Day3: Royal Forts Of Jaipur.....

Jaipur (👉Old Jaipur City,👉 Royal Forts)(3N) – Ajmer(0N) – Pushkar(1N) – Udaipur(2N) - Chittorgarh(0N)

(Click on the name of the cities to browse through each in detail)

We planned to cover all the forts this day. Without a doubt, all three forts can be covered in a single day provided you start early and not get into traffic jams. The main point to be noted is, it was not at all tiresome covering all the three forts.

All three forts have few sections in common like the living place for the queens and Kings, place where the King meets the ministers and common people. The only difference is, they are named differently in each fort.

Day 3 Schedule

9:50 To 11:10	Amber Fort
11:30 to 11:40	Panna Meena Ka Kund
12:45 To 2:30	Jaigarh Fort
1:00 To 1:50	Lunch At Jaigarh Fort
3:15 To 3:45	Nahargarh Fort
5:00 To 6:30	Galtaji Mandir
6:45 To 7:35	Albert Museum
	Dinner At Masala Chowk

Tips: Start the day early and try to reach Amer Fort before 9, else it will get delayed by half hour to one hour in each place due to traffic(It took us half an hour extra than usual to reach each place). Restaurants are available in Jaigarh and Nahargarh Fort. So plan accordingly for your lunch. 

Transit: Ola Cab on the hourly package or a rental taxi to cover all the forts is worth from Old Jaipur. We spent Rs. 1900( 1300(Base Pay)+600(to climb all the forts) ) for a 9-hour package (we extended it to 10 hours) in Ola. Public Transport buses are also available from Hawa Mahal for 15 to 25 bucks every 5 minutes (Note that you have to walk a lot further from the stop or rent a jeep to climb the fort which costs 500 bucks).

Total Time To cover all Forts: 6 hours (starting from the Amer Fort entrance till completing the Nahargarh Fort in Taxi)

Amer Fort:

• Transit Time: 20 minutes from Old Jaipur City
• Ticket: Composite Ticket is accepted.
• Duration of the visit: Minimum of 1.5 hours
• What To See: Assembling place of the soldiers, Architecture of the Mirror embossed Sheesh Mahal(various artwork like hidden figures in a flower), Rooms of the Queens, place of the king, Tunnel to Jaigarh fort
• Steps are available to climb the fort from the entrance or Elephants(one-way Rs.1100+), jeeps(Rs.300 to 500 two way), golf car(Rs.40) can be hired. Our cars or cabs can also be used. No autos are allowed to climb up the fort.
• Guide: Better to opt for a guide to know about the fort better.

The Sight Of Amer Fort From The Road

Amer Fort is a big and interesting fort to admire and enjoy. There are lots and lots of places to venture about. The fort looks awesome from the road. 

The fort has 4 different courtyards. Each courtyard projects different living quarters of the ancient rulers.

Living Place: Every building structure in the fort showcases different architecture. It's a combination of Islamic, Hindu, Rajasthani architectures. Apart from the architecture, one can learn how the Maharajahs of those days lived. They had a separate place built for the soldiers to assemble for discussion and parade.

The First Courtyard On Entering The Amer Fort, Jaleb Chowk ( Gathering Place Of The Soldiers )

A separate place is built for the kings to meet the important people (The Sheesh Mahal or Diwan-I Khas), and a separate place to meet the public(Diwan -E-Aam).

Sheesh Mahal (A Place To Meet The Important People), The Hall Of Mirrors In The Third Courtyard

As the king had many Queens, he had built a different living place for different Queens. Each living place of the queen is separated by walls so that the king can meet the queens without the others knowing about it.

Inside The Ladies Apartment(Zenana Deori), In The Fourth Courtyard

Many stairs connect the king's room to the queens living place. Each queen's living place had two rooms, jacuzzi(😱😱😱)and a central room.

The Jacuzzi

As there are many rooms altogether, one may get confused about the entrance and exit. Make sure you go along with your troop to avoid confusion of the place. It's pretty confusing so take care of your kids. In short, it's a Marvelous work of those days.

Tunnel: Another interesting one to be experienced here is the walk through the tunnel. There is a tunnel near one of the gates which lead to Jaigarh fort. It’s allowed to the public. Though we walked through it, We did not make it till the Jaigarh fort.

The Steps That Leads Inside The Tunnel

It was a bit dark inside the tunnel than the other places, many bats were hanging from the wall. It was thrilling to walk through it. If you are interested, don’t miss the chance.

