Memorial to a loved Pet

I was wandering with Samhith around Gulab Bagh, the huge garden where the Udaipur Zoo is located. We had time to kill before we could catch the bus which would take us back to Mumbai, we had checked out of our room, and Shankar had already flown back the day before. Having so much time on our hands, but hesitant to wander into lonely places, we tried to stick to the well marked paths, at the same time trying to avoid the crowds thronging the park. Following a butterfly, we moved away from the well trodden path, and suddenly, right in front of us was a marble edifice. Curious, we moved closer, and both of us were stunned!

Eye of the Peacock

We have seen plenty of peacocks - both in the wild as well in zoos. At the Udaipur Zoo, the birds were peacefully having their siesta, and were totally unconcerned about all the ruckus around them. As we passed by the peacock enclosure, one of them looked up and cast such a disdainful glance at the spectators who were trying to rouse some of the sleeping birds, that I just had to take a pic!

Ducks in the Lake

The Nakki Lake at Mount Abu has a small island at the centre where some ducks have been kept.

A Long Vacation Comes to an End

Its been one hectic summer vacation. Over the period of one month, we traversed over 5000 Km as we spent our holidays travelling and making the most of the longest vacation of the year!

We started our tour with a visit to Tiruppur, where Samhith made the most of his time with his aunt. While there, we managed to sneak in a visit to the Dhyanalinga Temple near Coimbatore.

From there, we headed towards Madurai,

The Legends that surround Kumbhalgarh

History or Legend? Sometimes it is difficult to choose the right word. Here, I chose to use the word ‘Legend’, as I have not been able to verify the authenticity of the stories I heard from an old man living in the Kumbhalgarh Fort. He told us that he was a native of Kumbhalgarh, and had also worked for the Archaeological department in the fort, lending a touch of credibility to the story he told us. I must admit, that though we have fallen into the habit of taking in stories with a pinch of salt, there was an air of truth about this man.

A Miniature of Rana Kumbha from Chittorgarh

To begin with the origin of the fort, it is indeed a fact that the original fort here was ruled by the Jain king Samprati, who built around 300 Jain temples inside the fort. After him, the fort remained unused, and fell to ruins, except the temples, which survived to tell their story. Rana Kumbha came here to build a fort so that he could defend Mewar against the Mughals who were regularly attacking Chittorgarh. He decided to build the fort a little lower down the mountain, where there is a lake now, and started construction. The story goes that the men would build all day long, and retire late at night. When they woke the next day, whatever they had built would have crumbled. This continued for quite a few days until finally, the Maharana consulted his Guru, who came from the ‘Mér’ family of seers. The guru told him that it was a divine hand that was doing this, as he wasn’t fated to build a fort at that place. He further told him that he would show him the place where the fort was to be built, but the place demanded a voluntary sacrifice from a man who would agree to lay down his life for the king. When the king couldn’t find such a person, the guru volunteered his own life, under one condition- “the fort should bear his name.”
Needless to say, the king agreed. The Guru led the king up the mountain, where the fort now stands, and told him to cut off his head. The place where the head fell would be the main entrance of the fort, and where the body fell would be the palace. The king did as he was told. The guru’s head fell at a point where the Bhairon Pol stands today, and to the great surprise of everybody, the headless body walked a further kilometer up the mountain and finally fell right at the top, where the palace was later built. This is a wonderful story, which gains authenticity when I add that just past the Bhairon Pol , there is a small temple-like structure, which has a stone covered with sindoor ( a red powder), which we were told was done to mark the place where the great saint sacrificed his life for his king. The fort was named 'KumbhalMer', after the king, as well ashis guru. It was only later that the name 'Kumbhalgarh', or 'fort of Kumbha' became famous. However, this story finds no mention in a book that I bought about the history of Kumbhalgarh.

Maharana Kumbha not only built the fort, the palace and 60 Hindu temples, he apparently took great care of the Jain temples too. The main Hindu temple that he built was that of his chosen God, Neelkanth Mahadeo. It is said that Rana Kumbha was an extraordinarily tall man, who, when he sat, came up to the height of the Shivaling (5 feet), and could encircle the lingam with his hands. This seems a trifle exaggerated, but then, one never knows, besides, it is possible that with the headgear and the kind of clothes they wore, he could possibly have appeared as tall as 9 feet, which was the height we were told he was.
In any case, it is another fact that it was when he was worshipping this Lingam, that he was stabbed to death by his own son, Uda Singh, who was the father of Maharana Pratap.
Quite a sensational story, is it not?

