Great example of Rajput Architecture & Ruins of Rana Kumbha Palace inside unique UNESCO World Heritage site and India's largest fort in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan
Let me start by saying that Chittor Fort is a must visit place when you are in Udaipur region of Rajasthan State in India. There are multiple reasons behind saying that and the most obvious being that Chittor Fort is India's largest fort. Other reason is that Archeological survey of India has maintained this UNESCO World heritage site pretty well. Chittor fort is huge so in this blogpost we will know and explore Rana Kumbha Palace.
One can plan a day trip from Udaipur to Chittor Fort. Chittorgarh from Udaipur is approx 120 km which takes 2 hrs one side. Please note that day trip means 2 hrs of drive, so personally I would recommend staying around Chittorgarh and give at least full day to Chittor Fort as there is so much to explore and photograph. There can multiple factors to consider as per individual choice to decide day trip to Chittor from Udaipur or stay around the fort.
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Above photograph is clicked when we were exiting from Zanana Mahal of Rana Kumbha Palace and there are some very interesting facts associated which clearly differentiate zanana mahal from king's palace.
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There are stairs going down from Zanana Mahal of Rana Kumbha Palace. Manish (our guide) showed us the place and shared the story associated. Rani along with other women from Zanana mahal used to take those stairs to enter a cave which used to take them to a water pond for morning bath. This water tank is close to the famous Shiva Temple of Chittor Fort. After bath in water pond, queen used to visit Shiva temple before coming back to the Palace. This Shiva temple is also referred in Padmavat bollywood movie. We will do a sperate blogpost on this Shiva temple, water pond and a compound which has the famous Vijay Stambha.
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There is pretty long drive from very first gate of the Chittor Fort till the ticket counter. This road is surrounded by strong walls of Chittor fort. Ticket counter is managed by Archeological Survey of India and now there is also an option to buy the ticket online on ASI website. Although there is a weird thing in Chittor Fort that still want you to queue up and note down your details & hand over a small hand-written slip which is asked during the entry to Padmini Palace. While online ticket works very well in Kumbalgarh Fort and you don't need to queue up again.
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There is no special entry fees for Rana Kumbha Palace. There is only one entry ticket for whole Chittor fort and Rana kumbha Palace is part of that. Entry ticket for Chittor Fort costs you 40rs per adult, while online ticket cost is 35 rs. There is no extra cost for vehicle and best part is that you can take your vehicle inside. Going in a vehicle is must as it's huge and vehicles makes it easy to move between the places of Chittor Fort. We were there during pandemic so comparatively it was less crowded. I can imagine that during peak tourist season, the fort must be crowded and there is a possibility of traffic jam within the fort.
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You can have a guide at Chittor Fort for approx 650 Rs for whole tour. Guide takes you to different places during your exploration at Chittor Fort. Our Guide was pretty good and Manish is reachable at 9783246246. Recommended if you are visiting Chittor Fort and intend to accompany a guide. If you explore Chittor with Manish, please leave your comments below with experience and let us know if you would want to recommend him to others from Travellingcamera family?
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Our guide, Manish took us to Rana Kumbha Palace first and gave us a quick tour of this grand palace of Rana Kumbha. Most of it is in ruins and we will learn about why it's in current shape.
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The palace was rebuilt by Maharana Kumbha on a ruined palace which was built in the 734 AD by Bappa Rawal. He was known for his art and cultural patronages in Rajasthan's Mewar dynasty. It is in this palace the Rajput King Maharana Kumbha lived his royal life. The ruined Kumbha Palace is the most massive monument in the fort of Chittor.
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Rana Kumbha Palace is one the main places to visit inside Chittor Fort and a fine example of Rajput architecture. The palace is a huge structure which is built of sandstone of uneven proportions. The Rana Kumbha palace of Chittorgarh is raised high from a large basement which is in the shape of a rectangle. One of the special things about Rana Kumbha palace is its splendid series of canopied balconies. The entrance to the palace is through two gateways known as Suraj Pol and Tripolia Gate leading further to Suraj Gokhra, Zanana Mahal and Kanwarpada-ka-Mahal in the open courtyard.
The Rana Kumbha Palace is closeby following key places to visit inside Chittor Fort :
- Panna Dhai temple
- Meerabai temple
- Lord Shiva Temple
- The Nau Lakha Bandar (nine lakh treasury) building (The royal treasury of Chittor)
- Museum
- Archeological office
- The Singa Chowri temple
- Vijaya Stambha
Rana Kumbha was born in a Hindu Rajput family of Sisodia clan. Rana Kumbha was a son of Rana Mokal Singh of Mewar and his wife Sobhagya Devi. He was the 48th Rana of Mewar and succeeded Rana Mokal Singh in the year 1433 CE as the ruler of Mewar, but most of the stories you hear in Mewar region start with him and his successors.
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Chittor fort has several historical palaces, gates, water tanks, temples and two prominent towers with some unique features. Rana Kumbha Palace is very first place you hit after taking entry ticket for the fort.
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As you enter into the Rana Kumbha Palace of Chittor Fort, you see above structure on your left. This is horse stable to keep horses which were used for royal family members.
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The ruins of Rana Kumbha palace have the temple of Lord Shiva, Zanana mahal, Diwan-e -aam, along with a stable for horses we just showed in above photograph. According to the legends, the founder of the city of Udaipur, Maharana Udai Singh was born in Rana Kumbha Palace and his life was saved by his wet nurse Panna Dai, who hid him inside a fruit basket when she sensed that his life is in danger due to ongoing politics inside the Palace.
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Rana Kumbha place was once the home of the famous bhakti poetess Meerabai. It is also believed, that Rani Padmini organized her self- immolation or jauhar inside this fort. We shall share these stories in detail when we share about the famous Meerabai temple inside Chittor Fort and Padmini palace along with the water body.
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The Chittor fort is build with stones which are plastered and have some exquisitely design canopied balconies.
Above photograph shows the outside view of Rana Kumbha Palace at Chittor Fort and this is a view from main road which connects this palace with entry gate of the fort.
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The Chittor Fort is the largest fort in India and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is located on a huge hill with plains all around the fort. This geographical advantage makes this fort very special in Rajasthan as well as India.
All photographs in this blogpost are clicked with Mobile camera inside Rana Kumbha Palace. We shall other important monuments of Chittor Fort in separate posts and at the end, we will share a combined blogpost focussing on Chittor Fort - how to reach, where to stay, how to plan time inside Chittor fort, things to skip or to be aware about.
If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter. Use dustbins.
2. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
3. Avoid water bottles in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem. In plains, refill your bottles with RO at hotel.
4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests or jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite.
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