food in
the rustic settings of one of the nearby resorts.
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