Now here’s another story, which finds no mention in history books, but is interesting enough to be written down.
Maharana Kumbha had started a system of lighting a huge lamp, with 100meaures of oil, and a wick made with 50 measures of cotton (I am not mentioning the measures, as the ones told to us were in the local tongue, and didn’t make much sense to me). The light from this lamp was bright enough for the farmers of Marwar to work during the night, and was seen as far away as Jodhpur. The queen of Jodhpur, known as the Jhali Rani, saw the lamp and appreciated the king who cared so much about his subjects. The king didn’t like such praise of another king, and banished the queen telling her to go to the one she appreciated so much. Left with no choice, the queen started for Kumbhalgarh, and sent a message to Rana Kumbha explaining her situation. The Maharana welcomed her as a sister, and gave her a palace to live in, without any slur being made on her reputation. This is the palace where there is a Durga temple, and the palace is called ‘the palace of the Jhali Rani’, after her. When her husband came to know of this, he marched with an army towards the fort, intending to take her back by force. He approached the fort from the rear, passing through thick jungles which are today, part of the sanctuary. He found it extremely difficult to move through the forest. He had to cut down trees to make way for his armyKumbha advising him not to use force, and stealthy means, and that he would get what was d, and the trees seemed to grow faster than he could cut them. At last, a message arrived from Rana ue to him if he approached with humility. The Jodhpur king realized his folly, and asked permission to come to Kumbhalgarh. Rana Kumbha welcomed him with full honours from the Victory gate, and treated him as he would treat a son-in-law. (In India, a son-in-law is treated with even more respect than one would treat an equal). The king stayed at the fort for a few days, and took his queen back with him. When he returned, Rana Kumbha felt that, as he had considered him a son-in-law, he must give him ‘dahej’ or dowry when he returned, and gifted him the whole area of Marwar from Kumbhalgarh to Falna. Such was the large heartedness of this great man!

Another legend that surrounds Rana Kumbha is the story of Muchhal Mahavir. The Muchhal Mahavir Temple
Muchhal Mahavir is a Jain temple dedicated to Lord Mahavir, at Ghanerao, which is on the route from Falna to Kumbhalgarh. This temple too has its origin long before Rana Kumbha came on the scene. The story goes that once, when the Rana was on a hunt, he came to the temple where he was offered refreshment by the priest. The priest offered him the Prasad of the Lord, and the Rana was amused to find a strand of white hair in the Prasad, which must have fallen from the priest’s head. As a joke, the Rana asked the priest “what! Does your Lord have a moustache?” the scared priest, without realizing what he was saying, replied in the affirmative. Carrying the joke further, the Rana refused to pay his respects to the Lord that day, and told the priest that he would return after 3 days, and wanted to see the moustache of the lord! The priest didn’t know what to do and spent the next two days in prayer. When he did not see any results, he decided to commit suicide rather than be killed by the king. When he picked up the dagger of Bhairon at the temple to kill himself, the Lord appeared before him and advised him to cover the face of the idol with a piece of cloth and ask the king to remove the cloth himself after offering prayers. When the king arrived the next day, the priest welcomed him warmly and asked the king to have a bath and offer prayers to the Lord himself. Seeing the cloth covering the face of the idol, the king got angry and demanded an explanation. The priest repeated to the king what he had been ordered to do by the Lord. The king agreed and offered his prayers to the Lord, and when he opened the cloth, Lo and Behold! The idol of Mahavir not only had moustaches, but also a beard!! The king repented for having made such a joke and asked forgiveness from the priest. He was, needless to say, forgiven, and the beard and moustache disappeared. But the name has stuck. The Lord has, since then, been called ‘Mucchal Mahavir’, or the Mahavir who had a moustache.

Kumbhalgarh - A glimpse into the past

Nestled among the mighty Aravallis are many forts of the Rajputs, each one greater than the other, each one relating a story of its own, a story which is part history, part legend, but which gives each of these forts its own unique identity. The Kumbhalgarh fort in Rajasmand district of Rajasthan is one such fort which has its own story to tell.

Kumbhalgarh Fort

Kumbhalgarh is about 90 km from both, Udaipur as well as Falna. We took the Ranakpur express from Mumbai to Falna, and a cab from the Falna station to Kumbhalgarh. The 2 ½ hours drive took us through lush green fields and rocky mountains welcoming us to a part of Rajasthan we had never seen before.

