After we had climbed up to the fort (see Jaipur Chronicles: Amber Fort for details) and got a bit of a chewing from our professor for doing something awesome wrong. We entered the fort.
As I tried to describe the fort in the last post, Amber Fort sits atop a hill towards the outskirts of present-day Jaipur. The fort itself most of the hill it sits on and looks down into the valley where a settlement has now developed.
It is in moments like this where one can see the ugly side of development, where once a simple village was, now stands a large settlement (not a town, but smaller, the word escapes me) and in the heart of it, two large telecommunication towers.
The towers completely ruin the scenic beauty that the view from the fort once had. On top of that, one of the most awe-inspiring sights was what I love to refer to as the Great Wall of India. This wall snakes up and around the hills that surround Amber Fort. This 'great wall' has now also been ruined with the development of the region.
However, these concerns were soon forgotten as I entered the fort. I was instantly lost in a mixture of both reminiscence and a photographic head-smack. I began to remember the history of the fort and what all each structure was for. There was a hall with small mirrors embedded into it, where it is said that the Raja and Rani would play (I think it was more of an architectural design then a playground...)
I was more engrossed in the gardens and the monkeys that ran rampant around in the fort. the monkeys, the Langoors, crouched atop the walls of the fort stalking tourists with their small eyes, they struck several times, jumping between tourist with their backs turned and in once case, behind a pair of SSLAians posing for a photo, startling the bejezes out of one!
After the standard tour of the forts walls, a friend and I decided to delve deeper into the fort, as we walked we heard footsteps and thankfully, were only greeted by a bunch of rather frazzled students and a professor. They mentioned that there was a rumor that the fort was haunted and they had just come from a really scary passage, which made me want to dive right into it!
The friend and I walked down the dimly lit passage way and managed to make it to the frame of where a door once was, ahead was a small corridor which led to an even more supernaturally darkened door (if that's even possible). We quickly locked eyes and said let’s do this! And walked slowly to the door, touched it, turned and ran as if Satan himself was on our heels!
The rest of the visit was rather standard except for one part at the exit, where we were greeted with a very familiar sight:
I for one was completely disgusted that such a gross commercialisation of a National Monument could happen, but I guess the revenue generated would probably ensure the forts continued survival. It's a bittersweet deal, one that seems sweet right now.
Honestly, I half expected to see a McDonalds next to the CCD!
As I tried to describe the fort in the last post, Amber Fort sits atop a hill towards the outskirts of present-day Jaipur. The fort itself most of the hill it sits on and looks down into the valley where a settlement has now developed.
It is in moments like this where one can see the ugly side of development, where once a simple village was, now stands a large settlement (not a town, but smaller, the word escapes me) and in the heart of it, two large telecommunication towers.
The towers completely ruin the scenic beauty that the view from the fort once had. On top of that, one of the most awe-inspiring sights was what I love to refer to as the Great Wall of India. This wall snakes up and around the hills that surround Amber Fort. This 'great wall' has now also been ruined with the development of the region.
However, these concerns were soon forgotten as I entered the fort. I was instantly lost in a mixture of both reminiscence and a photographic head-smack. I began to remember the history of the fort and what all each structure was for. There was a hall with small mirrors embedded into it, where it is said that the Raja and Rani would play (I think it was more of an architectural design then a playground...)
I was more engrossed in the gardens and the monkeys that ran rampant around in the fort. the monkeys, the Langoors, crouched atop the walls of the fort stalking tourists with their small eyes, they struck several times, jumping between tourist with their backs turned and in once case, behind a pair of SSLAians posing for a photo, startling the bejezes out of one!
 | |
| Couldn't Resist |
The friend and I walked down the dimly lit passage way and managed to make it to the frame of where a door once was, ahead was a small corridor which led to an even more supernaturally darkened door (if that's even possible). We quickly locked eyes and said let’s do this! And walked slowly to the door, touched it, turned and ran as if Satan himself was on our heels!
The rest of the visit was rather standard except for one part at the exit, where we were greeted with a very familiar sight:
I for one was completely disgusted that such a gross commercialisation of a National Monument could happen, but I guess the revenue generated would probably ensure the forts continued survival. It's a bittersweet deal, one that seems sweet right now.
Honestly, I half expected to see a McDonalds next to the CCD!
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