Kumbhalgarh Fort Forts of Rajasthan

Author: Subhash Yadav

This Kumbhalgarh fort is in Rajsamand District of Rajasthan, India. This fort was built in the 15th century by Rana Kumbha of Mewar. The wall of this fort is 38km long and the second largest wall in the world after the Great Wall of China.

History of Kumbhalgarh Fort: Rana Kumbha built this fort in Aravali Mountain Range on the disintegration of Samprati, he was the grandson of Ashoka. There were several attempts made by the enemies of Rana Kumbha to capture this fort:

    • Ahmed Shah of Gujarat tried to invade in this fort and destroyed the Banmata Temple but failed to capture the fort.
    • Mahmud Khilji tried to capture this in 1458, 1459 and 1467, but all these efforts were not enough to win the fort
    • In the final round, Akbar, Raja Uday Singh, Raja Man Singh, Mirzas of Gujarat attacked the fort with a combined force to win the prize.

The fort includes several historical architectures divided into sections:

    • Palaces in Kumbhalgarh Fort:
        • Rana Kumbha Palace: The Design of this fort is the inspiration by the Rajput architecture. There is a corridor between men's space and women's palace and durbar hall at the center of Rana Kumbha Palace.
        • Jhalia ka Malia: This palace was particularly built for Queen Jhali and it is the same place where Rana Pratap was Born. The rubble stones were used in the making of this palace and roof of this architecture was flat.
        • Badal Mahal: This was the last update to this Kumbhalgarh Fort in 1885 by Rana Fateh Singh. This mahal or palace has 2 floors, corridor to separate men's and women's portion and steep stairs to reach the terrace of the fort.
    • Gates in Kumbhalgarh Fort: There are several gates to enter the fort which were named based on design, architecture and some of them are listed below:
        • Arait Pol: This is the southern gate of the Fort. There is Ganesh Temple at the entrance of the fort and surrounded by forest which was the natural habitat for wild animals like wild boars, tigers, etc.
        • Hulla Pol: Named after the invasion of enemies in the fort. In 1567, the Mughals army invaded the fort and captured the whole area.
    • Temples in Kumbhalgarh Fort: There are more than 300 temples in Fort.
        • Vedi Temple: It is Jain Temple which was built on the raised platform or area and looks like an octagon that has 3 floors and situated near Hanuman Pol(gate).
        • Neelkanth Mahadev Temple: Situated to the east end of the fort and belongs to Lord Shiva with a Shiv linga of 5 ft height.
        • Pitalia Dev Temple: This temple was made by Pitalia Jain Seth and there is a pillared mandap, a sanctum that allows people to enter into the temple from all four directions.

So this Kumbhalgarh Fort is worth to visit at least once in a lifetime and it also added to the UNESCO world heritage Site which marks blue tick on to the name of