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
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
