Amer

The Forgotten City

When we talk about Amer, the first image that comes in our mind is of the
grand Amber Fort and the fascinating stories related to it. Secondly its name
comes when commuting from Delhi-Jaipur. Something related this was there in my
mind when it was decided that we are going to have an introductory walk in Amer
city. But the image of a city was brought into focus by Sir Pushpak Pandit & Sir
Vijay Kulkarni to us. They brought us into notice that Amer is not just the fort; its a
city that thrives under these mighty palace and fort walls. Its a city having an
utmost valuable heritage value and its just not a connecting city. Thus one can
clearly say that the city has remained untouched since past many decades.
It was only a part of the walled city that we have seen in this preliminary
walk. Yet there are so many interesting things that can be noticed. The kind of use
of space, some other historical monuments, the typology of architecture and the
materials used in the buildings, etc. can be identified in the area travelled. How
modernism has its influence the city can even be seen in this part of the city. For
instance, a major temple is now converted into a school as per the requirement
and the complex of the temple now serves as a class room. As amber fort is a
major tourist attraction in Amer, relative facilities can be seen, such as bus transit,
hotels/restaurants, food joints, handloom shops, etc. Also one can notice that one
of the major vehicular transit road is also used by elephants for transport which
leads to congestion.
Other then the Aravalli Range and amber fort, the structures that generate a
scenic skyline of Amer are the temples in this small town. On local query it came to
be known that there are some 360 small and big temples in Amer, each one of
them having a peculiar architectural style, each one having its own identity,
standing tall in pride. Along with these temple structures one can find gathering
spaces, some water supply area i.e. wells and hand-pumps can be identified. In
these temples interesting elements of design, faade treatment, architectural
pattern and material can be identified which defines the architecture of the city.
Residences with courtyard can be seen in the settlement in Amer. Related to
building designs some of Mughal influence can be seen. Going further on this main
road we saw some beautiful Cenotaphs of the royal family of Amer, also used as a
park. Thats the story of one street of Amer.
We then ventured into the inner part of the city. We took up the street from
Amer fort to Hanuman Sagar Lake. While walking on this stretch we can mainly
find fine residences, some shops, and few of the major temples of the city. The
major attraction on this street is the Panna Meena Bawari. The step well now not in
use has served as a water storing center back in history. Also another major
attraction is the Jagat Sheeromani Temple having a profound architecture. Then
along with the fort wall (khari gate) in a heritage structure anokhi museum is
coming up. This is the point where the fortified city ends and a pathway to

hanuman sagar is there. This is an interesting pathway to look at. Thus at

hanuman sagar is where our days trip ended. This trip was an enlightening one and
allows us to learn a lot about the urban fabric of the city.
Mrigya Tiwari
M. Architecture (Urban Design)