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2013年12月14日 星期六

North India Tour 4 Jaipur Amber Fort, Jal Mahal Lake Palace (北印度之旅 4齋浦爾,風之宮.水上宮)

After the morning tour of the City Palace, we were taken to another highlight, the 1.5 sq. mile Amber/Amer Fort, some 7 miles from Jaipur, Rajasthan, built by Raja Man Singh I and known for its blend of Hindu and Moghul architectural styles.


This is the Moata Lake. Tthe Amber Fort is at the further end of the lake.In the Middle Ages, Amer was called Dhundar (the name derived from a sacrificial mount in the western frontiers) and was ruled by the Kachwahas from 1037 until 1727 when Sawai Jai Singh II moved the capital from Amer to Jaipur. Before the Kachwahas, Amer was just a small settlement built by the Meenas in honour of Amba, the Mother Goddess, whom they called `Gatta Rani' or `Queen of the Pass'. The present Amer Fort was built over the remnants of this earlier structure by the Raiput Raja Man Singh  and was expanded by his descendant, Jai Singh I and further added to and improved upon by successive rulers over the next 150 years. Many of the original structures by the Meenas have since been destroyed or replaced by new structures. 


Reflections on the surrounding hills on the lake


The remparts of the Jaigarh Fort, located immediately above on the Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) of the same Aravalli range of hills to which the Amer fort is connected and to which the royal family may flee in times of danger through some secret underground passages dug through the hills. 


At the bottom of the fort were some facilities to enable those who live there to get their water supply through covered passage ways protected by three smaller fort towers from the main grounds of the fort/palace right down to the waterside


A beautiful garden at base of the Amber Fort, which derived its name from Amba, the Mother Goddess.
 

People waiting to go up the Fort/Palace


 Colorful umbrellas for sale to ladies who don't want to get their skin burned


colorful bowls for sale whilst waiting our turn
 

Indian elephants ready to take tourists up the castle

 

Elephants can live up to  60-70 years of age.


Unlike in Thailand, where one can sit face forward. Here, we can only sit on a railed saddle with our legs dangling down the left side of the elephant and sway uphill.
  

I got on to the back of a 25-year-old elephant.

All the along the walls, we find photographers who want to take our pictures for sale

The young couple behind our elephant.

A clear view another garden  at the bottom of Lake Moata.


A view of the same lake from a higher vantage point.


 The smartly dressed Indian elephant boy


The way up the cobbled stone path.

A lookout tower at the top of the remparts.


They were so happy as we finally turned the corner and were approaching the end of the elephant ride passing through the  Surai Pol or the Sun Gate. 


We've arrived at the biggest square in the fort, the Jaleb Chowk, which is the first main courtyard. This is where the victory parades are held on their return from battles, something which the Royal family and women folk may watch through the latticed windows.Jaleb Chowk is Arabic for a place for soldiers to assemble. This is one of the four courtyards of the Amer Palace  built by Sawai Jai Singh’s (1693–1743 AD).


This is the Sun Gate, facing east, towards the rising Sun and hence the name. Royal cavalcades and dignitaries entered the palace through this gate.



Elephants entering the sun gate

 
                                  
