THE ULTIMATE FORT

KUMBHALGARH: THE ULTIMATE FORT

The walls of Kumbhalgarh are `more the work of giants than of men`, comparable in their grandeur to the Great Wall of China. Deep with in the ranges of Aravallis, the fort commands the pass between the kingdoms of Mewar to the east and Marwar to the west. For 1400 years the Mewars ruled here, fiercest and proudest of the fighting Rajput clans, the longest uninterrupted dynasty in the world claiming their origin from the sun and lord Rama. Tradition indicates a 2nd-century Jain origin to the Kumbhalgarh but its history begins in the mid-16th century with Rana Kumbha, winning the fort from its Mer ruler who offered himself as a sacrifice to strengthen the foundation. Kumbha was a great builder-he built 32 out of 84 forts that encircle the Sissodia Mewar.

Kumbhalgarh is a spectacular Rajput hill-fort situated at a height of about 4000ft above the sea level and 700ft above the pass, which it commands. The fort lies near the village Kailwara, on the site of a more ancient fortress, possibly built by Sumprit, a jain prince of the Gupta dynasty in 2nd century. After, Chittorgarh, it was the most important fort of Mewar. It lies on the top most ridge of the mountain, surrounded by thirteen other peaks. It still remains one of the best and finest examples of the combination of hill and forest fort described in the ancient scriptures about the types of forts. Lying 80 km to the north of the city of lakes, Udaipur, it makes for a perfect trip for a day or two. A two hour drive takes you there, through country side that changes its color and form every few kilometers, from the green of fields to the rust and brown gray of rock and sand, to the light green scrub of the rugged hills. On the road one may come across the caravan of sheep and camels, bejweled women working in the fields or carrying water over their heads. There is plenty of wild life if one is interested in.

Apart from the historical accounts there a lot of legends are associated with the fort. In the 15th century, when Maharana Kumbha started to build this fort, inexplicably, whatever his masons would build in the day, would crumble at night. One day, the Maharana met a holy man from the mer cast, who told him that the site chosen to build the fort was wrong and inauspicious, and that he would take him to the right spot. This could, however, only be done on the condition that, when he showed him the spot, the king would chop off his head. The spot where the head would fall, should be the location for the main gate, and where the body fell should be the rest of the fort. The king agreed, and the holy man took him to a nearby hill where he asked him to chop off his head. When the king copped off the holy man’s head, legend says the headless body climbed to the summit of the hill and collapsed, and Kumbha built the fort on the site. Mandan, the chief architect and great scholar in the court of Kumbha supervised the construction of this great fort.

The fort remained a strong hold of a succession of kings from the Mewar dynasty. Surrounded by an impregnable 40km long crenellated wall, the second longest in the world after the great wall of China, wide enough for four to six horses to ride abreast, it rises 4000ft high into the clouds. After seeing its height Abul Fazal said the cap falls from the head when one raises his head to see the top of this giant fort. Inextricably linked with Kumbhalgarh is the legend of Panna Dai, nurse to Udai Singh, infant son of Rana Sanga of Chittor. Panna learned of a plot to kill the child by Banveer, and to save her royal charge substituted her own son in place of the sleeping Udai Singh. The intruders demanded of her the whereabouts of the prince. Unflinchingly she pointed to her sleeping son, and saw him done to death. Panna smuggled Udai Singh to Kumbhalgarh, where he was brought up as a nephew of the governor. Thirteen years later in the Badal Mahal, amid joyous celebration, took place the Tikka ceremony, the anointing of the prince Udai Singh as the ruler of the Mewar.

The approach to the fort is very impressive, across deep ravines and through thick jungle. Seven massive gates guard the approaches, while seven ramparts one within the other, reinforced by rounded bastions and huge watchtowers, render the position impregnable.

The first gate is Arait Pol, from which mirror signals could be flashed to the fort in times of emergency. Hulla Pol, the gate of disturbance, is next, named after the point reached by invading Mughal armies in 1567 led by Akaber, where the marks of the cannon shots can still be seen on the walls. The third gate, Hanuman Pol, contains a shrine and temple; Kumbha brought the idol of lord Hanuman placed here from Nagaur after capturing that fort. The Bhairava Pol has a tablet ordering the exile of a treacherous Prime Minister in the 19th century. The fifth gate, the Stirrup or Paghra Pol, where the cavalry gathered prior to battle. The Star watchtower nearby is an early structure with walls 8-m wide. The cannon gate or Top Khana Pol is reputed to have an underground passage leading to a secret escape tunnel. The last gate is Nimbu-Pol or the gate of lemon trees, near which is the temple of Chamundi, one of 365 temples with in the fort, before which stands a shrine of the founding Mer ruler. The infant Udai Singh, the future founder of Udaipur, was saved from murder at his uncle’s hands after being hidden in the chambers close to the Nimbu-Pol by the great Panna Dai.

