The story of a fort built by a general
Taken from the Meenas: the Kachwahas ruled the valley of Amer from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, after taking it from the Meena chiefs who held it before them.
A modest capital: for most of that time, a hill town guarded by forts on the ridge.
Descendants of Kush: the Kachwahas claim descent from Kush, the son of Ram.
- Built
- Begun in 1592
- Built by
- Raja Man Singh I and his successors
- Open
- Come as the gates open
- Allow
- Two and a half to three hours
- Best time
- First hour, October to March
- Photography
- Allowed, except in the Shila Devi temple
- Getting there
- About 11 km north of Jaipur
- The name: said to come from the temple of Ambikeshwar, a form of Shiva, though many local families say it honours the goddess Amba.
- The 1562 marriage: Raja Bharmal gave his daughter to the emperor Akbar. It made the Kachwahas the Mughals' closest Rajput partners, and it made them rich.
- The general: Bharmal's grandson, Raja Man Singh I, became one of Akbar's greatest generals, commanding armies from Kabul to Bengal and governing whole provinces.
- Begun in 1592: Man Singh started the palace-fortress on the hillside above Maota Lake. The oldest palace, at the back, was completed by the end of the decade.
- More than wealth: he brought home the imperial court's gardens, arches and inlay, and set them inside Rajput walls.
- Mirza Raja Jai Singh I: in the middle of the seventeenth century, serving Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, he added the grand courts at the front.
- His additions: the painted Ganesh Pol, the mirrored halls and the Mughal garden.
- Until 1727: later rulers kept building until the capital moved down to Sawai Jai Singh II's new city of Jaipur.
- Read on: our Amer page tells the town's story, and Mughal and Rajput history explains the alliance that built it.
- World Heritage: in 2013 UNESCO inscribed it as one of six Hill Forts of Rajasthan, with Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore, Gagron and Jaisalmer. Our UNESCO forts of Rajasthan compares them.
How to read the plan before you walk in
Four main levels: each with its own courtyard, climbing the hill.
Rajput outside: the outer walls are thick and blunt, built for defence.
- Bottom
- Jaleb Chowk, the army's square
- Second
- The court of public audience
- Third
- Jai Singh I's private palace
- Top and oldest
- Man Singh I's palace, the queens'
- Mughal as you climb: slender columns, cusped arches, marble screens and gardens laid out in four parts.
- Rajput again at the end: you step back into an older, plainer world in Man Singh's palace.
- Walk it in order: a good guide follows that sequence, and the fort tells its own story. Our guide to reading Rajasthani architecture explains the vocabulary.
A walk through Amber, court by court
Maota Lake and the saffron garden
The reservoir: Maota Lake held the fort's water, and its level rises and falls dramatically with the monsoon.
- Kesar Kyari: a garden of star-shaped beds on the lake that, the story goes, were once planted with saffron.
- The best photograph in Amer: from the road on the far shore in early morning, when the walls are reflected whole in still water.
Suraj Pol, the Sun Gate
The gate of ceremony: it faces east to the rising sun, and the king's processions came and went through it.
- The turning ramp: it bends before the gate so an attacking army, or an elephant, could never gather speed against the doors.
- Our walk up: about fifteen minutes, in the cool of the morning.
Jaleb Chowk, the soldiers' square
A vast courtyard: ringed by rooms where soldiers and horses were quartered. The army paraded here and returning troops were received.
- Chand Pol: the Moon Gate on the far side faces west and was used by ordinary townspeople.
- Look up: from the middle, the palace rises in tiers above you, the view meant to impress.
The temple of Shila Devi
The family goddess: Shila Devi, protector of the Kachwahas and a form of Kali, up steps in a corner of Jaleb Chowk.
- From Bengal: legend says Man Singh brought her image back after his victory over the Raja of Jessore in 1604.
- Silver doors: the doors are covered in embossed silver, and the shrine is crowded with devotees during Navratri.
- Etiquette: remove your shoes, cover your shoulders and don't photograph inside.
Singh Pol and the Diwan-i-Aam
Our guides love a legend about these pillars. The carving was so fine, the story goes, that a jealous emperor in Delhi heard of it, and the king hurriedly had the columns plastered over. True or not, it shows the delicate game the Kachwahas played between pride and loyalty.
- The Lion Gate: a broad staircase rises from Jaleb Chowk through Singh Pol to the second courtyard.
- The hall of public audience: an open pavilion on a double row of columns, with brackets carved as elephants. Here the king heard petitions and received his court.
Ganesh Pol
The gateway to the private palace: built under Mirza Raja Jai Singh I at the top of the second courtyard.
- The most beautiful gate in the fort: painted in soft colours with floral designs and arabesques.
- Ganesh above the arch: the god of thresholds and beginnings.
- The Suhag Mandir: from behind the latticed screens of the room above, the palace women watched the court unseen.
The garden court
A different world: a formal Mughal garden of geometric beds with a central fountain.
