We had travelled about 30mins from Baasi via the highways. A turn right from the four-lane highway and a narrow path in the jungles. The driver said " Madam Ji aa Gaya apka Chittorgarh" I was bugging him so much all the way, I think he was relieved. The jungles blocked the view for like 5mins. When the trees cleared, I saw a hill in front. Looked like all the hills I saw till then until the Driver smiled pointing, " Woh Raha Chittor Durg upar, aise Patthar se bana hai ke dikhta nahi jhat se." I was a little taken aback as I read a lot on Chittorgarh but no book mentioned that it's not easily visible. Looking carefully I could now spot a few roofs, in ruins. I had goosebumps literally. Chittorgarh. The land of the ultimate sacrifice. I was so near it.
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| Look Carefully! The Fort Walls! |
The driver further explained that this hill also known as the Chitrakut, finding its mention in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharat, is the only plateau in the Aravalli hills. It's like god's miracle that made Chitrakut there, or so the locals believe. As the hilly slopes started, because the town of new Chittorgarh is on the other side of this plateau, the walls are filled with two lines of poetry at a mere distance of a hand from each other, written with red on the yellow painted rocks, these are local popular lines, many on the folktales, and history that surround the fort. Rani Padmini, Kunwar Pratap Singh, Rajmata Karnavati, Veer Gora and Badal, Jaimal, Patta, and Kalla all find a mention in one poem or the other. One poem glorifies Chittorgarh with the phrase:
Garh Ho Toh Chittor, Baki sab Gariya.
Rani Ho Toh Padmini Baki sab Gadhayiya.
Chittor seemed like a well flourished large city above a hill from below. I couldn't wait to see it. So without delay, we checked into the hotel, Pratap Palace. It's a well-located high-end hotel near the Central Bus Stop. From there we took an auto to the fort, 4KM from the city. There are no hotels up at the old fort unlike in Bundi and all people and shops and cars are found in the city only. The town is more modern than Bundi I felt the main reason being it's a major tourist destination. Whether you take a car or auto to the fort you have to pay for their waiting time as you won't find a car or auto to hire inside the fort. Autos are preferable as not only do they give a clear view, but some narrow lanes above are not reachable by cars as well.
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| River Gambhiri |
While going from the old city to the fort, we had to cross the river Gambhiri. The auto driver explained that this is the same river via which Panna Dai reached Kumbhalgarh after saving Kunwar Udai Singh from Banbir's hands. A tunnel from the Rana Kumbha Palace used to come down to this river via which Kunwar Pratap Singh was forced to leave Chittorgarh by his trusted Chieftains nearly two months before the final siege as they felt Mewar's future was in his hands. When I asked about the Tunnel the man however had no clue where it was.
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| Ganesh Pol |
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| Suraj Pol |
While entering Chittorgarh you have to cross seven doorways or Pols. This road was built at the backside of the fort for elephants by Rana Kumbha. The fort Pols are : Ganesh Pol, Hanuman Pol, Laxman Pol, Ram Pol, Suraj Pol, Badi Pol and Jorla Pol. The fort wall runs alongside the road and you can spot a few purple houses of the decedents of the survivors of the Chittor Seize. About 5000 people stay inside the fort still. The auto driver again explained that when Akbar came to Chittor he surrounded the fort from all sides, the front side of the fort is near the Padmini Jal Mahal and the Kirti Stambh also had seven pols of the same names and the path was a rocky one for horses, The Mughals hence chose the backside to attack first. As we cross the Ganesh Idol at the Ganesh pol we spot guard towers above each gate. As a war fort, Chittor was no doubt well secured. The first time the auto stopped was at an orange painted Mandir.
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| Suraj Pol |
The driver explained " Veer Kalla Rathore aur Jaimal Rathore ke sena Ganesh Pol aur Suraj Pol ke beech thee. " The first gates were attacked on the doomsday of 23rd February 1568 morning as the dawn broke in Mewar, these two brave men vowed not to let the Mughals enter their sacred fort. Four months back when Jaimal had gone for a peace talk in the MughalCamp, the emperor Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar had asked: " Hum Shahenshah hai Hindustan ke, aap salam nahi karoge hum e?"
Jaimal Rathore of Badnore, a nephew of Meera Bai, the saint poetess, who was a queen of this very fort, answered " Apko apka salam Maidan e Jung mein Milega."
When Akbar, on his elephant, led the seize on this gate, Kalla's legs were cut off, but the brave man rode above his Uncle Jaimal's shoulders and chose to fight till the time their swords were no match for Akbar's riffles and hundreds of men. Before dying, Jaimal cut the trunk of Akbar's elephant into two and replied " Apka Salam Jalaluddin." That left Akbar fuming. They died at the exact spot where their memorials are made. Jaimal Rathore's wife led the women into the Jauhar Kund at Jaimal Patta's home in the fort.
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| Kalla Rathore Memorial |
As we approach the Hanuman Pol next, there were numerous stones marked in orange, the autowala explained that the names of the soldiers are unknown but they died in all these places valiantly, the Mughals let the locals mark these places that later became a place of worship. There was a dais made with tiny memorials of many, approaching, I saw they were the brave women of Chittorgarh, who chose Saka over Jauhar. This was the first place that gave me goosebumps and moist eyes.
17-year-old Udai Pratap Singh Sisodia also known as Patta was a distant kin of the Royal Family. His father was a chieftain who had died fighting the Mewar Marwar war for Rana Udai Singh. Patta joined the service for the motherland at a tender age under the guidance of Kunwar Pratap Singh. His widowed mother was his encouragement as she too was once a warrior. Married for just a week to Jiwa Bai when the siege happened Patta was the Senapati along with Jaimal. The Brave Jiwa Bai just 13 years old, along with her mother-in-law decided to defend the fort with the sword and then jump into the fire. They lead the women into the battle at the Hanuman Pol after Kalla and Jaimal fell. They died here, valiantly.
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| The Virangana Memorials |
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| Hanuman Pol |
A turns from the Hanuman Pol we stopped at the Eklingji Temple. The only Eklingji temple at the fort now, it is believed that there were many more but this was the first one by Bappa Rawal at Chittorgarh. A small temple with hundreds of Mewar Flags representing the Bravehearts gives way to the Jorla Pol, Laxman Pol and hence the Ram Pol.
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| Jorla Pol |
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| Laxman Pol |
The Ram Pol had a big watch tower that overlooks the present town as well as the old one. We stopped there and got up on the roof of one of the towers for a clear view.
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Watch Stations for soldiers
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| View from the top |
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| Chittorgarh from the Guard tower |
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| RamPol |
The ticket counter follows the RamPol. There are separate tickets for cars and persons and no charges for Cameras. However, there is a light and sound show every evening after sunset there. That is a must-watch I will mention later on.
The places to see in the fort are :
- Kumbha Palace
- Srinagar Chauri
- Vijay Stambh
- Kirti Stambh and Jain Temple
- Kumbha Shyaam Temple
- Meera Mandir
- Sahastrashiva Temple
- Gaumukh Kund
- Jauhar Sthal
- Padmini Jal Mahal
- Surya Talab
- Vishnu Talab
- Ambe Maata and Kalika Maata Mandir
- House of Jaimal and Patta
- The Mohor Magri and Battleground
- Ratan Singh Palace (You need to pay extra as it's on the other side of the fort)
It takes about 3 to 4 hours to roam the place and it remains open from 9.30 AM to 5.30 PM. Don't take food items or coconuts for puja openly because the monkeys can attack especially at the temples.
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