Confirm with the guard inside the tunnel before proceeding.

Souvenir Shop: Apart from the four courtyards, there is an exhibition cum sale( a souvenir shop), an open space that displayed a very big cooking Kadai(made for some film), big spiders and few antique pieces near the exit.

Tip: Make sure to start the day early. Try to reach Amer Fort by 8. If not, you will be held in traffic and you'll have to be in a hurry. Ladies' rooms are confusing so don't let your kids roam.

Panna Meena Ka Kund:

Transit Time: 10 minutes drive from Amer Fort

Ticket: No Ticket

Duration of the visit: 5 to 10 minutes

What To See: Differently laid well

This is a stepwell and it is on the way to the Amer Fort. The well is at the center and has shades built on four corners surrounding the well. There are multiple stairs inside the well(Another Marvelous work). They are laid in a zigzag pattern, built on those days to store water. It was also a place of relaxing for people of those days.

Panna Meena Ka Kund,The Stepwell

Differently laid well make us wonder about the craftsmanship of those days. Of course one will be interested to climb down the stairs of the stepwell. But, it is prohibited now.

It is better to see this well on the way to the fort, rather than on return as during peak hours cops may block your way and you may have to walk.

Jaigarh Fort: 

• Transit Time: Less Than 30 minutes drive from Panna Meena Ka Kund
• Ticket: Adults(70), Kids(40), Camera(100)
• Duration of the visit: Minimum 45 minutes
• What To See: Excellent city view from the top of the fort, understand the king’s lifestyle and Canons
• Eatery: There is a small restaurant inside.

Jaigarh Fort As Seen From The Amer Fort

This Fort was built to protect the Amer Fort which was initially the capital. And, this is the main reason it was built several feet above the sea level. The main transit between the Amer and the Jaigarh fort was only through the tunnel during the olden days.

Living Place: 

Similar to the Amer Fort, there are various places to see here in different directions.A small museum that displays the arms, Meeting Place of the soldiers, King’s residing Place, Queen’s residence, Dining Halls( Separately for ladies and gents), Kitchen room and few more.

The Entrance Of The Palace Complex

Subhat Niwas( Gathering Place Of The Soldiers)

One Of The Activities Display At Lalit Mandir

 All these can be seen from a distance and nobody is allowed to enter any room. Model structures are used for the display to showcase the activities. It's a small fort when compared to the Amer fort. Follow the direction arrow and do not miss any

Water Tank:

Another important one to be noticed here is the water tank which was built to store water.

The Water Storage Tank

What made this popular is the rumor that spread a few years back(Indira Gandhi's Time) saying treasures hidden by maharajahs of those days still existed.

Canon Foundry:

Though the fort was initially built to protect the capital, Later, it was used as a cannon foundry. A separate way takes us to the canon foundry where few canons, old canon makings are displayed.

Entrance To The Canon Foundry

Jaivan Canon:

World’s largest canon was made during Maharajah's time and it is displayed here. 

Jaivan, The World's Largest Canon

One has to climb the huge wall of Jaigarh to view it. It was really interesting to walk on the huge walls admiring the beauty of Jaipur from a huge height.

Nahargarh Fort:

• Transit: 15 minutes drive from Jaigarh Fort
• Ticket: Duration of the visit: Minimum 30 minutes
• What To See: The 10 suites of the Queens and the terrace view
• Eateries: There are a couple of restaurants available to refresh.

Museum: A wax museum welcomes us near the entrance. The ticket is overpriced. So, we did not attempt to visit it. Heard that there were structures of famous personalities and the ancient kings, Sheesh mahal replica and few others.

Stepwell: Further moving forward the way lead us to stepwell. This one is slightly different from the one we saw near the Amer Fort.

Stepwell

Madhavendra Bhavan: Next comes the Madhavendra Bhawan which was built by Maharaja Madhavendra for his queens. It’s a Two Storey building consists of ten Apartments. Each Apartment has a bedroom, courtyard, kitchen and a toilet. Nine for the queens and one for the king himself. The Architecture of the building is good. The terrace is also open to the public. All the apartments are linked together by a single terrace. Standing on the big terrace, one can enjoy the view of the raised dome shape structure of each apartment. The city view from the terrace is so good.