The outer walls embrace an area of several squire kilometers the tiers of inner ramparts rise to the summit, which is crowned by the Badal Mahal or cloud palace of the Rana Kumbha. To this palace Kumbha brought the lovely princess of Jhalawar, abducted from the castle at Mundore of her betrothed, a Rathor Prince of Marwar. Colonel James Tod, in his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan has given a very interesting account of this romantic fling of Rana Kumbha. Col. Tod writes “ Koombho {Kumbha } mixed gallentry with his war like pursuits. He carried off the daughter of the chief of Jhalawar, who had been betrothed to the prince of Mundore; this renewed the old feud, and the Rathore made many attempts to redeem his affianced bride. His humiliation was insupportable, when through the purified atmosphere of the periodical rains the towers of Khoombhomer{Kumbhalgarh} became visible from the castle of Mundore, and the light radiated from the chamber of the fair through the gloom of a night in Bhadoon to the hall where he brooded over his sorrows. It was surmised that this night lamp was an understood signal of Jhalani, who pined at the decree which ambition had dictated to her father, in consigning her to the more powerful rival of her affianced lord. The Ratore exhausted every resource to gain access to the fair, and had once nearly succeeded in a surprise by escalade, having cut his way in the night through the forest in the western and least guarded acclivity; but, as the bard equivocally remarks, “though he cut his way through the Jhal{brushwood}, he could not reach the Jhalani.”

Rana Kumbha’s palace commands the citadel but nearby, rising even higher and perfectly preserved, with friezes of painted elephants, the courts and pavilions of a much later yellow ochre palace draw the gaze. Kumbha encouraged all the fine arts and was himself a poet. Sitting on the balcony of his Badal Mahal, mansoon clouds swirling through the open pavilions, he wrote verses of love and praise to the lord Krishna, and composed the music for them. Unfortunately it was here that his own son murdered him.

Badal Mahal is divided into two sections, the Mardana Mahal and the Zenana Mahal; its walls are coated with a mix of eggshells and milk, and are decorated with delicate inlay work. As one opens one of the shuttered windows, one can look over the slops to the plains of Marwar. One can also see the winding Pugdandi that goes upto the Jain temples of Ranakpur, 17km away. There are the bathing quarters of the princesses, where maids used to pour water from the balconies.

The views from the cloud palace across the deserts of Marwar are matchless. Long sinuous lines of walls with loopholed, crenellated parapets stretch as far as the eye can see along the crown of the hill

Down the hill, there is an erstwhile hunting lodge, now the hotel Aodhi can be used as a base to go on a jeep or horse safari in the Kumbhalgarh sanctuary where one can see panther, wild boar, antelope, sloth bear and a lot of birds.


While walking on the ramparts of this great fort I was suddenly transported into the olden times when this citadel of Rajput valor was full of activity. I felt proud by the fact that I was walking on the same ground where once the greatest of the Rajput heroes, Maharana Pratap walked. He was born and brought up in Kumbhalgarh, one of the finest examples of defensive fortifications in Rajasthan.

ARUN MUDGAL
8/100 V D NAGAR
JAIPUR
PHONE: 339835

"KULDHRA" A TRAVEL IN TIME

KULDHRA: - THE VICTIM OF TYRANY
OR
THE NIGHT OF FORCED DESERTION

Seventeen kilometers from Jaisalmer, off the Sum road, was once a flourishing town on the shores of river kak. Than some thing strange happened one night some two hundred years back that the entire village was deserted en-mass, but the town, its ambience and its legend still exist. That fateful night as many as 700 households of Kuldhra village vacated their homes en-mass, along with the residents of 84 other villages, to go to another faraway land and to create a New World. Their 700 houses though in ruined condition still stand till today as testimony to their forced desertion.
But it wasn’t like this always. A few hundred years back Kuldhra was a living town full of activity and business. Its streets bustling with life, children playing in the courtyards, well dressed women performing the daily household activities and men conducting business.