A view of the Jaleb Chowk from the terrace of the inner palace


Another view of the Jaleb Chowk


The same from a different angle


This is the Ganesh Pol or the Ganesh Gate. It's through this gate that we entered the formal private palaces of the king. The gate is named after the Hindu god, Lord Ganesh who is believed to be able to remove all obstacles in one's life.
In fact, the fort/palace compound is split into 4 levels, each with its own courtyard with all the associated buildings in red sandstone and marble.To the right of the staircase is the Sila Devi temple. We entered this temple through a gate with a silver sheet covered with double leaf in raised relief. The main deity inside the sanctum is flanked by two lions made also in silver. At the entrance to the temple, there is also a carving of Lord Ganesha, which made out of one single piece of coral stone. The Sila Devi temple is where the Rajput Maharajas offered worship during the festival days of Navrathri (Nine days festival celebrated twice in a yea, starting with Maharaja Mansingh in the 16th century). The practice then was to sacrifice on the 8th day of the festival some goats and a buffalo in front of the temple before the royal family, and watched over by a large gathering of devotees but this practice was banned under the  law from 1975, after which such sacrifice is done only within the City Palace in Jaipur, strictly as a private event, watched over only by the close relatives of the royal family. Now only vegetarian offerings are made to the goddess in this temple. 
Sila Devi is a goddess of the Chaitanya cult (an incarnation of Kali or Durga) and her image  was given to Raja Man Singh when he defeated the Raja of Jessore, Bengal in 1604. (Jessore is now in Bangladesh). Legend has it that Maharaja Man Singh sought blessings of Kali for victory in the battle against the Raja of Jessore in Bengal and Kali instructed him in a dream to retrieve her image from the sea bed and to install and worship it. After he won the battle of Bengal in 1604, the Raja retrieved the idol from the sea and installed it in the temple and called it Sila Devi as it was carved out of one single piece of a stone slab.
Another version of how the Sila Devi got there is that after defeating the Raja of Jessore, Raja Man Singh got the gift of a black stone slab credited as being linked to the Mahabharata epic story in which Kansa had killed the older siblings of Lord Krishna on this stone. Man Singh returned the kingdom he won from the Raja of Bengal to him in exchange for this stone which was then used to carve the image of Durga Mahishasuramardini who had slain the demon king Mahishasura, and installed it in the fort temple as Sila Devi. The Sila Devi was worshiped from then onwards as the lineage deity of the Rajput family of Jaipur. However, despite this, their family god continued to be Jamva Mata of Ramgarh.
It is a three level structure which has many frescoes and was also built at the orders of the Mirza Raja Jai Singh(1621–1627) and leads to the private quarters of the royal family. Above this gate is the Suhag Mandir where ladies of the royal family used to watch through the latticed windows functions held in the Diwan-i-Am.


This is the window of the king's bathroom.


A closer view of the same window.


Through the window, one gets a view of the lake below.


Another view of the other side of the lake

This is his bath-tub. There are triangular seats at each corner. The architecture made skilful use of natural light at different times of the day to create different patterns of its interior.


This is another private bathroom. One sees here too the play of light.


 Another example of the play of light on the interior a different room.


One of the beautiful arched bay with intricate patterns on the roof.


The mosaic on the roof top of the dome.


A beautiful door with marble walls.


Light playing on the floor


Mosaics on the wall of one the rooms


Steps up the second level of the interior of the palace and the second courtyard, up the main stairway of the first level courtyard, which houses the Diwan-i-Am or the Public Audience Hall. Built with double row of columns, the Diwan-i-Aam is a raised platform with 27 colonnades, each of which is mounted with elephant shaped capital with galleries above it. As the name suggests, the Raja held audience here to hear and receive petitions from the public. A few steps up and we're at the 3rd courtyard.  The third courtyard is where the private quarters of the Maharaja, his family and attendants were built. Its buildings are  embellished with mosaics and sculptures. The courtyard has two buildings, one opposite to the other, separated by a garden laid in the fashion of the Mughal Gardens. The building to the left of the entrance gate is called the Jai Mandir, which is exquisitely beautified with glass inlaid panels and multi-mirrored ceilings


At the far side is the Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace) or Jai Mandir. On the nearside of the photo is the Sukh Niwas or Sukh Mahal (Hall of Pleasure) where a cool climate is artificially created by winds that blow over the water cascade within the palace. This hall is approached through a sandalwood door with marble inlay work with perforations. A piped water supply flows through an open channel that runs through this edifice keeping the environs cool, as in an air conditioned environment. The water from this channel was led into the garden.

 
 
Here we get a better view of the location of the fountain pool.


At the interior of the palace, there is a shaft where there is a mill which when turned will create a draft to cool the interior of the palace


Another view of the mill


The ropes of the mill


The wall of the palace are thick so that they provide good insulation from the summer heat.


Through the spaces between the patterned trellises, one gets a view of the surrounding countryside


A view of the lake garden below.