Our destination was the Club Mahindra Resort, 5 Km from the fort. The other options for accommodation near the fort are ‘The Aodhi’, a favorite with foreign tourists, ‘The Dera Tented Resort’, which offers variety and adventure in the form of luxurious tents, the ‘Kumbhal Castle’, and the ‘Tiger Valley Resort’.

A View of the wall of Kumbhalgarh Fort

The Kumbhalgarh fort was built by Rana Kumbha to defend his kingdom from the Mughal invaders, and the USP of the fort is its 36 km – long wall, said to be the second largest after the Great Wall of China. However, the fort wasn’t the first structure to be built at this place. In ancient times, it was the capital of a Jain king, who built about 300 temples at this place. Rana Kumbha added to this and at the peak of its fame, the fort had a total of 360 temples within its walls, 300 of Jains, and 60 of Hindu gods. Today, few of these are left, fewer with idols inside. Of these, the Neelkanth Mahadeo Temple has pride of place, having been the chosen deity of Rana Kumbha. The 5 feet high Shivaling in this temple was personally cared for by the king who, it is said, towered over the lingam at 8 feet. Ironically, it was while he was praying to this idol that he was stabbed in the back by his own son, who, again ironically, was the father of the great Maharana Pratap.

The idol of Neelkanth Mahadeo

The fort itself is very impressive, and one can spend hours roaming over the vast area, if only there was someone to guide us. As it is, the only effort the government is making to popularize the fort is in the form of a sound and light show, as part of which, the fort is lit up every evening between 7:30 and 8:00PM. This is really a very beautiful sight, one which every visitor must look forward to. The palace, at the highest point of the fort is however, not all that impressive, or rather, unlike what one expects of a Rajasthan Palace. This palace, in fact, is the birthplace of Maharana Pratap, and deserves a lot more care and maintenance.

A View of the Palace

Rana Kumbha was well known, not only for his valour, but also for his large-heartedness, his generosity, as well as righteousness. Kumbhalgarh abounds with legends connected to him, and when one hears these legends from the mouths of the locals who make up for the scarcity of guides, one can actually imagine the great man who made this difficult terrain his home, and feel his presence lingering around……

Rana Kumbha

There are quite a lot of places to visit around Kumbhalgarh-

The Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary (5 Km) – The Jungle safari is a must for nature lovers. Don’t have great expectations with regard to animals, and you won’t be disappointed.

The Parshuram Mahadeo Temple (20Kms) – A Cave temple approachable from Falna as well as Kumbhalgarh, it involves a 1 ¼ Km trek to the cave where Lord Shiva blessed Sage Parshuram. Water permanently trickling down on a natural Shivaling is a wonder of nature. This temple is a must-visit for those who are spiritually inclined, as well as those who aren’t.

The Ranakpur Jain Temples (50 Kms) - Architectural wonders!

Mucchal Mahavir (25Kms) – Jain temple

Ganesh Temple (Ghanerao) (25Kms) – Life-size statues of Lord Ganesha and his consorts Riddhi and Siddhi.

Haldighati (25 Km), Nathdwara (50 Km), and Udaipur (90 Km) are also easily accessible from Kumbhalgarh.

Kumbhalgarh Trip- Day2- The Kumbhalgarh Fort

We spent the first day at the resort catching up on sleep, and the second morning passed by just getting acquainted with the resort. I was looking forward to going to the fort soon. We had been told that the best time to visit it would be in the evening, as the fort would be lit up around 7 P.M. We left the resort around 4 P.M. so that we could take in the sights before it got dark, and then wait until the lights were switched on. The weather had been pleasant since our arrival, which in itself was surprising. We had expected it to be quite hot, and packed in all our summer things. It turned out to be quite cool up there, and that evening it was also a bit cloudy.


Our first view of the Kumbhalgarh fort

The Kumbhalgarh fort is an impressive edifice that remains hidden from view till the last bend in the road, less than a kilometer away. It is only after we enter the first gate of the fort, and the road turns towards the fort, that we can get our first glimpse of the fort and its famous wall.


The first gate of the fort

The driver of our vehicle stopped at the main entrance, where we had to buy a ticket for entering the fort, and told us to just follow the road to the left. Right at the entrance was a temple to Lord Ganesh.

