The Fort - Simply Awestruck

In my growing years I have been travelling around a lot , the weekend getaways with my family to nearby places for camps, dams, hill stations and other places in different states and some south east Asian countries, but nothing has fascinated me more than the historical places among which my personal favorite is The Forts. I cannot say I have visited all the forts in the country that would be a huge amount,but to categorize I had found the most beautiful of all is The Mandu Fort having a majestic history,which might have been quite under estimated because Mandu is a small place near Indore, not many people must be aware of. But reading this you might know what you can be missing.

I guess for a girl , palaces can be the most fascinating thing specially for a dreamer like me . When I first saw it with a distant eye I was in complete awe of the structure, it was like this huge thing still pertaining to its shine and nobility . We entered its magnificent courtyard along with a guide who accompanied us and succored us even if we interdicted him.

The guide had a very peculiar way of telling us the story , The way he narrated us, probably it could have been transformed into a movie by now ,had it been told to a filmmaker.Although what he told made me fell in love more with the place- "their eternal love saga". This palace belonged to Sultan Baz Bahadur who fell in love with Rani Roopmati. She was a renowned Hindu singer famous for her holy poems which are still preserved. They got married . When Adham Khan (Mughals) marched towards the territory, Baz Bahadur fought with a considerable gallantry but was defeated. Adham Khan was surprised by the astonishing beauty of  Rani Roopmati , but being filled with apprehension she poisoned herself to avoid the capture by the Mughals. I was all melancholy hearing that, but then the guide came up with something which made me happy again.

He told me there was quite a romance in the air then. It all started with when Baz Bahadur ever fond of music was out in the jungles for hunting, Rani Roopmati was with her friends singing . Smitten both by the enchanting melodious voice and her beauty, he begged her to accompany him to his capital . Roopmati agreed to him only on a condition that she would live in a palace within sight of her beloved and venerated river, Narmada. Thus was built the Rewa Kund at Mandu. Also pavilion was built as an army observation post but it served more as a romantic gesture for the king. Zenith the structure, Rani could gaze paramour's palace, and also at the Narmada flowing by, below.

I was amazed by the architecture. It looked so beautiful now, I cannot imagine how it had been some 1000 years ago.To my discern, the guide took us to the palace interiors, where it had a massive open foyer and the sunlight rays showered it with the blessing of serenity and tranquility. High terraces and broad pathways gave a terrific view of the surroundings.

Further inside, had the ladies room or may be called as the princess's area. It had a large reservoir for the princess to take bath. there were diminutive pipeline structures where the water used to get boiled from another area and was transferred here in the form of canal like pathways so that the princess can take the bath with warm water. Such technology prevailed in those times where had the very little means but the natural ones. I actually saw that and it totally embezzled me .That princes-sly treatment made me woo over more of this exquisite place.

I was unconsciously lost into the magnificent corridors, larger than life structures, bewildered pavements so much that I never wanted to get past that, the palace was so huge spread across miles, that one could get tired only walking so much, I wondered how they used to commute within their palace itself. But I was anyways glad about it, it gave me much more time to be within the great walls which had the wings to fly over.

Then we came across this little peek a boo fort at the top. And the view from their was breath taking , the winds you can feel them brushing over your face gently. We relaxed over there, captured the moments gazing all around. The green lush gardens and trees made the view more favorable to eyes.  It is one of the cleanest places, well maintained  and eco-friendly, one can get cycles to ramble around  whole of the Mandu city.

No doubt it has a very rich history ,our archaeological department too has maintained it in a very unperturbed condition almost perfect to give us a flattery glimpse of the imaginary world then. With this keeping up the hopes high and light in the eyes that princesses did exist then and palaces were their little own world, we came out of the surreal structure back to where we belonged with a relieved sigh and eyes wide open to its amazing beauty.