The passages are narrow allowing only one person to pass through at a time. This design makes it much more difficult for the king's enemies to pursue him in huge groups and much easier for his own soldiers to guard the relevant entrance sand exits at the corners.


The play of light on the wall

The slits at the window are slanted. This makes it easier for warm air to rise and cool air to descend through them and thus help create a draft to cool the room


There were no reinforced glass in those days. This kind of construction serves five   purposes at the same time, it provides shades, keeps the rain out, allow both light and air to pass through and permits rain to run down its sides. 


Part of the original structure of the Diwan-i-Am or the Public Audience Hall, built on a raised platform with 27 colonnades, each of which is mounted with elephant shaped capital with galleries above it. As the name suggests, the Rajas used  held audience here to hear and receive petitions from the public
.

This is the embedded channel of the Sukh Niwas or Sukh Mahal (Hall of Pleasure). It's  approached through a sandalwood door with marble inlay work with perforations. A piped water supply flows through this open channel, now covered over with glass panel, that runs through this edifice keeping the environs cool, as in an air conditioned environment. The water from this channel was led into the garden. The channel is built slanting down so as to allow the water to cascade down from the structure at the far end of this photo down into the fountain pool and thus create a movement of air to cool the interior of the room.

 

This is the garden on the lower level of the courtyard outside of the Hall of Pleasure. It was built by Mirza Raja Jai Singh (1623–68) and is patterned on the lines of the Chahar Bagh or Mughal Garden in a sunken bed, shaped in hexagons with narrow channels lined with marble around a star shape pool with a fountain at the centre. Water for the garden is led from the Sukh Niwas cascades of water channel and also from the cascade channels called the "chini khana niches" that originate from terrace of the Jai Mandir.


To the left of the photo is the hall of winds whose walls are fitted with tiny holes through which water would trickle down from top to bottom to cool its interior whose lower temperature will cool the air such that the temperature differences between the outside and the inside of the walls will generate a draft through its trellised windows to cool further its occupants.


There is another view of the Moghul style garden in the courtyard.

 

This is the Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace) or Jai Mandir, full of tourists. Here, the mirrors are of convex shape and designed with coloured foil and paint which would glitter brightly under candlelights at the time it was in use. The mirror mosaics and coloured glasses were designed to simulate "glittering jewel box in flickering candle light".However, most of this work was allowed to deteriorate during the period 1970–80. It is now being restored. There are carved marble relief panels on the lower portions of walls around the hall. 


A close up on some of the patterns on the roof


Not only did the Indian know how to make use of water as a reflecting surface, they also knew how to make use of the direct lighting through trellised windows but also reflection of light through the use of mirrors in different combinations.
 

This is one of the corridors of the hall of mirrors.


Another of its corridors. one finds very intricate mosaics all built with tiny slithers of mirrors of different sizes and shapes.

One of the details of the wall decorations. There is another flower carved in marble on the bottom of one of the column called the “magic flower" with two hovering butterflies . The same flower comes in 7 designs, some with fish tail, a lotus, a hooded cobra, an elephant trunk, a lion’s tail, a cob of corn and a scorpion and each can be seen by a particular way of partially hiding of the panel with one's hands.
 

 One could see it one of the details of the arch at the periphery of the hall being reflected  in one of the strategically placed mirrors.


Another reflection.


Even the roof of the house is fitted with patterns made from split and differently cut mirrors.


There is a beautiful hall from which we can get a good view of the lake in without getting scorched by the hot sun.


Right next to the hall of mirrors is a room where different kinds of Indian furniture are displayed.


We passed it and moved on to the adjacent hall.


Through some passages we passed to another courtyard where in summer the king can look at how his harem would bathe in the open to the south of the courtyard . Here is the Palace of Man Singh I, which is the oldest part of the palace fort.The palace took 25 years to build and was completed in 1599 during the reign of Raja Man Singh I (1589–1614). It is the main palace. In the central courtyard of the palace is the pillared baradari or pavilion; frescoes and coloured tiles decorate the ground and upper floor rooms in this palace. This pavilion (which used to be curtained for privacy) was used as the meeting venue by the maharanis (queens of the royal family). All sides of this pavilion are connected to several small rooms with open balconies. The exit from this palace leads to the Amer village, a heritage town with many temples, palatial houses and mosques.


