Amber Fort

암베르 성

Amber Fort, also spelled Amer Fort, is a hilltop fort-palace in Amer, Rajasthan, India, about 11 kilometres from the city of Jaipur. It sits above Maota Lake and is built of red sandstone and marble, with big ramparts, gates and cobbled paths. It was the home of the Rajput maharajas and their families.

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At a glance

Country: India
Location: Jaipur, India
Built: 1592
Type: Fort

Quick answers

Where is Amber Fort?

Amber Fort is in Jaipur, India.

When was Amber Fort built?

Amber Fort was built in 1592.

Pale sandstone hill fort-palace above Maota Lake, famous for its mirror-covered Sheesh Mahal.

The palace is laid out on four levels, each with its own courtyard, and holds the public and private audience halls, the Sukh Niwas and the Sheesh Mahal, or "mirror palace". It is the main tourist attraction of Jaipur and, since 2013, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site called Hill Forts of Rajasthan.

Inside the palace

The Sheesh Mahal is the most famous room. Its walls and ceilings are covered with small mirrors, so a single candle flame is said to be reflected thousands of times. In the Sukh Niwas, air passing over a water channel keeps the rooms cool, a clever way to cool a palace in a hot climate. At the entrance near Ganesh Gate there is a temple to the goddess Shila Devi, which Raja Man Singh received in 1604.

Fort and hill

The name Amer is thought to come from the Ambikeshwar temple on the hill, though folklore links it to the mother goddess Amba. Amer Fort and the higher Jaigarh Fort on the Hill of Eagles are treated as one complex and are joined by an underground passage, meant as an escape route in wartime. Visitors now often go up in jeeps rather than on elephants, which is considered more ethical. The palace received about 1.4 million visitors in 2007.

Fun facts

In its Sheesh Mahal, a single candle flame is reflected by thousands of tiny mirrors.
A single candle in the Sheesh Mahal is said to shine in thousands of tiny mirrors.
An underground passage connects Amer Fort with Jaigarh Fort above it.
Air flowing over a water cascade cools the Sukh Niwas rooms.
The fort and five others in Rajasthan joined the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2013.