Kuldhra and its adjoining 84 villages were resided by the community of Palliwals. According to epigraphic sources the names of some of these villages are Badiyada, Kotada, Gunga, Jasera, Nagdara, Mandai, Khodal Sadhu, Kediyasar, Bijorai, Dangari, Kotara, Sitodai, Jasuwa, Unda, Devikot, Bando Rodi, Modha, Niwan, Pithodai, dhanawa, Pipalda, Basanpir, Bhujkantha, khaba, Kuldra, Ridhu, Nimiya, Dholay, manakya, Khinwalsar, Bisal and many others
These residents were Brahmins and were denominated as Palliwal from having been temporal proprietors of Palli, and all its lands, long before the Rathores colonized Marwar. Tradition is silent as to the manner in which they became possessed of this domain, but it is connected with the history of Palli, or pastoral tribes, who from the town of Pali to palithana, in saurashtra, have left traces of their existence.

These brahmins, the Palliwals, as appears by the annals of Marwar, held the domain of Palli but were frequently looted by the mair and meena looters and Muslim invaders. According to the historical records of Marwar, they engaged Rao Siha, the progenitor of Rathore families of Marwar, Bikaner and Kishangarh to protect their properties. But Rao Siha at the end of 12th century, by an act of treachery established his own power. Because of the taxes imposed by Rao Siha on the Palliwals and due to extortion and atrocities Palliwals migrated from Palli. The greater part took refuge in Jaisalmer, though many settled in Bikaner, Dhat, and the valley of Sinde. In jaisalmer Palliwals settled in Kuldhra and 84 other villages in the early 13th century approximately.

As the Palliwals were wealthy and mercantile in nature and agriculturists of very high order in Jaisalmer also they soon captured the main business of finance and trade. At one time their number in Jaisalmer was calculated to equal that of the Rajpoots. Almost all the internal trade of the country passed through their hands, and it was chiefly with their capital that its merchants traded in foreign parts. They were the Sahookars of the desert, advancing money to the cultivators, taking the security of the crop; and they used to buy all the wool and ghee (clarified butter), which they transported to Sinde, Afganistan, Baloochistan and other foreign parts. They also reared and kept cattle flocks.

Apart from doing so well in business and enjoying great wealth Palliwals also developed well planned towns and villages. That they had fine taste and very good knowledge of town planning is evident from the remains of Kuldra, which was a developed town and business center of that time. According to TAVAREEKH-JAISALMER written by Mohata Nathmal there were 20 thousand houses of Palliwals in the 84 villages and approximately a hundred thousand Palliwal families used to live in these villages. The architecture of their houses is a very fine example of Vaidic and ancient roman style. The houses are in straight lines and every house has a courtyard and kitchen. There are big chhatters and “chabootras” for people to meet. All houses are equipped with easy approach to the roof to enjoy the evening breeze. There is provision of space for cattle and also a place for the bullock cart. In some houses there is space to keep horses.