This is part of that courtyard.


From this we had to cross over to another part of the palace with another courtyard on to a terrace.This is the oldest part of the palace and is where the Zenana (Royal family women, including concubines or mistresses) used to live. This courtyard has many living rooms where the queens resided. The queens were visited by the king at his whim and they would not know beforehand which of them he would visit: all the rooms are open into a common corridor. This was also where the queen mothers and the Raja’s consorts lived in the Zanani Deorhi, housing the maids of the royal family. The queen mothers took deep interest in building temples in Amer town. Jas Mandir, a hall of private audience with floral glass inlays and alabaster relief work is also located in this courtyard


At the end of the terrace is another pavilion with intricately carved trellised windows.


This is the viewing terrace of the King from which he could get a view of the courtyard below where sometimes one or more of his harem would bathe.


At the centre of this courtyard below, there is an open air bath, where one or more of the king's harem would bathe in the open in summer. One could well imagine all kinds of beautiful Indian ladies attended to by their chambermaids bathing with perfumed soaps and rubbing their skins with aromatic oils whilst the king looks on with a goblet of wine in his hand and his servants waving behind him  huge feather fans, stroking his beard in delight. 


Another hall just beside the viewing terrace.


One sees again the play of light upon the floor.


On the walls of another hall, we see mosaics of all kinds of figures engaged in dance or domestic duties.


A view of the hall through a door.


A window in that room.


See how intricate its design.


Some other window in a corridor we passed through. Very clever of them to build the windows close to the roof because natural light always comes from above.

 

We then went up the roof.


The roof is quite wide.


There are separate corridors for going up and down so that soldiers going in different directions do not have have to cross each others' path.


On one side of the roof, we gets a view of the lake.


This is what I saw.


We get a good view of the lake and the way by which we came.


This is our elephant walk uphill


Another view of the lake.


There is also a smaller square on the level below: the monotony of the square is broken by patterns of light and shadows


Another view of the same square


From here, on the other side of the roof, we get a good idea of the layout of the hexagonal design of the Moghul style garden. The garden, located between the Jai Mandir on the east and the Sukh Niwas on the west both built on higher platforms in the third courtyard, was built by Mirza Raja Jai Singh (1623–68) 


Another view of the Mughal-style garden.


To leave by another gate, we had to pass through another intricate maze of corridors and courtyards.
  

A souvenir shop we passed on our way down.

We left through another gate of the fort/palace on the opposite side of the Sun Gate by which we entered where we were told our jeeps would be waiting for us to take us back to town.

 
In the middle of the courtyard were two huge "woks" or "cooking pans". 


One of them.

The way down to our jeep.


The Amber village below us.


A pair of young lovers we passed by at the side of Lake Moata.
 

We're back to town. 


Back to that infinite kaleidoscope of shapes, colors, people, noises and the never ending bustle of life.

Back to basics: all varieties of food.


