Kumbalgarh

Kumbalgarh Fort was built in 15th Century by Maharana Kumbha. The fort is built on a hilltop that has an elevation of 1100m/3600ft, in the Aravalli range. The premises of Kumbalgarh Fort is secured by a strong wall that runs 35+ km, bearing a width of 15 ft! The mere look of the wall may remind you of Great Wall of China. Though the length of the Kumbalgarh Fort wall is much smaller than that of Great Wall of China, it is ranked second largest wall in the world! The fort wall is fondly also called Great Wall of India 🙂 The wall of the fort depicts the architectural brilliance of the Rajput Era. Unlike the other forts, the wall is not straight, but runs through the mountain cliffs and valleys. It runs through the neighbouring Kumbalgarh National Park which is home to many wildlife species including panthers, leopards, hyenas, bears, wild boars, wolves and many more.

Kumbalgarh Fort Wall – Great Wall of India

Kumbalgarh Fort has 7 gateways, and has about 350+ temples inside it. The legend says that the initial attempts by Maharana Kumbha to build the fort was unsuccessful. Everything that was built during the day time would get destroyed during the night time. After several failed attempts, the king consulted various spiritual preceptor to address the construction issues. One of the preceptors suggested a voluntary  human sacrifice would resolve the construction issues. While this was announced to the neighboring villages, none of them were ready to sacrifice themselves for the construction of the fort! After sometime, a volunteer agreed for the sacrifice with a condition that wherever his head falls, a temple should be built. And wherever his body lies, the palace should be built at that location! Agreeing to the conditions of the volunteer, a Shiva temple has been built where the head of the volunteer fell to commemorate the great sacrifice.

Shiva Temple at the entrance of the fort

The palace, right opposite to the Shiva Temple

As you can see from the photo above, there is a walkway that will lead you to the top of the palace. Today, you can even get to the top of the highest dome and get a bird’s eye view of the surrounding Aravalli Range! While climbing the steep walkway, you will realize that the view of the surroundings keep changing as you ascend higher. Ruined watch towers, abandoned buildings attract you while climbing up, and you can relax for a while observing the ranges around before reaching the top!

Watch Tower

Aravalli Range

View from the top most dome!

Inside view of the topmost dome

Kumbalgarh Fort also happens to be the birth place of the Mewar ruler Maharana Pratap. Maharana Pratap is considered to be the strongest Mewar ruler, whose main enemy was Mughal emporer Akbar!

The building where Maharana Pratap was born!

Rajasthan tourism board organizes light and sound show towards the evening, where you can get a history of the fort. There are a few resort in the vicinity of Kumbalgarh Fort where one can stay and look forward to the jungle safaris organized by the locals.

Location

Kumbalgarh Fort

Where to stay?

  • Few resorts at Kumbalgarh
  • Udaipur

Distance Chart

From Distance (in km)
Udaipur 85
Mount Abu 170
Jodhpur 190
Ahmedabad 310
Jaipur 345

 

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