- Two facing palaces: the Jai Mandir with the Sheesh Mahal on one side, the Sukh Niwas, the hall of pleasure, on the other.
- The coolest place: before electricity, this garden of water and shade was it.
Jai Mandir and the Sheesh Mahal
The king's hall: its inner rooms are the famous Sheesh Mahal, the palace of mirrors.
A sky of stars: walls and ceilings are set with convex mirror and coloured glass in flower and vase patterns, so one candle, or a guide's match, is reflected thousands of times.
- Look low too: white marble panels on the lower walls are carved in relief with flowers and plants.
- The magic flower: a small marble carving at a pillar's base. Cover parts with your hands and it becomes a fish tail, lotus, hooded cobra, elephant's trunk, lion's tail, corn cob or scorpion.
- The Jas Mandir above: delicate alabaster screens, glass inlay and views across the valley to Maota Lake.
Sukh Niwas, the cool hall
Built for summer: water flowed through a channel in the floor and out into the garden, cooling the air that blew across it.
- An air conditioner of marble, water and wind: one of the simplest and cleverest buildings in Amber.
- The doors: once inlaid with sandalwood and ivory, guides will tell you.
The palace of Man Singh I
The oldest part: at the very back, completed in 1599.
The baradari: a pillared pavilion open on all sides at the centre of the courtyard.
- The zenana: apartments of the royal women, linked by narrow corridors and stairways so the household moved unseen. Tradition says each of Man Singh's many queens had her own rooms here.
- Plainer and intimate: painted walls survive in places, and small windows look down on the town and hills.
- Where Amber feels like a home: on a quiet morning, our favourite place in the fort.
Rajput and Mughal, explained in plain words
Rajput at heart: defence and family. Forts sit on hills, walls are thick, entrances bend, and the inner palace turns inward to the women's quarters and family gods.
Rajput decoration: bold, with painted walls, carved brackets, rooftop chhatris and projecting jharokhas. Our piece on what a jharokha is explains the most famous.
- Chhatri
- A small domed rooftop pavilion
- Jharokha
- A projecting balcony
- Jali
- A marble screen carved like lace
- Charbagh
- A garden divided in four by water
- What the Mughals brought: from Persia and Central Asia, symmetry, four-part water gardens, cusped arches, jali screens, stone and glass inlay, and an ideal of calm and order.
- Carried home: the Kachwaha kings spent years at the Mughal court and fought its wars, and they brought that taste back.
- Both in one building: the outer walls and gates are Rajput. The Diwan-i-Aam is a Mughal audience hall with Rajput elephant brackets.
- The garden court: Mughal in plan, surrounded by Rajput screens and painted gates.
- Richer than Delhi or Agra: the Sheesh Mahal takes the Mughal idea of mirror work and goes further. Our forts and palaces page traces the story across Rajasthan.
Amber after the court left
A living temple: Shila Devi stayed in Jaleb Chowk, and Jaipur's rulers kept returning to worship her, above all at Navratri. A fort with a living temple is never fully abandoned.
Navratri today: the nine nights of the goddess, in spring and autumn, bring crowds up the ramp, with bells, marigolds and families in their best clothes.
- The goddess
- Shila Devi stayed and was worshipped
- Water and stone
- Solid sandstone, good drainage
- The family
- Amber remained their first home
- Plan around it: moving to see, but not a quiet visit. Our page on Navratri explains the festival.
- Built to last: solid local sandstone and marble, on a hill that drains well, with the lake below and Jaigarh's great tanks above.
- Monsoon-wise builders: their channels, cisterns and drains kept the fort dry for centuries.
- Recent care: careful restoration continues on the painted gates, the mirror work and the older palace at the back.
- The family: the Kachwahas never forgot Amber was their first home, and it stayed part of Jaipur's royal identity long after the court moved.
- The beginning: in Man Singh's courtyard you stand where the dynasty still places its start. Our piece on the Jaipur royal family tells the rest.
The best hour and the best season
The first hour: you share the courts with a few early visitors and the people who work here, sweeping, opening doors and lighting lamps at the Shila Devi temple.
Soft and silent: slanting light, cool stone, and the Sheesh Mahal in near silence.
By about ten: coaches arrive from Delhi and Jaipur, and Man Singh's narrow passages fill.
- Best hour
- As the gates open
- Busiest
- About ten to mid-afternoon
- Second best
- Late afternoon
- Best months
- October to March
- Secret season
- The monsoon
- If you must come later: the last afternoon hours are calmer than midday.
- October to March: crisp mornings and clear hills.
- December and January: bring a warm layer for dawn. The old stone holds the night's cold.
- April to June: come only at opening time and be back in the car before the heat.
- The monsoon, July to September: Maota Lake fills, the Aravallis turn green, peacocks call from the ramparts, and the fort is wonderfully quiet.
- Read before you go: sunrise at Amber Fort describes the first hour, and our best time to visit Jaipur covers every month.
How to visit Amber well
A licensed guide: almost nothing is labelled, and the stories are half the experience. We match guides to guests, from architecture specialists to storytellers wonderful with children.