We went to another tourist attraction, the Jal Mahal Lake Palace, an abandoned summer palace in Jaipur which formed part of an 18-acre Moghul Garden and is an excellent example of Hindu-Saracen architecture. It was built by Sawai Pratap Singh II of Amber in 1799 A.D. in the midst of the Man Sagar Lake( an artificial lake of some 300 acres varying from 5 to 15 feet deep built to store water after a severe famine in 1596 by damming up the  eastern valley of the Darbhawati River, between Amer hills and Amagarh hills first with earth and quartzite and in the 17th century with stone masonry. The dam, now 980 ft long and 94–113 ft wide, has three sluice gates for the release of water for farming irrigation downstream and has since undergone several rounds of restoration under various rulers of Rajasthan, with the final restoration in the 18th century done by Jai Singh II of Amer) as his summer residence. Across the lake is the Aravalli hills, dotted with temples and ancient forts, and on the other side, bustling Jaipur. On the lake are Rajput style wooden boats by boat-makers from Vrindavan.
Built in red sandstone, the palace is originally a five storied building but when the lake is full, only the top floor is exposed. The rectangular Chhatri on the roof is of the Bengal style. The chhatris on the four corners are semi-octagonal each with an elegant cupola.There is also a roof garden with arched passages.
The lake used to be a bird watcher's paradise and was a favourite ground for the Rajput kings of Jaipur for royal duck shooting parties during picnics. The lake was natural habitat for more than 150 species of local and migratory birds that included Large Flamingo, Great Crested Grebe, Pintail, Pochards[disambiguation needed], Kestrel, Coot, Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Ruff, Herring Gull, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Grey Wagtail, but their numbers declined with the deterioration of the lake.
About 26 inches of rain a year mostly from June to September in the catchment area of 325 small streams contributes to the storage in the reservoir. At the outlet end of the dam there is an irrigation system that is supplied with water stored in the reservoir. Two large nalas (streams) that also drain the surrounding Nahargarh hills and Jaipur, the Brahmpuri and Nagtalai bring in large amounts of untreated sewage, in addition to solid wastes into the lake. In recent years, with the urbanisation of Jaipur city and areas surrounding the lake, the ecological system of the lake and its vicinity deteriorated drastically. It became heavily silted thereby reducing the surface area of the lake. Nitrate and phosphate content were found to be excessive and coliform counts was more than 500 times the norm and its Chloride content found to be fatal to plants and fish.
According to a recent report for the improvement of the lake, some drains were diverted, two million tonnes of toxic silt had been dredged from the bottom, increasing its depth by over a metre, a water treatment system was developed, local vegetation and fish reintroduced, the surrounding wetlands regenerated and five nesting islands created to attract migratory birds. Now, with restoration works done, the birds have started visiting the lake again, though not to the same degree as in the past.It is reported that the common moorhen, a resident species has started breeding in large numbers at the lake. The other birds seen now are the grey heron, white-browed wagtail and Blue-tailed Bee-eaters.
We are told that the Rajastan Government has massive plans of 1.5 Billion Rupiahs to  re-align city drains, de-silt the lake, build artery roads Amber to the Man Sagar Dam (about 2.7 kilometres, build "check dams" once every 100 metres to remove silt from the lake, create 3 nesting islands for migratory birds, rebuild  a I km lake front promenade, re-afforest and treat the forest area portion of lake catchment, plant more slopes to stabilise the slopes of bank formation, introduce new plants like tamarix indica close to the water edge where they can grow well and also Terminalia arjuna (Arjun ) poplar, Neem and all species of Ficus, which would provide diversity in vegetation and also better habitat diversity for feeding by birds and wild life and also to introduce in-situ Bioremediation process with 140 diffusers & 5 air compressors to aerate and create inversion of the lake bed and stored water and to treat city sewage before feeding the water into the lake. They also plan to build a Convention Centre and Art Gallery, Multiplex and Entertainment Centre, Craft Bazaar, Arts and Craft Village, Resort Hotels, restaurants and food courts, public park and gardens around the lake through private participation. 


A man selling some pati where we stopped.


Floral pattern baskets for sale.

Some flowers we found at the lake side.


They were blooming everywhere in India.


We found them growing in clumps of more than 8 to 10 feet long, something we'd never find in Hong Kong.


But in the sun, they are as beautiful, no matter where.

  
All kinds of souvenirs were on sale,


including camels.

But why should we buy carved camels when we could see real ones just across the street?

On the opposite side of the road, we found these modern hotels.


And not just one!

After the brief stop over to look at the Jai Mahal Lake Palace, we were taken to see a kind of handicraft.


We see how carpets are woven


and how hand prints were made.

The artisan had a number of wood blocks on which various pre-carved patterns for one type of color. he would dip in the dye desired and then use another pre-carved wood block with another pattern for a different dye color which would be dipped in the relevant dye and when all the different color dyes had been applied, the artisan would then dip the finished cloth in a chemical fixer to make it permanent.


This is the finished cloth in 3 colors: orange, blue and green.
  
This is one of the blocks

To be cont'd



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