But all this glory beauty and wealth are the things of past. Kulhdra and all other Palliwal villages are deserted now. The remains of Kulhdra stand a silent witness to that night of 1817ad approximately when such a flourishing village was deserted. Though no certain cause for the desertion is known, there is a legend which is still survives.
According to legend the Deewan of Jaisalmer state Mohata Salam Singh, who was a tyrant had a roving eye. Enchanted by the beauty of a Kuldra belle, he wanted to claim her. The Palliwals took it as a great insult to their clan opposed it and stood in revolt. It was a tussle for power as well as question of saving the self-respect for the Palliwals. They tried to approach the king but could not succeed. Salam Singh was so powerful that he virtually ruled the state by himself. The king was a mere puppet in his hands.Salam Singh left Palliwals with no option. He issued an ultimatum. “hand over the girl or I’ll come and claim her tomarrow” the farman read. So the entire village decided to teach the greedy tyrant a lesson.
They evacuated Kuldra and 84 adjoining villages that very same night, taking away the girl Salam Singh was lusting for. It is said that Salam Singh died soon and so did his lineage with no descendent to carry his name.
These villagers migrated and settled down in different parts of north Rajasthan and became pioneers of business and industry. What happened to the girl was never known.
However historians of the time do not agree with this theory of desertion. According to them there is another reason, which explain the en-mass evacuation. It states that Salam Singh had imposed forced levy and extra taxes on the Palliwals as they were very prosperous and were doing roaring business. Angry at being exploited and left with no choices they deserted. Also they were frequently looted and humiliated by robbers and outlaws from the Bhati Rajpoots of Maldots and Tejmalots and no protection was given by the state so they shifted hearth one dark night. Salam Singh was left with bare walls; gapping streets and a haunting silence.
This is how Kuldra is today. A deserted and ruined village of about 700 houses. Broken walls, holes where doors and windows would have once stood, wild shrubs growing in the nooks and corners and hot desert winds blowing through the empty streets.
The streets are there, rows and rows of ruins lined up on either side. But these empty streets and ruins speak. They tell you about the inhabitants, about the villager’s life style, about the art and architecture of that era and the mode of communications used by the villagers.
There are streets crossing at right angles with corners gently bending for easy transportation. The houses made of bricks and stone are solid and sturdy. The roof comprises of woodlogs to insulate the houses from the heat of the desert. The roof of each house is approached through stairs—slabs of stone put in an ascending manner, to enjoy the cool desert evenings. The houses had courtyard. They did not need to visit their neighbors to talk. Opening into the courtyard was a window from the adjacent house facilitating communication. Probably that’s how they passed on the message that fateful night.
Predominantly a Hindu community, Kuldhra still has a huge temple in the middle of the village. Made of red sandstone, it has the delicate Jharokhas cut into the stone. Though the main idol of Krishna is missing, one can see small carvings of Vishnu and Surya in the temple. The roof of the temple is carved out of stone in Jain architectural style. Kuldra also had a chhatter where the villagers gathered together to talk and discuss the events of the day.
Palliwals also were good at water management. They by turning the course of the river water used to create water bodies in the village. On the out skirts of Kuldhra lie four wells, approximately 300 feet deep, covered with stone slabs, to prevent the dirt from seeping into the water.
They even had an alternative when the well dried up. A stepwell of 14th century has been excavated from the sand in Kuldhra known as Pug Baoli 400 steps deep.
Recently the village has been taken up by Jaisalmer development Trust. The village is now a heritage site. The Trust has redone one house, the temple and the chhatter where the villagers of Kuldhra set in the evenings and had their meetings.
Now a days the village in ruins provide a perfect backdrop for film shootings. In the Amir Khan starer Sarfarosh these ruins were made good use.
But standing on the empty streets of Kuldhra, you can still feel the same good old pulsating town with frenetic activity of that night 200 years ago. Some times, a night is all that it takes to change the fate and history of a community for all times to come.

TRAVELOGUE

Kiradu: Another Khajuraho

In the ancient times as the legend has it that when King Daksha decided to conduct the great Brihaspati yagna{sacrifice}, he excluded Shiva and Sati, his son in law and daughter respectively, from the ceremony, as Daksha hated Shiva. But his daughter,Sati, who loved him dearly, could not stay away and journeyed to his father’s place, thinking, “ my father will not be able to turn me away when he sees me.” Poor Sati did not comprehend the extent of hardhearted Dakshs’s anger. When the king saw his child, he spat out a stream of abuses about Shiva. The devoted wife, Sati was unable to tolerate the insult to her husband. An obedient daughter, she was equally unable to cross her own father. So, overpowered by grief, she immolated herself in the yagna fire itself before her father and other gods. Shiva, in his abode on mount Kailash, heard the sad tidings and flew into a mighty rage, swearing to take revenge upon an unrepentant Daksha for his injustice. Coming down to the earth,

shiva and his army of spirits marched to the site of the king’s yagna and decimated Dakshs’s army. Shiva beheaded the monarch and threw his head into the sacrificial fire. Then sorrowfully he picked up Sati’s body and wandered with it across the land for many years, aimless and disconsolate. Lord Vishnu finally took pity on this mighty god and decided to end his mourning. Using his powerful weapon, the Sudarshanchakra{discus}, he cut the corpse into many pieces. As the 51 parts of Sati’s body fell on the ground they turned into stone and sanctified the soil upon which they landed, creating 51 holy and potent Pitha-s or places across India. And thus it came to be, the ancient Vedic texts tell us, that Bharatvarsh{the Indian sub-continent} became a “ sacred land” with the holy mountain in the north and the Nav-kanyakas{nine maidens} or holy rivers like Ganga and Yamuna flowing through it. A land of seven Kshetra-s or regions of active power, the Saptpuri or seven ancient cities of Ayodhya, Mathura, maya(Hardwar), Kashi(Benaras) Knchi, avantika, and Dvaravati(Dwarka), where Moksha(salvation) can be attained. A country which, according to the epic, the Mahabharta, has thousands of tirtha-s (places of pilgrimage) where devotees can ford the river of life and reach the sublime shore beyond.

