A Visit to Udaipur - Kumbhalgarh

(Part 2)

After a delicious lunch of dal, rice, rotis, raita, kadi, and fruit custard we set out to visit Sajjangarh at around 4:30 in the evening. The sunset was expected at around 6:00 p.m. A beautiful drive led to the hilltop palatial residence also called the Monsoon Palace. This palace is named Sajjangarh after Maharana Sajjan Singh for whom it was built in 1884. Today, this palace is under the control of the Forest Department of the Government of Rajasthan. Once we parked our car we looked around to take in the breathtaking panoramic view of the city’s lakes, palaces and surrounding countryside. Still drinking in the beautiful view we climbed stairs leading to the palace which was built, it seems, to admire the monsoon clouds drifting in, hence the name – Monsoon Palace. There was still time for the sunset and so we sat down and waited with many others like us, eager to watch the setting sun illuminate the palace in its golden - orangish glow as it sank over the horizon.

I was alarmed when two black faced monkeys with their long tails sidled up close and gazed intently at me and my friends. We sat frozen to the spot, not daring even to breathe. Soon they walked over to a large dustbin and peeked in; they pulled out a packet of wafers and started munching. When another monkey made an appearance they ran off with the packet. Finally we breathed a sigh of relief and laughed heartily. By now it was time and the sun had started inching closer to the Aravallis. Everyone rushed to pick out the best spots to capture the sun set. One after the other cameras and mobile phones started zooming in, recording and clicking away. The sun however was in no hurry to slip away and put on the most spectacular show of gradually disappearing... and I will never forget that last wink before he vanished from sight. A round of applause, hooting and whistling followed. It was time for us all to make an exit as the lights started coming on one by one. The birds overhead called out to each other as they headed home to their nests and we headed back to our place of stay. We tried to make our way to Jag Mandir but there was a tremendous rush and we decided to skip it. By now we were terribly tired. After quick showers we had a simple dinner of dal, aaloo-jeera and buttered rotis with pickle and a salad. I felt it was the most delicious meal I had tasted in sometime. After laying out plans for the next day we went to bed around 12:30 a.m.

The next morning we had yet another yummy breakfast, loaded the car with our bags and set out for Nathdwara. My friends went ahead to pay their homage to the divine while two of us scoured the market for keepsakes and indulged in some interesting shopping. I had a wonderful time purchasing lovely salwar suits and sarees. It was almost 1:00 p.m. by the time we left Nathdwara. On the way we visited Haldighati and clicked pictures with the yellow rocks. It was interesting to relive historical incidents as mentioned in our school history books from ages back... the war and the supreme sacrifice of the loyal steed, Chetak. We visited the smarak and clicked pictures there while admiring the beautiful view. We were hungry by now and decided to stop at a place that looked good enough but the appropriate place, a resort was a long way off. We were famished by the time we sat down to an extremely late lunch at a pretty resort, which we planned to visit sometime later in the future. Though we were tempted to linger over our Punjabi Thalis and the delicious semolina halwa we had to make a move if we wanted to see Kumbhalgarh before the sun went down. So, we raced ahead and made it long before closing time. One of our friends narrated interesting details about how the fort was built and how it remained invisible to enemies and therefore, undefeated for years.

As the driver cut off the hairpin bends carefully I listened to the story in awe. I’m sharing it with you here as he narrated. Long ago in the 15th century the king, Rana Kumbha wanted to build a fort that would be invincible. His workers laboured hard but unfortunately each time the walls would be built they would collapse for no apparent reason. Then, a holy sage spoke to the king and told him that if a person willingly offers himself for human sacrifice the walls will stay. The king sent out messengers but no one came forward, finally, the sage approached the king and offered himself. It’s said that the entrance to the fort is where his body fell while the king built a small temple where the sage’s head fell.

By this time we had reached the Mewar fortress which was declared in 2013 a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the group Hill Forts of Rajasthan. We began walking up the steep climb to this architectural amazement situated at a height of 1,100 metres above sea level on the Aravalli range. As we climbed higher we could see the perimeter walls stretching far and wide for 36 kms. making it the longest walls in the world. Hence, it is also known as the Great Wall of India. We learnt that Kumbhalgarh has seven fortified gateways and over seventy temples within, both Jain and Hindu. Age old banyan trees with their long roots were silent witnesses of the days long gone. Huge steps spoke of how tall these people must have been. We climbed endless stairs to reach the top of the palace within the fort. The terrace presented an awesome view of the aravalli range winding its way for kilometres in the distance. I spotted a beehive on the ledge of one of the domes and warned the others not to go in that direction.

We clicked a few pics there as the sun began to set and the guards began blowing their whistles calling the visitors down. We gazed in admiration at the long walls of the fort extending endlessly; as much as we tried we couldn’t do justice and capture the visual treat with our cameras. Still awestruck we made our way down those dreadfully high stairs through narrow passages and began walking down the steep sloping cobblestoned path. The rocks around were sedimentary in nature and yielded lovely pictures for us. I almost forgot to mention the bushes laden with sweet smelling jasmine flowers! Well, with the darkness creeping in the flowers gave out a heady fragrance and sealed the memory of this trip in my mind forever.

We were soon in the vehicle careening down the winding road, looking for petrol. Thankfully the petrol pump wasn’t too far once we descended the higher grounds. And, in no time we were making our way through dark roads amidst bushes and trees. It was scary but a thrilling experience. Once we got on to the highway we stopped to purchase water bottles as our stock of water had been exhausted. With no desire to have dinner we munched on chips and other snacks as the car raced homewards. The sky was clear and we could just make out the comet that was visiting earth in those days of mid-February 2023. It twinkled like a green dot in the night sky; it had already begun moving further away from the earth. We were tired after our adventures of the last two days and all of us dozed off to sleep for an hour or so as the driver drove cautiously while ghazals and songs played constantly. It was around 10:30 p.m. we reached Ajmer and another hour elapsed as the driver dropped us all home one by one.

Thus, an exhilarating trip came to an end but not before we had decided to go on another one whenever we could. Where to? That’s still not sure. But I’ll definitely tell you once we do.

Image Courtesy: magicbricks, gtc, business insider