The Chittorgarh Fort is India’s largest fortification, a place of tradition and culture. Also called Chittaur, it was the capital of Mewar under the Rajputs, from the 7th century to the 16th. It is a place where great battles occurred, where invaders from Northwest and Delhi were stopped and where some of India’s greatest legends started.

Built by the later Maurya rulers in the 7th century on a 180m high hill, Chittaur sprawls over 700 acres. The fort has four main gates: Padal Pol, Bhairon Pol, Hanuman Pol and Ram Pol and many impressive monuments, some of finest examples of the Rajput architecture. Located in the Southern part of the state of Rajasthan, near the Gambheri River, the fort is 112 km from Udaipur and 182 km away from Ajmer.

Three major sieges took place between AD 1303 and AD 1567. More than 13,000 women and 32,000 Rajput soldiers died in the last siege. The third and final siege of the fort was also the moment when Jaimal and Kalla, two Rakput generals, became part of the fort’s history, by defending it to their own death. This represents a saga of valor, tenacity and sacrifice. The whole history of Chittaur is a tribute to the nationalism and courage, exhibited by the Mewar rulers.

The Chittorgarh had about 84 water bodies, out of which just 22 exist today. Talabs (ponds), kunds (wells) and baories (stepwells) – they can all be found in what is also called “The Water Fort” and they cover almost 40% of the total surface. The average depth is about 2 meters and all the reservoirs can store no less than 4 billion liters of water. After a more than average raining season, the water could sustain an army of 50,000.

Year by year, the fort and the city beneath it host the biggest Rajput festival, the “Jauhar Mela”. It celebrates one of the jauhars, which was a form of voluntary death of men and women in order to avoid capture by their enemies. The festival commemorates the bravery of the Rajput ancestors.

Image credit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

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