The drive from Jaipur: out through the walled city's northern gates, past Jal Mahal on Man Sagar Lake, about twenty to thirty minutes early in the day. In late morning it can take twice as long.
Walk or ride up: the old ramp takes about fifteen minutes in the cool of the morning, or a jeep goes to the upper gate near Jaleb Chowk.
- Guide
- Licensed, matched to you
- Way up
- Walk the ramp or take a jeep
- Elephants
- We don't book rides
- Dress
- Shoulders and knees covered
- Bring
- Water, a hat, a scarf
- No elephants: we don't book elephant rides. Our piece on why we don't offer elephant rides explains why.
- Shoes with grip: ramps and floors are polished smooth by centuries of feet and hooves, and slippery when wet.
- Photography: allowed in most of the fort, not in the Shila Devi temple. Ask before photographing people close up, and expect separate rules for professional equipment.
- Dress modestly: shoulders and knees covered, especially for the temple. Carry a scarf.
- Water and a hat: shade in the halls, little on the ramps and terraces.
- Mobility: steep ramps, uneven stone and many steps, especially in Man Singh's palace. A jeep to the upper gate and a patient guide make much of it possible. See our accessible travel guide.
- Touts: ignore offers of shortcuts, photographs or shops at the car park. Your guide handles everything.
What most visitors miss
The silver doors of Shila Devi
- Climb the steps: many walk straight past the temple in the corner of Jaleb Chowk.
- The living heart of the fort: embossed silver doors, carved marble and devotees who still come every morning.
The view from the back windows
- From Man Singh's upper rooms: small windows look over old Amer, its temples and rooftops, up to Jaigarh's walls on the ridge.
- The queens' view: the kingdom as they saw it.
The passages between the queens' rooms
- Ask your guide: to take you through the narrow corridors and stairways of the zenana.
- Privacy in a crowd: they twist, climb and double back, and you see how a large royal household lived together unseen.
The way down through the town
Walk, don't drive: go down from the car park into old Amer.
- Within minutes: the carved marble gateway of the Jagat Shiromani temple, the Panna Meena ka Kund stepwell and the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing.
- Jagat Shiromani: built in the early seventeenth century by Man Singh's queen, Kanakwati, in memory of their son Jagat Singh, with a shrine to Garuda, Vishnu's eagle, before it.
- A chai: on a stone platform with the fort above you.
Amber from the ridge
- The best view is from above: in the late afternoon, Jaigarh's walls look straight down on the courts you walked that morning, with Maota Lake shining below.
- Two forts, one system: our Jaigarh Fort guide explains how they worked together.
What to pair with Amber
- Directly above
- Jaigarh Fort
- Sunset
- Nahargarh Fort, on the ridge road
- In the town
- Stepwell and Anokhi Museum
- First light
- Jal Mahal, on the way up
Jaigarh Fort
The soldiers' fort: on the hill directly above, linked to Amber by walls and a passage.
- The hill of eagles: Jaigarh crowns the Cheel ka Teela.
- The Jaivana: cast here in 1720 under Sawai Jai Singh II, one of the largest cannons ever cast on wheels.
- The view: the best of Amber there is, in the late afternoon.
Nahargarh Fort
- Along the ridge: follow the road from Jaigarh to Nahargarh for sunset over Jaipur.
- The perfect end: to an Amber day.
Panna Meena ka Kund and the Anokhi Museum
- A stepwell and a museum: a sixteenth-century geometric stepwell and a museum of block printing in a restored sixteenth-century mansion, a few minutes' walk apart below the fort.
- Calm and cool: both close by.
Jal Mahal
- On the road: the water palace on Man Sagar Lake sits between Jaipur and Amer.
- At first light: stop on the promenade on your way up.
Where to stay and eat near Amber
The Amer side of the walled city: The Raj Palace and Samode Haveli save valuable minutes before sunrise.
Closest of the large hotels: Fairmont Jaipur, on the Delhi road just north of Amer.
- Amer side
- The Raj Palace, Samode Haveli
- Closest large hotel
- Fairmont Jaipur, Delhi road
- In the hills
- Alila Fort Bishangarh, 1.5 hours
- Eat inside
- 1135 AD, above Jaleb Chowk
- The garden palaces: Rambagh Palace and Jai Mahal Palace are an easy early-morning run.
- In the hills: Alila Fort Bishangarh, about an hour and a half north, lets you visit Amber on the way in or out.
- Compare them: our guide to luxury hotels in Jaipur.
- 1135 AD: a royal Rajasthani menu in painted rooms above Jaleb Chowk. The one meal we book inside Amber, ideally a late breakfast or early lunch after your visit.
- What to order there: laal maas, the fiery mutton curry of the Rajput hunting camps, or the vegetarian thali.
- In the town: small shops fry kachori and jalebi in the morning, and the chai stalls along the fort road make a fine cup. Our food of Jaipur guide has more.
