As we climbed up to the mighty fort, past all the seven gates, Padan Pol, Bhairon Pol, Hanuman Pol, Ganesh Pol, Jodla Pol, Laxman Pol and the main entry gate of Ram Pol, I could imagine the royal Rajputs marching-up alongside, with their adorned horses and elephants. The climb to the fort was steep, and just before Ram Pol, the passage became narrower and the road bent, at a sharp right angle, to ensure that the enemy couldn't attack easily in huge numbers. The doors of the gates, with pointed arches, are reinforced to fend off elephants and cannon shots, and the top of these gates have notched parapets for archers to shoot at the enemy army. We also noticed the occurrence of number seven, signifying that the residents belonged to 'Suryavanshi' (worshipers of the Sun god) clan. A circular road within the fort linked all the gates and provides access to a plethora of monuments (130 temples and numerous palaces built by multiple rulers) in the fort.
We soon got down to tracing the lineage of the fort on Raghav's i-phone and here's what we discovered. The fort was constructed by the Mauryans during the 7th century and hence derives its name after the Mauryan ruler, Chitrangada Mori, as per the inscriptions on coins of the period. It was ruled initially by Guhilot and later by Sisodias, the Suryavanshi clans of Chattari Rajputs, from 7th century, till it was finally abandoned in 1568 after the siege by Akbar in 1567. In 734, Bappa Rawal, founder ruler in the hierarchy of the Sisodia rulers of Mewar, is said to have been gifted with the fort as part of Solanki princess’s dowry in the 8th century. Historical records show Chittorgarh fort as the capital of Mewar for 834 years!
The fort was sacked three times between 15th century and 16th century; in 1433 Allauddin Khilji defeated Rana Ratan Singh, in 1535 Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat, defeated Bikramjeet Singh, and in 1567 Akbar defeated Udai Singh II, who left the fort and founded Udaipur. Following the first two defeats, 'Jauhar' were committed thrice by more than 16,000 women of the Rajput heroes who laid their lives in battles at Chittorgarh Fort, first lead by Rani Padmini wife of Rana Ratan Singh who was killed in the battle in 1433, and later by Rani Karnavati in 1537. A few minutes in the fort, and it seemed as if we had flipped through hundreds of pages of history!
We stopped by at many temples, including Mirabai's, where she prayed to her beloved deity, Lord Krishna, and was even attempted to be poisoned by her brother-in-law, Vikramaditya, who strongly objected to Meera's fame, her mixing with commoners and carelessness of feminine modesty. The other temples included Kalika Mata temple, Shiv temple, Ganesh temple, Ram temple, and so on. It broke our hearts to see how the way these temples have defiled these temples and defaced deities by Allaudin Khiliji, not so much due to religious reasons, but because of their sheer historical and cultural significance. Fortunately, the beautiful carvings in these temples speak out loud for the artisans and craftsmen of that era!
Let me elaborate on Khiliji's wrath. The legend says that Padmini's mahal (or palace) is where Khilji saw a glimpse of Rana Ratan Singh's beautiful wife Padmini, known for her captivating looks. While the queen was standing at the edge of her 'Jal Mahal' or the Water palace (which is surrounded by water on all sides; also queen's summer palace), her reflection in the water was reflected back in a mirror mounted in a room where Rana Ratan Singh was entertaining Khilji. The queen's beauty caught Khilji’s fancy; mesmerized, he attacked Mewar, hoping to win over Padmini. Rana Ratan Singh was killed in the battle, while Padmini set herself ablaze in the largest Jauhar of India, along with thousands of other queens and soldiers' wives, to save themselves from dishonor at the hands of Muslim invaders. When Khilji captured the fort, he just found Padmini's ashes, and enraged he ordered the destruction of all the temples. (Well, Padmini or no Padmini, I don't think Khiliji, his predecessors or his successors had spared any temple in any territory conquered by them!) Jauhar ground, at Chittorgarh fort, is a testimony to this. The Sati ground, not distant from Jauhar ground, also speaks of the horrific ancient Rajput customs, though the Rajputs yet refer to them proudly as an esteemed sacrifice.
By then the afternoon sun shone loud and bright, and was bent on dulling our spirits. Undaunted, we headed to the Vijay Stambh (also the Victory Tower) or Jay Stambh built by Rana Khumba between 1458 and 1468 to commemorate his victory over Mahmud Shah I Khalji, the Sultan of Malwa, in 1440. We climbed the 167 steps of the defiled monument tower to reach its top and by then, exhausted our camera batteries along with ourselves.
After goofing around at the Vijay Stambh for quite a while, we headed to pay our tribute to 'Gaumukh', where water from an unknown source flows out through a cow's mouth carved on a cliff, and falls directly on a Shivling carved beneath it. This was also the prime water source during the various sieges.
Then we set to visit the ruins of numerous palaces including Rana Kumbha's palace, Fateh Singh's palace, Padmavati's palace, Ratan Singh's palace, etc. We also saw the room where Panna Dai scarified her own son to save the life of infant Udai Singh, who later founded Udaipur. The story goes back to 1527 when Rana Sangram Singh died in the Battle of Khanua against Babur. Rana's brother Banbir was regent and wished to usurp the throne by killing the only son of Sangram Singh, thus wiping out his brother's lineage. Panna Dai clad her own baby in Udai Singh's clothes and placed him in the royal cradle while the gardener could escape with Udai Singh to Kumbalgarh through a hidden tunnel. After Udai Singh attained youth he Banbir and ascended on the throne of Chittor.
Kirti Stambha (or the Fame Tower), our last treat for the day, was a 22 m high tower adorned with Jain sculptures on the outside. Built by a Bagherwal Jain merchant Jijaji Rathod in the 12th century, it is dedicated to Adinath, the first Jain tirthankar. Jain religion has two orders, namely the Svetambara and Digambara; Digambara monks reject all forms of clothing and live naked or ‘sky clad’ while the Svetamabara monks wear thin white robes. We were forbidden to climb the narrow stairway which led through the six storeys, however, we could visit the beautiful temple adjacent to it.
A very memorable visit! The fort, even today, houses around 5000 people - the descendants of commanders, chiefs, courtiers, soldiers, etc of the Mewar kings.
Way back, between 7th and 16th century, the city of Chittor was limited to the ‘garh’ or the fort, and everyone including the commanders, chiefs, courtiers, soldiers and even the subjects, stayed within the fort perimeter. As was customary, the kings when pleased with some, often favored them by granting them gold, property, etc. So when the fort was acquired by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India), around 500 odd people provided documentary evidence of some or the other piece of land being granted or gifted to them by the ruler, and hence were permitted to continue their occupation. Today, these 500 people have multiplied to around 5000, along with their extended families.
These guys have signed an agreement with the government that they would evacuate the fort instructed in lieu of an adequate compensation. However, they have time and again refused to honor it because the fort not only means a house for them, but also a livelihood. These guys earn their bread and butter from the tourism in the fort.
So we could catch glimpses of the men drinking in a cool, quiet corner of Ratan Singh's palace, adjacent to their house – and the young boys taking a dip in the pond, again adjacent to their house! Needless to say, these residents throw their domestic waste, degradable or non-degradable, in their neighborhood, which happens to be the fort’s premises! The memorable visit therefore ended with a grave concern, and hope that Chittorgarh, quintessence of tribute to the nationalism, courage, medieval chivalry and sacrifice exhibited by the Mewar rulers of Sisodia and their kinsmen and women and children, could withstand the attack of ‘plastic’ and stand as tall and proud in the years to come!
- Namrta R (from my backpacking trip to Rajasthan)
Companions: Raghav and Lonely Planet
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