From its northernmost regions to the tip of its southern peninsula in Indian Ocean, India is filled with places of worship. It would be impossible to walk a mile here without coming upon a shrine, a temple of some sort or the other, be it a historic monument or simply a piece of stone symbolizing a village deity. Each is significant in its own way, commemorating the occasion of a god’s visit or deed of valor in the area or explaining its existence due to divine creation or patronage. Everyone wanted to be near god.

In the southwest of Rajasthan 220 km from Jodhpur and at about 35 km from Barmer lies one such place Kiradu, a not very much known destination. Kiradu, now a desolate and deserted place was once a prosperous temple township of Chalukya and Parmar dynasties in 10th to 13th centuries Ad. Here are five of the finest temples of that era. Parmar rulers as a representative of the Chalukyas ruled Kiradu, which was earlier known as Kiratkoop. Three stone edicts of that period, which are intact at the temple of Someshwar, tell us about these rulers. These contain details of the Parmar kings from Sindhuraj to Someshwar. It seems that Kiradu temples were built over a long period when these Parmar rulers ruled this place. In the Jain scriptures, Sakal Teerrth Srot and Nabhinandan Jinoddhar kiradu is also referred as a Jain center of religious importance. From available sources of history and scriptures it appears that Kiradu was a place where along with Shaiv, vaishnav the Jain religion also co-existed.

Though at present there are only five temples, it is said that at the beginning of this century there were about two dozen Hindu and Jain temples. This seems plausible from the ruins of other structures and a lot of raised sand Teelas with the structure of the base of the other temples.

The five dilapidated Hindu temples at Kiradu are representative of the western Indian style during the late Pratihara period. This style loosely termed as Nagara or metropolitan style refers to a large wide range of temples built over a large expanse of time and space across the trunk of the Indian sub-continent. In the history of northern Hindu architecture, the regions that stand out as excellent examples of Nagara style, are Rajasthan-Gujrat, Orissa and central India. The typical Kiradu temple has a squire sanctuary adjoining a small porch or columned mandapa, also known as “rang mandap” as it was used for religious and dance performances. The sanctuary walls raised high on a moulded basement are covered with niches for sculpture. Above rise the clustered elements of the curved tower or the Shikhara of the temple, which are covered with arch like motifs. Doorways and columns are generally richly carved; ceilings are fashioned as corbelled domes. Many of these features anticipate the Solanki style, which became prevalent in the region by the 12th century; some of the temples even belong to this later phase.

The best-preserved temple of the cluster is the Someshwar temple. The basement reliefs of the sanctuary are of interest, especially the elephants, horses, courtly episodes and epic scenes; most of the wall panels are intact. Above rises a cluster of turrets that once formed the base of the central tower, now fallen. The mandap is an impressive structure with an octagonal arrangement of the central columns; only the beams and lowest courses of the corbelled dome are intact. The elaborately decorated columns, covered with miniature figures and ornamental motifs, resemble those of the better-preserved monuments of this style at Modhera and Khjuraho. The epic motifs carved on the walls are from Ramayana and Mahabharata. Also carved are the episodes of the life of the lord Krishna as Pootnabudh, Gberndhan Dharan etc. on a panel there is Punch Ganesh, five Ganeshas playing different musical instruments, also carved on a panel is the episode of Samudramanthan, the figures and bodyline of the characters are a fine example of the accuracy of humanform. The upper niches of the temple contain some of the finest female figures carved in various poses.

The four other temples of the Kiradu complex are of smaller size. These temples dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahmma are also decorated with carvings but the carvings are not as fine as the Someshwar temple.

The site definitely is in the need of conservation. The vagaries of weather and local neglect are fast taking over the health of this matchless heritage. Though the site is a protected monument yet a lot more is needed to be done.

Arun Mudgal
8/100 V D NAGAR
Jaipur-302012
Tele:01412339835