The Chittor Fort or Chittorgarh is one of the largest forts in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fort was the capital of Mewar and is located in the present-day town of Chittorgarh nearby famous Udaipur city of Indian state Rajasthan. This fort is spread over an area of 280 hectares and situated over a hill at almost 180 meter height.
This is a historic fort seen as symbol of the Rajput spirit. It features in many tales of courage, pride and romance that the people of Rajasthan have been singing for centuries. The big premises of this fort has several historical palaces, gates, temples and two commemorative towers. But unfortunately most of them was ravaged by the passage of time.
The
history of this fort begun during era of Mahabharat, India’s eminent
mythological epic. It is said that the the place of Chittor Fort was
also related to Bhim, one of the heroic Pandava brothers from
Mahabharata. We can still see bhim kund or Bhim pond named after him, in
the premises.
In seventh century Initially
this fort was under of mevar kingdom and from the 9th to 13th
centuries, the fort was ruled by Paramara dynasty. In 1303, Alauddin
Khalji attacked the fort and defeated Rana Ratan Singh. After
that in 1535 Bahadur Shah defeated Bikramjeet Singh and In 1567 Akbar
defeated Maharana Udai Singh Second’s troops. These are the only three
defets which this historical fort faces in its long history but these
defeats turns out to be disaster and turned this historical for into
mere a ruins of monuments .
This
is India’s only fort in which, in the fort premises as residential
colony situated. Secondly this is the only fort in which visitor allows
to take a cab/taxi or vhicals so that they can see it properly because
of its big premise
Rampol gate is new entrees gate for the fort for decade. In fort visiter can see two ‘chattri’ (cenotaphs) built in honour of Jaimal and Kalla, heroes, who laid down their lives in the 1568 siege by Emperor Akbar. The main gate of the fort is Surajpol (Sun Gate). In premises visitor can see famous Rani Padmini Mahal or palace, Rana kumbha palace, Gomukh reservoir and many ancient temple belongs to sanatani Hindu and Jain religion.
In 2013 World Heritage Committee in its meeting in Phnom Penh declared Chittorgarh Fort a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Now
Question is how to reach Chittorgarh. There is no direct flight to this
city. Nearby airport is in Dabok, Udailpur. From where Taxi, Bus, Cabs
can be taken. Its almost 120 kilometer from Udaipur city. And from Delhi
there are many trains running on this route.
