Kumbhalgarh was our last-minute detour, we ditched jodhpur
for this. The reason was simple: Kumbhalgarh was greener, remoter and less popular.
About 85 kms from Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh is situated on the
top of the Aravalli Hills in the middle of a forest turned into a wildlife
sanctuary – Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary. We had a day stop-over in Udaipur
and started driving to Kumbhalgarh early in the morning. We had booked Kumbhalgarh
Forest Retreat on the way for a night.
The Udaipur-Kumbhalgarh drive was neat. The super smooth highway would have been a champion if not for the last 10 kms of extremely bumpy and terribly dusty towpath. But you just can’t
ignore the beauty of these locales, this kind of experiences make for great stories to share and you become more of a traveller
than just a tourist, right!
Built by Rana Kumbha to protect Mewar against the Mughal
invaders, the Kumbhalgarh Fortress wall extends to the massive length of 36 kilometres
later on acknowledged to be “the Great Wall of India”. A fortress embraced by
the rocky Aravalli range from all sides, it is also the birthplace of Mewar’s legendary King
Maharana Pratap. In 2013, this, being the second largest fortress in Rajasthan
after Chittorgarh fort, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And on our day two, we were right in front of it admiring the grandeur.
It was so enormously high and stocky that we thought a day
trip was not enough to explore – we thought we were wrong to have only half-a-day
in hand for this massive piece of architecture. Being one of the thousands
of vehicles lined up along the narrow road waiting for parking, we finally, after a good 30 minutes of first gear (read: exasperating) drive, found a
place. The entrance fee of Rs. 20 per person was unbelievably low
with no charges for camera. It certainly kept us wondering why ain’t all the forts
and palaces of Rajasthan are this economical - why some have to be like Udaipur
City Palace – overhyped and overpriced!
We started climbing up crossing several gates starting with
Ram Pol, the main entrance gate. At the top of the fortress was Kumbha Palace. You
get a breathtakingly gorgeous aerial view of the entire fortress and its scenic
surroundings from here. Something not to miss!
Near Pagda Pol, along the Kumbha Palace, there is another palace
known as Jhalia ka Malia. This is the place where Maharana Pratap was born. This
is mostly in ruins but is great for taking highly dramatic pictures.
Badal Mahal is at the highest point of the fort. Roof of
this palace offers a first-rate view of Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary
spreading over the Aravalli Hills. The winter sun painted an auburn horizon in front of us. The cold winter breeze brushed
softly against our face – after all that running-around, we sat down to soak
in everything about that mighty sundown behind the great wall of India - life’s
little joys and us!
There were about 300 temples strewn across the expanse - Ganesha
Temple, Swami Narayan Temple, Neelkanth Mahadeva Temple, Parsvanath Temple etc.
Of these, most of them belong to Jain deities and some belong to Hindu Gods and
Goddesses as well. Just in case, you have time left in hand (unlike us), do pay
a visit to atleast a few and then the magnificent light and sound show in the evening to see your time travel come a full circle, quite literally.
Kumbhalgarh trip is incomplete without a safari in the sanctuary.
No, don’t expect a grand Ranthambore experience here as this is more like a fun-ride
to explore the wilderness while having the fortress in the background (for a quick couple picture) - you may
come across a good variety of birds, sambhar and nilgai, short of anything else
more wilder or exquisite.
Kumbhalgarh is for people who appreciate the unknown, the
unpopular – the exquisiteness is in the backwoods, the raw wilderness, the leap into the song unsung – some of these you might not even have heard from your friends or
seen in the movies and yet when you go back to the grind, you have a tale to tell to
everyone you know or you want to know, something that will live forever beyond your
selfies and self-love.
Happy trails to you all !! Keep exploring the unexplored !!
