Chittor

We had planned a family travel to Nathdwara for having the blessings of Lord Shrinathji. So had planned to visit other places nearby like Udaipur, Haldighati, Ranakpur etc. The original plan was to reach Udaipur. Enjoy there and nearby places for 3 days and then visit Nathdwara.

We boarded a train from Mumbai and a spontaneous plan was suggested to visit Chittor. We were 15 people travelling together and so there were arguments, if's and buts of being interested to visit the fort or not, how the hotel bookings will be managed nd so on. So the work began in the train for booking accomodation at Chittor, postponing the arrival at Udaipur by a day, travel arrangements for next day and so on. Fortunately everything got sorted and we all decided to include Chittor in our plan. We reached Chittor station and checked to our rooms. Had lunch and relaxed in the afternoon. In evening we hired a vehicle to visit the fort.

About Chittorgarh :

Chittorgarh or Chittor is a city in Rajasthan. It is home to the largest fort in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is considered as one of the best places to visit in Rajasthan. The fort has seven huge gates called Pol in local language. Pol names are Ram Pol, Lakshman Pol, Hanuman Pol, Ganesh Pol, Bhairon Pol etc. One will be just mesmerised to view the huge structures and wonder how skilled were the ancestors to build all these without machines and modern technology and transport. The fort symbolises the Rajput pride, bravery, sacrifice, history and is a must visit.

When we entered the fort we were approached by a small kid around 12-13 yrs offering to be our guide. Do hire a guide when you visit the fort. They will explain you the significance, history and story behind every place inside the fort. We were little skeptical if the kid will be a good guide but seeing his confidence and smile we accepted his offer to guide us.

The fort contains places as below

Vijay Stambh. This was built by Maharana Kumbha to celebrate his victory.

Rani Padmini palace : Rani Padmini was very beautiful and could not bear the heat of Rajasthan. So she stayed at this palace which is surrounded by water. On hearing about her beauty Alladin Khilji wanted to see her and it was this palace from which he was allowed to view Rani through reflection in mirror.

temples like Kali Mata temple, Meera temple, Samadishwara temple dedicated to Lord Shiva near the Gomukh kund, etc.

Jauhar kund : The place where all the Rajput women jumped in to fire to protect to avoid themselves to be captured by the army of Alladin Khilji.

How to Reach Chittorgarh

Nearest airport is Udaipur which is around 70 kms from Chittor

Chittorgarh is also well connected by buses and trains.

Overall enjoyed visiting the fort and learning about our history, the beautiful strong structures to protect from the enemy, the bravery etc. Do hire a guide as they narate the whole story and explain the significance of each place and take you around the whole fort. Sound and light show can be enjoyed at Rana Kumbha palace around 7 pm.

Story of Rani Padmini

Padmini was princess of srilanka & Ratan sen heard about her beauty from a talking parrot. So he married her & brought to chittorgarh. She could not bear heat of Rajasthan. So this palace was built for her to stay in summers. Alladin Khilji also heard about her beauty and desired her. He attacked Chittor but it was well protected. So he lied that he just wanted to see Padmini as he had heard a lot about her beauty. Rani Padmini was very smart & said Aladin could see only her through reflection. So a mirror was set in this palace for aladin to view the Rani.On his way backed he kidnapped Ratan sen & demanded Rani Padmini to surrender.Rani was beauty with brains. She sent a message of surrender but said she will come with all her dasis. However she sent the army man disguised & they quickly freed Ratansen. Khilji again tried to atatck the fort but the fort is so well built & was so well protected that he could not attack. So Khilji seiged the fort because of which the food & basic items in fort started getting depleted. So Ratansen gave orders to open gate & fight. Rani predicted the defeat against huge army of khilji. So she and more than 500 women of Chittor decided to suicide through Jouhar (Jumping in fire)