There seemed to be an “Amber” or “Red” Fort in every city we visited in India but the crazy thing about this one is that it is also known as the “Yellow Fort” for obvious reasons when you look at some of the photos on this page. In fact, it is constructed from pale yellow and red sandstone with white marble detailing.
In many ways, this was our favorite fort/palace of all the ones we visited in India. Its impressive façade appears huge as you view its mountain top location from the valley below. The narrow winding streets leading up to it are extremely narrow and difficult for regular autos to take. There is a big concession for antiquated jeep like vehicles, which was the conveyance we chose but many opt to ride to the top on one of many colorfully decorated elephants. The line of painted elephants gives the impression of an impromptu parade as they make their way back and forth on the switchbacks up the mountain.
On the day we visited, when we got about half way up the mountain, traffic came to a standstill for close to half an hour. Our jeep driver jumped out and walked forward trying to figure out the delay and reported back that there were some dignitaries in a car ahead that was stopping traffic.
When we arrived at the broad courtyard on a plateau just prior to entering the fort we were among hundreds of other tourist (mostly nationals), several of the elephants as well as a limousine decorated with U.S. flags. We assumed these must be the VIPs who created the traffic jam.
And sure enough, as we toured some of the beautiful discrete courtyards we had the chance to encounter the U.S. Ambassador to India Kenneth I. Juster and his wife. She was very warm and seemed familiar with our Southern U.S. accents while he was properly polite.
As noted above, we were impressed with façade of the structure but we were equally impressed with some of the more intimate courtyards. One in particular, near the rear of the fort was the courtyard surrounded by the (women’s quarters). The courtyard (shown below) was ringed by multiple rooms each the home of a different wife that the king visited on a regular basis.
Another of the impressive courtyards had a covered open air meeting place along with numerous alcoves decorated with detailed inlayed marbled mosaics.
We were more than impressed with colorful scene that seemed to encompass the entire setting. Even the ladies sweeping the courtyards were beautifully dressed.
After several hours at the Amber/Yellow Fort we headed back to the city for the rest of our day, which is described towards the bottom of the Jaipur page.