Charming Nahargarh Fort, over looking the city of Jaipur!!!

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Off the three palaces of Amber, the one which attracted me more was Nahargarh. Its simplicity, the charm, less in crowd, everything just added for me to love the place. By the time we reached Nahargarh, kiddo was very much tired and we thought of leaving her with our driver in the jeep and she happily agreed and we went on the tour of the palace. I still can't believe we left her alone with an unknown person.

Madhavendra Palace

When I heard Nahargarh, I thought Nahar was something related to 9 or Nau in Hindi(for its nine apartments of the palace), but our guide had a completely different story to tell. Nahargarh meant 'abode of tigers' and the other folklore was about Nahar Singh Bhomia, whose spirit haunted the palace and obstructed the construction. I curiously asked my guide was it the reason, there were less people even till day visiting Nahargarh. He said, most of the tourists were interested just in Amber Fort, while Jaigarh and Nahargarh were left out. And this fort was more famous with residents of Jaipur as a picnic spot than a visit by tourists.

Entrance door of one of the nine apartments of Madhavendra palace

Colourful walls and stained glass windows of Madhavendra Palace

A door with in the apartment

While most of the fort was built in 1734, by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II as a retreat on the summit of the hill, Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh extended the fort during 1883 to 92. During this time was Madhavendra Palace, the main attraction of the fort was built. Madhavendra Palace, built in Indo-European style of architecture is said to be built by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh for this nine queens, which were named after their nick names. A two storeyed palace divided into nine similar apartments known as Suraj Prakash, Chandra Prakash, Khushal Prakash, Anand Prakash, Jawahar Prakash, Laxmi Prakash, Ratna Prakash, Lalit Prakash and Basant Prakash. Each apartment is a double storeyed building which had a lobby, bedroom, toilet, store, kitchen designed for the royal family. All the apartments are connected with each other with a narrow passage and the king's head suit.

The rich coloured walls

The passage connecting the nine apartments and the head suit

The city of Jaipur, as seen from Madhavendra palace

While very few visit this fort, of them most visit to get the beautiful aerial view of Jaipur city. 

By the time we were done with Nahargarh Fort it was 4PM, our driver dropped us till Jal Mahal, from where we took a rickshaw back to hotel and left for railway station for our last leg of the Golden Triangle tour to Sawai Madhopur(Ranthambore Tiger Reserve).

Travel Info:

Nahargarh Fort is around 11km from Amber Fort and 20km from Jaipur. We had a combined jeep tour of Amber, Jaigarh and Nahargarh fort.

Timings: 10AM - 5:30PM, open daily(closed on public holidays)
Entry Fee:
Indian Tourists: INR 25/adult
Foreign Tourists: INR 75/adult

(We had bought the composite entry ticket for Rs. 70/adult(Indian, valid for two days), which covered Amber Palace, Albert Hall, Jantar Mantar, Hawa Mahal and Nahargarh.

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