Entrance To The Madhavendra Bhavan

The Dome View Of The Apartments From The Upper Level

A Panaromic View From The Nahargarh Fort

Galtaji Temple:

• Transit: 30 minutes drive from Jaigarh Fort
• Ticket: No Ticket 
• Duration of the visit: 1 hr and 30 minutes(Trek Route).
• What To See: Shrines for Hanuman, Surya Narayanar, Galtaji, Ram Sita, Krishana, Ramanujar, at Different Levels of the Hill, Sunset View Point-a great place to enjoy viewing the sunset.
• Eatery: Nothing Inside the Premises.

An Awesome Temple which is a must-visit place. There are two ways to reach the temple. One is the normal way from the road access to reach the lowest level of the hill by car. This is the proper entrance to the temple.

The other way is a bit of a trek but it is lovely and gives an awesome view of the city. We chose to trek and enjoyed it. The details below are from the trekking point of view.

The Main Gate that Takes you to the Trekking Way

The trekking way starts from a small street. One can see the Surya temple from the starting point of the trek.But, don’t underestimate the distance. It is not the only temple to be seen. One has to initially climb the way up a hill to reach the Galtaji temple crossing Surya Narayana Temple.

View Of The Surya Temple(At The Top Right) On The Hill 

View Of The Temples From The Top Of The Hill

Zoom-in View Of The Temples From The Hill

Way To Galtaji Shrine

The main Galtaji Temple and the tank in front of it

Once you cross Surya Temple and a small Hanuman Temple, the further trek will lead to the main Galtaji Temple. A saint Galva who was a follower of Ramanuja did his penance here and brought water from river Ganga. There is a small pond in front of the shrine. And again, you need to climb a lot of steps down further. There are three other ponds at different levels of the hills.

Way Down To The Other Shrines

Three To Four Royal Tanks On The Way To The Lower Level

On The Lower Level (Note The Monkeys All Over)

Trekking further down will lead to the lower level where there are shrines for Ram Sita, Krishna and Shri Gyanguruji( Ramanujar). The entire temple with different shrines was so different. It was like a palace with rooms at various places.

Shrines for Ram Sita, Krishna and Shri Gyanguruji( Ramanujar) at The Lower Level

Not to forget our main Guide throughout the trek, “The Monkeys”. Monkeys, Monkeys everywhere. Monkeys at this place are so good. They did not disturb our way. We fed them a few groundnuts on our way and took some snaps with it. Once you are done with worshiping the shrines, You can either walk the way out from the Lower Level exit or climb up the hill and down the slope again to reach the entrance. It was close to the sunset so we chose to trek back again to the starting place to get the Awesome Sunset View.

Beautiful View Of The Sky 

The sunset view was great. There is a sunset viewpoint on the way and it gives an amazing view of the whole city in the beautiful fading sunlight. The original beauty can not be captured by the cameras. I am not exaggerating here. It was really good.

Surya Temple

We visited the Surya Temple on our way which was on the same hill, got his blessing and returned to our car. It took us almost one and a half hours to climb up, worship and climb down the hill. Overall the experience was so great.

Tip: Make sure to be at Surya Narayana temple during Sunset

Albert Museum:

Transit: 15 to 20 minutes drive from Galtaji Temple

Ticket: Composite Ticket is available for day time Entry. A separate one has to be obtained for the night entry.

Duration of the visit: Minimum 45 minutes

What To See: The Only preserved Mummy in India, other commonly displayed items

Eateries: Cafe Coffee Day is available near the entrance and there are few good restaurants nearby(Ram Niwas Garden Food Court is Good)

Albert Museum At Night

This is the only site in Jaipur that did not entirely contribute to ancient Jaipur. This museum showcased many things like Egyptian sculptures, textiles, Ancient pottery, coins, Swords, Ancient Maharajas Of Jaipur, and many such things.

The real mummy of a lady from a priest family

The one particular showpiece not to be missed is the Egyptian made mummy of a lady from a priest family gifted to Sawai Eshwar Singh from the museum of Cairo in 1887. Other than this, the rest items are common like a normal museum that displays ancient artifacts.

Ram Niwas Garden and The Masala Chowk Footcourt:It’s a 2-minute walk from Albert museum. It’s a nice place to have fun and food. The Food court provides many eateries. It’s worth visiting.

Jaipur Zoo: We did not visit Jaipur Zoo as grahan ate half of our day. It is located near the Albert Museum Hall, heard that it is worth visiting. 

By this, We are done with Jaipur sightseeing and ready to visit 👉Ajmer  and 👉Pushkar. 


👉Old Jaipur City, 👉The Royal Forts Of Jaipur, 👉Ajmer, 👉Pushkar, 👉Udaipur, 👉Chittorgarh, 👉Main Schedule