About Kumbhalgarh

The complex of fortifications in the largest state of India, Rajasthan, consists of six forts. These fortifications demonstrated the strength and power of the Rajput kingdom. The city walls included large bazaars, palaces, and temples and were centers of concentration of art, education, science and culture in general. All forts were built taking into account the peculiarities of the relief, that is, specifically adapted to the hills, deserts, rivers and forest.

Fort Kumbhalgarh from the whole group of fortifications is the most remarkable. Although it is inferior in size to the Chittorgarh fort, its fortress wall is the second longest wall in the world, having passed the Great Wall of China. For this reason, Kumbhalgarh Fort is secretly called the Great Wall of India, whose length exceeds 36 kilometers.

Kumbhalgarh is the fortress of the Rajput principality of Mewar, the present territory of the southern part of the state of Rajasthan The fort is located on the ridge of the Aravali hills. Kumbhalgarh began construction in the 15th century by Raja Kumbh, an opponent of the Islamization of the principalities in India, and continued to expand until the 19th century. In the same period, the fort became accessible to the public, and only in 2013 at the session of the World Heritage Committee it was decided to include the fortress together with the other five on the UNESCO list called “Forts of Rajasthan”.

Fort Kumbhalgarh erected on top of hills, at an altitude of 1100 meters above sea level. The thickness of the surrounding fortress wall is 4.6 meters, almost as much as the Great Chinese. The fortress contains 7 gates. About 360 temples were erected inside the walls, among which 300 are ancient Jain, the rest are Hindu. Kumbhalgarh is surrounded by the Aravali Range and the sandy desert of Tar, which can be seen from the top of the palace or the fortress walls.

According to the legends, Raja Kumbh could not immediately build a fort, many attempts were in vain. The spiritual master of the Rajah advised that voluntary human sacrifice could put an end to this. It was necessary to carry out the beheading of the sacrifice, where the head would fall it was necessary to erect a temple, and where the body remained, to erect walls. As expected, for a long time volunteers were absent, but one day one of the pilgrims decided to sacrifice himself. Today, the main gates of Fort Kumbhalgarh contain a temple in honor of this pilgrim.

The most important structures of the fortress are the lakhol and Badshahi Bavdi drainage basins, which make it possible to supply Kumbhalgarh with water and play an important role in times of battle and sieges. Architectural samples are considered to be Hanuman Poole and Ram Poole, as in general, they most reflect the details of the structure. From the shrines of the fort stands out the temple of Ganesh, built on a platform height of 3.7 meters and considered the most vulnerable of all located inside the fortress.

Another important Hindu shrine at Fort Kumbhalgarh is the Shiva temple, whose vault is supported by 24 huge pillars. As for the Jain temples, which are dominated here, Parshvanath, Bawan and Golera are considered important.

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Architecture of Kumbhalgarh

The fort remained impregnable for direct attack, and surrendered only once, when the traitor poisoned the fort s internal water supply, and Kumbhalgarh s defenders faced a shortage of drinking water. This happened when the siege was conducted by the combined forces of the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great and the rajahs who submitted to him.

Kumbhalgarh is currently open to the public. Now inside the fortress walls you can see well-preserved historical buildings. There are several medieval temples, the Kumbh Palace, which once served as the summer residence of the ruler, as well as the big palace Badal Mahal, which was built between the 19th and 20th centuries. From the walls of the fort you can see the surrounding mountains and the sands of the Tar desert.

Arriving here you can see everything that in imagination is associated with a majestic, mystical and mighty fort. Located in the mountains, Kumbalgarh is visible from afar. It is a fantastic spectacle, regardless of whether you are on its walls or looking at them from the bottom up. Among the cultural and natural sites, representing the attractions of India

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Must be Known

The ruler of Kumbh also descended from the Sysodia clan. Kumbalgarh, which was built on the orders of the Rajah, served as protection for him, his family and the descendants who ruled the fortress until the 19th century. The history of the fort is connected with the name of the first freedom fighter of medieval India - Maharana Pratap Singh will fight against the seizure of India by the Mughal Empire. Mewar will be the only principality that does not recognize the power of the Great Moguls under the leadership of Akbar the Great.

Kumbalgarh is considered the most important fortress in Mewar after Chittorgarch . From VIII to XVI century Chittorgarh was the capital of the principality and the main stronghold of princes Sisodia. Starting from the XIV century, the city was constantly besieged by the army of Muslim conquerors, finally it was destroyed by the invasion of the army of Akbar the Great in 1568. After that, the capital of the principality was moved to Udaipur, in the vicinity of which Kumbhalgarh is located.

The construction of the protective wall in Kumbalgarh took almost 100 years. When construction began in 1443, the wall collapsed. And then, according to legend, the ruler s guru predicted that the wall would not stand until the gods were appeased. And some pilgrim sacrificed himself. At the site of his grave erected the main gate.

The fortress looks quite impressive. Kumbalgarh has seven fortified gates. The project was developed personally by Raja Kumbh. During the period of his rule, 84 forts were erected on the territory of Mevara, 32 of which the ruler designed personally. Kumbalgarh - the most complex and largest.

In fact - the fort Kumbalgarh is a city surrounded by impregnable walls. Of the seven gates leading to the fortress, five are located along the perimeter of the walls, two gates have a separate location. In times of danger, the fort was used as a refuge for the ruling dynasty. Thus, the prince s son, Prince Udai, was hiding in it, who, after coming to power, would lay the city of Udaipur.

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Kumbhalgarh

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