The Ganesh Temple

We had scarcely set foot inside the fort that it started raining!!! It wasn’t a very heavy rain, but at that height, along with the strong wind, it was quite an experience, climbing up the steep path to the palace at the top of the fort in the pouring rain. I have always enjoyed getting wet in the rain, and it was a pleasure to get soaked at such an altitude. Even more than that, it was good to see that Samhith too enjoyed the rain, and made the most of it. He ran on, ahead of us until I scolded him and made him hold one of our hands. The wind was so strong, and the path so steep, I was afraid of him falling down, but thank goodness, nothing of the kind happened!





We walked along, enjoying the view, and appreciating the way the fort and palace had been built. There was a sign right at the top, pointing out the place Maharana Pratap had been born, and we expected someone to be there , someone who would tell us the story of the fort, but everything was securely locked, and there seemed no sign of life anywhere around. It was only after we tried out another path to the palace that we found one, single door open, and a watchman, who wasn’t too interested in talking to tourists. There were a couple of other families there, also from our resort, who seemed to be a little more informed about the fort than we were, so after a round of the palace, and a small temple of Durga Maa inside a smaller palace, we turned our steps downwards, towards the temples we could see at the ground level.


Inside the palace


The Durga Temple inside the palace

The first two temples that we saw were closed, and we were told that there were no idols inside. So, we turned towards the wall which had been beckoning us ever since we entered. There are points all along the wall (on the inside, of course), where one can climb up to the wall, but only some are in good condition. We used one of these to get up there, and it really was awesome! We had heard that the wall was broad enough for four horses to move along at the same time, but up close, it looked even broader. Four horses wouldn’t have had to move very close to each other at any point on the wall!!!



The wall, we learnt, had been built over a period of 14 years, and was about 36 Km long! The men must have been skillful indeed to have built such a masterpiece which has survived centuries, and still is in such good shape. I can’t imagine a building of today surviving even a fraction of the period, when subjected to the vagaries of nature, as this one would have faced!!! The wall apparently is in good condition all over, except one section, which crumbled recently. But here, it must be mentioned, that there is a serious lack of interest displayed by the authorities here. It is true that over the past few years, the government has tried to restore the palace, temples, and fort, and make it a tourist attraction, (the evening lighting, and a proposed sound and light show are efforts which the govt. is making in this direction), but much more can be done. For example, it is only part of the wall that has been cleaned, making it possible to walk on it. The rest of the wall lies in disrepair. When we asked if it was possible to walk all along the wall, we were met by stares, rather than answers. It is a matter of great pride that we have places like this in our country, but we need to make a lot more effort to maintain them, and make them attractive enough to draw more people towards them. It might not be possible for people to walk the entire length of the wall, but I am sure there are more people like me out there, who would like to make more trips to different sections of the wall, and visit the other temples which are inside the fort complex, but much farther away.





A View of the Palace from the wall

Talking of temples, it seems there are 360 temples inside the fort, of which 60 are Hindu temples, built by Maharana Kumbha, while 300 are Jain temples, which date back to the 6th or 7th century, when the Jain king, Samprati ruled over this place. Most of these temples are in ruins and only a few have idols now. Of these, the most important one is the Neelkanth Mahadeo Temple, the chosen deity of Maharana Kumbha and his family.



The main Shivaling, Neelkanth Mahadeo, is an impressive one, being about 5 Feet in height. It was here that we found an old man, who, when asked, happily recounted to us the story of this impressive fort.

Meanwhile, let me move on ……. After we spent some time at the temple enjoying the view, and thrilled to see a peacock, we headed back to the wall to see the lighting. The lights are put on every evening at 7:30P.M. for about 20 minutes, and it is, indeed an awesome sight. The fort glows gold against the black colour of the night, and one can just sit there for hours in the cool breeze, drinking in the sight. However, hours is what we don’t have, for we have to climb down the wall before the lights go off, and everything is black, so we hurried down back to the car, and on out return journey, managed to get a few photos of the fort while lit up.






This ended our jaunt to the fort, which is undoubtedly, one of the most impressive that I have ever seen. One of our fellow travelers from the resort told us that the Chittorgarh Fort is the best in the whole of the Mewar area of Rajasthan, even better than this one, but I can’t comment until I have actually seen it. Las year, we had visited Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, and though Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur is undoubtedly maintained much better, and the Jaisalmer fort is unique as the only fort in which people still live, this one has been much more impressive. It is here that one can actually imagine and feel the life that the Rajputs led- their valour, their pride and their greatness!

