Amer Fort is one of the most popular palaces in India along with the City Palace in Udaipur. People find Amer Fort as one of the most majestic buildings in this part of the world. The hills surrounding Amer Fort have a security wall, commonly called the Great Wall of Amer Fort on the lines of the Great Wall of China. Of course, there can be no comparison between the two, as the one in China runs into thousands of kilometers. It is being claimed that ramparts or the walls of Kumbhalgarh Fort are the biggest in India. Some even call it a great wall of India!
Read Amer Fort Guide – The only guide you will ever need
Amer fort wall was meant to keep the intruders out and soldiers would keep a strong vigil on the surrounding areas from the watchtowers. In a way, this wall served as the first line of defense for Amer Fort and town.
How long is the Great Wall Of Amer Fort?
The length of the Great Wall of Amer Fort ran into many kilometers – presumably in three-digit figures. No one knows for sure the exact length of this wall because it has vanished completely in many places. The wall had different levels and it covered a few villages and also the forest.
Currently, less than one-fourth of Amer Fort wall has been restored & maintained, while the rest is fast crumbling and needs urgent attention. It is unfortunate that the authorities have only restored the sections which are visible to the tourists creating an illusion that all is well and that they are doing a phenomenal job. The reality is far from true.
In many places, the wall has completely crumbled because it was not taken care of. Years of neglect led to this situation. It is a pity that the authorities allowed this wall to fall and die. The government derives millions of Rupees from the tourists visiting Amer Fort and it is an irony that a part of Amer Fort is not taken care of. The approach of authorities is selective; rebuild only what is visible to travelers and common people. I had the opportunity to explore many sections of this wall and here are a few pictures that speak for themselves.
Amer is a UNESCO World Heritage site under the category of “Hill Forts of Rajasthan”. Although Amer palace is believed to be built during the 16th century, we don’t know for sure when these protective ramparts were built. It is possible that these were built over a period of time.
It doesn’t seem that the government is going to do anything to restore or rebuild the Great Wall of Amer Fort. Probably, in a few years, we will lose at least 50% of this wall. It will be a great loss of our heritage and shows the apathy and lack of vision of the authorities.
There is a lot more that can be done to conserve this precious heritage of Jaipur. If you enjoyed this write-up, don’t forget to read Why our attitude towards heritage needs a big change?
Jaipur Wall or Amer Fort Wall?
A few travel bloggers have incorrectly stated the Great Wall Of Amer as Jaipur Wall, this is untrue. Jaipur Wall protected the walled city area of Jaipur. Amer Wall was meant to protect the Amer Town and is older than the Jaipur Wall. Jaipur was founded in 1727 AD by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II whereas Amer is considerably older. I suppose this error stems from half information. Also, these travel bloggers are not from Jaipur and do not have in depth knowledge about the history of both Jaipur and Amer. You can read this post on Jaipur Gates The story of old Jaipur City Gates.
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(This post appears as a part of WPC- Boundaries)
Fabulous shot! Have never heard of the wall of Amer. thanks for sharing
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The town of Amer was surrounded by ramparts on all sides, this was a part of primary defense system! These ramparts look beautiful.Since you’re in photography, lines and curves formed by these ramparts make excellent subject to click!
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Great Post! As a matter of fact, I too tried to map the wall when I took a trip to the Amer fort and it was not surprising for me to see most of its portions were kept closed and out of bounds.
Also, you are right about the fact, that only one trip does not do justice. One needs to live at a place to know it better. I had also googled about the Amer wall, just to compare it with the Great Wall of China, but last I could traverse on the map was not more than 40 km. The wall looked broken from several places and at most points, seems like no population exists. Needless to say, those points have been left unattended.
recently, I bumped upon a video on youtube which featured a foreigner who has taken upon himself the task of restoring all the water supply systems in Udaipur, that were created during the historic era.
The video showed the locals making fun of him, but I really wonder, who should make fun of whom. And yes, most the new generation is a ‘selfie lot’, with little awareness about the things in their backdrop, let alone the curiosity to dig deep to identify true history. We cannot blame them, after not having fulfilled our part to make them aware of the importance of our historic heritage.
Food for thought!!
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I’m glad you are updated on the Amer fortification wall. I wish authorities could spend money on the upkeep of the entire structure. I have traversed through a large part but there are still sections that are unexplored. Someday!
The example you have quoted is ironic. Sadly, in our country, anything that is old is considered out of context and relevance. People love modern things. I hope we can keep our heritage alive.
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Actually, this apathy stems from the kind of history that got circulated from our own education system.
I never found the reference of Sanjay Museum anywhere in school books. It was only when I visited Jaipur that I realized that it has the oldest collection of Indian bibliography, scriptures and other documents.
Thank fully, these were some that escaped the British hands or else they too would have slipped into British library… 🙂
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I get that. I also feel a drive is needed to create awareness about the rich heritage we have and why we should value the same. It can be a path to riches; tourism surely helps.
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