Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Kumbalgarh, the Unconquered Fort

Next day early morning we left from Mount Abu towards our journey to Udaipur. On the way we visited quite a few marvelous places. One among them is Kumbhalgarh.

The most important tourist attractions here are:

The Fort

Rana Kumbh built this massive fort in 15th century in the Aravali ranges. A few kilometers of zigzag road through deep ravines and thick forests leads one to this fort. This massive fort stretches across 36 kms of the Aravali Mountains and is 1100 m high from the sea level. This is surrounded by thirteen mountain peaks, guarded by seven great gates and seven ramparts, strengthened by rounded bastions and immense watchtowers. This mountain fortress has been through many battles and has remained un-conquered.

The fort has seven gates and the last gate leads one to the palace. The first one is Arait Pol, where you can trace the watch-tower and Other gates are Hulla Pol, Hanuman Pol, Ram Pol, Bhairava Pol, Paghra Pol, Top-khana Pol and Nimboo Pol.

The seven ramparts folded with one another with designed walls toughened by curved bastions and huge watch towers. The strong structure of walls of the Fort made it unbeatable till date. The hefty walls of the fort are broad enough to stand eight horses side by side.

There are many palaces, temples and gardens inside this huge fort complex. It is believed that there are not less than 360 temples inside the complex of the Fort. Amongst all of them, Shiva Temple is worth visiting that comprises a huge Shivalinga (Phallic form).

On top of the fort is the Badal Mahal Palace or the Palace of Cloud. It encloses beautiful rooms with pleasant color schemes of green, turquoise and white. This palace is very different when compared to rest of the raw and grim fortress. The palace was rebuilt by Rana Fateh Singh in the late 19th century. The legendary Maharana Pratap was born here.

The Wildlife Sanctuary

Sited in the flourishing green zone of Udaipur, Kumbalgarh is the only sanctuary of Rajasthan, where one can see one of the rarely found wolfs. This is one of the few parks that allow people on horseback. The best time to visit the reserve is from October to June.

We did not visit this as we had not planned for this.

From Kumbalgarh, we traveled to Udaipur, City of Lakes.

Distance:
Kumbalgarh ---> Udaipur 64 kms

P.S: December is the month when lot of tourists land in Rajasthan. So if you really want all the arrangements to be done properly this has to be done before October end.

20 comments:

Indrani said...

Reading this was like revisiting he place.:) Great post!

Mridula said...

Have to head that way one day, not been there yet!

Lakshmi said...

wonderful blog and post..i was quite excited to read about Kumbalgarh..going there in a couple of days :)

Carver said...

Great post about the fort. Very interesting and good shots.

Quilt Works said...

Winderful story post, nice photos! Thank you for sharing



... "Look what I saw from the gazebo"

Sylvia K said...

I've never been there, of course, but after reading your post and seeing your marvelous photos, I feel as though I have been there! Terrific post, Rajesh, as always!

Enjoy your weekend!

Sylvia

Lorac said...

Great post. I loved the photos and the history given. Very interesting.

Photo Cache said...

Your posts are always awesome.

Gattina said...

Very interesting and new to me ! a part looks like the chinese wall !

Joe Todd said...

I would never have known about this Fort but for your post. Enjoyed the photos and commentary. Will be looking forward to future posts

Linda Jacobs said...

It's amazing how many things there are in the world that I've never seen, never mind heard of!

Thanks for the history lesson!

Wonderful pictures!

April said...

The second photo is very impressive. What a magnificent view!

aspiritofsimplicity said...

What a beautiful sight.

EG CameraGirl said...

Magical!

Rajesh said...

Lorac, Photo Cache, Joe: Thanks for te appreciation.

Gattina: Thanks, this is the second biggest wall in circumference.

Mridula, Lakshmi: Thanks, you will definitely like this place.

Indrani, Carver, Quilt, Sylvia, Linda, hio chick, EG Tour: Thanks for te appreciation.

April: Thanks, this snap was taken from the top of palace which is at a higest point in the fort.

Pie said...

Wonderful photos with great stories. Happy Blue Monday.

My Blue Monday.

Unknown said...

Great information...thanks for sharing!

Have a wonderful day and HaPpY bLuE mOnDaY!!!

Sarah

Gee said...

nice post...

Vintagesouthernlife said...

Great photos!

Very interesting.

Rajesh said...

Pie, Sarah, Gee, vintage: Thanks for the appreciation.