Kumbhalgarh Trip- Day1

Kumbhalgarh, about 90 Kms from Udaipur, is one of the biggest forts in the Mewar area of Rajasthan. It was built by Rana Kumbha in the 14th century to protect Mewar against the Mughal invaders. Though it is Rana Kumbha who is credited with building the present fort, there was an earlier structure at the same place built by the Jain King Samprati. The fort’s claim to fame lies in its 36 Km long wall, which is said to be the second largest after the Great Wall of China.

Club Mahindra has recently opened a new resort, Club Mahindra Fort Kumbhalgarh, just 5 Km from this historical site. I had been looking forward to visiting the fort ever since I read about it, and when Shankar suggested spending Samhith’s March-end school break there, I happily agreed and made reservations. It has been my experience that our well planned holidays rarely work out, while it is the unplanned, at-a-moment’s-notice ones that are the real successes. I was therefore skeptical of ever leaving for Kumbhalgarh as we had planned. In the end, we cut down our planned ten-day holiday to five, but even after a hectic trip to Shirdi and returning much later than expected (see my earlier post), we left for Falna by the Ranakpur Express.

Kumbhalgarh is equidistant from both Falna and Udaipur. Udaipur is the nearest airport, while both stations are about 90 Kms away, in different directions. We chose to take a train to Falna simply because it was the only choice that we had. There is a train to Udaipur from Mumbai which only runs once a week, but it was fully booked. From Falna, we had no trouble finding a tourist car to take us to Kumbhalgarh. There are lots of taxis available just outside the station, fields and mountains. The route is scenic, and the roads are good, making the drive a pleasant one. We were lucky to get a good driver, one who kept telling us all about the area. It was news to us that Falna itself was a place of no great importance, but it was a popular station for pilgrims, as there were a number of important pilgrim places, especially for Jains, in the vicinity. and the rate is fixed- Rs.1000/- no bargaining at all. If the rate seems high, it is because the 90 Kms is through the mountains, and they don’t get any passengers while returning.

When we think of Rajasthan, we conjure up images of vast deserts and miles and miles of no vegetation, and barren land. So it was a pleasant surprise when we passed fields and fields and more fields all along the route. It was again our driver who enlightened us. He says that though there had been a drought in the area for about 8 years, it had been raining well for the last 3 years, and the place was quite fertile. There are mango trees, sugarcane and wheat fields all over this area. There are lots and lots of trees, many of them medicinal ones, and local ones used for specific purposes. Among these are the Amla trees (gooseberries) and the local Khakra tree, which bears a beautiful red/orange flower that seems to be softer than velvet!



The drive through the Aravalli mountain range took us through wooded hills which abound with monkeys, mostly langurs, and peacocks. Samhith enjoyed the ride so much that though it took us about two hours, and we hadn’t yet had breakfast, he didn’t once ask for food!

Club Mahindra Fort Kumbhalgarh is a new resort, which opened just about 3 months back. They are still in the process of improving and adding the facilities at the resort, but it already lives up to the expectations that one has from a Club Mahindra resort. I am sure that within a year, when the resort is fully operational, it will be another feather-in-the-cap for Club Mahindra.

There are only 4 other resorts at Kumbhalgarh- The Tiger Valley Resort is the immediate neighbour of Club Mahindra. Apart from this, there are the Kumbhal Castle Resort, The Dera, Kumbhalgarh, and The Aodhi. Since we did not stay at any of these resorts, or even have a look inside, it would be unfair of me to make any remarks about them. However, I must say that among all these, The Aodhi, which is the nearest to the Fort (1Km), is the one most favoured by foreigners, who make up the majority of tourists to this area. The Dera is a tented resort, and the tents look fascinating. It would be an interesting experience to stay at such a place.

We reached the resort just in time to get some breakfast before they cleared everything up, and headed straight for a much needed nap. However, that was not to be. Shankar found that our mobiles were useless in this place. Both of us have Reliance mobiles, which didn’t pick up even a hint of a signal in this far-away place. He decided to call up the office from the land line to check out if things were all right, and that set the tone for the next two days- Shankar on the phone, managing work from afar, and me keeping Samhith occupied, as usual. It was only the next evening, when Shankar seemed to have managed things up to a point, that we were able to visit the fort, for which we had come all this way.