JAIPUR: Akin to an ever-vigilant sentinel, Jaigarh citadel overlooks Amer Fort Palace… Situated atop the promontory Cheel ka Teela, it appears distant, insurmountable and forbidding.
On earlier visits to the Pink City, I desired to go to Jaigarh for the specific purpose of clapping eyes on Jaivana – which was the world’s largest cannon on wheels when it was created. However, I was deterred by the apprehension of a lot of climb to reach the bastions. But last time I had an entire day to spare, so mustered all the courage at my command and decided to visit the fort ‘where eagles dare’.
We took a diversion, off the Delhi- Jaipur Highway, 10 km from the Desert State’s capital and slightly before Amer. The winding hill road ascends through scrub jungle and reaches the stronghold. We drive to the Dungar Darwaza, alight from the car, walk up a few steps and – lo and behold – set foot on the platform, sans sweat on our foreheads, where the famous piece of artillery reposes beneath a tin shed almost abutting the outer wall.